Sorry it took so long! I wasn't sure if I was going to continue this story, but now I have a lot of followers, so I decided not to delete it and to actually keep working on it. Again, so sorry!
The next morning, as I lied in my bed, my mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts. What was going to happen today? Could I really be with him again? Maybe it was all a dream, too good to be true. I practically flew out of my bed as two sharp knocks schoed through my room. Was he at my door?
I flung the door open and my mouth turned up into a grand smile that I couldn't hold in. He smiled back at me, looking down nervously at the floor. Then he looked up briefly and flashed his dagger-like teeth. They were surprisingly white, like his gloves. Finally, he said, "So I came here for more than one reason."
"Okay." I urged him to go on.
"Well, the first reason is that you're pretty interesting. I want to get to know you better.
I was doing what I could not to press him any further. "And...?"
"And, the professor asked me to bring this to you." He handed me a note. It read,
Maria,
As you know, Project Shadow began on the thirteenth of August, 1949. We are celebrating the eight-year anniversary of the project today. I know you never had an interest for the experiment, but I'd like you to come to the celebration in support of I, your grandfather. I'm also putting you in charge of making sure Shadow is in the designated location as well. It will be in the South Wing Lobby at ten o'clock antemeridian today.
Sincerely,
Professor Gerald Robotnik
For a moment I just stood there, pretending that the letter was longer than it was. I wasn't honestly sure how to react to that. I didn't really want to go, but it was for Shadow after all. "Your eyes have stopped moving, and your breathing has altered. May I ask what you're thinking?" He cocked his head to the side, curiously watching me.
"Well, it seems your birthday party's today."
Shadow's face showed the slightest of a smile. "Strange."
"Why?"
"I'm sixteen."
"No, you're eight."
"But... biologically..." He just shook his head after a slight pause. "Strange, isn't it?"
"I suppose life is confusing, Shadow."
He looked up. "I don't think it'll always be."
I grew confused. "What happened to our angsty discussion yesterday?"
He sighed. "As well as some rather thick ice, I think we've broken into some new hope."
"Meaning?"
"Hm. I, don't really know how to explain it, but, things seem so much... brighter with a friend." I tried not to laugh at the melancholy touch of his words, so I just put a hand on his shoulder. Something felt... right about the action, so I left it there. Until finally, he severed the mood. "Are you ready to go to my birthday party?" He said it playfully.
"What do you think?" I retorted, letting him look me over as I dropped my arms at my sides. My hair was a mess, and I was in my nightgown.
"Okay, well get ready quickly."
"Alright. You can wait in here. I'll be in the bathroom."
I welcomed him into my room before grabbing some clothes and a towel from a white armiore as Shadow grabbed a book about trees from my bookshelf. I heard the squeak of bed springs as he took a seat and I shut the bathroom door. I smiled as I turned the faucet handle and watched the water poor down. That's when I realized that Shadow was becoming "cute" in my eyes. He was this young little anthropomorphic alien hedgehog, and yet I found a soft spot in my heart for his appearance and personality. "This must be what it's like to get a puppy for Christmas." I joked to myself mentally.
When I stepped back into my bedroom, ready to leave, Shadow was sitting in a pile of book spines and papers. "What have you done?!" I yelled, realizing that he had ripped all of my books to shreds.
"I'm sorry!" He shrieked, "But I-"
"I don't want to hear it!" I screamed, "Leave my room!"
I had heard Shadow talk about pain and misery, but never had I ever seen a look on his face that showed it. For once, I could tell that he was upset. His ears sagged horizontally on his head, and a look of bewilderment swept across his face as he took in my energy. "I didn't-"
"Please! Give me some peace!" I screamed. His skates came on with a click and paper flew everywhere as he dashed out of the room in a fraction of a second. It was the first time I had seen him use his rocket shoes, but fascination was no match for my rage.
I scrambled for all the papers and tried to sort them into different books, but there were so many. I glanced at the clock. Ugh.
9:15. I had to be at Shadow's birthday party in an hour. And as a bonus I had to find him beforehand. I picked up a piece of paper in despair, wondering why he had destroyed my most important possessions. Books were the way I learned about Earth.
Suddenly, I realized that there was a marker on the ground at my feet. A black marker. I picked it up and noticed that it belonged in a drawer near my bed, on the other side of the room. I looked on the floor near it, searching for a piece of paper that Shadow may have drawn on. I found one from my trees book that had the correct marker bleeding through from the other side. I turned it over to find that Shadow had created a picture in the blank space under the title letters. At first I thought it was supposed to be a hammerhead shark, but then I realized that I had seen it in pictures. It was Black Doom, the alien that my grandfather had made a deal with for the DNA to create Shadow. Then I saw that he had drawn a picture of the Black Comet, Black Doom's mother ship. "Why would this provoke Shadow to tear out all of these pages? Why did he draw a picture of his father in my book?"
I had no idea, but I knew there wasn't any time to be thinking about that, because Shadow and I had a party to be attending. I glanced at the clock. 9:20.
I needed to find Shadow, and fast.