HOLY CHAOS I AM SO SORRY.
Actually… no I'm not, sorry. *hides behind a brick wall* BEFORE YOU KILL ME READ THE CHAPTER.
Because of the giant wait, comments on reviews will be at the end. Now please put down the guns, clubs, and tomatoes and read the chapter before you do something you regret. See you at the bottom of the page!
*Suggested Listening: "Strangers" by Scratch21*
Sonia's POV:
You know, if there's one thing I miss from living down South, it's the winter climate. There you don't have piles of slushy snow that gets in your shoes and makes you want to scream. There you don't have to wear seven layers of clothes just to make sure you won't freeze to death. There you don't have to shovel annoying piles of snow into larger piles of snow just so you can drive away. There you don't have to worry about thick sheets of ice on the road that are almost impossible to see and make you slid off the road into one of the previously mentioned snow banks. I could go on, and on, and on, and on… but you probably don't want to listen to my rant on the horrid parts of winter. Which is most of it. This season is horrible.
Manic didn't seem to agree with my opinions.
"Come on, winter ain't that bad," said Manic casually, smirking. Hmpf. How was he able to stay warm with only his hoodie and a pair of gloves? It was twenty degrees!
In the time since we had left Station Square last October, Manic and I had made very little progress towards finding Maurice. We had meant to start out for our old house that we had lived in before it got destroyed, but we couldn't seem to stop getting delayed. At first, the van kept breaking down and we had to keep getting new parts to help fix it, but little things like the heater work whenever they feel like working, which is almost never. Then when we passed through Westopolis, I began finding out the hard way just how many enemies Manic had made in the last six years. Long story short, we're lucky to be alive.
It was the middle of December now, and according to the map we had acquired at a truck stop, we were about two hundred miles away from the site where our house should've been- if we could navigate to it through all this chaos-cursed snow.
That constant awkward silence that had chased us since Station Square pounced into view again. Spotting a fast food place, I pulled the van to a halt and unbuckled. "Well, you're on lunch duty today."
"Any requests?"
"Nothing with meat."
"Consider it done, princess."
Manic hopped out of the van, slamming the door behind him. I wandered into the back and sat down on my bunk, almost immediately becoming enveloped in my thoughts, which were too scrambled to make much sense of. I opened up my luggage and pulled out a large, thick purple notebook and dark pink glitter pen. Uncle Chuck gave it to me for my fourteenth birthday. I had used it for drawing fashion designs in the past, but I didn't feel like clothes today. Maybe if I wrote all my feelings down, I might actually get a grip on my life. Heard that works.
I pulled out my pen and turned to a clean page. How did most people start these things? "Dear Diary"?
Chaos, no. Not writing that in a million years.
So I started with the date.
December 13
I really need to get a hold on my life. I'm in a junky van with a very, very, annoyed (and annoying) brother who is out buying lunch (he's actually not so bad of a cook when he isn't trying out something weird, like putting grape jelly on cereal. Yeah, he did that once).
Ugh… You know, I really miss Manic. My Manic. The one that used to prank everyone in Southtown just to make me smile. He always seemed to get me out of the crowds who were yelling 'freak' and plaster a smile on my face with some corny joke that shouldn't have been funny, but was.
And now… Every time I think I'm pulling him out of his shell, he'll say some random comment that throws me off guard, then he locks himself away again. It's pretty obvious that he doesn't trust me at all.
Which is very, very, very, annoying.
I mean, come on! I'm sitting over here driving six hours a day, and he just sits there staring out the window ninety percent of the time, always tapping those drumsticks on everything in sight, always moving. I can't tell if he's just daydreaming or what, but whatever it is, something feels off about it.
He and I have been fighting a lot since we started our search. Mostly it's been over really small, stupid things, like where we should go to eat, but that keeps escalating until it turns into a full shouting match. It's at times like these I think of Manic as one huge pain, and he seems to think the same way about me. That scares me. A lot.
Don't get wrong, he's still as funny and bombastic as I remember, but I can tell that he is holding most of that back, minus the occasional snarky comment (which doesn't count, anyway). In fact, he seems to be holding a lot back. It was weird- almost every time we do get to talking about something besides road directions (and don't start fighting over something dumb), Manic will tell me something that he really shouldn't have known about, like how I had taken three years of piano lessons- something I only begun doing after he ran away. And when I asked how he could possibly have known that, he kind of froze up for a second, then told me that he is really good at guessing. Okay, I'll buy that he's a good guesser, but no one's that good! He's hiding something. (WAIT- has he been going through my stuff or something and gathering information about me? He'd better not be! And if he is, I am going to kill him… Note To Self: question Manic about it, but be subtle so he won't think I'm trying to interrogate him.)
Come to think of it, maybe I've been a little too hard on him… but I just can't help it! I'm still angry that he left me all alone! If I get over that, maybe things will go smoother.
