CrusaderTransformer1: Hi everybody.

Everyone: Glare.......

CrusaderTrasformer1: (Gulps and grins nervously) I'm really, really, really sorry to have kept you waiting this long, but I finally got a nice chapter for you here. And I've got someone here to do the disclaimer for me....

Raziel (From the Legacy of Kain): Why am I here?

CrusaderTransformer1: Because I beat the game, a.k.a. I helped you beat your enemies.

Raziel: (Hmph) This insane woman does not own the Sonic companies, nor does she own the companies which made the Bram Stoker's Dracula movie.....which I thought rather good myself....

CrusaderTransformer1: See? Now was that so bad?

Raziel: Shut up.

He found two drunken sailors and attacked in one of his forms, which was a black wolf/hedgehog hybrid. As he killed and drank, he became younger, the silver grey replaced by ebony black and the bright orange of his highlights were replaced by fiery red. The only thing that stayed the same about Shadow was his ruby-colored eyes which changed to blood-red when he killed, and those same eyes pierced the darkness with a predatory gaze as he made his way back to the box, making sure to be seen by no one.

The next night, he killed the rest of the sailors as the ship neared London in a slightly violent rainstorm, making sure that no one would tell the tale of a mysterious force on the ship killing off the sailors a few at a time. As a sailor cried out, his blood was spilled onto the sail as the ship continued on, the black wolf/hedgehog watched the shore on all fours as it came closer, the winds that he had summoned pushed the ship towards its destination. Blood dripped from the creature's mouth as he changed to a complete wolf and the ship all but crashed against the deck as the winds died down. Several sailors that were on the deck came forward to take the ropes that were dangling off the ship, and Shadow took this moment to leap off the ship, his jump taking him over the heads of the startled animals. He raced off into the darkness before they could gather their wits and he raced to the place he knew where a young bat lived. He had seen her both times with Amy and thought that she was quite an attractive white bat, an excellent addition to his brides until he got Amy for himself.

He ran so fast that he almost flew off the ground with his speed and only a horse-drawn carriage and its two passengers saw him, but all they saw was a black blur speeding past them and almost all three thought him was part of their imagination as they didn't see him again that night. Shadow was in Rouge's garden in no time at all with his unearthly speed, going through the bushes and paths until he reached the steps that led into the house. He walked up the stairs to look through the glass doors and to his delight, he found that Rouge's room was there and he could see the white-furred beauty sleeping, dressed in a silk lavender nightgown with a addition robe that was fastened around her neck loosely.

Shadow managed to smirk with his wolf mouth and backed down the stairs, changing back into his hybrid form and he howled a howl that no mortal animal could make, pushing his hypnotizing powers forth through the window to call Rouge from her slumber. He continued to howl as he ran into the maze, looking for a place where he knew they wouldn't be interrupted and thunder crashed overhead as the rain stopped, lightening filling the garden with light.

Rouge's eyelids fluttered open as Shadow howled and she slowly rose from her bed like a zombie, her eyes slightly glazed over as Shadow's powers took her over, her scared mind unable to focus on controlling her body as it rose without her command. Rouge was only able to watch through her own eyes as her hands lifted themselves to her neck and unfastened the cross that she wore all the time, one of those hands slowly dropped it to the bed as her body walked to the doors, which flew open as she neared them. Her body continued to walk while Rouge was trapped in her own mind, trying frantically to break free and control herself again.

Amy had come in almost right after Rouge had 'left', frightened by the howls she had just heard and she hoped Rouge wouldn't think her too childish if she asked her friend if she could spend the night in her room, like they had done so many times in the past when either one was frightened. Amy paused in the doorway, confused to see the doors open and the bed was empty. Amy walked quickly to the bed to see if her eyes were telling her the truth and as she leaned on it to look over it, she found that Rouge was truly gone. Something silver on the bed sheets flashed in the lightening, and she picked it up slowly. As the lightening flashed again, she found that it was Rouge's cross, and she was startled, her eyes widened in disbelief.

*What is this doing here?*Amy thought in shock,*Rouge wears this all the time, it isn't like her to take it off.*

A gush of wind directed her attention to the doors as lightening flashed and thunder boomed, signaling that a storm was brewing outside.

*Oh, I'd better shut these doors,* Amy thought as she hurried to them, *Then I should go find Rouge and give her cross back. I'm sure she didn't leave it on.......*

As Amy reached the doors to close them, lightening flashed again, and Amy could now see Rouge as she walked through the garden towards the maze.

"Rouge? Rouge! ROUGE!" Amy called, trying to get over the noise of the wind and thunder, only to watch as Rouge disappeared into the maze.

Amy then began to run, her rose-colored nightgown blowing in the wind as she ran down the stairs and through the garden, chasing Rouge while trying not to slip and fall.

"Rouge!" Amy called and as she ran, she thought, *Rouge must be sleep-walking again, but she hasn't done that for years now!*

As Rouge's body walked through the maze, it seemed to play around a little, and as Rouge watched herself throw an arm over a nearby statue, her lavender cape sliding over it as she continued her unwilling trek through the maze as she made a turn, the body seeming to know where it was going while Rouge was terrified of what was happening to her.

