20. Antipathy
Cream - April 2, 2036, 8:30 P.M.
It's been five days since I arrived at the hospital. While I wanted to recover and get back out ASAP, at the same time I didn't really want to leave this place. The fear of being stalked upon lingered in me, knowing that, as long as I was alive and the person after me was at large, I would remain a target for murder. It made me feel vulnerable just to be left alone in my hospital room. However, I wasn't gonna let paranoia take over me.
Around evening, the nurse came in to tell me that there were two new visitors here to see me. A grey bat and a red and black armadillo entered, and the former greeted, "Hello again, Miss Cream."
Noticing the silver badge on their vests that had "Station Square Police" inscribed on it, I soon recognize the bat as Officer Rayn, one of the detectives who visited my house when I found my mother's body, but didn't know who the other person was.
"Hello Officer Rayn. Can I help you with anything?" I said.
"Yes, but today I'm here with Mighty, one of my coworkers at the police department." He pointed to his partner. "There's been some developments regarding the cases we're looking into, and we need your cooperation."
"Okay! What can I help you with, sir?" I turned to Officer Mighty.
"Well first off, are you friends with Sonic the Hedgehog?"
I quirked, "I guess you could say that… I mean, I do know him personally. Is something wrong with him?"
Officer Mighty sat down next to me while Officer Rayn stand behind him. "As you can tell, I've been informed about the death of your mother and the attempted murder of you. While I'm not officially part of the investigation for either incidents, I have reason to believe they're both connected to a case that my unit is currently looking into."
I got pretty nervous—it alarmed me when he said that another crime possibly linked to my situation had occurred, especially because Mr. Sonic was apparently involved. I asked, "What is this all about?"
He took out his notepad and flipped through a few pages. "I'm looking into an abduction case in which Sonic's wife and son named Sally and Manik Acorn were kidnapped on the 20th of March. Our sole suspect is reported to be a female pink hedgehog and, according to Sonic himself, looked strikingly similar to a deceased friend of his. Because this description perfectly matches the profile of your assailant that you gave to the Dutres police, we now believe that the suspects in both cases are one and the same."
"Of course, if that turns out to be true, then the same goes for your mother's killer." Officer Rayn added on. "We may be dealing with a potential serial killer and abductor here."
Shocked, I uttered, "A perfect match? Even the part about her looking like a mutual friend that passed away?"
Officer Mighty nodded. Now I was creeped out. This revelation, combined with the fact that Mr. Sonic was a part of this, made the whole situation frighteningly bizarre.
"Did your assailant remind you of a girl named Amy Rose?" Mighty asked, breaking my trance.
"What? Oh, um, yes. Did Mr. Sonic say the same thing about his kidnapper, too?" I retorted.
"He did. But do you know anyone presently living who resembles her in appearance?"
"No sir, I do not."
"What about that peculiar scar on your left hand?" Officer Rayn inquired. "I was informed that it could be a gang sign, but does it remind you of anything that could help identify this girl?"
I shook my head. "I'm still not positive about what it could mean. My only guess is that it's part of someone's name."
"We'll leave it at that for now. It's probably best not to make specific guesses based on conjectures until we have more clues." Officer Mighty stated. "Besides that, can you tell me a little about your friend Amy and how she died?"
"Amy… she was an energetic and cheerful person and could get scary when angered. She also had an obsessive crush on Mr. Sonic. But Mr. Sonic was never interested in her at all and, in fact, that was pretty much the reason why she died—she hung herself after Mr. Sonic did something to break her heart."
He looked surprised and intrigued. "What do you mean by 'something'?"
I shrugged. "I wasn't there when it happened, but Mr. Sonic must have done something awful that left Amy feeling suicidal. I can't imagine what it could have been because Amy was a girl with intense perseverance as she was always trying to win Mr. Sonic over no matter how what he did or said to make her stop. It's almost out of place for her to suddenly give up and take her own life."
