Sonic Hill 2: DX

Chapter 26: Approaching Resolution

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A soft squeak emitted when the bathroom stall door closed behind the light-furred fox. He felt much better now – the wetness in his fur was dampening by the minute, and he'd finally eaten something. Nine peaches were on the table he and Amy had sat at moments earlier. Were is the key word there; now they rested within his slightly less knotting belly.

On one of the restaurants tables, folded in a napkin, was a key with a silver luster to it. A small plastic fish was connected to the key by a thin chain. Miles grasped onto the key, figuring it'd be useful like they tended to be in the future, and put it in his pocket. As he left the Lakeshore Restaurant, he examined Sonic's letter and photograph again, regaining the constantly lowering and rising motivation to go on. Perhaps he was speaking too soon, but there didn't seem to be any monsters in the hotel at all. It looked exactly the same as it did when he left it years ago, except coated in a few layers of dust, and of course, abandonment.

The hotel's lobby, like everything else, looked just as big and beautiful as he remembered it. Velvet red carpets led from the front doors of the hotel to the long staircase, which led up to the second floor and balcony. The two sets of double doors that lead into the back T corridor he'd just came out of were on both sides of the stairs, giving the guests plenty of convenience. In the middle of the lobby was an old lonely wooden desk, where the innocent tourists would check in. Sonic and he had checked in here, just like everyone else. It was very pleasant; no one really paid much more attention to them than maybe a glance, and that's just the way they liked it. That way all they had to worry about was people they wanted to worry about. Miles wished life in general was more like that.

Miles smiled again, getting pleasantly lost in memories of the past. It was the best vacation ever…probably one of the best consistent moments in his entire life. Running around during the day, going out to eat, maybe see a movie or something when they were bored. And at nights, the most wonderful nights in his life, they'd go out to dinner and party or whatever else the town had to offer, until they got back to their room, 312, and made the best love they'd ever had. The young fox couldn't help but blush, even though there was no one there to witness his slight arousal at the thought.

He missed those days…

Sighing, Miles tried to get back to business. It was so calm and quiet here, and not in a disturbing sort of way like everywhere else. Now he finally had a lot of time to think without having to worry about a monster being around every corner. So far, he hadn't seen any monsters or blood or anything out of the ordinary in the place, and that eased him too. It was like the hotel was a safe haven.

Empty folders lay on the check-in desk. There was a brochure in the middle, which the fox picked up and read just for the hell of it.

'Welcome to Sonic Hill!

Sonic Hill, a quiet little lakeside resort town. We're happy to have you. Take some time out of your busy schedules and enjoy a nice restful vacation here. Row after row of quaint old houses, a gorgeous mountain landscape, and a lake which shows different sides of its beauty with the passing of the day, from sunrise to late afternoons and sunset. Sonic Hill will move you and fill you with a feeling of deep peace. Your time here will be pleasant and your memories will last forever.'

"Heh, sure will…" Miles muttered, taking off one of his gloves and rubbing his sore eyes.

Putting the brochure back down to rest on the desk, he turned around and walked up the steps to the second floor. He'd already taken the key to Room 312 out of the key box in the reception room, along with a strange emerald green key similar to the one he had found in the hospital, and there was no need to walk out the front doors. The front doors of the hotel faced North Sonic Hill, where the larger half of town was. The hotel was on the outskirts of that area, hugging the lake alongside the amusement park, the lighthouse, and a few other things. He had little interest in going anywhere else though, since the only thing he wanted was somewhere in this building.

The lobby's second floor balcony contained two doors which went to their respective sides of the hotel, and a large clean window, which would have given a perfect view of the lake had it not been coated in thick fog.

He tried the east door first, which should lead into the Employee's Only area. And if not that, there should be a stairway or elevator or something in it that does. It wasn't listed on the map, so he wasn't exactly sure. Unfortunately, the door was locked, so he had no choice but to check out the west side of the hotel instead.

A small T-shaped hall, with the entrance to the 2nd Floor West Guests Corridor at the end of it. Miles had never gone there, and he doubted many if any of the doors in it were unlocked, so he decided to check out that this corridor had to offer first. The four doors at the bottom of the T lead into the lounge, the cloakroom, the reading room, and some unnamed square room in the back. Only the reading room and cloakroom doors opened though.

The only thing of interest in the reading room was a pair of headphones on the desk next to the window, where a discreet noise was coming from. Miles walked up to the desk and sat down in front of it, picking up the headphones and placing them awkwardly over his large fox ears.

There was a voice, but not a very familiar one, along with the polar opposite – his own slightly high pitched one. It wasn't something he'd expected to hear, but it really was him…

"…Sonic's going to die!? You…you must be joking…" his voice said, extreme devastation in his tone.

"I'm very sorry." He heard the other male's voice respond. It sounded boring, monotone, and flat. Must be a doctor. His own voice proved his theory correct a moment later.

"B-but you're a doctor! It's your job to heal people! How can you just let him die!?"

