4. Visions
Cream - ?
"Cream, please don't leave me..."
I turned around, but I saw no one behind me. Am I hearing things?
"Cream, no..."
No. I wasn't hearing things. I just heard someone call for me. But when I looked around, I couldn't see anyone in my sight. However, I felt the presence of someone near me.
But then where is this mystery person?
"Cream..."
All of a sudden, a pink hedgehog appeared out of nowhere right in front of me. Startled, I gasped and backed away from her.
"A-Amy? Is that you?" I asked the figure.
"Cream...why would you let me die?" She said sorrowfully, ignoring my question.
"Amy, I wouldn't!"
"Do you dislike me?"
"Amy, stop!"
"Why do you hate me? You're supposed to be my friend..."
"Amy, I am your friend! Please listen to me!"
Amy began vanishing slowly as she cried. Red tears, possibly blood, was dripping out of her eyes as she faded away.
"Why Cream...?"
"Wait! Amy, don't go away!"
But it was too late. Amy had completely vanished. She was no longer in front of me.
"AMY!"
Cream - March 20, 2036
"...ream. Cream!"
I abruptly woke up from my dream (or to be more accurate, my nightmare) to someone calling my name out. I open my eyes and see my mother looking at me with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine, mom. What's the matter?"
"You were sweating and struggling in your sleep, dear. I thought something was happening to you."
Now that she mentioned it, I could feel sweat droplets run down ny head. I guess that dream I had just a few seconds really made me feel distressed.
"Oh, it's nothing mom." I assured. "Everything is fine. Really."
My mom sighed and told me, "Well if that's the case, you need to get up young lady! It's already 6:33!"
"What? Really?!"
"Yes! You need to get to school right this instance!"
I quickly got up from my bed and got dressed into my usual attire. I grabbed my bookbag and all the other supplies I need, and rushed to the front door. I've never been late for school, and I don't plan on being tardy today. Or ever for that matter.
"Okay mom, I'll be out!" I shouted to my mom. She just smiled and replied, "Stay safe and have nice day, Cream!"
I left my house and walked down the street. I know I woke up late, but the distance between home and the high school wasn't too far, so I wasn't in too much of a rush. Classes start at 6:50, but I usually arrived at the building in less than 10 minutes, so it really isn't a big deal.
As I walked, I kept wondering about what I dreamt about last night. I know it was only a surreal nightmare, but somehow it felt real. But then again, I guess people say things like that only because their dreams stain their minds like a blemish. Still, the way Amy appeared in my dream made me feel sad. She looked and sounded so distraught, I almost started tearing up halfway through the road just from thinking about it. Hell, remembering the dream alone made me feel sick. But what really bothered me was that last night was also the day she hung herself 11 years ago. What a disturbing coincidence that is! And it's upsetting enough to even wonder why it had to be that day.
Amy... I still miss you... I don't hate you... If I knew, I would've stopped you from killing yourself. I would've done anything to-
A pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, making me gasp. Since it happened suddenly, I almost quivered in a frightful manner. But before I could even move, I heard a soft and friendly voice say, "Hi Cream."
I turn my head around to my right and saw a familiar-looking fox smiling at me.
"Tails! You scared me!" I shouted.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to go that far," Tails replied innocently. "I just wanted to give you a little surprise, that's all."
"That still wasn't funny..."
"Hey, I said I was sorry! Don't be that mad!"
Tails had changed over the years. Unlike his younger self, Tails had become a lot more sociable and frisky than he used to be, much like Sonic. But he's still kind and caring, and, of course, has his intelligence as always. He's even gotten taller and much cuter than he used to be, too (...wait, did I really just say that?!).
"So Cream, I was wondering - are you free tonight?" Tails asked.
"Why? Are you planning on some sort of special event?" I asked back.
"No, not really. But I thought we could spend some time together? You know, with just the two of us."
I blushed and my cheeks flared red a little. Tails has never asked me out on anything before. This was the first time he's said something like this.
Does he really like me that much? I asked myself. We've been friends for a long time now, but does he actually have feelings for me as well?
I shrugged and said, "Sure, I guess I have the time. But why all of a sudden?"
"Well, it's been a long time since I did anything new and fun lately," Tails explained somewhat timidly. "So I thought that I could hang out with someone. I mean, I'd rather be with someone than be alone."
Tails was very coy when he talked. He sounded so adorable that I wanted to tease him a little. So I reached for his hand and clutched it tightly. That made his face bright red.
Miles "Tails" Prower - March 20, 2036
My heart started beating fast and I blushed hard when Cream grabbed my hand.
"Cream...could you...let go?" I requested politely.
"No way! This is what you get for startling me!" Cream giggled. "Besides, you didn't seemed embarrassed when you hugged me from behind."
Sure, what she just said was true, but I only did that as a small joke.
I tried to tug my hand away from Cream's. But she had such a tight grip that I eventually gave up and let Cream hold my hand.
