Ch.3- Nightmare and Homemade Pizza
Nightmare:
The house was eerie quiet that night. The wind was howling outside my bedroom window like a wolf howling to it's pack mates while out on the hunt. A loud crash that sounded from the front door violently jerks me awake from my peace-filled dream. I hear the thudding of my father's footsteps going down the stairs to the landing by the front door and not a second later my mother comes into my bedroom. Loud voices sound from downstairs, including my father's voice but I can't decode the conversation very well.
"Angel, baby. I need you to go hide in your closet and not make a sound until I come to get you. Alright?" My mother instructs and I nod my head in understanding, getting up from my bed, wearing my blue flannel pajamas, heading straight for my closet.
My mother opens the closet doors and I slide myself in, crouching under and behind my clothes, that are hanging up. She closes the closet doors and steps towards my bed, just as the door slams open. From my position behind my clothes, I can see that the closet door is open a crack, just barely enough for me to see what is going on. I see a rather large man standing in front of my mother and I want to rush in front of her and protect her from the hideous man but my mother told me to hide and not make a sound. My mother stares horrified at the powerful male standing before her, knowing that her end is finally going to be met.
The man grins evilly at her and that's when I see it. From behind the man's back, in the pale moonlight, I can see the blade glint.
"Where is the child?" The male angrily demands, stepping towards my mother. My mom takes a shaky step backwards, trapped like a mouse between the man and my bed.
"I-I don't know." My mother lies, her voice shaking and I can see her hands are shaking as well. My eyes widen when I see the man wrap one of his hands around the handle of the knife, gripping the handle tightly.
"Fine. If I can't go after her, I'll kill you first." The man says, glaring at her. I cover my mouth to stop myself from letting out a gasp.
Before my mother has time to react, the man pulls the knife out, from behind his back, quickly and in a sweeping motion, at a 90 degree angle, slices the blade of the knife across her throat, killing her. My mother drops to her knees, crimson blood gushing out of her neck. If that wasn't enough, the man then stabs her in the chest, making my mother fall forward onto the floor, her emotionless eyes engraved with an endless pain, staring back at me into my very soul. The man laughs darkly as he takes his knife out of my mother before she falls onto the floor. He then searches around the room, looking for me and I make sure to keep quiet.
A yell is heard from downstairs, forcing the man to head out of my bedroom and down the stairs. I quietly sneak out of my closet and crawl towards my mother's body. I feel salt water teas cascade down my pale cheeks, like a river. I turn my mother over onto her back. My mother's empty, soulless blue eyes staring back at me.
I move my hand over her eyes and close them, not being able to bare the thought of her really being dead and gone from this world. I move towards my bedroom door and listen quietly. I hear a yelp of pain and recognize it as my father's. I hurriedly sneak to the top of the stairs and listen to the conversation downstairs, hiding in the shadows.
"Did you find the girl?" A dark voice asks the man who murdered my mother.
"Unfortunately no. The daughter must be hiding and I can't find her."The male says, hesitantly. Why do they want me?
"Hun! I asked you to do one job; must I do everything myself."The dark voice growls out. From how dark and deep the voice is, I know that it belongs to a male.
"I'm sorry, Master Shredder." Hun says and remains the silent.
"Now a good way to kill you and save me some time to look for your daughter would be to shoot you." Shredder says towards my father and I hear the click of a gun. My eyes widening. I go to run down the stairs but I stop myself.
"Good-bye my sweet angel." I hear my father say just as the gun fires.
Nightmare ends
My body jerks forwards from my laying position on the couch. I can feel myself panting, out of breath, the nightmare still fresh in my mind. That nightmare has always come to me every night and it has been stuck on repeat. The closer the date of my parents' murder nears, the worse the nightmare gets. This dreadful memory and cycle has been going on for years and I don't believe that it will ever disappear completely.
My eyes are watery and I can still feel the tears leaking from my eyes like a faucet, dripping down my face. My vision is hazy from my eyes being filled with tears. I can vaguely make out shades of green and grey. I go to wipe away the tears to clear my vision with the back of my midnight sweater sleeve, when I feel velvet fingers upon my skin wiping away my tears for me. I jump in surprise, whimpering like a dog slightly.
"Shh. We aren't trying or going to hurt you. Everything is okay, young one." I hear Master Splinter say to me and minutes later, I feel him wrap his tiny arms around me in an embrace. I continue to cry into his soft fur and hug him tightly back, welcoming the father like hug. After what feels like hours but has only been minutes, my sobbing comes to a stop and I pull away from Splinter. I wipe away the remaining teardrops from my face and clear my vision. I see Master Splinter on the couch seat in front of me and his sons wide awake, hovering close by to me.
