Desired Time
Chapter Three: Forever Blinding
Five heartbeats were heard as Rouge, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow, and Amy sat
on Knuckles' living room floor. It was terribly silent. All of their minds crying out
different tunes. All hoping, wishing, praying… Could all of their dreams come true?
Yet, it was still incredibly silly, not logical, and quite pointless. But none of that
rested inside their minds anymore…
Knuckles recalled four hours ago…
He had just walked in the door of his small house, exhausted from his long
day at the meat market. He dragged his feet over to his worn couch and sat down
heavily. He shut his eyes, thinking of seeing Rouge in a few hours. He smiled and
stared at the table in the dining room.
His heart jumped; there was an envelope in the middle of the table.
Knuckles stood up cautiously, worriedly looking around the room. He had certainly
locked the door behind him that morning and that envelope hadn't been there before.
Then, what was it doing here now?
He cracked his knuckles and walked silently over to the table, ready to
throw a quick punch at anyone who lunged at him. But no one came, so he just lifted
the envelope; it looked pretty much new. The face of the envelope was blank; not
even indicating it had a letter stashed away inside it; waiting for someone…
Knuckles tore it open; a letter fell to the ground. He stooped over it and his
heartbeat halted, his lungs stinging from lack of air, his eyes watering, and his limbs
trembling uncontrollably.
Knuckles gently picked it up, cradling it like it was a newborn baby. He
vision was blurred as the tears fell onto the paper. He finally let out a breath of air
and he crumbled down to his knees, sobbing heavily.
"Who… who would play such a cruel joke?" Knuckles hissed, but he knew
that this wasn't a joke. Because that was definitely Sonic's handwriting…
Knuckles now sat on his living room floor, after having Rouge call all of the
others. They were explained what happened, but Knuckles still wouldn't read them
the letter, wouldn't let them a lay an eye on it… For he, himself hadn't even read the
letter.
"Knuckles… Please…" Rouge whispered, holding his hand. Her eyes were
wide and frightened. She was afraid of what the letter said, and Knuckles understood
that.
He sighed and folded the letter open. At the same exact moment, a crash
sounded from the hallway. It was a simple crash, maybe just a small, lightweight
vase.
Amy gasped and her red eyes widened more; Tails was silent, starring at
the floor carefully; Rouge and Knuckles' muscles tensed; and Shadow jumped up and
looked around the room. He made his way over to the hallway speedily and made a
quick look around the corner.
He made a weird sound. A sort of gasping, or maybe it was a strangling
sound. He rushed into the hallway and silence was heard. The five remaining in the
room tried to figure out why that hadn't jumped up to help, when they finally realized
this, they all jumped up.
"Shadow!" Rouge shrieked and grabbed onto Knuckles' arm in bewilderment.
She glanced at Tails, as he stood looking around, scared.
Amy was silent. So, someone wanted the letter; and that same someone
knew it was here.
Amy sighed, she had a very eerie feeling that this letter, which Knuckles
claimed was from Sonic, was dangerous and was certainly the source of an
adventure. But this time, the adventure wasn't going to be fun and amusing. This
adventure was going to be terrifying.
Shadow walked back into the living room, quiet and sincere. He took his
place on the floor; cradling his arm. Amy felt cold and rapped a blanket, which was
on the sofa, around herself.
"What was it?" Rouge as, cocking her head and looking sadly at Shadow's
arm. Her eyes looked frightened, as she had the right to be.
"Nothing." Shadow said quickly. "Just a squirrel, must've gotten in by a
broken screen. He startled me, so I accidentally ran into the doorway…" Shadow
whispered, looking at his arm quietly.
Amy frowned, nothing? What the hell was Shadow talking about? It had
definitely been something. Amy glared at him, why must he lie at a time like this!
Then she shook her head and looked at Knuckles. "Read us the letter." Amy
demanded harshly.
Rouge looked into Amy's eyes, seeing the young girl's fear and sadness.
Rouge allowed her eyes to look at Tails; he was so innocent and quite. 'Why the hell
did this have to happen to him?' Rouge thought aimlessly. She then looked at Shadow.
He, himself, looked frightened. That made Rouge jump, even though Shadow had
changed sides, that didn't mean that he still wasn't himself; Shadow. He was exactly
the same, but rooting for a different team.
Knuckles quietly looked into the pink hedgehog's eyes. "All right…" He
whispered and unfolded the letter neatly. He closed his eyes and sighed. He reopened
them and glanced around the room, surprised to find everyone looking at him.
Waiting for him to read the letter aloud.
