Living In Fear

Chapter 13 - Discoveries

For a while after he finished his recollection on the turn of events, Donnie kept his gaze pointed at the embroidered rug, terrified of what he might find if he chose to look up. He feared to find pitying or judgemental stares as his brothers processed his clear mental deterioration, but eventually not knowing what his brother's might have been thinking proved to be far more terrifying then he'd originally estimated.

He forced his head to rise and tentivelty glanced between them, wondering what was going through his brother's minds.

Leo wore an almost expressionless face as he was most likely still piecing together what they'd been told and Raph met Donnie's glance with his normal frown, the genius partly surprised he hadn't started spouting any belittling comments about the idiocy of the story.

Mikey's uncharacteristically silent and wide-eyed expression was what worried Donnie the most, though he hoped that this meant that he was taking the story seriously. If he was being honest, he probably would be skeptical of the whole thing if he'd been in their place.

Then again, they had been around the witness that daydream...

Donnie shivered lightly and instinctively rubbed the forming goosebumps along his arm. He still couldn't understand how this dream had actually almost taken his life. The dreams had never had any real effect on him, other than phantom pains of injuries that he'd gained within them.

He'd given his brothers as little description of the nightmares as he could so he could focus on blocking the horrible images that always appeared when he gave them the briefest of reminiscing. Besides, they really didn't need to try and picture what ended up happening to their bodies after he failed to save them.

Sudden movement gathered the genius's attention and Donnie was startled from his gruesome thoughts as he glanced over to Raph. His brother's frown had now morphed into a thin scowl, narrowed eyes and tightly clenched fists a clear sign that whatever conclusion he'd come across had triggered his impulsive fury. Donnie tensed at the action and his hand instinctively moved to grab for his staff, but the moment he realized what he was doing, he lowered it again, averting his gaze from Raph's sheepishly.

Raph noticed the reaction and it wasn't hard to guess the cause, but he knew he didn't want to bring the day-dream up anymore then his younger brother did. Rightly choosing not to comment on it, Raph gathered Donnie attention against when he demanded. "How come you tell us any of this? What the shell possessed you to keep it some big secret?"

He threw both hands in the air as though to place more emphasis on his point and Donnie gave a barely noticeable shrug. "I-I don't really know, I guess...Well, I hoped that because they were just dreams that I could... You know, that I could handle them."

There was a moment of apprehension before he rubbed the back of his neck and continued. "But then I started seeing hallucinations during the evening... And I thought – I thought that if you found out you'd think that I was losing my mind or-or that I was incompetent and unreliable, or just... going insane."

His dejected and nervous look as he scanned their expressions told his brothers that this was still a major concern for the genius and Leo was quick to try and shoot his fears down. Placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a small, understanding smile, Leo replied. "Trust me, none of us do or even will believe that Donnie. Besides, I don't think these dreams are necessarily yours."

Relieved though clearly confused, the tension left Donnie's shoulder as he turned to meet his oldest brother's thoughtful gaze, head tilted curiously. Releasing his shoulder, Lo admitted. "I know it doesn't make much sense, but I have a gut feeling these dreams have something to do with this 'Dream Demon' you keep mentioning."