The Extinguishing Light Within - CH2
Disclaimer: TMNT isn't mine and this is just a fan fiction writing. No money is being made on this story.
(TMNT CC are AU based on 2003 version and events, the turtles are in their late 20s.)
Warning: It has horror elements.
Rate: T
This is my secret Santa gift for Tmntlovingleo
The prompt was a story based after the 2k3 episode "The darkness within"
Summary: Just great! Once again he wakes up from a nightmare to find his room was destroyed, no doubt by his hand. Did he tell his brothers this time around? What do you think? The worse part is that things are starting to turn to the creepy and weird side for the fearless leader, it's out of his control and he has no clue!
He stared at his room in horror, what was going on?
What was with the writing on the walls?
It didn't make any sense at all then again, it felt familiar as if something in the back of his mind was screaming this can't be happening, this is coming to pass, it is more than a nightmare, crossing the border of one's mind to reality.
"What the shell?" he felt his body shake uncontrollably, making him feel ill and wish to hide in his sheets, a secondary option to his shell.
This was so potent he let out a whimper feeling helpless as some child, it surprised him and he rushed out of his bed at full tilt going into his closet. There, tucked away in a corner was a bucket with now cold water and some rags just in case this did happen and he could cover it up before anyone was the wiser.
Maybe he shouldn't do this, and let his family know, yet after that day how everyone acted, he wanted to avoid it at all costs.
Leo with the bucket at hand and the room that was no better shape than the other day, he took action cleaning all evidence to every detail, for anything that was broken that survived the first night, he hid them in his closet along with the red bucket of water and cloths.
When he was done, he let out a sigh of annoyance, of course, it was quarter to six and he wanted to be up around then to meditate, yet was that a good idea?
Shuffling his feet hesitantly towards the door, when he finally opened it to his surprise, he was greeted by the quiet and peaceful aura of the home and it made him feel a bit more at ease as he made his way down the stairs towards the Dojo. From there he walked towards the other side of the room that branched off into a small space that he claimed as his designated meditation room.
After the invasion of the Mikey, trying every way possible to distract him and mostly on a bet or two, he had it up to here with it, not tolerating the mischievous ways of his younger brother's behaviour.
With no amount of lectures or discipline could discourage the brother's efforts, he instead had to take out one variable, the easy access to him when in meditation.
In hence the room that was a storage for some time was converted into a safe haven for him and he never looked back on the decision.
Mikey would be Mikey he concluded painfully at times, so it was best to find alternate ways to deal with him, even if for him of all brothers to think out of the box and to be creative to achieve any progress with his brother. Sometimes though Leo swore that the kid brother at times does these antics for a reason and no matter how many times he even brought it up with Donnie neither could explain or figure out the kid brother's motives behind his actions.
The room as it should be, with his display of candles that he had replaced a few days ago very new and fresh for burning, Leo entered the room going towards the lighter and like a ritual he lit everyone before heading for the center to start his meditation session.
He crossed his legs, breathing in from his nostrils and out through his mouth in a slow, repetitive motion, counting back from ten.
An old fashion room that kept to the eighteen-century theme surrounded him, as he stood there in the middle of this unfamiliar place.
There was a feeling of soft fabric rubbing between his toes that he quickly discovered it was a decorative floor mat, with stunning hues of red and light blues intertwine with each other by the patterns he would have seen in old photos.
Such craftsmanship isn't seen these days, otherwise, unless it was a historian building or a museum, unless if someone was into that era's fashion would anyone find such a piece in a normal everyday home.
To think he was so focused on the carpet that when he raised his eyes up and soaked in the fine details of this room, he was overwhelmed by the feeling he either has stepped back in time, or someone had pulled it out of a history book and recreated it.
To his right was a large solid, what appeared to be oak, bookshelf tall and wide, housing some he would guess very expensive artifacts that look genuine not fakes, amongst old very well preserved thick books.
To the other side was a well crafted, sturdy elegant desk, with designs carved in its wooden frame, a wood he didn't recognize. Behind it, as if standing tall was a luxurious fine leather chair waiting for someone to occupy its space.
With all the decorations, hanging paintings and other objects, he felt out of place being a turtle from the sewers.
