Hello everybody! Thanks so much for the all the lovely reviews, I really appreciate every single reader! I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to post something earlier but I've already been so busy with school work so the chapters will have to be a little more spaced out than usual. Anyway, for this chapter, I decided to make it a special one and by that I mean it's written in the 3rd person. Basically this is marking around the halfway mark for the story (it's going to be quite long if I put everything that I want in it!) so consider this the start of the second half of this story.
Please enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review at the bottom of the page! Here you go :D
Chapter Fifteen: Freeing Me
August 3rd, 2013 – 2:28 P.M. – Supreme Court of Mobius
"And how does the jury plead?"
"On the counts of 5 charges of child abduction and detainment against their will, we find the defendant – guilty.
On the count of encouragement of suicide, we find the defendant
– guilty."
"John Rose, I hereby sentence you to imprisonment for life on account of the jury's and my final judgment.
Case closed."
The gavel struck hard against the panel, the ringing still echoing through the dead room. The pale faces of the audience wore dumbfounded expressions, eyes gazing directly in front of them as jaws were parted and cheeks sagged from their exhausted facade. Stillness intensified the already thick tension between the viewers and the parties as the man who was to be incarcerated was lead through the aisle by two prison wardens.
The judge stood tall, though her short stature didn't give her too much height against the raised desk as she walked off into her office to the left side of the courtroom. A few people began to huddle out in pairs as the defence lawyer packed up the files to the case he had just lost. On the right end of the court stood an old, white bird dressed in a gray suit attempting to smile at the group of individuals seated behind the podium but failed miserably as they all looked distant and mentally absent. He picked up his briefcase and left the premises. The court room was close to empty but the people at the front stayed motionless in the same position as when they entered. After a long moment one a pink hedgehog dressed in a black, conservative dress stood and started up the aisle leading outside. The others followed slowly behind, creating a large gap between her and the rest of her party. A single court guard was the last to remain in the room as the doors were shut behind them, leaving behind a heavy air filled with nothing but pure inertia.
A day had passed and everyone was trying to recede back into their usual routines but found it rather difficult to continue as if nothing had ever happened. There wasn't a thought in their heads that wasn't caked in consternation or utter dullness. Some didn't know how to react to the event that had gone on and aimed to disregard its existence but mostly found it an unavoidable memory.
Each household coped differently with the end result. In reality, nothing had changed from the day before; everything was where it should be. Everyone had returned home, all the cars were parked in their respective driveways, the right man was now behind bars for all eternity.
Everything was where it should be...
xXx
A young fuchsia echidna stepped into her familiar bedroom, left exactly how it was when she was a child. Now eighteen, the childish wallpaper and atmosphere were unappealing but memorable. It sparked notes in her head as her brain cranked its gears attempting to find the memories it stored from her childhood. A few were able to be jotted, like a doll she used to be attached to when she was around five years old. It was worn and scuffed but still carried the same scent of crayons, now laced with must, for a piece was lodged inside from an incident that happened when she was less than two feet tall. She smiled at it before resting it against the light pink pillow on the child's bed.
The child that once slept here dreamt of nothing but being happy and loved by those around her; blissfully unaware of the danger that lurked right outside her bedroom walls. Her mood became somber as she recalled the very evening that changed the course of her life.
It was a warm summer night where a daughter was being put to bed by her mother. The girl fussed that she wasn't tired but the yawn protruding from her mouth betrayed her. Her mother only smiled lovingly at her as she tucked her under the pink patterned covers. The child's hair messily encircled her head, resting on the fluffed pillow as she snuggled further into the sheets. The mother kissed her on the forehead and wandered over to the window to shut it.
"No!" shouted the girl in a high-pitched tone that stopped the mother's actions immediately
"What is it dear?" she asked in a calm voice staring at the small delicate bundle whose head peeked out from underneath the blankets.
"It's too warm in here. I want the window open."
The mother hesitated for a moment before closing the window half way, leaving only a crack between the frame and the glass. She wanted to make sure that the space wasn't wide enough to let in an unwanted creature in the house. Satisfied, she walked over to the entrance of the bedroom. She turned back and smiled once more at her daughter before lightly closing the door, leaving the room now completely shadowed, the only light shining in through the window was the waning moon in its third quarter. The girl closed her heavy eyes and fell sound asleep within a matter of minutes.
Butterflies and rainbows weren't what the child would be dreaming of tonight. She would not be a princess floating around a magical dreamland with all the chocolate cake in the world to eat. No, tonight she would play the part of a scared and vulnerable mouse playing hide and seek with a tiger.
