Hi everyone! This is my second serious fanfic, unrelated to Tribal Resurgence. I wrote this out of impulse while I was thinking up ideas for the next chapter of that story, but this fic is going to be just as important as that one. Thanks to Richter Solairte for suggesting I do a fic like this! :D - CN

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the fanfiction, they all belong to Sega.

Chapter 1

The sun was slowly setting over the large Empire City, its pinkish rays illuminating every main road, side street and back-alley for one last time that day before it would disappear for good. The many Mobians about the city, if they had not already done so, began to walk or drive back to their homes for the night from work. For them, this time of day signalled relief and relaxation for the evening as they spent the night in the company of their families. However, some stayed out in order to sample a taste of the city's vibrant nightlife, with restaurants, bars and nightclubs enticing them. For these individuals, it signalled the continuation of their party-heavy double lives and sent a feeling of excitement through them.

And for one individual, it signalled the start of a new day.

Inside one of the abandoned, boarded-up shops on the outskirts of the city, a bright blue hedgehog by the name of Sonic lay fast asleep. He was lying on an old mattress that had yellowed over time, the springs sticking out of the sides. Surrounding him, well, besides the old stock that the clothes shop once had to offer, were strewn many old newspapers, a near-broken alarm clock and other such things that helped him to keep track of time. However, the most interesting thing that was in the makeshift house was an old-fashioned, rather large briefcase. Its design clearly meant that it wasn't here originally and the 6-number combination padlock on it showed that whatever was inside it, the hedgehog didn't want anyone to see.

As the last of the sun's light left Mobius, plunging the city into total darkness, the rusting alarm clock began to sound, sending a shrill continuous ring throughout the building. Oddly, this didn't seem to do anything because the Mobian beside it was still out of it, snoring almost as loud as the alarm clock itself.

"Muh... Five more... min..." Sonic mumbled in his sleep, subconsciously pulling the torn quilt further over his head.

Ten minutes later, the hedgehog finally began to stir with his bright red eyes, once a radiating green colour, opening with much effort. Hitting the clock hard before he moved any other part of his body, he then yawned loudly and stretched himself, preparing for the long night- or, in his case, day- ahead of him. Sitting up on the mattress, he picked up a random newspaper and sighed, resting his hand on his arm. The main headline read, Fourth corpse found on street, same odd markings on neck- Sick 'vampire' killer strikes again! – More details inside. Lazily flicking to the page indicated, he began to re-read it for what felt like the millionth time and talked to himself, "Bodies, yeah... Motionless, obviously, stupid... Pale, drained of blood, yadda yadda..."

That last part reminded him of something- Sonic smacked his lips together and frowned, getting up and moving over to the briefcase. "Man, am I thirsty..." he muttered.

He could already smell the contents of it, and a wide grin immediately made itself present on his face, showing off his unnaturally sharp teeth. Without hesitation, the hedgehog entered the combination and opened the briefcase, shuddering with delight as he inhaled deeply, taking the intoxicating aroma of the liquid within deep inside of him. For Sonic, it was like a treasure chest. Test tubes, syringes and sterilising equipment tools were all strapped to it on the interior. It wasn't any of these things that took his fancy, however- He was much more interested in the hot liquid in the tubes. He quickly took out a small vial, held it to his mouth and downed it like a shot. Sonic shuddered again at the taste, the red substance cascading down his throat and trickling out from the corner of his mouth. It was like sweet-tasting honey to him, although in reality it could be considered the exact opposite. Blood.

He instantly felt more awake and alert than ever, and after wiping his mouth he threw on a pair of baggy trousers and a sweatshirt from one of the clothing racks. Although it was pretty uncommon for male Mobians to wear clothes, it got quite cold at night sometimes, and the hedgehog's relatively short fur didn't help matters. Briefcase in hand, he walked out into the darkness, searching for his next supply of the red stuff. He wasn't worried about being seen; he was much too fast for any member of the public to catch more than a mere glimpse of him.

Meanwhile...

In a TV studio much closer to the heart of the city, a news program had just gone on the air. Reporting what had been happening in and around the city earlier that day was a hedgehog girl named Amy Rose, and beside her at the long table sat a clearly shaken Mobian, a male white-furred hedgehog. Reading off of the autocue, she spoke loudly and clearly, looking directly into the camera, "Hello, citizens of Empire City. This is Amy Rose with the news at ten PM. Unfortunately, yet another dead body has been recovered from an alleyway bearing the same markings as the five others that have been found within the past month, meaning that this is another murder committed by the anonymous figure that has been stalking the city as of late. The victim has been identified as twenty five year-old Mighty the Armadillo, who was found in an alley near to his 2-storey home on Second Street. Reportedly, he had been out partying with his friends and was ambushed by the attacker on his way home. We at the studio send our condolences to his family, and will assure the public that the police force is working on finding out whoever is committing these heinous crimes."

She closed her eyes for two seconds out of sadness and the camera recording her swivelled around slightly to include the other hedgehog in the frame. He was shaking a little and rubbing his hands together, and the reason for that would be revealed very soon. Amy also moved her chair around a little to face the nervous Mobian beside her.

"Although, this is not the only thing that has been discovered tonight. During the week, our studio and newspaper firm have been bombarded by dozens of callers, all claiming to have either seen or have been attacked by this 'vampire', as he or she is known by the media. The victims have reported such odd occurrences as going about their business during the night, but then suddenly falling unconscious and re-awakening late into the morning, feeling dizzy with their arm or leg hurting. Upon closer inspection, they have all discovered small pinpricks on their body, as if pierced by a needle. Some then immediately travelled to a clinic where the doctors told them that they had lost at least a pint of blood during the night- solidly joining it to the murder cases. Whoever is doing this appears to be extracting the blood out of victims with various sizes of needles, but why they are doing this is still a mystery.

"Tonight, I am joined by twenty one year-old Silver the Hedgehog, one of the victims who was also present at the site of Mighty's death late last night. Silver, would you mind describing what happened?"

Silver breathed in and out heavily for a couple of seconds before calming himself down a little. Nervously, he stuttered, "Well, I was one of M-Mighty's friends... We had just left the club when we suddenly heard a loud crack, like a whip or something, and a large amount of wind went past us, which was really weird because there wasn't any wind before. We ignored it and split paths, Mighty jogging away from me to his house through the alleyways while I carried on walking to my car. About t-ten seconds later, I heard him shout like he was really hurt until it faded away... I knew something had happened to him so I tried to run towards his house, but before I could I saw a flash of blue and I passed out... And when I woke up, I f-found a hole... Here. " He shakily pointed at his left arm and brought it closer to the camera.

Amy just shook her head and replied, "Do you think that there could be any reason why he or she would kill your friend, but not you?"

"I don't know... I really don't know..." mumbled Silver, forcing back tears as well as a surge of anger.

...

Sonic, worn out from his most recent blood extraction procedure, leaned against the window of a closed TV and electronics shop. Not many people walked around this side of town, especially not this late at night. The TVs in the window were currently on and all displaying the news channel. The blue hedgehog, always curious as to what the media has to say about him, was watching half-heartedly. He was only able to catch the latter half of the News at Ten, but still found himself answering, or correcting, the statements the news reporters made about him under his breath. "Well, I don't kill people unnecessarily. I just wanted enough blood to keep me going then, and save yours for later. It just so happens that I had to take all of his blood... A shame, but I gotta keep going somehow. And the media's right," He whispered proudly, grinning and showing his blood-stained teeth, "I am a vampire."

Did you like this? Feel free to leave feedback if you want and as always, see you next chapter! :D