The room had one important detail he took note, one that made him question all the more where he was, it was the lamps that were of gold, burning an odd pale blue flame that did not alter any of the colours in the room acting like any other source of light and it kept the area well lit.
His eyes in worry, fear of exposure searched for life, finding only the shadows were there for his company, cast by not just the lamps, but the lone fireplace that crackle and pop of the burning wood within.
"Where the shell am I?" Leo asked hesitantly, crossing his fingers that no one would answer him. To his luck no one did so, as he took a step towards the draping curtains on the only window in the room, crossing over the rug to the polished and newly waxed wooden floor.
This bothered him, wherever he was, it was well taken care of, there wasn't even one speck of dust to be seen.
It was a clear sign someone did live there or kept care of it at least, besides fireplaces don't replace their wood nor does a room clean itself, well not to a point of course, he thought of the technology out there and something Donnie was excited over.
Some small tin disk that would crawl around the floor and suck up dirt and whatever else that shouldn't be there. Yet in truth, it kind of creeped him out, it reminded him of mousers without the jaws and wanting to chew on your arm.
This imagery was partially due to the fact he wasn't fond of technology at times, more of an old-fashioned turtle when it came to doing stuff.
The curtain made of a fine red fabric, was soft against his skin as he pulled one to the side to get a better view, and with any luck, some bearings, yet to his dismay out of the window, he could only see was darkness and of course the silhouette of a few trees, but no other details important to waste his time with.
Though... then again, he looked at the trees once more and what he could make out was that they were oddly a grey discolour and even the night sky with its bleak moon overhead, aided nothing to lighten up the area and it too was unnatural in its way. Never in his life has he seen the moon held a grey halo fully absent of any colours as well.
"Odd… a grey forest…" Leo shrugged it off, turning around ignoring the oddity more interested in where he was then what was going on outside, that seemed nothing of value.
Turning back towards the room he cast his gaze over to a door that was closed, it was the only option he had to exit the room and find out more to this mystery.
He made his way to it next, placing his hand on its handle firmly.
It was warm, too warm to be caused by the current's room temperature and surely there were no flames awaiting beyond it, since it would be too hot to the touch if that was so.
No, it was the same as if someone had their hand on it before his and the metal had captured the body heat of the said person.
Turning it, seeing it would be pointless to stay there, to his surprise and discomfort it opened with ease with no resistance.
At first, he didn't dare to open fully knowing that would be a foolish gesture, only having it ajar to take a peak, yet to his dismay, he could only see darkness, that forced him to reluctantly swing it open.
He let out a taxing grumble, as his eyes gaze beyond the threshold, to his disappointment like the window it shed no evidence and was consumed by darkness. No lanterns were there for him this time around.
"Great…" Leo said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and letting out a sigh, before turning around going towards the desk.
He couldn't continue in the dark in some unknown location, besides it would be foolish and overzealous to be like that regardless he knew by instinct he was to blend with the shadows. What good it will do for him to stumble around in the dark, especially this one that he discovered very quickly his eyes were not adjusting, regardless of the bright lighting illuminating behind him.
So, in the end, he figured a source of light was required to move past this roadblock and the lantern on the desk that was out of place compared to the rest of the decor, which was an old mining lantern, was the key way out of his predicament. He quickly snatched it up and then froze as he was hit by a revelation.
His eyes nervously study the lamp and his memories snapped back to a game he actually played one day out of boredom, recalling the same design for the hero's lantern, that of all coincidences was just not so likely to come up with in a situation such as this one.
A slight shiver did run down his spine, as he had to push the thought away and reach for the door as he found now he was stopped from his own fears, hovering there at the threshold not daring yet to venture on.
Part of him wanted to stay in this obvious safe room, yet deep down in his gut, he knew that wasn't a choice.
"Leo you can't stay here, you need to figure a way back home," he told himself as doubt filled him, was there a way back?
He didn't even have a clue on how he got there or when at that, the last memories were foggy at best and he couldn't make heads or tails of what has been actual events, to his brain just wanting a certain explanation to cope with.
He finally took a step entering the thin hallway ahead, seeing there were windows to the right yet cast no glow as he recalled the moon was no help with the view at the other window either.
