Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark

The Discovery

A/N: Sorry for the late update. I'll do a double upload to make up for it.

Chapter 2: The Discovery

The Wachowski family had just finished unpacking a bunch of their belongings and were now taking a break.

Tom and Maddie were in the kitchen cooking dinner, while Sonic was in the backyard, playing fetch with Ozzy.

"Come on Ozzy, bring it back! You're so slow I could have fetched the ball 10 times by now, put in some effort! Bring it back already." Sonic clapped his hands encouragingly at the dog as he trotted up to the hedgehog obediently, holding the tennis ball in his mouth. He dropped the ball at his feet and Sonic bent down to pick it up. "Finally, good boy! Only took you ages, you're like an old man. I know you can do better. We're going to go long this time, so hurry up."

Sonic revved up his arm, using his super speed and threw the ball extremely hard this time. He had been keeping the distance of the fetch just a few yards away, but he wanted to send the ball a bit farther this time, to see just how far the fluffy golden retriever was willing to go. They were facing the house a bit so that they wouldn't lose the ball easily, not realizing how much of a mistake this was. He flinched when he heard a loud crash, the sound of a glass window breaking. "Uh oh."

With a pit in his stomach, the blue blur went towards the crash, ready to face the music on what kind of damage he had caused. He pushed past the ferns and hedges, trying to see the window that he had broken. He couldn't find anything though. "Where...?"

Suddenly, Ozzy stood rigid, his fur standing on end and growling lowly at something. Sonic has never seen the dog act this way before and it made him very nervous. Even though he was an animal himself, Sonic didn't have the same senses of normal animals. No Mobian did, which was why Longclaw wasn't able to detect the echidna tribe before they attacked.

"What is it, boy? What's wrong?"

Ozzy didn't move and continued to growl. He was frozen like a statue, his sharp canine teeth showing as saliva drooled from his lips. His entire body was straight, his head hanging low and the whites of his eyes showing. He seemed to be staring at something.

Sonic frowned, his hands resting on his hips as he followed the dog's gaze. All he saw was a plain pile of leaves so it wasn't anything to be scared of. Then, before he turned away, he saw the leaves move as if a breeze just passed by, but the air was perfectly still.

"What in the world?" Sonic frowned, going up to the leaves and pushing them away. As soon as he did so, he gasped at what he saw.

There was a window at ground level, almost unnoticeable. There was a hole in it where he was sure the ball he had thrown went through. He rubbed at the dirt and grime that covered it and pressed his face against the glass, trying to see what secrets it could be hiding. It was incredibly dark down below, but he could clearly see some kind of room underneath the house.

A basement?

"Sonic! Time for dinner!" Maddie called out to him, coming from around the front of the house. There was no door to the backyard, so she had to come outside to get him, still wearing her apron covered in chili sauce and meat blood.

"Maddie! Maddie, get Tom and come quick! I found a basement!"

"Sweetie, this house doesn't have a basement." Maddie frowned in confusion, walking over to him.

"Yes it does, look!" Sonic sat up and pointed at the window. The woman came over and looked down at it.

"Well, I'll be." She gasped softly. "How did you find it?"