His hand was on his chin, thinking of his next move on the marble board encompassing the game pieces. At least half of the amount of pieces that existed at the beginning was now gone off to the side of the shining marble plate. Finally, Tails removed his hand from his chin and took a light hold of one of the pieces with his index finger and thumb and held it. He moved it diagonal along the board and reached a certain spot, and let go of possibly the lightest grasp he's ever done.

The girl on the other hand, kept her hands together neatly on her lap as she looked at the marble board. Tails looked at her, admiring her, he always smiled when he looked at her. Tails lifted one of her hands from her lap and grasped a piece of her own and moved it forward, rather than the diagonal movement Tails had done.

"Check mate," Cream said happily. Tails looked at the marble board and glass pieces, smiled and looked up at Cream and saw she was looking at him as well.

"Wow, nice job Cream!" Tails said. "You got very good."

"Oh, thank you!" Cream moved forward and gave Tails a quick kiss on his cheek. Tails got up from his seat and grasped the marble board on the sides and picked it up. Cream got up off her seat as well and grabbed the glass pieces that were no longer on the board during their game. As Tails placed the board on a very high shelf, Cream handed him the pieces that were tightly held in her hands. Tails grabbed them and placed them on top of the board with the remaining pieces. Tails and Cream started to gaze at each other. Tails grabbed Cream's hand and they began to walk out of the room they were in and walked down Tails' dark hall. They reached out to the living room where the lights were dimmer then that of the room they were in. They reached the door, and Tails grabbed a sweater of his and grabbed Cream's coat she was wearing when she arrived at Tails' house.

"Here," Tails said as he stepped behind Cream and put the coat around her shoulders. Cream slipped her arms through the sleeves and buttoned up the coat.

"Thank you." Tails opened the front door, and allowed Cream out first. She stepped outside to the cold night, and Tails followed her, closing the door behind him. Tails walked next to Cream, and they locked their hands together in grace. They walked through the silence night, and Tails began to look around at the trees and grass a little more than usual, something was bothering him.

"Tails?" Tails was still looking around. Though everything was a bit darker than what the artificial lights could light up, Tails could see most of it with ease. He didn't hear his name from Cream's mouth during his glances. "Tails?" Tails still didn't hear her for some weird reason, his mind was off on something else. Cream placed her hand on his shoulder. "Tails?" Cream's voice got a little worried as she said his name once more.

"Huh, what?" Tails snapped out of his random glancing at the nature surrounding.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." Cream continued to look at Tails' face, something was telling her that something was indeed bothering him. She couldn't tell if it was important, but, she couldn't help but notice how Tails couldn't hear her. They continued on the walk they were on back to Cream's place, and soon enough they would reach it. Her porch light was on, and they walked up to her door.

"Good Night, Tails.""Good Night, Cream. I'll see you tomorrow." Cream and Tails simultaneously went in and kissed each other on the lips and moved back with a smile. "Bye." Tails stepped a bit backwards as Cream opened her door and walked in. As she closed the door, she looked at him as he walked back. Cream shut the door, and Tails could hear the lock go into the wall of the house. Tails walked back along the trail he and Cream walked down. The same trail him and many friends had walked along for the past years.

Tails continued on looking straight ahead of him, listening to the silence within the night. Tails heard the sound of a moving bush near him and he took a sudden stop and looked at the direction it had come from. There was no wind; it must have just been his mind playing tricks on him. Tails inhaled a deep breath and breathed out, fog appearing as he exhaled. He continued on his walk back to his own home, and he heard another sound, but this time, a tree like sound of branches rubbing together and leaves slapping along their bodies. Tails looked to his right at the tree that had to of made the noise. Tails stared at it; its movement was the usual movement of any tree against the mild wind. Tails turned his head back forward with his eyes still locked on the tree. He looked back forward and continued back on to his house without problem. He reached his door and opened it up with the usual clockwise turn, and walked in. He put his sweater back onto the rack he got it off of, and walked through the living room.

