Chapter 7: Scorched Candles

"What. The. Shell. Just. Happened," demands Raphael as he turns to secure another piece of wooden furniture against the paper doors of Splinter's old room. He turns around when no one answers ready for a sharp, angry accusation to burst from his mouth but stops when he looks at his brother. "Leo...?"

Leonardo is on his knees with his head held tight in both hands pressing tight to his skull. His eyes are creased, white-green on the edges. His fingers look like they'll leave marks from how hard he's pressing them into his bald head. Donatello looks up from where he's helped Michelangelo sit against the side of Splinter's dresser and over to the blue banded turtle. He glanced at Raphael then down at Michelangelo before getting up to slowly walk over to his eldest brother.

"I'm fine," Leonardo says plainly when Donatello gets within a few feet of him. His eyes were still closed tight with hands still encasing his head but he spoke in a normal voice. Donatello sits down next to him as quietly as he can. Leonardo forces himself to pry his fingers away from his head and sit back. "Head hurts."

Everything was so quiet it felt like the four turtles could have imagined the whole thing. There was no sound outside of the small room lit only by candles that flickered ominous shadows against the walls. Absently Donatello thought of lighting more candles if not for the light then to help warm up the stale room but he feared leaving Leonardo's side. However when the oldest turtle shivered violently and clutched at his arms Donatello got up to his feet to scavenge for more wax candles and matches.

"Set up the inscents," Leonardo ordered weakly from where he sat. The room smelt stale and old. Like the musk of an aged book but ten fold and in every crevice of the room. No one had even been in here since Leonardo himself had last closed the door after Splinter's death.

Still at the other side of the room Raphael faced the door with a look of contention on his face. He didn't understand what had happened or why it had all just suddenly stopped. Two paper doors and some furniture shouldn't have stopped the rumbling that shook the Lair or the sounds of screaming that tried to shatter their eardrums. The room wasn't soundproof by any means and if anything the sudden gusts of wind that had burst through their home while they were running should have been forceful enough to at least tear the thin paper doors of their Masters room.

"Somethin' ain't right," Raphael said gruffly tugging at his belt where his sai's should have been but weren't.

Michelangelo scratched at his head. "Way to state the obvious, bro."

Raphael turned on him with a snarl. "Well what do you think we should do then oh great and wonderful Battle Nexus chump?"

If this had been any other day Michelangelo would have smirked at the mention of the Battle Nexus but given their current circumstances he just shrugged. "I'm not the plan guy, I'm the do-what-I'm-told guy. Or the handsome one. And most of the time I'm the funny guy also. but Leo's the one with the plans." Michelangelo finished looking over at said turtle with questioning eyes. Leonardo kept his head downturns slightly but opened his eyes to look up at his brother. His mouth was slightly opened while his hands were out with palms up. His shoulders were dropping with his breath still coming a little fast. Raphael walked over to Michelangelo and lightly smacked the side of his head.

"I think we should leave Leo alone for a sec."

Leonardo closed his eyes leaning back and laying his head on the trunk that he sat against. Raphael knew his brother would be fine in a few minutes. Ever since the fire Leonardo had started to tire easily and be hit with skull cracking headaches. He's always had headaches but never as bad as now. At least twice a day Leonardo would need to leave the room they were in to venture to his bedroom where he'd lay with the lights off and eyes closed. It worried Raphael to see his brother in so much pain but there was nothing anyone could do. Donatello gave him different medications but none seemed to really stick and hold. Though it had been weeks since that fire it was still effecting all of them, Leonardo especially.

Michelangelo stared at Leonardo with worry etched in his eyes then turned sharply to Donatello who had finally procured the extra candles and incense his older brother wanted. He had to agree, the room felt stale with the air cold and thin. He stared for a moment at the blue turtle before starting to set the candles around the room and lighting them. Soon there was more flicking light that cast shadows and Donatello was lighting the familiar smells to help waft around the small room. Michelangelo stared at the candle closest to him, it was a foot or so away from his face. He put his hands on the ground to scoot an inch or three away from the flame. Raphael saw and cocked an eye ridge at him.

"Don't like flames so much anymore," Michelangelo grumbled to which Raphael sighed and nodded in understanding. Their burns were just this side of being healed. He too cast the burning candles a quick glance to ensure they were all in sturdy locations and would not fall and turn their home into the burning inferno that was that apartment building.

"All of this can be explained with science," Donatello said once he had sat down next to Leonardo who still had his eyes closed and head back. Raphael snorted walking closer to his brothers. He would never admit to it but deep in his gut he feared what was just beyond the doors and he wanted to be closer to his family.

"That so, Brainiac?" Raphael questioned. Donatello nodded crossing his legs.

"Yes. The sounds, why the electricity was cut and also how we heard that voice. It's all science I'm sure."

Michelangelo shook his head. "You can't explain how Leo saw that girl in your lab or how we all heard that voice, dude. It's not science its freaking ghosts." Raphael scowled at the mention of ghosts.

Donatello licked his lips thinking fast. "We're all just tired and that fire really took a tole on Leo and his body just needs to recoup, his brain is also exhausted."

