I shot a beam of fire at him that went at him at lightning speed. My attack took impact and slammed him into the wall. I gasped in shock and ran over to him.
"Oh my gosh, Shadow are you okay? I'm so sorry! I knew this was a bad idea." I said, kneeling by him. I was afraid to touch him, thinking I would only make it worse. He was on his knees, breathing heavily with one hand on his chest and the other holding himself up.
"I'm... fine..." He hoarsely said. I put my hands on my mouth and just sat there, not knowing what to do. Bast then started to come over.
"Here, let me take a look at him." She said, sitting in front of him.
"I said... I'm fine..." He said stubbornly, but Bast didn't listen. Her eyes then started to glow yellow as if she were casting a spell. Apparently she was since a yellow aura surrounded Shadow's body. Then his breathing became smoother instead of ragged and he seemed to relax more.
"I didn't need your help, cat." He spat at Bast. This made me angry.
"You should be grateful she helped you! For all we know, you could have been seriously hurt!" I exclaimed at him. All he did was huff, stand up, and start walking towards the door.
"Whatever. Sessions over, get ready. We're leaving tomorrow." He replied, walking out the door. I had to catch up to him quickly because I don't think I'd be able to find my way back to my room alone. Apparently he noticed I was following him and stopped walking.
"Why are you following me?" He said, crossing his arms. I became embarrassed and avoided eye contact with him along with putting my arms behind my back.
"Well, I um... uh...-" I was cut off my wonderful explanation from Bast. Note the sarcasm.
"We don't know our way back and need your help." She said, jumping on my head.
He sighed, clearly annoyed. "Fine." He replied, walking again. I felt bad giving him a hard time and felt the need to apologize.
"I'm sorry, Shadow."
"Don't be, you're still new." He replied, not glancing at me. I felt a little better after he said that, but then my body started to shake for some reason. I started to feel week and couldn't focused and bumped into Shadow.
"Sorry." I said, looking at the ground.
"Watch it." He replied, glancing it at me. He then looked confused, then worried, and fully turned to me.
"Are you okay?" He asked, unfolding his arms. Bast jumped off my head, which made me loose my balance for a second. Shadow grabbed onto my arms and helped me regain my footing.
"She's weak from hunger. Anaya, when's the last time you've eaten?"Bast asked me. I thought back to when I last had some food. I was getting hungrier thinking about it though.
"About two days ago." I replied, feeling sleepy all of a sudden. Shadow looked shocked.
"You need to eat. Now." He said, dragging me down the hall the opposite direction we were going.
"You guys go ahead, I'm going to hunt for my own food." Bast said, summoning a portal and going through it. I was still shaking a little.
"Eggman didn't feed you? You're way to valuable to treat that badly." He asked me.
"Well, as soon as he kidnapped me, Bean sort of took me and wanted me to, I don't know, play with him or something. He thought I was a pet kitten. I was focusing on trying to get information out of him at the time and didn't think about hunger. Then you guys barged in and I guess I didn't have a chance to tell anyone I was hungry." I explained, trying to concentrate on not tripping or bumping into Shadow.
"What about yesterday? You didn't bother saying anything while we were talking?" He asked, for once glancing at me.
"I guess I wasn't as hungry and it didn't come to mind." I said, embarrassed.
He sighed. "I should have listened to you earlier instead of ignoring you. I'm sorry." He said, leaving me shocked. He apologized to me? Usually it's the other way around.
"Don't apologize, it was my stupidity that left me starving." I replied, guilty that he thought he was guilty.
"I suppose. " He replied, unsure. We then stopped in front of two doors that didn't have any handles. He pushed open one of the doors and we were greeted by a large cafeteria. There weren't many people here, just a couple of agents sitting at some of the tables talking and eating. He then led me over to the ordering area.
"What do you want?" He asked, letting go of me. I scanned the menu, surprised to see that most of the food was the same as it was on Earth. But a certain meal caught my eye, and I chose it immediately.
"Ooh! Ooh! Can I have the mozzarella sticks?" I asked Shadow, jumping up and down a little. He smirked at me and folded his arms.
"I take it you like mozzarella sticks?" He asked, telling the cafeteria lady what I wanted.
"Well, duh. Or else I wouldn't get them. They're my absolute favorite!" I said, excited about finally eating.
"Well, they'll be ready in about 10 minutes. Can you wait that long?" He asked, still smirking.
"I don't know, I think I might die before we even make it to the table. Oh, the horror!" I said dramatically. He rolled his eyes at me.
"You're so dramatic. Come on, let go sit down." He said, guiding us to a table. Once we sat down, he asked a question, that caught me off guard for a minute.