He looked over in the kitchen over at the table, and he walked over to it. He saw an old paper folded in half and placed on its ends to form a triangle. He looked at it and saw the label "Shore". He will always remember that day, the sand, the water, the fun, the friends, all he could wish he would want all over again. 'But, seasons come and go.' Tails would say. He grabbed the folded paper placed on the table and looked inside of it, he knows he looked at it too much, but how could he forget one of the greatest days of this whole year? Tails placed it down and walked back to the way to the hallway. He walked back to the room where Cream and him were playing their game. He went on the computer that was in the same room and sat down at the desk.

"First thing is first," Tails said to himself. "Concept." Tails opened a file on the computer and began to type, continuing off the typing he had been doing for the past few weeks. He saw the designs of a new idea flowing in his head, it's been so long since he had come up with such a great idea. He continued to type and type as he saw the images in his head, and its uses. Machinery, the metallic madness that he always had. Tails looked at the clock to his left, and it read 11:01 PM. Tails looked back to the bright screen and continued to type at his leisure, not having to look down at his keyboard, typing without thinking about where the letters are. Tails ended up stopping as he typed his last period. He began to think of something else, he turned over to the window that next to the desk. He saw black figure in the blinds of the window, as if something was puncturing the light to form a shadow. Tails wide eyed from that. He looked back, closed his eyes, turned back to look at the blinds, and it was plain light from the lamp outside. Tails shook his head and got off his chair. He put his hands on his head and rubbed his eyes a little bit.

"The hell…" Tails turned back around at the window, just staring at it, assuming it would come back, but nothing came back. The shadow had disappeared from the night. He walked back to his computer desk, saved his work and closed the program and walked off into the hallway. He took a left and walked to his room, and turned the light on. He walked back outside to the hall and into the bathroom and picked up a toothbrush. He looked at himself as he put the toothpaste onto the bristles and closed the cap of the tube. He opened his mouth and began to brush staring down at the sink as he did. 'Weird.' Tails finished up in two minutes, rinsed and finished that business. As he left the bathroom, he clicked the light off and walked into his room. He removed his shoes and socks and turned off the light of the room. He walked to the bed and took a leap into bed and bounced forward to his soft pillows. He lifted his blankets over himself and turned to the side and attempted to catch those Z's that any being would hope for at night. Even the darkness cannot create the energy to catch our sleep.

Tails' body began to relax heavily, and was soon at the peak of sleeping. He heard a strange wisp like sound, like the wind blew a quick gust, and Tails' eyes opened fast. He turned over and sat up and looked toward the entry way to his room, and saw the darkness covering the room. He tilted his head down while closing his eyes and then opened them as he moved back up and saw a very dark figure near his entry way. Tails was now in full alert, everything went silent, he could hear his heartbeat get faster and faster, Tails' hands began to tremble in fear. Tails quickly grabbed a glass with a candle inside and threw it at the dark figure, but as the candle reached the dark figure, it faded off, and the candle hit the wall, causing it to shatter in pieces all over the floor. Sweat began to gather on the young fox's head as he began to breathe hard to compensate for the dramatic heart beat speed-up. Tails turned himself off his head and walked over to the now broken candle, and picked up the bigger piece of it.

Tails picked up all the little shards, there weren't any itty-bittys, just large arcs from the impact. After he gathered up the broken glass into the larger part of the broken container, Tails walked back out to the kitchen to throw the container in the trash. As he dropped the glass into the garbage with the sounds of glass clattering against each other, he looked out the kitchen window.

'This is seriously weird.' Tails walked back through his hallway and back to his room. As he stepped through the entry way, he noticed that it was severely cold in the area the dark figure was. He turned back, and put his hand in it, and remembered that even if the heaters were on, it was always cool in that spot, so he ignored it and continued on to his bed. He sat on his bed, and slipped into the blankets again, hoping, just hoping he could catch his wanted Z's.

Tails had been up for a few hours now, listening to his music and doing his normal morning things. His normal breakfast, the average ordinary eggs. This time, he didn't feel like scrambling them like he always had done, though he preferred it. Someone knocked at his door, and right at the time as one of the eggs were done cooking on the pan. He slipped the egg off the hot pan and onto a plate and turned the stove's heat level down to its lowest setting and began to walk toward his door. He opened the door, and a cold breeze flew in, and caused Tails to shiver for a quick second. He saw it was Cream at the door, all ready for the day, warm clothes, smile on her face. Tails gathered his own smile as well.

