Epilogue
The sun had long since conceded the land to the encroaching darkness that had ebbed its way across the small town. The townsfolk locked their doors, drew their shutters and retired to the safety of their cozy beds as the streets were bathed in darkness. Not a soul dared walk the streets that night, the new report of the mutilation of two of their own shock the community to their core. However, as if showing mercy, the cumulonimbus clouds that had drowned the earth in a constant downpour had lifted. The crescent moon shone brightly onto the drenched plants that hungered for more light.
Shadow lay uncomfortably, wrapped up in his blankets. The images of Amy's body plagued his dreams and fueled his nightmares. The eerie rays of the moon crept through the window and wrapped around him like the lanky fingers of an angry phantom. They infected his thoughts. Suddenly, Shadow snapped awake, panting heavily as sweat beaded his forehead and drenched his brow.
His crimson eyes darted around, scanning the area. He could have sworn he had heard something. A knock at the door. He dismissed it, thinking it was just part of the nightmares and fell back down in a heap in a fruitless attempt to get more sleep when it sounded again. There could be no mistaking it, somebody was at the door.
Shadow shot up and leapt off the bed. He quickly threw some grey tracksuit pants over his black boxers and hastened down the stairs in five seconds flat. He grabbed the doorknob and wrenched open the door, the cooling winds greeting him. But there was nobody there.
Shadow furrowed his brow and took a step out, searching the desolate, quiet streets. That's when he saw it. A small, cardboard box left on the doorstep. He leant down and cautiously opened it up. Inside was a phone with a midnight blue case surrounding it.
Shadow felt his heart lurch in his stomach, refusing to beat. He knew exactly who's phone it was. The phone belonged to his best friend, Rouge the Bat. He opened it up hurriedly, knowing her passcode off by heart and searched the phone. All the apps had been deleted and all photos had been cleared except for one video. Shadow felt like throwing up as he played the video.
"Shadow? Shadow, are you watching this? Please, Shadow, you've got to help me. This psycho just grabbed me. Look, I'm so sorry I never told you but you've gotta believe me, I was planning to," Rouge begged before the video ended. She sat in a chair, her wrists and ankles bound by rope. Bruises crept up her arms and fresh cuts blemished her lips. Her black and white hair that she made sure was never unkempt was tangled and disheveled. Before Shadow could comprehend what was happening, the phone rang once. An unfamiliar number.
"Hello?" Shadow answered frantically, panic rising in his voice. "Who is this? Sonic? Is this some sick prank to get back at me?"
"Sorry to disappoint you," a dark voice chuckled on the other line.
"Who is this? What have you done with Rouge?" Shadow demanded.
"Five hours," the voice replied.
"Five hours? What does that mean? Look, if this is about the whole debacle with Sonic, Tails, Amy and Cream you've gotta leave Rouge out of it. She's innocent." No response. "Answer me!" Shadow commanded helplessly.
"Five hours until the sun peaks over the horizon to signal dawn and five hours until the truth is revealed. Five hours to find Rouge or five hours until… Rouge dies!" The call ended.
A/N: And it's finally over. Well, this took longer than expected. What was supposed to be just a short project took up much more time than I expected. Thanks for all the support, it's been unreal. Almost 40 reviews in a 5 chapter story? You guys just blow my mind on how supportive and loving you all are. I had a blast writing this and I hope you all loved reading it. It was just a short idea that I came up with randomly one night and decided to write a short story. Just for some behind the scenes stuff, from the start the original idea I had was that what if somebody had to choose between their fiance and their best friend? The choice might be easy for some, but it's still impossible. Then I decided, what if they both had secrets to hide? Make the choice harder. Then I thought, as the devil's advocate I was, what if the choice was meaningless. The whole premise of the story boiled down to a choice that ultimately was already chosen. Both characters would die no matter what. That was how it began and it grew from there. I decided it would be Sonic choosing between Tails and Amy and that Knuckles was the killer because of Tails and Cream. Shadow was a necessity for AMy's betrayal. Then I planned the flashbacks to further flesh out the characters since I had limitted time to spend with them so I needed to work in the past. It's hard to make characters 3 dimensional when you can only work with a short story and only over a hour time period. I wanted each character to have strengths and flaws like humans. But some people in the end didn't like how the choice turned out to be meaningless. I'm sorry if you didn't, but this story was all about how sometimes you can't win. This epilogue only cements this, and shows that Knuckles has officially gone over the deep end. Poor Rouge...
Either way, I hope you enjoyed this and if you liked this story why not check out my others. Sonic High: Emerald lake or Sontails: War of Faith. One is all about drama and is even darker than this story and the other is a romance that sparked a world war. I also have another murder mystery story Murder on Green Hill Island that is of a similar idea to this. I also have some other stories down the pipeline, one set at colledge and one set in a small american country town but I won't start them for a while but just something to look forward to. Anyway, if you liked it consider favouriting or following this story and myself as an author. And don't forget to Review :P And, as always, have a nice day!