Maybe.
Why does life have to be so confusing?
Without really knowing what else to write, I signed my name at the bottom… then crossed it out. I really had no idea how to do this "diary" thing… but I think I liked it.
I was putting away my notebook when Manic came back, holding a white paper bag from a fast-food restaurant. With one hand he pulled out a cheeseburger wrapped in foil, and with the other, a salad in a plastic box.
"Catch!" he said suddenly, tossing me the salad. I caught it with one hand and climbed back into the front.
"Thanks," I cracked open the lid and dug in. Manic did the same with his burger, and I stopped for a moment to watch him eat. It had been so long since I had last eaten meat, I had almost forgotten what it tasted like at all, but the hanging scent of dead animal flesh burned my nose and reminded me all too strongly of Uncle Chuck's favorite recipe. And the reason why I went vegetarian in the first place.
"So…" I started. "How was… um… buying the food?" Wow, that was smooth.
Manic looked up from his burger and kind of stared at me for a minute in disbelief. He gulped his food and his eyes bored into mine. Chaos, this was weird. It felt like he was staring into my soul or-
"You're probing me, aren't you?" he asked suspiciously.
"I am not!" Dang it.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Probing. Verb. The act of seeking to uncover information about someone or something. Stop it."
I went silent for a second. "Okay, fine. I was just trying to talk to you."
Manic stared at me again for a moment and raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, he jerked his finger towards the window.
"Hey, look Sonia! A squirrel! Look at the squirrel!" he shouted.
I crossed my arms. "So what? He's just getting a coffee, big deal."
"No, he's going in to hold up the convenience store."
"... You have a strange imagination, Manic."
Abruptly, Manic went silent and continued to eat his cheeseburger. Great.
About five minutes later, I heard gunshots.
Manic pumped his fist. "Called it!"
Nevermind, then. "Okay, how in Chaos did you know that?"
"Um… I just... did."
"That's not an explanation!"
"I'm a good guesser!"
"You're hiding something!"
Manic went back to eating his burger as if I didn't exist.
I facepalmed. "See, see? This is what I have to deal with! You don't tell me anything, and it's driving me crazy! If you would just tell me what's going on-"
"You're probing again!"
"Errrg! Manic, I… I…" Suddenly, I felt woozy. Oh no.
I felt myself slump over and hit the dashboard of the car, and my vision went black.
XXX
Ten-year-old Sofia yawned awake and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. The fight between Uncle Charlie and Matthews last night was awful and had made her feel sick to her stomach. She had hardly been able to sleep with the echoes of their shouting ringing in her ears.
The sunshine streaming through her and Matthews's bedroom window was unusually bright this morning. Someone had left the window open- and taken off the bug screen. Was this another one of Matthews's tricks? Uncle Charlie wasn't going to like this.
Sofia climbed out of bed and ambled sleepily over to her closet, absentmindedly picking out a plain red and white t-shirt and jean skirt. Matthews was still in bed, burrowed in his blankets. She decided not to wake him; she could already tell that he didn't want to be disturbed.
As she combed her quills into two braids, Sofia felt an odd, sinking feeling in her gut. Probably just left over from last night's fight. But no matter how she tried, she couldn't shake off the notion that something was wrong.
Breakfast was silent as usual. Uncle Charlie read the newspaper while Sofia poured herself a bowl of cereal. Each bite she took made the awful feeling grow still larger.
"Where's your brother?" asked Charlie, his gruff voice slightly muffled by the paper.
"In bed, I think."
"Go tell him to wake up, or you'll be late for school."
Sofia finished her breakfast and walked upstairs, careful to skip over the wobbly step. She knocked softly on the bedroom door, but with no answer, she walked in herself. Just as she had thought, Matthews was still asleep- or pretending, anyway.
"Matthews, wake up. We'll be late for school!" Sofia expected him to mumble something about wanting five more minutes, but not a peep came from the bundle of blankets.
Sofia sighed and pulled back the covers. '"Matthews, come on. Get u-" She froze; beneath the thinning quilt was only two pillows and a note addressed to her. Frantically, she ripped it open, her horror increasing with every word.
Sonia
I cant take this no more. Uncle Chuck HATES ME, and I hate him. Im leaving. I dont know where. Please dont look for me. Im sorry. I love you.
Manic
P.S.- I.O.U. ten dollers.
She almost didn't hear the thump as she tumbled to the floor; in the back of her mind, she knew the fall had hurt, but the pain was almost insignificant.
This had to be a mistake; Matthews couldn't be gone.
Manic couldn't be gone.
Like a bolt of lighting, she jumped to her feet, rocketing down the stairs and out the door, ignoring her uncle's questions. On the way outside she tripped, skinning her bare knees, but Sofia hardly noticed.
"Matthews! Matthews!" she cried, running all over the junkyard, turning over every old tire and even checking inside the busted red Camaro that had been dropped off at the junkyard two weeks before. "Matthews!"
