Ice Cold Passion

Chapter 2

(Rouge's point of view)

I stared in horror at my vicious predators, their evil, toothy grins smiling mischievously at me.

"Time to heat this party up!" The leader shouted.

"Good because I'm freezing dude!" One of them replied simple-mindedly and shivering. Everyone, even me, stared at him.

"Raul! When this is finished, you're kicked out of the club!" The leader declared, then stared at me, still pinning me to the wall. Before he could do anything to me, I suddenly heard a loud smack from behind him. The leader released his grip and stared behind. The snow was getting so heavy and it was very dark so I couldn't see what was happening in the background. All I knew, was all 5 of them were fighting…who though? I couldn't see him or her.

All 5 were fighting my hero/heroine. I stared at the leader as he struggled. I looked closely at his pocket as one of his hands reached out at it. A shiny, steel object was in there and I tried to figure out what it was until suddenly, the idea struck me. It was a knife! A sharp, jagged knife! My eyes widened in fear. I attempted to get away, but my attempt was foiled.

The leader stalker stumbled as my hero/heroine shot a good blow to his face. He fell towards me and I felt his knife slice me right across my side. I howled in pain as I stumbled to the ground. I hyperventilated until my vision became blurrier and blurrier. Soon enough, I fainted from the excruciating pain.

The next morning, I finally woke up, as memories were gradually filling in my head from the events prior to my awakening. I glanced around to find that I was in some cave, a small fire burning next to me for warmth. I then, remembered the punks that had caught me in the alley. I instantly sprung up in fright until a shot of pain ran through my side. I yelped and clutched my wound. Curiously, I glanced down at it, surprised at what I saw. A thick layer of large leaves were wrapped around it tightly.

"What…?" I thought out loud. Another shot of pain ran through my side and I thrust myself back down on my back, wincing at the ache.

"You shouldn't sit up just yet…." A voice said from behind me. I tried to look behind me by titling my head upwards. I gasped at whom I saw.

"Shadow?" I asked in surprise.

"Are you feeling better?" Shadow asked me, kneeling down beside me.

"Uhh….yeah I guess. What are you doing here?" I asked in shock.

"Well then, you are welcome…." Shadow said, folding his arms in sarcasm.

"Erm…sorry. Thank you Shadow, uhh…for saving me. Wait! Was that you in the alley?" I asked, as he slowly helped me up to sit upwards.

"That was me. You shouldn't walk through dark alleys at night. Lucky for you, I was able to take on all 5 guys. More? You might have considered yourself-" Shadow began.

I shook my head and changed the subject, "So where do you live anyways?" I asked.

"Oh, here and there…" Shadow replied, getting up. He lent out a hand to me. I grabbed it, and got up, gritting my teeth as another shot of pain ran though me.

"Wait… you mean you don't have a home?" I asked.

Shadow shook his head, "No, but I'm cool with it. Seems everyone is still holding a grudge against me. When I try to apply for a job, people go speechless in fright. Every time…."

I felt guilt overwhelm me, "Wow that's awful! Hey! I know! You can stay at my house!" I told him.

"No umm…it's ok Rouge," Shadow replied.

"No, really Shadow. Come on! It's big! Tonnes of running room and stuff!" I assured him.

"Rouge….I…." Shadow began. He couldn't find an excuse. I knew he was just being nice, but I also knew, he desperately wanted some shelter.

"Don't worry Shadow! You can meet my parents! I know they'll like you!" I told him and dragged Shadow out of the cave.

The first words that came out of my mother's mouth were, "Absolutely NOT!"

"Who died and made you queen of the house?" I argued back. Shadow folded his arms and his expression was begging me to forget about the whole idea.

"Ugh! Excuse me young miss! I OWN this house!" My mom shouted.

"Not quite! Don't forget it, mother, that with the money and jewels I earned, we were able to pay off the rest of this house! So technically, I own part of it, and I claim my room first so Shadow will sleep in there," I told her.

"Are you nuts! Sleeping in YOUR room! That's even worse! Rouge, allowing a killer and the guy that tried to blow up the earth to stay in this house is a foolish idea! I won't allow it!" My mom yelled, folding her arms stubbornly. She starred at the tall, muscular, red and black hedgehog, eying him in suspicion. My dad on the other hand, just sipped his coffee, wanting to stay out of the conversation.

"Mom! He saved my life!" I told her. "I should atleast repay him somehow!"

"Repay him? He should repay us, and all of Station Square for all of the pain and fright he put us through!" My mom pointed out. Shadow drew his ears back and backed away from my raging mom.

"Sweetheart…. how about this?" My dad started, "We allow him to stay one night to see how things are, and then we decide tomorrow morning. It's only fair. Rouge DOES as a matter of fact, own part of this house. You cannot argue on that one," My dad stated.

"Exactly!" I said, folding my arms. My mom put her ears down in defeat.

"Fine! But if you, Mr. Hog, threaten or hurt any of my family, I will call the police! You may be able to run fast but I'll hunt you down!" My mom threatened, backing Shadow up into a wall.

Shadow shrugged, "Sure thing,"

My mom pouted and stormed upstairs. I grinned happily at my dad who winked at me and nodded at Shadow in approval of staying. "Well then, now that this is out of the way," I told Shadow, "Allow me to get myself aided up and dressed and I'll give you a tour of Bat Manor!"

To be continued…

Author's Note: Just to tell you, Raul is pronounced Ra-ool. Ok? He no important character but I'm just telling you.