Come Back To Me (second part to "She's Mine")

Chapter 1

A large, grassy plain. A clear, cloudless sky. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow through the air. Shadow lifted his nose. The crisp wind smelled of strawberries and honey.

It smelled familiar.

He spun in a circle until his eyes landed upon his home. His hidden cavern, away from society and chaos. Here, he could be alone. He wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone anymore. He would just isolate himself like he used to.

He approached the mountainside, reaching out to the hidden archway with gloves fingers. Hesitantly, he flexed his fingers expecting to feel cool stone, but instead his hand fell right through. He raised an eyebrow. As expected, his home was exactly as it should be.

He slowly walked through his mirage, entering the damp darkness of his home. It seemed lonely, and it was, but the black hedgehog felt at home in the shadows. Perhaps he was destined to fall in tangent with his name.

Naturally, he walked around in the darkness until he came upon his table. While he couldn't see it, he imagined it being there. He imagined all his furniture being where it should be if the cave had light. It wasn't his senses or anything, just living here for so long. He knew it like the back of his hand.

He felt around the wood tabletop until he placed his hands upon a handle. He lifted the object. It made a rusty jingling sound, like old metal. So he had found his lantern. Now where were the matches?

He walked around the room, making his way to his hallway dresser. He kept a pack of matches in the second draw on the right, along with his pocket knife, a chaos emerald, and his gun. He didn't really need a gun, but it felt right to have one. Now that he thought about it, maybe putting his most prized possession in a simple drawer in the main room was not such a great idea. He noted to move it somewhere else.

Digging around gently, after realizing he shouldn't aggressively move his hands around his weapon drawer, he grasped the slim cardboard box. He flipped open the lid, pulled out a match, and struck it. The small fire only allowed him to see three inches in front of him.

He opened the lantern and light the candle inside of it. Slowly, the room lit up, revealing his home. For some reason, it was dimmer than usual. Shadow brushed it off, claiming it was only because he was just outside.

Clinging to his portable light, he walked into his living room. He hung the lantern onto a hook and plopped down onto his couch. Shadow held his breath, expecting to sneeze from the dust cloud.

But there was no dust.

Odd. Shadow didn't remember cleaning it. He grunted. "Something's off-" he started, then started coughing. His stomach curdled in surprise. He sounded terrible. His voice was raspy and airy, and his throat was throbbing from the effort it took to say two simple words. What did he do?

He had to force himself to stop choking. The pain in his throat was intensifying, and the ragged gasps in between them weren't helping either. He stumbled into his kitchen, returning into the darkness, and found a cup from his cupboard. In his struggle, a few fell o it and crashed onto the stone floor. He turned on the faucet, but no water came running out. Now Shadow was convinced that something was wrong.

He staggered over to the fridge, remembering that there was spare water inside. He threw the door open, relieved to see his large jug and six water bottles stored inside. He grabbed one and started drinking, holding it in his throat as long as he could before swallowing. Eventually, his desperate gulps turned into careful sips, and the pain miraculously disappeared.

He took a deep breath, relived, yet also nervous. Something else was at play here. He felt like he was being tortured. But he didn't know what to do about it.

Shadow almost jumped at the sound of a quick breath coming from the living room, which was followed by the candlelight dissipating almost immediately. Someone blew out his light. Shadow froze. Normally, he would jump into action, but he didn't know what forces he was going against. He considered himself the ultimate life form, but he had finally met his maker. He stayed motionless and silent. His only chance was to catch this mystery anomaly by surprise.

Footsteps sounded, quietly at first, but then they drew nearer. Shadow held in a breath. He had no plan, no ideas, nor any certainty that he would come out of this okay.

One footstep.

Two footsteps.

Three footsteps.

Stop.

"S-Shadow? Are you in here?"

That voice... it was vague, but he definitely knew it. Was it a past enemy? Maybe someone out to kill him. But it sounded feminine. He didn't respond, obviously.

"Please... I n-need help..."

Shadow raised a curious eyebrow. He recognized the tone. It was definitely a woman. But he couldn't recall any females he had collided negatively with. Maybe she was a friend.

Shadow couldn't recall if he had any of those before.

Shadows eyes widened in shock as a bloody, gloved hand grasped onto his shoulder. He remained motionless. He couldn't see it, of course, but from the smell and the wet sound it made when it collided with his fur, well, he could only assume as such.

"You... you left me... with him."

Shadow couldn't help himself. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The girl sniffled a bit. He could almost hear her tears hit the stone floor.

"I can't believe you forgot about me already." She was on the verge of a breakdown. Her voice was strained, and her breathing was short and quick. She sounded injured. Perhaps she was.

Suddenly, the room lit up, and Shadow's heart skipped a beat. Maybe two, or even three.

Because right in front of him was the girl he knew would change him.

And behind her was the hedgehog that almost turned him back into the monster he used to be.

Sonic had his hand against Amy's back, and her once beautiful soft fur was matted with dark, thick blood. Shadow felt no desire from it, only concern. And anger. It suddenly clicked in Shadow's mind.

Sonic had stabbed Amy.

He was currently stabbing her.

And she was, somehow, smiling through it.

"Ah, see, now... now you recognize me..."

Shadow couldn't speak. Shadow couldn't move. Shadow could only watch. Shadow could only listen.

Sonic thrusted his hand into her back. Amy grunted in response, her eyes rolling up a bit. Sonic stared at Shadow the entire time, looking for a reaction. Shadow, somehow, didn't have one.

"S-Shadow... why did you leave? You could have stayed... stayed with me."

He couldn't even think anymore.

"Now I'm alone. With him. And it's your fault. I told you not to go."

She was still smiling. Smiling through the pain. Like she always did.

"But it's too late for that now, isn't it?"

Another jab in the back. Another grunt.

Amy started falling to the floor. She held eye contact. She kept grinning up at him. And all he could remember was how much he loved her. And how stupid he was.

Why didn't he stay?

"There's only one way to fix... it now."

Shadow was allowed one word. "Anything."

"Wake up."

Wake up?

"Hey! Wake up!"

The world around him fell dark again.