A breath taken, to hold his courage close to his heart he kept walking down the ominous hallway.
If there was a time to feel alone this was a perfect situation since he being not only alone, he longed for his brothers, not one over the other but all three of them.
He always, though never admit it, felt safe when all three of his siblings were with him, especially after that one fateful day, a day he regretted every action he made up to the point where he ran into the Shredder's elite ninjas and how they hunted him down like some wild animal and tried to snuff out his life.
He learned the lesson of teamwork and how his own strengths alone weren't enough without his brothers by his side.
Not that he thought he couldn't handle this on his own, but knew they complete him to be the best he could be.
Brotherhood, an efficient ninja team, or just being the same species, it can be called whatever you want to label it, yet in the end grand design, they are at the top of their game, far skilled then alone, when they worked together.
To his dislike, the hallway was eerily quiet and in the distance, he could make out a set of doors, that unfortunately was the only visible exit other than the room he came from so far.
He could entertain the idea that the long row of windows to is right that each had their set of thick long flowing curtains as another means to get around, yet just the look of them and what awaited outside daunted him as a very bad idea to even consider.
Each window he passed by his imagination started to take root feeling how this scenario closely resembled a scene from a video game Mikey has been playing lately.
It was one of those ones, where the character made a grim discovery that they're screwed, consumed with paranoia will cautiously walking down a darkened hallway. While either the music is ramping up or nonexistent and before reaching the promising door to freedom or a worse fate that awaits the damn to be hero, something either bursts in from the windows or when the character in question passes a particular window a jump scare is triggered.
With only two more windows to clear, he found himself gulping the lump in his throat unconsciously cursing himself to even dare to think of this before he was done with the damn hallway.
Now he just set himself up and made his nerves bad for he could feel the anxiety steadily growing.
(Shell, Leo why did you do that? Bad enough Mikey does it… though that is why… Mikey always does it so he takes the role so you don't have to worry about such things for someone is doing it for you…)
He sighed, rubbing the back of his head miserably and continued towards the door with nothing happening, yet the reality of loneliness weighing heavier in his heart was the jump scare, it was the thing he would horrifyingly face passing the last window as he would have preferred to have a monster of some sort then this dwelling feeling.
The door like the other was solid wood and the handle, to his darkest wishes it too was warm, now he desperately hoped someone was here so he could fill in the void and who knows they might have answers.
Opening it up not bothering to be quiet or stealthy he found it led to a study, that was massive compared to the other that he came from, though study wasn't the correct word to associate to this room's decor.
In one describe the place would geek out Donnie.
It had a massive library with tall shelves that you had to use a ladder to reach the top books, roughly in the middle of the room was a telescope facing the direction of a large glass window that was wide and reach the ceiling.
The room was well lit and his eyes searched for life, seeing the place was still, other than the dancing flames of the lanterns.
Slowly he turned towards the large window wondering if he could get a better view and maybe some answers that way? Besides, how could it hurt?
Taking that chance Leo headed towards the large window, aware of his closing in reflection in it.
When he cast his gaze out he frowned, it was just forest beyond he could see, a bit more prominent than the last windows yet still it wasn't right, there was just no color where the leaves would be, they were all pure grey tints and shades.
He would mistaken himself being color blind if he didn't know better.
"Shell…" Leo sighed, then squinted his eyes fearing he was hallucinating, seeing something that actually captured a hue in the far distance and it was red.
"A balloon?" Leo shook his head, unsure what was more bizarre the balloon or the forest. Before he could question it, he noticed a sudden change in the air and there was something to the right, reflecting from the surface of the glass.
He flashed his head only catching a quick glimpse of what looked like a grey figure, a turtle?
The only true feature he could make out was the glowing red eyes.
He turned around quickly, anticipating to find someone else than himself, however, to his surprise there was no one there.
When he flashed a look back to the window the reflection had vanished as well as if it was never there, only a figment of his imagination created by his lonesomeness.
To top it off the balloon far in the distance was nowhere to be seen, though he swore he saw something rushing through the trees that was a green hue.
His concerns weighing heavier towards the figure that was there with him Leo ignored the outside event, turning his attention inwards.
Where did the person go if they were there, and not some optical illusion created by the surrounding lights?
