I hopes this doesn't feel like a filler chapter. I wrote and discarded numerous drafts before finally settling on this one.
24. Trauma
Sonic — April 4, 2036, 7:46 AM
After two agonizing days, I was allowed to see Tails at Empire City Hospital. At first, the staff there wouldn't permit any visitors because of his critical condition but later lifted the restriction once he started recovering earlier this morning.
"We haven't established a conclusive prognosis for him yet, but he is currently stable." The doctor assured me, but I was still on edge as I entered the patient room.
Tails was there lying in bed almost motionless with bandages wrapped around his head and throat. The monitors of the life support system he was hooked up on showed that he was stable, but just the sight of him in that shape made me feel devastated.
I grabbed a seat and softly called out, "Hey Tails." No response came from him. There was only silence, and it was killing me inside.
"Glad to hear that you're doing well, bud. I was seriously worried for you."
His body laid still as the monotonous beeping from the machines droned on in the background.
"Hopefully you'll be out of this hospital soon. The doctor told me that you'll be fine from now on."
He neither moved a muscle nor uttered a word.
"I'm sorry I made you go through this. I should've known better than to get you involved."
His eyes remained shut.
"If there's anything I can do for you, you can tell me."
Still nothing.
"Tails…" I stood up. "You just stay here and be safe. I'll find a way to put an end to this."
I left the building and scrolled through my contacts list on my phone. If my opponent was someone who's supposed to be long dead, I thought, then maybe I can seek help from someone like a psychic. I know it sounds kinda silly, but Amy wouldn't be the first or even second ghost that I've had to go up against. And there's a person I know that I can surely trust in this type of situation — Tikal.
She might not be into the paranormal, but Tikal's a natural when it comes to spirituality and clairvoyance. She's an expert user of the Chaos Emeralds, after all, so she likely knows how to deal with spirits of the past.
It's a good thing Sonia still keeps in touch with her every now and then even after she and Knuckles split. Tikal is Molly's aunt and out (unofficial) sister-in-law, after all. I found Tikal's name on my list and rang up her number.
She answered in half a minute. "Hello? Who is this?"
"Hey Tikal. It's Sonic. Do you have a moment?" There was a tiny gasp on the other end followed by a brief pause.
"O-oh, Sonic! Hi! Is everything alright? I've been hearing some bad news over where you live lately," She puffed amiably.
"I'm, well… I'm not in the best situation right now," I answered.
"I'm so sorry. Is there something I can do for you?"
"There is, actually. Do you think we can meet at my place today?"
There was another pause before I heard Tikal speak to someone in the background. A few moments later, she got back and answered, "Um, okay. But what's this about?"
"I need your help trying to find someone. But, uh, it isn't just some ordinary person, and I think you in particular could be of great assistance. I can't really explain all of it over the phone. Could you just come over? It's very serious." I told her.
"Alright, if you say it is. See you soon." She hung up.
…
I went home and waited for Tikal to come. She arrived twenty minutes later knocking at my front door, and I let her in. We went into the living room where I explained the whole situation — from when Sally and Manik disappeared, to when Tails was attacked — and told her how I came to believe Amy was the culprit.
"Seeing how bizarre everything has turned up so far, I don't have any doubts about it." I concluded. "So that's why I'm turning to you; I thought maybe you could help me reach Amy with some of your spiritual abilities."
Tikal raptly nodded. "I see. It's rare for someone to become a vengeful spirit after they die. The intensity of their hatred and anger would need to be exceptionally high. I find it quite strange in Amy's case, actually."
"Huh? What makes you say that?" I questioned.
"I don't understand what could make her so vindictive. She took her own life out of depression, right?" She explained
I looked down at my fiddling hands. "Yeah… if I wasn't so rough on her that day…"
"But still, Amy was never one to hold grudges against anyone, wouldn't you agree? If she was, then it doesn't make sense to me that she would decide to commit suicide rather than take revenge on you." She continued.
"Well, we might find out exactly why. So what can we do to find her?"
"I can psychically take us back to the time just before Amy died, and from there we can attempt to make contact with her. It might be dangerous given how she is right now, but that's the most direct way."
I started to fidget around with my fingers. "Are we both going to be in this, um, realm together?"
"Yes, but we'll initially be separated. We might be able to find each other eventually, but it's not guaranteed. Don't worry, though, I can back us out at any time if we need to."
I was still uneasy, but I didn't have any better option. "I'm ready. Let's do this."
"Okay. Give me your hand and just relax." Tikal cupped my right and closed her eyes. Within a few seconds, my body felt warm and my vision went blank.
Sonic — ?
I found myself back in the tunnel from the nightmare I had a couple weeks ago. It was just as eerie and dark as before, dimly lit by the hanging lanterns above.
"Tikal? Are you here?" My voice echoed as I glanced around, but she was nowhere in sight. "Looks like I'm alone for the time being like she said I would be."
