"Experiments on insanity."

Chapter 6

"Gone."

He could hear nothing.

There was no echoing footsteps...no ragged breaths…no sizzling lights, no nothing.

And that unnerved Raphael.

This mansion shouldn't be so quiet.

With their deep breaths, thundering heartbeats and loud stomping there had to be some sort of sound echoing through those cold, empty walls.

But there was nothing. Just…silence.

The red banded turtle was growing tense and nervous, his older brother's presence not doing anything to calm him down.

He didn't know where they were going, the corridor seemed endless and number on the doors just kept growing.

If felt as if they were walking in circles…stuck in a never-ending loophole. Moving and yet…not moving from their current position. The hallway just got longer with every step they took, no matter how fast they ran… The road just got longer.

The place stunk with the definition "danger" and every silent minute was driving the red banded turtle, mad.

He needed to finally hear something! Anything! The thundering of his heart, the buzzing of the broken lamps above them, the tap water flowing though the pipes, the blood slowly dripping from the massacred bodies...

Hell! Even hearing Leo accusing him for getting stuck in this hell-hole in the first place, sounded more inviting than the eerie silence.

But the blue banded turtle did not yell as he should have in any other situation, he only pushed the younger forward with his hands, while he himself stayed behind his brother.

A tactical position that allowed him to be both close to Raphael and safe from any attack.

The younger wasn't blind, he could see the change in the way his older brother moved around him. No longer close and offering comfort with his presence, only alert and suspicious. As if Leonardo didn't trust him enough to leave his back open.

But that couldn't be it…right?

Leo trusted him…right?

Right?!

The questions never left the red banded turtle's mouth so they were never answered.

And he didn't know if he'd like it, if they were.

The answers might be just a tad too much for him to handle, right now.

Shaking his head he dismissed the though and urged his legs to keep moving.

After a few more meters, Raphael grew tired of walking and kicked open the nearest door on the right.

He ignored the fact that the room was dark.

He ignored the fact that he had no idea what he'll encounter on the other side.

He ignored the fact that…

Leo didn't go inside with him.

Raph just needed the loop to break, to see something different than the never-ending hallway and doors with roman symbols he doesn't even recognize anymore.

He was tired.

Tired, amber eyes look into the abyss before them…

God…was he tired.

And then he heard something…

Words…the voice was familiar but…he couldn't make out what they meant.

He was so tired…

The tone was scared, loud, panicking, pleading, worried...begging.

He couldn't bring himself to focus on them for, in the darkness…

Something blinked back at him.

The voice was broken by the sound of something metal smashing the ground behind him, and red alarm lights began blinking with a loud fire siren.

He was too tired to look back but he knew what happened.

The door between him and Leo was shut down.

Trapping him inside and leaving the older turtle out in the open.

And then it hit him that…that's exactly what he wanted…right?

To be separated from Leonardo, to keep him from being hurt, being killed.

Through the yelling siren he could make out few words:

"Lab experiment LXIV: contained. All the experimented ones are neutralized and contained in lab rooms! Proceed with the evacuation plans! Repeat! Proceed with evacuation plans!"

His entry has caused the safety program to be activated, the building will shut down all the doors and lead all the none-experimented ones to safety.

And that includes, Leo.

He blinked again, too tired to be unnerved by all this, and whatever blinked back to him did it again.

His eyes were closing…

He was losing consciousness…

The room tilted dangerously to the right and next thing he knew, he was lying on the floor.

The last thing he saw was a little girl kneeling before him, with a blue dress decorated with white dots and red shoes. She looked about five and was grinning at him.

Before his eyes fully closed…

He managed to see her slowly snap her neck.

The image of the upside-down head smiling at him, with lifeless silver eyes, hunted his dreams along with Angelina, waving 'bye-bye' to the camera.