Apologies for Mikey being OOC. I wanted to portray him as a little more mature as he's 25 in this fic and I wanted him closer to his comic incarnation. Don't worry, he'll still have his goofball moments. ;)

On a side note: I think Grammarly hates Allison XD (and me)

The Backpack

Chapter Two:

The Journal

Once Mikey and Don returned, the rest of his day went by as usual. They ordered takeout, watched TV, played video games, and Mikey wrapped up the latest chapter of his novel, "A Rose Among Thorns", before bed. They spent the next day training before he spent the rest of the day sitting in front of his computer working on his Silver Sentry fan fiction, "Into the Night". He checked his emails again, hoping someone would recognize his work, but still nothing. Four chapters in and still not even a follow. Maybe it was as bad he feared or maybe because it wasn't a romance, no one was interested.

Maybe I should cave and write a romance but that wouldn't be right since I know the guy personally.

Michelangelo wanted to become a writer shortly after the defeat of Tengu Shredder. He didn't know why the idea suddenly came to him but when it did; he had to write right away. In the past, he made his own comics, drawing pictures of him and his brothers as superheroes. Comics were easy, he could draw what he wanted and bring his work to life through visuals, but writing it? That was a challenge on its own. It was difficult at first because his spelling and grammar were far from perfect, but with April's help, his writing improved quickly. She bought him spiral notebooks and pens. He wanted a typewriter but the loud click-clack of the buttons would disturb his brothers and they were the last people in the world he wanted knowing he was writing. All genres interested him, even romances, as he was used to reading about them in comics.

Last year, April surprised him with a laptop for him to transfer his writing onto. It was a secret gift at first, as she knew how his brothers could be. Eventually, they found out but to his surprise, his brothers expressed their support for him. Although Raph would occasionally tease him about it, the red turtle wasn't malicious when he did so.

It was with his laptop he discovered something called fan fiction. It fascinated him what others could come up with, some of it was so bad it was funny, while others weirded him. He'd never get the mental image of Silver Sentry having… relations with Raptarr out of his head. But nothing could be any worse than the awful Michael Bay Justice Force movie that only came out the previous year. He would forever stay salty about that.

As he sat at his desk with a toothpick in his mouth, he fought against the writer's block that sometimes plagued him. He checked the time and groaned. It was past midnight. He thought by now he would've written more than just "chapter five". Sighing, he gave up and clicked out of the Docs page.

Glancing at the journal, Mikey thought of the man in the tunnels and the odd behavior he exhibited. Guilt briefly flashed within him for taking the bag. Maybe it truly belonged to him or at least someone related to him, but he couldn't figure out why he would place the backpack so far underground. He grabbed the journal and opened it again, wondering who this girl was. He read another entry before Googling her name.

June/8th/1980

I guess I aint goin home any time soon. My fever spiked again. This time is was too high and the doc warned of brain damage if it gets too high again. I think that's funny cuz it can't do no more damage than what my brain already has. At least Mom and Dad came to visit today. If you could call it a visit. They brought me food from Deenie's Diner witch was awsome! They asked how I was feelin and shit, but then once the clock struck 12 they were gone again. Said they had an important place to go. I guess their own kid aint important. Sam called the hospital and we talked for a bit. That brat drives me crazy but I love him. He better not ever read this! I guess that's all for now.

Mikey closed the journal, noting how her writing reminded him of Raph's.

He typed in her name, expecting to see her address and nothing more, but instead, he learned she was dead and had been since '81 and not only dead but murdered. The links that were provided to him gave details on the events that happened. His arrow hovered over the link of the first article as he took in what he was seeing. Above the links were photos of her. This was something he didn't expect and seeing her face made this even more surreal.

She was pretty with an oval face, round nose, blue eyes, and long, straight auburn hair. In one photo of her smiling she had dimples and in another, she had a nose and lips piercings with dyed black hair. She must've been going through some weird phase, Mikey thought. Probably something Raph would do if he were human.

She was too pretty to die. His conscience quickly chimed in. And what if she were ugly? Would it still be a tragedy or is it only sad when pretty girls die?

He clicked the link to the first article and read about the night she died. On May, 20th 1981, the nineteen-year-old left her friend's house later than usual. Her friend, Marcy Gales, offered to let Allison stay the night, but the older girl declined. Detectives believe someone jumped her as she walked up to the steps to her Brooklyn home, as her keys were still in the door when her body was found the next day. It was then they believe she put up a fight as her attacker tried dragging her into the alley and strangling her. Authorities had two possible suspects but names were not given. He backed out of the article and clicked on another. It told him the same thing, so he went to another. Nothing told him much more than when and how she was killed, but there was one article that mentioned the strange phone calls. Unfortunately, when he looked further into it, there wasn't much else.