"Good morning Tails," Cream said cheerfully.

"Good morning Cream," Tails replied just as cheerful. "Come in. Want some breakfast?" Cream walked in and Tails helped Cream hang up her coat on the rack on the wall.

"Sure!" Tails and Cream walked back to the kitchen, and Tails turned the stove back on to the setting he had on a minute earlier. The pan was still hot, but, he needed the stove to warm up so he could begin his eggs again. Cream pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. Tails grabbed two eggs from the carton with both of his hands, and cracked each one at the same time on the pan. The egg began to ooze out as it broke, and Tails quickly placed his hand over the pan and open the egg up to let the yolks out. The yolks landed in a splash, and began to sizzle upon contact. Tails threw both shells into the sink and opened a cupboard and pulled out two medium sizes glasses and placed them near the stove. Cream just adored Tails for what he could do. A man who could cook, just plain amazing. "Tails." Tails looked over to Cream and he walked toward the fridge smiling at Cream.

"Yeah?"

"Oh… nothing." Cream continued to smile at him, and Tails was a bit confused. Tails pulled out a gallon of milk and looked back at Cream as she held her head up at him. Tails poured the milk into both glasses and closed the gallon. He placed the gallon down, and grabbed the spatula. He grabbed the pan, placed the spatula at the edge of the almost-shaped circle of eggs, twitched the pan toward him, and moved the spatula up as he did it, causing the eggs to fully flip over on to its other side. He placed the pan down and just started to wait. He looked over at Cream and she continued to stare at him. She opened her mouth about to speak. "Who… who taught you how to do that?" Tails kind of chuckled.

"Amy of course. Years ago, I honestly forget when, but, it's been so long."

"You'll never match up to her cooking."

"Well, yeah, of course." He opened the cupboard and pulled another plate. Tails grabbed the pan and tilted it to place the over-easy eggs on to the plate. He brought the plates over to the table with the proper utensils. "I'll never be able to match up to her cooking, ever. I'm a good cook, but, she's better." Tails walked back to grab the glasses filed of the milk he had poured in. He gave Cream her glass and he sat down on the closest place to Cream, as she sat at an end of the table.

"Thank you so much."

"Oh, you're welcome Cream." They both began to eat at a steady pace, couple pieces of egg, the grab of the cold glass, and drinking of the white milk. Simplistic, very simplistic. Most basic way of eating ever. Can't get any simpler than that. Cream was about half way through her meal, and she drank a little bit more milk from her glass and set the glass down.

"Tails."

"What's up?"

"Tails… what was wrong last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were acting strange, like, I called your name so many times, and you didn't respond or hear me." Tails was looking at Cream as she explained this. And he was trying to remember it, as she explained it. "You were looking around, like you were looking for something."

"Oh." Tails placed his fork down and turned his head back straight and tilted it back a bit. He breathed in and out and looked back over. "Look, Cream, something weird has been happening lately. And, I don't know if it's me or what, but, I swear, it's like someone is after me."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a weird dream, and I saw some shadows like someone was there. Last night, after I took you home, the trees and the bushes moved a bit, even though there was no wind. But, when I would look, they looked like they were never moved. When I got back home, I started to work on my concept project, and, when I looked out my window, it's like someone was standing right there. I flipped out and looked away. As I looked back, it was gone. It's like someone is messing with my head, Cream. I don't know."

"Are you sure you aren't imagining things?"

"I'm sure. All of this just seems too real. And I'm starting to get a bit afraid." Tails and Cream continued their eating till they were done. "I don't know what the others would think of it. Like Sonic and Knuckles, they wouldn't understand worth crap, but, the others might have a bit of understanding, even though they'll deny it." Tails grabbed Cream's plate and glass and put it on his plate, and walked to the sink and put them in.

"Well, you might want to tell them, Tails." Tails began to wash the plates and glasses with the water pouring out of the faucet.

"I think I might just do that. I'll have to tell someone other than Sonic before anything. I know that's bad on my part, but, I don't want to chance him being all cynical about it." Tails finished up and walked back over to the table as Cream continued to sit down in her chair. "I'm gonna go and take my shower. You are free to use my computer and stuff if you wish. Ok?"

