"Woah! Destiny, calm down!" Casey says, gripping the wolf girl's shoulder and giving her a sharp tug.
She glances at him, then back at Bernie. In that split second, Bernie kicks her in the face and makes her release him. She yelps and the store owner dashes for his chainsaw. Instantly, Casey trips him with his baseball bat.
"OW!" the man exclaims.
He rolls over, staring at the two teens with wide eyes. Destiny winces and cracks her jaw, massaging it gently as her ears tuck against her curls.
"What is wrong with you?!" Casey demands.
"Ah, I'm sorry," Bernie apologizes, gripping his head as he stumbles to his feet. "I'm a little high-strung. I haven't slept in forty years, so I'm starting to see things, like wolf people."
"News flash, I'm real," Destiny snaps, stepping towards him. "And you're going to be in real pain if you don't tell me—"
"Wolfie, your Raph is showing," Casey says, placing his arm across her chest and stopping her advance. He looks to Bernie. "Why haven't you slept in forever?"
"Because of the Dream Beavers!" Bernie exclaims, imitating claws.
"What are Dream Beavers?" Destiny asks, taking slow breaths as her temper simmers back down to normal.
"They're beings of pure evil from another dimension. You see, it all began forty years ago..."
"Nobody asked, dude," Casey groans.
"I was a physicist trying to prove my theory that our dreams take place in a dimension of their own," Bernie continues, unfazed by the comment. Destiny and Casey sigh. "A defective portal projector short circuited and I lost consciousness. The Dream Beavers had been about to break through into our reality, but instead, they materialized in the dream dimension, in my dream. When I awoke, they remained trapped in the world of dreams, unable to return as long as this device remains operating."
The man stoops to grab the book that Casey had nearly taken. Destiny and Casey exchange quick looks while the man's back is turned. He turns back to them and gestures to the retrieved item.
"Device? It's a book, Bernie!" Casey says forcefully.
"Obturaculum somniorum means 'dream plug,'" Bernie explains, flipping the book open and revealing a strange device, beeping with red lights. "For forty years, I have protected the plug to ensure that the Dream Beavers remain trapped. For forty years, I have remained awake so that they cannot drain my life force. But they are always near." He clutches the book closer, looking out the window. "They attack anyone close to me and drain the life from them when they sleep. That's why I came out here, far away from everyone!"
"Not far enough," Casey says. "They're draining our friends right now!"
"Please, Bernie, you have to help us," Destiny pleads, her anger completely dissipated into fear. "They're our family."
"You know what? He is gonna do something about it!" Casey decides, grabbing Bernie by the shirt collar and dragging him from the store. Destiny scurries after him.
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How the turtles and Diaval ended up in a comic book, they don't know.
YOU ARE READING
Forest Mutation (Book Two)
Fanfiction"In Saskatchewan, when I couldn't fall asleep, I'd watch the moon and think about how across the country and over the border, you were probably out on a rooftop beneath the same moon. You were the first person I enjoyed the moon with. Every other ti...
