They slowed down to a walk once the fallen leaves turned to gravel, and they realized they were on a separate trail. They came upon a clearing of overgrown plants and an abandoned building.
Leo crouched below the grass, pulling Ro with him. "Someone could live here..." /"No way, April said the nearest neighbors were hours away. Plus look at the state of this place, Leo. It'll be okay." She crawled forward, but Leo stopped her, "We can check it out as long as we're careful. We slip out quietly the moment something seems off. Deal?" Ro nodded her head, those were good terms. "Deal."
They stayed low to the ground, scouting the parameter. Behind the house, hidden by the trees, was an abandoned greenhouse. They found an opening and Ro followed Leo's lead inside. The greenhouse was huge, as if who ever lived here had the thought to become self sustainable, but never were able to make that dream come true. The outside of the greenhouse was still in decent condition... but the inside was barren. Leo led the way into the barn.
Mice scattered as Leo pushed open the wooden door, its hinges practically crying out for oil. It was quite spacious inside, very dark and dusty, and luckily they grew up in the sewers so they lived in worse. There was a room where the walls were lined with gardening tools, axes, and shovels. One thing was certain: nobody had come here in decades.
They explored the area, and Ro couldn't help but feel ecstatic. This is where she could spend her time for the next several weeks! She always wanted to learn to grow food, and it was like life handed her a gift on a silver plate. Finally.
She shot an unsuspecting Leo a smirk, and he knew he had just been volunteered for something before she even opened her mouth. For the next week, he would be restoring the rusted tools without complaint and keeping Ro company.
They headed out of the building when lunch time rolled around, following the path that had used before. They eventually made it back to the cabin and went inside to get some food, where everyone else was gathered and chatting.
Mikey: "Hey guys! Where y'all been? You almost missed lunch!"
Raph: "Yeah, Mikey almost ate your share of the grub."
April: "That was you, Raph..."
Raph shrugged, completely unbothered, "Same difference." Rae giggled as she and Leo piled their plates.
Rae: "Hey April! You never told us about the farm house back there. When was that built?"
April turned to Rae, genuinely confused, "What farm house?" /"The abandoned one just beyond the trail to the lake. Pretty good size and it has a greenhouse."
"Oh, yeah! Wow, none of my family has ever used it so we kind of just forgot about it. We've only used this place as a vacation home and not a full time residence home... so there was really no need to invest time and money into the place's upkeep."
Rae and Leo looked at each other confused, "So what happened to the people that did build it?"
April leaned against the counter and thought, "If I got my history right, it was my great grandparents on my mothers side who built the building and greenhouse. They were maybe in their forties when they built them. Their children were out of the house and had already moved to expanding cities. I don't have the full story, but they gave the deed to their oldest son, my grandfather, and they kind of... just disappeared." April's voice trailed off.
Raph stepped in, invested in the story now, "What do you mean, 'disappeared'?"
"I mean, they seemed to actually disappear." Everyone in the room seemed alarmed at that, begging for the full story. April chuckled and waved her hands in surrender, "Alright, alright. So, right before they went MIA, my great grandparents, whose names were Maggie and John, they traveled to visit their son in Virginia. Apparently, while visiting him, they passed the deed to him. They said their goodbyes and all, and I remember my grandpa telling me that nothing seemed off about them, but that was the last time he saw them."
April finished her story seldomly. Everyone was silenced, looking at each other for confirmation that they heard the same thing as the other.
Donnie: "Well, I wouldn't say they disappeared. Maybe something happened to them on the road back."
April took a sip of her tea, "Nope. We know they were here when they disappeared. Maggie had a diary she wrote in daily, so they definitely made it back. The last day they wrote about was a normal day working towards their dream home. So when they went 'missing,' it was while they were here."
Mikey was quick to jump to his feet and scream in a shrill voice, "OH MY G- THIS PLACE IS HAUNTED!! WE-GOTTA-GO!!!" He made a mad dash for the stairway, only to be tripped by Splinter lashing out at his feet with his tail. Splinter's fuzzy muzzle lifted in humor as the boy hit the ground with a THUNK.
Splinter stepped forward, his hand playing with his beard as he talked, "Oh come now, Michelangelo. I would hardly say this beautiful home is haunted. I do not believe lost souls would reside in such a peaceful place. Besides, don't you think April and her family would noticed if their ancestor's spirits still resided here?"
Donnie, sarcastically whispered to Rae, "I had hope that Dad was gonna speak logic but even he is on the Ghost-being-real train." Rae snickered quietly, only to receive a soft jab to the ribs from Leo, who was trying to stifle a smile too.
Raph seemed to be the only one sober in thought. He stepped forward, waving his hands in the air as if to dismiss the thought of ghosts. "Alright, alright. That's enough with the whole ghost thing. I think we can all agree-" He gestured towards everyone in the room, "that there is no such thing as ghosts. Now, I say we let dead bodies lie. Literally."
Before anyone had the chance to say anything, he clapped his hands and said with a sickly sweet smile as he started to backtrack towards the front door, "Good! Now that that's settled, I'll be outside getting some firewood for the pit." He was out the door quick like the ninja he was, leaving behind a confused crowd.
Leo, spoke up, "Well that was weird. Like, outside of Raph's normal weird." Everyone hummed in agreement and nodded their heads.
Mikey and Rae caught each other's eyes, and devious grins spread across their faces. They picked up on the faintest whiff of fear.
They fist bumped each other, already on the same page for what to do about their latest find. Leo stepped in, pushing the two apart, "Oh no you two don't. Come on guys, don't antagonize him." He stepped past them and began walking off.
Mikey: "Aww, too bad. Raph'll never get a taste of his own medicine then."
Rae played along, putting her head on Mikey's shoulder with a sorrowful look on her face, "I know what you mean, Mikey! All those times that Raph pushed us around, called us mean names, and *cough cough* challenged our authority. Tsk tsk tsk, it's a shame indeed. You remember the time when he found itch powder and put it in our liquid soaps? Or when he doused our food in fish oil?" They both blanched at the memory, Mikey said "Yeah, I still can't look at fish oil the same."
They both watched as Leo came to a stop, his interest peaked in possibly settling the score with Raph. What Rae said next would determine his answer: "Remember when Raph blamed Leo for the flooding of the bathroom when we were little? I've never seen Splinter so livid with Leo, he was grounded for nearly three months!"
Mikey slug his arm over Rae's shoulders dramatically, tears hanging in the corners of his eyes as they said in a sorrowful voice, "Poor Leo."
Leo turned his head over his shoulder to look at the two, both hiding their snickering behind their hands. Leo sighed, but turned to them with a mischievous smile and said, "Alright, alright, I'm in. What did y'all have in mind?" Mikey and Rae clapped with evil grins on their faces. Rae called for Donnie who was knee deep in the fridge digging for more food, "Yo, Don! Get yer tail over here! You ain't gonna want to miss this!"
Later that night, after they all had their meals over the open fireplace and had shared their stories of growing up, adventures, and experiences, they all retreated inside to watch a movie before calling it a night. Unbeknownst to Raph, his food was drugged with melatonin. He fell fast asleep after the first twenty minutes of the show. The movie ended an hour later, and after winks from the retreating forms of April and Splinter, the ninjas came out to play.