Shadows

Shadows part 3 final

Raph dangled helplessly, unable to break free of the shadow man's grip on his throat. The tips of his toes scratched at the floor as the feeling in the lower parts of his body grew numb.

His sai were useless against the thing. Raph knew that much from Leo's account of how his swords had no effect on the shadow man. The only thing he might have used to battle the specter was the flashlight and it was lying on the floor far from his reach.

So was the lamp that Raph had left on the stairs.

The thought of that lamp brought with it a flicker of memory. Dipping into his belt, Raph found the book of matches.

With his last ounce of strength, Raph pulled a match loose and scratched it to flame, setting the entire book on fire. Then he drove it directly into the shadow man's center mass.

Its response was both immediate and gratifying. The specter released Raph and swiftly slid away from him, vanishing into the nearest wall.

Falling to his knees, Raph clutched his neck and gasped, coughing as the air hit his raw throat. In front of him, the matchbook fire dwindled and then burned itself out.

Raph lunged for the flashlight and turned it on. Lying on his side, Raph shone the light all around him, trying to guard against a repeat attack.

Recalling that Don sat all alone, his back to the lair, brought Raph to his feet. He staggered a few steps before the lightheaded feeling left him. Once his balance returned, Raph quickly located the camp light and grabbed it before heading directly back to the stairs and retrieving the other two light sources.

He made one stop on his way back to Donatello and that was to get some more matches from the kitchen junk drawer.

Raph's demeanor upon his return to Don wasn't nearly as calm as it had been when he'd left. His hands were shaking slightly as he set down his payload and lit the kerosene lamp, needing two attempts to get it going.

"What's wrong?" Don asked, turning in his chair to stare at his brother. "Raph, your neck! What happened?"

"I'll tell ya' what happened. That shadow man of Leo's happened. I was in the service bay going for the camp light when that fucker came at me. It grabbed me by my damn throat and lifted me off the ground like I was a feather," Raph said, just remembering to keep his voice down.

Don reached out and gently touched Raph's neck. Even though his fingers only lightly grazed the area, Raph still winced.

"Can you swallow? Are you having any trouble breathing?" Don asked.

"Yes and no. I'm okay Donny," Raph said.

His brother's warm, brown eyes were like a salve, taking away a good portion of the residual sting. Raph realized that was the case most of the time when he was injured. Just having Donny care for him went a long ways towards the healing process.

"You've got an ugly bruise and possibly a touch of frostnip," Don said. "Are you cold?"

"Not at all," Raph said. "Not the way Leo was after that thing jumped on him. Why do ya' think that is?"

"I'm developing a theory about the shadow man from what I've read and our own encounters," Don answered. "Right now though, let's go down to the kitchen so I can put some warm water on that bruise. I'd rather avoid the bathroom for the time being."

Raph glanced across the lair to where their brothers lay sleeping. "Should we leave them alone?"

Don stood up. "The lights and the televisions are on. We won't be gone but a few minutes."