The crack in the window lifted at around a quarter to three and allowed a stronger breeze to flow throughout the room and flood it with fear, awakening the small echidna in the bed. Her body shifted under the covers as she tried to adjust to the strange air. It didn't take much time for her to be silenced by a strong hand over her mouth as she was pulled out from the sheets and carried off without a second to spare a thought. Confusion hit her first but then terror struck her to the core as she realized she had no idea what was going on. She was not dreaming but it didn't feel like she was awake either. Nothing was making sense; all she knew was that a strange monster had blinded her and closed off her speech so she could not ask what was going on. She was placed on a soft surface in a horizontal position as she tried to free herself from the ropes that were tight around her wrists and ankles. She was still barefoot, in her pajamas and understood nothing of what was occurring. All she knew was that she was afraid for her life and could hardly comprehend why.
Not a word was spoken by her captor as she began to feel the light rise and fall of the bumpy, unsteady road that lead to their destination. What was she supposed to do now? She could not see through the blindfold on her eyes; she could not scream with her mouth covered, only muffle out whimpers; she couldn't run anywhere with her hands and feet no longer functioning properly. What was she to do, other than just lay there with tears streaming down her innocent face? So that's what she did; stayed quiet and accepted her unknown fate...
The dark pink echidna snapped out of her memory at the sound of her name being called; a name she hadn't heard for a very long time.
"Julie-Su? Are you alright?"
"Yes m-mother... I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You look a bit lost."
"I'm fine."
"Okay, well let me know if you need anything, anything at all."
"Alright."
"*Sigh*"
"Hm? I'm sorry, did you say something, m-mother?"
"What? Oh no, I was just- I'm just still so happy to have you home again. It's still a shock to me everyday to see you standing here in this house."
"But I've been back for months now."
"I know, but a couple of months are nothing compared to the ten years me and your father have been waiting. It's just such a dream come true to have you back in our lives again."
The mother leaned forward and hugged Julie-Su. Julie-Su was surprised at first and didn't respond initially. She was very hesitant with all of her movements; slowly but surely, she paid back the gesture by putting her own arms around the woman she used to call "Mommy". She seemed to have grown old and weary; almost unrecognizable. The only thing that remained was the sparkle of love in her mother's eyes that she remembered instantly the moment she saw her the night she was brought to the police station; the night she was rescued.
The cold and damp pavement didn't even affect her bruised and scratched knees as she held on tightly to her dear friend that had managed to accomplish what they had all dreamt of every since arriving in that nightmare they lived in for a decade and longer. She held on tight, not letting her stop and take a breath for a second. They stayed in that position for a moment before a blue hedgehog who accompanied her friend rushed them all out of the dark and grimy alleyway and into the ghostly street. She was already quite ragged looking in her bare feet and torn up clothing; if you could still call it clothing. Ever since he fled with her and the other two girls, he hadn't been able to keep up withal the necessities out of worry of getting discovered. He scrounged for every bit of food and took shelter in this abandoned apartment building. Julie-Su and the others were forced to sleep in makeshift beds formed out of blankets on top of folded boxes. Life had just gone from terrible to worse and the girls had absolutely no idea why they had to suddenly pack up and leave the cabin for the first time; just that it had something to do with her friend's disappearance. She also recalled a strangely similar occurrence that had happened a few years prior with another friend of hers. A friend who she would never again speak to or see again; except in her dreams. She had had a dream a few nights before they were rescued. It was of this certain door in the apartment basement which wasn't all too appealing to search around for. Her friend had brought her to the door and showed her that she would be saved by this door and this door alone. It had sparked up the hope amongst the girls after so much blatant misery. They gave this slim chance a shot and aimed it right at desire.
Not long after their arrival at the police station where they identified in the missing persons reports and their parents contacted. Julie-Su had captured her parents' expressions, the worry and relief written across their faces, and framed them in a glass case in her mind. One look was all it took for her to break down all over again and cry. One look, seeing her mother's eyes shining as they always did, and it was as if ten years hadn't separated them and she was that little girl again, whose mother adored her and tucked her in that warm summer night. She was Julie-Su again and not some assailant's 'Jewel'.
Julie-Su's mother looked at her face; they were now around the same height. She just looked into her eyes and Julie-Su looked back. She was home.
xXx
This little girl wasn't gone for as long as the others but suffered just as much the trauma. This little girl who once loved going to school and learning about everything she could was not to return to the same world. This fantasy was over; the bubble had burst but at such a young age. This little girl, who had changed epically, was now sitting on the porch of her back yard, her parents gazing at her from the kitchen window, never daring to take their eyes off their precious prize ever again. She stared into the sunny sky and watched as the clouds passed over the trees and neighboring houses. She stared out into the open, something that was left only to her imagination for the last three years of her life. She tried smiling at the beautiful sight but her mind was plagued with heavy emotions at the moment. She focused her attention to the smoke rising from one house's chimney in the distance and it brought her back to that one day that transformed her life; that translated evil into reality.
