"I swear, there was somebody in here!" I shriek, biting my knuckles to keep from screaming. My heart is still thumping loudly and I feel as if everyone can hear it too.
As soon as I'd screamed, my family had rushed into my room. Rose has called Donnie (she says that if anyone can solve this mystery, he can) and Mom is trying to calm me down. I am still shaking uncontrollably. I thought I'd never have to hear Laney's voice ever again besides in my dreams. And yet somehow, she seemed to be inside my room.
"The window's still sealed shut," Donnie notes, glancing over at me. "And the front door was locked too, along with the few windows out in the front room. There's no way anyone could have gotten in."
"But she was here!" I scream. "I heard her!" The rest of the turtles come piling into my bedroom, and Rose comes behind them. She must've called everyone else to tell them what was happening. As soon as Leo sees me, he doesn't waste a second before taking me into his arms. I continue to cry.
"Shh...it's okay..." he whispers, but even his soothing, reassuring voice can't calm me down now. "We're here, Lexi. Nobody's gonna hurt you." I can tell that he wants to say something else—anything that will completely calm me down—but he can't think of anything. I don't blame him though. Neither can I.
I continue to sob and Leo continues to whisper words like, 'It's okay...I've got you now' or 'You're alright'.
Usually when a little kid gets hurt, I notice that the thing that most adults would say is, 'You're alright, you're okay.' They won't ask, 'Are you alright?' They say things confidently like, 'You're alright.' I notice that that usually earns a better reaction from the kid, and that kid who got hurt feels more confident, like they start believing that they really are okay.
But I'm not a little kid. At the moment I feel like I am vulnerable and scared, and I know all too well that that wasn't a dream. I heard Laney's voice. And if she really wasn't in my bedroom, then she was in my mind. And that's really, really twisted. That's worse than her being in my room.
I try to say what I'm thinking, about how if Donnie is right and there was nobody in the room, then she was in my mind. But I can't talk, and when I try it just comes out as blubbering stutters. I bite my tongue so hard that I think I'll bite it in two, and take a seat on the floor. I hug my knees and bury my head in my arms, letting the tears fall onto my sweatpants. I shut my eyes so tightly that it seems like all of those tears that are still behind my eyes, have evacuated because my eyelids are closed so tightly. I focus hard to steady my breathing.
If I was listening, then I would be able to hear whatever Donnie was saying. I catch a word or two of it like 'RBMC' or 'mind-control' or 'research' but I'm trying to focus on Leo.
He holds onto me so tightly—like he's absolutely terrified to let me go. Like he is afraid that if he stops hugging me or takes his eyes off of me, then I will start bawling again. His breathing even sounds calm and I envy that he's able to be calm even at times like this.
I swallow and decide to try and speak.
"I think...I think it might've been inside my head..." I croak, trying to wipe the tears from my eyes. Leo is holding me so tightly that it's hard to reach my hand out to do so, so as if taking the cue, he loosens his grip on me, but still keeps his arms around me.
"That's the only rational answer, sweetie," Mom says, nodding. "It was just a nightmare, don't worry it'll—"
"No," I snap, a bit sharper than I'd plan. "I don't think that it was inside my head...I think that she was inside my head." Everybody is silent. I probably sound like a complete maniac, but I don't care.
"I heard her and I know that I heard her. She said hello two times, 'I'm here' another, and then she started singing that stupid chant." My voice cracks a little as I feel the tears threaten again, just thinking about the song that gives me shivers. "I heard her and it wasn't my imagination. She wasn't in the room either."
"Lexi, you aren't making any sense," Mom reasons.
"Just listen to me, okay?" I shout. I'm almost surprised that I raised my voice at my mother. Ashamed that I'd yelled, I avoid eye contact with her.
"She wasn't in my bedroom and that's clear. And she wasn't my imagination either, no matter how much you all choose to deny it." I pause, thinking for a moment. I don't know how to say what I'm thinking. As if reading my mind, Leo takes my hand in his as if saying to take my time in my explanation. "Laney." I flinch back saying it and I make the expression like the name tastes bad in my mouth. "She was mutated and clearly has some supernatural trait about her. I think that somehow...somehow she's been haunting me."
"What do you mean by haunting? Like in your dreams?" Mikey asks, taking a seat on my spinny chair. I can tell that it's taking all his might and strength not to spin around in the chair.
"Lately yeah," I say. "I should've been able to forget her after a few days, but for the past two weeks she's continued to stay in my mind. She hasn't left. She still haunts my dreams." I pause again. "I went to Mallory's late at night last night. On the way home, I thought I would be fine. When I got to the apartments...there was a man standing up at the top of the stairs. I got really scared, but eventually, I drew nearer and noticed he was a mannequin."
"A mannequin at the top of the stairs?" Raph repeats, raising an eye ridge. "I think that we woulda seen that." I feel my eyebrows scrunch up in confusion.
