Non-Mutation (Book Four)

Chapter 27: Geranium

A flower that represents stupidity or folly.

❀

Raphael isn't just angry, he's downright wrathful. Everything leading up to this has been a lie, one big trick that got him into this mess that he's in. He's lost, miserable, and he let his walls down like the idiot he is.

He shouldn't have been so trusting. He should've been smarter. He should've listened to his brother. He should have, he should have, he should have...

"Look, I can explain," Taylor says.

"What is there to say?!" he demands. "You betrayed us! You turned us over to these psychopaths!"

"I...I didn't want it to be like this," she insists. "I didn't know—"

"BULLSHIT!" he roars, making her flinch. "I can't believe a word you're saying right now. You're...you're just a manipulative snake!"

Her bottom lip trembles, but she bites it and keeps herself composed. "I know...I know..."

"Everything we said, everything we did, it was all a lie!"

"No...no, never. It was—"

"I don't even want to hear it," he snaps. "You played with me. That's all you did. You teased me, you made me think that we could happen but—" He cuts himself off with a choked noise. His head droops, his limbs shuddering. "You played me like a cat with a mouse...I was the cat...I let you..."

She steps closer to the cage and places her hand on the glass. He forces himself to look away, unwilling to see the crocodile tears building in her eyes. "Raph, I never wanted to hurt you," she whispers. "Yes, my original mission was to distract you. You were the muscle, one of the best fighters, and taking you out of the fight made it easier for the gang, but...it felt different around you." He doesn't respond, chest heaving, arms shaking. She lowers her hand. "Hun told me that my new job was to gain your trust and then hand you over. I didn't want to."

"If you didn't want to, then why are we in this mess?" he hisses.

"Hun's word is law. If I didn't...he said that he would make sure that Mutacorp killed you and your brothers instead of releasing you," she says.

Raphael shouts and slams his shell against the cage and Taylor flinches again. The turtle seethes, a vein in his neck pulsing as he struggles to keep any semblance of his sanity. "You're really stupid, you know that?" he growls. "Those money-hungry Hitler wannabes aren't gonna let us go! They're going to sell us like cattle!"

She nods, tears now visible along her eyelashes. "I made a mistake. I thought that I had gotten away, that...that the beating was the end of it. You were the only person I could go to." When he does nothing but growl again, she takes a deep breath and continues, "They were going to be at the warehouse, and I thought that if I brought you guys there, you would be able to fight them off. I would have fulfilled my part of the deal, the trust would be broken, but...but you would be safe and Hun couldn't use me against you anymore." A tear slips down her face. "But, then I saw the cage..."

"You can't play both sides, Taylor," he says. "You have to choose and right now, it looks like you sided with them."

"I thought—"

"Shut up! Just, shut up!" he shouts. "You didn't think, you acted! You made your choice and it wasn't me!" She backs away, more tears rolling down her cheeks. He bares his teeth. "I hate you. I hate you and I hate what you've done," he seethes. "When my family is dead, Mutacorp will go after Destiny and Sarina. I could've dealt with you hurting me, but you've put my brothers in danger. You've put my sisters in danger. I hate you."

She chokes. "Raphael—"

"I'll be dead soon anyway, so what do you care?! You'll never have to see me again." He shakes the cage again, blood starting to trickle down his arms from behind the cuffs. "I'm just some freak! Some animal who can only hope to be as perfect and human as you, right?!"

"Raphael, please..."

"I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

"I'm sorry," she says despite his words. "I was scared. I didn't want...I didn't..." Her throat tightens. "I didn't want to lose you, Raph. I was too scared..."

That stops him. Michelangelo's words from only a night or two ago enter his head and he feels his heart ache with every beat at the thought. How did his little brother know that Taylor was afraid, even though he had only met her once? Is he really so in tune with the emotions of others that he knew immediately upon looking at her that she was just...scared?

Raphael forces himself to breathe as his memories assault him with lies. Her smile, her laugh, her voice, her touch, her warmth; lies, lies, lies.

He lets out another scream and yanks as hard as he can against his bindings, more blood seeping down his arms as he thrashes and kicks and punches as hard as he can. Taylor's tears don't stop and she can't make herself move even as some scientists rush in. The same woman from before presses a button and Raphael feels the drug enter his system, dulling his senses, making his brain foggy.

He tries to find Taylor through the mist, but she's a shadow. There's a sob from far away and he hears the faintest whisper of her voice.

"Lo siento mucho, Raphael."

He droops, succumbing to the darkness, too broken to fight.