Chapter Fifteen
"Listen I'm sorry ok, I didn't hear my phone go off Rouge." Shadow said in defence for he didn't hear it.
Shadow was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the countertop, and phone to his ear. When he saw three miss calls from Rouge he decided to call her back just to avoid seeing her tonight.
"You are not yourself lately Shadow, you are behaving differently and I think it's those pills that is doing this. I want you to stop taking them." Rouge seriously said as she spoke on her phone to Shadow.
"What? She's going to take my pills away, she is going to take Maria and dad from me." Shadow thought with a horrified expression.
"No." Shadow growled with aggression, he was not going to allow anyone to take his family away again.
"What do you mean no?" Rouge said back with some anger herself.
"I will not allow anyone to take my family away from me, not even you!" Shadow shouted back then hung up.
Shadow slammed his phone on the side then stormed out of the kitchen to his bedroom.
"I don't care I will not have her take my only piece of happiness away." Shadow grumbled as he walked into his room and slammed the door shut behind him.
He stormed over to his bed and sat on the edge near his pillows and side table. Shadow grabbed his pill pot, opened it and got two pills out. He looked down at them in his palm with a small frown.
"I don't particularly have plans for tomorrow and I don't want to be awake during the day either. I wonder if taking three or four would do no harm?" Shadow muttered to himself then decide to try having three and see what happens.
Shadow tipped the pot out until one more pill landed into his palm. He screwed the lid on, hid the pot under his pillow for he was sure Rouge will come in here and take these away then took the pills dry.
"Right now to get comfy." Shadow whispered with a smile and, not long after he was happy in his position on his side, closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep…
"Come on Shadow it's time to go." Maria's cheerful voice hit Shadow's ears, making him smile.
Shadow opened his eyes and found himself sitting on the sofa and Maria standing in front of him with a huge excited smile. He also clocked he was wearing one of his t-shirts, this one being a dark blue with bold white writing on saying 'keep calm and run fast'.
"Right our nature walk in the woods, awesome. Has dad got the camera ready?" Shadow asked with a grin while he moved to stand up.
"Of course and he is waiting outside for us so let's go." Maria replied happily while taking Shadow's hand and making him walk with her to the front door.
"I wonder what is out there." Shadow said with wonder as they left the cabin and walked up to Gerald standing a little away from the cabin with a Polaroid camera around his neck and a shoulder bag to place the photos in after taking them.
Gerald was also sporting a backpack filled with water bottles, food and a first aid kit for just in case. Shadow and Maria stopped in front of him with excited smiles and both listened to the rules.
"Ok we don't know what is out there so I want you both to not wonder off, stay in my sight, stick to the paths and say when you get thirsty. With that all said let's make tracks." Gerald semi firmly announced then all began to walk toward the path entrance to the woodland area.
"This is so exciting, I've always wanted to take a walk through the woods." Maria brightly said as she walked alongside Shadow and both were a little ahead of Gerald, somewhat leading this expedition.
"Yeah, I wonder if there are any wild animals around." Shadow said back while glancing up at Maria.
"You mean apart from you?" Maria teased with a grin down at Shadow.
"Hey, I happen to be house-trained thank you very much." Shadow replied with a playful smirk on his muzzle.
"And don't forget toilet trained too." Maria said with a giggle.
They both then started to laugh as they all walked further along the path and deeper into the woods...
...Meanwhile...
"Shadow open up!" Rouge called out as she banged her fist on Shadows front door, getting more worried by the second.
It was now just gone eight in the morning and she knew if the hedgehog listened to her, only taking the one pill, then he would be up by now.
"Shadow the hedgehog you better open this door right now or I will pick the damn lock!" Rouge shouted with frustration then waited a minute.
"Hey Rouge!" Sonic called out with a cheerful tone while he approached her.
"Hi Sonic...Right I warned you Shadow, I'm picking the lock and letting myself in!" Rouge greeted Sonic as calmly as she could then shouted once more before getting her special pin from her jean pocket.
"Ok and what is going on?" Sonic asked with a puzzled expression as he watched Rouge do her lock picking magic.
"Shadow is becoming delusional and he won't open the door." Rouge seriously said as he worked.
"Delusional? How so?" Sonic asked with a raised brow.
Sure he noticed Shadow was a little different but he put that down to finally having a good night's rest.
"I called him three times yesterday and he didn't answer. When he finally decided to call me back yesterday evening he made up the excuse he didn't hear his phone. That in itself is strange for he has very sharp hearing. Anyway I confronted him about my concerns, told him he wasn't acting like his usual self. He got defensive when I told him to stop taking those altered sleeping pills and do you know what he said to me?" Rouge explained then glanced at Sonic with a deep unhappy frown, pausing as she waited for him to reply.
"That he needs them to sleep better at night?" Sonic guessed with an unsure look and deeply hoping that was the case.
"Not even close. He damn right refused to stop and told me and I quote, I will not allow anyone to take my family away from me, not even you'. So clearly he is losing himself in his dreams and I am suspecting he is also taking more than one now. I also suspect he took one yesterday during the day too." Rouge seriously said with fear in her eyes.