He went back to the image search of her wanting to see more photos and surprised and saddened that the crime scene photos were there for everyone to see. Maybe it wasn't too shocking. Still, he found it disrespectful. He grimaced at the sight of her body. Someone had pulled the white sheet that covered her halfway, exposing her face. Her eyes were partially open, one arm laid across her torso, and the other at her side. With the sheet on her, it almost looked as though she were sleeping. More photos of the crime scene were an up-close look of the marks around her neck. He didn't need to be an armchair detective to see that someone used their own two hands to finish her off.

After seeing more than he wanted, he closed the tab.

That's enough internet for me. He thought as he shut his computer.

He went in expecting to find her address and give back her old things, only to have his heart torn at the news of her death. Shaking his head, he pushed away from his desk and stood to stretch. He grabbed the journal and flopped on his bed next to Klunk. The aging feline lifted his head and glared at Mikey for disturbing before laying his head back down. He gave the tom a pat on the head and opened the journal.

The next two entries were not of much interest. She detailed her stay at the hospital and mentioned her Aunt Kathy again. It was odd, here he was reading the accounts of a dead girl. Her last year on this earth all documented in this worn diary.

June/15th/1980

I'm so glad to be home. Two days ago the hospital let me go, but I didn't get to go until yesterday because my so called parents said they were too busy to pick me up! Well I'm home now I guess… I'm not even gonna bother goin back to school. It only has three weeks left. What's the point? I already know I'm not graduating this year. Should I even bother goin back at all? I can always get me a GED and go to a trade school. Maybe I can be a vet tech or something. I love animals. People… not so much.

June/16th/1980

Mom and Dad had a fight. I don't know who broke the TV but I'm disappointed in them both. I just got home! Jesus Christ this is why I'm never gettin married. To hell with that.

June/20th/1980

Got some of my strength back so I decided to go for a walk. Mom said to take it easy. I said I'd try. Anyways made it to the park and I'm sittin there with a soda in my hand and I see this tanned girl on roller blades. She stops at the water fountain and I don't know how to explain it, but I felt funny lookin at her. Like I only get this feelin lookin at boys. What does it mean? Anyway she was pretty. Her hair was black and glossy and her eyes were like a reddish brown. She walked over and began talkin to me out of the blue. I guess cuz I was starin. She said her name was Marcy and she just moved here from El Paso, TX three weeks ago. I couldn't imagine leavin New York for anyplace else. She said the kids in the south get out of school as early as May. Shit I wish we got outta school in May. Not fuckin July. Anyways we was talkin about random shit and she said that she's going to school at Lincoln high in Sept. I told her about missin too much school so I gotta repeat the 12th grade again and asked if we could sit together. This whole time were talkin I feel awkward. Diana and Ellie don't like new comers in our circle so we will see. Marcy was nice enough I guess. I wanted to talk longer with her, but I started to feel woozy so she walked me home. When we got to my door, she smiled at me as said: "I know where you live now. Maybe I'll come over sometime." I told her okay and she rolled away on her skates. I do hope she comes over. Diana and Ellie don't really come by anymore and since Karl broke up with me I've been feeling lonely.

Mikey's eyes grew heavy, and the words blurred and doubled. He shut the book and placed it in his nightstand before turning off the light. Klunk moved from his warm spot and crawled under the blankets with the orange masked turtle. His memory before falling asleep was stroking the cat's ginger fur.

He slept in longer than he wanted. Sometime close to noon he felt someone flick him in the face. He opened his eyes and a blurry image of blue and green stood over him.

"Wake up, Michelangelo!"

Mikey yawned and sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. "What's up, Leo?"

"You've slept long enough. It's time for training."

Mikey groaned but obeyed his older brother. Swinging his legs over the bed, he yawned again and stretched. Klunk hopped off the bed, annoyed with his owner for disturbing his sleep.

"Yeah, yeah I'm comin'," Mikey said running a hand over his face.

"Listen, I don't mind you want to follow your dream but you need to limit how much time you spend in front of the computer. I've lectured Don about it, I shouldn't have to lecture you too."

The orange turtle rose from the bed. "I get it, Leo, but sometimes, I feel an urge to write and I can't stop myself." He didn't bother adding that he had writer's block last night.

"Just… control yourself."

"I'll try," Mikey said with a tired sigh.

"Good. Now come on."

As he followed his brother out of his room, a cold chill ran down his shell, stopping him in his tracks. He froze in place, feeling another chill going down his arm. That was odd. He gave the nightstand one last glance before turning off the light to his room and shutting the door behind him.