NEVER

by TJ HECTOR

-Warning: the first chapter that I have nothing particular to warn about! Not even language!

-A/N: Oh my god. I'm so sorry about the sudden, unexpected hiatus. I've got so much stuff going on both in the real world and in my goddam inner playground (whatever that is). Anyway, I'll never abandon this little thing without saying that I'm abandoning it beforehand. I want to thank InsaneDutchGirl especially, who has been prodding me to go on. Thank you *frowns and smirks* (you know, huh?)

Also, I'd like to thank all the reviewers: LiL PriNCeSs Me, BubblyShell22, Ninja-ForceUser, InsaneDutchGirl, yukio87 and mikeysgirl228.

Sorry again for not updating for so long! I'm on vacation now, so hopefully I'll be able to get the next one out sooner.

-Disclaimer: I own nothing.

VII. Reality

[In the woods]

"Seriously, Leo," Casey said as he trudged behind the blue-masked turtle nervously, the flashlight in his hand dangling with his anxious gesture. "Ya don't think it's—"

"Are you suggesting that there have been other people in the house, besides us?" Leo said without looking at the human.

"No," said human replied, "but man…"

"It's the only possibility," Leo said.

"But, c'mon, he's your broth—"

"Don't say that word in front of me!" Leo stopped and turned to yell at Casey.

Casey fell back a few steps, eyes wide with sadness and fear.

"Alright," he mumbled quietly. And the two of them went on deeper into the woods as the night around them fell darker.

-O-

They had no clue. There were no signs of recent footfalls on the path they often took when they went into the woods. There had been a storm last night, so the earth was muddy and moist with rain. However, Raph must have thought about that it would leave traces; he obviously avoided the waterlogged dirt that would leave any traces behind.

Suddenly Casey gasped.

"Look at that Leo!" he whispered.

"What?" Leo's eyes followed Casey's flashlight. All he could see was the small creek that ran through the woods, but there was some sort of track leading from the path to the stream.

The thin trail was even clearer when they came near.

"It's blood," Leo muttered.

"The killer must've been here," Casey said, crouching down next to the small pool of dry blood. "Ya think he's wounded?"

"I hope so," Leo said. "If he were, our chance of finding him would be greater."

"I hope he wouldn't find Raph first," Casey mumbled, "what if he hurt Raph too?"

"Casey, he IS Raph—"

"Did you even hear yourself?" Casey cried. "Dude, this is your own brother we're talkin' about!"

Leo glared at his human company.

"Who would want to kill one of us?" Leo asked with fury.

Casey almost laughed incredulously.

"And you think Raph had any reason to do that?" he shouted with disbelief.

Leo was speechless, but his gaze clung stubbornly to Casey's.

"Leo, it's perfectly reasonable that Raph was hurt by the killer—that would be the reason why he wasn't in the house when Mikey was hurt. Because the killer went to Raph first then to Mikey!" Casey yelled.

All of a sudden there was a noise behind them that silenced Casey.

"What was that?" Casey whispered.

Leo turned toward the noise.

"Thank you so much, Case," a voice said.

"It's Raph," Leo hissed, "Casey, be careful."

"Raph!" Casey cried, "Where're you man? We are so wo—"

His voice was cut off by a sharp whistle of wind. The next second Casey was on his back, holding up his arms in protection. There was a shuriken on his right shoulder.

"Darn it," Leo cursed, unsheathing his swords. "Watch out Casey!"

Casey pulled out one of his hockey stick, looking around in alert.

"Ya think that was…Raph?" he asked with a slight quiver in his voice.

"You saw the evidence," Leo answered coldly.

-:-:-:-:-:-

[In the house]

"What were you trying to say, Donnie?" April asked, wiping off some of the tears with her palm. "What do you mean by you know something?"

Donatello was looking scared. His eyes were round with terror.

"Did you hear anything, April?" he asked, "when Mikey was attacked?"

"N-No," April said, "we were having dinner, right?"

"But the house is old, April," Donnie said, "and if you looked at the crime scene..." he halted to take a deep breath, then went on. "If you looked at it, it is quite obvious that there had been a fight before…Mikey was down."

"So…?"

"So it was impossible that we hadn't heard any struggling sound at all," Donnie looked down at his knees, and met April's gaze again. "Mikey would have…cried for help, April."

"What do you mean, Donnie," April asked, "I don't get it."

"Neither do I," Donnie said, "but you said something…we said something. And it got me thinking…"

"What is it?"

Donnie inhaled deeply, blinking a few times. And then, finally, "This isn't real, April," he said. "And you should know. You should have been the first of us to notice."