"Right and that is bad I take it? Don't get me wrong but he hasn't been acting all that different." Sonic questioned as he wasn't sure why Rouge would suspect this.
"Sonic, he is wearing clothes, not wearing his gloves, kind of depressed, more cheerful when it's time to go to bed, and to him taking away those pills means taking away his family. He is clearly dreaming about Maria and Gerald and wants to stay with them which means he is at risk of overdosing on those sleeping pills. Now can you see why this is highly concerning?" Rouge stressed out with more fear then got back to work.
"Then kick the damn door down or smash a window!" Sonic cried out as now he was becoming very scared for Shadow's safety.
... Meanwhile...
"Dad look at this!" Shadow called out as he crouched down and looking at a fat fuzzy green caterpillar crawling across the dirt path they all were sticking to.
"Aw it's so fuzzy, grandpa take a picture of it please." Maria said as she kneeled down next to Shadow with her hands on her knees watching the caterpillar move slowly.
"Alright, ok now say cheese." Gerald chuckled as he moved around the two then stood in front with the camera ready to take the photo of, not only the caterpillar but Shadow and Maria too.
"Cheese." Both Maria and Shadow said while looking up at the camera with huge joyful smiles...
... Meanwhile...
"Shadow, come on Shadow wake up!" Sonic shouted in a panicked voice as he lightly shook Shadow.
"I can't find those pills, he much have hidden them." Rouge growled out in frustration as she kept searching Shadows bedroom.
"I swear if you don't wake up right now then I will never race with you again!" Sonic called out as he lent closer to Shadow's ear but never got a response.
"Shadow don't do this to me, I cannot live without you so please just wake up." Sonic said as he began to cry from not getting any kind of response from Shadow but very light snores.
Rouge growled out in high frustration as the pill pot wasn't in the draws and stopped searching in them. She turned her head and looked at Sonic, seeing tears flow non-stop down his cheeks while looking at Shadow's sleeping form. This made her feel sad at seeing the great Sonic the hedgehog, hero of Mobius, cry his heart out.
"I...I love you Shadow so please, please wake up so I can tell you that." Sonic whispered as he sobbed.
"Sonic." Rouge softly said as she walked over to the blue hero then stopped beside him, placing a gentle hand on Sonic's shoulder.
"We will wake him up, find those pills and take them from him." Rouge said with a sincere tone.
...Meanwhile...
"Let's stop here for lunch." Gerald announced as they came to a small opening that had a couple of logs laying on their side on the ground.
"Ok." Both Shadow and Maria said together then all went over and sat on a log.
Gerald and Maria sat on one and Shadow sat on the other opposite them. Gerald took his backpack off then rummage through it to get the sandwiches, drinks and snacks out. Shadow smiled then looked around the area with a content look about him. Well until he heard a twig snap very close by.
"Dad I think something is coming our way." Shadow said with some concern as he looked at his father.
Then another twig snapped, sounding even more closer. Seconds after that some bushes to their right began to rustle, making them all look at it with caution. The bushes parted and a blue hedgehog, that looked very similar to Shadow, stepped out with a small smile.
"Finally civilisation. Hi sorry to intrude but I was camping out here and got lost a couple of days ago. You don't by any chance know the way out?" The blue hedgehog asked with hope in his green eyes while approaching the ground.
"You've been out here for two days away from your camp? You must be hungry, why don't you join us and after we can help you out of here. You don't mind right grandpa?" Maria said with concern.
Shadow kept his eyes on the hedgehog with curiosity as he had, in his dream live that is, never seen another Mobian hedgehog before.
"Absolutely not, please come have some food and water. I always over pack so there is plenty to go around." Gerald said with a friendly tone.
"Thank you so much, that is very kind of you. My name's is Sonic by the way." Sonic cheerfully said with gratitude in his eyes then sat on the log next to Shadow.
Shadow followed Sonic's movements and was still staring at him in wonder.
"So this is a Mobian hedgehog, he looks kind of nice." Shadow thought with a smile appearing.
"My name is Gerald, this is my granddaughter Maria and staring at you is my son Shadow. Please do not be too offended by his curiosity, he has never seen another Mobian before." Gerald said with some amusement in his voice.
"Hey it's cool and it's nice to meet you all. Besides I have no issues with cute guys looking at me." Sonic said with a grin then winked at Shadow.
"You think I am cute?" Shadow asked with his smile widening.
"Hell yeah and you sound very sexy too." Sonic replied with a flirtatious look at Shadow.
"Really now well you are not bad yourself." Shadow smirked in a flirtatious manner.
"The first Mobian he meets and he flirts with him." Maria said with a giggle.
"Hey I heard that." Shadow shot back while turning his head to look back at Maria, his smirk still there to show her that that comment didn't bother him.
"He can flirt with me all he likes, I am very interested." Sonic said with a purr as he lent closer to Shadow, making Shadow blush lightly.
"And you look so adorable when you blush." Sonic whispered softly to Shadow, making that blush go a shade darker...