I ran down the tunnel with dashing speed and reached the end in less than a minute. There was a door and, just like last time, sounds of nature could be heard from the other side of it.
"Can't fool me this time," I opened the door, bracing myself for anything that might take me by surprise.
I entered the front entryway of a house. The place was full of sunlight, making it well-lit unlike the tunnels behind me. It looked familiar, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I started wandering around, trying to figure out where I was, but there wasn't anything I could see that was notable.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" I called, but the house was dead silent; almost peaceful, honestly.
I proceeded up the stairs where it was freezing cold in stark contrast to the first floor. The cold air was apparently spewing out of a room that was slightly ajar. I opened the door wider and peered in, revealing a girl's bedroom. Like everywhere else in the house, it was empty and appeared—
"Aaaaargh!" A loud, deafening noise rang all around me, piercing my eardrums and giving me an instantaneous migraine. My vision also became incredibly blurry, almost making me practically blind. I covered my ears but it wasn't any use; my head felt like it was about to explode any second. Then, in the midst of the ringing, I could just barely hear someone's voice. It wasn't very audible and I couldn't concentrate enough to be certain, but it sounded like a young girl.
"Are you still in denial?" The voice echoed angrily. "Are you still denying it? Denying what happened here?"
The ringing finally stopped after several seconds, allowing me to regain composure. My sight was still blurry but was gradually clearing up. When I looked back up, I noticed the bedroom suddenly was no longer empty. There was a boy and a girl in the center having a conversation. Judging from their body movements and gestures, they seemed to be engaged in a heated argument. Eventually, my eyesight recovered and I could see clearly who they were.
That was when it all came back.
"No… not this again!" Horrified, I backed away. "I didn't… it wasn't…!"
I turned around and tried to run away, but the staircase was gone. Instead, it was replaced with another open doorway showing the same exact bedroom and replaying the same exact memory.
"Stop! It wasn't meant to be like this!" I tried to look away and closed my eyes, but even then I could still see it in my mind. It was mentally being shown over and over against my will. "Stop… stop! Stop! Stop!"
"You stop," That voice was now right in front of me. "You know what you did."
I opened my eyes. It was her once again. No sooner had I gandered at her callous and unemotional face than she latched onto my neck and began strangling me.
"Ack! A-Amy! Please… don't do this anymore!" I tried to pry her hands off of me, but her grip was absurdly strong.
"You know what you did," She repeated coldly. "You know what you did. You know what you did.
You know what you did…"
I felt her grip grow tighter. I was losing my breath and beginning to black out. "I'm… I'm sorry! I really a-am! You know I… I didn't…"
"Sonic! Thank goodness I found you time!" Tikal's voice echoed from elsewhere. "I'm getting us out of here! Hold on!"
Someone from behind me grabbed onto my arm and pulled me away from Amy.
Sonic — April 4, 2036, 8:09 AM
Next thing I knew I was back in my own house kneeling on the floor and breathing for air. I could still feel Amy's hands on my throat as if she had burned them into my skin.
"Are you okay?" Tikal gave her hand and helped me stand up.
"I am, thanks. I thought I was gonna die there." I breathed.
"Well, It's safe now. If I was second too late, you might not be here anymore. Nonetheless, I didn't think Amy's spirit would be this dangerous. It's no wonder she's so hysterical…"
"Huh?"
She shook her head. "Oh, I mean, I should have prepared us better for this session. If I had known better, we could've avoided such a violent confrontation and perhaps talk to Amy."
"So much for that. Though I can't say I didn't expect this to go as planned," I grumbled.
Tikal looked downcast. "I'm really sorry, Sonic. All I did was endanger you and throw you back to a traumatic memory."
"Don't worry about it. What's important to me is that you weren't harmed," I assured her. "The last thing I want is someone getting hurt because of me. That's already happened too many times since all of this started."
"I understand. But… we can try again and go back. We just need to keep our guard up and be more careful, that's all." Tikal seemingly nudged.
"No, it's not necessary. After that, I don't think there's any point in trying to reason with her." I swiftly retorted. "Speaking of which, where were you? What happened on your side?"
"I'm not sure where I was. It was completely dark and silent. The only way I could find you was through telepathy, and even then at the last minute could I barely sense your presence." She told me. She sounded sorta antsy.
"You didn't see anything?"
"Nothing at all."
I sighed. "Okay. That's all needed to know. Thanks for your assistance, Tikal."
"No problem. If you need anything else from me, you're welcome to ask." Afterwards, Tikal said her goodbyes and left.
It doesn't seem like she saw anything of concern, I told myself. What if she did, though? Should I be worried? Maybe it won't matter…
Tikal — April 4, 2036, 8:15 A.M.
I didn't like how I lied to Sonic. But what would he have done to me… to others if I confronted him right then and there? I'm too scared and shocked, I don't even know if I should tell someone else about it privately, at least.
