Love and Hate

Chapter 7

Recalling the Past

Victoria pulled back on the reins and the gray colt slowed a bit. He was being mischievous and playing little tricks again. One was surely gonna show up on her rear as a big purple bruise. Serenity didn't exactly live up to his name, except when he was in the barn and you had a treat in hand. She had finally gotten him to safely get out of the starting gate and gallop half way down the track. It wasn't the easiest thing she'd ever done, but she got it done.

She trotted the head strong colt to the gap and pulled up. Cam greeted her with a smile and patted the colt's neck.

" I saw that spill." She said with an evil grin.

" Ya! I felt it." She jumped off and ran up her stirrups. She handed the reins to Cam and held her rear as she made her way back to the house. She heard Cam giggle and take the colt to the yearling barn to cool him out.

Now that she was off the horse, her mind went back to that creature she had met. Raphael. Why was he so mean to her? And why were humans such a sensitive subject? She wondered what could have hurt him to make him think so badly of humans. She didn't have a clue, but maybe his brothers did. If only she knew where they were or what their names were. She opened the door to her house and went into the kitchen. She checked her answering machine, but had received nothing. Then she noticed her Winchester Rifle wasn't there. She remembered that she had dropped it the other day when she had almost froze in the paddock.

Quickly, she went out the door and to the stallion barn and brought out Country Boy again. The tall gray waited patiently as she pulled his bridle over his head. She put a blanket on his back and hopped on without the saddle. She urged him forward and went to the back paddock and opened the entrance gate. When she was in and away from the fence by about 3 yards, she trotted her horse up another 20 yards and then moved into a canter. His movements were not very smooth, but she knew had to make the ride less bumpy.

When she came to the back of the paddock, she looked around to where she had fell. Her gun was rested against the fence. She walked the gelding up to it and picked it up. There was a piece of black material caught on the barrel. It was part of Raphael's cape. She took it and put it in her pocket and checked out the gun. Country Boy threw up his head and eyed the woods. Vicky knew he was near by. She didn't dare want to go near the woods. She used to ride in there when the trails were good, but she hadn't in a while and she was afraid to know.

Raphael sat in the tree and starred at her. She was still checking her gun for problems. His odd eyes wouldn't leave her. Even with a damaged eye, he could still see. For some reason, the wound only caused the iris to change color half way and it had made him temporarily blind in that eye, but it was fine now. He held his spear close to him as he watched her. He had vowed never to befriend another human again. He promised himself that he would remain a secret and never let his brothers, Casey or April know that he was alive. So far Vicky was the only one that knew, but she didn't know his dark secret. Finally, he saw her cluck at the horse and canter off. He watched her go in silence. She rode the horse like it was nothing. They looked as though they were one. He remembered he used to be that way once or twice with his brothers when they fought against evil.

He remembered the Shredder and how Leo had ended him. Mike always acting like an idiot and fooling around. Donatello stuck to that damn computer. Raphael would most of the time be out and fighting. Blowing off steam half the time. He used to go to the movies and watch the strangest things; as he recalls when he first watched Critters. His Master Splinter would speak to him and tell him that he shouldn't forget about his brothers and that he should try to control his anger. Then Raphael remembered that it was his anger that had caused his Master's death. The man was holding the poor rat against his will and he called Raphael a freak. Both had made him so angry, and he didn't stop to think about what he was doing. He just lunged forward, but not in time to save his Master. He also remembered how his brothers had been so angry with him for what he had done and because he didn't cry. And for the last 15 years he hadn't shed a tear. Not when Splinter died and not when he saw his brother's horrified expressions as he jumped. He lowered his eyes to his sai and then back to the paddock. He had to get home and find dinner. He'd enjoyed the one he had at Vicky's house, but now it was back to rabbits and coyote's, with an occasional bird here and there.

Leonardo looked at the art magazine with a painting of Michealangelo's in it. It was a racehorse. The painting he had done of Butterscotch Ruler in the winner's circle was on the front cover. April came in and looked at it and smiled.