"Perhaps our suspect is another one of Amy's friends," Officer Rayn suggested. "Of course it's only speculation, but I'm theorizing that there's someone out there who was very close to Amy that he or she became vengeful towards Sonic upon learning that he made her suicidal. But I don't suppose you know anyone like that, do you?"
I shook my head again. "No, I don't. Sorry, sir."
Officer Rayn's cell phone went off, and he checked to see who it was. "Excuse me for a minute." He said before leaving the room to answer the call.
"Officer Mighty, how is Mr. Sonic? Is he doing fine despite the trouble?" I asked.
"I'm afraid not. This case has been very hard on him mostly because the investigation keeps getting more and more complicated and dangerous." He told me. "Since we started, three people, including him, have been attacked by the culprit. Sonic survived, by the other two have been hospitalized."
Shivers went down my spine. "That's terrible… will they be okay?"
He shook his head woefully. "Unfortunately, their chances of survival are unlikely as they both suffered heavy wounds."
I felt sick to my stomach. Why did innocent people have to be hurt? I thought back to my mom and briefly wondered what her murderer could have accomplished by killing her. Was it all just to make me suffer? Because she was my mother? I repulsed at the thought. It was disgusting that someone would take extra steps just for their own pleasure.
"Out of curiosity, how do you feel about Sonic? You sounded kinda ambiguous when I asked you if about your friendship with him, and even Sonic admitted that it was 'rocky'. Do you still resent him for what he made your friend do?"
I sighed uneasily. "Well, I grow hateful towards Mr. Sonic for a while after Amy died. But… I can't say that I do now. He genuinely felt guilty for making Amy suicidal since he still considered her as a friend, and I know he's never the kind of person who would intentionally hurt his friends. So no, I don't really hate him."
"I see. So while he still think of him amicably, Amy's death still remains a point of contention in your relationship with him."
"It is. But I try not to let it cloud my judgement of him. I'm not one to hold onto grudges."
We heard a loud "clack" from outside the room and turned our heads toward the doorway and saw Officer Rayn's cell phone lying on the floor. "Rayn? You okay?" Officer Mighty called out. "Rayn! You hear me?"
When nobody answered, he sighed lamely and walked outside. "Rayn, are you okay?" He repeated, picking up the phone. "At least make some kind of sound when I—"
A blunt object swiftly struck Officer Mighty across, slamming him down onto the floor and making me jump at the scene. No sooner had he fallen than a figure crept around the corner of the doorway, slowly dragging their footsteps. Her soft, dreadful voice groaned, "Cream… Cream..."
It was her again.
"No… it… it can't be!" I stammered. "It's not possible! You shouldn't be here!"
But there was no mistaking it. No matter how illogical it seemed, I knew that it was her who was in front of me. That pink fur… that red dress… that iconic red hammer that she always carried around with her… there was no way it was somebody else.
"Cream… I can't believe you…" She sluggishly shuffled towards me. "You won't get away, Cream…"
I jolted back away from her and fell from my bed as she got closer. I gasped, "No, stay away from me! Don't come any closer!"
She didn't listen and continue walking in an eerie, crooked manner, all while staring right into me with her cold, dead eyes. Frightened, I panickedly kept backing up until I hit a corner. Once she was right in front of me, she intensely gazed upon me with that same blank and empty look she had before. I cowered but couldn't look away from her.
"Please, don't hurt me! I don't know what you want!" I cried, only to be grabbed by the neck. She tightened her grip and proceeded to me choke me.
"You will suffer as I have…" She growled lowly.
"Ack! Please… I really d-don't know why you're doing th-this!" I tried to kick and break free, but her grasp on me unnaturally strong.
"You side with Sonic? You are nothing but a back stabber…"
"What? No… you were my… friend! You'll always… be my… my…"
I began losing consciousness as she choked the air out of me. My sight darkened gradually until everything went black.