"Alright." Cream smiled. She got up and followed Tails, but she went into his computer room instead as he walked into the bathroom.

'Who am I gonna tell first?' Tails walked to the shower as he turned the light on, and turned the knobs and the water began to pour out. He turned and looked at the mirror to see himself of course. He walked closer to the mirror and looked himself through the eyes. Tails looked up at the mirror and saw the fog of the heat come out of the shower. He turned around and walked toward the shower, and opened the curtain and stepped into the pouring water. He closed the curtain and just stood there as the water sank through his fur. He grabbed the shampoo and began to rub it between his hands and let it foam up. He spread it over his fur and pushed down to let it rinse through. As he was about to grab conditioner, he noticed the bathroom got darker than normal. He looked at the curtain, and a shadow of a figure or person was on the curtain. "Cream?" He listened, but there was no answer, and his hear began to beat faster. He grabbed the curtain and as he opened it, there was no one there. Tails was now in complete confusion. He was still a bit scared from the figure he saw, he closed the curtain and grabbed the conditioner, trying to forget what just happened. As he was putting the conditioner in his fur, Cream walked into the bathroom.

"Tails?"

"Yeah?"

"You almost done?"

"Yeah, just about." Tails was rinsing himself off from the conditioner in his fur. He reached for the knob and turned it off, and the hot pouring water stopped spraying out. He opened the curtain, and there was Cream sitting on top of the counter looking straight at him. All of Tails' fur was wet down, and all over. Cream kind of chuckled.

"Need a towel?"

"Yeah, please." Cream grabbed a towel from the rack near the door and handed it to Tails, and he immediately began to rubbing all over to dry himself off. He got to his head area, and all he could see was the light from the floor and Cream's shadow. As he got done, he held the towel in one hand, and then he poofed. Cream began to giggle like mad. Tails kind of laughed as well. "Be nice."

"I know, that was just too funny. I'm sorry." Cream still was smiling as Tails walked to grab his comb to straighten out his fur. Soon enough, he was done, and he felt refreshed. "Wow, you're like glowing." Tails observed himself in the mirror for a second.

"Huh, I am!" Tails began to walk out of the bathroom with Cream following, and Tails went back through the hall and to his bedroom. "Alright, well, lets head over to Amy's first. Most likely the other girls are over there too."

"Alright." As they reached the door, Tails grabbed socks and placed them on his feet with ease, and then slipped his shoes on. He grabbed Cream's coat and helped her put it on, and he grabbed his own sweater from the rack and put it on as well. Tails opened the door and allowed Cream out first into the cold morning. Tails stepped out behind Cream, and closed to door behind him and immediately put his hands in the pockets of the sweater. The morning, though it was well about 10:30 AM, looked like it was barely 6-7 am. The winter was setting in quick, so the sun took forever to rise and set so late, but, it's always been that way. They passed Cream's house, and the next would be Amy's. "I sometimes hate when it gets cold so fast."

"Yeah."

"It makes you want to stay inside and everything."

"It's the same thing during the summer; we all want to stay inside because it's too hot."

"But… we don't."

"Yeah I know, but, a lot of people do."

"That just means they're wimps." Tails chuckled, but it was hard with the cold weather blanketing over their town.

"Of course, but we're all wimps about weather anyway." They reached the door of Amy's place within a few more steps, and they knocked on the door. They waited and heard some footsteps come to the door, and it opened with a slow motion. The door was only opened slightly, and Tails and Cream could see the pink hedgehog looking out the small opening she created. She opened it fully with a smile.

"Oh, good morning you two." She said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Amy," they both said back, just as happily. Amy opened the door more to let Cream and Tails inside to her warm house, Rouge and Manos were sitting at Amy's kitchen table, with two coffee cups filled of hot-coco.

"Hey you guys," Manos said.

"Good morning," Tails and Cream said.

"You two want some hot-coco?" Amy asked.

"Yes, please," Cream said.

"Definitely." Tails said as well. They pulled out some chairs from under the table, and sat down with Rouge and Manos as Amy grabbed two cups and began to fill them of hot-coco as offered. Tails and Cream were scooting themselves into the table, and Rouge and Manos were ready to ask questions of the day.