" He always was a good artist."

" Ya."

" Maybe we should pay him a visit." April said.

" I don't know. After what happened, Mike and Don have completely lost contact with us. That must mean that they don't want to talk to us. They might also have some problems with being near humans now."

" But . . . they know me and Casey and know that we wouldn't do anything to harm them." He could hear the hurt in April's voice and he turned to face her. Casey had come up then and put his arm around her for comfort.

" I know that, but things are different now. I know them. If they wanted to talk or see us, they would have said something. Ya know . . . called or wrote. I have to admit that I even have a hard time dealing with humans. I have nothing against you two, but the fact is, that we lost a father and a brother because of a human and we are just . . . trying to deal with it." He felt bad for feeling the way he did, but he couldn't help it. Hardly anything good had come to them because of humans. He was beginning to think somewhat like Raphael. He didn't want to totally believe everything that Raphael said. His brother had hated humans and only made friends with April cause she seemed to understand. He and Casey hadn't exactly got off on the right foot, but in the end, Casey had come to help them when Raph had been injured. Keno had also been a friend. They were the only three human friends they had, but now he didn't know if Mike or Don wanted anything to do with them.

" It's all right Leo. I understand. It's just still hard to think about this. I mean I loved Splinter and Raph too. I just wish Mike and Don hadn't split from us like this." April heaved a sigh and looked at the magazine.

" I guess Mike is into horse races now." Leo looked at it. She was right. He realized that most of the horse race art he made was at Gulfstream Park, Florida.

" He must live there." Leo said, pointing to the state on the map.

" Ya . . . I guess so. I wonder where Don is." Leo didn't know the answer to that one. Don would more than likely be almost impossible to reach. If anyone was going to make contact, it would be Don or Mike. He set the picture down and looked out the window.

" Donatello?"

He looked at the computer screen.

" What?"

" Are you alright? You seem to be down again."

" Ya . . . I guess I am."

" Is this about your brothers?"

" Ya. I miss them."

" Then why not go see them?"

" I don't know. I can talk to Mike, but I have a hard time talking to Leo."

" Searching through my database, I recall in your voice diary that you have lost contact with Leonardo. You do not participate in meditation any longer, and you miss your deceased brother Raphael and when you think about what happened 15 years ago, you get angry. You attack the punching bag you have in your living room and then you cry. Why is this?"

" Because it hurts to think about what happened."

" Do you think leaving your family made it any better?"

" No."

" Then it is not logical that you felt pain and then left to feel more. According to my programing, I believe that a family should stay together and move on with their lives. Is this not true?"

" Everyone's different."

" What does that have to do with you?"

Donatello looked at the screen, but said nothing. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to stay with his family or not. He had to deal with this confusion on his own.

Raphael sat in his cave with the fire burning nicely. His large rabbit hung over the fire and cooked while he stitched the fur into a belt pouch. He set it down when he was finished and looked around. He realized that Vicky's torn jacket and shirt were still there. He picked it up and made sure nothing was in the pockets. When he found nothing, he held them before him and starred at them. She had fallen through some really sharp branches and trees and torn the clothes badly. They were somewhat dirty, but he had taken them off of her to make her more comfortable. He wasn't sure why he cared though. He set them on his lap, but raised them to his nose and smelled them. It was a sweet smell. Like some sort of fruit perfume. He could smell the horse and hay on them, but it didn't bother him. It smelled good. He began to think about what he saw again. Her frail face, hazel eyes with green specks in them, her silky brown hair and her lush lips. Then his mind went to when she had left the cave and he caught a glimpse of her soft, full breast. He remembered when he had pinned her hands back and how close he was to her. It was strange that she didn't scream. But the feel of her body against his made him tremble with excitement. Then he remembered she was still a human. One of them. He pushed the thought of her aside and grabbed the meat of the rabbit and hungrily bit into it. He wanted to forget about Vicky, but for some reason he couldn't.