Walking back into the center he took in every detail of the room, hoping he would catch anything that might be amiss from when he first entered this location and to his turtle luck he saw a potential out of place item.
"Wait, weren't all the books neatly placed on the shelves?" he noticed that one was sticking out at the far end, up near the top where a ladder was conveniently placed beside it.
Funny thing, he didn't recall the ladder was in that area of the bookshelves when he first came in.
This was what he was looking for!
That was his clue, some progress he can make, as he found a staircase to bring him up a level to reach the ladder.
Before it, he could feel his heart racing and he unexpectedly found himself nervous as he placed a shaky hand on the ladder cautiously scaling up to the book in question.
It was a hardcover with a green leather casing, on the spine, he could make out the fainted letters of the author only yet the title was worn out. The author's name unrecognizable, one he never heard of, L.H. Angel.
Before he took it he drew a deep breath and then reached towards it as something deep down told him this would be a bad idea and he should leave it be, yet he ignored it figuring it was that imagination again trying to best him.
Taking the book out he flipped it to the front as a cold shiver ran through his body. He felt his legs weaken. "This… this…"
"Leo?" Mikey's voiced called as he felt like his body was being ripped away from where he was.
His name a beacon between his body and soul, the world around him melted away, then suddenly he was slingshot through space itself, then slam painfully back into his body.
The sensation so intense he actually toppled backwards, hitting the ground as if the experience wasn't just a feeling yet an action that affected not just his soul but his physical body as well.
His skin was burning and his bones ache.
The commotion he must have made reuniting with his body alarmed the little brother that now was trying to break himself into the room.
His head started to spin as he came aware it was throbbing against his skull and he must have hit it against the ground.
The flickering lights of his candles danced around making him feel motion sickness as he attempted to sit up.
By this time Mikey succeeded to take the door down that hung on one hinge and he was red in the face huffing.
"Dude are you okay?" Mikey wheeze as Leo looked up at him then the door.
"I would be if you didn't break my door Mikey, why did you do that?" Leo answered with a scowl, trying to shake off what just happen to him, which the event was fresh in his mind that was more disturbing than forgetting his nightmares.
"Ah duh, dude!" Mikey replied a bit annoyed, "You haven't answered me for at least thirty minutes, normally it would take twenty at max then you yelp out of nowhere followed by a crashing like you had fell, so what the shell wouldn't I force myself in?" Mikey explained as his face became redder and Leo could see the worry and hurt in his brother's eyes mixed with a slight glimmer of anger.
"Sorry," Leo ushered looking away feeling guilty for making his brother feel this way.
Mikey took a deep breath, then put on a warm smile, "It's all good dude as long as you tell Donnie there was a good reason he has to fix this door and I wasn't involved. I already have two strikes with him and then he said I will pay…"
Leo actually shuddered, nodding, "I wouldn't know what that would entitle but I know the last time when that happened to Raph he refused to ever mention it again…"
Mikey let out a nervous chuckle, "Yeah, that… I don't want to find out, shell…"
Both turtles became silent then nodded and Leo got up, "What time is it?"
"Oh, it's noon," Mikey pointed out as Leo flashed him a look in disbelief. He couldn't have been in meditation for six hours since it felt less than an hour. "Leo, are you okay?" Mikey then asked as Leo dared to look into those baby blues.
"Yes of course, why do you ask?" he managed to answer.
"Well…" Mikey came up to him feeling his forehead, "You look a bit white around the collar dude."
"I do?" Leo hesitantly asked.
"Yeah…" Mikey studied his eyes as Leo feared Mikey would question him on this long meditation session and if anything had happened.
Yet that wasn't the case as the brother smiled sweetly, "Man you are probably starving, let me guess, you never had anything for breakfast since there was no paper for Donnie this morning."
"Oh… ummm…." Leo fiddled his fingers as the kid brother did a light heart chuckle.
"I thought so dude since I didn't see any dead toasters either-"
"Mikey, come on, stop insisting I'm a toaster killer, I haven't-"
"Fifty-Five and counting dude, you are the serial killer of the toaster kind. Poor Sunny, last time she didn't have a chance the poor girl before she met her fate from your blade…"
Leo frowned just wishing that his little brother would drop it and Sunny at that, was it bad enough the kid brother gave the stupid tin box a funeral humiliating him in front of his family, to constantly remind him and keep track the toaster death count?
