Fanfiction Commission for bbbuuu (inkbunny)
I split the oneshot into a twoshot, just because it's taken me so long to get this done, and I love suspense. Part two will be done soon~! I apologize for the wait.
-Anonymoux
Summary - Character 1 and Character 2 decide to investigate an allegedly haunted house. Things get twisted when they realize the ghost haunting the place is a thousand year old sex slave owner.
Character 1 - Sonic
Character 2 - Knuckles (oh no)
Came to the Wrong House
"This is a bad idea," the ruby red guardian was saying, scowling as he ducked under a swinging branch. He looks at the blue back of the hero in front of him, noticing the sticks and stones caught in his sharp, cobalt quills. He chuckles under his breath, causing one of those blue ears to swivel back towards him as they continued their trek.
"I'm sure they're just rumors, Knux," Sonic replied ducking under another low branch. "We'll just go there, look around, and then let the people in Aurora know that the place really isn't haunted."
The echidna guardian shakes his head exasperatedly, stepping over a deep mud muddle. "How many ghosts do we have to fight for you to realize they are actually a problem?"
Sonic shrugs, pushing aside some large, dried leaves, stopping to hold them back for the ruby male. "I mean, you have more issues with ghosts than I do," he grins, making the echidna roll his eyes. "Even if there are ghosts there, it's not like we can't handle them, right?"
"Sure, you say that now," Knuckles mutters, before the two look forward to see an old path cutting through the thick woods.
Sonic lets out a satisfied hum and skips over, feet kicking up gravel and tiny rocks. "It's about time we found a path! Who knew Spagonia had such a freakish jungle right next to it!"
Knuckles frowns, noticing that all the plant life around them looked...dead and dried. Almost as if it were winter. "You see this?" he asks, lifting up a large leaf gently with one of his giant mitts. "Everything looks sick."
Sonic frowns, noticing it himself as his emerald eyes scanned all around them. The trees had dark, almost black looking bark, and anything that should be green was either brown, black, or a pale yellow. The air here was chilly, but not anything to kill all the plants like this.
"Alright, yeah that's a little weird," he mumbles, as Knuckles walks up beside him. "Let's just keep going and find this house. We have to be close."
Knuckles nods and the two take off at a light speed, not wanting to trip or hit or fall in anything dangerous. The locals had warned of sinkholes, since the ground was so moist all the time. The area was located at the bottom of two large hills; on the east side was Spagonia, and on the west side was a smaller town called Aurora. A thick forest covered the deep valley in the center, where the supposed haunted house was. The two heroes had been called on by the people in Aurora, because apparently the ghosts were starting to kidnap people and go into the town. The people in Spagonia were starting to get worried, and since Sonic had a personal attachment to the place, he couldn't refuse to help in any way he could. Since Knuckles had experience in fighting ghosts and exploring through tough terrain, he brought him too.
"This is still a bad idea," the echidna mutters to himself, causing a blue ear to twitch in bitter amusement.
The two run through the thick woods for a short few minutes, before the trees start clearing and the two heroes skid to a stop, eyes widening at the sight of a large, old house, mobian-built.
"There really is a house here," Sonic whistles, crossing his arms. "It's pretty cold here."
Knuckles puts a hand on his hip, watching the hedgehog bristle, frowning. "It is. I don't like it, Sonic. We shouldn't get involved in something like this."
The cobalt hog frowns, his left foot tapping lightly. "We can't just not try and fix this," he says, sounding offended. "If that ghost is kidnapping people, we gotta stop it."
The emerald guardian sighs, shaking his head. Damn Sonic and his sense of righteousness. "I know, but is there anything we can do about it? You can't beat all ghosts away."
The hero shrugs. "I need to try. I'm sure there's something we can do. It's worth those peoples' lives, right?"
Knuckles shakes his head again, closing his eyes. He really wanted to say that no, it wasn't worth it, but decided against it. Sonic would get mad and that would only lead to an argument.
He'll have to learn the hard way, he thinks to himself, opening his eyes to watch Sonic start slowly heading towards the creepy house.
