Chapter 8: Snuffed Out

Michelangelo rubbed at his head feeling a cold pit in the bottom of his stomach. His hands shook with fear and adrenaline, his throat had closed until he gasped for breath trying to get himself under control. Finally, he forced out words because if he didn't say something he knew he was going to cry, "I told you monsters were real, Raphie."

There were no other sounds as his brothers tried to compose themselves. Breaths came fast matching rapidly beating hearts in chests. Green skin in four different shades glistened with sweat slicking all parts of their bodies. Even masks were damp at the linings with salty sweat as they clung around closed eyes. The candles around the room billowed and swayed as the air moved but flame gripped to wick steadfastly determined not to be put out. When the dust started to settle, breathing slowed and panic was swallowed down the four turtles looked at each other, eyes wide. Disbelief evident in their tense bodies. What was going on?

"So," Donatello looked around at his brothers when no one else spoke. Leonardo sat back against Splinters' old bed knees drawn to chest with his head askew, neck exposed and Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. Michelangelo had his legs out in front of him with his arms locked behind supporting his weight next to him, Donatello could see the minute shaking in his arms. Raphael stood at the other side of the room, furthest away from the door leaning against the wall. "What do we do now?"

Raphael pushed off the wall swiping a hand over his face to get the sweat out of his eyes. It was hard to believe a few minutes ago he'd actually felt cold in this room. Now it was burning, stifling. Stuffy and almost too hot to breathe. The red turtle squared his shoulders angrily. "Ask our fearless leader, he ways seems to have the best plans."

"Keep it leashed, Raph." Leonardo mumbled bringing his head down to his knees while wrapping his arms around his bent legs. A headache beat at the front of his head. Whatever was out there wasn't natural, it wasn't normal and from the screaming that tried to shatter his eardrums, it wasn't too happy.

"Take your time," Raphael grunted feeling unnecessarily angry. "I'm sure we got plenty of time."

"Raph," Donatello winced. "You're not helping."

"We can't just sit in here like a pack of idiots!" Raphael could feel the vein at the side of his head throb. If he were human his face would be colored crimson. None of this was possible, ghosts didn't exist! They couldn't exist. You get killed, you die and that's that. The end. Goodbye. So what was this? Why were he and his brothers trapped inside their master's old room hiding from something that they didn't even know was real? Raphael felt stupid as he crossed his arms and drummed his fingers on his muscled forearm. He was angry that he'd just stood there, scared of the dark frozen on the stop as whatever was out there screamed. Raphael wasn't scared of the dark - that was Michelangelo's department, he was the one who slept with a nightlight.

A part of Raphael was still angry he didn't have his weapons tucked into his belt. Michelangelo was adamant as he stuck to the story that he hadn't taken them but then where the hell could they be? Sai's didn't just get up and walk away. Or at least they didn't use to. Raphael held back a shudder, nothing made sense these days.

"Well, what do you think we should do, Raph?" Donatello snapped.

Raphael turned his head to look at his brother who had his hands clenched in his lap. The snap was very un-Donatello like and it made Raphael hesitant to speak again. Usually his arguments involved more of Leonardo getting into his face and less of Donatello butting in. Everything was so mixed up. Wrong side up. Raphael kept his mouth shut, he didn't know what to do and he didn't want to admit that he had no idea. Leonardo was the plan-guy, but at the moment the blue turtle didn't really look like he was in charge of anything with his head resting on his knees and breath still labored.

They could try to leave again, but after what happened last time they would most likely just be pushed back into this room. They could stay here but then what? They just sit in here and starve waiting for the last of the candles to burn out plunging them into darkness for eternity? Getting out and braving whatever was out there sounded like a better idea all around. Now they knew what to expect when they opened the door and they could plan accordingly. They needed to leave, that's what they needed to do. Leave. Get out of here. Get Topside.

"We need a plan." Leonardo said warily paralleling Raphael's thoughts.

Raphael resisted the urge to fist his hands at his sides. "You're a broken record, bro."

"Well at least I'm trying, Hothead." They were all too tired and too stressed. Splinter had taught them to put their emotions on the backburner when it came to serious decision making and really, since his death they hadn't fought much having an unsaid agreement between the two to be more patient with one another. Now however, Raphael was too angry to be patient and Leonardo too exhausted. "We need to think of something that doesn't involve going out there again."