He couldn't help it that every toaster just wasn't working right or would explode by him just touching it, he strongly considered he was framed for the most part, for why the hell of all things he goes around toasters are the only item that just breaks on him? He even supposedly murdered two of April's though he swore he never entered her kitchen, then there was the one at Casey's as well.
"Mikey," Leo said flatly, "Let's go and have lunch or you will hit three strikes with Don over this door if you dare mention Sunny or any other nickname toaster for the next week."
Mikey yelped jumping then turned around to rush away as Leo followed, shaking his head, he would make that longer but knew a week was the max his brother would able to handle, next time he would make the duration a tad longer to increase the time frame his brother's capability can withstand.
Finally, lunch over, training too, that was a bit short than normal, he was relieved finding each brother had went their separate ways after.
He did spend some of his time sitting in the living room watching Mikey play his game before stating he was going for a run on the rooftops when the sun came down.
Supper wasn't missed since he ate cold pizza as Mikey did so too when they were sitting before the big screens and he figured Mikey would offer some to Donnie sometime later. All considering the brother needed to be reminded to eat and as for Raph, he would have something at Casey's since he plainly made it clear he will be home late.
"So where are you going, dude?" Mikey asked and to Leo's satisfaction showed no interest to ask if he could join, since he was too engulfed in his game.
"Just around the blocks, not that far if any emergencies come up," he answered, gathering his blades and strapping them in, "I won't be late and if I do lose track of time just ring me up I have my shell cell," he showed Mikey to make sure no concerns arise.
"Okay dude, have fun."
Leo rose to his feet walking away, then paused and tilted his head towards the gaming brother.
"I will and don't forget to remind our brother to eat, I'm not sure what he is working on but he is too involved to listen to his body's needs," Leo insisted as Mikey chuckled with a nod.
He then turned towards the elevator ready to exit until his father's voice called him from across the room, "Leonardo?"
"Yes, Sensei? I'm heading out for a run," he explained as his father didn't say another word, nodding only wanted to know where he was going off alone, if he was Raph there would be more questions, yet he wasn't, so that was a bonus.
The night sky with the haziness of pollution of lights and everything else, Leo still felt at ease, yet it was on his mind, the one thing that has been plaguing him as he continued on his journey towards a particular area of town.
So far things were stuck in a tranquil state, yet he feared when he got to his destination this would be some illusion.
What if they were all wrong?
What if his dreams been omens of what they left unfinished?
Finally, he came to the block he was aiming for and his heart pulsed heavily in his chest, was now lodged in his throat and it took all efforts on his accord to make the next steps towards the building that would overlook the nightmarish place.
"It's over… you made sure of it," Leo told himself.
(Did you?)
Alarmed Leo looked around wildly, did someone answered him, when he didn't usher a word only was thinking silently.
After a moment of paranoia he was caught up in, he discovered there was nothing there, everything was still as it should be the only movement was traffic lights far in the distance and maybe an ambulance blinking. Up close there was some steam coming from a nearby vent yet no life, not even a pigeon.
He was alone and he sighed, trying his best to shrug it off, his imagination was taking root and he couldn't afford that right now.
His eyes fixed on the buildings that towered the one he was going to investigate, but before he could do anything, first he had to climb to the top of the one he was coming up too, since it had two roofs, one that was the same level he was at and one higher, which wouldn't be difficult to scale.
Leo swiftly darted up to it taking out his climbing claws swiftly and quietly scaled up the wall towards the top.
When he reached it, the breeze picked up that was cold and harsh, as his foot hit the cement, he shivered, noticing something was amiss.
"Wait a minute... this is the location right?" he said this time out loud taking a step forward recognizing the adjacent buildings, yet not the one in the center.
Walking to the edge to make sure his eyes were not playing tricks he stared at it baffled. It was a normal office building, yet he was dead certain roughly five months ago, there was a creepy old mansion called the Volpehar building. It wasn't hard to mistaken or overlook, with it fully decorated with gargoyles with seven stories to it and had a gothic appeal.