The steps are made of creaking wood, plants curling up in between the cracks and holes where rusted nails fell through, the dark surface of the wood and entire house dark with a foreboding feeling to it. There were many windows, some boarded shut while others were blacked out, only white curtains slightly visible if the lighting was right. Knuckles thinks that they should have come here earlier in the day. The sun would be setting soon, which meant they would be here through the night. He pushes the thought to the forefront of his mind, knowing that if ghosts did anything, it would definitely be at night.
Sonic notices that the front door is missing it's handle, leaving a small hole in the wooden surface. He lifts a hand up and gently pushes the door open, feeling a sad sense of deja vu when it reminded him of the last haunted house he explored in, but last time he was with a different friend… He steps in and makes room for Knuckles to follow, the two using the light from outside to take in their surroundings.
The front hall was huge, with a large spiral staircase leading up to their right, and a sitting area to the left. A fireplace was along the one wall, and on the far back wall were large glass windows that had long ago shattered and were left there in broken pieces. The room was a beige color, with a brown chair rail all the way around it and hardwood floors that had moss and weeds growing through it. Didn't this place have a basement somewhere? Sonic frowned to himself. He could have sworn the locals said there was a basement, so it must not be below this part of the house if there was dirt under the foundation and plants growing through.
There was a door beside the fireplace, leading into from where they were standing looked like a kitchen. There were two more doors along the wall behind the staircase, and looking up they could see the steps leading up to a half floor in the house, which acted as a hallway and balcony in the front hall. They could see bookshelves and doorways up there, and exchanging looks, they wonder where they should go first.
"Let's explore one floor at a time, and stick together," Knuckles states, not wanting to make room for any other suggestions. They couldn't afford to separate in a place like this. For all they know, this could somehow be an Eggman trap, and if there really were ghosts, then they had to be extremely cautious. Only Chaos knew what kind of people those could be, especially if they're kidnapping innocents.
"Sounds good," Sonic shrugs, and Knuckles thanks Gaia for the hero's cooperation.
They walk through the front hall, eyeing the dusty, broken couches and smashed tables. There was a large china cabinet along the back wall, next to a bookshelf filled with tomes. Knuckles watched Sonic walk right over to the books, raising a brow. He supposed if they were going to find any information, it would be in those.
Sonic pulls one of the books down, dusting it off. The covers were so worn you couldn't even see the name on it anymore. He flips it open, frowning at the blank pages. What a waste of perfectly good books… At least these ones weren't portals to other dimensions.
Knuckles checks out the broken back door, frowning at how dark it was getting outside. They really shouldn't be here this late, but they were already all the way out here, and getting back would take far too long. He sighs and turns back to look over at Sonic, who had given up on the bookshelf with a disappointed look on his face. He raises a brow at the blue hero, wondering why he looked so ticked. "What's up?"
Sonic shrugs, looking away. "Nothin' much. Books are all unreadable."
Well, there goes that idea, Knuckles frowns to himself. "That's unfortunate. How old is this place?"
Sonic frowns himself. "The locals said they had no idea. This was here before they even built Spagonia."
Knuckles raises a surprised brow. "Before Spagonia? Well, that explains why the books are worn, but how is this place even standing?"
Sonic shakes his head. "Beats me. If it really is haunted, it might be more taken care of then we think."
That was a creepy thought to have, the echidna thinks. He ignores the chill that raises his fur slightly and motions for Sonic to follow him into the worn down kitchen.
Upon entering they're surprised to see that most of the cabinets are actually still put together and not busted apart or broken. There's grass growing through the floor here as well, signifying that the basement wasn't under here, either. Sonic walks through the large room, noticing that there were spots on the countertops that were dust free, as if someone had recently been here and used them. He frowns as he stops by the sink, watching a speck of water drop into the rusted metal bowl. This place still had water running through it? He turns one of the knobs and the pipes make a terrible screech and groan, before brown, murky water starts dribbling from the faucet. He smirks over at Knuckles, who was giving him a soft glare. "Thirsty?"
"Turn that off," the guardian mutters, turning back to open up a large pantry door. There was nothing inside except vines, dirt, and dust bunnies.