"I'm sorry guys and Master Splinter."I say, sniffling a little bit.
"It's alright, child. Now, what was your nightmare about?"Master Splinter questions me and I bow my head in slight shame and embarrassment. I take a deep breath to calm my racing heart before I speak.
"I had a nightmare about the murder of my parents and I would like to not talk about the details." I explain to them, flinching slightly at the memories that have always haunted me and have become the demons and monsters of my mind.
"Alright. We won't push you into anything."Master Splinter says, getting off the couch and walking towards his bedroom.
"My sons let us go back to bed."He continues saying and then enters his bedroom, closing the sliding doors. The brothers head to their own bedrooms, leaping up to the landing above where Master Splinter's room is and off to the side of the living room, where I currently am going to be sleeping.
"Wait... Could I... sleep next to one of you guys? Just for tonight."I ask them, my face heating up and going red slightly as I ball my hands into fists, terrified out of my mind about having another nightmare that will be worse then the last one. The turtles look at each other, secretly questioning each other on who I should sleep next to.
"You can sleep next to me if you would like to." Leo comments and I can almost see a shade of red cross his face for a few seconds before it disappears. A small smile creeps along my face, as I get up off the couch.
"Thanks Leo." I say to him, as I take a running start and leap onto the wall, grabbing the edge of the landing with my fingers.
Smirking slightly, I swing myself up onto the landing. I land on my feet in a perfect standing position. I walk over to Leo and giggle a little at the guys' dumbfounded looks. Leo, Donatello, Mikey, and Ralph all head into their bedrooms. I follow Leo into his, watching as he lays down under the blue fuzzy blanket. I stride over to Leo's bed and crawl in with him, surprised at how warm it is under the blanket.
"Thanks again, Leo." I whisper to him and he gives me a smile from over his shoulder, as his back is towards me.
"Welcome. Now, get some sleep." Leo says, turning his head to the brown brick wall.
I smile and move closer to Leo's back, out of instincts, cuddling into it. I feel Leo freeze slightly and then relax as I close my eyes. I feel Leo turn around towards me, wrapping his reptilian arms around me and holding me close, just as I fall asleep completely into a peaceful dream.
The next morning
The next morning, I wake up early, but to my surprise, Leo wasn't in the bed at all. I get off the bed and head out of his room. Upon arriving outside of his room and looking over the landing, I spot the guys and Master Splinter practising their training. I leap down off the landing, appearing in a perfect crouching position on the ground, my legs bent to break my fall. I straighten myself up and walk over to the guys, standing right next to Ralph, joining near the end of their training.
"Good. Now, Shodo." Master Splinter commands and the guys do the Ninjitsu move and I follow along with the rest of commands.
* Skip to after Training. (If you want to look up or know what scene this is, it is from Season 3, episode 10 – Nobody's fool) *
"And finish." Master Splinter says, and as soon as he does, the guys all collapse from exhaustion, groaning.
"Ok. I can't move." Donatello whines and I laugh a little, still standing and only just panting.
"Who wants to move." Ralph groans out, barely standing on his knees.
"Wake me for breakfast."Mikey comments, only thinking about the food that his stomach wants. Hmm, maybe I should make the guys' my homemade pizza some time.
"Note to self: buy Mikey some new deodorant." Leo comments and I laugh a bit more.
"Come on guys. It wasn't that bad, after all I'm still standing." I gloat, smirking at the guys; who all turn to glare at me.
"Training has concluded for today. I'll be meditating in my room." Master Splinter says and then proceeds to his bedroom. After he leaves, Ralph and Donatello grab the video game controllers before Mikey can and start playing a video game. I roll my eyes at them.
"Hey! Come on." Mikey whines, pouting at them. I head towards what looks like a kitchen of some sort.
"Well, it's our turn now."Ralph says as he and Donnie sit on the couch, Mikey still blocking the view of the TV screen from them.
"We will call you when there is an opening."Donnie comments, laughing, just as Leo starts moving his little brother out of the way of the TV.
"But..."Mikey begins to say before Leo interrupts him.
"Relax Mikey. Come on, we can do something else."Leo says as Mikey begins to follow him, unblocking Ralph's and Donnie's view of the TV.
"Yeah, relax Mikey." I comment and see Mikey stare between Leo and I.
"But how's a turtle supposed to rest and relax when there's nothing to do?" Mikey says, clearly upset.
