Chapter 8: Switchback Cove

"And now the news. We are greatly saddened to report that Queen Elise III of Soleanna has been found dead in the kingdom's forest. No one knows who comitted the crime, but soldiers are currently investigating the case. Citizens have been paying tributes to the queen as they all realise that soon ... They will need to find a new ruler."

I sat up on the sofa as I did last time, still feeling guilty over what happened. If only I managed to get there sooner... Lifting my legs over, I stared at the brown carpet, clenching my eyes shut and trying to calm my breathing.

I should have saved her... I should have f*cking saved her!

After I remained there for a little longer, I opened my eyes and pulled myself up to my feet, walking over to the smaller hole and kneeling down to peek through. "Let's see how Sonic's doing,"

Just like me, Sonic wasn't taking it very well either. He was pacing around his room, trying to pull himself together. I could hear occasional murmurs of Elise's name and a few metres behind him, was a small hole punctured into the wall. Maybe ... after hearing that news report, my idol remembered everything that happened in 06.

Poor guy...

"Sonic, please calm down. You need to move on with your life."

"Believe me Amy, I want to. But you remember what happened in Soleanna 9 years ago, right?!"

"Yes, I do!"

A female pink hedgehog who looked about twenty-one years old, came into view. She too was saddened at the loss, also remembered what happened in the kingdom. "Hey, why don't we head out somewhere to keep our minds of this. Just you and me..."

Yeah, go on Sonic. It wouldn't hurt going out with Amy for a while now, would it?

It took some convincing but eventually, my idol sighed and gave in. "Fine. But it's not a date, just us hanging out. Alright?"

"Yeah, sure." Amy replied, trying her best to stop herself from squealing. "I'll be waiting in the living room."

All she got was a nod and the pink hedgehog then left the room. Sonic sat down on his bed and took in his surroundings. Suddenly, he looked in my direction and slightly leaned forward. "Hello?"

I just remained silent. I didn't want Sonic to think of me as another crazy stalker, so I slowly backed away from the hole, not knowing that he had walked over to have a look in. "Nope, no one there."

Hearing this, I quickly looked back in, only to see Sonic walking out of his room to join Amy. I smacked my forehead in annoyance, mentally cursing myself for blowing another chance to strike up a conversation. "Damn..."

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be doing this. But, I was only doing it out of concern. If anything happened, I would dart in to prevent it from occurring, only it was a serious issue. Pulling myself up, I grabbed my weapons and went into my bedroom.

Taking a deep breath and without hesitation, I crawled into the hole.

I was awoken by the sound of birds chirping and a soft breeze blowing. With some effort, I managed to pull myself up, intending to find out where I was this time. The location I was in, certainly wasn't Soleanna for sure. Instead it was a snowy forest, draped in a bright white from top to bottom. There were some shades of green peeking through the leaves, but it still looked wintery.

As I took in my surroundings shivering, I noticed that a hunting rifle had mysteriously been left on the ground. Almost like...it was left there for me. "Huh?"

Gingerly picking it up, I checked to see if it was already loaded or needed bullets. Turns out, it was ready to go with ten bullets in the chamber. "Well, seems to be enough. I suppose I'll find more." I muttered.

Just then, I was startled by the sound of animal footsteps. A large gazelle was looking around the snowy land, seemingly happy with itself. Although behind me, I could hear the quiet growling of a feline.

Am I...where I think I am...?

Shaking the thoughts away, I looked at the gazelle and reluctantly aimed my rifle at it. I didn't want to kill the poor animal, but something was telling me that I should. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, the gazelle walked away.

Squeezing my eyes shut and reopening them, I cautiously followed the animal. "I gotta go after it..."

The chase was tiring and exhausting, but it was worth it at the same time. The gazelle eventually stopped in a clearing. Two or three rocks were draped in snow and frost, revealing white sparkles seen from a long distance. I darted up to a medium sized cliff, making sure that I was well hidden from the gazelle's sight.