"It's absolutely hard to miss," I state, narrowing my gaze. "He's literally on the top step."
I watch Mom tense up and I fix my gaze on her.
"Well we didn't see it," Raph concludes, glancing over at his brothers. "Did any of ya see it?"
"No," Mikey agrees with Raph. "I didn't see it."
"That's so weird..." I whisper, shaking my head. "It couldn't have gotten up and moved! Its feet were practically nailed to the ground!"
"Who would nail a mannequin to an apartment stair anyway?" Benj asks, shaking his head. "It just doesn't make any sense."
"Lexi..." Mom says quietly, biting her lip. "How long were you around that mannequin for?" I'm confused at her question.
"I don't know...uh...five minutes maybe? Ten? I wasn't really paying attention," I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. But then I take note of the grave expression on her face. "Why?"
She takes a deep breath and rubs her temples before answering.
"I got a packet from the Headquarters today—it said some of the mutants from the RBMC...there was a mannequin-like one in the packet." Anger fills me and I suddenly feel betrayed by myself. Why hadn't I read those reports? If I'd read them, they I would have immediately known the danger of it.
"What did it say?" I narrow my gaze. Mom sighs and heads down the hall. She comes back a few minutes later, with the packet in her hands.
"I didn't finish looking through it, so I brought it home," she says, going through the pages.
"I thought you weren't supposed to bring reports home from the Headquarters. Isn't it against the rules?" Benj asks and Mom shoots him a look, like she's offended that he would even ask that.
"I'm one of the most trusted people in the Headquarters," she snaps. "There are always exceptions." She turns back towards me, gently showing me a picture. "Does this look like him?" I flinch back. The picture shows a mannequin very similar to the man I'd seen on the stairs. All I can do was nod.
"Alexandra, that wasn't a mannequin..." She says in a low voice. "You ran into one of the most dangerous mutants out there." My mouth drops open and words refuse to come out properly.
"But...I...he...you...no...but..." I stutter, shaking my head. "What do you mean?"
"This mutant is known as one of the Maneuver Men. There's a large army of them in their Headquarters, and they're some of the most dangerous. Never look into their eyes. Looking directly into their eyes can drive you to insanity until you reach a state where you are physically and mentally useless," Mom reads and my heart begins to start quickening again.
"But he had sunglasses on..." I point out. "I couldn't even see his eyes."
"The sunglasses prevent immediate insanity. Generally they have sunglasses on because little by little it can be easily passed off as just natural insanity. They don't want to be caught."
"So the glasses protect you?" Mikey guesses. "You know, if you're the victim."
"Not exactly," Mom corrects. "Either way, looking into their eyes, protected or not, will result in a channeling that can cause insanity. Lexi, I think Laney was being channeled through the Maneuver Man."
"Awesome," I mutter. "That's awesome."
"They don't just go around killing everyone they see. They always have a reason to be ganging up on that specific person," Mom explains.
"Ugh!" I groan. "Why am I always the main target? Why does everyone want to kill me?"
"The Maneuver Men do tend to mess with your brain. They pretty much take away all common sense until you look away from them. Then, you get that uncomfortable feeling that you should get and you have time to hurry off."
"Does it chase after you?" Mikey asks, tilting his head.
"No," Rose says, taking the reports and inspecting them. "It says here that it can't move if someone is watching it. Lexi, someone was watching the maneuver man while you were running. Somebody saved your life."
"Wait what about security cameras? They have cameras here at the complex—how did the guy manage to get away?" Benj asks.
"They can mess with the electricity. I'm sure that it managed to shut off the cameras and escape," Rose says. "That means it's still on the loose."
"But how did it move?" I ask, shaking my head. "It was nailed to the ground!"
"It's supposed to seem like that when you see it, but when nobody's watching, it can go," Mom explains. I groan and pull at my hair out of exasperation.
"This is starting to sound like the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who!" I complain. "I really don't want Weeping Angels in my life right now."
"What's a Weeping Angel?" Raph asks, cocking an eyebrow.
"It's this alien that looks like an angel statue when you look at it, but when you look away or blink, it gets closer and closer and eventually kills you. It turns into a statue when any living thing looks at it, but the second somebody blinks, it gets closer. They also mess with the lights; similar to how this mannequin guy messes with the electricity. No one's ever been able to see what it really looks like though," I explain.
"That's because it's a T.V. show," Mom reminds. "This isn't a T.V. show, Lexi. It's real life and somebody wants to kill you."
"Maybe I want to know why everybody suddenly wants to kill me! I don't understand what I did! If you're so smart then tell me that." I spit. I instantly regret it, but I can't take it back anymore. Mom's face looks stern, but I'm glad that she doesn't scold me.
"We don't know," she says. "We're trying to figure it all out." There is a pause. Nobody says anything. "We can't do much right now, Alex. We've done all we can; now we have to wait. I'll go to the Headquarters early today to check out everything and see if Dr. Faulkner has anymore information."
