Before the Vision
Chapter 16: Painful Farewells
"…What have I done!?" Shadow shouted in an agonizing tone.
He was too afraid to approach the mess near the wall but his feet brought him near the pool of blood. What was even more terrifying to the hedgehog were the skeletal remains of Maria's body. Most of the limbs were broken and still covered in blood and pieces of muscle that Shadow did not devour. Then there was the mangled hand that was still in one piece and coated in red liquid. Shadow knelt down and picked up the hand in the pool of blood and held it before him staring at it madly. There were visions in his eyes. Visions in red of Maria being murdered from the beast's point of view and Shadow was forced to watch every second of it as the memory played back in his mind.
"…no…" the hedgehog's mouth muttered.
The scene intensified as Maria was lifted up by her neck.
"No…"
The monster's claws could be seen ripping her open.
"NO!!"
The innocent girl was ripped to shreds with her blood coating the small area. By the time the vision was over, Shadow had dropped the mutilated hand and tears gushed out of his eyes. His teeth were clenched as he tried to hold back the unbearable pain he felt inside. His heart was beating against his ribcage, his breaths became short… and then it became too much for him. The cries of agony pushed against his chest begging to be freed from the disgusting insides that his prey had gone to. Shadow staggered to his feet holding his arms close to his stomach and still trying to fight the discomfort his actions had caused. But they overcame his body and Shadow stumbled back into the some of the old furniture behind him letting out the first yelp of a long and excruciating crying process.
His hands caught onto some of the furniture trying to hold up the hedgehog as more and more tears rained down his cheeks. Gentle sobbing emanated from his mouth but soon it grew louder and louder by the second until it became a screaming cry of pain. Shadow's frightened voice now mirrored the scream of someone being tortured physically as he dropped to his knees. He had lost complete control over his cringing body and soon rolled onto his back and screamed out the victim that tortured his heart.
"MARIA!!" Shadow screamed crying nonstop.
His blood covered hands found their way to his face and left a smeared trail of blood as they slipped off. Yet the smell only made him more hysterical and he cried until his eyes were ready to burst out of his head.
Several minutes later Shadow's cries had died down but did not cease. He was now on his back howling miserably and speaking incoherent words like a patient of an insane asylum. Feeling some strength and control returning to his body, Shadow got onto his knees and slowly pushed himself off the floor. His feet dragged their way across the wooden floor to a window that faced out into the front yard. Shadow hoped that the peacefulness of nature would get rid of the torment in his mind. But he found much more pain awaiting him when he looked down into the front yard of the summer house. At the base of the tree in the yard, Shadow saw vast amounts of blood smeared all over the trunk of the tree and on the grass as well. There were large claw marks the beast had left behind as well as some skeletal remains and maybe half an internal organ of Prof. Gerald.
Shadow was under attack again by the agonizing pain of guilt and punishment. The scene shattered his heart again and his vocals were raised back up to their screaming level of insanity.
"NO!!" the hedgehog screamed pushing his hands against the window.
They pulled away leaving red, dripping imprints while Shadow went back to his hysterical state of crying on the floor. He was now curled up clutching his hands over his ears. Blood dripped inside but the hedgehog barely noticed. He was too consumed in the guilt of his murderous attacks on his family and the damage he had caused to the town. For it all finally came back to the hedgehog in a red vision; every last second of his wild rampage through the peaceful town. His eyes witnesses the death of every innocent person that stood in his way and the hedgehog's heart was ripped more and more as a result.
"Make it stop!!" he screamed terrified of his visions. "Please stop them!!"
Shadow was aware of what was going on now. The beast torturing him, trying to ruin the good life the hedgehog had established. The horrid creature had done so in the past back at the institute and was now doing it again in Shadow's new home. The hedgehog thought he had put the monster behind him. He thought he had left all of the horrible memories back in the city. But apparently the beast followed Shadow to the small town… it would explain why he showed up weeks ago during the powerful storm that left Shadow nearly sleepless. The beast was making his presence known to Shadow, but the hedgehog was too wrapped up in his new life to even care. Now Shadow paid for his ignorance through the death of his own family.
"I understand…" Shadow wept still curled on the floor. "I understand… just make the pain stop."
He acknowledged the beast's existence and immediately the emotional pain within him died down. Shadow realized now that the beast would always be apart of him for he was there long before the hedgehog came. Shadow recognized the beast as the true mastermind and that he, the lowly hedgehog, was just the outer shell that tamed the beast. There was also something else the hedgehog noticed as well. Inside of him… and the beast, they both were growing stronger. Shadow could feel a strange sensation within him that had nothing to do with his vampire transformation. It was his natural powers, they had grown from the horrifying experience… but so did the beast's powers as well.
Shadow knew that the beast would always overshadow the hedgehog in power. He also knew that the beast wanted to be the dominant one in power meaning that the hedgehog would exist no more. Shadow had to do something to prevent the beast from taking over. But what? What could he do that would be strong enough to stop such a monstrosity?
… "My… powers?"
It was a farfetched idea for the hedgehog to grasp onto but what else did he have? He wasn't sure as to what he was able to do… but anything to stop the beast would be better than doing nothing at all. Shadow stood up and stared out of the blood stained window hoping to get an idea.
"…Erase… memories…" his mind whispered.
The black hedgehog's eyes closed and his body relaxed. Suddenly his hands balled up into fists as Shadow began to concentrate on the powers within in.
"Erase their memories… erase their memories…" Shadow thought.
His muscles tensed up as a red aura formed around him. He began to tremble from the build up as the aura shone brighter and brighter. Just then, memories of his sweet Maria flowed back into his mind. He was reminded of who this was for, why it had to be done.
