「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

8; Explanation

    April leaned over to get closer to the phone. "She's seen Casey recently."

    Silence. Absolute silence. It felt like everyone was holding in a breath.

    "How recently?"

    "Where is he now?"

    "Why hasn't he contacted us?"

    "Is he okay?"

    "Where was he when you saw him? Oh, wait. Stupid question. You've only been in Shredder's prison."

    When they finally quieted down, Elly told them what she knew. "I was staring up at the ceiling one day - or maybe it was night - because I was bored. Then I heard shouting from down the hall, so I got off my cot to see what was going on. A guy ran in, and a bunch of Kraang droids behind him. He stopped in the middle of the room to fight them off with a hockey stick. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it really happened."

    "What did he look like?" Don prodded. They only knew one person who fought off Kraang droids with hockey equipment, but they needed to make sure anyway.

    Elly searched her memories, going back to that day. "Dark hair. It was pretty messy, and he was drenched in sweat." She surprised herself with how much she actually remembered. Maybe it was because that was the most excitement she'd had in all those months. "He was really skinny, and his clothes were torn and dirty. I couldn't see much of his face in the dim lighting, but he did a lot of yelling and shouting. Almost like he was enjoying fighting to his death."

    April laughed quietly, then sniffed. The guys on the other end of the call let out soft chuckles.

    "That's Casey, for ya," one commented. This one sounded groggy, and he finished his sentence with a yawn.

    "What happened next?" Don continued to question her as politely as possible so as not to scare her off or bring up bad memories.

    "Next, he . . . well, he was much better at fighting than I expected him to be. He took out all of the robots, then just stood there trying to catch his breath." She closed her eyes, trying to envision the scene. "I was just about to call out to him. I was hoping he would let me out, since he was against the Kraang. But as I started to speak, a bunch of Foot ninja's poured in through the door he'd come out of.

    "He didn't look surprised, though. He just readied his hockey stick and watched them surround him. Then, a girl popped out through the line of ninjas. I found out later that her name was Karai."

    Elly didn't know if feeling a mood was even plausible, but she suddenly detected a tension that came to rest between each person she was speaking to. The name Karai had evidently brought up unpleasant recollections.

    "I remember their conversation. The boy said, "nice to see you again, Karai."' The name had come with a bitter aftertaste to Elly's ears, as though Casey hated to mention it, but had to prove a point. A point that meant she was nothing but an inconvenience. "Then Karai laughed and told him not to play games with her. She said she knew what he was hiding, and would find it.

    "You'll get nothing from me," he'd said.

    Karai chuckled and told him, "I never said I'd get it from you. I said I'd get it, one way or another."

    Then a big brawl started up, with Casey on the bottom. Karai watched the whole time with a frown. But Casey came back up and bolted for the exit. Karai yelled, "Casey Jones! Get back here!" And went after him herself. That was the last I saw of him."

    "Well that could mean any number of things," Don began.

    "Wait, Donnie," April interrupted before he could tell them his assumptions. "There's more." She gently nudged Elly's arm. "Tell them about the message."

    Elly nodded. "So, yesterday morning I was in my bathroom getting ready for the day, even though I was going to be at home the whole time. A guy showed up in the doorway. I don't know how he got in, but he proceeded to tell me a joke. Then he–"

    "Hold up!" The hippy-sounding teen shouted. "What joke?"

    "Uh . . . it was like, knock knock, who's there, cow goes, cow goes who, no, it goes moo," she described quickly.

    A pause, then laughter. "Oh! I get it now! That's a good one; I'll have to use that."

    "Let her finish, Mikey," the groggy one said.

    "Anyway, he said his name was Jeff. He was really tall, really buff, really blond, and really weird."

    "Yup. That's definitely Jeff," Leo identified.

    "He told me to tell April that Bonehead's back," she finished.

    There was another silence, this one much longer and more thoughtful that the others. Elly didn't know what everyone was thinking, but she wished she knew. She actually had no idea what was going on.

    "So . . ." Donnie spoke carefully, so as not to voice the wrong thing. "Casey's alive."