"How do you remember your past?" He asked me. I didn't know how to answer his question.
"What do you mean?"I asked him in reply.
"I mean, what is you history like? Who your family was, what you did everyday, things like that." He replied. Oh, now I see what he means.
"Ooooh, ok. Well, when I was two, my parents and four of my brothers were killed in a car accident. I've been having nightmares and have been blaming myself ever since. My last and eldest brother wasn't in the car, so he's been taking care of me. He tried so hard to convince me it wasn't my fault, but I never believed him." I stopped for a minute, thinking about that dreadful night Akili told me our parents were dead...
~~~Flashback~~~
"Anaya, can you come here for a minute?" Big Brother called to me.
"Coming, Big Brother!" I yelled back, stopping my necklace I was making. I ran to the living room, hearing his voice coming from there. Big Brother was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. I sat next to him and put a hand on his back.
"Big Brother, what's wrong?" I asked him. I was seven while big brother was seventeen. I found it funny how he was always ten years older than me. So whatever age I turn, I'll always know his age too by adding ten.
"I... think it's time you know the truth about where our parents and four brothers went." He said. I became confused by this.
"You said that went on a far away trip somewhere. Where are they now?" I asked him. He took a deep breath and took his hands off his face before looking at me.
"Before I say anything, I want you to know that none of this is your fault okay?" He said, ignoring my question.
"Okay, what are you talking about?" I asked him, confused. He took another deep breath and wrapped his arm around me.
"Anaya, you may not remember this, but when you were two, you got sick at a friends house you were staying around the beginning of winter break. When our parents and brother came to pick you up, they were hit by another driver and their car crashed into a ditch. Baby, they past away that day." He explained to me. I froze as tears began to fill my eyes.
"It was because of me-" He cut me off as I began to cry.
"No, it wasn't. This is not your fault Anaya. It never was. I don't blame you for their deaths and neither should you. You still have me though, you're not alone." He said, hugging me as I cried into his chest. I don't care what he says to me. My family was dead because of me that day. Me, and my stupid immune system.
~~~Flashback End~~~
I haven't been the same since that day. I never had any true friends, so they didn't really notice how strange I was acting. I tried not to let it show whenever Akili was around, but I don't think I did a very good job. I've had nightmares ever since.
"If you don't mind me asking Anaya, where is your brother now?" He asked, resting his arm on the table and leaning his head onto his hand.
"About a week before Eggman kidnapped me, he died in a car accident too. The police said that he was driving home drunk. I guess... he finally broke after all the years. It's my fault... it's all my fault..." I said, my voice cracking. I looked away as the tears began to fall. I hated crying in front of him. I hated crying in front of anybody. I then heard him get up, but I didn't bother looking up to see where he had gone. Probably to get my mozzarella sticks which seemed to be taking a bit more than ten minutes. But then I felt a presence by my side and felt an arms wrap around me.
"I'm sorry, I never should have asked you. I do know what it feels like to loose someone close. You are not alone." He said, trying to comfort me. And it worked. A lot. There goes my heart again. What is wrong with me?! I wipped my eyes and sniffed, trying to get my act back together. Crying is a sign of weakness. I don't want to be weak. Just then, the lady came to our table and set down my cheese sticks. About time...
"Enjoy." She said, walking away.
"Thank you." I said, even though she walked away already. I looked down at the cheese sticks, not feeling hungry anymore. I knew I had to eat though. I'm not feeling hungry because exhaustion is taking it's place. I need the energy.
"You stay here and eat, I'll be right back." Shadow said getting up. I almost shivered from the cold I felt after his arms was lifted off of me. Out of habit, I almost asked where he was going. But I thought I'd be rude and stopped myself.
"Okay." I said, picking up one of my cheese sticks and dipping it in marinara sauce. I heard his footsteps fading away to the door. I starting eating my cheese sticks and summoned a Sierra Mist since I was getting thirsty. There were five of them and they were pretty big, so I was full after I ate them all. Luckily I had enough marinara sauce. As soon as I wiped my face, I heard the door to the cafeteria open and footsteps along with it. I turned to see Shadow walking back to me.
"You're finished, good. We're going for a walk." He said, holding his hand out for me to take. But I just finished eating! I'm gonna get cramps...
"Lemme just throw this away." I said, picking up my tray and heading to the trashcan. I dumped it, and head back to Shadow. He held his hand out and I took it, a bit embarrassed. I'm so glad I don't blush... Well, I'll say. This was a very dramatic lunch with Shadow. But none the less a good one. Feel's good for someone to finally listen to me.
