The guys tried to be sympathetic, but they just didn't get it. I didn't eat or sleep. I just couldn't get the idea of her leaving out of my head. I couldn't get her, or my child out of my head.
"Don, I brought you something," Leo walked in with some tea.
"Not thirsty," I pulled a blanket up over myself so he couldn't see my tears.
"Don, c'mon. You're better than this. Just try and do something today. You're starting to worry all of us. Even Splinter is worried," his pleas didn't phase me once.
After he left, I got up and walked to my computer, and turned it on. As soon as it booted up, I logged on, and checked my mail. I immediately noticed e-mail from Dr. Rooks. It read:
Donatello this is the note that she left me. I typed it up so that you may have it.Dear Dr. Rooks,
I have sent this to formally inform you that I will be leaving tomorrow for a better job. I hope to find happiness in this new job. Thank you for all your help and support.
Lily
"That can't be right!" I yelled at the computer. "It just can't be!"
I placed my head down on the keyboard. The computer started to buzz loudly. I sat up straight, and noticed that it was downloading something from the e-mail. Frantically I tried to stop it, but the file kept downloading.
"What the," I closed my mouth as Splinter came into the room. Finally the document came up.
DonI'm in trouble. Dr. Rooks came to my house after you left and immediately he noticed. He left very angry. I don't know what he is going to do. I'm writing this in a hurry. I can hear him outside, Don help me. He's knocking on the door now. Oh, help. I'm going to send this to his as a virus I hope you get it. Please Don, find me, for our babies sake.
Lily
I stared at the computer blankly. Who should I believe? Which letter is telling the truth? I just didn't want to think of it. Dr. Rooks wouldn't lie, but Lily wouldn't either. Maybe Dr Rooks is a mad scientist, or maybe Lily just used me. Maybe they both used me. But what about those men in the lab, and the way Dr. Rooks was acting around me when I went to introduce Lily to the guys.
I needed to stop thinking, and for me that would be hard. My head was reeling at all the possibilities of betrayal and deceit. I didn't even bother to grab my trench coat; I just walked out of the lair.
I stared blankly at the pavement as I inched forward to an unknown place, where my answers would lie. I prayed I would find answers and not more questions. The blind path I took led me to the same place I had been going for four months, Lily's apartment.
I looked up the fire escape and memories flooded my mind. Some good, others bad, and some I wish I could feel again. I climbed the fire escape thinking of how many times I had climbed this before. The memories hurt like tiny pins jabbing at my heart. The window was left open, which I thought was a little strange, but I proceeded anyway. Why would she leave the window open if she was leaving and not coming back?
"Stop asking questions you can't answer!" I yelled at myself as I mad my way into the apartment. "You can't figure this out with text book knowledge or research so just stop asking questions."
I really had lost it. I'm starting to sound like Leo when he makes a mistake in practice. He would just badmouth himself till he got it right. That's what I'm doing now, but I don't know how to ratify this or at least make it easier on myself.
The apartment was almost the same as when I left it the last. I glanced around. All her furniture and personal belongings were still there. Even the movie she rented that day was still laying on the coffee table.
"The Patriot," she loved action/drama films, especially historically based movies. "Why didn't she return this before she left? Why didn't she take any of her stuff? Something is up, and it's not the sky."
Great Don, add a corny cliché to the problem that will make it all better. I walked away from the coffee table disgusted with myself. A familiar blue glow filled the room. It was the screen saver that I put on Lily's computer. Sea turtles swam monotonously on the coral reef backdrop to the sound of crashing waves. A sudden epiphany filled my thoughts and rattled through the inner parts of my mind.
Just as I thought the door had been busted open. Abrasions on the wood and the hole where the lock used to be gave me my answer. The letter was right, to a point. It proved that the apartment was broken into, but not that it was Dr. Rooks and his new lackeys that did the job.
"I need more proof," I said in desperation. "But what?"
I walked back to the desk and sat down in the old armchair. I looked at the faded stone blue color till my vision blurred. I placed my elbow on the computer desk jarring the keyboard. The screen came to life ending the reign of the sea turtles and their happy little pretend world. A word document was left up, almost like it was left unfinished, or was almost finished but something stopped it. But I could not be sure about that fact.
I read the document aloud, "Don- I'm in trouble. Dr. Rooks came to my house after you left and immediately he noticed. He left very angry. I don't know what he is going to do. I'm writing this in a hurry. I can hear him outside, Don help me. He's knocking on the door now. Oh, help. I'm going to send this to his as a virus I hope you get it. Please Don; find me, for our baby's sake. -Lily"
This can't be. The same note that I had received only a few hours ago. The plea for help was real. How could Dr. Rooks do this to Lily or me? He was a mentor for the both of us, but really he was just a wolf in sheep's wool. He used us for one of his sick experiments, and now my child will pay for my mistake.
I knew I should have told the guys earlier. That way I could have brought Lily down to the lair, where she would have been safe.
"I am such an idiot!" I yelled. "How could I let him fool me? How could I let him take my child and the love of my life? How could I let him use me?
He used Lily and me! Now he's going to use my child for only God knows what! I won't let that happen! I vow on my life that Lily and my child shall be avenged!"
I walked into the lair angry and vengeful. I walked to my room and turned on my computer to do some research on this Dr. Rooks.
"Nothing, clean record. This guy must know someone at the top," I said, not noticing the record at the bottom. "Wait, what is this."
I started to scroll down the document as Leo walked into my room with a cup of tea. He placed it in front of me and turned the computer to its side.
"Hey, what was that for?" I asked angrily.
"You've been worrying us lately, Don. We know you had something special with that girl, but she left. So let this go, and move on. Please, if not for us then for yourself," he was sincere.
"You just don't understand. She didn't leave she was kidnapped! I know it, and if takes me forever and a day I will prove it and get her back!"
"And how are you going to prove what can't be proved?"
"Simple. I went to her house today and I found some stuff that was impossible to believe but it fits. The door was scratched and broken, all of her things were still there, the rental movie she had is still lying on her coffee table, and her computer is still on with a distress note on it. Don't you see she was kidnapped, but I don't know who did it."
"What did the note say?"
"Basically the Dr. Rooks knew about us and the baby, he was also storming up the stairs to her apartment, and he will probably hurt the baby."
"That nut job! Are you sure it was him?"
"Positive."
"How positive?"
"Have a little faith, Leo, when has one of my ideas failed? Wait don't answer that. Just know that I'm 99.9999, you get the drift."
"Okay, but what about the 1%?"
"I don't know, I just don't know."
