Note:

IMPORTANT!!!

I am about to supply you with some valuable information. What is to follow is found on a basic google search. There are actual tours in New York City where you can go from historical house to historical house and get a grim bit of history. One in particular is what this fic is based upon. The information of this house is as follows:

"The House of Death"

14 West 10th Street (near Fifth Avenue)

This classic brownstone was constructed in the 19th century and is believed to be haunted by the 22 people who have died in the house, as well as Mark Twain. Twain, who lived there from 1900-1901, is rumored to haunt the stairwell of the house. In addition, attorney Joel Steinberg lived in the house in 1987 when he was accused and later convicted of beating his 6-year-old adopted daughter Jessica Steinberg to death.

Thought you guys would like to know that not all of this is completely fake.

My Best Friend

Author Dark Closure

Chapter 10

Leo didn't understand; it confused me a little. How could he not? Wasn't it right there? Wasn't it obvious what had happened? Donnie was hurt, Donnie shouldn't be left alone. Donnie... I ignored Leonardo while I stopped the bleeding of my brother. He had bruises on his neck, not as prominent as the one that was on the back of his knee. Leo tried to talk to me, tried to get information from the techno geek, but all he got was an odd grumble of possible explanations that could have caused the phenomenon. I didn't care; all I wanted right then was for the blood to stop gleamin' on my hands, tricklin' to my wrist to drop to the floor. Donnie, precious Donnie, he should never have things like this on him. He shouldn't have the faded scars on his shell. He shouldn't... just like Mikey... Mikey... A cold feelin' started to hiss in the fire of my belly. Why wasn't Leo checkin' up on Mikey? Why wasn't he leavin' the room? Why was he just standin' there talkin'? Why? Why? WHY?!

"Raph answer me!" Our fearless leader's voice snapped at me, grabbin' my attention.

"What?! What do you want?!" The bleeding had finally stopped. It was not as bad as first glance would give, but he would still need a full wrap around each finger and up the wrist.

Leo was quiet, thrown off by the hiss that underlined my out burst. Fine, if he wasn't gonna talk then I'm not gonna stay here and listen to the air growin' stagnant. I moved my grip to my bro's elbow and I yanked at him, causing him to stumble, "Come on Donnie."

"Raph, wait!" Leo went to try and get a hold of a brown-green arm. I snapped forward, blocking his hand with my own. His slightly golden eyes were confused, searching for a reason why I was actin' the way I was. If he couldn't see then I couldn't tell. There was no way I could tell him what was really goin' on. He wouldn't understand, he'd flip out. Would he be able to handle it... this? I couldn't take the chance.

I set my jaw, pushing out words that didn't want to come out, "Don't push it Leo."

"Guys, would you stop it already!" Donnie yelled his arm jerking from my grip, he looked stressed. No wonder, he's been havin' as much fun as me. The poor soul. "We've already got enough happening around here! The last thing we need is for you to start fighting each other!"

"Shut it Don!" I whirled on him grabbin' both of his forearms. I know I was glarin', but I didn't understand how intense it was until I realized he had flinched away from me. One eye squeezed shut, the other barely open to peer at me. Leo's hands were on my shoulders, a firm and strong grip that threatened to harm if need be. I had pushed Donnie against a wall, was holdin' him there, trying to keep him still. I took in a breath, forcing my muscles to relax, Leo's hands following lead but never leavin' the spots where fingers dug into skin. "You'll start bleedin' again," I simply said. They didn't buy it; they didn't believe that I was more concerned about his safety than the fights between me and Leo. Our fights were nothing, they didn't matter.

"He's... He's right, Donnie. Let's get you bandaged up first, and Raph, you're not leaving this room until those arms are looked after as well." Leo was havin' a hard time thinking, I could tell by the way he spoke, he only stumbled over words when he was at a loss of some sort.

A grunt, "I'm fine."

"I don't care what you think your physical status is," he shot me a glare. "You're arms are almost as bad as Donnie's hands."

"Che, what'eva."

Leo pressed his fingers harder against my skin, I let go of Donnie's forearms. I didn't say anythin' just waited at the door watchin' Mikey come out of my room. He looked tired and childish in the way he walked while in the middle of a yawn. He padded his way into the front room, rubbin' at his eyes while flipping over the back of the couch to land with a bounce. In a second the TV was on and channels being flipped. I didn't notice the sting on my arm at first; I was too distracted by watchin' over our baby bro. It wasn't until a scab was removed that my muscle twitched on my arm forcing me to look over to see what was going on. Leo was at work with medicine, making the scab soft then removing it before he would put ointment into the fresh gash and then wrapping it with gauze and tape. I sighed turning my attention back outside of the room. Donnie had passed by me, giving a worried glance over his shoulder before picking up his pace to sit down next to Mikey. The orange lovin' turtle started to question about the bandages over the hands immediately, givin' small jokes about how Donnie never was good at cookin' until our brother could correct him on his assumptions.

"At breakfast I want everyone to talk about what's been going on," Leo was talkin' but I could barely hear the low tone he was mumblin' in. "You and Mikey have GOT to tell us what happened back at that house, every detail, Raph. You listening Raphael?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I shrugged the shoulder he was working on. He wanted an explanation for something that didn't exist. It was like askin' for a picture of someone who is and isn't there. That picture isn't gonna come out too clear if you know what I mean.

"I'm serious Raph. You and Mikey have been acting up and now Donnie's hurt, you're hurt worse… this can't go on."

"I agree bro," I calmly blinked watching our brothers on the couch.

They both needed me now. One more precious innocence to watch over, to keep safe from everything. Mikey was easy to keep an eye on, to make sure he was close to me, away from everything that could hurt him. Donnie not so much, he was more of a free spirit in the sense he had trouble listenin' to reason. Leo, he was just as innocent as they were, just as much of a treasure that needed to be protected. He was one that I would have the most trouble with. Donnie may have trouble listenin' but Leo was obsessed with blocking out what sounded even the least bit off from what he thought was right. It would be a struggle, yes, possibly long, but given the circumstances I'm sure I can become very persuasive, in fact I can make him an offer that not even he could refuse. He'd put up a fight, a good one because that was in his nature, but that didn't matter. I'll make sure they don't have to fret, that they could sleep with out fear of the boogie man. I'll make sure they understand that any other voices they hear don't care about them like I do. I'll keep them safe from pain, truth, choice, anythin' else that could poison them.

They'll be safe with me.

Safe with me...

To Be Continued...