Oh, cobra-curled! Fierce-fanged one! Draw
    Night's curtain o'er the landscape of thy hair!
I yield! I kneel! I own, I bless thy law
    That dooms me to despair.

I mark the crimson ruby of thy lips,
    I feel the witching weirdness of thy breath!
I droop! I sink into my soul's eclipse-
    I fall in love with death!

But shall I see thee far beyond the sun,
    When the new dawn lights Empyrean scenes?
What matters now? I know the poem's done,
    And wonder what the dickens it all means!
                     -Selections from Frangipanni, by Anonymous, 1902

Midnight Snacks: Chapter 3: Explainations

his body ached. He lay on his bed, that much he knew, from the familiar scent. He kept his eyes closed, trying to rationalize his memories.

No. it wasn’t possible. To be sure, something happened, and he was surely attacked by someone. Some…thing. But the rest… blue eyes… gold hair… no, the light was dim, his eyes were playing tricks on him. Further evidence that he had spent way too much time staring at a computer monitor lately.

“I really can’t apologize enough. Though you have to understand, I really *was* desperate.”

He opened his eyes. That voice was familiar. Too familiar. Impossibly familiar. The curtain separating his cubicle of space from the rest of their dwelling was shut, and the light was dim. He reached up and removed the cool compress someone, probably Splinter, had thoughtfully placed on his forehead.

“no excuses, paste-face! You’re not getting away with this!” that was definitely Raph.

“please, be calm, my son, nothing can be accomplished by losing your temper.”

Donnie sat up and fought a wave of nausea. He stood on wobbly legs, steadying himself on the wall.

“you, Leo, how can you just sit there? *You* saw this over-grown leech try to give him a blood transfusion! Help me out here!”

“Calm down, master Splinter is right.”

Donnie pulled the curtain aside and took a shaky step toward the living room where the voices came from.

“he did bring Donnie back here afterwards…” that was Mikey “and he didn’t kill him…” his tone of voice indicated that, though it hadn’t happened yet, he hadn’t totally out-ruled the possibility.

“if it hadn’t been for Leo and a two-and-a-half foot long katana in his back, he probably would have!”

“please calm down, my sons. Arguing will not solve any of our problems.”

Donnie staggered into the living room and stopped, staring at the assembly before him: Raph was standing behind the couch, (all the better to wave his hands and pace). Splinter sat, cross-legged, in his rocking chair. Mikey and Leo sat on the couch. A familiar dark-haired, copper-skinned girl perched on the arm of the easy chair, dark eyes staring at Raph as if he were an interesting specimen of new life form which she was investigating.

And there, sprawled, cat-like on the easy chair, infuriating smirk in place, was Angelo. His face and arms were once more fleshy, once more a healthy tan instead of a deathly gray. His hair was pulled loosely back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He wore faded blue jeans and a simple black t-shirt.

“well,” he said, meeting Donnie’s brown eyes with his brilliant blue ones, “look who finally decided to join us.”

“W…w…” Donnie tried, and failed, to form the question word he was looking for.

Mikey and Leo hurried over to him and gently guided him to the couch, where he was seated across from a vampire who looked immensely pleased with himself. Once he was seated, he managed to say “what…”

“why, honey-reptile, I thought you’d never ask!” Angelo stood up and sort of melted into the vacant spot next to Donnie.

Raph made a sound of protest while Mikey backed nervously away, and Leo determinedly sat on Donnie’s other side and shot Angelo a warning look.

“Now that we’re all cozy, may I explain myself?” Angelo directed his question toward Splinter. Donnie got the distinct feeling that, of all the people in the room, it was Kali and his Sensei that Angelo had a certain amount of respect for.

“please do so.”

“thank you.” Angelo nodded to Splinter who inclined his head slightly in reply. “*well*”, he started off, “as you know, about a week ago, upon the close of a lovely, however short, period of time I got to spend with this adorable reptile,” Angelo pinched Donnie’s cheek affectionately. Donnie glowered at him “A sharpened wooden stake, thoughtfully soaked in holy water to avoid taking any chances, was plunged into my heart,” he placed a palm over said organ dramatically, “and the great, well-traveled, well- loved child of darkness Angelo was thus executed.” He lowered his head as if in mourning.

“or so we thought.” Said Raphael.