Uncle Charlie ran outside. "Sofia, what in tarnation are you doing? Where's Matthews?"
She whipped around to face him, her cheeks streaked with tears. She wanted to scream, to cry like a baby, but no sound escaped her throat. All she could make out was a squeaky gasp. "He's gone."
"What are you going on about?"
"Manic IS GONE!"
XXX
"Sonia…? Sonia! Oh, sweet Chaos… Please don't be dead!"
I felt Manic shaking me hard and let out a groan. My head hurt. "Manic… please stop."
He let go, breathing heavily. I opened my eyes and sat up. "Ugh…" I rubbed my eyes and turned to Manic; he looked like he had seen a ghost. "Did I miss anything?"
"Good grief, Sonia! Don't do that!" Manic's face was an odd shade of grayish white, his features edged with terror.
"It's fine, Manic. Really."
"I thought you were dead!"
"Calm down."
"Okay, my bad! 'Scuse me for being a little upset that I thought my sister had kicked the bucket!"
I stopped. Part of me was frustrated; my head was throbbing, and I really didn't want to dwell on the vision. Couldn't he just let it go? That part of me felt like lashing out and telling Manic to mind his own stinking business. I didn't enjoy these episodes any more than he did.
But the other part of me stopped myself- Manic had been terrified, if his reaction was any indication. He genuinely thought I was dead, even if it was just for a minute or two. So he didn't hate me completely. That was… comforting, I suppose.
"Let's just get driving, okay?" I said, my voice calming down somewhat. "That guy who's robbing the store will be done any minute now."
Manic looked like he wanted to say something else, but it looked like he decided against it, finishing his burger and staring out the window, refusing to face me. Even without looking at him, I could tell that he was still shaken.
"Look…" I started, a little unsure of what to say. "This sort of thing happens all the time. Don't worry about it."
"What are you talking about? We've been living together for two months and this has never happened. Trust me, I'd remember."
"Well… I'll admit, it usually doesn't happen during the day like this. Not often, anyway."
"Huh?" Manic finally turned to look at me, confused. Something changed in his eyes; that feeling of him staring into my soul was back. He blinked and shook his head, and the feeling was gone. This was getting way too weird for my taste.
Manic must've noticed my alarmed expression. He attempted a grin, but it didn't seem very wholehearted.
"I get it," he said, a little too knowingly. "It hurts, right? The headaches?"
I nodded slowly. Okay, so it's true that I've had couple of migraines now and then. He's probably just really observative.
Manic continued to stare, and that strange sensation of being mentally intruded was back.
"You don't sleep too good, do you?" he said, more of a statement than a question. "Those dreams are pretty vivid. And-"
"How are you doing this?" I asked, almost shouting.
Manic didn't look at me for another two hours after that.
XXX
Over a week passed. We had nailed down our destination, our old house, and had almost arrived. We had stopped off in the small town we remembered visiting as toddlers, although most of it had changed beyond recognition.
"I'm telling you, the lake was to the left!" Manic pointed at the sheet of ice that seemed to be a lot smaller than I remembered.
"Manic, the lake was at Uncle Chuck's. We were deeper in the forest."
"Well, Miss 'Wiser-Than-Thou', how do you propose we get to our 'house'?"
I shivered in the cold and squinted into the distance, thinking. "Maybe we should wait until the snow lightens up a little bit…"
"Fine." Manic crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, whipping out his drumsticks and tapping absentmindedly on his lap.
As we drove farther from the town and deeper into the forest, I glanced to my right.
You know those scenes in those movies where an adult is in their childhood home and have flashbacks of when they were little? Well, I had one of those- but not as happy and full of laughter. It was more of running through trees and screaming as killer bees try and shoot me to death.
I shook my head and focused back on the road. Don't think about the negatives… find a positive!
I'm at my childhood neighborhood where my parents were murdered.
And where I discovered my love of fashion!
And where Maurice was separated from our family, supposedly dead.
Okay, something else… I'm with my brother, who I thought I may never see again!
Who is also a thief.
And a gangster.
And a liar.
Okay, no more of that, me.
Manic snapped me back into the present with a sudden, "Hey, look! The lake is frozen over! Do you think we can go ice skating?"
"Do you know how to ice skate?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Then why would you recommend it?"
"Because I believe that I'm destined to be a magnificent figure skater. Watch and be amazed at my natural abilities on ice!" Manic opened the door of the car and hopped out. I rolled my eyes, but grabbed my winter coat and followed. I watched him jump onto the ice, slipping and sliding like crazy but somehow managing to keep his balance.
"S-see? Nothing to it!" He grinned cockily, taking short, wobbly strokes across the frozen lake. I was still skeptical.