Sonic turns off the water and starts going through cupboards, which were all completely empty. Drawers were as well, except the one he couldn't open because it was locked.
"Help?" he asks. Knuckles walks over and grabs the handle, giving it a rough pull. It detached from the drawer with the splitting sound of wood, and Sonic laughs at the guardian's frustration. "Just punch it open!"
"That's what I was going to do," the ruby male grumbles, punching the drawer as hard as he could. The front of it cracked in half and fell to the floor, and Knuckles pulls the drawer out and the two stare in confusion and heavy discomfort.
There were old looking handcuffs and pieces of cloth inside, as well as a clear bottle of unknown liquid and gloves, next to a pair of scissors.
"That's disturbing," Sonic says flatly, before pointing at the bottle. "What is that?"
"I don't know but I wouldn't mess with it," Knuckles frowns. "This all looks fairly modern, Sonic. Old, but not old enough to be in this house. Someone must have been living here."
"Okay, but what were they doing with all this?" Sonic's eyes narrow.
He wasn't sure if Sonic was naive or simply didn't know. "It's...probably best not to think about that," he answers, making the hero's frown deepen into a scowl.
He turns away from the drawer and Sonic, and heads to the back of the room, frowning at the table. There was only one chair not broken, and the table had holes in its four corners, as if something was screwed into each corner. It didn't have any dust on it, almost like it had been used just minutes ago. That bothered him.
It was getting darker, and Knuckles took the flashlight he had out of his small backpack and flipped it on. Sonic was still looking around, seemingly not bothered by the dark.
"Another room?" the echidna asks, and Sonic nods, glancing out of the window above the sink for a second.
For a second he thought he had seen someone standing out there, but it was simply a trick of the lighting, he thinks.
Sonic follows Knuckles out of the kitchen and they head to the other side of the front hall, to the doors underneath the balcony. These, like the front door, had no door handles. Knuckles leads the way through one doorway, which lead into a long hallway with a glass door at the end leading outside to a garden.
There were five doors down this hallway and an open closet, and they start with the first room on their left. It was completely empty, save the broken wardrobe on the back wall near a window.
"Did they move out before the house was abandoned?" Sonic asks quietly, holding up a hand to light it up with blue Chaos Energy.
"Looks like it," Knuckles says quietly. "Although we haven't seen the rest of the house."
"Who would live all the way out here by themselves? It had to be a big family with how big the house is," Sonic commented, following Knuckles back out of the room and peeking into the next. It was empty as well.
"I mean, you and Tails practically live in the middle of a woods by yourselves," Knuckles smirks, making Sonic roll his eyes.
"We live in Knothole, Knux. The whole town is in the middle of the woods. This is just one house by itself in the middle of a spooky jungle."
He had a point, Knuckles thinks to himself. Knothole may be in the middle of a forest, but there were hundreds of people living there. As Sonic said, this was only one house by itself, with the closest towns being Aurora and Spagonia, about an hour away each to normal people.
Sonic was right; who would live out here like this all by themselves? Someone who didn't want attention. Someone who had a reason to hide, or something to hide. He himself lived on a floating island all by himself because he needed to protect the Master Emerald. Obviously this house was meant to hide or protect something or someone. That was the only logical explanation for it.
All of the rooms were empty down this hall, so they went back into the front hall and into the next room, which seemed to be a large office space. There were bookshelves all along the walls, a huge window at the back that overlooked the garden area, revealing that the house had a greenhouse out back, an old wooden desk with a broken chair next to it, and papers and books scattered everywhere. There were two old, worn and beyond fixing couches and a coffee table in between them, and the floor had a huge, worn down red rug in the center of it.
There was grass growing through the hardwood floor here as well, and Sonic puts his hands on his hips, pursing his lips. "I thought there was a basement?"
"Maybe it's not actually a basement, but a small space for storage or something," Knuckles shrugs. "Like I said, we haven't seen the whole house yet."