“oh, don’t put yourselves down, you really did quite a good job.” Angelo reached over and patted Raph on the hand. The turtle visibly recoiled. “I was well and truly dead. *however*…”

“there always has to be a ‘however’, doesn’t there?” said Mikey to Leo.

“always.”

“had I not had the fortune of being looked after by that very epitome of lovely-ness over there,” he gestured toward Kali who was at that moment braiding a lock of her hair and, having lost interest in Raphael, was staring intently at Splinter. “Now, this girl is more ancient than any other vampire that I, personally, know. There may very well be others older than her, but certainly not many.”

“how old is she?” asked Donnie.

“honestly, I have no idea, but were talking ‘Before Common Era’ if you know what I mean.”

Donnie looked at the child-like creature with renewed interest.

“Anyway, being that ancient, she’s immensely powerful. So powerful that her own blood can act as a sort of antidote to even the most powerful holy water. sort of like adding positive one to negative one”

“they cancel each other out.” Said Donnie.

“to a degree.” Angelo pulled up his shirt to reveal the round area of scar tissue over his heart, which marred his otherwise smooth chest.

“sort of like canceling out good with evil.” Donnie turned to Leo to see the dark look he was giving Angelo.

The vampire evenly met his gaze, “oh, now, I think that’s being a bit unfair.” He gestured at Kali, “what did the cute, harmless little kid ever do to you?”

“If that kid’s harmless, I’m the mayor of NYC.” Said Mikey.

“touche.” Said Angelo, turning to Mikey and flashing him a smile which was, surprisingly, neither flirtatious nor malicious.

Hesitantly, surprised by Angelo’s reaction, Mikey returned the smile.

“that’s all very nice, but what the hell are you doing here? Leo could have brought him back without your help.” Raph gave Leo a hard look, which his brother returned.

“*well*,” said Angelo, draping an arm around Donnie’s shoulders and fluttering the other hand melodramatically, “I thought I’d do you do- gooders a favor, since I feel simply *awful* for jumping Donatello like that.” His tone implied that he felt no such thing, “I have some information for you.”

“what kind of information?” asked Leo suspiciously.

“you kids watch the news?”

“every day.” Said Mikey.

“than you’ve probably heard of the series of murders taking place there. Five bodies in five weeks, all drained of blood.”

“a friend of yours?” said Raph sarcastically.

“not anymore.” Replied Angelo, suddenly staring fiercely at the floor, his eyes unfocused. He seemed to be seeing something more than the ragged rug on their living room floor. He shook his head as if to rid it of baneful images, “anyway, these murders are coming to the Big Apple. I thought I’d clue you guys in to what it is you’ll be up against.”

“why do you convey this information to us? do you wish to help us?” asked Splinter.

“actually, the organization of vampires in New York could use your help. This murderer is a thorn in a lot of sides. He’s drawing undue attention to himself.”

“isn’t that what you were doing, not too long ago?” asked Donnie, remembering recent reports of murders in New York due to blood loss.

“that was before the U.U.V.A. opened a faction in New York City.”

“the what?”

“United Underground Vampires Association. It’s an organization which was started in London which provides blood for vampires though a number of voluntary donors, without hurting or killing anyone. It now has chapters in Moscow, Tokyo, Hong Kong, New Dheli, Dublin, Cairo,-“ he counted off the places on his fingers.

“look, we get the idea.” Said Raph.

“anyway, this murderer has been killing off human allies of the organization.”

“how do you know this person is coming here?”

Though his composure remained relaxed, Donnie sensed that Angelo was nervous. The arm around his shoulders tensed, and his eyes shifted away from Leo’s, “that’s not important. What’s important is that he needs to be stopped, and you four have skills that could be useful in detaining him.”

The turtles and their sensei exchanged looks.

“well, whaddaya say? Stick it to the bad guy, for the greater good of the new minority?”

“we will have to discuss the matter.” Splinter stood, and Angelo did as well. they clasped hands. “how shall we contact you?”

Angelo looked at Donnie and grinned, “Donatello knows where to find me. Take it easy, sugar-shell.” He winked and walked out the door, hand-in-hand with Kali.

“sugar-shell?” Leo, Raph and Mikey said at once.

Donnie buried his face in his hands and groaned, “here we go again.”

**********

once again, I beg for reviews. Fellow writers know how helpful they are (unless they’re flames. Then we just point and laugh and discuss the fact that some people need more hobbies). Thanks a bunch, folks.
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