Love and Hate

Chapter 2

Lonely

Leonardo walked along the shore side. The same shore that him and his two other brothers had searched frantically to find Raphael's body. Leo heaved a sigh and sat down in the sand. The water rushed up to touch his feet and then retreated again. Things had been so hard when his brother and Master died. He always knew Raph was the drastic one, but he never thought that he would have drove him to his death. He raised his head and just starred out at the sea. What part did Raphael's body lie in ? After 15 years, he had never dove into the water to find him. Leo knew it was too late, but he stood and walked to the water. He stood in the salty water up to his knees and then plunged in. He swam under the water and looked at everything there was. It was cold, but he didn't care. He came to the spot where Raphael was said to have landed. He looked around and noticed something in the corner of a rock. He swam around and stopped suddenly. He was afraid of what he might find. Could Raphael's body be there ? Bones would be all that was left of him. He decided he had to look. Leonardo pushed himself forward and looked around the rock.

Michealangelo held up the painting he had just finished of Butterscotch Ruler standing in the winners circle. He smiled in satisfaction and set it down. The phone rang just then. Mike made his way over to pick it up.

" Hello ?"

" Hey Mike." Mike knew the voice well.

" Hey Donny ! What have ya been up to ?"

" Nothin much. Just hangin around. And you ?"

" Well ya know me. I have a lot of books and poetry to keep up on. A few days ago I went to the Gulfstream Park to watch a horse race. I took some nice pictures and started to draw the winner of the Grade III allowance race. It came out nice."

" Cool ! I haven't had a lot of work with that company I work for. Oh well. I am thinking about a vacation in a few months. Would it be alright if I dropped by ?"

" Sure ! That would be great ! Be kinda like old times.." Mike's voice broke off. Old times meant when the two would watch TV and Raph would argue and try to get the remote. Then Leo would get into it and fight with him and then Splinter would hit them both on the head with a stick. Mike couldn't help but smile at that. Tears threatened the back of his eyes. He missed his hot tempered brother and his master. There was a long silence until Don finally said something.

" Mike ?"

" Uhh ya, sorry Don. I was just thinking."

" I understand. We'll make plans another time, I just wanted to say hi and see how everything is."

" Thanks."

" Well I'll talk to ya later."

" Ok."

" Bye."

" Bye." Don hung up the phone and stood in silence. It was hard talking to his brother now. His own brother. Don lowered his head in sorrow.

Leonardo came to the surface with the old sai in his hand. He looked at it silently. It was slightly rusted, but he had something that could clean it. He found nothing else. The currents washed his brother away 15 years ago, including the other sai.

Rage

Hate

Despair

Never to love

Another.....again

The memories ran through his head as he remembered the past. Quickly he pushed the thought away and concentrated and what he was going to eat for dinner.

After Butterscotch Ruler was put back into his stall, his jockey backed up and smiled. Her curly black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her eyes were filled with pride as she looked at her friend's horse. She wished that she could own a horse like him, but she was thankful to even ride him. Cam Russo kissed his velvet muzzle and walked out of the barn. It was getting late and she had to get home. She went out to her truck and pulled out of the driveway to Silverbrook Stables.

Victoria Pena rode her 13 yr old gelding under western saddle down the back side of the paddock. The gelding was a gray, but he looked more white than anything else. His hair was black, but had white streaks. He was an American Quarter Horse and was almost 16 hands. He was still in very good health.

" Alright, Country Boy, whoa...." Country Boy stopped and waited as Vicky checked the back gate to make sure it was closed securely. Then she felt a presence. She only hoped that it wasn't a wild animal. Texas sometimes had them around the farm areas, but she hadn't had any problems with them. She opened the gate and mounted up again. Slowly, she walked her horse forward. She felt eyes upon her and it made her nervous. She pulled her Winchester Rifle out and kept an open eye. She trotted down the backside and into the woods. It was getting dark, but there was enough light to let her see around her. Then there was a loud crack and she turned her horse abruptly to the right. She looked to see a figure running into the distance.

" Hey !" She shouted. She hoped it wasn't some of the horse thieves that traveled around. It frightened her to make her think of anything happening to her horses. She turned back to the pasture and galloped into the gate. Quickly she closed and secured the gate and galloped back to the house. When she pulled up and brought him into the stallion barn, she quickly had the groom get him settled and went to check on the other horses. Everything seemed fine to her relief. She closed the barn and made sure the alarms were on. After being sure everything was alright, she went back to her house.

" What a day." She grumbled.

Mike went through his racing horse magazines and looked up Silverbrook Stables. He looked at some of their winners and then their jockey's. Then there was an article that caught his attention.

Fire Light tragically killed in riding accident. Colt's jockey; Cam Russo is suspected in horse's death.

Mike looked below the heading to see a picture of the girl he had liked. He was surprised that such a beautiful girl could be blamed for such a thing. The horse wasn't owned by Silverbrook either. Mike didn't buy it. According to the article, the jockey was just working the horse and he stumbled harshly. The owners tried to say that she had worked him too hard and she caused him to stumble. It had caused a compound fracture in the foreleg and he had to be put to sleep. But something was odd about that whole case. It intrigued him and he wanted to find out the truth about it. He wanted to help her and maybe then he would have the chance to at least be friends with her. He picked up the phone and called up the only one who could get into anything kind of file he wanted.

" Hello ?"

" Hey Don ! It's Mike, I have a favor to ask..."

Leonardo was sitting in the old den cleaning Raphael's sai. It was shined and he replaced the ruined leather with new leather on the handle. He then set it down next to his Master Splinter's old futon and candles. His old robe was there too. As Leo starred at the sai, he then began to think about how he had blamed Raphael. Raph's intentions were to save Splinter, not condemn him to death. Leo believed that he had driven Raphael to his death and he couldn't seem to forgive himself for it.

" Oh Raph......." He sobbed.

Donatello went through his computer and hacked his way into police reports and lawsuit records. He found the reports done on Cam Russo and pulled them up. He read the things it had to say. Shaking his head, he turned to the next page. The colt she was riding, had obviously been training and suddenly stumbled, causing his leg to fracture. It also seemed strange to him that this had happened just like that. He also had to remember that horses were sensitive animals and are fragile. He printed the material he had and shut down his computer. He would have to review it later when there was more time. At that moment, he wanted to get some rest. He walked through his large hallway and into his room. Taking off his robe, he laid in bed and closed his eyes after switching the lamp off.

Mike couldn't really sleep. He was starting to like that girl a lot, and it made him wonder what was true and what was not. There must be some doubt in the staff of Silverbrook if they were going to let her ride their champion horses. He wanted to find out more about the case, but he had to wait for Don. Then he began to wonder why helping her meant so much to him. He was still a freak in the eyes of a human and what would he gain from helping her ? Would she even acknowledge him ? He looked at his ceiling and decided that it didn't matter if she didn't want to talk to him. He was supposed to do good, like the old times. He was supposed to protect and help people regardless of what they thought of him. He only wished that wasn't the case.