Sonic just frowns, ears folding back. It just didn't seem right. They were almost done exploring the bottom floor of the house and still no basement. The people in Aurora specifically said that that's where the ghost took his victims. Why would they say that if there really wasn't a basement?
Just like the books in the main hall, these ones were blank as well. Sonic seemed really disturbed by this for some reason, opening them and making perturbed facial expressions as he flipped through the blank pages. Knuckles found himself watching the hero out of amusement from the corner of his eye, as he went over to the desk and opened each drawer to find them all empty.
With nothing of interest in that room, they end up leaving and heading over to the next room to find the dining room. The room was huge, making up most of the floor, and was void of all furniture. Grass was growing through here as well, and Knuckles chooses to ignore the glare Sonic sent his way as he walked to the center of the room, looking around.
"I guess there's no basement, Sonic," he shrugs. "There's still the whole upstairs, though."
Sonic doesn't seem convinced by anything, and simply turns around and heads out. Following him, the echidna walks behind him as the hero leads the way over to the stairs and up them, stopping to check the books up here as well with the same obvious result.
"You like books?" Knuckles asks, pushing one of the doors open next to the bookshelf. Sonic's face reddens, and he quickly shuts the book in his hands and puts it back on the shelf.
"No," he answers almost too quickly. "Just curious to see if there's info in them regarding the house. You know, dates, newspapers...stuff like that."
He was so defensive about it… Knuckles just lets it be and heads through the doorway, into another hallway. There were more bedrooms up here as well, much to the two's surprise.
"How many people lived here?" Sonic asks out loud as they step into the first room. The rooms were empty just like the ones downstairs, windows broken with only a few with the glass still in them.
"It looks like the place could have been for an enormously large family, or a bed and breakfast," Knuckles comments. "There's no way only a single family lived here."
Sonic nods, leaning against one of the doorways. "Well, that would explain why it's kind of just here. If it was an inn or something, it could have been used for travelers who just needed a place to stay the night."
"Why shut it down, though?" Knuckles asks. "If it was useful why just close it? They had to of closed it before Aurora and Spagonia where built."
Sonic frowns, crossing his arms. "I don't know."
They head back downstairs and look around in the main hall one last time.
"There's nothing," Knuckles sighs, shaking his head. "This was a waste of time, Sonic."
The hero glares at him. "We still haven't checked outside."
It was dark out now, but with Knuckles's flashlight and Sonic's Chaos Energy, they ventured out anyway. They walked through the broken back door, taking in the sight of the garden with curious eyes. There was a greenhouse and a rotting old shed, and all the tall, strange plants were dead out here as well.
"What a charming place," Sonic joked dryly, causing Knuckles to roll his eyes.
They follow the broken stone path, Knuckles ahead as he waves the flashlight around, Sonic following with his quills tensed and raised. He was getting spooky vibes out here, and the creepy shed they were heading to didn't help matters at all.
Pushing one of the old, creaking doors open, Knuckles steps in first, peering around while waving the flashlight. The shed was two stories tall, with a bunch of farming equipment and a walkway that sufficed as a second floor with a ladder leading up to it. Sonic steps in behind him, whistling quietly as he meets the echidna's eyes, before the two begin their search of the rickety place.
"If we don't find anything after going through here, we're leaving," Knuckles spoke clearly, making Sonic look at him with a frown. "Using Chaos Control," the guardian adds.
Sonic stops in place, furrowing a brow at him. "You expect me to get us to Spagonia without a Chaos Emerald?" his voice was dry. "I haven't gotten that good at it yet, Knux."
"Well, you're going to have to do it anyway," the echidna shrugs. "Those woods are a mess, and I'm not getting lost."
Sonic follows as Knuckles turns and starts walking again, frowning at his back. "I could always just run us in one certain direction really fast until we were out in the clear."
His friend looks back at him over his shoulder with squinted eyes. "And you would accidentally kill me and then I'd be the only thing haunting these woods."
Sonic rolls his eyes. "Oh, you'd be fine."