"Tikal, get out of there! It's time to go!" A mother shouted from a few yards away, scolding her eight year old daughter to get out of the pool. The orange echidna child jumped out seconds later, scattering water droplets as she shook her head to dry off her quills. She ran towards her mother who held out a towel with an extended arm. Little puddles formed under her feet everywhere she went until she dried herself off. Within a few moments, she had changed out of her swim suit and into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Her mother approached her afterward, tapping her foot impatiently against the concrete steps of the sports center's entrance.
"Are you all ready to go? I want to get out of here," the mother was frowning with frustration at her daughter's slowness, her forehead creasing in the center, outlining the wrinkles.
The little girl rushed out of the building ahead of her mother and out into the parking lot, full of excitement and joy, carelessly unaware of any dangers in the world, always relying on her parents to protect her from any harm. Her mother ran out after her, apprehension played across her face in fear for her daughter's life.
"Tikal! How many times do I have to tell you not to run out in the street like that?" she worriedly exclaimed as she grabbed the little girl's hand. Heading in the direction of their car, the child noticed a strange vehicle with the male driver watching her. She thought it odd and pulled closer to her mother until they got in the car.
They drove on down the road for quite some time until they hit a massive traffic jam. The route they had taken was often empty with few cars passing by during rush hour so this came as a surprise to all the regular drivers. Many were popping their heads out of the window to see what lay ahead of them. Further down the line, there was a car that had crashed and was up in flames, the smoke billowing towards the girl and her mother's car. Her mother stepped out of the car to get a better look but forgot to lock the doors as she walked up the lane, as most other drivers were doing. Curious as children usual are, the little echidna stepped out too. Without her mother's knowledge she started down the road through the large cars and searched for her mother's familiar figure. As she weaved her way through many others, she started coughing lightly as smoke wafted through the gaps between cars and into her lungs. When she couldn't find her mother, she decided it would have been best to just wait in the car. The little girl, appearing miniscule next to the adults that surrounded her, made her way back to the familiar blue car but not without noticing the same strange van she saw at the sports center parked behind them, however, the driver was nowhere to be seen. The girl was about to climb back inside the car when a large dominating hand clamped down over her mouth and most of her face. She was pulled backwards and then carried further away from her mother's car. The next thing she knew, she was inside another vehicle, but wasn't able to tell because due to her sudden lack of sight. She tried to scream out for her mother but found her voice had been hushed by a cloth tied over her face so that she wouldn't speak. Her hands were bound behind her back but her legs were free to kick at everything in the vicinity. She fidgeted until she was tired out and began to quiet down. The car started up and drove off somewhere she would forever be unable to identify. It felt as though hours had passed as her eyes became flooded underneath the blindfold. There was no hope for escape at this point. She had been abducted out of her own stupidity for not following her mother's simple guidelines. She had brought this on herself.
"Where is she?" the girl heard an anxious voice from inside the house, that brought her back to reality. She turned her face towards the back door, awaiting whose face would appear behind the screen. A familiar smile shimmered through the tinted doorway before someone stepped outside to greet her.
"Hey there. What're you doing sitting out here all by yourself?" His tone was smooth and full of concern. It didn't seem forced like some other members of her family sounded like. She thought about him and how he must have not received a soul in his lifetime. It angered her to know that she will never get back those three years. Her anger deepened as she thought about how long he kept all the others for.
"Just thinking. Hey, Uncle Knuckles?" She asked, hoping for insight; also as a distraction from her infuriation.
"Yeah?" he responded immediately, totally devoted to quench any thirst for knowledge she had. There was not one thing he wouldn't do for her right now and it was spelled out in his eyes. He stared right at her when she was speaking.
"Do you ever wonder if people really have a soul?" she asked with all innocence preserved in her tone. She had never thought this darkly before. The kind of knowledge she used to go after was historical events not philosophical studies. She was still a child but guessing that after all she'd been through, mindful questions wouldn't sound so strange coming from an eleven year old.
"Um, I think that everyone has one but that some have stronger souls than others. Like you for example," he smiled widely at her which contagiously transferred to her but then disappeared moments later. She thought about what her parents would answer. They would probably avoid the question as they had tiptoed around everything lately. They watched her like a hawk but then avoided asking her anything that had to do with the kidnapping. Not one single question.
