Chapter 10 Special

"Okay guys, it's late, so I'm going to stop. End of entry one."

Josh set down the recorder and stared out his window at the night sky.

"It's funny," he thought, "The sky still looks the same, no matter where you are. Maybe Earth and Mobius aren't so far away." He checked his watch. 10:40. Twenty more minutes. He sighed and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and took out a photo.

"Hey guys." Josh said, as a tear slipped out. It fell and hit the photo, a picture of him and his brother, hugging a man with graying hair, and a woman with blonde hair. "Everything's going pretty well down here. Well... relatively speaking." I laughed a bit. "Who woulda thought that I would be here! Remember all those years you thought I was crazy? Who's laughing now?" He laughed again. The room went quiet as he thought of that night...

…...

"Come on guys, time for bed!" Mrs. Corey yelled.

"Oh come on Mom, ten more minutes! I've got Jacob on the ropes!" Josh yelled back.

"Yeah right. Ooh, what's that?" Jacob asked, pointing at the screen.

"What?" Josh squinted at the screen.

Giant explosion.

"That." Jacob said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"Never mind Mom, we're coming!" Josh yelled, rolling his eyes.

"Nice job Jacob!" She called back.

"Thanks Mom!"

"Okay, good night guys!" Mr. Corey told his boys.

"Night Dad!" They called back, hugging each side of him.

"Love you Mom." Josh said, going over to his Mom and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Night buddy." She said, giving him and Jacob a hug.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Jacob suddenly asked.

"Hear what?" Dad asked.

"It sounded like something glass broke."

Then the rest of the family heard something too. Footsteps. Coming from above them.

"...Boys, get under the bed. You too honey." Dad said quietly. Mom went over and linked her arm in his.

"I'm not going anywhere." Mom looked into Dad's eyes and smiled. Dad nodded. "Boys," Mom looked at her two babies. "Get under the bed. Don't come out until we say it's okay. We'll be fine." She and Dad gave a smile, then slowly snuck up the stairs. Josh and Jacob scrambled under the bed. The house was quiet, except for the footsteps upstairs, and quiet set of footsteps traveling up the stairs. There was a muffled sound of exclamation. Then a sound that made the two boy's blood run cold.

A gunshot.

A scream.

And two thuds.

The two boys sat wide eyed. Jacob started to go hysterical.

"No no, shhhh!" Josh tried to calm his brother. "It's okay! Don't jump to conclusions."

"He shot Mom and Dad!" Jacob almost screamed. Josh quickly covered his mouth.

"No, he didn't, it's fine! That was probably Dad shoo-" The two both suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Josh he's coming to kill us!" Jacob whispered.

"No, shh, it's okay!" Josh said, stroking Jacob's hair, smiling, in an attempt to try to hide the fear on his face. face. "It's probably Mom and Dad right now! Here, just close your eyes, everything will be over soon." Jacob nodded slowly and shut his eyes. Josh pulled him closer to and stroked his head. Josh watched as he could see the pair of feet slowly enter the room. Jacob whimpered a bit. Josh gave him a reassuring squeeze, and stroked his head a bit more. The feet stopped and moved towards the bed. Josh sqeezed his eyes shut and held Jacob close to him.

A minute passed.

Ten minutes.

Twenty.

Then the footsteps finally left. The brothers heard the front door open and shut.

The brother's cautiously climbed the stairs. Everything was gone. The television. The scrapbooks their mother spent so much time on. Everything.

"Josh..." Jacob said quietly. Josh turned to look at what Jacob was pointing at. Two bodies. Josh turned away, and silently cried. He crossed his arms. He looked at the ground and saw a family photo they had taken two months ago, slightly hanging out of its broken frame. Josh picked it up and tucked it into his wallet.

"What do we do now Josh?" Jacob asked through sobs. Josh turned towards his brother. He walked over and hugged his brother.

"We carry on." Josh said quietly. "No matter what happens, we'll always have each other. I promise. No matter what, I will always be there for you."

…...

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his door opening.

"Can I come in?" Josh turned to look at the doorway.

"Sonic..." Josh smiled and nodded. Sonic sat on the bed next to Josh.

"What's with the tape recorder?" Sonic asked.

"Thought I would chronicle my time here." Josh replied. He gave the recorder to Sonic. "Here, knock yourself out." Josh said, returning his gaze to the photo. Sonic set the recorder next to him.

"That your parents?" Sonic asked, looking at the picture.

"Yep..." Josh checked his watch again. 10:55.

Sonic put his arm around Josh.

"I'm here for you. We all are." Sonic said, smiling a bit.

"All?"

Someone knocked on the door. Josh turned to see Amy and Tails standing at the door.

"Hey." Amy said. She crossed the room and set next to Josh. Tail went to the foot of the bed and leaned against the pole. Josh smiled and checked his watch.

11:00.

"Thank you guys." Josh closed his eyes. "Thank you."

…...

Amy softly shut the door behind her.

"Is he asleep?" Sonic looked worriedly at the door.

"Yes." Amy nodded, the looked back at the door. Sonic sighed and ran his hands through his quills.

"What am I going to do?" Sonic asked. "He wants me to be his big brother! That... that scares me."

"What's so scary about it?" Tails asked. He sat down at the table. "You took me in. I consider you a big brother, and you were fine with it."

"Not to be rude, but you didn't have your parents killed, and your little brother tortured and taken from you." Sonic pointed out.

"True." Tails shrugged.

"Come on Sonic," Amy sat Sonic down at the table and sat next to him. "What are you so afraid of?"

"What if I let him down, or I'm not everything he thinks I'm cracked up to be? He'll be miserable." Sonic put his his face in his hands.

"Just be yourself." Amy said reassuringly. She wanted to reach out and grab his hand, but she figured now wasn't the time to get her charm on. "Even if you aren't what he thinks, he'll appreciate that you're there for him. You'll be fine." Sonic smiled and looked at Amy.

"Thanks Amy. I hope you're right." Sonic said worriedly. Amy reached over and hugged him, which he returned.

"I know I'm right." She said. She squeezed him tighter.

"...Uh, Amy?"

"Just a little longer."

End of Chapter Ten