But it did look like fun…
Tentatively, I stepped onto the ice, almost immediately falling. It took a while for me to get used to the slippery surface, but I was beginning to get the hang of it. Maybe skating was harder when you wore actual skates. Soon, I was gliding around with ease, reveling in the astounded and rather envious gaze of my brother.
"Okay, there's no way you could have just picked up skating this fast. How'd you do it?" he demanded.
I smiled. "Just naturally gifted, I guess."
"Show off."
I glided past him, grinning smugly. "Jealous, brother dear?"
His features broke into a smile. "Not at all."
The rest of our afternoon was spent skating, and even though I hate to admit it… I was having a lot of fun. We mostly stayed on the edges of the river at first, but eventually made our way out near the middle. That was our big mistake.
Manic was right in the center, waving his arms around wildly in a failing attempt not to fall. I watched a little farther off, growing more and more amused at his struggle to maintain balance. I didn't have to wait long before he fell- again. It seemed to hurt his pride a little when I started laughing.
"Go ahead, laugh all you want. See if I care." he grumbled, but I could tell that he thought this was pretty funny too.
"H-here," I said, still shaking with laughter. "Let me show you." I skated over to where he had fallen and extended a hand to help him up when I suddenly felt an overwhelming bout of intuition. I looked down at where I was standing and felt my heart skip a beat.
"Manic." I said slowly. "Don't move."
"What? Why…" He looked up at me for a second and his eyes widened. "Oh. Oh crap."
Below us, the thin ice was cracking fast. And not just little hairline cracks, either- huge ones. The kind you fall through.
"What do we do?" said Manic quickly and quietly, as if he were afraid that the slightest noise might trigger the ice into breaking.
"I don't know! Why are you asking me?"
"Because you're the smart one!"
"Why do I have to be the smart one?"
"Because I'm not!"
"Well, you're gonna have to be, because I- Manic!"
Almost before I could react, the thin sheet of ice gave out, Manic falling into the freezing waters below. His head went under for three terrifying seconds, but quickly bobbed back up again. I plunged my arms into the water and grabbed Manic, lifting him up. He gasped and sputtered, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. In my mind, I ran through all the information I had about cold weather. Vaguely, I remembered an emergency preparedness class that briefly covered winter safety.
"Manic, stop breathing." I ordered.
It seemed at first that he didn't hear me, so repeated myself, but louder. Needless to say, he was… surprised.
"Have you lost your mind?"
"You're just gonna have to trust me! Take a deep breath and don't let it out until we're above the water!"
"Wha-" he sputtered in disbelief. "You're gonna drop me?"
"No, I'm going down with you!"
Manic opened his mouth to protest when, just as I had predicted, the ice below me broke, sending us both back into the water. I saw him quickly suck in a breath and did the same right before my head went under.
The initial shock nearly knocked the wind from my lungs, but I managed to keep my breath. I could feel us sinking and for once, I regretted wearing a heavy coat- the waterlogged fabric was dragging me and Manic down. I had three or four other jackets underneath, so I shook off the coat and began swimming upwards towards shore. I kept Manic in my grip, my arm around his waist as we swam as quickly as possible to the edge of the half-frozen ice.
We burst through the surface of the water, gasping for breath. I turned to Manic, whose lips had turned an alarming shade of purplish blue.
"Ok-kay, d-don't p-panic," I tried to say as calmly as possible, even though inside I was screaming.
"Panic? Who's panicking? I'm not panicking! I'm just freezing to death in the icy pits of doo-"
"MANIC!" I took a deep breath, "Just c-c-calm d-down! We'll be f-f-fine if we st-stay c-calm."
"Easy for you to say!"
"Calm. Down! Because when you freak out, I want to freak out, and that is the last thing we want to do! So calm down and just trust me!"
Manic opened his mouth as if to argue, but closed it and simply nodded his head, if a bit reluctantly. I paddled over to the ice and put my arms up on the edge. As carefully as possible, I lifted my upper body up onto the ice and began to kick upward. Manic was to my left, trying to copy me. I finally was up and out of the water enough to roll onto the ice. I continued rolling for about ten feet before hesitantly standing up. The ice held.
"M-manic, tr-try to get onto-to the ice, th-then r-r-roll towards m-me!" I shouted. He didn't reply, but the look on his face was enough to tell me that he was petrified- or maybe he was just so cold by now that he had frozen. I crawled a little closer towards the edge, careful to stay away from the weak spots. Up close, I could see his arms and hands were shaking, and I had a feeling it wasn't all because of the water temperature.
"M-m-manic, p-please… calm d-down." I said, trying to be as gentle as possible while keeping my shivering under control. "I c-c-can h-help y-you."
"How, S-s-sonia?" he demanded, his voice desperate and shaky from cold. "How c-c-can you p-possibly h-h-help me?"
"Just d-d-do as I s-say, okay? You'll b-b-b-be just f-f-fine! I pr-promise!"
Manic narrowed his eyes and stared at me for a moment, and that feeling of intrusion came over me. He sighed.
