From The Shadows || TMNT 2012 FanFiction (BOOK 1)

Chapter 6. Into the Dark

     Through her closed eyelids, Carrie could make out the lighting of the dojo flicker. Everything around her eventually went completely dark. Startled, Carrie opened her eyes. She turned to ask April what happened, but her friend was no longer sitting next to her.

     Carrie frowns. "Hey. Do you know-" Carrie began to say as she turned towards Leonardo and Master Splinter but they too had vanished.

     "This isn't funny!" Carrie yells, erupting from her spot. She circles the tree, looking up into its dark leaves and boughs. No one. She notices the door to the dojo wide open. Beyond the door: a dark abyss.

     Carrie cautiously approached the sliding paper door. She couldn't see anything past the dark. She prepared herself to step out and try to find somebody or a light switch, either would work for her. Before she could take that first step, the door slammed shut. Startled, and now completely frightened, Carrie gasped and backed away. 

     "April this isn't funny!" Carrie shouts. She attempts to open the door, but it doesn't budge. "Stop it! Let me out!"

     Breathing heavily, tears began to form. Carrie slowly turned, hoping to find something that could help her. Yet, the dojo was gone. All that greeted her was a dark and empty void. She attempted to grab the door and yank it open, or, at the very least, tear through the paper walls, but, as she spun around, the door had also disappeared.

     Suddenly, Carrie could hear someone else's breathing. With darkness engulfing the setting and a lost sense of direction, Carrie pivoted around, scanning the dark intently. She soon saw three of the turtle brothers sprawled on the floor. Leonardo kneeled over them, checking each of them over. The scene was only a couple of feet from Carrie, so she took small, quiet steps toward them.

     "Leo?" Carrie whispers. "What's going on?"

     The turtle glanced up at her. His eyes, glossy, narrow. He steadied his breathing and raised his hand to the handle of one of the katanas strapped to his back. Leo held a finger up to his mouth, signaling Carrie to be quiet. He smiled. She only shook her head.

     Leo tightened his grip on the handle of his katana. The darkness around them seemed to creep closer. It was a feeling Carrie couldn't quite comprehend. Leonardo, on the other hand, knew this feeling well. He waited patiently for it to come close enough. He let it get too close. Leonardo drew his sword swiftly and was prepared to turn and fight the dark away, but he never got the chance.

     A hand reached from the dark and grabbed his wrist, holding the arm that grasps the sword, in place. Immediately, two blades, equal distances apart, pierce and cut through the turtle's shell. As the blades impaled the shell, Leo dropped his katana, slowly glancing down at his plastron. His arms lowered down to the blades that cut through him.

     Carrie, fully crying and terrified, couldn't muster a scream. Squinting her eyes, she could make out a man, standing behind Leo. The culprit, who had just fatally stabbed the turtle, was cloaked in shining chrome-plated armor. The blades used to wound Leonardo are attached to his gauntlets like claws. Bulky prongs fashioned across the leg and shoulder gauntlets gave the armor a spiked look, along with the helmet.  Carrie couldn't quite understand the man's getup, except that it was horrific.

     The blades retract from Leo's abdomen, leaving the turtle barely able to stand on his own. He looks down at the wounds, then up at Carrie. He attempts to step forward but his legs give way. Leo extended an arm, gesturing for help. He knew he would not receive it, but he hoped for it anyway with his outstretched hand. Leo fell to the ground, now lifeless. Carrie watched as he fell, his arm still reaching out to her and his eyes begging for some sort of comfort. It was when Carrie caught sight of the pool of blood forming around him that she fully began to comprehend the gruesome scene before her.