Knuckles drew in a breath and began, "Dear Knuckles,
Well, this is so hard to write… Even though there is much to say… Let me
begin by saying I'm sorry; sorry for everything… Leaving you and everyone else… I
know you're angry, but I tried everything I could think of… Nothing worked… Guess
you will never understand… Perhaps you may now, or you can just go on with your
life… Again, I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you and the others… Right
from wrong, I'll never know… Kind or not, I'll never know…" That was the end.
Nothing more was written on the wrinkled lined paper. Knuckles looked up; everyone
looked so confused and scared.
Rouge looked at the letter, scanning it with her eyes, "What the hell was
that…?" She wondered, looking up at Knuckles. Knuckles shrugged and looked at
Amy, her eyes closed in bewilderment. Knuckles then looked at Tails.
Tails rubbed his temples, "That made no sense. Nothing was written
clearly… Maybe…" Tails sighed, "… maybe, some insane person wrote this…" Tails
groaned and stood up. "I'm going to get some tea…" He walked into the kitchen;
water could be heard running.
Shadow was still looking at his arm in illusion, not moving of making a
sound. He was so quiet, so calm, and so tired looking… His red eyes were
non-blinking as he kept staring at his injured arm. His limbs were relaxing as he lay
against the old, tattered couch, and his breathing was normal… But one thing was
out of place. He eyes seemed to be forcing themselves not look up, not to say
something he might regret…
Rouge stood up and yelled to Tails, "Make me some too!" She moaned and
walked quietly toward the front door, "I'm going to get some air. Anybody wanna
come?" She asked, turning around on her heel and looking at the three remaining in
the room.
Knuckles sighed, and whispered, "I suppose I'll come…" He pushed himself
up, dropping the letter beside him and walked out the door quickly. Rouge then
looked around the room once more, frowned, and began following Knuckles; shutting
the door behind her.
Amy picked up the letter that Knuckles had left and re-read it a few times.
She finally frowned and glanced at Shadow. "Do you have any idea what this
means?" She asked wonderingly. After Shadow shook his head no, she looked out
the window. "Shadow…" She whispered.
"Hmm…" Shadow mumbled, still making no movement.
"I'm scared." She said quietly. Her eyes watered as Shadow looked up at her
and frowned. "I don't know what to expect. I just know this letter doesn't mean to do
us any good…" A salty tear rolled down her warm cheeks. Shadow frowned even
more.
He finally sighed, "Amy, I know you're scared. Everyone is. Don't worry
about, some idiot kid probably did this… Everything is going to be fine. All right?"
He eyed her slowly.
Amy sighed, "I just don't know…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rouge was walking down the road; Knuckles' arms were rapped around her
comfortingly. She sighed, "What does all of this mean?" Knuckles looked at her
strangely.
"What does all of what mean? You mean the letter, that doesn't mean a
damn thing…" Knuckles started.
"No, no…" Rouge shook her head. " Not just the letter. I meant all of us."
Rouge sighed again. "Amy has mean so sad, I know she has a right to… But yet,
she's been sadder than usual and it doesn't have to do with Sonic's death
anniversary. I don't know… And then there's Tails; he's seriously going insane. I
don't know what to do with him and I don't even know what to say to him anymore!"
Rouge rubbed her temples. "And then, there's Shadow…" She whispered, voice
trailing off…
Knuckles frowned, "What about Shadow? He seems normal."
"He's not." Rouge inquired. "Something is definitely wrong with him… He's
been acting to weird. Weirder than usual even… He's starting to frighten me. I really
think he knows something… Something that he won't dare to tell us, and we'll
probably never know…" Rouge looked at the ground.
Knuckles shook his head, "Don't worry about it. We'll all just a little antsy
about the letter, and we'll get over it. The letter is just full of crap anyway…"
Knuckles turned Rouge around as they began walking back toward the house.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tails was fixing himself some tea, while listening to Shadow telling Amy
everything was going to be all right. Tails chuckled. 'What the hell is wrong with
Shadow!? He is so full of crap! He knows very well that nothin' gonna be all right
anymore…' Tails shook his head delightfully and stirred his tea.
He walked into the living room and sat down on Knuckles worn leather
recliner. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore Amy's sobs and Shadow's reassuring
words. A small smile tugged at Tails' lips and he finally allowed it to form. He didn't
know what the hell was going on. But he did know Sonic wrote that letter, even
though everyone else thought of it as a prank.
Tails knew Sonic was alive, for he'd never think to leave them. Especially
him, Tails…
Tails began to hum as Rouge and Knuckles walked into the house.
The door shut behind them, Knuckles made his way over to Amy and
retrieved his letter. Rouge sat down roughly on the carpet. Her limbs shaking from
tiredness.
Knuckles was re-reading the letter and then was silent. The letter then
flowed to the ground and Knuckles quickly turned his eyes to Shadow. He spoke
through tight teeth, "What the hell was in the hallway...?"