"... What do I d-do?"
"All right, if you c-can, try to li-lift yourself onto the top of the ice, on your-your stomach." Slowly, he did as I instructed. I could see him struggling and wanted to help him, but was afraid that I might slip or be pulled down back into the water. One of his hands reached behind him for a moment, then emerged with a black switchblade. He flicked out the blade and stabbed it into the ice, using it as an anchor. I began scooting farther back towards shore to give him room. "Okay, now r-roll over to me. Go slow!"
Soon, both of us made it off the ice and back onto the snow. I felt tired and dizzy and very, very cold. Neither of us really felt like talking; I wasn't even sure if I had the strength for that anymore.
We ambled back to the van in silence. I turned on the car and cranked up the heat, but all that blew out was air cold enough to turn our soaking clothes into popsicles. Quickly, I shut it off and cursed as loudly as I could, something I almost never did. Manic raised an eyebrow.
"W-w-we… are g-going… to freeze." I whispered, hardly able to hear myself. I slumped down to the floor and tucked my head between my knees, trying in vain to get warm. Behind me, I could hear Manic shuffling around, but I couldn't bring myself to care.
Soon I felt a tap on my shoulder; I looked up. Manic was grinning half-heartedly, still shivering but in dry clothes.
"G-get ch-ch-changed. I-I've g-got a-a-an id-d-dea." His blue eyes shone bright with mischief… or was that just how he looked when he was happy? I got up and changed into dry clothes as quickly as I could manage, although I was shaking so much it was almost impossible to put anything on right.
Manic had climbed into the front seat behind the driver's wheel. I sat down on the bed, not really caring at the moment whether or not he had a driver's license.
"S-s-so… wh-what d-d-do w-w-we d-do?" I shivered and pulled a blanket around me. It was warm, but not warm enough. It felt like my insides had frozen solid.
Manic didn't answer me but started the car. I stared out the window, watching the trees blur away into buildings. Soon, we were back in town. Manic parked the car and came into the back.
"C-come on," he said, his voice still wavering. Reluctantly, I followed him out of the van, my blanket still wrapped tightly around me.
Manic led us down to a convenience store and I thought we might go inside, but instead we walked around to the back. He searched around for a minute, brightening when he saw a trash can.
"P-perfect!" he said. "Th-this'll w-w-work gr-great."
"Wh-what w-w-will?"
Manic felt around in his jacket for something and his face fell. He mumbled something incoherent and turned around back to the store, muttering something about being right back. I didn't care. About three minutes later he returned with a cigarette lighter, two small towels, and two water bottles in hand. I knew he didn't have any money on him.
Without a word, he scouted around the back of the store until he found a stack of old, ratty newspapers. He ripped off a few pages and crumpled them into balls, tossing them in a stack on the ground. Once he had made about six or seven newspaper wads, he carried them over to the trash can and opened the lid. One by one, he tucked each ball into a corner of the can and overtop the rubbish, then lit it all aflame with the cigarette lighter. Soon, the contents of the trash can were burning, sending a wave of warm heat over me like a hot bath. I scooted in closer to the flames and tucked my knees up to my chest to conserve heat, not caring how bad the fire smelled, just that for once this winter, I felt truly warm.
We sat in amiable silence for I don't know how long, soaking up the heat like a sponge. Soon, I noticed that I had stopped shivering.
"Here," said Manic, tossing me a water bottle wrapped in a towel. It was warm to the touch.
"Press it against your neck and chest. That way, you won't get frostbite," he said. I did, and it felt heavenly.
My hands which had once been bright red from the cold, had warmed up and returned to their normal coloring and weren't quite as stiff and painful anymore. Manic's lips were no longer blue, and while I had once felt disinterested, I now felt a little more alert.
"Hey," I said. Manic looked up. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." He went back to staring at the fire.
"How'd… how'd you know what to do?"
"Let's just say that I've been in a lot of weird situations and I've learned to take care of myself."
I paused. "Like…?"
"I've been thrown in the river once or twice. Plus I've been homeless since I was ten, so learning how to not get hypothermia was kind of a priority."
Manic said this with hardly any emotion, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to be a homeless teenager. Part of me was upset at that… but the other part was curious.
"... What was it like?" I asked tentatively.
"What was what like?"
"You know…" I had no idea how to say this tactfully. "Being… by yourself. Having to fend for yourself all that time."
Manic didn't talk for a minute, an unreadable expression on his face. I thought for a second that he might not have heard me, then he sighed.
"It was… hard." he said. "Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad, being homeless. I never had to worry about paying rent to anyone, and my buddies in the gang were always willing to help me out if I got in a tight spot, but…" He trailed off, lost for words.
A moment of silence passed. I decided to break it. "Is that… is that why you started… y'know… stealing?"
He nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. I mean, it was steal or starve, right?"
"I guess."