Wow… I guess I learned my lesson today… I thought to myself. Oh well, at least no one's around us.
All of sudden, Cream's hand became cold. Surprisingly cold. It was about 70 degrees outside, so it shouldn't be possible for anyone to drop their body temperature at a drastic rate. I glanced at our hands and noticed something odd. There was a lowercase "r" written in red on the back of Cream's hand. Why didn't I see that earlier?
"Cream, what's with the writing on your glove?" I questioned.
"What writing? " Cream looked back at me as if she didn't know what I was talking about.
"The letter on your hand. I'm talking about that."
"Tails, are you trying to make me let go of you? Cause I'm not going to until we get to school."
"Cream, just look at the back of your hand for a second."
Cream released my hand and examined her own. When she saw that "r" she looked quite surprised.
"Huh? I didn't write this!" She proclaimed.
"You didn't? Then why is it there?"
"I don't know! I don't remember ever writing this on my glove!"
"Calm down, Cream! It's nothing to be agitated about!"
I try to mollify Cream, but then I saw something disturbing on the palm of my left hand: it had become wet with some kind of dark red fluid. It was as if blood had splattered on my hand (I wasn't actually sure if there was any blood in my palm, though. But I could feel its wetness, so what else could it be?).
What the hell?! When did MY hand become red?!
"Yeah right, I'll be calm!" Cream shouted. "Tails, some creep could've done this to me! How I am supposed to be calm if that's the case?!"
Before Cream could notice my blood-red palm, I form my left hand into a fist and pulled it away from her sight.
"Cream, chill! There is no need to be paranoid!" I assuaged my friend. "Come on, let's just get to the school, and we can try to figure this out later. Okay?"
Although I tried to act like I was undisturbed, even I knew that the situation was weird. Why did Cream's hand turn cold, and why did she writing on it? Why did my hand turn red for no reason?
What the hell is going on?
Vanilla - March 20, 2036
After my daughter ran out the door, I became a little concerned for her. Cream has never overslept, so I worried that she might end up arriving to school late.
"I hope she at least makes it to the building in time," I said to myself. "Schools in this district have become strict towards students these days."
I didn't want to feel too nervous for Cream, so I switched my attention to tidying the house up. Since I haven't cleaned our residence in a while, I decided to freshen up the place before Cream gets back.
Now, I wonder if that vacuum cleaner is going to work properly this time. I thought as I walked to the utility room in the basement. Last time, it kept breaking down every few minutes.
When I got downstairs, I flicked the light switch up. But the ceiling lights didn't come on.
I sighed and asked myself, "For goodness sake, do I need to replace the light bulbs?"
I almost turned back to go upstairs to get some new bulbs and a flashlight, but before I took one step something caught my eye. Although it was dark, my eyes were sharp and I could sometimes see in low-light areas.
At the end of the basement hallway next to the utility room door, I saw a figure sitting down on the floor. I could not tell whether it was a boy or girl, but it appeared to be a child around the age of 12 or 13. Its eyes were completely white; it had no pupil or iris. At least that's what it looked like.
Who... or what is that? How and when did it get into my house, nevermind basement?
Suddenly, the lights flashed on in an instant and brightened up the entire room. I thought that the lights would reveal what the figure was. But instead... it revealed nothing.
Literally, there was nothing in the hallway. No figure, no entity.
"Huh? What happened to that thing at the end?"
At first, I thought that it had escaped into the utility room, but that didn't make sense. Firstly, if that was the case then I would've heard that door open and close, but I didn't hear anything. Secondly, whatever was there was a good distance away from the door, and yet it disappeared in flash. It would be impossible for anything to go faster than light, I should've noticed the thing go in.
"Maybe I'm just losing my marbles," I told myself. "It was probably an illusion or something."
I decided to move on and took out the vacuum cleaner from the utility room. Even though I wanted to forget about it, I kept wondering whether or not what I saw was real. Whatever was at the end of hallway wasn't easily distinguishable, but it was visible and seemingly existent. But when the lights came on, that figure instantaneously disappeared in thin air. It was almost as if I was seeing things that were not actually there. This would mean that I was only seeing a mirage of some sort, and that there was nothing in the basement to begin with. I went along with that theory as it sounded more realistic than apparitions being in my residence.
But what happened next made me change my mind.
When I got to the top step, I was met with a horrible sight: to my left, there was a young hedgehog girl, whose skin was decaying, sitting on the couch. She had dark pink fur with red streaks going down her hair. Her red dress was tattered and ragged. She had completely white eyes, which had no expression or emotion in them. Any parts of her skin that was not rotted was pale, as if she was dead. This girl looked vaguely familiar, but because of her appearance I could not distinguish who she was.
I asked the girl in a frightened manner, "Who...what on earth are you?"
The girl looked at me in the eyes for a few seconds, and then immediately charged at me. The last thing I remember seeing before blacking out was her cold, lifeless eyes.
