Chapter 4

The Blue Blur didn't get any relief from the jumbled up thoughts in his head as another week dragged by. He was getting jumpy and constantly looking behind him, sure he heard footsteps following him, but there was never anyone there. Then there was the whispering. No matter where he went or who he was with, his ears were always perked and twitching towards the quiet conversations that only he seemed to hear. The most he was ever able to make out was his name; never distinct voices or words. At first he thought it was his friends talking about him behind his back for whatever reason, but then it started happening even when he was alone. It troubled Sonic deeply and the more he tried to ignore or rationalize what he was hearing, the more frequently it happened and the louder the whisperings got. Still, he somehow managed to convince himself that he wasn't cracking up and pushed such concerns aside.

However, there was one thing he was finding difficult to ignore. He would sleep all night long with no nightmares or anything else to disturb him but every single morning Sonic would wake up feeling as if he hadn't slept at all. If that wasn't bad enough, he would look in the mirror and be greeted with a scary sight. His eyes were always bloodshot with ever darkening circles underneath. His skin was getting pale and gray and his quills had lost their healthy sheen, becoming matted and dull. The most disturbing thing about this was that even though Sonic could see it was getting worse every morning no matter what he did; neither Tails nor Knuckles showed concern or pointed it out. It was as if they didn't notice, but how could they not!? The worried hero would ask how he looked and his friends would say he looked fine. This baffled him and made him start to question his sanity but Sonic's troubles were about to become much worse.

One morning Sonic rolled out of bed after another dreamless night. He hadn't woke up once during the night but the hero still felt exhausted. He stood in front of his mirror and recoiled at his own reflection. His skin was a horrible, sick, gray with darker blotches while dark black circles and huge bags hung under his red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes. His quills were frizzy, tangled, and looked to be thinning in some places. All in all, it looked like he had just clawed his way out of a grave. Sonic rubbed his eyes and looked again but it was the same. Disturbed, he backed away and ran to the bathroom. Much to his horror, Sonic's appearance remained the same even after a long shower and extensive grooming. As he stared, frightened at his reflection, the whispering began once more. It grew loud and echoey in the bathroom despite, Sonic covering his ears to block it out. Scared out of his mind, Sonic dashed out of his house with no destination. He skidded to a stop to catch his breath and noticed with surprise that he was outside of Miky's house. The whispering had silenced for now and Sonic wanted nothing more than to confide in the kind female raccoon but he then remembered there was a still a certain conversation to be had.

Sonic rapped on her front door, calling out, "Miky, are you home? It's me: Sonic. I need to talk to you." There was silence except for the occasional whisper on the wind. "Miky, please, I really need to talk to you." At last, the rattling of the doorknob turning sounded and the front door creaked open to reveal Miky peeking nervously out at him. She stepped aside so he could enter.

They sat down in the living room as Miky asked, "So… what do you need to talk about?"

"I think you know." The raccoon's cheeks flushed as Sonic continued, "I just want start by saying again that I'm sorry. I didn't want to kiss yo- I mean I didn't mean to- ugh…" Sonic sighed, "What I'm trying to say is, I shouldn't have just grabbed you like that."

"Then why did you?" Miky asked quietly as she stared at the floor, "You really caught me off guard and kind of scared me."

"I know and I don't have an explanation. It's no excuse but for those five seconds, I felt like I just lost control… But Miky…" Sonic cleared his throat and swallowed hard. He could hear that blasted whispering again and it was distracting. The cerulean hedgehog flattened his ears against his head in an attempt to block it out as he continued, "I feel something stronger for you than friendship. I like you. And I guess there was something in me that was tired of waiting."

The red-headed raccoon looked up at Sonic slightly, her cheeks positively glowing as she replied, "I owe you an apology too. It wasn't very mature to be avoiding you all this time. I just didn't know what to think, you know? This sort of thing has never happened to me before. But…" Miky raised her head more to make eye contact with her friend, "I've been thinking about it a lot and trying to figure stuff out and… I like you too."

Sonic smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah… I think I always did but I didn't know it… Feelings can be pretty confusing huh?"

"You're telling me!" Sonic shuffled his feet on the living room carpet with a chuckle, "For most of the time I've known you I couldn't tell if I liked you like that. It was so confusing for the longest time but then it just kind of clicked."

A sharp whistling noise squealed from the kitchen causing Miky to stand, "Oh, that's the water for tea I put on the stove. I'll be right back." She hurried off into the kitchen to silence the wailing kettle as she shouted, "Did you want a cup Sonic? Its peppermint."

"Sure." He called back. There a bit of clattering as Miky gathered up things such as cream and sugar. Sonic stood to pace about the living room, looking at a few pictures on the wall. A couple were taken the day Miky had moved in but the majority were of her and their friends on various adventures. He smiled as he walked along the wall, gazing at the memories when he reached a small, oval shaped mirror with a beautiful wooden frame. It had lovely carvings of roses along the border and was perfectly suited for quickly checking one's appearance.

To Sonic's dismay, he still looked like death had touched him. Without warning the whispering burst into his ears. His hands flew upwards as he winced. It was just like the nightmares he had after falling into Suicide Lake; hundreds of voices whispering together, overlapping and blending. Suddenly feeling dizzy, Sonic stumbled slightly and thrust his hand out at the wall to steady himself. Through his glove he could feel his hand pressing against the cool, smooth glass surface of the mirror. He looked at his reflection, a grimace etched into his features. The image in the mirror was a perfect match of course with the exception of his ragged appearance. "GAH!" gasped Sonic as his eyes went wide and the breath in his lungs came in strangled gulps. It was as if someone had suddenly struck him in the chest and knocked all of the air out of him. The whispering died down and ceased as he stood there, staring at his reflection and gulping air like a fish out of water.