Slowly but surely, I think I was beginning to understand him a little more. "Listen…" I started. "I don't like it that you steal, but… I think I get why."
"Why do you think?" he asked skeptically.
"Well… You didn't really know how else to not die. And I suppose you've always had a knack for robbing people blind." I smiled slightly, "Remember that time in third grade when you took Bobby's yo-yo from his pocket?"
"Chaos, that was a good day! Or it would have been, if he hadn't beaten me up afterwards."
"He was so mad… but it was really funny watching him squirm." I giggled at the memory.
Manic grinned back at me. He hesitated then gently asked, "How about you? Where'd you learn how to escape from a frozen lake?"
"A book."
"I'm serious."
"So am I. I loved the library. It practically became a second home after you…" I trailed off and looked away. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"
Manic looked a little embarrassed and uncomfortable. "I… I thought you'd be mad at me, and try and stop me."
"Well… I think I probably would have tried to stop you-"
"See?"
"-but did it ever cross your mind that I might have wanted to go with you?"
Manic froze in place. He blinked a few times before asking, "... Why?"
"Well…" I rubbed my hands together and brought them closer to the flames. "Because you're my brother. We're triplets, Manic- er, twins at the moment. I wanted to stay with you. After Maurice… I guess I always thought we'd be the three musketeers or something."
Manic grinned, "All for one, and one for all?"
"Exactly."
We fell silent again, rubbing our hands close to the fire.
"Hey, sis?" said Manic.
"Yeah?"
"What… what do you think Maurice has been up to all these years?"
I frowned slightly and tried to think back to when we were kids. "Well, maybe he's a runner. He always did love to run."
"Yeah, that was annoying, trying to keep up with him. I had so many asthma attacks back then."
"Say, what ever happened to your asthma?" I asked. I had noticed that didn't seem to have as much trouble breathing like he used to.
"Grew out of it, I guess. Or just got used to all the smog."
"That makes sense."
"What else did we like to do again? I remember the cherry suckers Dad brought home from the post office every day. Those were good."
"Ugh, I hated them. Lemon is so much better. ...Hey, remember how we used to play in the forest? I was the princess and you were my knights in shining armor!"
"And hide and seek! I loved that game. But Maurice would always avoid us and run from hiding spot to hiding spot. Which totally counted as cheating, by the way."
"Remember Mom's bread? Arg, the smell of it baking… that was just heaven."
"Do you have the recipe?"
"No, I think it burned in the fire."
"Dang it… Remember story time every night?"
"Uh, duh. Dad's voice for the little elf was always my favorite."
Manic pinched his nose and began to talk in a high, squeaky voice, "Hello, Sonia! I'm Cookie the Elf!"
"Manic!" I said, half stern and half laughing.
"What? You said you liked it!"
"Oh, brother…"
"Yes?"
"Would you quit doing that?"
He laughed and fell silent again. I smiled and stared into the flames. It was really nice to relive old memories- good memories. Back when there was no pain, no loss, and with the whole family. Mom, Dad, Maurice, Manic and me- and Uncle Chuck, on holidays. Just fun, love and-
The image of small yellow fox with two tails suddenly popped into my mind. He looked to be in a horrible state of health with bruises, cuts, and abrasions. That image quickly shifted into a snowy day, with an older version of Maurice walking next to the the two-tailed fox, who was now in perfect health. Then it turned into an image of Maurice sitting across from a very official-looking man with bi-colored eyes and a stern expression.
The image shifted one more time, to a much older Maurice sitting around a Christmas tree with eight or nine others who looked like his friends. Their faces were blurry and unclear, and I couldn't hear a words they were saying, but they were laughing and talking… like a happy family.
I blinked and gasped for air, realizing that I had been holding my breath this whole time. I looked up at Manic, who looked a little spooked.
Hesitantly, I looked up at Manic. "Did… did you just see a two-tailed fox?"
"And the creepy guy with blue and brown eyes? Yep." Manic sounded just as freaked out as I felt.
I shuddered, but not from the chill of the wind. Maurice… that was him. We had seen him. He was a lot older than six, obviously- he looked to be around our age. He was out there.
A sense of relief and hope flooded me. "Manic, don't you get it? We felt him!"
"So…?" he asked.
"So, if we felt him this time, we can feel him again! Don't you see? This is our ticket to finding Maurice!"
"You mean the weird sensing thing?"
"Yes! The weird sensing thing! It's perfect!" But just as quickly as the excitement had come, it drained away, replaced by fear and worry.
"But…" I said anxiously. "How were we able to sense him? Were we… were we able to like, read his mind or something? That's impossible. Were my powers able to reach and and form some kind of psychic connection? Oh, Chaos… Manic, do you think this was just a fluke? What if we're never able to sense him again? What if-"
"Sonia." said Manic firmly, interrupting my chain of neurotic rambling. "Breathe."