The girls stepped hurriedly through the police station with their pink friend at the lead carrying so much determination; she could have led an army into war. She marched up to the front desk and demanded help. She announced their presence and indentified each and every one of them. The entire station fell silent at the `apparition before them. These officers, who worked 'so hard' to find them, were found by the very person who escaped the same fate.
Time passed by slowly as realization sunk in to all of them; the fact that they were out, they were free. No feeling should have felt better; but the little orange echidna girl couldn't help but feel fear emanating from everyone's auras. There was nothing left to fear but she guessed that the emotions still lingered after being present for so long. The biggest relief was when their parents showed up, tears welling in their eyes and immense wafts of overwhelming happiness drifted around the rooms. They called the girls by their names, not by their abhorrent nicknames given to them by him. Tikal. That was all she needed to hear.
"Tikal?" the same voice tugged her back into reality,
"Huh?" She hadn't heard a word due to her vision taking over.
"I've been calling you for a while now. Where did you go?" He asked in a caring attitude. He approached her to get a closer look at her lost expression.
"Uh, nowhere. What was it that you wanted to say?"
"Do you remember Sonic?" he pointed to this new individual who made his way toward me. She recognized him from that day he's found me and from the court the day before. He was with her friend the night they escaped.
"Hey Tikal. It's okay if you don't-"
"I remember," she interrupted. She knew she recognized him but she was way too distracted by other things to think of it clearly. She knew that he must have been on her side though; because he called her by her name. Her real name: Tikal.
xXx
She paced around the halls of this place that seemed so distant yet held so many memories. She stepped into rooms that invoked so many emotions and others that seemed to be forgotten in time. She finally inspected the room that used to be hers. She never thought that she would miss being a nine year old so much. There were things she dreamt of doing but never got the chance to. She missed out on her entire teenaged years and for that, she would never forgive him.
She was walking home from school alone on the street. Her house was only a few blocks away so her father thought that it would be fine; and it was. There were never any dangerous people in the area, only children and their parents. The purple cat child walked on as the cold November winds whipped her face. She entered her house and greeted her weary looking father.
"I'm home, Dad!" she exclaimed with glee. Her smile was meant to brighten his day but instead he only looked up from the newspaper he was reading and then went back to it.
"Alright..." he responded lackadaisically. This made the small cat angry on the inside but she managed to calm herself. She had to understand that her father worked nightshifts to support them; since her mother had passed two years before that, he was the only working parent.
The lilac girl ran up the stairs and locked herself in her room. She kept a diary that she used to write messages to her mother in. She grabbed a pen and opened it up. She read aloud as she wrote.
"Dear Mom,
I miss you every day. I missed you extra today 'cause this girl in the class had her mom come to school with her to teach us about doctor stuff 'cause she's a doctor. It made me sad because she still has her mom with her and I can only talk to you through here. I hope you're able to read this from Heaven!
Dad was a little more tired today than usual, but it's better than yesterday 'cause he actually looked up from what he was reading and yesterday he didn't even hear me."
"Blaze! Get down here!" Her father erupted from downstairs, interrupting her thoughts. Before she got out of her position, she wrote down a few last things.
"I have to go now, Dad's calling me but I'll talk to you later!" She closed the book and rushed out the door, to where her father was standing at the foot of the stairs.
"Blaze, I need you to go buy some milk for the coffee; we're out," he said in a demanding tone. No please, no thank you. Just like usual.
"Fine," Blaze grabbed he jacket and made her way through the windy streets until she reached the grocery store. She easily picked up a carton of milk and was walking home from the shop. She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to pick up a penny that had a head's up. She thought it was going to be a lucky penny that might actually bring her some hope but instead, it only brought dread. When the little cat girl stood up, she was left looking up at a tall red hedgehog. She only had a few moments to quiver and step back, allowing the milk to drop onto the floor; its contents spilling onto the open, empty street. The girl grabbed and carried away. One of her deepest nightmares was coming to life. Someone who longed for order and peace was receiving the exact opposite, chaos and loss of control. All because she wanted to pick up the penny. All because her father had be so lazy and not get milk for himself. She was now whisked away by a stranger who she didn't have the slightest hint on what he would do to her. This drove her anger.
The violet she-cat entered her bedroom that her father had kept exactly the same. She walked over to the edge of her bed and knelt down. Up until now, she hadn't bothered writing to her mother; the thought had never crossed her mind until she remembered the first encounter with him.