"Come on Fearless you think just sittin' here is gonna solve somethin'? We can't just wait around."

"I understand what you're saying," Leonardo tried to placate. His head throbbed painfully. "But you have to get why we can't just go charging out there guns blazing. We don't have weapons. We don't know what's going on. We have no way to contact anyone outside the Lair and..." Leonardo looked over at his brothers feeling a mountain settle on his chest. "And we're scared."

"I ain't scared," Raphael huffed.

"I'm a little scared," admitted Michelangelo from his place beside Leonardo.

Leonardo leaned into his younest brother slightly glaring at Raphael. "You're scared just like the rest of us but you've got too much pride and you're too hard headed to admit it." Raphael felt a small inkling of irritation bubble up inside him. "I ain't scared for one and two I got too much pride? Come on oh fearless leader you gotta be shittin' me-"

"Stop calling me that," Leonardo did not beg, no he did not. But it was a close thing.

"I can call you whatever the–"

"I'm sure all this arguing is helping the situation." Donatello sighed laying his head back against an old dresser with dust crusting the shelves thickly. The candles flickered around the room making it hot and heavy. Sweat glistened on his brow. The room seemed to get impossibly hotter and even smaller making it more uncomfortable. He thought for a moment of asking if they could blow out some of the candles even for a little while but then thought better of it. A little coolness wasn't worth sacrificing the light that burning candles gave off.

"You're right." Leonardo let his eyelid close slowly feeling his eyes roll back to the back of his head. His head hurt so badly. The fight left his body. He was so tired. He thought he could smell burning flesh, the musky scent of smoke ascending from wood set afire, the sharp tanginess of polyester carpet aflame and choking the air as the fibers burnt off, but he knew it was just his imagination. "Sorry Don."

Between the heart pounding terror, the melancholy feeling of loss, more fright and just being generally scared Leonardo felt exhausted. He wanted to close his dry eyes and not open them for a long, long time. He felt like he was being sucked under water, but he could still breathe. That water was cool as it lapped and pulled his body under and he went down, down, down deeper into the depths of a great ocean until the cold morphed to warmth. It wasn't stifling or all-consuming but the feeling of being protected, of feeling loved and secure. A feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since Master Splinter had succumb to his sickness. The warmth spread across his body then down almost to his soul until he felt cocooned...

"Leo?" Someone called tentatively. Leonardo felt himself swimming out from the warm darkness that surrounded him. His eyes felt heavy as he moved them under his lids trying to will them to open. "Bro?" Hands shook him lightly. He felt himself moan for the person to get away from him, he's sleeping. Just a few more minutes.

Wait.

Sleeping?

Leonardo surged up with gasp battling an imaginary foe that fought to get him to fall back into the warm embrace of sleep. His eyes were heavy, weighing down in a valiant attempt to get him to stop, to sleep, but he couldn't. He shouldn't have fallen asleep. How did that even happen? He was breathing hard, eyes wide and chest heaving as he looked around the room confused. The candles were now half of what they once were with wax dripping down onto other surfaces.

"You fell asleep," Donatello told him softly still sitting against a dresser

Some anger filtered through Leonardo's body. He felt confused, oddly hallow. "Why did you let me sleep?"

"You looked tired."

"Don!"

"Well, what were we supposed to do? You zonked out and it was either wake you and have another argument about what we should do or let you sleep and maybe we could figure out a plan with a more level head." Leonardo scoffed angry at himself but also feeling a bit better. He noticed his headache had gone down from jackhammer to dull pound. It was progress. "Besides, once you fell asleep Mikey also calmed down. He figured if you could sleep then everything must be okay."

Leonardo looked down just noticing that Michelangelo was using his shoulder as a head rest. Drool collected at the sides of his mouth. His breathing next to his ear sounded full and peaceful. It was all such a stark contrast from the heart pounding anxiety they'd all been feeling since that fire. Raphael sat with his back against the cabinet that they had propped against the door. He said nothing staring down blankly at the floor. Lost in thought.

"Raphael." Leonardo said quietly, his brother looked strange. Blank faced, eyes far away. He waited a second patiently for the other turtle to respond. When he continued to stare at the floor, Leonardo tried again a little louder. "Raph."