April frowned.

"This whole place, this whole thing…these aren't real," Donnie said. "Tell me about the Heart of the Woods again, April. Remember your mom? How she used to tell you those stories?"

"She…told me about it mostly when we were near that part of the woods," April said, still frowning, "and she always had this strange look on her, like…like…"

She trailed off.

"Do you remember anything that happened after you told us the story about the old man?" Donnie asked.

April thought hard for a moment.

"No," she said reluctantly.

"Right," Donnie nodded, "neither do I. I only remember…coming back to the house."

"And Mikey acting weird ever since then," April said. "But how could this be? It's impossible."

"It is," Donnie said, "but if you think about it, dreams are like this. Often you go from a place to another without having any memories."

"Now that I think of it…" she continued, "Mikey's probably the one that was least affected by the…"

Donatello finished it for her.

"April, our minds have been manipulated," he said.

April looked at the most scientific turtle before her. It sounded crazy, ridiculous, but it fitted just right in her mind. Suddenly the room was darker, and she felt her eyes were able to see more clearly.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

-:-:-:-:-:-

[In the woods]

"Where is he?" Casey asked; the flashlight was shaking hard in his trembling hand.

"It's getting too dark," Leo muttered, "we have to rely on our senses."

"HEY RAPH!" Casey suddenly called. "GET THE HELL OVER HERE MAN!"

"What are you doing!" Leo clutched his arm tightly, "He'll find us!"

"Hey, is he your brother or not?" Casey glared back. "We gotta know what's goin' on! You think fighting him would help?"

"He just shoot a shuriken at you," Leo glowered at him. "He is dangerous, Casey."

"Well he's not an animal, he can talk, Leo."

"He's insane."

And then, without warning, the light went off.

"Casey," Leo called, alarmed.

But there was no reply.

"Casey!" he called again.

-O-

Casey Jones felt himself being dragged along the muddy path in the woods.

He must have blacked out—a blunt pain in the back of his head suggested him where he took the blow.

"Uh, Leo?" he asked hesitantly. "Man, 's that you?

The person—whoever-that-was—didn't say anything in response. And Casey decided that it wasn't Leo.

He felt the pressure on his ankle loosened a bit. And, presently, he was completely released.

"Hello?" he asked.

Silence. The person who had been dragging him was gone.

Casey got to his feet; his head spun with blood rush.

Why did the guy drop him here? He glanced around, and found himself out of the woods. He looked back inside where he had come from, the darkness in the depth of the bushes were profound and horrid.

Leo was still in there, with the strange person who just left him here.

Could that be Raph? Casey thought, looking down at his shoulder—the shuriken was still there, he had thought about pulling it out, but he remembered someone saying something about losing blood faster or something like that.

Maybe he better tell the others about what just happened.

Having made the decision, he started to walk toward the house.

-:-:-:-:-:-

[In the house]

"Casey!" April exclaimed in surprise, and then her gaze fell upon his dirty face and clothes. "What happened? Where's Leo?"

"April, there's some nutjob in the woods who just attacked us," Casey said, "he knocked me out and then dropped me out of the woods. Leo's still in there, we gotta help him. I think it is the same person who…harmed Mikey."

April wiped some mud off his face; the boy blushed slightly.

"Casey," she said slowly, "I think the person is Raph."

"No, it can't be," Casey took a step forward, "Raph would never do somethin' like that…"

"No, he wouldn't," another voice said behind April, and the two humans looked toward the speaker. It was Donnie.

"He wouldn't do that, not in reality," Donnie said darkly. "But Casey, this isn't real. What we've been going through isn't real."

Casey stared at him.

"What did you just say?" he frowned.

"Casey," April said, looking at him into the eyes. "We have never left the woods."

Casey opened his mouth, and then closed it.

"B-but why? How did you know?" he asked.

"Do you remember Heart of the Woods, Casey?" Donnie posed the question grimly.

Casey thought for a few seconds.

"So we're like…trapped? Together?" he asked. "But this feels so real!"

"Yeah, it is," Donnie nodded. "It's like a prolonged nightmare."

"How are we gonna wake up?" April glanced at Donnie. "And what about Raph?"

"I have no idea," Donnie said, "but…"

"Guys," Casey interrupted, "if what you just said is right, and the killer in the woods is Raph, then we better find Leo. And we better tell him about this."

They looked at each other.

"Let's go," Donnie muttered, then hurried to the door.

—End of part seven.

-A/N: Oh dear, I hope that didn't come out like forced. It wasn't, so... Well, if it is, let's see what I can do to fix it.