"So, what's up?" Rouge asked.

"Not a lot." Cream said.

"Yeah same here." Tails said. Tails and Cream looked at each other, and turned back at a wondering Rouge and Manos. "Look, I need to tell you all something. Now, I might sound crazy for telling you all this." Rouge, Manos, and Amy were all ears, and Amy brought over the two cups of hot-coco to the table. She placed them in front of Tails and Cream respectively, and went back to her own chair at the table. "I honestly believe that someone has been following me. Like, someone has been spying on me or something. Because, for the past few nights, I see some sort of shadow or something in my windows, and I'm always looking around at night. Last night, after I took Cream home, I saw the same figure in my window, and, when I was going to sleep, I woke up, and there was the figure, right at bedroom door." Everyone somewhat jerked back hearing that.

"Well, what did you do?" Amy asked.

"I panicked and threw my glass candle at it. But, the thing disappeared before the candle reached it." Everyone was silent.

"I don't know what to say…" Rouge began to think about the occurrences.

"Maybe your mind has been playing tricks on you." Rouge said.

"But, it wouldn't be this long that it has been happening to me."

"Have you told Sonic and Knuckles? Or even Shadow?" Amy asked.

"No, because I'm afraid of Sonic being an ass about it, and then Knuckles having to see to believe." Tails grabbed his cup of hot-coco and took a small drink of it and placed the cup down back on to the wooden table. "But, I'm not sure what Shadow would think of it."

"Well, maybe you should just tell him then, and then Sonic and Knuckles later." Rouge said. "But, it sounds like me someone might be really there."

"Maybe." Cream and Tails continued to drink their hot-coco given to them by Amy.

"Well, Shadow, Azuru, and Mileka will be over in a few minutes, so, you'll have a chance to tell them." Manos said.

"Cream, what about you?" Amy asked.

"I'm just kind of worried about Tails." Cream said. Tails turned to Cream as she continued. "Maybe someone is trying to get him or something, I don't know." A knock came at the door, and everyone knew who it was.

"Come in!" The door opened and Shadow, Azuru, and Mileka emerged with the closing of the door. "Good morning you three." Amy got up. "Hot-coco?"

"Please." They all said. They were removing their heavy clothing as they were out in the cold. Shadow didn't have much other then his sweater, but he didn't remove it. He found it neat to wear something black with a red stripe. They found their seats, and sat next to Manos, and such. Amy already had their hot cups of coco ready, and she had them all in the grasp of two hands. She placed all three on the table and passed them to Mileka, Shadow, and Azuru.

"What's up, man?" Shadow asked Tails.

"Nothing much, what's up with you?" Tails responded.

"Same here. Funny, we are the only guys here." Shadow kind of chuckled.

"Yeah." Tails kind of laughed too. "Where's Swift and the others?"

"Well, Swift and Ruby are at our home town, and Cocoa and Mya are out with Sonic and Knuckles." Azuru said.

"Oh? Why are they back at your home town?"

"Dealing with the crap down there."

"Grand." Shadow began to drink some of his own hot-coco. "Shadow, I've been telling everyone this so far, and I know you might think I'm crazy. I swear someone's been spying on me or following me or something.""Why do you say that?" Shadow asked.

"The same shadow in my windows at night, and then seeing the person in my house. My head is probably playing tricks on me, but something is wrong if it's been happening for almost a week." Shadow took another drink from his hot-coco.

"Sounds interesting. Tails, honestly, I can't really believe something like that unless I have proof."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know."

"So, someone's been stalking you?" Azuru asked. The whole table got quiet as she asked that.

"Uh, no. I think someone's been trying to spy on me or has been trying to get me."

"Tails, honestly, I think it's just part of your imagination." Rouge said. Tails slammed on the table and stood up in a furious mood.

"This has been happening to me for almost a week!" Tails' hot-coco was spilled on the table and was dripping off on to the ground. "If it was my imagination, then it would have stopped that same night it started." Everyone was still quiet and listening. Cream's heart was pounding and she was scared, and the others were in a shocked mood from Tails' sudden jolt. Tails took a deep breath and looked down at the mess he created. He stepped over to the kitchen and grabbed a paper towel from the roll and walked back to clean up his mess. Amy grabbed his cup and filled another cup full of the coco. "Look, I'm sorry for that. It's just, I don't know what to do."