Still the red turtle stared at the dusty floor. Leonardo bit back his worry and tried again, louder activating his Leader Voice. The one he used when he was commanding his brothers in battle or getting them out of bed in the mornings. The voice he called apon when he needed something done.

"Raph!" The red turtle jumped pulled from himself roughly.

"Jesus, what?" He demanded glaring at Leonardo with his head cocked to the side trying to conceal the confusion in his murky eyes as he looked around the room discreetly until everything came back to him in a rush.

"Did you really fall asleep with your eyes open?" Leonardo certainly didn't laugh but it was a close thing. Raphael held back his sneer rubbing at his eyes and trying not to get angry again. Anger wouldn't solve anything. It didn't stop Splinter from dying. It didn't stop that fire from happening or from Leonardo getting the shit burned out of him. It didn't stop whatever cut their power and it wouldn't help them right now. Raphael felt better now that he had gotten some rest. But none the less he grumbled at his big brother. "Like I've never caught you sleeping with yer eyes open."

Leonardo shook his head with a smirk on his face knowing he was also guilty. Beside him, Michelangelo garbled something unintelligible before he ground his face into Leonardo's shoulder fighting consciousness. He too lost his fight and groaned coming back to himself.

"You're shoulder isn't as comfy as it used to be. I think you need to gain some weight. Take some'a Raph's," Michelangelo grumbled rubbing at his head as he sat up to stretch.

"Don't make me come ov'a there and swat ya," Raphael glared at his youngest brother before muttering something else about not being fat, it was just excess muscle.

"Let's all start fighting again," Donatello mumbled more to himself than the others. They were all grumpy and sore muttering under their breath. Pressure bruises already stung their legs and parts of their bodies from sitting on the hard floor for so long. They were stiff and ready to do something other than complain about their current circumstances.

A shrill sound suddenly filled the air freezing the four turtles. It pierced through the silence scaring them more than it should. Raphael looked to Michelangelo who swung his head around towards Donatello as he gazed at Leonardo. Leonardo stayed still as he listened to the tone with wide eyes. It was the Lair phone. Ringing loudly through the still air outside their small sanctuary.

"Why..." Michelangelo started, his voice trembled slightly. "Why is the phone ringing?"

There was no power. Candles still lit the otherwise shadowed room. Though the candles waned they were still bright enough to alight the brothers faces. Raphael, being the closest to the light switch by the door, reached up and with one finger tentatively flipped it on. Nothing. No lights shined. "The powers still out."

"The phone line could be separate from the power..." Leonardo reasoned to which Donatello shook his head. They were connected. He was the one who set it up. The electricity and phone lines were woven together.

Then, just as suddenly as it started the shrill sound ended and it was quiet once more.

"What's that?" Michelangelo almost screeched jumping to his feet and practically running to the door where Raphael sat. Light came from the other side of the door. Real light that wasn't their candles. He could see the glow coming through the crack above the shelves, shining throught the thin paper door. "Light."

It only took a moment for the rest of the brothers to be up and over to the door examining the muted light coming through. It was a soft glow but brighter than they had seen in hours or days, however long they'd been trapped down in their home.

"What should we do?" asked Donatello turning from the light and towards his older brothers. Leonardo and Raphael looked at one another at the same time. Something passed between them as they seemed to communicate without words the way a Captain and First Officer did. With the ease of knowing each other's wants and taking into account their hangup's, the two silently conversated. They stared deeply at each other before Leonardo nodded and broke eye contact. He knew what they had to do. "We need to leave."

"But, like, didn't we try that already?" Michelanglo said pulling himself from gazing at the light outside.

"Now we know what to expect. We need to go quickly and," he stopped taking a breath and steeling himself. "Don't grab anything. We just need to leave." That would mean no swords still sheathed in his room. No weapons on any of them.

Raphael nodded at the same time as Donatello. Michelangelo looked frightened as he swallowed audibly but said nothing. Leonardo nodded his head once. Now or never.

"Stick together, Raph you first and I'll bring up the rear. Anything happens just run for the door. If we get separated meet at the drainage junction under Fifth Street and we'll all go to April's together." The I don't want to leave anyone down in the sewers alone went unspoken. They all stayed silent, now was not the time to argue. It was the time to move.

