Chapter Eleven:
Under
What's hidden here with me?
Thought I was alone
But it pulls me deeper now
I can't escape
-Buried Beneath, Red
[Karai]
"Leo! Leo, stop—let go of me—ah!"
His grip tightens on my injured shoulder. I spit out a curse, kicking and twisting as he continues to drag me down the hallway.
"This isn't you!" I plead. The desperation is at its peak. I know the situation has spiraled completely out of my control, and the panic is cold as ice in my blood. I should've known better.
My face is bunched in turmoil; my soul is on fire. I punch him repeatedly with my good hand to no avail. My tanto is somewhere behind us, my other arm is shit right now after tearing that muscle, and he's walking so fast my legs can barely keep up beneath me.
"Please, Leo!" He won't look at me, but even if he did, those eyes wouldn't be his. "Leo, just stop—"
"He cannot hear you, Karai."
I look up past the strands of hair sticking to my face. Father's standing there in front of the cell I had just helped Leo escape from, his arms crossed, dull eyes locked on me as Leo tosses me to the floor in a heap.
I land on my side and grimace, immediately grabbing my shoulder to rub the burning pain from the muscle.
My throat becomes clogged as I stare into his face. I want to scream at him, to curse him and spit out every thought I've ever had to keep to myself—but in this moment, I'm defeated. Defeated, defenseless, and caught in the midst of betraying him.
I've lost.
"You seem at a loss," he says with a low tone. He takes a step in my direction. "Have things not gone as planned?"
He begins to circle me. My fist clenches, nails digging into the palm of my hand. I hate him.
"How strange that the loyalty of my enemy is now greater than that of my own daughter."
The muscles in my jaw bunch. I stare at the floor, beads of sweat trailing down my face.
"Whatever you're going to do, do it," I growl. He stops in front of me, looming over my crumpled frame. I dare to meet his gaze—fire upon fire. "Don't play games with me."
His boot flashes across my vision. My head snaps to the side with a spray of blood-tinged spit.
"I am not the one playing games, Karai." He sounds like a demon. "Grab her."
My head is still spinning when Leo's hands wrap my waist and haul me up on uneasy feet. I'm held tight against his chest, secured by arms almost as thick as my head. My thoughts are broken. Leo has never been a threat—not even when he tried so damn hard to pretend. And now he's probably going to kill me.
That's not him. The reminder is bitter. That's not Leo.
"Put her in the cell and chain her."
The command jerks Leo's body forward. I dig my heels into the floor and twist my body—terrified, wild, and hopeless. I'm pushed past the cell gate and forced against the back wall, his arm heavy on my back as he reaches for the new set of chains my father must've laid out after I broke the other ones with my tanto.
"Leo," I pant, struggling against him. "Leo, please—listen to me—"
He snatches my left wrist and closes the shackle tight. The metallic sound grates in my head—the sound of my life slipping away.
"I know you're in there! I know you—"
I gasp as he suddenly whirls me around and slams me back into the brick. His hands shoot to my throat. They clamp down, thumbs pressed together, crushing my voice, squeezing the air from my chest. My lower body tenses before going limp with fright; my jaw hangs open, both arms tucked behind me, useless and strained—
"You don't know him anymore."
The blood is thick in my head. Father's voice is so loud against the rush. Leo's eyes bore into mine. They're cloaked with death—his expression cold as stone.
"He is mine to command," Father continues. "And he will obey."
My body is tingling with a thousand tiny pins. I can feel the wet heat of tears gathering on the rims of my eyes.
"L-Leo… Leo, pl-ease—"
"Tell her what you're going to do, Uragiru."
His eyes never leave mine. The voice that comes from his expressionless face belongs to him, but the words don't—and the combination is frightening.
"I am to kill the enemy." The black void of his gaze swallows me. "And anyone who stands in my way."
He releases me then. I collapse, my lungs heaving for relief beyond the burning pain that consumes my every fiber. My vision wanes and waxes. He clamps the shackle on my other wrist, but I'm too drained, too faded to fight it. My heart slams into my ribs. My head throbs. My limbs are numb. It's all I can do to simply stay conscious and breathe—and watch as Leo steps from the cell and closes the gate on me with a heavy clank.
A lock clicks. And with it, my fate is sealed.
"Hamato Yoshi must die." Father's voice drifts through the room. "I have wasted too much time trying to end him by my own hand. My clan has failed me. My own cursed body has failed me. And you…" His eyes fall heavily on me. "You were the only one who could have done it. But I see now which side you have chosen."
He turns away from me slowly with a trialing gaze, as if it's the last time he will ever look at me.
"When I have my victory…when the stain that has plagued my honor for so long has finally been lifted…I shall see that you answer to your treason."
He slips something from his pocket and hands it to Leo.
"It is time. You know what to do."
Leo turns on his heels down the hall in the opposite direction without a glance toward me. Father stands there a moment more, hands at his side. He exhales deeply and walks off into the darkened corridor, disappearing from my view.
And then, only then, as the silence settles, as the shadows slowly surround me, do I hang my head and let the muffled sobs spill from my bloodied lips.
~T~
[Donnie]
The Lair is cold, quiet, and drenched in a familiar, heavy feeling. Pain, defeat, emptiness, shame—it's all there, sticking to our skin and clouding our thoughts.
We migrated from my room in the middle of the night to our separate spaces. Mikey is sitting on the floor in front of the TV, but nothing's on. Last I checked, he was simply there, staring at his feet in silence. Raph went to Leo's room over an hour ago to gather his thoughts. He's never been one for meditation, but the fear these last several hours have brought, along with the terror of history repeating itself… Well, it's been enough to put him in a stupor. One that even his boundless rage hasn't been able to touch.
I'm slumped in my chair, tapping my pencil on the map sprawled out before me. Being in my lab feels stiff and uncomfortable—so much so that I've propped the door open. I don't believe I've ever done that before.
My temples ache. My brain is cloaked in a fog that no amount of coffee has been able to shake. I groan, rubbing the spot above my left eye that continues to throb.
I can't think. How useful can I be to Leo without even being able to comprehend simple lines and measurements? I stare dumbly at the faint circles I've drawn over areas where Foot activity has been the highest, but it isn't enough. They could have taken Leo anywhere.
He could be dead by now.
I slam my fist on the table. My coffee cup rattles and falls off the edge of my desk, shattering to a hundred pieces on the floor. I curse and throw my pencil across the room before leaning over to start cleaning up the mess.
"You okay, Donnie?"
Mikey's voice cracks the silence of the lab. I nearly jump from my seat to see him leaning in the doorway, unsure if he's allowed to come in.
"What? Oh…yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, I just..." I sigh and rub my forehead again. "I just spilled my drink, that's all."
His fingers drum the side of the door. "Need some help?"
I shake my head and grab a nearby rag to mop up the splatter. "No, I'm okay. It's just…"
My voice trails off when a faint beeping catches my attention. I spot my T-phone on the floor—it must've gotten knocked off the desk too.
"Just…what?" Mikey asks, stepping into the room with caution.
The realization hits me like a brick. I stand up so fast, my chair spirals out from underneath me and rolls into the wall. I snatch the device and ignore the fact that I'm stepping in coffee. My eyes scour the screen and the soft blinking light makes my heart leap into my throat.
"Raph!" Mikey yells out into the hallway. "Raph, come here!"
Mikey runs to my side just as Raph comes tearing down the hallway and stumbling into the lab.
"What?" he shouts, breathless, clinging to the doorway. "What is it?"
I look up at the both of them, my T-phone clutched tightly in my hand.
"It's Leo."