Dead Kid Walking

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The building burned in the distance, the smoke rising above the skies in a gleam of desperation for oxygen as if it was truly living. The turtles, after dropping the children off by the next building to safety, quickly ran into the shadows and blocks away from the fire, but close enough they could still see it.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! The kid! The kid! We have to go back! We have to!" Mikey screamed still being dragged away by Leo and Raph. Donnie stood there finishing getting off the phone with 911 and giving the location of the children so they would be picked up. He looked up to see his brothers struggling with Mikey and felt a twinge of guilt. He felt bad for Mikey since he was the youngest and in a sense the most innocent; things like accidental death are hard for him to accept.

"Mikey that's enough! We can't go back!" Leo yelled, trying to get ahold of his brothers moving limbs.

"The kid! We have to get the kid we didn't get him out!" Mikey screeched trying to claw his way out of his brothers hold. Finally Raphael had enough and used all of his strength to move Mikey so that he was facing him eye to eye.

"The kids dead Mikey! Aint nothing you can do about it! We aint going back and that's final!" He yelled. He could feel Mikey shake under his hands. His baby blues quickly filling with unshed tears. He just stared at him for a bit before he hiccupped.

"I killed him." He said quietly. Raph was taken back.

"What? No Mikey you didn't kill him. He fell."
"He fell because I wasn't paying attention. I wasn't focused I freaked out I didn't know what to do! He bit me and I just lost it! I just I-I-I-" His body was flipped back around and he was faced with Leo once more, having both his hands placed on his face.

"Mikey listen to me. This was not your fault okay? Things happen and sometimes people die. You tried to save him. This isn't on you. Alright?" Leo stared his brother intently, making sure he got the message. Mikey stared back, calming his breath. After he took a couple more gulps of air, he nodded in agreement. Leo nodded in return. "Now you said he bit you?" Leo asked. Mikey took a huge breath before blowing it out.

"Y-yeah."

"Did he say anything to you?" Donnie asked, confused of the kids aggression towards Mikey.

"Yeah he uh, said something like uh.." Mikey ran his hand over his head, the sight of crimson catching Leos eyes. He grabbed Mikey's arm and grimaced.

"Ugh!" Raph cringed. Donnie came over and inspected the wound.

"Mikey, you said the kid did this to you?" Donnie asked. His arm almost torn, like an animal bit into his flesh. It was mangled and raw as if the child was trying to tear into him. Donnie was stunned that a child could do such damage especially to their thicker skin.

Mikey looked down at his arm for the first time and saw the reason his brothers were so shocked. His adrenaline was starting to come down and he started to realize he lost a lot of blood.

His eyes drooped slightly and he fell awkwardly to the side, being caught by Raph.

"Woah bud. Alright you'll be okay." Raph tried to soothe trying to get him to stand up. Mikey shook his head, feeling it become light.

"Woah." Mikey said, grabbing his arm in a loose hold.

"Lets head home so Donnie can get that patched up." Leo said, wrapping an arm around Mikey's waist to help him move before heading back to the lair.

"Ow!" Mikey wined as he watched Donnie clean his wound.

"Well If you would stop moving this wouldn't hurt as bad." Donnie reprimanded, taking the tweezers and pulling back the damaged tissue. Donnie was still in shock that a little boy could do this type of damage. Their skin was tougher than most, even bullets have a harder time getting through their skin. For a kid, no older than ten to break through the skin.

Mikey pouted, cringed and flinching back every time Donnie moved his skin around.

"And you spoke of a child did this?" Master Splinter said, gaining a dark feeling in his bones.

"Yeah, he looked at me and said something. Then he bit me out of no where." Mikey explained, face drooping as the memory of the kid made him feel the swarm of guilt. Splinter took note and placed a hand on his sons should and squeezed slightly.

"Michelangelo, do not sit in regret for things you cannot change. Though his death was a tragedy, you did everything you could to stop it. You cannot change it, only grow from it." He tried to soothe whether or not it would work. Mikey merely looked at him and nodded in understanding. The guilty feeling still didn't go away.

Donnie finished putting some ointment on and wrapping it in a bandage. He reached over to the cabinet and pulled out some pain killers.

"Alright take a couple of these and it should relieve you of some of the pain. It will probably make you drowsy though." He explained. Mikey took the medication and got up from his seat, wobbling slightly.

"Mikey how about you just sit on the couch and me and Donnie will get you some pizza." Leo offered. Suddenly, Mikey perked up.

"I mean if you're buying." He said slyly. Leo smirked bopping him on the head.

"Alright. Well be right back." He said.

"I will be retired to my room by the time you get back so goodnight." Master Splinter said as he walked out of the room gaining the goodnights of all his sons.

"well you guys are gonna go out I'm gonna put on the fight." Raph said walking out. Mikey smiled before following his brother out, wanting to see the fight as well.