"He does," Donnie inputs. "I just talked to him around ten o'clock tonight on the phone; he said that there's a huge new batch of information that have everything to do with the RBMC."
"We'll let you guys go then," Mom decides, nodding towards my brothers. "Thanks for coming over, it's always a huge help."
As Donnie and Raph start to leave, Mikey embraces me into a big hug and Leo slightly gets shoved to the side by him. The orange-clad doesn't seem to notice though.
"It'll be okay, Lexi..." he promises, hugging me. "Me and my brothers have got eighteen years of cowabunga ninjistu training." He karate chops the air and I laugh at the youngest turtle. He grins and pats Leo on the back. "Plus your boyfriend is the leader in blue; Fearless'll keep ya safe no matter what 'cause he loves you."
Leo slides his arm around me and kisses the top of my head.
"For once, he's right," Leo says.
"I guess Leo'll probably be staying here until sunrise," Mikey says, raising his eye ridges and grinning. "He won't let you out of his sight now."
"None of us will probably be going back to bed anyway," Rose admits, shaking her head. "Not after all of this."
"Really?" Mikey exclaims, cocking an eye ridge. "I'm going straight back to bed as soon as I get home. So what it's almost five AM? Usually we have training at six when Tatsuo isn't training us, but since Leo clearly isn't coming home, I'm sure we'll skip training."
"Or I can call Tatsuo to make a surprise trip down to the lair to train you while I'm gone..." Leo sings and Mikey's mouth drops open.
"No Leo, please don't!" The baby brother pleads, getting down on his knees. "We're teenage boys, we need a summer break too!" I laugh and pat Leo on the shoulder.
"He won't," I promise, smiling once more at the orange-clad turtle. "Now go get your rest."
"Oh I will." He jumps out through the window. "See ya, dudette."
I give Mikey one last wave and then let out a breath. I bite my lip, and then take a seat on the ground again. I lean against my bed frame and close my eyes. I feel Leo's presence beside me, as he sits next to me. My eyes stay closed for a few moments, but I find his hand and take it into mine.
We stay silent for a while.
I can't help but let out a laugh in spite of all of this. I open my eyes and look over at him, just to find him already gazing at me.
"Why does everyone want to kill me? When did I suddenly become the most interesting person in New York?" I shake my head. "If only I could've been this popular in middle school."
Leo raises his eyeridges. "Hm...yeah, I don't think the phrase 'I would kill to be her' was meant to be taken literally." When I laugh at this, he smiles and puts his arm around my shoulders. "Lex, I wish I had more answers for you. Believe me; I do. I wish I could help solve everything for you." He pauses. "Unfortunately, there are some things that I guess..." He pauses, again, struggling to find the right words to say. "I guess..." His forehead creases, and he looks frustrated. He finds my eyes, and immediately I see the sorrow within his own. His voice goes down to a whisper. "I can't always find the right words. But that doesn't mean that I don't think about you."
"Leo..." I say, shaking my head. "You being here is enough."
Now it's his turn to let out a breath and lean against my bed frame. He closes his eyes tightly, and shakes his head. "But I wish I could to more than just be here. Just being here means that that's all I'm able to do. I want to do the right things, yes, but I also want to say the right things."
I think on his words for a few moments.
"Well..." I pause, then I take his arm and gently run my fingertips up and down his forearm. "Sometimes the right thing to say is nothing at all." I shake my head. "And Leo, sometimes the right thing can't be put into words. I appreciate you trying to though. But remember you don't have to feel like you need to say the right thing all the time. Because to me, it's about intentions. And I know yours are pure."
He looks at me for a few moments. He appears to be thinking, and thinking very hard. Then, he leans in close and shakes his head the slightest bit.
"I don't know how you fell for me," he mumbles. "It doesn't make any sense to me. But I feel incredibly lucky. Incredibly blessed."
I smile a small smile, and then reach out and place my hand on his cheek. I kiss him, and slowly run my hand along his cheek as I do so. He pulls me closer and wraps his arms around my waist. My heart warms up just by being close to him. When I pull away, his face drops a little, like he wishes the moment could last longer. It's so cute that I can't help but bring him back in for another kiss. He smiles as I kiss him, and I can't help but smile too. When we pull away, our faces remain close. He rubs his face against mine, and I laugh. I wrap my arms around him into an embrace, and we sit there for a few moments.
"You should rest—"
"Please don't go!" I say, pulling him closer.
He pauses. "I'm not going to leave, Lexi. You just need your rest."
I snuggle into his chest. "I'll do that. Right here."
A/N: UGH cheesy ending, I know, but i'm not going to apologize bc i'm a sucker for those. Thank you again for reading my story(: i know things might seem like they are all confusing and lots is happening at once but i PROMISE that it all connects eventually. It really does. It just takes time.
Thank you for reading!