Connor sat the dinner table, more jittery than ever. He would dart his eyes to certain spots of the table, as if something was there.

Well, to him, something was there.

He kept seeing his mom and dad at the table. Whenever he saw them, he would rub his eyes in disbelief, and when he would open them, his parents were gone. He started feeling paranoid. He started thinking his grandparents were conspiring against him, that they got someone to write that fake news article about his parents' death, that his mom and dad had been alive this whole time, that there was some special reason for their disappearance.

But what if they were dead? Was he seeing their ghosts? No, that couldn't be it… He didn't believe in ghosts. He wasn't being haunted. He wasn't being played. It was all in his head…

All in his head…

Or not?

Gene spoke up. "What's your problem, pal?"

Connor suddenly pointed in between his grandfather and Wilma. "There!" he shouted.

Gene and Wilma looked, then looked back at him, confused and slightly disturbed. "There… what?" Gene asked.

Connor's face was white, except for his cheeks which were dark red. "There!" he shouted again.

They looked around the kitchen this time. "What do you see?" Wilma asked with a demanding tone. "Oh no… Is it another spider?"

"No!" Connor said. "They're right there! Right in between you two! Don't you see them?"

"See who?" asked Gene.

"My mom and dad!"

Dead silence. A bad sound to hear at a kitchen table. No clanging of silverware against the plates. No sounds of chewing or swallowing. Just silence. Gene and Wilma looked at Connor for a long time, then looked at each other. Connor was breathing hard. It seemed his senses were coming back to him. The color was returning to his face.

His grandparents looked utterly destroyed. They looked defeated. The wrinkles on their faces were more noticeable than before. They looked… old.

"Connor…" said Wilma. "There's… something… you… need to know."

Connor shook his head. "I… I already know. Please… Please, just… don't."

Gene rubbed his face. "So, you know," he said underneath the palm of his hand.

It was silent for a moment more, then Connor slammed his fist onto the table, just like a hammer. "You lied to me…" he said quietly.

Now his grandparents' faces drained of color. They avoided looking at their grandson and kept their gazes on the food on their plates.

"Why?!" Connor suddenly exploded. A dog outside started barking, probably from the volume of his scream. "Why! Did! You! Lie to me!" he screamed, punching out each word. "When that strange guy stopped by a few years back… He was here to tell you they were dead, didn't he? You've kept that secret from me for that long? You are the worst grandparents ever! All this time, a deep, dark secret! Whenever I'd ask, "Are Mom and Dad coming home now?', you'd be like, 'No, Connor, wait a bit longer'! You've been lying to me for eight goddamn years! I… I…" He looked at his stumps and watched as a tear fell on one from his eye. "I hate you."

Gene and Wilma had been staring at their plates, absorbing their grandson's harsh words. They looked destroyed before, but now they looked annihilated. Wilma looked as if she was about to have a heart attack, as she struggled to keep upright in her seat. Gene was completely still, however.

With that, Connor scarfed down the rest of his chili dog and hopped off his chair. "I'm leaving," he announced. He waddled to the corner of the living room where his wheelchair was and hopped on. He made his way out of the house and made a left when he reached the sidewalk. He had had enough of his grandparents. What else had they lied to him about? They probably didn't even love him! He was just a burden to them. A weight that they had to keep on their shoulders.

Back in the kitchen, Gene sighed and said, "I'll go get him."

Wilma was silent. She had stopped swaying in her chair but still looked sick. Gene got up from the table and gave his wife a kiss on the forehead before walking out the door.

Connor rolled down the sidewalk, mindlessly moving his wheelchair forward and completely caught up in his thoughts. A big question had crossed his mind: Did Miles and Elise know they his parents were dead, too? No, that wasn't possible. They had always agreed with him that his mom and dad were out there somewhere.

Connor had forgotten to put on a coat. It was a snowy night, with small flakes slowly descending to the earth. The ground was covered in a thin sheet of snow. It was cold, and his arms were bare.

He heard a voice behind him. Someone was calling his name. Connor looked and saw that it was Grandpa Gene.

