Chapter Two

Later on that night…

Rynoh was running down the streets to pass the time. There had been tons of news going around about the people disappearing all of a sudden over the past two months. Even though he knew about it, he still wanted to have a relaxing run before he turned in for the night. The cool wind whipped through his hair as he continued on, speeding up. Once he was satisfied, he slowed down to a brisk jog and then he stopped running altogether. He turned a corner and started for home when he heard the sound of shattering glass and loud annoying alarms sounded from within the city museum.

Rynoh's ears perked up immediately at the sound and he turned swiftly to face the building to have two figures jump from a glass window and land almost exactly in front of him. His mouth was a gape as he stared at the two figures dressed in complete black. These two, two pointed eared people exactly, were openly stealing from the museum and not even caring about all the mess they had caused. The green skinned man, named Zane, smirked at

Rynoh. The wail of police sirens sounded from all around soon after. Rynoh snapped back to reality and was ready for a fight. The girl, known as Zair, glared and got a tighter grip on the stolen object as she took a fighting stance as well.

Rynoh got a glimpse at what she was holding. His eyes widened with surprise. A Chaos Emerald "Hey! That's a-" he was cut off by the girl turning swiftly to her partner.

"Come on, Zane! We have to move!" she yelled ready to run as the other elf nodded.

Rynoh gritted his teeth and with a quick, "Oh, no you don't!" He pounced on her quickly grabbing the emerald from her grasp. Zair came back just as fast. Then in a magenta blur, she turned and shoved her feet firmly in the blue hedgehog's stomach and sent him flying. The emerald was flung into the air. He hit the wall with a thud and his vision blurred for a second.

'Damn, that girl can kick!' he mentally swore.

Rynoh regained his composure and stared darkly at the other elf. "You've got to be kidding me!" he said under his breath, when he saw the guy named Zane had it in his grasp.

He jumped up and once again tried his luck with a tackle to the ground. But, Zane saw it coming. Right before Rynoh glomped him, he yelled, "Zair, go long!" He flung the emerald as hard as he could before he made contact with the ground. Zair rocketed off after the gem, leaving a magenta streak. Rynoh actually stopped for a minute, baffled.

"What the hell?" he asked with his mouth a gape, right before he snapped back to reality and stormed after her. Zane had quickly got up and sped off after them, leaving his own streak just as the authorities arrived at the crime scene.

Rynoh was coming up on Zair hard and fast, who had caught the Chaos Emerald already, and was making a mad dash for home. The gem was held firm in her hand as her arms were flung behind her from the force of the wind, making her more aerodynamic. Right when he was within grabbing range, she looked over her shoulder and Rynoh could've sworn he saw her eyes glow for a split second, right before she winked at him and shot off, leaving a sonic boom in her wake. If he wasn't already running, he would've stopped in his tracks and let his mouth drop again, but he was distracted when he heard another sonic boom from behind him. He didn't even have time to look before Zane zoomed past him, letting out a dark laugh at the baffled elf. And as if in slow motion, Rynoh could see that he was also holding something.

"They have two Chaos Emeralds!?" he screamed, right before he plowed off after them, creating a boom equal to their own.

Rynoh followed the two mysterious elfs far, far away from the city. Soon, they all were out on the plains of some distant land. The half moon shone eerily in the night sky. Rynoh didn't recognize anything despite having traveled some of everywhere in his countless runs. They then entered a thick forest, the night sky making the area look like something out of a horror movie. Even the branches of the trees looked like they wanted to reach out and grab him. Yet, still he ran, trying his best to pursue the two criminals. He had them both in sight but they were just out of reach as he copied Zair and Zane who all zigzagged in and out of the tall trees looking like magenta, green, and blue pinballs.

Then all of a sudden, they came upon the base of a cliff; a dead end. The two shot off in different directions, Zair breaking left and Zane breaking right. Rynoh had to act and fast. He decided he'd deal with Zane later and went after Zair. What Rynoh didn't know was that he was being watched. But, this time, it was more than three pair of eyes.

Rynoh rounded a corner expecting to find Zair in a fighting position or something. But, to his surprise, he found not only her, but Zane as well! They were just standing there, doing nothing. Well, Zair was standing, actually, with one hand on her hip while the other held the red Chaos emerald, smirking with lust-filled eyes, looking creepily like Melissa at the moment. Zane, on the other hand, was sitting on a ledge not too far up from Zair, smirking down at Rynoh, blatantly showing off the blue gem that he held.

"Looking for me, handsome?" she purred.

"Actually, I'm here for the Chaos Emeralds," he answered. "You know, the two that you stole!?"

"What these?" Zane said, looking at the gems with a slight hint of disinterest. "We didn't steal them. We borrowed them."

Zair and Zane burst into laughter.

"Zair, Zane, that's enough!" a voice said. They instantly shut up.

Rynoh's ears perked at the sudden voice. "Who's there!?" Rynoh yelled, taking on a fighting position.

"No need to yell. We're right here." The voice said again.

"We?" Rynoh repeated, letting a chill run down his spine.

"Yes, we," the voice darkly laughed, coming from a blonde elf with a black jacket and scars across his chest known as Boomer who sat crouched high up in a tree. Then, he leapt from his perch, landing on his two feet with ease as at least 30 others came out of the darkness. When Boomer grinned, Rynoh paled and froze in his tracks.

"Oh...my...God. Y-you're a…a," he stammered, scared out of his mind.

"Vampire?" Zair suddenly said from behind him, nearly making Rynoh jump out of his skin, as she breathed down his neck.

"What gave us away?" Zane chuckled. Both he and Zair walked past him to join the others, handing Boomer the two Chaos Emeralds. He held the gems in his hands as he briefly examined them while the others all began to circle around Rynoh. The blue hero managed to regain his composure and took on a fighting stance; although he knew his chance of getting out alive was very, very slim.

"Well done," he said to the two, "I see you managed to bring him here after all."

"Bring me here?" he asked astonished. "What do you want with me!?" Rynoh finally asked growling.

"It's not what I want," Boomer replied, right before he tucked the gems away in his pocket. "It's what the Alpha Vampire wants, actually. And right now, he requests your presence. He is waiting for you and expects you to comply."

"Like hell I am! I'm not going anywhere!" he growled again.

"If you fail to accept his Majesty's invitation, we'll be forced to take drastic measures," Boomer responded, his face cold and hard like stone.

"In other words," Zair piped in, stepping in front of Boomer with her hands on her hips. "If you don't do what he says, there will be blood. Lots and lots of blood".

Rynoh gulped.

He took one good, long look around and saw that he was completely surrounded. The other vampires all licked their lips, awaiting his response, their bloodlust eyes practically screaming with hunger. There was no way out. He looked back over to Boomer, Zair, and Zane, who'd, all crossed their arms and were waiting rather impatiently as well. Zane even tapped his foot, a characteristic commonly used by Rynoh himself.

"Well!?" Zane said after a while.

Rynoh took a deep breath and made the decision that would change his life forever.

"Alright, I'll go."