Hey everybody! Thank you all for reading and for leaving wonderful reviews! I also want to offer a special thank you to Faithful Whispers for being so wonderful and making amazing suggestions for this chapter and for future ones!

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Chapter 3: Fatigue

Donatello slumped forward on the couch, his brain fuzzy with weariness and his chin resting in his hand. His eyes felt heavy and they itched from lack of sleep. He felt like he hadn't slept in a week, though he had gone to bed every night like clockwork. To top it all off, he hadn't even had the energy to work on repairing the circuit boards that had been broken earlier that week.

He didn't even register that he was holding a slice of hot fudge and Dorito pizza in his hand, and it slipped from his fingers ignominiously to the floor, landing with a light splat on the rug between his feet. Yawning deeply, he attempted to listen to his brothers' conversation nearby. They had been in deep discussion for the past half hour. Correction: Raph and Leo had been in deep discussion. Mikey had been belly-aching about one thing or another; Donnie had a hard time following what it was all about. God, what is wrong with me lately? I can't even think straight… His attention was arrested by Mikey's loud petulant sigh as he lolled sulkily in the beanbag chair a few feet away.

"Dudes, do we have to go out patrolling tonight? They're playing a B-list horror movie marathon later!" Mikey whined, pouting with sad puppy dog eyes, "When else am I going to get the chance to watch 'Revenge of the Killer Sludge Monster'?"

"There have been four murders in a week, Mikey. We need to find this guy and put a stop to him before another girl gets killed." Leo explained as he turned towards his little brother with a serious look in his cool blue eyes. "Besides, you've seen 'Revenge of the Killer Sludge Monster' five times already."

"Correction, dear brother. I have only seen that movie four times." He held up the same amount of fingers in order to emphasize his point.

"Whatever, knucklehead." Raph huffed irritably as he turned his attention to his older brother. "You really think the guy's with the Foot?"

Leo massaged his chin thoughtfully. "It's possible. The guy's a ghost and a rogue Foot ninja would definitely have the stealth capabilities to elude the police like he has."

"But he won't get by us." Mikey quipped boastfully, striking a heroic pose. Donnie grinned distractedly as both Leo and Raph rolled their eyes in unison. Shaking his head in dismissal of his little brother's antics, Leo continued, his brow furrowing with deep thought.

"According to the news, the guy's getting more escalated. He went from bludgeoning the women to death to stabbing and mutilating them. He's getting more dangerous and he needs to be stopped."

Raph growled angrily deep in his throat as he gripped his sais in tight fists.

"God damn that bastard. We need to take that son of a bitch down."

Donnie didn't hear much more of their conversation after that. His eyes began to drift close and his chin started to slip out of his cupped hand. When his head fell forward, he jerked upward with a surprised gasp. Blinking rapidly, he shook his head sharply as he tried to clear some of the fuzziness from his head.

"Donnie?" Mikey's breathy voice penetrated the fog of fatigue that surrounded his brain.

"Hrm?" Donnie lifted his head and saw that all three of his brothers were staring at him.

"Dude, you should stay home. You look like you're about to face plant into that delicious pizza." Donnie glanced down at the open pizza box at his feet as Mikey dropped into the seat next to him and scooped up a slice for himself.

"Uh, s-sorry. I really haven't been sleeping well lately." He rubbed his eyes and yawned deeply. When he opened his eyes, he caught Leo casting a glance towards Raph with a raised eye ridge. He shrugged shortly and looked down at Donnie with something resembling concern creasing his face.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mikey's right." Leo sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"You know it, bro." Mikey said, interlocking his fingers behind his head with a smug smile on his face. Leo glared in his direction as Raph smacked his little brother across the back of the head.

"Ow!," Mikey complained as he rubbed the sore spot from the blow. Coming around to Donnie's side, Leo laid a hand on his shoulder. His face was pinched with worry, but he kept his voice level and authoritative.

"As I was saying, you should stay here tonight, Donnie. Get some rest."

Donnie sighed and nodded resignedly.

"Maybe you're right, Leo. I'd probably just slow you guys down."

He didn't have the energy to be offended when no one uttered a word of protest. Leo offered one last brotherly squeeze on the shoulder and turned back to Raph and Mikey, his expression composed once more.

"Let's get going guys. If we have a hope of catching this guy, we need to get into position now."

"Whoo! I call shotgun!" Mikey took off like a shot towards the garage, Leo on his heels. Raph paused momentarily in front of Donnie, his face softening slightly.

"You sure you're going to be alright, Donnie?" Raph asked quietly. Swaying lightly on his feet, Donnie nodded and offered his big brother a small smile.