Amy reached the maze just as Rouge had turned the corner, and the beautiful pink hedgehog paused as she looked worriedly left to right, wondering if Rouge had turned this way or that.

Rouge again tried to stop herself only to find that it was useless against whatever was controlling her as another howl sounded and her body walked up the stone stairs towards the pond that was directly in the middle of the maze, her disobeying hands playing with her cape, lifting it up and allowing the wind to blow it behind her. As Rouge's body made it to the top of the stairs, her head turned on its own and as Rouge could now look at the pond, what she saw made her want to scream and run away.

Some kind of black/red creature that seemed neither wolf or hedgehog sat on the stone bench as lightening flashed again in the sky, the creature's blood-red eyes staring right through her as it let out another howl, and Rouge's body responded, walking towards it while Rouge desperately tried to regain control and get away from whatever this thing was. The creature stood as Rouge's body made it's way across the stepping stones that led to the bench and Rouge nearly fainted as the frightening beast took her by the shoulders with clawed hands, drawing her closer to it.

Amy stood still for a split second before suddenly dashing to the right, finally deciding to run in the maze until she found Rouge, and as she unknowingly took the exact route that Rouge had gone on, her heart pounded in fear for her friend as the sky threatened to downpour on the maze. Amy found the stone stairs and instead of climbing them, she jumped so that she landed on the top and as she turned towards the pond, she froze as she watched the scene in front of her.

Rouge was lying on the stone bench, her arms outstretched above her head and her eyes were closed while she was trembling, either from cold or fear.

The black/red creature that hovered over her made Amy freeze with it's very image as it kissed Rouge, first on the lips and then worked its way down to her chest where the nightgown was ripped so that it showed more cleavage, making the white bat almost bare-chested.

Amy couldn't do anything else but watch as the creature suddenly brought its head back up and moved closer to Rouge's face while the bat turned her head slowly, as though she was being forced from the inside. The creature suddenly growled and lunged forward, its fangs driving into Rouge's neck, making the beautiful bat cry out in pain.

Amy almost screamed as she watched, and she felt as though she was the one getting bitten instead of her friend, whom she was unable to help because of the merciless grip of fear that held her in place.

The creature raised its head again from Rouge's neck while nearly looking in Amy's direction, and Amy was slightly relieved to see that it hadn't killed her as she had feared, but it did leave two awful looking holes in Rouge's neck, which were slowly oozing blood as her friend moaned from the pain. The creature suddenly sniffed the air and let out a growl that was both inhuman and nothing that a normal animal could make while Amy was now paralzed, staring at the black/red creature with wide, frightened emerald eyes. The creature whipped its head in one direction first before looking directly at Amy, and no longer able to take the fright as she looked into the blood red eyes that glared at her, Amy fainted dead away.

Shadow stared coldly at the intruder as she fell limply to the ground and he growled as he left the now unconscious Rouge, intending to finish off this intruder so that he could avoid being reported by this girl. He seriously doubted that anyone would believe her, and some would even put the girl into the nearest insane asylum, but he wasn't about to take any chances. He hadn't lived for so many years by being careless or underestimating the most unlikely of people to bring him down.

As Shadow got closer and preparing to slash his claws across her throat, lightening flashed and showed Amy's face. Shadow's blood-red eyes widened in shock and shame as they changed back into ruby red. The rest of Shadow also changed as he stared at the unconscious pink hedgehog before him, he couldn't help but feel shame for what he had almost did to his intended bride and the now normal-looking black hedgehog stood over her, the black pants he wore his only clothing.

"Amy." He whispered, lowering himself to his knees and he bent over her, pushing back some stray strands of her hair away from her face with two fingers, "My precious love, my life......."

A roll of thunder caught his attention and as he looked up towards the sky, he realized that it was going to rain, and very soon.

*I'd better get these two back inside that house.* Shadow thought calmly as he looked down at Amy once more and as his eyes narrowed in concentration, he transformed into a red-colored fog.

He chose to do that because he could pick up many things at once in this form than any of his other forms, and he picked up Amy gently before going for Rouge, both of them lifted easily as though they weighed nothing as the red fog carried them swiftly and silently through the maze.

As Shadow neared the mansion, he paid careful attention to his surroundings as he carried the two women in the midst of his red fog, going swiftly into the house. He gently laid Rouge on her bed before he laid Amy beside her and then he chose to change back into his hedgehog form. He looked at Amy with the gentlest and the most loving gaze before he walked to Rouge's side, bending over her to whisper in her ear while he used his powers to fix her nightgown, removing any trace that he had been there. The only thing he couldn't remove without surely waking her up was the taste of his blood in her mouth, having her drink it so that she was his, no matter what anyone did. He decided that it didn't matter, she would probably think that she had accidently bitten something in her mouth and made it bleed.

"Sleep sweetly without nightmares of me until dawn, my dear." He whispered, his hand going to her forehead, "Do not remember me, until we meet again."