Miles looked out the window sadly, seeing only white fog staring back at him. But swimming in the fog, a transparent hospital bed appeared to float not too far outside the hotel…

"Please calm down. As his doctor, I promise I'll do what I can. But…there's no effective treatment for his condition as of yet…"

A long pause, followed by: "How long does he have?"

"I'm afraid that I'm not sure." The doctor said. "Three years at most…possibly six months…it's impossible to say without certainty…"

-Click.

The headphones shut off.

"Three years…" Miles whispered confusedly, pulling off the headphones and staring at the empty space outside where the transparent bed appeared. "He…he was sick for three years…?"

But they'd taken a vacation in this town only four years ago…

"T-that doesn't make any sense…" the fox slowly rose to his feet, flabbergasted at the very thought.

He was extremely confused now. He remembered, Sonic died three years ago, not a few months ago. That's how it happened, no way that could be wrong…Perhaps Sonic had only lived for six months like the doctor said he might…he didn't remember. It all just seemed like one big blur of days dragging by. Each day he'd wake up alone, no one to talk to, no one to be there for him…and the same case was for his blue hedgehog who stayed in the Station Square hospital for all that time. It was a very miserable period of time…but he knew the time after Sonic's death was a lot more miserable and a lot longer. Depression clouded him. It was definitely over six months of sickness before the hedgehog died, maybe a year…it was hard to say.

'That doesn't matter.' He reminded himself. 'Sonic's here…he has to be…maybe when I find him, he'll explain everything…yeah…'

He really hoped so.

There were many suits, jackets, vests, and other various articles of clothing hanging by hangers in the cloakroom. Miles thoroughly searched every pocket, hoping to find something of use. Within one jacket was the fourth key he'd found since he entered the hotel: the key to room 204.

It was a very short walk to the 2nd floor west guest corridor, but all the doors within it were locked, as he feared. 204 was around the back of the corridor though, so he unlocked it with his new key and entered the decently large hotel room. On the bed was a briefcase, which he quickly examined to find that it was locked with a code combo. Shaking it a bit, he heard something metallic move inside and guessed that it might be something useful. So, keeping the case with him, he looked around the rest of the place.

There was a large hole in the wall—the first abnormal looking thing he'd seen in the hotel so far. It looked like someone created it with a chainsaw or something. The hole led right into room 202. So he went through it—in a similar fashion to how he walked through the large hole in that clock room in the apartments a long time ago.

Photographs covered the king sized bed of this room, each containing a place in Sonic Hill within it. Most of the people who checked into the hotel were tourists, of course. Residents of the town mostly lived in either the apartments or Old Sonic Hill, the neighborhood only a few blocks away from the hotel. So the fox assumed that it had been left behind on accident, just like that videotape he and Sonic had made.

One photograph stood out from the rest though; a photo of the hotel, which looked like it had been taken from the dock. In the top right corner was a bunch of black ink scribbling something out of view in the sky. Rubbing the tip of his white glove over it wasn't washing it away, so if he wanted to see what was written underneath it he'd need some ink thinner.

Underneath that photo was something even stranger. It was taken in the same spot as the last one, depicting the hotel from a nice angle, except this time the whole building was on fire. Flames swallowed the wooden roof as angry wind blew into it, making them grow stronger. There was something written on the top of the photo in black marker.

'Lakeview Hotel Fire'

"What?" Miles stuttered. "A fire…?"

What a scary thought. It looked like it was in pretty damn good condition currently if it really did catch fire…

He was so bewildered by the photograph that he almost didn't notice the employee's only corridor key before leaving the room. It lay out of place on the desk, just waiting to be used again, and its wish was granted. Miles grabbed the key and headed out of the 2nd floor west guest corridor, sauntering back to the east side.

If he remembered correctly, the employee's only area was just a complex series of short hallways and small rooms, with an elevator and a stairway that went to all three floors. He had known about this because Sonic and he had snuck into the place one night for fun. They almost got caught—and they sure would have been in trouble if they did—but they managed to escape from the security guys by jogging up the stairs as quietly as they could and heading back to room 312. It was fun. Stupid, but fun.

Unlocking the east door, he walked in the corridor. It was just as he remembered it. It was even still dark, although this time it was dark because there were no lights or windows, not because it was nighttime. That didn't matter, the elevator was the only thing he was really interested in. It should lead down into the first floor employee's area, where the office was located. If anywhere, the key that unlocks the barred doors on the third floor would be in there. Entering the employee's elevator, Miles feared for a second that he was too heavy for the mechanism to support his weight and would have to drop off some of his items. He only weighed one-hundred-something pounds, a decent weight for a furry his height, but all the weapons, ammo, and other random stuff that was loading his body down, must have added at least twenty more pounds.