Together they wrestled the large wooden shelf away from in front of the door but by mutual agreement they left the candles alight in case they had to run back in, they would not run onto a dark room. Raphael stepped forward first, then Donatello and Michelangelo with Leonardo bringing up the rear - the safest or most dangerous position, depending on who asked. When Raphael slid the door open he half expected the screaming to start up again in an instant but was then surprised when nothing happened. Looking around the room he spotted a lamp beside the couch was turned on brightening that side of the room. Nothing sat on the couch, the multitude of televisions were still off. There was no power still yet the single bulb shined brightly. A slight breeze blew through the Lair making the four shiver at the cold chill. The air went inside their sanctuary that had once been Splinter's room blowing out the candles they had lit. Quickly darkness enshrouded their backs as the bright flames were snuffed out. Smoke could be seen wafting up from the candles wicks.

"Let's go." Leonardo ordered to which Raphael started walking slow looking around the Lair scanning for threats.

Leonardo thought it strange to see Raphael without his weapons tucked into his belt at his hips. His brother always had his weapons, they were what Leonardo's swords were to him – an extension of himself. He could protect his family with those sai's. Absently the blue turtle looked around towards where the kitchen was nestled into an alcove by their dining room. The light from the lamp made the room look even more like a disaster with food still strewn all over the place and plates and utensils broken on the floor. He felt for Michelangelo as he glanced towards his kitchen, his pride and joy, the thing he'd spent so long perfecting. It was the youngests' job to cook because he loved it but also because he was good at it and it was a way to ensure that his family stayed alive and healthy the same way Donatello's tech helped them survive. The T.V's and radio weren't life or death but the way Donatello built their generators and heating units as well as all the smaller gadgets he had in his lab made their lives easier. Everything Donatello made helped them live or fight or just made their lives easier. It was Donatello's job to make tech and power his gadgets to help the family. Leonardo knew one of the purple turtle's fears was a power outage. Not having the ability to throw something together, add some power and help them survive. Not having any power was probably one of Donatello's greatest fears…

A thought struck Leonardo so hard he stopped. If Michelangelo was a lesser trained ninja he would missed the sound of Leonardo's feet stopping behind him. As it was the silence in the room made it impossible to miss. "What?" He whispered to his brother drawing Donatello and Raphael's attention who had kept walking slowly away.

"What is it?" Raphael demanded not wanting to admit he felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Leonardo started to breathe fast as it finally dawned on him. The reason they were out here. It was a trap. It was a trap. They needed to go back to Splinter's room and they needed to go now.

"We need to go back. Now." He turned but didn't hear any movement behind him. The others stayed solid where they were.

"Leo we need to leave the Lair and that means going this way." Raphael said. Leonardo shook his head hard.

"No. No. This is a trap. It's our fears, Raph. It's feeding off what scares us the most. It's a trap." He was almost frantic with jerky movements as he hands clenched and unclenched. He didn't know what was going on but he knew there was something in the Lair with them and it was baiting them, toying with them. He wanted to take hold of his brothers and drag them back to where they were safe. Where he could protect them. In the dim light worry etched in the others faces.

"What do you-" Donatello tried but Leonardo interrupted him.

"Don, your tech won't run without power, we have no power right now. Nothing to power your security systems. Mike, your kitchen. You can't make food or help sustain us and-and…"

Raphael knew that they didn't have time for this, they needed to leave. Trap or not. "Leo what are you–"

"It's our fears. Raph your sai's. You want to protect us but without your weapon you think you can't and Mike, the food and Don your lab with the electricity and me..."

Donatello shivered believing his brother's words. "Leo," he said quietly, "What are you afraid of?"

"Losing you guys," he whispered quietly.

Then the light in the corner flashed off, Leonardo whipped around to see where the light had gone but felt something cold trickle down his spine. An overpowering sense of loss filled him and Leonardo screamed unable to hold himself back. He thought he closed his eyes but it was so dark he couldn't tell. Someone else screamed brokenly and the blue turtle felt himself falling. The hard ground rushed up to meet him. He felt an excruciating pain as his head hit the floor then he knew no more.

Sincerest apologies for the long wait, a broken ankle, surgeries and real life does not a conductive writer make. Chapters should be coming faster! Stay tuned!