With that, he gave his newest bride a gentle kiss to ensure that she wouldn't remember him or even have nightmares about him until they met again and as he pulled away, his gaze fixed on Amy, who was twitching and moaning like she was having a horrible nightmare.

"There, there, my darling." Shadow said soothingly to her as he walked to her side, "There's no need to fear me, we were meant to be together."

At his voice, Amy slowly stopped her moaning and twitching, her features relaxing as Shadow smiled, his fangs showing as he was now satsfied as he picked her up bridal style. As Shadow walked out into the hall, following Amy's scent to her room, he felt Amy slightly snuggle up to him as he carried her, and he looked down at her for a moment, relishing the fact that this girl who reminded him so much of his beloved princess was in his arms, where he believed she should be.

*You'll be my Queen of the Night, my sweet Amy.* Shadow thought as he fought back the bloodlust that Rouge's blood had aroused, *Then, we'll be together, for the rest of eternity.*

As Shadow found her room and stepped in, he breathed in deeply of Amy's scent, marking it permanently in his mind and he walked towards the red-sheeted bed, laying Amy gently onto it. As he covered her with a nearby rose-decorated blanket, he looked down lovingly once more at the sleeping beauty before he leaned his head down to hers and gave her a gentle kiss onto her lips. As Shadow kissed her, he felt a slight response in return, and he brought his head up as Amy stirred slowly.

"My........prince." Amy mumbled, slightly smiling in her sleep and Shadow smiled before he left, melting into the darkness of the night.

The next day........

Several workers were hard at work unloading the heavy boxes of 'experimental earth' to where they had been instructed to take all of the, to the Carfax Abbey which happened to be next door to the insane asylum where Mr. Eggman was being held and he was screaming out his bared window at the boxes.

"Master! I await to do your bidding!" Eggman screamed, and the workers paid no attention him as they continued to unload, thinking that he was just another lunatic, "Master, I am here! I have worshiped you!"

Mr. Eggman continued to scream tribute to this 'Master' of his while the workers finished unloading the boxes and they all piled onto the now empty wagon, riding off to another job that they had been assigned to. As soon as the sounds of the wagon were faded away and Mr. Eggman had been dragged from the window as he often was, one box had its top broken off powerfully from the inside. As the pieces of the wooden top fell to the ground, a handsome hedgehog blacker than night and with highlights as red as rubies stood up from the box, his equally ruby-red eyes scanned his new resting place. As he noted where his boxes were, he was pleased to see that they were in good condition and placed in reasonable order.

*Hmmmmm. Good.* Shadow thought as he smirked, *The workers did excellently, perhaps I shall spare them from being my meals. But that's thought for later, right now I must see my new hunting grounds.*

With that thought, he jumped out of his box with ease, landing in front of another box nearby and with one hand, he ripped the top of it cleanly off, the nails still in the wood. Unlike the other boxes, this one contained clothes that he had hand-picked for his new home in London, and he fished out a navy-blue suit, a light-blue shirt with matching tie, a diamond pin, a top hat, his fine black shoes, a pair of dark-blue sunglasses to protect his sensative eyes, and his prized cane with his green Chaos Emerald engraved into the top of it.

As soon as he was dressed and he had looked himself over, he wondered if Amy was within the nearby town and he tried to send his shadow to try to find her. His shadow didn't obey and he looked at it almost angrily when he remembered that his almost unlimited powers were extremely weak by daytime. His shadow was a normal one until night came again, just lying behind him on the ground dully.

*Very well....perhaps I should just walk and observe for now.* Shadow thought to himself and taking his cane in one hand, he walked into London.

As Shadow walked the streets of London, he watched as much as he could around him at the many, many animals and people that were there, making him believe that he and his soon-to-be-bride would be well-fed on blood for a century or two. He smirked as he caught several young women, animal and human alike, staring at him with admiration in their eyes and they always quickly turned away, blushes forming on their faces. Shadow soon just ignored them all, the pink hedgehog in his mind was far more beautiful to him than any in the street that he could see, and his chest burned with renewed love for his future queen as he thought of her and her innocence last night. As he continued to walk through the streets, a flash of a familiar pink color from across the street caught his eye and he stopped, turning to stare.

Amy came into sight from the other side of the street, smiling to herself and wearing a stunning red Victorian dress that was covered in pink roses, along with some that covered the buttons on the front of it and she wore a small top hat on top of her piled up pink hair. She moved with grace that Shadow felt only she could possess and his eyes were only for her as she walked among the people on the other side of the street. Amy suddenly looked in his direction and the smile disappeared from her face, a somewhat troubled look on her face as she saw him. Shadow almost panicked while wondering if she regconized him from the night before and then scolded himself for his foolishness as she looked away again, showing no sign that she knew him at all.

The ruby eyes of Shadow continued to follow Amy as she went through the crowd, striding with a purpose, and Shadow supposed that she was on a errand of some sort, either for her friend or just for herself.

*See me.* He thought, using the full strength of what little telepathic power he had left, *See me now.*

Amy turned her head to look at him again for a brief moment as she walked, showing Shadow that despite the day, he still had some slight influence over her, and then as she turned her lovely emerald eyes away from him, he started to follow her.