I took a few deep breaths, forcing myself to calm down.
"That's better," he said. "You… you really don't need to stress about this. This wasn't a fluke."
"How do you know that? This could've just been a one-time thing! I know that I can't read minds. That's not how my powers work! Past and future, sure, but memories? No! So how did we-"
"Because I can!"
I stopped, turning to look at him. "Come again?"
Manic looked like he was going to be sick. With a great effort, he forced out the words.
"I can…" He gulped and gritted his teeth. "I… can read minds."
Silence.
Very uncomfortable silence.
"... What?"
He nodded, refusing to to look me in the eye. "Yup. I… I don't know exactly how it works. All I know is that I can look at you and almost automatically see stuff like your favorite color, your age, what you're thinking or feeling… everything! Physical touch makes it worse. If I touch someone, I could know really private stuff about them, like their name, their social security number, what meds they're on… you name, I know it. I could frikkin' steal their identity if I wanted to- which I don't."
I narrowed my eyes. "Prove it."
"Prove that I don't want to steal someone's identity? Um-"
"No, that you can read minds!" I said, exasperated. "I'm thinking of a number between one and ten. What number is it?"
He rolled his eyes. "You aren't thinking of any number. You're thinking of pancakes. Happy?"
My jaw dropped. He… was completely right.
In my head, I started to scream.
"See, see?" he said, frustrated. "I knew you'd react like this! I swear, I'm not crazy!... At least, I don't think I am."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I blurted out.
"I just did."
"Before now, genius."
"I…" He trailed off, mumbling something inaudible.
"What?"
Manic looked like he was going to explode, but he finally opened his mouth. "I just didn't trust you, okay?" he said, almost too quiet to hear.
I felt hurt. "What do you mean, you 'didn't trust me'?"
"Whaddaya think I mean? I didn't like you much. You've been kind of a douchebag, honestly. It was pretty uncool of you to force me to leave the city on some wild goose chase to find our used-to-be-dead brother. I was mad at you. Heck, I'm still kinda mad at you. Just… not as much now? I dunno. It's weird."
I put the pieces together in my mind. He knew how I felt when I broke up with Knuckles… and he knew about how that guy was going to hold up a convenience store. And the feeling of intrusion I got whenever he looked at me for too long… it all fit.
"... Are you reading my mind right now?" I asked, backing away slightly.
He hesitated. "No."
"Yes, you are." I tried to figure out how to throw up some mental shields, but had no idea if they were working or not.
"Yes, I am. Gimme a break, sis, I can't help it! This stuff is hard to control!"
All of a sudden, something clicked in my head. "Wait, can you like, read memories?"
Manic scratched his head. "Kind of…? That's pretty difficult. I'd have to focus on you for a couple minutes before I got anything but thoughts and emotions and stuff."
"THAT'S IT!"
Manic almost fell backwards in surprise. "Uh… what's it?"
"This is it! This is how we were able to sense Maurice! Somehow, we were able to like, combine our powers or something and use them to see the memories of Maurice! I don't know how, but- but… Manic, this is huge!"
"Man," said Manic, his features splitting into a grin big enough to match mine. "I haven't seen you this excited about anything since we were eight."
"Can you blame me? We're one step closer to finding our brother. This isn't a blind search anymore!"
Manic smiled knowingly and rubbed his hands closer to the fire. "Merry Christmas, Sonia."
"... Merry Christmas, Manic."
Hey y'all! Okay… so it's been like… three weeks since the last update. I'd like to say I have an excuse, but I can't other then this-Poor Halo has been practically typing this by herself because I sort of don't like this part of the story. It's nothing personal to the characters or even what's going on but after all that excitement I'm finding this REALLY boring. BECAUSE APPARENTLY WE'RE BACK TO BUILDING RELATIONS. Ugh… I'm so sorry, but I am done with Relations at the moment… at least with these guys. The problem with having a story planned is you know how it ends and you love the ending and in order to get to it you have to get through the ENTIRE FREAKING STORY WHICH YOU CANNOT HAVE WITHOUT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
Good news! The plot picks up in a few chapters, so I should be able to push through this boredom block. Hopefully soon. And to try and speed things up, Halo and I are now typing two chapters at once. We'll see if that works out.
Review, please!
And speaking of reviews… Oh boy, this is going to take a while, so bear with me. Scroll through and find your name if need be and skip everyone (I like reading the comments to other people personally because it sometimes gives hints to future plotlines, but since there are so many unanswered reviews, I wouldn't bother this time).
ultimateCCC: Uh… What?
Autumn: I'm glad you like how long this is going to be. Bringing Bernice and Frank back in was very fun for Halo and I. Expect to see them in the future, even if it is only mentioned or a brief appearance. (;
gwencarson126: Aww… Thanks! And I'm doing pretty good. Hope you're doing well too.