Chapter Three: Forever Blinding
Five heartbeats were heard as Rouge, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow, and Amy sat
on Knuckles' living room floor. It was terribly silent. All of their minds crying out
different tunes. All hoping, wishing, praying… Could all of their dreams come true?
Yet, it was still incredibly silly, not logical, and quite pointless. But none of that
rested inside their minds anymore…
Knuckles recalled four hours ago…
He had just walked in the door of his small house, exhausted from his long
day at the meat market. He dragged his feet over to his worn couch and sat down
heavily. He shut his eyes, thinking of seeing Rouge in a few hours. He smiled and
stared at the table in the dining room.
His heart jumped; there was an envelope in the middle of the table.
Knuckles stood up cautiously, worriedly looking around the room. He had certainly
locked the door behind him that morning and that envelope hadn't been there before.
Then, what was it doing here now?
He cracked his knuckles and walked silently over to the table, ready to
throw a quick punch at anyone who lunged at him. But no one came, so he just lifted
the envelope; it looked pretty much new. The face of the envelope was blank; not
even indicating it had a letter stashed away inside it; waiting for someone…
Knuckles tore it open; a letter fell to the ground. He stooped over it and his
heartbeat halted, his lungs stinging from lack of air, his eyes watering, and his limbs
trembling uncontrollably.
Knuckles gently picked it up, cradling it like it was a newborn baby. He
vision was blurred as the tears fell onto the paper. He finally let out a breath of air
and he crumbled down to his knees, sobbing heavily.
"Who… who would play such a cruel joke?" Knuckles hissed, but he knew
that this wasn't a joke. Because that was definitely Sonic's handwriting…
Knuckles now sat on his living room floor, after having Rouge call all of the
others. They were explained what happened, but Knuckles still wouldn't read them
the letter, wouldn't let them a lay an eye on it… For he, himself hadn't even read the
letter.
"Knuckles… Please…" Rouge whispered, holding his hand. Her eyes were
wide and frightened. She was afraid of what the letter said, and Knuckles understood
that.
He sighed and folded the letter open. At the same exact moment, a crash
sounded from the hallway. It was a simple crash, maybe just a small, lightweight
vase.
Amy gasped and her red eyes widened more; Tails was silent, starring at
the floor carefully; Rouge and Knuckles' muscles tensed; and Shadow jumped up and
looked around the room. He made his way over to the hallway speedily and made a
quick look around the corner.
He made a weird sound. A sort of gasping, or maybe it was a strangling
sound. He rushed into the hallway and silence was heard. The five remaining in the
room tried to figure out why that hadn't jumped up to help, when they finally realized
this, they all jumped up.
"Shadow!" Rouge shrieked and grabbed onto Knuckles' arm in bewilderment.
She glanced at Tails, as he stood looking around, scared.
Amy was silent. So, someone wanted the letter; and that same someone
knew it was here.
Amy sighed, she had a very eerie feeling that this letter, which Knuckles
claimed was from Sonic, was dangerous and was certainly the source of an
adventure. But this time, the adventure wasn't going to be fun and amusing. This
adventure was going to be terrifying.
Shadow walked back into the living room, quiet and sincere. He took his
place on the floor; cradling his arm. Amy felt cold and rapped a blanket, which was
on the sofa, around herself.
"What was it?" Rouge as, cocking her head and looking sadly at Shadow's
arm. Her eyes looked frightened, as she had the right to be.
"Nothing." Shadow said quickly. "Just a squirrel, must've gotten in by a
broken screen. He startled me, so I accidentally ran into the doorway…" Shadow
whispered, looking at his arm quietly.
Amy frowned, nothing? What the hell was Shadow talking about? It had
definitely been something. Amy glared at him, why must he lie at a time like this!
Then she shook her head and looked at Knuckles. "Read us the letter." Amy
demanded harshly.
Rouge looked into Amy's eyes, seeing the young girl's fear and sadness.
Rouge allowed her eyes to look at Tails; he was so innocent and quite. 'Why the hell
did this have to happen to him?' Rouge thought aimlessly. She then looked at Shadow.
He, himself, looked frightened. That made Rouge jump, even though Shadow had
changed sides, that didn't mean that he still wasn't himself; Shadow. He was exactly
the same, but rooting for a different team.
Knuckles quietly looked into the pink hedgehog's eyes. "All right…" He
whispered and unfolded the letter neatly. He closed his eyes and sighed. He reopened
them and glanced around the room, surprised to find everyone looking at him.
Waiting for him to read the letter aloud.
