CHAPTER 5

WHEN DEATH COMES KNOCKING…

Much later, Shadow, Rouge, and Joseph were sitting at a small round table outside of a café. There didn't appear to be a lot of people sitting near them. Shadow was texting on his cell phone, Rouge was drinking a milkshake and Joseph was eating a huge portion of snacks.

Rouge looked over to Shadow after she took a few sips from her milkshake. "Does Vector know what's going on?"

After Shadow was done texting he put his phone away. "I just told Espio to tell Vector we got caught up in an emergency."

Before Rouge could speak, Joseph had spoke up after she took another bite out of a chocolate cake she was eating.

"Thanks for treating me!" She spoke in a grateful tone. "I was starving!"

The bat woman formed a warm smile. "It's no problem, sweetie."

"You're super nice!" Her eyes then flashed over to the annoyed black hedgehog. "Except this guy. Your boyfriend's not very nice."

Rouge's face turned red from the girl's comment. "Wha? He's not boyfriend!"

The hedgehog slammed his fists down on the table and glared at the little girl. "What! If you didn't dress like a fucking paperboy, I wouldn't have called you a boy!"

The child stared at Rouge's massive cleavage that was clearly visible from her purple top. "It must be nice being pretty…", she spoke in a sad tone. "They're so big."

A deep red blush formed on the white bat's face. "Huh?" She looked down at her breasts in embarrassment from the child's comment.

"How did you get them to get so big?"

With the blush getting deeper and deeper on her face, she barely had any idea how to approach the topic about puberty and growing up. "Well…uh…you'll get some like these some day…when you're older…"

The child's smile faded and her eyes lowered down onto the table.

Shadow and Rouge gave each other confused looks as they noticed the change in the girl's mood.

"I bet it's nice…growing taller, having more freedom, becoming an adult…I'll never get to experience that feeling…"

Rouge gave the girl a sympathetic look. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"The truth is…I'll die before I even make it to being a teen…"

Shadow and Rouge's mouth dropped as they heard her talking about her death.

"…What are you saying?" Shadow had asked.

The girl looked away from the table and looked back at the two. "You wanna know why I ran away from home? It's because I'm too afraid…" She began to explain, "I know this will sound crazy but…I have a weird power."

Shadow and Rouge continued to listen to the girl.

"I have visions…to foresee death…"

Shadow and Rouge remained quiet and gave each other looks that told that the girl was possibly lying to them.

The girl had a feeling that they didn't really believe her story. "You don't believe me and I understand…no one really believes me until it starts happening." She turned and saw an elderly lady attempting to cross the street. "You see that old woman over there?" She spoke softly.

Shadow and Rouge spun around and saw the old woman as well.

"Yeah", Shadow spoke. "What about her?"

She sighed sadly. "She's gonna die…any minute now."

Shadow couldn't believe any of what she was saying. She thought she was lying. "You're full of shit."

Rouge glared at the hedgehog angrily, "Shadow", she growled.

The girl looked away from the old woman and looked down at the table in sadness. "She'll get hit by a car but it won't appear as it seem."

Shadow saw the old woman cross the street and made her way to the other side of the sidewalk. He looked back at Joseph giving her an annoyed look. "Like I thought. You're full of shit. She's fine."

She shook her head slowly without even looking up at Shadow. "Look again."

When Shadow and Rouge looked back, they saw a blue car coming fast around a corner.

Inside of the car were two young teenagers who seemed like they weren't paying attention to where they were driving and hit the old woman without even slamming on the brakes.

Shadow and Rouge stood up from their chairs in shock and saw people starting to crowd over to where the old woman was run over. They saw the two teenagers quickly getting out of their car and looking at the dead old woman in shock.

Rouge couldn't believe that Joseph was telling the truth. "This is impossible…"

Shadow looked back at the girl who had tears streaming from her face.

Joseph shook her head slowly and began to sob softly. "I just want it to stop…"

Suddenly, they both saw Joseph jump out of her chair and began to run away from the two.

"Joseph!" Rouge called but the little girl kept running. "Wait!" She and Shadow both began to run after her.

Joseph didn't get very far. Once she ran into a narrow alley, Shadow had grabbed her by her wrist that prevented her from getting away. She struggled to break free from his grip but it seemed to be no use. "Let go of me! Let me go!" She screamed.

Once Rouge caught up to them, she tried to calm the girl down by hugging her. When she held the child close to her, Shadow let her go and allowed her to be held by Rouge. As she embraced the frightened child, she heard the girl sobbing even more.

"I want it to stop…I just want it to end…"

Rouge rubbed her back and softly hushed her. "It's okay, sweetie. It's okay." She looked up at Shadow and gave him a sympathetic look as she held the frightened girl in her arms.

In The Next Chapter...

Rouge: What are we gonna do, Shad?

Shadow: We have to turn her in...

Joseph: Maybe I'm not strong enough to handle this...

Shadow: What do you mean?

Joseph: I long for death...