Ch 10 Facing The Demon

Ten minutes earlier, Leo watched Raph walk out of the bedroom. When he was sure Raph had gone down the stairs, he quickly got up, went over to Raph's desk and pulled out a piece of paper. He hastily scribbled a note then placed it on the bed. He then grabbed a few things from Raph's desk, adjusted the bindings that he had yet to remove from his day's classes and was just about to disappear out the window when he looked down at the ring still on his finger that Raph had given him only hours before. He let out a sigh and took it off, placing it on the letter he gave a silent prayer that Raph would forgive him and all would be okay between them if and when he returned.

He quickly ducked out the window and climbed up to the roof, he took off running from rooftop to rooftop and, several minutes later, he found himself standing on a rooftop across from the TCRI building. He looked down and saw the three purple dragons along with the guy Raph said was named Xever, waiting outside the building like they were expecting something to happen.

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The two officers looked from Raph to Splinter. "Look, if your attempting to..."

"I'm telling you he aint here!" Raph shouted at them, waving a piece of paper in his hand.

Mikey and Donnie held Raph as Splinter turned to him sternly. "Enough Raphael." He turned back to the police. "I assure you officers, we are not attempting to keep Leonardo from anyone." He took a deep breath." May we please know what this is about?"

"We got an anonymous phone call telling us there was trouble." Graham told him. "When we got there, she was found dead in her kitchen."

All four Hamatos looked at one another then turned back to the officers. "How did this happen?" Splinter asked, feigning shock. Although he knew most of the details, he had to keep the officers thinking Leo, as well as the rest of them, had no knowledge of it. He did not want them to interfere with them finding Leo first.

"She was shot to death." Upton told them. "We need to speak with him about this as soon as possible."

"Leonardo was here all day, he assist me with my classes." Splinter advised them. "I doubt he would know anything of this horrible crime."

"Is Leo a suspect?" Mikey asked.

"Not at this time, but he may know something." Graham explained. "And he could be in danger from the killer or killers as well."

They nodded. "We'll try to find him and get him to you as soon as we can." Raph said, forcing his voice to remain calm.

"Meanwhile, we'll keep searching for him." Graham advised. "But please have him come down to the police station as soon as you hear from him."

The police bid them a good night and left. Splinter turned to Raph and looked at the paper. "Is that from Leonardo?" He asked.

Raph looked down at the paper sadly, he held it out with a shaking hand for Donnie to read.

My dearest Raph. Please forgive me, I have to face my father alone, I don't know what he wants with me but I do not want him to hurt you or any of your family like he did my Aunt. Please know, I love you very much and will do everything I can to come back to you. Your's forever. Leonardo.

Tears fell from Raph's face as Donnie read the letter. Mikey walked over to him and held him tight, his eyes glistening with tears as well.

"We have to go after him." Raph said, he looked down at the ring he was holding tightly in his other hand. "I let him go once but I'm not doing it again!" He began to walk out the door when Splinter grabbed hold of his arm.

"My son." Splinter spoke to him soothingly. "Before you leave, do you know where you are going?"

Raph stopped and looked at him. "No." He said hanging his head. He looked over at Donnie. "Any ideas Don?"

"My guess would be TCRI."

Raph nodded. "Then that's where we'll start."

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Hesitating on the roof, Leo thought of his mother and the warning she gave that night when she came to him. "You were right mom." He whispered. "He came back." He shook his head sadly. "But why, what does he want?" Leo took a steady breath, checked the few things he had tucked away on him and made his way down to the street. "Time to find out." Holding his head high, he walked across and stopped in front of Xever and the others.

"Well, well." Xever sneered as Leo came toward them. "Looks like you saved us some time coming after you." He took out his switchblade and began to play with it. "Too bad, I was hoping to meet up with your boyfriend and de-shell him."

"I came to you." Leo told him, fighting the urge to charge at him and start swinging. "You are to leave my friends alone." He walked past them. "Now, take me to where HE is."

Xever turned to the purple dragons. "Wait here and keep a look out." He took Leo's arm and roughly escorted him into the building.

They walked inside and Xever brought Leo into an elevator. "He is on the top floor." He told him. "It will be a few minutes to reach the top."

"Then we have time for you to tell me why you killed my aunt."

"It was orders." He grinned at him evilly. "I was to get rid of anyone who stood in the way of him getting you back."

Leo looked down at the floor as a sudden thought crossed his mind."She knew?" He whispered.

"Not only did she know, she was suppose to bring you to us." He told him with a laugh. "But she changed her mind and tried to stop us. Actually tried to convince us to leave you alone." He twirled his switchblade and laughed. "But we let her know, you don't go against one like him." He brought the blade against Leo's cheek. "Not if you want to live." He sneered. "A lesson she learned too late."

Moments later, much to Leo's relief, the elevator door opened and Xever once again grabbed his arm and escorted him out. They walked a long hallway to a door that said 'private' and Xever knocked.

"Come!" A deep low voice called out. The familiar voice made a chill run up and down Leo's spine and he felt his pulse quicken.

Xever smiled at him and opened the door. Leo stepped into a very large dark room decorated with Oriental dark cherry furniture and various artwork of Japanese origin. To his right side was a dark leather couch with a large painting of Samurai Warriors in battle above it. To his left was a large fireplace and two dark cherry leather chairs on either side. Above the fire place was a portrait of a dark haired man of Oriental descent. He had dark eyes and a firm jaw with a look of anger. The painting seemed to look down at Leo as he made his way across the room. He lowered his eyes to the floor in disappointment, even the picture seemed to mock him. He looked up and saw in front of him was a large dark cherry desk with dragons carved into the front of the desk facing each other, mouths open and sharp claws bared. In front of the desk was a matching large dark cherry leather chair with it's back facing Leo.

As Leo approached the large desk, he noticed to his right side in the corner shrouded in darkness was a person who seemed very familiar to him. But he remained hidden in the shadow and Leo could not get a clear look at him.

Leo stopped in front of the desk and waited, beads of sweat poured down his face and he fought to remain calm. Eventually the chair turned and Leo felt goosebumps all throughout his body. He swallowed hard.

"Leonardo." The man in the chair intoned.

Leo moved his jaw and fought back the tears. "Hello...Father."