On a second thought, he realized that the elevator could probably support far more weight than that. And it could, so he felt relieved during his decent into the dark first floor employee's area. Silently, he wondered if the shotgun would ever be of use to him anymore – ever since he'd ran out of ammo in the museum it had been nothing but useless weight, and the rifle was proving to be useless too, although he was too worried something bad would happen once he let go of them to actually leave the items behind. The katana fastened around his waist was surprisingly heavy too, and he wasn't even sure how to use it properly without getting hurt. It was better to have some sort of backup weapon if he ran out of ammo though, so he kept that too.

Turning the flashlight back on, he searched the place for any door that might lead into the office. It only took him a few seconds before he found it across from the main stairway. The door opened easily, so he stepped in, shining the flashlight across the room.

Checking all the drawers, he sadly came up with no key. It was basically empty of just about everything. Except on the wall, where a note was posted. Taking a closer look, Miles read what was written down.

'NOTICE: Hell Is Coming

8, 5, 1, 2, 1, 2'

Another creepy message, but the numbers might be useful. Desirously, he tried the numbers on the combination lock on the briefcase, but was disappointed to find it didn't work.

"Great…" he said, his fur instinctively jumping a bit when his voice broke the silence. Disappointed beyond belief, he exited the office and decided to check out the rest of the employee's corridor, since he didn't have any other choice. It didn't take long, because one of the only other unlocked doors there was the door to the employee's lounge.

There was a fish tank in the back of the room, the only thing emitting any form of light other than his own flashlight. It quickly drew in his interest, so Miles stepped up to it. No fish were inside of it, but he noticed there was what looked like another key on the rock-covered bottom of the tank, but in order to get it he'd have to either break the glass or unlock the top part of it. Pulling out the fish key he'd gotten from the restaurant, Miles was pleased to see it worked and picked off the metallic top, reaching in and drenching his dirty gloved hand and arm. Grasping onto the key, he pulled it out of the tank and wiped most of the water off with his still slightly damp fur on his chest. The words 'Bar' were written on the top of the key, so he knew where to go. In the hotel's basement was a bar called "Venus Tears", if he recalled. Strange name, but it was a decent place.

And so, Miles took the employee's elevator down into the basement. As expected, it was nearly impossible to see down there, but with the flashlight it was easy enough. He would have been a bit creeped out if he had to walk down the dark dingy place a week ago, but having seen and experienced what he'd been so far, it hardly seemed worth being afraid of. Fearlessly, Miles moved down the cement corridor until he reached the Venus Tears door. He unlocked it with the new key and discarded it, moving into the bar and checking out what was inside.

Sonic and he had gotten a bit wasted there once. Not exceptionally, but by the end of that night Miles had felt pretty lucky that their room had only been three floors up rather than a car drive away. If things weren't like that their night could have been disasterous, thankfully all went well. Hell, they went better than well. That was one of their more adventurous nights here…

Now, it looked just as abandoned as every other place in the town.

Bottles lined the walls, most of them full but covered in dust. A few chairs were turned as if someone had just left the place, giving the room a lonelier feel to it. A dim light bulb on the ceiling illuminated it just enough for the fox to spot a safe behind the main part of the bar. He walked around the main wooden pub, thinking about how Sonic had laid his head right there while laughing stupidly at nothing in particular, years ago. Smirking a little at the thought, he looked at the combination lock on it and figured—hoped—that this was where that number written upstairs was meant to be put in.

Placing his fingers on the knob, he put in the combo: 8, 5, 1, 2, 1, 2, and smiled when he heard that reassuring click. Opening the metal safe, he saw nothing but a bottle of ink thinner inside. Very strange, but it was something he'd wanted earlier, so he couldn't complain. He was starting to become very nonchalant about strange stuff like that.

Taking the ink thinner, he pulled out the photograph of the hotel and placed it on the counter. He painted the liquid across the ink, pleased to see it slowly disappear. Underneath the now invisible blackness were the numbers '0, 1, 5, 9, 8'.

'This better be the code for the suitcase…' he thought to himself. He was really tired of aimlessly looking for things like this. It was tedious and annoying, and all he really wanted was to find that one key…

Turning the numbers on the briefcase, Miles heard a click when he put the code in and opened it up. Inside was a single gray key. A huge grin appeared on his face when he spotted 'Third Floor Gate' written sideways on its surface.

"Yes!" he shouted with glee, immediately turning and sprinting out of the bar.

That sprint didn't end until he reached the T-shaped corridor behind the lobby again. Hope gleamed in his eyes as he ran to the west stairway and charged up the steps to rescue his love. Though by now he was panting heavily, he knew he couldn't stop even if he wanted to—and he definitely didn't want to.

Reaching the third floor gate, he unlocked it with the key and pushed through it, crossing the short distance between the gate and the door with the numbers 312 plated on it in gold. The gate clinked against the wall behind him.

Stopping at the door, he felt butterflies flutter in his stomach along with the remains of the peaches from earlier. He'd come so far, done so much, and now he was finally here. This was what he, and Sonic, had been waiting for…

'Sonikku…I'm finally here…'

With a deep shaky breath, Miles unlocked the door with the 312 key, and opened it.