The Silencer

A sleepless night

It was the middle of the night. Everyone was sleeping. But one of the turtles wasn’t having as peaceful night as the others.

Leo kept turning from side to side, his bedsheets tangled around his body.

When Leo opened his eyes, he found himself in the dark. Or rather, some sort of void.

He looked around, but couldn’t find anything.

“Where am I?“ he thought. He jumped, when his thoughts echoed back to him. He instinctively wanted to grab his katanas, but his hands found nothing.

He sighed and gathered up the courage to step forward. Thankfully, nothing happened, so he started walking.

He kept walking.

And walking.

Until he heard a very distant shout.

He quickly tried to figure out, where did the shout come from.

So he started running.

But stopped, when the echo of the shout was gone.

“Hello? Is anyone there?!“ he desperately shouted into the darkness.

Another shout, this time a lot closer.

Leo ran to the direction of the shout again.

Another shout followed.

Then another.

And another.

Leo stopped running.

These shouts were fimiliar...

Those were the shouts of the goons from the space arena!

He tried running away from the voices, but it was too late. He could hear the voices so clearly, just like that day.

Sudddenly, a light appeared in front of him. It was far, but it was there.

He started running faster towards the light. He was almost there. Just a little further…

When suddenly, all the shouts got quiet and only one clear shout was heard.

“LEO!!“

Leo froze.

That voice…

He quickly turned around to face the fimiliar voice.

It was Donnie, trying to run away from something, that wasn’t there.

“Donnie!“ Leo screamed, as he ran towards his younger brother. But something was pulling him back.

He looked behind him, to see the light beaming even more than before. He turned back to his brother, when he heard a loud yelp.

Donnie was now laying on the the dark floor, but something even darker, than this whole void had caught him by his ankle.

Leo was trying so hard to help his brother, but the light was too strong.

He couldn’t move forward.

He helplessly watched as his second youngest brother struggled against the darkness.

It really was like re-living the space arena again.

“DONNIE!!“ Leo cried out as more dark beings started to grab onto Donnie.

He tried again and again to step towards his brother, but his feet suddenly slipped.

And as he was pulled into the light, he saw the broken look on his brother’s face.

The light flooded around him as he blacked out.

Leo woke up with a gasp. He sprung from his bed and panted heavily.

He sighed, when he realized, that it was just a dream.

“Well, I won’t fall asleep now…“ he whispered to himself.

Finally, he got up and walked over to the door.

He was suprised to see light coming from the kitchen.

His eyes narrowed as he sneaked over to the kitchen.

He glanced around the corner and was relieved to just see his baby brother sitting at the table, spoon with ice cream stuffed inside his mouth. The now almost empty box of ice cream just laid in front of him on the table.

He sighed.

“Mikey?“

The said turtle shrieked and turned to his brother.

He dramatically put a hand over his heart and exhaled in relief, when he saw his older brother.

“H-Hey, Leo! What are you doing up?“

“I should be asking you that, Mikey.“ Leo sighed.

“Yeah, but I asked you first.“ Mikey slipped the spoon out of his mouth and pointed with it accusingly at his tired brother.

Leo sighed again and pinched the space between his eyes.

“Couldn’t sleep…“ he said as he headed for the sink.

“Same here.“ Mikey hummed.

Leo filled a nearby cup with water and turned to look at his younger brother with sympathy.

“Really..?“

“Yeah…“ Mikey sighed and shoved the box of ice cream away, so he could lay his head on the table.

Leo discarded the full cup of water on the counter and sat down beside Mikey.

He rubbed Mikey’s shell affectionately. It tore him apart to see his usually cheerful brother be this sad.

“I miss him, Leo…“ Mikey whispered with a cracked voice.

Leo almost let his own tears fall, when he saw unshed tears in his baby brother’s eyes.

“I know, Mikey…I miss him too…“ he hugged his brother tightly.

A minute later Mikey let the tears fall, as quiet sobs escaped him. Leo still didn’t let go.

He only let go, when Mikey sat up straight again and rubbed his wet eyes.

“Thanks.“ His voice still slightly wavered, as he smiled at his big brother.

“Anytime, little brother.“ Leo smiled back.

He stood up and looked back at Mikey.

“Now come on, Mikey. We should get some sleep.“ 

“Yeah, you’re right.“ Mikey replied, but made no move to stand up.

“Mikey?“ Leo turned back to Mikey, when he noticed, he wasn’t following.

“Sorry, Leo, but…but could I sleep with you tonight?“ Mikey nervously fiddled with his fingers.

Leo smiled warmly at his baby brother “Of course you can, Mikey.“

Mikey smiled back at Leo and followed Leo to his room.

Leo had laid down on the bed first and made space for his freckled brother.

He looked at Mikey and raised the blanket as an invitation.

Mikey hopped under the covers and cuddled next to his older brother.

Leo adjusted the covers for him and Mikey one last time, held his brother close and fell asleep.

They didn’t have any more bad dreams that night.

To be continued…