"Tails, just let it set over, and maybe it'll go away." Amy said. Tails looked down at his new cup of coco, and thought about it.

"Tails.." Azuru said. Tails looked back up and at Azuru. "When do you usually see these things you are talking about?"

"Like, at night."

"Only at night?"

"Only." The conversation drifted off, and was no longer about Tails' problems. Tails was agreeing with Amy. Maybe he should just let it blow over. Maybe it really is part of his imagination, he didn't know, but, all he knew was that it was getting to him. "Well, I'm gonna head out for a bit. I'll be back later."

"Where ya goin'?" Mileka asked.

"I'm thinking I'm gonna find the others. And maybe talk to Knuckles."

"What, not Sonic?"

"No." Everyone kept silent. "Not till later." Tails began to walk towards Amy's door, and Cream got up quickly to follow."Wait up," Cream said. Tails turned and Cream was now behind him, and he smiled. "I'm going with him, see ya all."

"Bye!" Everyone said.

"Bye." Tails and Cream replied as they opened the door and stepped into the cold.

"Where are you going, really?" Cream asked.

"Into town. We might see Sonic and the others there." Tails said. They were walking down the path into the town they lived in. Really, Tails was just trying to find the others so he could explain what was going on, since, he told everyone else at Amy's house. But, he was mainly worried about what Sonic would say, and how much he would convince the others that he's an idiot. They were now entering into town, seeing the town's people and those shops they see every day. Tails was trying to enjoy the cold morning, while looking out for his buds. As him and Cream passed the first shop in the town, Knuckles walked from behind the corner, seeing him wave, at what might have been Sonic and the other two. "Yo, Knuckles!" Knuckles turned and saw Tails and Cream. They both continued to walk toward each other. They finally met up and stopped in front of each other. "What's up man?"

"Nothing much." Knuckles replied.

"Where's the others?"

"Oh, they went about their business. I didn't want to go to some place, so I told them I was heading back to Amy's place."

"Ahh, ok. Well, Cream and I were gonna walk around for a little bit, and I wanted to talk to ya. Want to come?"

"Sure, fine by me." Knuckles turned around and walked along side Tails and Cream on the sidewalk. They got up to the corner that Knuckles came from, and they walked across the street. They maybe got half way across their new sidewalk, and Knuckles finally decided to break the silence. "So, what exactly are you wanting to talk to me about?" Tails looked at Cream, and she looked back. Knuckles didn't notice them looking at each, but they both turned back anyway.

"Before anything, I'm letting you know, I've told everyone else, except you, Sonic, Cocoa, and Mya." Knuckles acknowledged what Tails told him. "And I don't want to tell Sonic yet, because of any crap he'd stir up…."

"Well, what's up man? Seriously."

"Alright." Tails took a deep breath as they reached the next corner. Tails remembers that this was the corner that Sonic and him were ambushed months back. They took a turn to continue on the sidewalk. "I think someone's been trying to get me or something. Like, spy on me or something to that effect."

"Why do you say that?"

"There has been some black figure like person appearing in my window at night, and I've been getting seriously paranoid. Last night, when I was about to fall asleep, I woke up and that figure was there at my bedroom door."

"Could you tell who it was?"

"Not really. But, I threw something at it, and it disappeared as my candle almost hit it." They all stopped at a bench and just stood behind it. Knuckles was thinking about what Tails was telling him.

"Well, that's weird man. Are you sure you just aren't seeing things?"

"Yes, I'm very sure." Tails kept his cool when Knuckles said. He knew it was coming, even though what he did at Amy's could of happened again. But, Tails knew how Knuckles was.

"I believe it, than I just can't. I'd have to see it for myself. But, no one else has seen it?"

"No."

"Strange. That's interesting though. But, is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Yeah."

"Well, lets head back to Amy's."

"Alright." Tails, Knuckles, and Cream began to follow back at where they were walking to head back to Amy's house. Tails still had a few more people to tell, but he was afraid of what Sonic would say and do.