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine. Hope you guys catch the bastard."

Raph's face grew grim. "There's not going to be much left for the cops when I get done with him."

Donnie waved dismissively as he headed for the stairs. Turning back midway up, he saw that Raph was watching his ascent over his shoulder as he made his way to the garage. Big softie. Donnie couldn't help but smile at his brother's concern, though Raph would rather go one on one with Kraang Prime than admit it.

His feet dragged slightly as he trudged towards his bedroom, his mind only focused on getting some much needed repose. Donnie could practically hear the bed calling his name and he quickened his pace, stumbling over the door jamb in his earnestness. He fell into bed and laid there for a moment, the sweet relief of impending rest starting to take hold of him.

Once he climbed under his quilt, Donnie pulled it up to his chin and settled comfortably in bed, allowing the drowsiness to envelop him like a warm embrace from an old friend. As he closed his eyes, he hoped that there would be no nightmares tonight; no more faces, no more screams. Just blackness and sweet silence. That was the last thought he had as he allowed himself to drift into the unconscious void.

Donnie opened his eyes, and took in his surroundings. He was standing near the back of an alley, with the moon full overhead. It was unbearably hot and muggy, making the fumes a pile of garbage hang like a heavy fog around him. Looking down, he saw that he was dressed in a stained trench coat, and that he had his hands stuck in his pockets.

The alley was dimly lit, only illuminated by the shine of a streetlight farther down the street. In the pale light, a girl stood just inside the mouth of the alley, lighting up a cigarette with a practiced hand. She was tall and thin, with short blonde hair that almost looked white under the street light. Dressed in a pink button up top and tight fitting jean shorts, she looked like what Daisy Duke would look like with a boy cut.

Donnie felt his heart rate quicken as he started walking towards the girl. He tried to stop himself, but his limbs continued to move without his permission. Eventually, he gave up and watched helplessly as his body moved towards the girl with a confident stride.

"Hey there." Donnie felt his mouth move and a strange voice rumbled from his throat. It was low and gravelly, sending a chill up his spine. The girl tensed for a split second, then relaxed as she took a deep drag from her cigarette, her eyes confident and bright.

"Hey yourself," she said conversationally, a cloud of toxic smoke rising from her mouth as she spoke.

"I'm Titian." The girl's heavily made up eyes looked him over curiously as she raised the cigarette to her lips again.

"Callie."

"You know those things could kill you." He nodded towards the cigarette in the girl's hand. She scowled, looked down at the smoldering filter in her fingers and blew the smoke out of her nose with an irritated huff.

"Get bent, asshole." She dropped the cigarette and ground it out with her toe.

"Just trying to be helpful," the source of the voice retorted with a shrug. The girl's glare became resentful and she stepped away from the wall she had been leaning on. "Where do you think you're going?" Donnie could feel his lips curling into a sneer. The girl's face grew defensive as she turned back.

"Wherever the hell I want to," she spat back and turned to leave. With an unreasonable anger rising in his chest, his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. He pulled her back into the alley with brutal force and sent the girl sprawling to the ground.

"Someone! Please! Help me!," the girl screamed desperately into the darkness. Titian effectively silenced her cries with a swift jab to the throat. While she gasped for air, he straddled her, putting all of his weight on her abdomen, and pinning down her arms with his knees. She kicked uselessly at his back, but he struck her across the face with the back of his hand. Grabbing the neck of her button-up blouse, he ripped it open, scattering the buttons and revealing a lacy pink brassiere.

Donnie watched helplessly as his hand reached into the pocket of the trench coat, pulling out a razor sharp scalpel. Callie's eyes widened, and she shook her head desperately. Horror filling his mind, Donnie silently commanded his hand to drop the scalpel, but it firmly held the blade in its grasp. No! What are you doing?, he silently implored.

"Please," she rasped painfully, her wide blue eyes filling up with tears, "don't kill me, mister."

"Say my name, Callie, and I might consider it." Titian ran the edge of the blade just under the girl's collarbone. She gasped with pain and fright as a ribbon of blood welled up from the incision.

"T-T-Titian…," she whimpered brokenly.

"Callie?" He leered facetiously down on the frightened tears that spilled down Callie's pale cheeks. She hiccupped over her words as she tried to get them out.

"P-Please, let me go. I won't tell anyone, I swear…" her pleading faltered at the slow shaking of his head.

Let her go, goddammit! She doesn't deserve this! Donnie felt sickened as he felt a cold smile creep across his face, and the voice spoke, menacing and mocking.

"Won't you, you deceitful little slut?"