"So your saying Leo ain't firing on all cylinders, I don't think that's true Don. I heard the voice too," Raphael began.

"And I swear I saw something. It was a girl, I promise you. He's not crazy if I saw it too," Michelangelo cut in sitting forward a bit.

"I'm not saying that Leo's crazy. I'm saying that we need more information before we start talking about ghosts and things that live under our beds."

Everyone was quiet as they took that in. After some time Raphael finally sat down cross legged next to Michelangelo. Leonardo opened his eyes slowly feeling the crushing headache start to dissipate from a jackhammer to a normal hammer punching the front of his head.

"We can't just stay in here," Donatello said looking over at Leonardo just barely holding his hand back from wanting to feel his brother's forehead. Michelangelo looked at him wide eyed.

"I'm in favor of keeping my green butt right here thank you very much."

"No," Leonardo's voice was gruff. He cleared his throat. "We need to get out of here. There's no food or water in here. Also no place to use the bathroom and no air circulation." Not to mention the fact that he didn't like being in their old Masters room. After they had organized and cleaned out this room it had become a silent affirmation that no one would enter back in here again. At least not for a while when it still hurt to think of Splinter.

The four brothers were quiet but they all agreed that Leonardo was right, they needed to get out of here, out of the Lair. But how? That was the question. Raphael looked around at his brothers who were all silent and he hated it. He was a turtle of action and noise. Yelling and cursing and split knuckled fighting with spit flying and blood splattering. He didn't do the sit around and wait, that was all Leonardo – in Raphael's mind. His plan was attack now and ask questions later or never, either was fine with him. He tapped his finger against his leg waiting impatiently for someone to say something – anything.

"So I'm gonna ask this again just because I think it's a pretty solid question," Raphael said finally after a half an hour of no one moving much less saying anything."…Does anyone know what the shell happened?"

Donatello who had been mentally going over equations in his head looked to him. "Everything's felt a bit off since the fire."

"How so?"

"I've just noticed things - small things granted. Like how the lights in the Lair flicker more than normal even though I've checked the grid at least six times. And it's colder than it should be down here lately. I have our heater set on eighty seven but it defiantly feels like it's in the thirties right now."

The air had started to smell of Splinter's old wooden and earthy scents. It made the cold air a little more durable but the smell also brought with it memories of long training sessions in front of candles and hours of meditation spent in this room. The smell reminded the turtles of warmth and love, just the things their home was no longer feeling at the moment.

Michelangelo looked up in agreement that things hadn't felt the same for the last few weeks. "Things haven't felt right."

"And Leo's headaches didn't start until after the fire..." Donatello trailed off looking at his eldest brother who had yet to contribute to the conversation which in itself was strange. Usually it was his big brother who led the conversation on how they should get out of situations. He was the one in charge. The Leader of their small Clan. Suddenly a thought dawned on Donatello. "Did something happen in there that you didn't tell us, Leo?"

Silence. Not even the water above their heads rushed.

Finally Leonardo stopped picking at the ground with his fingers and looked up to find his three brothers looking at him. "Nothing happened."

"Leon-"

"Michelangelo-"

"Just tell them," Michelangelo pleaded. Raphael had his arms crossed and scowling hard with his eye ridges at an extreme downwards angle. Leonardo looked silently at Michelangelo for a few minutes seeming to have a private conversation using their eyes before finally relenting with a slow breath and a shudder. Against the wall their shadows flickered and morphed like an old movie.

"When..." Leonardo cleared his throat. "When we were clearing the third level I ordered Mikey to help a woman down the fire escape while I finished the floor. He did and while he was gone the building's foundation moved, started to crumble. There were people screaming and smoke everywhere and I knew the building wasn't stable but we needed to get everyone out so when Mike came back we kept searching instead of leaving." Leonardo took another steadying breath, "I swear I heard someone scream inside one of the apartments so I kicked in the door in. The place was covered in flames from wall to ceiling and smoky but I could see a closet on the other side of the room. We started going towards it but then Mikey tripped and I caught him. That's when the foundation tremored again and I threw Mike out of the room as the ceiling came down on my shell. I thought I'd been sawed in half but Mike got the parts off of me and said that he thought it was time we left... I told him that there was someone in the closet. I know there was someone in the closet, but we left"

Again silence. It was consuming and deep.

"I never saw anyone." Michelangelo said looking at his brother after some time.

With a look of sheer determination on his face, Leonardo bit his lip and sat forward. "It was a child. A child in the closet and we left her. It has to be her." Leonardo looked down at his trembling hands as the knowledge slammed into him like a freight train. He felt like he couldn't breathe, like the world turned on its axis and now it was all upside down. Wrong side up.

"You don't know that, Leo." Donatello put a grounding hand on his brother's shoulder when he saw him sway. "You said there was smoke and ash and fumes, you two were badly burned when you came out of there. It was loud and confusing. You might have just thought you heard something."