Knuckles drew in a breath and began, "Dear Knuckles,
Well, this is so hard to write… Even though there is much to say… Let me
begin by saying I'm sorry; sorry for everything… Leaving you and everyone else… I
know you're angry, but I tried everything I could think of… Nothing worked… Guess
you will never understand… Perhaps you may now, or you can just go on with your
life… Again, I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you and the others… Right
from wrong, I'll never know… Kind or not, I'll never know…" That was the end.
Nothing more was written on the wrinkled lined paper. Knuckles looked up; everyone
looked so confused and scared.
Rouge looked at the letter, scanning it with her eyes, "What the hell was
that…?" She wondered, looking up at Knuckles. Knuckles shrugged and looked at
Amy, her eyes closed in bewilderment. Knuckles then looked at Tails.
Tails rubbed his temples, "That made no sense. Nothing was written
clearly… Maybe…" Tails sighed, "… maybe, some insane person wrote this…" Tails
groaned and stood up. "I'm going to get some tea…" He walked into the kitchen;
water could be heard running.
Shadow was still looking at his arm in illusion, not moving of making a
sound. He was so quiet, so calm, and so tired looking… His red eyes were
non-blinking as he kept staring at his injured arm. His limbs were relaxing as he lay
against the old, tattered couch, and his breathing was normal… But one thing was
out of place. He eyes seemed to be forcing themselves not look up, not to say
something he might regret…
Rouge stood up and yelled to Tails, "Make me some too!" She moaned and
walked quietly toward the front door, "I'm going to get some air. Anybody wanna
come?" She asked, turning around on her heel and looking at the three remaining in
the room.
Knuckles sighed, and whispered, "I suppose I'll come…" He pushed himself
up, dropping the letter beside him and walked out the door quickly. Rouge then
looked around the room once more, frowned, and began following Knuckles; shutting
the door behind her.
Amy picked up the letter that Knuckles had left and re-read it a few times.
She finally frowned and glanced at Shadow. "Do you have any idea what this
means?" She asked wonderingly. After Shadow shook his head no, she looked out
the window. "Shadow…" She whispered.
"Hmm…" Shadow mumbled, still making no movement.
"I'm scared." She said quietly. Her eyes watered as Shadow looked up at her
and frowned. "I don't know what to expect. I just know this letter doesn't mean to do
us any good…" A salty tear rolled down her warm cheeks. Shadow frowned even
more.
He finally sighed, "Amy, I know you're scared. Everyone is. Don't worry
about, some idiot kid probably did this… Everything is going to be fine. All right?"
He eyed her slowly.
Amy sighed, "I just don't know…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rouge was walking down the road; Knuckles' arms were rapped around her
comfortingly. She sighed, "What does all of this mean?" Knuckles looked at her
strangely.
"What does all of what mean? You mean the letter, that doesn't mean a
damn thing…" Knuckles started.
"No, no…" Rouge shook her head. " Not just the letter. I meant all of us."
Rouge sighed again. "Amy has mean so sad, I know she has a right to… But yet,
she's been sadder than usual and it doesn't have to do with Sonic's death
anniversary. I don't know… And then there's Tails; he's seriously going insane. I
don't know what to do with him and I don't even know what to say to him anymore!"
Rouge rubbed her temples. "And then, there's Shadow…" She whispered, voice
trailing off…
Knuckles frowned, "What about Shadow? He seems normal."
"He's not." Rouge inquired. "Something is definitely wrong with him… He's
been acting to weird. Weirder than usual even… He's starting to frighten me. I really
think he knows something… Something that he won't dare to tell us, and we'll
probably never know…" Rouge looked at the ground.
Knuckles shook his head, "Don't worry about it. We'll all just a little antsy
about the letter, and we'll get over it. The letter is just full of crap anyway…"
Knuckles turned Rouge around as they began walking back toward the house.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tails was fixing himself some tea, while listening to Shadow telling Amy
everything was going to be all right. Tails chuckled. 'What the hell is wrong with
Shadow!? He is so full of crap! He knows very well that nothin' gonna be all right
anymore…' Tails shook his head delightfully and stirred his tea.
He walked into the living room and sat down on Knuckles worn leather
recliner. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore Amy's sobs and Shadow's reassuring
words. A small smile tugged at Tails' lips and he finally allowed it to form. He didn't
know what the hell was going on. But he did know Sonic wrote that letter, even
though everyone else thought of it as a prank.
Tails knew Sonic was alive, for he'd never think to leave them. Especially
him, Tails…
Tails began to hum as Rouge and Knuckles walked into the house.
The door shut behind them, Knuckles made his way over to Amy and
retrieved his letter. Rouge sat down roughly on the carpet. Her limbs shaking from
tiredness.
Knuckles was re-reading the letter and then was silent. The letter then
flowed to the ground and Knuckles quickly turned his eyes to Shadow. He spoke
through tight teeth, "What the hell was in the hallway...?"