"Sonic are you ok!?" asked Miky as she came out of the kitchen carrying a tea tray and saw him leaning against the mirror. Sonic glanced over his shoulder at her before looking back his reflection. It was utterly normal; he looked like his usual self.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. I just popped my knee and lost my balance for a few seconds. That's all." Replied the blue hedgehog as he slowly removed his hand from the mirror. There was a giant handprint but other than that, the glass was unmarred. "Sorry about that, I can clean it for you if you like."

"No its fine, I'll do it later." Began Miky as she bent to set the tea tray on the coffee table, "Sooo if we both like each other, what do we- OW!" Sonic grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back up right, causing the tray to fall the last few inches and splash cream all over the place. "Hey what's the big idea!? I could have spilled the whole thi-"

"Shhh…" said Sonic as he looked Miky up and down.

"What are you doing? You're really weirding me out." Questioned Miky nervously as his hands slid off her shoulders and down onto the curves of her hips. She tried to pull away but Sonic's grip tightened like a vice. His hands suddenly felt cold too; icy cold.

Sonic began to lean closer to Miky's face while edging her towards the couch as he whispered, "Just be quiet and stop fighting it already."

Miky began to squirm more as the back of her legs touched the arm of her couch, "Ok, you're REALLY making me uncomfortable! Stop, please!" There was a flash of something, something dark, in Sonic's eyes that made her blood freeze in her veins. Her heart was racing and her mind struggled to comprehend what was happening as Sonic shoved her backwards over the arm and onto her couch.

It took him several moments to realize what was happening, to realize what he was seeing. It was dark all around him save for an oval-shaped window of light that was like a peep hole into Miky's living room. He saw Miky fall backwards onto the couch and the look of pure fear on her face. Anger surged up at once as he thought, 'Whoever the hell is messing with Miky is headed for a world of trouble!' He went to jump forward to her rescue but was stopped by an invisible barrier. He banged on it angrily, trying to shatter it, but to no avail. However his anger evaporated into shock and disbelief when he heard Miky cry out.

"SONIC, STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" cried Miky as she tried to get up but Sonic held her down.

"How many times do I have to tell you to be quiet?" growled Sonic, his voice low and menacing. He was right on top of Miky, pinning her to the couch as she squirmed. "I thought you liked me? I thought you'd be lost without me?"

"Sonic please stop, I'm so scared!" whimpered Miky as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Why are you doing this?"

A bone-chilling smirk spread across his face as Sonic chuckled slightly and glanced over his shoulder, "Because he's watching."

Time stood still as he came to a horrible realization. He was on the couch, poised over Miky as if he was hungry beast and she was no more than a piece of prey. Sonic could see his reflection in the little oval mirror hanging on Miky's wall. He could only stare at himself, unable to comprehend what he was doing. "No. No. NOI! Miky, please I don't know what's happening! I don't want to do this!" He could see his reflection raise its right hand and he felt his own arm yanked upward like puppet on a string. But it wasn't Sonic's right hand that went up, it was his left. Sonic gasped as he looked more closely at everything around him and all that he could see in the reflection. Sonic wasn't looking at his reflection; he was the reflection and he was looking out of the mirror into the normal world. "What the hell is happening!?" His hand was forced downward towards Miky's chest. His fingers dug into her shirt and yanked. RIIIPPPP!

"AHHH!" shrieked Miky, as the light green fabric of her tank top tore like tissue paper with one pull from Sonic. Officially at her limit as she screamed, "STOP IT!" A telekinetic pulse exploded from Miky, throwing Sonic across the room and into the wall with the mirror. The mirror and pictures vibrated from the force. He had barely gotten to his feet when she sat up; clutching her chest and what was left of her shirt, "GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Another pulse threw Sonic sideways in front of the door. He opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by another shriek from Miky as she furiously shook her head and sobbed, "JUST GET OUT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" The front door flung open so hard it nearly came off its hinges and before he knew what was happening, Sonic was flying through the air and out the door where he landed roughly several feet down the path. Miky's front door than slammed shut with enough force to send cracks spider webbing across the wood.

Unfazed, Sonic stood, brushed himself off and strolled away, a wicked grin spreading across his face, "I'm going to enjoy this."

It was dark again. There were no windows of light so he had no idea where he was or what was going on. It was better in some ways though because he was still trying to wrap his around what had just happened. "Am I… in a mirror? No. I can't be… that's crazy… But… Miky… I DID NOT do that! Something was controlling me. Something was posing as me." Sonic gasped as he remembered what 'he' had said before going on to traumatize Miky, 'Because HES watching.' His knees suddenly felt weak and he sat down heavily on the ground or whatever was underneath him as it dawned him, "Something, something evil is in my body… and it stuck me in here… wherever here is. It attacked Miky and I couldn't do anything about because I'm stuck in my own reflection…" Sonic winced as he felt a pang in his chest at the thought of Miky's terrified screams and the hate with which she had expelled him from her home. "What is that thing anyway? Where did it come from? Why me?" Much to Sonic's dismay, tears began to sting his eyes and slip down his face. He knew that crying wasn't going to fix anything but he was just so overwhelmed, confused, and scared, he couldn't help the few shuddering sobs that escaped.