I wanted to have this up by the weekend...yeah, but work didn't want me too. Again the voices are being evil...and pushy.
I want them for Christmas...and a bathrobe. Bettcha can't guess which one I'll get.
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Chapter 5: Please…
Death was all around him. He could feel it. Centuries of sorrow and decay had leaked into the earth and now was attacking him. He screamed as loud as he could but it couldn't make it past the gag. It died in the darkness.
Just like what was happening to him.
He felt every breath that left his body and each one that he pulled back in was shorter than the last.
He was going to die six feet under the earth.
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Mikey heard Leo shift around. He didn't think much of it, his brother had to be uncomfortable in the small confines of the coffin. He continued to talk to him while Casey pulled the battleshell back onto the road and toward the next cemetery.
Mikey stopped suddenly when he heard a muffled scream coming from the communicator. An agonizing scream that seemed to carry itself all the way to the front of the vehicle. He knew that it made it to his brothers' ears when he looked up and saw the look of panic on their faces.
Donny was already taking the device from Mikey before Raph even got his seat belt unbuckled.
"Leo?" Donny tried to yell over Leo's thrashing. "Leonardo! Please, you have to calm down!"
"What's goin' on wit 'im, Don?"
Donny shook his head, not even making eye contact with Raph.
"Leonardo!" Don tried again, screaming directly into the speaker. He even shook it, like that would shake his brother out of whatever state of panic he was in.
Mikey could feel his throat start to close up. His vision tunneled and he could barely make out the forms of Raph and Don. They were just a couple of feet from him but the shadows started to swallow them. He couldn't hear Don's desperate attempts at getting Leo's attention.
He heard nothing but his older brother's smothered cries for help.
Hun had planned this. It could have been any one of them in that casket.
It could have been him. He was out trick or treating.
Leo came to get him.
He didn't realize that his whole body started shaking. Breathing became difficult.
Painful.
He felt that the darkness that was attacking his brother found another victim. Numbing cold washed over his body and everything crashed down on him.
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Don didn't think that anything could take his attention away from Leo. He had to get his brother to calm down…not use all his air. But then he heard a strangled gasp, he met Raph's eyes with confusion. That wasn't Leo…it wasn't Raph.
His head whipped around so fast that the tails of his bandana caught Raph on the side of the face. Raph didn't have time to react before Don was shoving the small black box into his hand.
"Mikey!" Don was at his side in a second.
The orange clad turtle's face was sickly pale and his breaths were coming out in short strained gasps.
Raph stared down at the device like it could come alive and bite him. He had to calm is older brother down while Don tried to help Mikey.
"Don," Casey called from the front. "What do I do? Do you want me to stop?"
"No!" Don answered sharply. He looked up and could see the dark haired man's face was ashen and his eyes were wide. "No, no," he tried not to sound so harsh. "Keep going! We'll handle this."
Casey nodded and turned his attention back to the road.
Time seemed to stand still or speed up, Raph couldn't tell.
He cleared his throat, but the bile was still there. Hot and bitter on his tongue.
"Leo!" he barked into the communicator. "You have to calm down!"
Raph took a deep breath and released it through clenched teeth. His voice was anything but soothing. But Raph never sugar coated anything…and he wasn't going to start now.
"Leonardo!" Raph's voice cracked like a whip. " You're going to use up your air! We are lookin' for ya but if ya don't stop freakin' out it's all goin' be for nothing!"
He paused and held his breath. He listened for any sign that he was getting through.
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Leo's body convulsed with pain. His lungs burned.
He didn't want to die.
Another tormented scream rose in his chest but couldn't get past his constricted throat.
He didn't want to die!
A deeper blackness began to nip at his vision.
"Leo! You have to calm down!"
His hot tempered brother's voice had made it through the darkness.
A few moments past and Leo thought his mind was playing tricks on him. But then he heard Raph again.
"Leonardo!"
He sounded so close, Leo could almost feel Raph's breath on his face. He blinked in the darkness, expecting to see his brother beside him.
Not even a hint of red, nothing but the endless black.
" You're going to use up your air! We are lookin' for ya but if ya don't stop freakin' out it's all goin' be for nothing!"
But his air was gone. He was suffocating.
Leo didn't hear anything else. He wanted to hear his brother again…he needed to hear him.
He struggled to pull another breath in and with all the strength he had left he yelled his brother's name. It was distorted behind the gag but another breath came after that.
Then another.
And then his brother's voice again.
"Leo? That's it, bro. Breath in and out. Take it slow."
Even though his chest felt tight each breath came a little easier. He slowly let his body relax until only slight trembles ran through him. He tried to swallow but that made the threads of the cloth travel further down his throat. That made the panic knot in his stomach again. But he latched onto his brother's voice.
"In and out. We're on our way, Leo. Just hold on."
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Raph released a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He started to breath along with his brother.
In and out. Slowly.
His head started to clear and he finally glanced toward the back of the battleshell. Mikey's color had returned and Don had him breathing easier.
Donny gave him a shaky smile. Raph wanted to return it, but he didn't have the energy.
"Good job," Raph muttered. He glanced back at the clock on the communicator. It was still rapidly counting down and only five minutes remained.
Raph felt like he had been punched in the gut.
Only five more minutes. What if Leo freaked out again? What if his air ran out. What if….? Raph shook his head. He could feel his blood boil, the anger bubble in his veins.
Hun was going to pay.
"Leo?"
He waited for a response. All he got was a low groan. His brother sounded so exhausted.
"There is only five minutes left on this thing. But, listen to me, ya gotta stay calm. No more freakin' out, bro. We will find ya."
He waited again for an answer. His whole world tumbled out from under him when he heard more thrashing.
"Oh God, Leo! Don't do this!"