She remembered how angry she was at her father when she saw him at the police station. How infuriated she was, even after all these years. She thought she'd gotten over it and forgiven him for letting it happen in the first place but then she saw him at the police station. His eyes lit up upon seeing her, as if she was as important to him as that newspaper that day it happened.
She couldn't believe that they were finally free. Free from that monstrous hell-hole, free to live whatever life they had left. She longed to discover the things she could finally do now that there was no control over her. She wanted to jump up and down with excitement but she was so exhausted and weak that that plan was impossible at the moment. Once they arrived at the police station, she calmed down and really tried to understand what her freedom meant. She thought that the freedom would feel peaceful and relaxing but instead it only made her anxious. There was a thick air about the place as they waited to be properly identified and have their parents called. The lilac cat waited in silence until her father had shown up. When she laid eyes on him, she was taken aback ct first. He had aged so much and now looked a wrinkled mess. She hugged him because it was the easiest thing to do but then she more than desired to slap him in the face for letting her go and giving up on her after her mother had died. She didn't know how to begin this new found freedom; she had nothing left of the past. It would not haunt her and she would move forward.
She was no longer a scared kitten, lost in the street; she was a burning flame full of desires and wants and needs. She would blaze through the world and warn the world of the disasters that occur behind the locked doors at the end of the alleyways. She would be called one thing and one thing alone: Blaze.
xXx
A pink hedgehog sat down in the apartment she had grown so used to; that she now called home. She lived there with the people who she looked up to the most and the ones who she now had established relationships with. The trial was over now, and her captor had been sentenced to life. She should be happy, no, overjoyed about the justice, right? Wrong. There were more thoughts than possible coursing through her mind, a train on fire.
There was no possible way to explain the confusion going in Amy's head. She now sat in her room, loosely feeling the sleepiness of her medication start to take effect. As she drifted off into slumber, she could only think of one thing; how did it come to this?
"Amy? Amy! Where are you!" a worried mother cried out, her eyes darting back and forth, desperately searching for her six year old daughter in the grocery story. She abandoned her shopping cart and ran up and down aisles, her heart racing, until she caught sight of the pink rug-rat hiding behind a pyramid of cans.
"Oh my God, Amy, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Don't you ever, ever do something like that again, do I make myself clear?!" the mother scolded loudly. The little pink child just lowered her head in understanding. Her mother gave her a quick hug and took hold of her hand. She headed towards the cash register and to pay for the things they went there for, although some items from the cart were missing by the time they got back. They waited in line and paid just like everybody else. When they stepped into the parking lot, they headed to the left bringing the shopping cart with them. The young girl's mother was unloading the groceries in the trunk of the car and wasn't able to keep track of her daughter.
It only took a minute. One, single precious minute that ended up being the end of both of them. In that isolated minute, a large man was able to steal a child from her mother's blind spot and eventually rob the last moment this woman would ever see her daughter ever again. And just like that, she was gone...
Eyes opening wide, peering at a blank ceiling that was not the cabin in the woods. Reliving memories was always a tough challenge for sixteen year old Amy. She sat up in her bed, head spinning and mind whirling. Just as she'd forgotten what had happened the day before, she remembered everything. Everything that she once thought was normal or right was now strange and wrong. Everything was backwards as of yesterday.
Yesterday. The first time she was explained who her abductor really was. She had thought it awkward when she learned what the man's name was. His name was John Rose. She asked herself over and over why they would share the same last name. She finally talked to professionals working on the case who told her that very morning that the true reason was because she was never totally an orphan.
For the past five months, Amy had been told that both of her parents were dead. It was all a lie. She had been told that her father had died in a war; a brave death. She had been told that she was too young to remember him. She had been told that he was a good man. There was nothing more wrong with the world than what she had just been told.
"So John Rose is my father?"
"Yes, I'm sorry you are only hearing of this now. I know it must be terribly difficult comprehending this whole mess of a situation. Please try and stay strong; today is the last day of the trial."
With that, the man stood up and left her alone to think it through. She tried playing it out in her head but it just didn't sound right. She started saying her thoughts in the open.
"My own father, whom I don't remember, was the same man who kidnapped and detained me and four other girls over the course of a decade. How is the world supposed to make sense after this?"
She sighed exasperatedly and sat back down on her bed. She hung her head for a good while before looking back up and staring blankly at the while.
It's not.
Case closed.
Lots of drama. Lots and lots of backgrounds as well, I wanted to take a break from just Sonic and Amy's pov so I thought I'd be able to show a little from all the new characters. Please tell me what you thought about it and remember to leave a review! Thank you :D
-DarkRose