"There was someone there, Donnie. I know it." He had heard someone, he knew it. It was a voice calling and pleading for someone to help them. But that ceiling had come down so hard and so fast and the pain. Slamming into his shell and knocking him to the ground had been paralyzing. His shell had been cracked and his body burned. He couldn't have saved the person even if Michelangelo hadn't make the decision to leave…

But what if he could have saved the person he had heard. What if he had just sucked up the pain and ordered Michelangelo out – he would be right behind him after he checked the closet. What if he could have saved them? What if, what if, what if.

"I'm not saying that there defiantly wasn't anyone there, Leo... There-there might have been. I'm saying that even if there was that doesn't mean that the person's, what? A Spirit now? And is haunting us."

"And now we're back to ghosts." Raphael let out a long breath scrubbing at his eyes. He wasn't into the whole Other World bullshit that Splinter and Leonardo believed in so much. If something was dead then it was dead and that's that. There were no second chances or do overs or people coming back from the grave. What was, was.

"And what's so bad with thinking it's a spirit haunting us?" Leonardo said defensively. "Master Splinter believed in ghosts and our ancestors guiding us and communicating with those who have passed on."

Raphael scowled harder feeling trapped in such a small place and not being able to leave. "Yeah, but Splinter also believed that we could all talk wit' one anotha using our minds with meditation and that a good cup'a tea could solve any sickness. Don't lose your head, Leo."

Leonardo glared at his brother with his jaw set like iron.

Michelangelo turned his head back and forth. He thought back on the haunting TV shows he used to watch with all the lights on and one of his brothers somewhere close. "Ghosts could be real. Monsters and goblins, too."

Donatello gaped at him with a glare that practically screamed Not Helping.

"Monsters aren't real, Mikey." Raphael stood up needing to move around.

"Whatever," Leonardo got up to his feet quickly dismissing their current conversation to have later. He dusted off his hands and knees and put a hand out to help up Donatello from the ground. "Here's the facts; the power went out and we all saw or heard something," he paused thinking of the despair and sadness that had racked his body after the lights had gone out. It was a feeling he had never felt before and a feeling that he could comprehend on some level wasn't his own. "We all heard some voice and felt frightened enough to run in here."

There was scowling and dark shadows all around the room, mostly from Raphael.

"The point is I don't think it's safe to stay in here for very long. We need to leave."

"Where would we go?" Donatello asked quietly.

"April's," Michelangelo supplied also on his feet. Leonardo nodded, "But we can't stay there forever, we would need to come back here. We'll come back when we have working flashlights or when Donnie can figure out how to get the power back on."

"Na, I don't like this retreatin'" Raphael bit at his lip. Now that he had calmed down from whatever the hell had just happened outside the door he was beginning to think running wasn't their best option. "It feels like we're runnin' away."

Donatello placed his hands on his hips. Beside him Leonardo shivered again and Donatello frowned. "We don't have any heat here and no food. It's not safe to stay here."

Michelangelo averted his eyes feeling tears start to fill them as a pang of anger and panic mixed with sadness gnawed at his stomach. All his food, his immaculately organized kitchen – destroyed. Raphael looked at him and thought for a second before finally relenting.

"Fine. I still don't think there's any ghosts or monsters but yer right, we can't stay here."

"I need my swords." Leonardo said feeling almost naked without his weapons.

"I need some things from my lab," Donatello nodded. Raphael looked to Michelangelo feeling his sides where his sai should be holstered. Michelangelo threw up his hands in surrender backing away.

"I didn't take them."

It took a few minutes to organize everyone but finally they were ready to go with a plan under their belts. Leonardo looked to his brothers, "Stay together, don't get separated and be smart. Don with me, Raph go with Mikey. No heroics and don't grab anything you don't need."

Softly they opened the door without a sound. Everything was quiet, dark. The darkness was thick seeming to spread over everything like a solid form

There was a grumble that sounded far away at first but then grew in sound as it got nearer and nearer. It sounded like a train chugging away too fast with no breaks and a full load. The sound got closer and closer, Raphael felt like he had been glued to the floor, he couldn't move his feet from where he had already taken a few steps from Splinter's room. Behind him Leonardo's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to order everyone back in the room but he couldn't get his mouth to move. The sound got louder still, becoming shrill and making tears collect at their eyes as it went up in tempo.

Finally they realized what the sound was, recognized the pitch and the tempo. It was screaming. The shrill, high screaming of a girl.

The screaming got louder almost forcing the breath out of Leonardo's lungs. Raphael felt something get closer and he knew they needed to get back inside Splinter's room. Right the fuck now. He tried to move but couldn't. The screaming got closer and a feeling a dread filled Raphael before he growled and used all his might to force his legs to go backwards.

Leonardo felt hands on his chest, they were warm and solid but he paid them no mind still staring at the figure advancing towards them fast. The hands on his chest suddenly pulled and he was heaved back into the small room and thrown on the ground with someone landing hard on top of him knocking all the breath from his lungs. Donatello lay on him breathing hard and feeling light headed. None of this made any sense.

Michelangelo sagged against the wall on the other side of the room and looked at Raphael who was breathing hard next to him. "I told you monsters were real, Raphie."

Comments and feedback ridiculously appreciated. Stay golden readers.