¿Him or Her? {Sonadow}

Chapter Nineteen

__Shadow had opened the door that was still in tact. He examined the broken desk in the way before moving it to where they could get in. He grabbed each broken bit by the legs and threw them behind him. After he cleared it Sonic had this smirk that made Shadow uncomfortable.
__"Tough guy, huh?" He teased.
__"Silence." Shadow made sure he was the first to step inside the mansion. It was dark, with the exception of the light that shown through the windows. When Sonic walked in Shadow saw an old candlestick holder on an old stool. There was a slightly dusted, unused candlestick in it and there was an unopened packet of matches next to it.
__"How very...convenient." Shadow opened up the matches and lit one. He stared at it for a second before lighting the candle. He then shook the match and tossed it as he picked up the candlestick holder.
__"Let's check out the kitchen first," Sonic requested. Shadow followed after Sonic reluctantly.
__"You know where you're going?"
__"Not really," Sonic said awkwardly. "I just have a feeling it's this way."
__It didn't take long to find the kitchen. The place was extremely dirty, rotten, and charred. There was an island in the middle of the kitchen and next to it were a couple of half-melted erlenmeyer flasks and tubes. Shadow knelt down on one knee and picked up one of the half flasks. It was black and brown from the old fire. He set it down and saw a torch ignitor. He picked it up and squeezed it in hand. His ears perked up when it made sparks. "Still works." He set it down and stood up.
__"Can I get some light here?" Sonic called out. He was standing by the stove.
__Shadow got up and walked over to Sonic. There was a stew pot on top of one of the burners. A gross scent attacked his nose as he stood next to Sonic. He shined the candle light into the pot. There was mold, grime, dried ash, and whatever old food used to be in there with dead maggots.
__"Elch!" Sonic stuck his tongue out and backed away from the stove. "Gross!"
__"Well, I think this is where that girl started the fire," Shadow infered as he pointed over to the flasks and torch ignitor.
__Sonic nodded. "Yep, definitely. Let's move on."
__One of the old pans fell onto the floor and they both turned to see what it was. Shadow calmed down when he saw a rat run across the floor. Very funny, he thought bitterly. Sonic however looked really excited.
__"Oh! I'm getting goosebumps. Come on." Sonic jumped up before leaving the kitchen.

