Chapter 3: The Strange Sounds
Sonic was running laps around his room, trying to burn off some excess energy that he always seemed to have. Time to time he would go wild and jump on his bed before doing a front flip off of his bed, curling up into a small ball in the air before hitting the ground and rolling around for half a lap, then popped up and repeated it all again.
He was already dressed up in his silky blue pajamas. He had been wearing pajamas to bed recently after Tom and Maddie insisted he had to. It was mostly because the quills would stab anyone's hands when they attempted to clear them out of his bed, or general living space. After Tom got about 5 stuck in his hand at one time, it was a no brainer. His teeth had been brushed, and his quills smoothed, but he was so wide awake that getting him to sleep seemed like it was gonna be a challenge.
Sonic was turning 15 in a few days, and despite the move, his adoptive family had promised to hold some sort of celebration, even if it wasn't going to be really big. Having never really celebrated his birthday before, the very thought of it was enough to keep him running around for hours.
Sonic was rolling around in a ball when he heard two pairs of footsteps enter his room. His small blue ears wiggled, and his target was found.
"Come on Sonic that's enough already. I can hear your feet all the way in our own room, go to bed- oof!" Tom stumbled back, barely able to brace himself with Maddie's help as Sonic had launched himself, still curled up in a big blue ball right into Tom's chest.
Tom awkwardly held Sonic, his two arms wrapping around the spikey ball of energy.
"I'm not tired, and you can't make me!" Sonic mumbled. Tom raised an unimpressed brow as the blue ball wiggled in his arms with each word.
"Well sure we can't make you, but it'll certainly be for the best. While running makes you seem fast, sleeping makes tomorrow come by faster than you could know," Maddie whispered to the energized ball.
After a long still moment, Sonic unwrapped himself, raising his head to look up at Maddie and Tom.
"Tomorrow will be fun, I could tell all my friends at school about this cool new house!"
"Good, then sleep." Tom rolled his eyes and carried Sonic over to the bed, but before he could put the blue hedgehog down Ozzy came bounding into the room and leaped onto the bed. Without hesitation the big dog laid right in the center of the bed, looking at Sonic in challenge.
"Oh yeah big guy, as if!" Sonic jumped out of Tom's arms and onto Ozzy, playfully roughhousing with him as Maddie and Tom could only shake their heads.
"Okay okay listen, how about a deal? Ozzy can sleep in here tonight if you go to sleep?" Tom put on a pained smile. "What do you say?"
"I say, deal! Come on Ozzy," Sonic moved to the head of the bed and pulled up the sheets. With some prompting Ozzy obeyed and allowed Sonic to tuck him in with just his head poking out. Sonic laid down and Ozzy plopped his head on Sonic's chest, officially trapping him for the night. Even Ozzy could only handle so much of Sonic.
"Now, actually sleep." Maddie hummed, turning on Sonic's lamp as Tom turned off the main light in the room.
"No playing," Tom warned. "We can hear you if you get up, and if you get up I won't make a special breakfast tomorrow."
"What are you going to make?" Sonic tried to sit up, but Ozzy angrily huffed and firmly kept his head in place. "Pancakes? Chocolate waffles? Big fluffy eggs? You got to tell me now!"
"It's a surprise, so sleep." Maddie leaned down, kissing Sonic on the forehead. "I hope you have amazing racing dreams."
"I always do," Sonic grinned proudly, nestling back in the bed as Maddie and Tom headed for the door. "Goodnight! I love you!"
"Yes yes, we love you too. Goodnight Sonic," Tom smiled, waving briefly before the two left, the door gently closing behind them with a thud. Sonic closed his eyes, letting a hand rest on Ozzy's back as he dozed off.
…
Sonic slowly opened his eyes, or at least he was sure he did. He opened and closed his eyes several times, but nothing was changing. The only thing he saw was pure black, not a single hint of light. A whimper escaped his throat as he tensed up.
He went to move his hand, hoping to turn on his new nightlight. Maybe it was just on a timer to conserve energy or something. However, when he tried to move his hand it was firmly stuck by his side. Naturally, he tried to move his legs next, but once again he couldn't move them.
Ozzy wasn't on his chest, at least he couldn't feel Ozzy. Instead, it felt like there was a crushing force all around him, squeezing him tight and making it harder to breathe. After several failed attempts to move his legs, he tried to roll up into a ball. He couldn't move a muscle, and no matter what he tried the squeezing around him was only getting worse.
"Let me go!" Sonic yelled into the void. Apparently that triggered something because the darkness took on a yellow light which was growing stronger and stronger, illuminating the dark space. Sonic flinched back at first, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as they slowly adjusted to the new light.
The trees. The trees from the horrifying painting were holding onto him! How he got out of his room he had no clue, but he was trapped. Every kick was met with resistance, every struggle silenced. The branches swayed in the wind, something the hedgehog couldn't feel. What was going on?
His sensitive ears twitched as finally, another sense was used- but it only brought more dread. Growling and whispers coming from just below him.
He looked down and screamed when he saw that he was being held over the pit. Multiple pairs of beady red eyes stared up at him as the inky monstrous hands reached for him, waving in the air as if they could barely just reach him.
The hedgehog squirmed in the cage, trying to get himself free. He would not be a meal for these monsters, whatever they were.