He made a new incision in the flawless skin on her left breast, curving the blade and cutting deeper into the muscle. Callie's terrified cries were high pitched and broken by deep, wrenching sobs. Titian grinned broadly at her pain, feeling a heightened sense of ecstasy as he watched the blood flow like rivers of crimson molasses over her pale skin. Donnie felt sick at the sight of the blood, but the monster's hungry eyes were fixed on the scene, and he had no choice but to watch.

"All women are liars and users." Titian muttered venomously, slicing downwards with a steady hand. He finished the stroke and inspected his work before running the edge back over the skin over the right breast.

Stop! Stop this! Please! Donnie implored, struggling to make himself heard.

"No. No, we're not." Callie shook her head quickly, her chest heaving unsteadily through her sobs. Pausing mid-stroke, Titian looked down into her deep blue eyes with the exasperated impatience of a parent who has caught a child in a lie. Donnie couldn't help but wonder why her assurance infuriated him this way.

"No one knows better than me how willing women are to play with a man's heart and trample him underfoot when it suits their purpose," Titian said coldly as he finished the stroke and admired the finished product. The 'T' was a little asymmetrical, but that could be excused this time.

Leisurely, he pressed the scalpel point against Callie's throat, just over the pulsing jugular vein. Her eyes were closed and she choked back a sob, as if she had resigned herself to her fate. He applied pressure as he slashed her throat with a swift flick of his wrist. Blood spurted from the severed blood vessel, splashing on Titian's coat and immediately soaking into the fabric. He stared, mesmerized, as he watched the dying woman struggle for breath while she clawed feebly at the ground.

NO! Donnie struggled to stop Titian, silently pleading him drop the knife and stop the bleeding. He had to save this girl. She couldn't die! His hands, however, continued to move without his permission. Reaching the blade to the other side of her throat, Titian made one final stroke, issuing another flow of deep red blood.

Cupping her bloody face with his hands, he leaned down and kissed her passionately. Callie struggled feebly under him, moaning protests so faint that Titian didn't even register them in his excitement. The salt of her tears and sharp metallic tang of her blood danced across his tongue, erotic and forbidden as he forced it roughly into her mouth. He kissed her long and deep, making every second memorable. Donnie's mind recoiled from the twisted thoughts that this monster was thinking and he tried to silence them, but they kept coming in dark waves.

As she choked on her own blood, Callie coughed weakly into his mouth. She took a shuddering breath and released a painful sigh, gradually going limp under his touch. As if on an impulse, Titian sucked her last breath deep into his lungs and held it for a moment, imagining that her life force now dwelt in him, giving him new energy. He finally exhaled, and smiled up towards the sky as if to wish Callie's spirit a fond farewell.

Once he brought his attention back down to earth, Titian turned his large hands over, staring at the slick, crimson that thickly coated his palms. He placed the tip of his first finger in his mouth and swirled his tongue around it lustily, reveling in the taste of her blood. So sweet. She really had been perfect, even up until the end. Donnie shuddered as the monster's thoughts echoed in his mind, how the surge of adrenaline fired through every synapse of his brain and made every detail twice as vivid in his mind, burning it forever into his memory.

His jaws moved again as the voice spoke once more, chuckling with malevolent mirth.

"Did you enjoy the show, Donatello?"

Donnie screamed and sat straight up in bed, his breath coming in heavy pants. His mouth was dry, and he was coated with a cold sweat. Oh God. Not again. When is this shit going to stop? Tears blurred his vision, and he fervently mopped at his face as he sobbed wretchedly into his hands. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried like this, but the thought of the brutality he had just witnessed broke his heart and reduced him to a blubbering mess.

"My son!" Donnie looked up and saw Master Splinter standing in the doorway of his bedroom, his eyes heavy with sleep and glinted with parental concern. "Are you alright?"

Donnie looked up into his father's eyes and choked back a frightened sob. Splinter approached and sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his shell in a way that had comforted him when he was a young turtle. Donnie pulled his knees up to his plastron and wrapped his arms around his legs.

"No, Sensei," he answered brokenly, "I've just had an awful nightmare."

He shivered violently as Splinter pulled him into his arms. He tried to find solace in the embrace, but all he could see behind his eyes was Callie's dying face, her dark blood coagulating on the ground under her as gave her final gasp.

"It is alright, my son. You are safe here." Splinter's voice was low and comforting, but Donnie's mind reeled against feeling anything positive. Not with what he had just seen. He leaned his head against his father's shoulder and closed his eyes. He really wasn't sure he was safe anywhere. Not with this Titian haunting his dreams.

Thank you all for reading this chapter!

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Until next time!