"Leave me alone!" Connor wailed, then took off. Gene cursed under his breath and started chasing him. The snow was slowing down Connor's wheelchair, and Gene was used to chasing people running away from him, back when he was a cop—a hero. Connor didn't think of his grandpa as a hero now. Now, he thought he was a lying fiend.

Connor was crossing streets without looking. In the distance, he heard the sound of a bus chugging down the road. He didn't care if he got hit. It would be the perfect punishment for his grandparents lying to him. It wouldn't have happened if they had just told him the truth. But the bus went on to another street.

Gene kept yelling out Connor's name. The chase was still going strong, and neither of them were letting up. Connor crossed another street. While doing so, the bright headlights of the bus shown on him. He didn't know how far away the bus was, but he made it through without any problems.

The bus driver wasn't paying attention. He was going too fast for this type of weather. He saw Connor and pressed his foot on the brake. The driver began to panic as he felt the bus going with the same momentum. Thankfully, Connor made it through safely.

Gene had to get Connor. He had to explain why they kept their secret. He had to tell them more about this truth. There was something Connor needed to know… Gene had to get him…

The bus driver yelled as an old man entered his path. He repeatedly stomped his foot on the brake, desperately trying to stop the heavy vehicle.

Connor turned around. "Grandpa?"

Frozen from surprise, Gene stopped in his tracks. The driver had hit the brake, but he was going too fast, and there was snow on the street.

"Grandpa!"

The driver though fast and turned a little to the right.

Gene's body was clipped by the side of the bus. He fell onto the sidewalk, while the bus barreled through a fence, its horn blaring.

"Oh my god..." Connor whispered as he saw his grandpa's limp body lay awkwardly on the sidewalk. He was blind to the bus crashing into the fence. Everything around him seemed to go black, except for Gene.

Connor jumped off his wheelchair and waddled as fast as he could to his grandpa. Tears were flowing out his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. He grabbed Gene's hand.

"Grandpa! Grandpa… C'mon, Grandpa! Don't die!"

Gene groaned. "Tell Wilma…" he rasped. "Tell… Ouch…"

"You're gonna be fine, Grandpa," Connor said. "It's gonna be okay. I won't let… I won't let you die."

Gene mustered a laugh. "That's… why your… grandma and I loved… you. You… were always… so op…optimistic."

"Just… Just focus, Grandpa, okay? Just focus on staying alive."

"Connor, I'm… I'm s-s-s-"

"Grandpa, no. You can say it at the hospital. You'll be fine."

Gene stopped talking. He forced each breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. He was struggling to keep alive. It was almost like was accepting death. Connor knew what he had to do. The truth was… Connor had a secret of his own.

He closed his eyes and willed himself to become Sonic. Sonic stared at his grandpa, who was looking up at him with wide, awestruck eyes.

"You're… you're…"

"Yep. I'm Sonic." He hoisted his Gene into his arms. "Sonic The Hedgehog."

They took off, leaving the scene of the bus crash. Sonic didn't see the police and ambulances coming down the street.

Sonic wished he could go faster, but with all this snow, he had to be careful. Still, he was running very fast. Desperation couldn't cloud him. His grandfather was dying, and he was to blame. He had to be fast enough. He had to save him. He didn't know where the hospital was.

Sonic was too caught up in his thoughts. His foot missed the ground. Instead of making contact with the sidewalk, it just sung above it like a pendulum. Sonic lost his balance. He stopped himself from rolling and fell flat on his stomach, right on top of Gene, and they slid along the street until they hit a wall. Gene lay lifeless in Sonic's arms. Sonic started breathing hard, freaking out inside. Gene looked up at him. Blood covered an entire half of his face.

"Connor…" he wheezed. "Be… a hero."

And just like that, Gene's eyes were distant and dull. Sonic pressed his fingers against his grandfather's neck. His pulse was gone. He was dead.

"No…" Sonic breathed. "No… Gr-Grandpa… Please…" He held Gene close to him, getting blood on his blue hair. "I'm so sorry, Grandpa… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… I'm…"

The area around him was silent. Not a sound was being made. Sonic just sat there, with his grandpa dead in his arms.

He didn't save him.

He wasn't fast enough.