The Third Deadly Sin (TMNT fan fiction)

The Third Deadly Sin Part 3

"This ain't lookin' so good," Casey said, his voice a touch higher than normal.

Raph shot an exasperated look at him. "Understatement of the year pal," he growled.

Leo paid no attention to them, his primary focus on his brother Donatello. After the experience upstairs the last thing Don needed to see was a dead man who was missing an eye. Some things just hit too close to home.

Sensing Leo's perusal, Don turned and said in a small voice, "I'm fine, Leo. You don't need to worry about me."

"He doesn't look like the last one," Mikey said in the same low tone he'd used when he found the man, pulling Leo's attention back to the matter at hand.

"Yeah, he ain't all shriveled up," Raph agreed. "This guy looks like he just got killed."

"That's the guy I was supposed ta meet," Casey said. "He's the owner of this mad house."

Don touched Leo's shoulder lightly so he could step past him, going over to squat near the body after first shoving a sheet of plywood next to it.

"Careful, Don," Leo warned. "This one the police need to see in situ."

"Trust me, I am not touching him," Don said grimly.

"He must've died this morning right, Don?" Casey asked. "'Cause he never came out and he knew I was waiting."

"I can't be positive of that without a better examination," Don told him. "There are things like post mortem lividity and rigor mortis that would give us a more accurate time of death. Without touching him, I can't tell if he's in rigor or passing out of it."

"Here." Raph grabbed a broom that was leaning against the wall and flipped it so he could slide the handle under one of the man's arms.

The hand and arm were completely stiff; none of the usual elasticity in the wrist or elbow. With a look of disgust, Raph started to lower the arm back into place.

"Wait!" Don lifted his palm towards his brother and Raph froze.

Leo stepped carefully forward, placing his weight so that it was balanced on the plywood with Don's.

"Donny?" Leo asked.

"He wrote something," Don whispered hoarsely. "He . . . he used his own blood."

On an unbroken section of flooring where the man's hand had lain were the words 'Destroy it'.

"Destroy it," Leo read aloud.

"Destroy what?" Raph demanded. He let the man's arm down, shifting it a little so that it no longer hid the words.

"I think Leo's right," Casey said. "I think one of them mutated things got into this house and it's killing people."

"Yeah? Then where is it?" Raph demanded. "It ain't like we been all that quiet."

Mikey spotted a pile of stuff near the back door and something near it caught his eye.

"Casey, is that the chandelier you were supposed to get for April?" he asked, pointing towards the object.

Casey looked where Mikey indicated. Not far from the dead man lay a gleaming light fixture, the metal parts burnished gold. It wasn't large, only about three feet by three feet, with eight tear drop shaped lights inside candle holder type bases.

Hanging from each of the eight arms were four pear shaped crystals and around the base hung sixteen more crystals, each suspended from chains woven with smaller crystals. At the very center, dangling from a long crystal chain, hung a larger crystal.