Suddenly, the trees started to lower the cage towards the pit. Sonic's breath became ragged as fear filled his entire being. He struggled more, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. He wanted to get out. He wanted to be with Tom and Maddie. How did he even get here?!
Suddenly, the branches stopped lowering him. He was right on top of the pit now, the claws scratching at the cage, trying to dig in to get to his flesh.
"Stay away from me!" He shrieked.
And then, before he even knew what was happening, the cage suddenly opened, dropping him into the pit.
He screamed at the top of his lungs as the monsters began to tear at him, though he still couldn't feel a thing. The darkness bloomed around him again, swallowing the light until he could see nothing but the blood red eyes of his predators.
Sonic's eyes snapped open, his whole body trembling in fright. He couldn't sit up, Ozzy still laying his head across his chest. Though, apparently Sonic's whimpering seemed to wake up the dog who huffed heavily before sniffing Sonic's face in a curious manner.
Sonic tried to calm his breathing, his eyes drifting around the room. He was in bed, perfectly safe. His nightlight was still on and playing the soothing melody as the cutouts of horses and camels ran around his room.
Sonic let out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes and letting his head rest back against the plush pillow, slowly starting to calm down. Ozzy whined unhappily, licking Sonic's face, making the hedgehog sputter and groan, trying to push him off.
"Stop it, you always do this-BLECH!" Sonic turned his head to the side, tongue stuck out in disgust. As he was scolding Ozzy, the dog had licked inside of his mouth, so gross!
"I care for you but knock it off," Sonic whined. Ozzy, seeming happy with what he had done, moved off of Sonic, his tail wagging. "Ugh... Thanks for the concern at least, no worries big boy- it was just a stupid nightmare."
Ozzy let out a soft grumbly bark in response before laying back down, his head right back on Sonic's chest.
"You big cuddler," Sonic hummed as he settled back down, keeping a hand on Ozzy's back as he idly petted him.
Just as Sonic was starting to fall back asleep Ozzy sat up, growling loudly with his fur standing on end.
"Ozzy, ugh... Go to sleep," Sonic muttered, but when that didn't seem to work the hedgehog regretfully sat up, rubbing his tired eyes. "Ozzy, what is it boy?"
Ozzy refused to cease growling, no matter how much Sonic petted his back and tried to comfort the dog. He was even starting to bare his teeth. It was like when they discovered the window together. Sonic carefully followed Ozzy's gaze, but it was only the air vent. Was the sound upsetting him, or maybe Ozzy thought he was seeing something?
"Ozzy, there is nothing there-" Sonic stopped as his small blue ears twitched. He was hearing something, some very soft, faint whispers.
"Whos' there?" Sonic whimpered out. He was looking around his room, but it was only him and Ozzy. "Show yourself!" He ordered, but still nothing. Fine, he'll look for them. Sonic climbed out of his bed, stretching out his legs for a moment before he started to run around his room at top speed, overturning boxes, opening his bathroom, climbing under his bed as he searched every nook and cranny he could think of.
Sonic huffed, pressing his fists against his hips in irritation when he still couldn't find where the whispers were coming from. His ear twitched again. Did it seem like they were getting louder? He realized then, that the only thing he didn't check, was the vent itself.
Ozzy gruffed angrily and jumped off of the bed, approaching the vent very slowly, as if he was stalking a piece of prey. His growls slowly turned into snarls. If Sonic didn't know any better, he would think that the dog was rabid.
"Ozzy," Sonic firmly called his name. "Leave it alone," he ordered. Ozzy ignored Sonic, refusing to back down. The hedgehog walked over, grabbing Ozzy by his collar as he tried to forcefully pull the dog away. "I said leave it, Ozzy! You're acting weird!"
"Sonic!" Tom yelled as he opened the bedroom door. "I told you not to get back up again!" Sonic nearly jumped out of his quills as he turned to face Tom, looking incredibly guilty despite not really doing anything wrong. Tom looked incredibly irritated with his hair all rumpled like he had just woken up from a nice deep sleep.
"Maddie and I can hear you running all over the place! The floors are old Sonic, they're not quiet and you're not even quiet in the first place!"
"Hey, it's not my fault!" Sonic quickly defended, motioning to Ozzy with both of his hands. "Ozzy won't stop growling so I searched my room, but then he was growling at the air vent! I can't get him to stop and I can hear weird sounds coming from it- like voices and stuff."
Tom crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the entryway. His expression made it clear to Sonic that Tom wasn't believing much of what he was saying until he took a better look at Ozzy. The dog hadn't moved a single inch this entire time, still growling at the vent with such pure hatred.
"It's probably just rats or something." Tom sighed, going up to Ozzy and grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. "And the voices you thought you heard. It's just air. While you're at school tomorrow, we'll have an exterminator come in and check. But for now, I'll bring Ozzy out of here so that he doesn't bother you anymore."
"But he's not bothering me." Sonic shook his head.
"I don't care, you're never gonna get to sleep with him growling like this." Tom countered, pulling onto the dog to get him out. He nodded back to Sonic's bed. "Now, back to bed with you, or you won't get that special breakfast."
Sonic sighed and climbed back into bed. "Fine," he pulled the covers over him, watching as Tom pulled away the only thing that made him feel just a little bit safer. "Goodnight."