"Okay..."

Cautiously, I aimed my hunting rifle at the animal. I knew that deep down, a voice would be screaming at me to not shoot, followed by another one which would be telling me to do it. After a four-second silence, I quickly shut my eyes and pulled the trigger.

A deafening gunshot rang out as the gazelle screamed in pain, already sprinting off up a steep hill. I reopened my eyes, darted down the cliff and followed my target in pursuit. "I shouldn't have done that,"

I sprinted up the steep hill, trying my best to keep up. The poor animal then disappeared around a corner and I stopped by throwing my rifle onto the ground, gasping for breath. Just like Elise had done in Crisis City, I clasped my hands onto my knees and mentally cursed myself for shooting the gazelle.

What am I doing...killing an innocent animal like a psychopath...?

It wasn't like me to do such a thing, as I was a huge fan of animals. To be honest, I felt like that my mind was...almost being clouded by a source of possession, like I was being taken over an evil spirit. My suspicions were slowly confirmed when my vision was beginning to turn red, which lead to me clenching my eyes shut and reopening them in an attempt to fight it. A deep-male voice cut me off by whispering in my ear, making three words heard in a loud volume:

"Kill, the animal."

I later picked my rifle and continued on. Walking into another (much larger) clearing, I quickly ducked down behind the nearest log I could find, since the gazelle happened to be standing in the very centre. It's wound was a severe one and left a rather long blood trail on the white snow. As soon as I saw it, I winced as guilt began to overwhelm me. I felt so bad for the poor thing...

Suddenly, a different, but familiar voice rang out in my ear:

"Megan, please don't. He's taking you over, he's forcing you to kill the poor thing!"

Elise... W-W-Why was I hearing her voice?! Isn't she-!

Maybe, I'm going insane, like I was imaging everything that had happened so far. As confused as I was, I responded to her in a fond manner. "I'm sorry, I'm trying not to, believe me..."

But still, who was she talking about?

Shaking the thoughts off, I put my focus back onto what I was currently doing, whilst telling myself to listen to my deceased friend. I instantly slung my hunting rifle over my shoulder and knelt down, frantically digging through my backpack to see if there were any first-aid kits I could use to heal the gazelle's injures. Thankfully, the redness had vanished which meant that I wasn't being possessed anymore. After managing to find a med kit, I cautiously stepped out of my hiding place and walked slowly towards the gazelle. I didn't want to frighten it, but at the same time, I probably did due to what the mysterious possession force did to me.

There's gotta be something I can do to help the poor thing... I absoutley regret shooting it...

Unfortunatley however, the gazelle sprinted off again. I ran after it, fully aware that my feet were furiously yelling at me to stop by severely aching in pain. After sprinting up two other steep hills, I stopped at a cliff which gave a magnificent view of the sapphire blue ocean. Large blocks of ice crowded a small area on the right, along with an enormous green statue of liberty. Noticing that, I immediately recognised the location that I was in.

"Switchback Cove... I remember this place..." I murmured, gazing down at the happy animals that were running around and enjoying their daily lives.

Hey, maybe I should go down there...

Although unfortunately, the growling that I had earlier, began echoing again. Quickly turning round in all directions, I aimed my rifle at wherever this mysterious feline may be, panting in an anxious manner.

Just as I was about to shrug it off and make my way down, I heard a massive roar and found myself being tackled to the ground.

Screaming and thrashing, I struggled to escape, but the feline's grip was too tight. "Argh...! Get off me!"

A set of other voices, probably about nine or ten, began yelling and several animal footsteps began thudding as they increased in volume. The feline's growling also grew louder as I fought so hard to escape. "Urgh...! Let go! ... STOP!"

Eventually, the footsteps and growls stopped, which gave me the chance to see who my attacker was. I found myself staring into the familiar green-hazel eyes of a certain smilodon that I knew very well.

What the...?! They're real too...?!