If he could picture Dracula's home, if it wasn't a castle like the stories, that place would fit the bill and truth be told it was like a sore thumb to the surrounding buildings.
"How can…" Leo mumbled, then scream out suddenly in fright feeling a hand ghost his shoulder.
Quickly the turtle turned around to defend himself only to see the stunned golden eyes staring back at him dumbfounded.
"Raph!" Leo gasped, as Raph tightened his lips, then let out a mocking whistle.
"Shell Fearless a bit jumpy? No?" Raph took a deep breath, holding it in puffing out his chest as he nodded three times before letting go of his held captive breath, "Don't tell me you were into Donnie's coffee stash… I know dip-shit gets into it and becomes wired as hell, not that he isn't annoying enough as he is off the caffeine, and for Don, it's the only thing to wake him up, so for you, it makes you jumpy?"
Leo rolled his eyes, "Funny, really funny. I... " he paused, unsure what a good excuse to use on Raph to stop any more jokes and rubbing his face with the fact Raph was able to approach him with no effort without him detecting the brother, then to top it off be scared shitless by him as well.
Instead, he used one of the oldest tactics in the book, changing the subject.
"Why are you out here?" Leo interrogated.
"Taking a stroll," Raph shrugged, walking up beside his brother looking out at what was so captivating that his older brother was gawking at before he scared him and then continued, "Casey was out patrolling then after Ape gave him a call he ran back to her place."
"Is everything alright?" he asked, concerned, as his brother smirked with amusement.
"For him no!" Raph answered and Leo's worries worsened. Raph smiled more, "The bonehead forgot that April made renovations to a new restaurant in town and left her standing there for an hour," Raph barked a laugh, "Men you should have seen the poor sap's face, he was so white I thought he was about to faint and to boot Ape's angry voice was blaring out of his phone."
"Oh…" Leo let out a breath of relief it wasn't anything urgent, though he did fear for Casey's life, even he knew there was only one thing when it came to April, avoid her wrath and to do so is not to provoke it. He at times wondered if anyone weighed both the hothead and April overall anger level to be frightening to face and who would be the winner? His vote was on April, without a shadow of a doubt.
"Yeah the guy is so in the doghouse," Raph chuckled, then turned to Leo with a serious expression on his face, "So bro why are you here?"
"Oh…" Leo flashed him a look, then towards the buildings keeping his cool, he didn't want to hint there was something behind why he really was there.
The book in his meditation session had the image of the house that was far larger than it originally was, this was the true reason he was here, to see if he could spot any activity, although he strongly thought he put a stop to the place's curse, killing the monster in the house's depths and even releasing the man that dwell there for centuries under the demon's control to serve it.
It was over, the house, the greed the monster used on its unexpected victims and the lost lives. It was obvious that chapter of his life was closed since the house was no more.
"I was taking a stroll and thought to check out the mansion, but I guess it's gone for good?" Leo started with a half question.
"Huh, yeah thought you knew, Donnie brought it up a few months ago how the city demolishing it seeing no reason for the rotten building to clutter that space."
"Rotting?"
Raph nodded, "After we kick that alien demon's butt, the place started to fall apart and I guess someone noticed and," Raph took his finger making the motion of him slitting his throat, "Goodbye flugly building. They build another boring office building in its place."
"Huh…" Leo placed his hand under his chin, nodding to what he was looking at, "But what about the chamber below, surely they must have discovered it when they did the foundation for the tower."
Raph shrugged, "Mikey asked the same question and Don said they found nothing of the sort as if it didn't exist anymore.
He raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?" He looked at the office complex that was proof of that, though this was the first he heard of it, how was he out of the loop on this one?
"Yep, but don't ask me, maybe Donnie-boy can explain," Raph offered then moved away, "Well I'm heading home-"
Leo turned towards him, then smiled feeling relieved as the weight of the world was just taken off his shoulders. This was what he needed to move on and try to focus on a way to stop the nightmares without the worry that haunting horror house incident wasn't over.
"You can... but the question here is can you beat me?" Leo darted past him seeking for an amusing response that was achieved.
Raph blink at him dumbfounded standing there, then it hit him, as he barked in anger, "Shell Leo that is cheating! Don't think this will help you to beat me!"
TBC