Chapter 1

The sun had long since conceded the land to the encroaching darkness that had ebbed its way across the small town. The townsfolk locked their doors, drew their shutters and retired to the safety of their cozy beds as the streets were bathed in darkness. No moon draped its luminescence over the houses that night. It was unable to break through the thick, looming cumulonimbus clouds that stormed ahead bringing with them torrential downpour.

Sonic slept soundly in his satin bed, the rhythmic pitter-patter of tiny raindrops clattering against his tin roof lulling him to sleep. The howling winds lashed at the swaying trees outside and the low cackle of thunder rolled across the heavens. Slowly, everything seemed to silence and freeze as if time itself had stopped. The rain ceased and the winds fell silent. Suddenly, a bright streak of glaring silver split through the sky, coupled with a mighty crack that would scare the bravest of men. The storm continued more ferociously afterwards as Sonic sprang awake and alert.

He swiveled his head around, his eyes darting back and forth as he scanned his room. He glazed over his desk, his cupboard with door swinging ajar and the piles of clothes flung haphazardly across the fuchsia carpet. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Sonic sighed, his heartrate dropping as he ran a lanky hand through his tangled cobalt quills. He yawned as he lay back down, his head sinking into his marshmallow pillow.

That's when he heard it. At first, quiet and insignificant. Sonic barely stirred, but that's when it sounded again, louder and more forceful this time. Knock, knock. There was no denying it, somebody was at the door.

'Who would be out and about at this time of night in this storm,' Sonic wondered as he flung his feet off the bed and slipped them into his socks. He stretched his arms upwards, letting out another hearty yawn as he stood up and scooped his hoodie off the floor. He hurriedly threw it around him as he descended the stairs, staving off the coldness of his empty, spacious house.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he called out in an irritated tone as he rushed towards the door. The persistent person continued to slam the brass knocker against his mahogany door relentlessly. Sonic grumbled lowly to himself as he flung opened it and announced, "What do you want…"

He trailed off. There was nobody there. He was greeted with only darkness and a gust of wind that billowed around through his jumper, cooling his clammy skin.

"Hello?" Sonic called cautiously into the darkened abyss that the outside world presented him. Small flecks of water sprinkled his ankles, dampening his silky pajama bottoms as the rain pelted the marble step underneath his porch. Sonic looked around, trying to decipher just what was going on when he saw something. A small cardboard box, held together by tape lay on the ground.

Sonic furrowed his brows, confused as he leant down and picked it up. Sonic took another look outside to see if he could spot perhaps the faint headlights of a delivery truck driving into the distance or any other indication of somebody who could have left this package, but he found none. He shrugged and inspected the box. He clamped his hands around it, piercing one end of the taped box with a nail. He dragged his nail over it before pushing his fingers inside and with a mighty tug, wrenched open the cardboard flaps.

Sonic peered inside, but what he found confused him. He reached in and pulled out a mobile smart phone. He pressed the circular button on the front and the screen blared to life. Sonic gasped upon seeing the picture on the lock screen, his shaky hand almost dropping the phone from his grasp as he froze. His eyes widened, their emerald centers hazing over with fear and dread. There, displayed out to him was a picture of his best friend sitting in a darkened room. The only thing illuminating his figure was a low-hanging lamp. His ankles and wrists were strapped to a rusted, wooden chair and his face and body looked bruised and bloodied. His tattered clothes were torn and scratched and a blindfold was positioned over his eyes. A small, dirty sock was stuffed into his mouth as a gag.

Sonic's paralysis quickly ceased when the phone buzzed in his hand. A small text appeared from a number he did not recognize on this phone he had just received.

Unlock the phone

Sonic began to sweat as he quickly took another look at his front yard and the cobblestone street with flooded gutters drowned in rain. Still no sign of any movement. Sonic turned his attention back to the phone as he slid his finger across the screen to unlock it. However, he was presented with a five-letter passcode. Sonic racked his brain, trying to understand why whoever was doing this to him would force him to unlock it without removing the passcode. That's when it hit him and instinctively, Sonic began pressing the letters on the screen.

T-A-I-L-S

The lock screen dissipated in a fade as he gained entrance to the main part of the phone. Before Sonic had any opportunity to pry through the phone's images, videos, contacts or applications another text came through.

Watch this – One image attached

Sonic was skeptical but the adrenaline that pumped through his veins forced him to continue. He opened the message and pressed play on a small, thirty second video that was presented as nothing but a black screen first.

He felt sick to his stomach as bile slowly climbed its way up his esophagus, threatening to exit out his mouth at the images he was seeing. Tails, his best friend for as long as he could remember was back in the same dingy, closed off room that Sonic had seen him in previously. As the phone was recording, a cloaked figure, face obscured in shadows by a hood removed the gag from his mouth.

"Sonic, Sonic please," Tails begged, his eyes red rimmed with black bags sagging underneath. A gun was trained to his head, poking his temple with a finger on the trigger. His lips were chapped, split and bleeding. Scars ran across his forehead with fresh blood seeping out of some of the cuts. His short crop of blonde hair disheveled and messy. Sonic looked into his soulless, zaffre eyes devoid of hope. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you but please… please save me," Tails continued, trying to squirm free of his roped shackles. Before he could say anymore, the person beside him reeled back and smashed the back of Tails' head with the butt of his gun. Tails' neck fell limp as consciousness left his body and he slumped forward. The video cut off and another text was sent.

Alert the police and he dies

Sonic just stared at the black screen, motionless as a thousand scenarios began to play out in his head, each one more torturous than the last. He might have stayed paralyzed for hours if not for an eerie, ominous tune that began playing from the phone's speakers as it vibrated in his hand.

Caller Unknown

Sonic snapped out of his trance and immediately answered the phone, bringing it up to his ear.

"Hello. Who the hell is this and what did you do with Tails?" Sonic barked into the speaker, spittle flying from his mouth and staining the wet ground below.

"Five hours," a gruff, deep voice clearly altered via some form of electronic device replied through the receiver.

"Five hours? Until what?" Sonic replied frantically, getting more desperate by the second. Sonic glanced out, straining his eyes again at the stormy surroundings to see any sign of anybody but could see nobody. His door was left ajar as he stood there in his ashen timberwolf hoodie and red spotted pajama bottoms. The torrents continued to cascade down from the heavens and the powerful winds billowed around the desolate streets as Sonic stood in the doorway. "Answer me!" He bellowed.

"Five hours until the sun peaks over the horizon to signal dawn and five hours until the truth is revealed. Five hours to find Tails or five hours until… Tails dies!" The call ended.

A/N: Hey everybody, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of a new story that I'm starting. I've done romance, adventure, drama, mystery and horror so I think it's time I tried my hand at a thriller. If you enjoyed the first chapter, please don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you thought and consider following and favouriting. If you enjoyed this, why not check out the other stories I have written too :) I'll try to update this at lease once a fortnight but since I'm juggling three stories we will have to see. Anyway, have a great day :)