"Let Ralph and Don have their game. You and I can go hang out with Angel. We can see what she is doing in our kitchen." Leo suggests to him, heading towards where I am. Mikey's eyes widen in excitement as he races over to where I am.
"Ah. So this is the kitchen then." I comment, a little surprised that I found the kitchen.
"Yup. So... can you make pizza?" Mikey questions, demandingly but at the same time giving me a very hopeful look. He clearly hopes that I can make him pizza.
"Mikey..." Leo scolds, sending the orange-bandana wearing turtle a glare. I giggle, smirking at the boys.
"What? I'm only curious to know if she does or not. I mean if she is able to make pizza then April and us don't have to use a lot of money to order pizza." Mikey happily says.
"And what if she doesn't know how? Did you ever consider that?" Leo lectures him and I see Mikey look down, shamefully.
"Ohh..." Mikey says, giggling nervously.
"Actually Leo and Mikey, I just so happen to be very skilled in making homemade pizza." I explain to them and Mikey grins excitedly.
"Awesome! Can you make us some pizza, please?" Mikey yells out excised; making Donatello and Ralph pause their game long enough to look over at us questioningly. I shoo them back to their video game and they continue to play the game.
"I could but you have to get me the ingredients and tools to make it." I instruct him, and he grin grows bigger. He rushes into the kitchen and hurriedly rushes around the kitchen, grabbing the ingredients and utensils for making the homemade pizza. He places the tools and ingredients for making pizza on the counter in front of me. I see Leo watching us, leaning against the wall to the kitchen.
"So can I help make the pizza?" Mikey asks me, politely and I see Leo's eyes widen. Leo starts to walk towards us.
"Yes, you can help me but Leo has to help you and make sure that you are following my instructions precisely as I want everything. Do you understand?" I say to Mikey, giving him a stern look and he nods his head.
"I understand completely. Can we get started now?" Mikey asks, smirking at me.
"Alright." I say to him, then proceed to give him instructions on how to make the pizza dough. Leo keeps a close eye on his brother, helping him out every so often when Mikey starts to mess things up. I smile as they work together as one and it reminds me of how close my mother, father and I used to be.
At the counter, from the edge of the counter to the stove, it goes Mikey, then Leo and lastly me. I'm close to the stove so that I can place the pizzas into the oven to cook. Mikey is making the pizza dough and putting the pizza sauce on the pizza. Leo is putting on the meat and vegetables on the pizza. When the pizza gets handed to me, I put the cheese on it and put it in the oven.
"So how did you learn to make pizza?"Leo asks me, curiosity getting to him. I freeze for a few seconds as I am sprinkling cheese on the pepperoni pizza before putting it into the oven. Leo gives me a side glance as he continues to put pepperoni on the next pizza.
"My mother, father and I used to make pizza as a family meal almost all the time." I say, smiling softly at the memory.
"Oh. I see." Leo says, looking a little awkward about bringing the subject up.
"It's alright. You don't have to walk on eggshells around me. I'm not going to snap at you." I explain to Leo. I see him let out a breath of relief.
"Okay. So why do you wear long sleeved clothes?" Leo asks me as I place the second pizza into the oven, under the first pizza. I slightly begin to panic on the inside. No one has dared to ask me that question and I usually don't give answers to those questions. Just as I'm about to reply to him, Master Splinter along with Casey, April, Donnie and Ralph all walk up and over to the kitchen.
"Mmm. Something smells delicious."April compliments and I smile.
"What are you cooking, Angel?"Ralph asks, curious. I walk over to the stove and pull out the pizza out of the oven, placing it on a table within reaching distance for April and the others to have a slice. I place the pizza cutter down next to the cooked pizza.
"Your brothers and I are making home-made pizza." I say to Ralph. I see both Ralph's and Donnie's eyes widen.
"You allowed Mikey to help you? He might have cooked it wrong!"Donnie says, a slight fear in his eyes.
"Relax guys. The pizza has been cooked properly and isn't poisoned. Leo has helped Mikey and myself make the pizza." I reassure them. I see everyone except Leo, myself and Mikey let out a breathe of relief. I roll my eyes and Mikey pouts.
"Well I know who my favourite person is now."Mikey says proudly, walking over to me and swinging his arm around me.
"Mikey, get back to work on that third pizza. It's our last one for tonight." I say to him and he rushes back to work.
"Go and have a slice guys." I say to everyone who isn't helping make the pizza. I see April go and slice the pizza, grabbing a piece of pizza for herself. I smile as she takes a bite out of it.
"So what do you think? Is it good?" I ask her as her eyes widen at the taste of the pizza. She chews for a second and then swallows the bite. Everyone waits for her answer.