StarlightSparks: YAY! AWESOME CHAPTER. Yes, Manic stole Knuckles board. Sonia will be very mad when she finds out… Everytime I see the words '70 chapters' I just gulp and start praying I make it. And I'm glad you're excited, because I'm certainly excited.
Luna Hedgefox: First, the first review hello: HI! NICE TO MEET YOU! Okay now that I'm done with that I can get down to business. Because you left a review on pretty much every chapter, I'm only going to touch on the important points. 1st point: please try not to curse in your future reviews. Thanks. 2nd point: Locke is from the Archie comics and I really liked that character. Locke is also shown in 'Miles from Home' (MFH) and is a little more explained in that story. Highly recommend you read it. 3rd point: Silver and Shadow with Telekenisis… okay, that's a long point. So to dumb it down: I have this little headcanon that Shadow actually has a lot more Chaos abilities then we actually know about: one is similar to Telekinesis, but it isn't as strong as Silver's… if that made sense. Let me know and I'll try and explain better. 4th point: Alex Prower- look at MFH. 5th point: Since when was Robotnik dignified? 6th point: Sonia and Shadow similarities… *starts whistling and twirling fingers in hair* Don't know what you're talking about. 7th point: I mean the really, really, really, really, really, really, IN DETAIL kisses. *throws up* Just- NO. 8th point: Manic and Rouge. Read about it once and thought, eh… it could work. I personally ship Rouge and Knuckles unless Sonia is around. And since I didn't want Manic to be by himself and if you do it correctly Manouge gets very cute, Halo and I decided to do it. 9th point: HOLY CHAOS… that is a long ship rant. I couldn't even read it on my email account because it was cut off! Um… *reads twice and scratches head* I think I understand…? Sorry, shiping is one of those things I'm not super invested in. I don't ship a lot of things REALLY HARD or anything. I think Sonamy and Hiccstrid are really the only two that pop into my mind of those are "set in stone" but other then that… whatever floats your boat (or ship). 10th point: I quote movies and books a lot in my writing so expect some more. 11th point: Sonic is not Sonic's real name. That's clarified in MFH. 12th point: I don't think anyone blames Shadow for blowing up the TV. 13th point: I hate the number 13 and cannot believe I got to that number of points. 14th point: Okay, calm down. Not everyone betrayed Manic… just that one idiot. but yes, I cried too. NO TOUCHING THE MANIAC. 15th point: Get used to that feeling. It happens a lot in this story. 16th point: Sonia has a temper. That is for sure. 17th point: Never mind. You figured out the whole 'Maurice' thing. 18th point: *facepalm* Leave it to me to get it off by ONE number. Ugh… 19th point: You have won the contest for longest response I have had to make to a reviewer. Please don't make me do that again. XD XD XD XD XD XD
MeowthKitty: Yeah… that would have helped the situation A LOT.
SonicBoomFan4000: Tails is 11. Sonic is 16. So similar, but not quite the same. Okay, random comment from me: your review made me very happy. Not sure why, but it just did. So :D :D :D all around to you. I'll look at your stories when I can (if I can… oh boy the time for reading fanfics keeps getting harder and harder to find…) So glad you're enjoying the chapter and hope you continue to enjoy it. YAY HALFWAY POINT!
Quantum27: I LOVE WORLDBUILDING. In fact, I get so caught up in it, I sometimes forget the plot (hence why I still haven't finished an original works…). Religion… Okay, so the only reason I brought it up was because I was super curious about the 'religions' in the fandom. I mean… I don't think they have Christianity or Judaism, but hey! Maybe I'm wrong! So I just came up with my own little… chart, I guess. LOL. I was very similar on my original fanfictions (which are horrid, don't read them. I should really take those down…). Just type and upload. TA-DA! Pre-writing is actually rather fun for me. And very true, Christmas comes every year. Maybe I'll just post it seperately to have a 'Christmas Story'
MazzyBooks: You just sit there and want to strangle them because they LITERALLY ARE STANDING WITHIN FEET OF THE OTHER AND THEY DON'T KNOW IT. Yeah. It is is VERY frustrating.
KyubiMaster9: Who doesn't love Christmas? Don't answer that. Um… HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING AT MY OUTLINE? XD Just kidding. Knuckles doesn't beat Manic up.
FairGamer: I generally update once a week. Sorry! It's taken forever to type this chapter and finish it up.
msyafinas: Dear msyafinas, I love how you started your review! It made me smile! Halo and I are so glad you are enjoying the story and we hope you continue to read and enjoy it. We will definitely continue it. Wonderful to make your acquaintance and hope to see you around!
Gabiola652: Wait hold on a second, I need to clarify something. Three weeks ago, you found Miles from Home and read it. Then you read this story. Now you're on this chapter. My respect. And yes, it will be long. *ducks behind Shadow and peeks around* Woah… that review took an unexpected turn really quick. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME HERE IS YOUR UPDATE.