Knuckles chooses to not argue back for the sake of the both of them and keeps walking quietly, every so often looking back to see if Sonic was still right behind him. A part of him worried that he would turn around at any second to see Sonic gone. This "haunting" could or could not be real, or it could be a trap by Eggman or someone, and to have something happen to Sonic bothered him. The one time he looked back, emerald eyes turned towards him in questioning, ear quirking. He had to shrug it off, not wanting to seem weird or awkward about it.
He really liked these missions with the blue hero, no matter how gruesome the task was or how much they bickered. It got him off his island and gave him a reason to be closer to the one and only person he trusted and called his friend. His desire to want to go on these missions and be around Sonic only grew the more time he spent with him. The damn bat that liked to fly around his island even commented on it, saying it was almost as if someone had a crush on someone…
He shakes those thoughts from his head, hoping his light blush wasn't noticeable in the dark. She was wrong, of course he told himself. Sonic was his best friend, and you can't have crushes on your best friends...right? Sonic...most likely wouldn't feel the same way in return anyway, and it would only ruin their friendship. Sonic would not want to spend time with him and then he'd be alone again…
Why was he thinking this? This wasn't the time for such thought. He checks back on Sonic again, who had stopped to examine a gardening table with all kinds of dirt, pots, and tools on it. The light was shining through the holes in the roof, perfectly reflecting off of Sonic's blue fur and giving him an almost elegant aura. Knuckles felt his face darken, and he scowls inwardly at himself.
He most certainly did not have a crush on Sonic.
He refused to believe it. It was just a faze.
He'd get over it.
Sonic was just...attractive, both physically and personality wise, so lighthearted, yet so caring, charming, flirtatious, entertaining, exciting…
He was practically a magnet that naturally affected all the people around him, making them fall for him and find him lovable in every way.
So of course he would go through a faze, and only just a faze, nothing more.
He didn't feel anything other than friendship for him.
As he sat, trying to convince himself.
He shakes his head once more, turning away to shine his flashlight above him at the walls going up. He really needed to stop letting these thoughts get to him when he was on these missions. They were starting to become a bother.
A sudden metal clang made him jump, and he whips around, visibly startled, before glaring at the blue hedgehog who looked guilty as all hell.
"What did you do?" he asks, to which Sonic smiles shakily.
"Accidentally bumped something off the table. Sorry!"
Oh, he's lucky he's so cu-
He shakes that thought out of his head faster than he could blink, hoping his face wasn't glowing pink. "Try not to do shit like that again," he mutters, turning back around. Sonic would take his anger as not liking being scared, when it was actually him being mad at himself for losing to his thoughts like that.
He hears Sonic mumble another apology quietly under his breath, and he calms down some. He hoped he didn't sound too snappy with him. He didn't want to hurt his feelings.
...and since when? Since when did he care so much about Sonic's feelings?
He felt like was losing his mind.
Sonic watches him turn a corner made from the tractor in the middle of the room, blue ears bent back. He could understand being snappy because he was startled, but this wasn't an unusual occurrence, at least as of late. Knuckles was starting to snap on him more and more lately, and it was starting to worry him. Did the echidna not like being around him? He thought it would be better for him to get off the island and go on adventures, but lately it seemed as if Knuckles found these adventures annoying.
Or maybe he just found Sonic annoying…
With a deeper frown, the blue hero turns back to the table, opening drawers on its sides for anything of interest. He frowns when he comes across a large key, turning it over in his hands. It was old and rusty, with an elegant insignia made of flowers for a small handle. It didn't look like it would go to any machine or door, so it had to be for some kind of chest or something similar. He decides to hold on to it, figuring it wouldn't hurt to keep in case they needed it.
"There's nothing in here," Knuckles suddenly speaks up, slightly startling him. He turns to see the guardian heading back over to him, shrugging.
"Well, there's the greenhouses," Sonic offered. "We can check those I guess."
As Sonic turns around to head towards the exit, and Knuckles opens his mouth to reply, a sudden rumble thunders inside the shed. Both males crouched down, holding onto the shaking ground for dear life, eyes wide.
"An earthquake here?" Sonic exclaims, and before either of them can confirm or deny it, the ground is suddenly crumbling beneath them, and they're falling.