__It took over an hour before they entered the last room in the mansion: the daughter's bedroom. Before they went in they saw an old portrait of an old woman they assumed was the grandmother. The entire time they were here, nothing seemed haunted; just dark and depressing. Shadow had opened the door to the daughter's room and thought his heart stopped. The room looked...normal. Nothing in the room was burnt or dirty. The entire room was pink: the walls were pink, the floor was pink, the ceiling was pink, and all the furniture was pink. Shadow saw a light switch by the door inside and flipped it out of curiosity. The lights had turned on and they were pink as well. The way the room was lit made his eyes hurt so he turned it off. He then realized that nothing else in the house worked like the lights in this room. Sonic noticed this, too.
__"This room may be what's haunted," Sonic whispered excitedly.
__Shadow set the candle down on one of the pink desks and snorted as he examined the room. "This room is too bright."
__"Hey now, don't be upsetting the spirits!" Sonic joked. He then looked around as well. "I'm starting to think the rumors about the grandmother cursing the mansion isn't true."
__"What do you mean?" Shadow asked with one eye narrowed.
__Sonic had walked over to the bed and picked up a pink teddy bear that was sitting in the middle of the pillows. "We already saw what the grandmother's room was like; burnt like the rest of the house. But the daughter's room is still as good as new. Even the lights work! I'm thinking maybe it was the daughter that cursed this room."
__"Why just this room?" Shadow walked over to Sonic and looked at all the pictures and posters along the walls.
__"I don't know," Sonic replied as he set the bear back in its spot. "Perhaps this was her happy place. That's why it's still as good as new."
__"If this room is still good, then why has no one else said anything?"
__"No one close to our time has entered this house after hearing it was haunted," Sonic explained. "In our crazy world where ghosts exist, the normies don't want to take any chances." Sonic then crossed his arms as he looked at a picture of a little girl with long, black hair on a desk. "That must be her." He reached for the picture but it suddenly fell face down onto the floor. "Aw shit!"
__Both Shadow and Sonic ran to the middle of the room. The pictures and posters all fell to the ground. The room started shaking and there was some eerie humming coming from everywhere. Sonic had moved over until his arm was against Shadow's. There was fear, yet the same excitement he showed all day in his eyes. Shadow's eyes moved each time something in the room made sudden movement. "How are you still excited!?"
__Sonic laughed nervously as he flattened his ears. "I've had a ghost girl hit on me in another haunted mansion years ago. Kinda wanted a better experience for a long time. Now I got it."
__The whole room went still and quiet. Shadow was just starting to calm down when he felt someone breathing into his ear. "Sonic, stop breathing on me."
__Sonic moved away and shook his head. "That's not me!"
__Shadow straightened when the breathing grew heavy. The raspy voice of a little girl spoke. "Get out."
__Everything in the room was now falling over. Without thinking, Shadow grabbed Sonic's hand and ran out of the room. Sonic did not protest this. He just followed Shadow's lead.
__Even though they were out of the room, stuff from the walls started falling down in attempt to hit them. Shadow felt his own heart pounding rapidly from fear. But he wasn't afraid for himself. He was afraid for Sonic. He didn't really think about it since they were running.
__Once Sonic started picking up the pace, Shadow let go of his hand and they both used their super-speed to quickly leave the mansion. They stopped at the front door but a large gust of wind threw them into the fountain, which somehow was filled with water. They both pulled their heads out of the water and began coughing. They looked at mansion. Everything seemed calm now. They then looked at each other while panting.
__Sonic smiled and started laughing out of nowhere, which caught Shadow off guard. He kept laughing until tears were forming out of his eyelids, but he wasn't sad. This confused Shadow. How could one cry when they aren't sad?
__Sonic started wheezing as he wiped his eyes, still laughing. "We almost died!" He cheered.
__Something sparked inside of Shadow. Seeing Sonic like this made him feel happy for once. He found himself smiling and after a few seconds he began laughing as well. This made Sonic stop to look at Shadow. He looked concern. Shadow slowed to giggling as he tried speaking.
__"You...! You are a fucking idiot!" He started laughing again. Sonic began laughing again as well. Both of them fell back on their sides, keeping their heads out of the water. After they calmed down, they sat back up and looked at each other. Shadow was still smiling.
__"You should smile more often," Sonic remarked. "It's a good look on you."
__Shadow snorted and shook his head. He wasn't annoyed, though. "Whatever."
__Sonic had narrowed his eyes as his smile grew bigger. This made Shadow frown. He never saw this face before. He couldn't read it to find out what it means.
__"Hey, Shadow?"
__"What?"
__Sonic's head sank to his shoulders as he look at the water. "This was really fun. I felt that we both enjoyed it." He then slowly looked back at Shadow. "You know I like you, right?"
__"I figured. You like everybody."
__Sonic had flattened his ears and frowned. "No. Not like that."
__Shadow tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
__"I like you as more than a friend," Sonic explained nervously. "I thought you would notice by now."
__"I don't understand what you mean."
__Sonic's eyes grew wide. He cleared his before continuing. "I really like you. The same kind of affection I used to have for Sally, Fiona, and Amy. You understand?"
__Shadow slowly nodded. He didn't really know how to take this. The only person he told himself he loved was Maria, but it wasn't the same as Sonic's past relationships. Perhaps now he could experience it. What really puzzled him was that they were both male. Shadow didn't know much about love or the dating life, but he knew that a male and a female was required for reproduction. Maybe this was okay. After all, it was Sonic. He wouldn't do anything bad.
__"I see," Shadow said calmly. "But what do we do?"
__Sonic was caught off guard by his question. "Wait, you're not objecting?"
__"I'm curious to know where this will lead. I've never been through this before."
__"Oh," Sonic sounded a little disappointed, but he shook his head and managed to grin. "Okay, we'll do this slowly then."
__Shadow saw the excitement in Sonic's eyes and could tell how happy he was. There was a part of him that felt some of the excitement, too. Nothing within protested as he nodded. "Sure. Whatever you think is best."
__Sonic's face turned red as he opened his arms out. "Maybe start with a friendly hug?" He then smiled awkwardly as he waited for Shadow to do something.
__Shadow knew what do to. He would rather see Sonic be comfortable right now. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Sonic. Sonic had hesitated before wrapping his arms tightly around Shadow. Shadow had felt the same sensation he had after saving Sonic from drowning, and he liked it.