An hour or so past and Donnie wasn't kidding when he said the medication would make Mikey feel sleepy. Sitting on the couch watching the pre recorded fight was causing his eyes to droop. He could hear Raphael snoring in the background and the faint noise of the grunts coming from the TV. He closed his eyes, listening to his surroundings, familiarizing himself with what was happening. The sounds beginning to dim out. Then, all became silent.

A high pitched scream entered his mind and his eyes shot open. He sat up straight and looked around to find he was the only one in the room. He looked forward to find the TV was turned off. The whole room was dark and abandoned and an unease entered his body.

"Raph?" He called, a strange echo returning back to him. He got no response back. He felt the anxiety build in his stomach.

"Come on Raph this isn't funny." He yelled standing up. He looked around the living to find it completely deserted. He groaned, a sudden sting from his arm. He watched as the white bandage was starting to stain red.

He heard a large crash coming from the kitchen.

"Raph!" He yelled.

"Mike! Mikey is that you? Help!" He heard Raph's voice. He quickly darted towards the kitchen but when he entered found no one.

"What the hell.." He mumbled, looking around to see the pots and pans were knocked off the rails.

"Raph!" He tried once more. He started to sweat, but it wasn't for reasons of stress or fright, but he was actually feeling hot. His mouth began to dry, feeling a burn his throat. He gagged, trying to clear his throat.

"Oh god…Master Splinter!" He yelled as loud as he could with his voice hoarsed. "Ack!" Suddenly his arm felt like it was on fire. He quickly ripped off the bandages to look at the mane wound. He watched as the blood pulled and what seemed to be coming to a boil. His breathing began to become rapid, panic setting in. He needed to find someone or do something. He got up and ran towards the door the let himself out of the lair. But, the latch wouldn't budge.

"Come on Come on!" He yelled banging on the door as if it would magically open.

"Yo, Mike." His brothers voice coming from Dons lab. He saw a single light was on. Mikey couldn't move. "Mikey come here! Master Splinter…I don't know whats wrong with him!" He could hear his brothers hectic voice but didn't know whether or not to go.

With hesitant steps, he made his way over to the lab and looked inside to see once again there was no one.

"Im losing it. Im seriously losing it." He whispered to himself, keeping a hold on his arm as the burning intensified. He was hearing whispers in his years, taunting his mind. He continued to circle the room until suddenly the light went out. He stood there in pitch black hearing nothing but his own heart racing. Quickly he scrambled to the cabinets looking for a flashlight. He rushed and knocked anything over that didn't feel like what he needed.

"Yes!" He yelped when he felt the cylinder type item he was looking for. With shaky hands he turned on the light only to find an endless darkness, no sign of the gadgets and gizmos that were in the room before. Mikey flashed the light around to try and find the doorway but had no luck. He gulped, breathing heavily.

A cracking noise caught his eyes. He couldn't pin it but it started to get louder and louder, overlapping with his intense beating heart. He shined the light in front of him and yelped before falling on his butt. The boy stood there, gazing down at him with his neck crooked so unnaturally. His spine poking out from the side of his neck. His eyes glazed over with a white layer. A ooze dripped from his mouth, falling to the floor. Mikey eyes were wide as he started to back up trying to escape the sight of the dead boy. His shell hit the wall making him lose grip of the flashlight. It fell to the floor making him lose sight of the boy. He quickly grabbed it once more shining it in front of him to find the boy face to face with him, invading his space. For a moment the boy just stared at him, no words but a blank stare of a rotting corpse. Suddenly, his mouth opened wide, going past how a natural just should. A piercing scream leaving his mouth causing Mikey to scream in turn though drowned out by the sound of the dead boy.

Mikey awoke with a jolt, almost falling off of the couch. His eyes were wild looking up to see Leo standing above him in shock.

"Mikey you okay?" He asked with concern. He quickly darted his eyes around the room and saw Donnie and Raph looking at him with similar concern. He instic put his hand on his arm above the bandages to see that they were still relatively clean. There was no burning and no whispers in his mind. His heart was beating at 100 miles an hour. He stared down at the floor, calming his breath once more for the hundredth time today.

"yeah…Yeah I'm good. Just had a nightmare." He tried to explain. Leo placed a hand on his shoulder, making him flinch slightly.

"Mikey you're letting your guilt get to your head. Cant let it fester." Leo explained, handing him a plate of pizza. Mikey looked down at his favorite meal and felt no need to eat it. His hunger soon diminished into nothing and eating anything did not sound appealing. Thinking back to his dream, to the child that he felt will now forever haunt him. His voice somehow became recognizable.

"I think I remember what the kid told me before we fell." Mikey mentioned, holding the plate in his lap. Raph grumbled, shoveling down another piece of pizza.

"Yeah? What did he say?" He asked through a mouth full of food. Without looking up, Michelangelo responded.

"He called me a vessel."

A:N/ hey guys! Hope you are enjoying! Its just gonna get more freaky from here! Please leave reviews I love hearing what you guys have to say (: till next time! -F