"Maria…" Shadow forced out through his gritted teeth.
Soon the burning energy cried to be released and Shadow dropped to his knees yelling as the energy exploded from him. A red, misty wave fanned out in a wide circle passing through the town and the forest. As the red substance was inhaled by the people, their memories of Maria, Shadow, Gerald, the attack, and who lived in the summer house were gone forever. People stopped in their tracks looking around at the damage that had been left behind by the beast but were completely clueless as to how it happened. They were only horrified that so many people were dead and fires burned wildly on the main street of the town. So their only concern was to return things to normalcy.
Shadow remained on his knees, a few more droplets of tears fell onto the floor but the hedgehog remained silent. They were not tears of pain that he felt, but tears of sorrow and remembrance of his beloved sister. When Shadow was reassured that everyone in the town had lost their memories of the attack and his family, Shadow moved on to his next task: how to prevent the beast from taking over. Again the hedgehog remained silent and waited for his mind to whisper the answer to him softly.
"…a serpent… before it's too late…"
The message was vague but Shadow complied with his conscious. He searched the room for any type of sharp object. A piece of wood in the floor was broken and Shadow bent over to rip out the rest of the small piece. It came off with some effort and the hedgehog wiped away some of the blood on his arm to prepare for his next task. Taking in a deep breath Shadow raised the broken wood above his head and, in one swipe, made a large slit in his left arm. The hedgehog winced at the pain and held out his arm as the blood seeped out quickly.
"Before his arrival, before his reign," Shadow muttered. "I must die… before it's too late. I must die… before it's… too late…"
The last few words came out brokenly from Shadow's mouth. He was afraid of setting such a curse upon himself… but it was necessary for him to do so. He was doing it for Maria. A large drop of blood dripped to the floor with a tiny splash. Suddenly it turned black and bubbled over like a steaming tar pit. A small, thin creature began to rise out of the tar like substance and struggled out onto the hard floor with its eyes shut. The serpent creature rested for a few seconds before opening its eyes to reveal a fierce green color staring straight into Shadow's eyes. The serpent's eyes flashed its green color and then slithered off towards the corner disappearing in the shadows. Just as Shadow thought he was done, his mind whispered another task to him.
"…crow… revealing visions…"
Once again Shadow did not understand the message but went on with his new task. Now it was time to cut his right arm. This time it was performed with quick and swift precision and no hesitation.
"Warning signs, will show the danger," Shadow muttered again. "Direct my path and lead me astray."
A drop of blood fell out of Shadow's arms and turned into a tar-like substance bubbling over once again. This time the creature trying the crawl out of the substance was much larger that the serpent. A small beak could be seen… then one wing… and then the other. Finally with both wings out, the ugly bird flapped them wildly trying to escape from its snare. With enough forceful flapping, the bird was free and flew away from the tar substance perching itself on a piece of old furniture. It's harsh, yellow eyes gazed at Shadow's with an unforgiving look. They flashed yellow before the bird flew off and disappeared into the shadows of the corner.
With his tasks completed, Shadow dropped the broken wood and lowered his eyes towards the floor.
"What am I doing here?" he asked himself.
He had no reason to be here anymore. No reason to live; to have ever existed. If Shadow knew that he would be the demise of his family, he would've allowed the humans to kill him back at the institute. The powers he had once thought would be a blessing, had now become a curse unto his life again.
"I have no purpose here."
What was his purpose now that he destroyed everything he had worked so hard to achieve? With no family, he would have no love, and with no love, he would have no friends to share it with. His adventurous spirit was gone and the hedgehog could care less about the wonders of the world. He was no longer needed in this world for he was a menace.
"I must disappear."
With nothing left to live for, no one left who needed him, and no place else to go, it was the only reasonable conclusion Shadow came to. What good does a stranger have in a world that doesn't know him or want him? What good is it that a monster tears apart everything he tries to have? What good can he possibly bring if he is nothing but a curse to those around him? It made sense to the hedgehog. To disappear and never return in the light where everyone seemed to be. He was sure the darkness would welcome him, for all of those who are cast out from the world of light end up in the world of darkness. It was the only answer.
"I know no one…"
Shadow's friends were gone. His enemies were gone as well. His mentor, his sister… everyone that he was connected to was gone from his life forever. He knew no one now. Not a single soul.
"…yet everyone knows me."
…Everyone will know him. Everyone will know of Shadow's presence. He hungered for blood and nothing else. So he had to get it from somewhere. The people of the town… that was his source. It was a small town, but there will be more people throughout the years. As the horrible attack escapes into the past, people will idly forget it. That's how humans are. Living in the present, dawning on the past, looking towards the future… always looking towards the future. Besides, it was a small town. Mysterious blood loss wouldn't go unnoticed… and if that was the case, then his existence wouldn't go unnoticed as well. The town may not know that Shadow would be cause of the mysterious happenings, but they would know that someone would be causing them.
Those were his final thoughts. Shadow closed his eyes silently and his body rocked… back and forth, back and forth. It moved in tiny intervals until the pendulum motion continued and Shadow's rocking increased. Finally he rocked forward as far he could and on his way back… the hedgehog began to drift into a sleep. Thus his final rock back became a backwards fall… a fall into nothingness.
The floor was gone…
The room was gone…
All source of light had disappeared…
And Shadow fell…
And fell…
And fell…
All the way to the basement…
But there was no impact…
For the hedgehog was in a deep sleep…
Where he felt nothing and thought of nothing…
His memories gone…
His feelings gone…
Everything gone…
And there he slept…
He slept in what seemed like an eternal sleep until…