Chapter 12:
"The Truth Comes Out"
September 17th, 2014…1:33pm
We got back to the hotel after getting a bite to eat with Pierre, he reminded us that
we shouldn't stay out too long after the wine tour tomorrow as Cassandra will be picking us up after 3ish to bring us to the salon to get our hair and make up done. I was looking forward to it.
We were pretty tired so we went straight to our rooms just to relax for awhile until around dinner time. I felt pretty tired my self and thought I should go close my eyes for a bit. I went to go change into my other set of pjs for the time being, just something more comfortable.
I quickly went to the bathroom and took out my hair clip with was starting to hurt the back of my head a little, it felt good once I toke it out, to let my hair breathe a little before putting it back up into a bun again.
I then went back into the room, closed the curtains to give me some darkness, and then went under the covers of the bed.
I laid there for what seemed like forever, but my mind was filled with what happened today, what I witnessed. I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Its all starting to make sense now. From the ballroom, to the painting, to the 'figure' in the window…
Everything from the dream, was real, like those rooms, and if they were real, then that means…
It all points to one thing…
It really is Jules' grandson…
Sonic…
The Lonely Vampire Prince...
Is he actually real?…
No that can't be true…
…But what if I saw and witnessed back at the castle, at the window, and getting those familiar vibes, then I'm not hallucinating, it really was him.
But even if I'm right, nobody would believe if I told them. 'This trip is honestly becoming more f***ked up every time.'
I sighed. 'You know what, maybe some shut eye would help with this, I am slightly tired anyway, and so is my body.'
I went to the bed, got under the covers and soon enough, I fell into a deep sleep.
I found myself touching something smooth but slightly rough. It felt cold too. I looked to where it was…
The side of my face was resting against something slightly rough. I got up slightly and rubbed off whatever dirt or residue that was on me.
I then looked at where I was…
It was a smooth grey gravel ground.
'Oh no wonder I have dirt on me'
I got up and rubbed of the rest of the dirt and residue off my body. 'There'
I looked around at the scenery around me. 'Now then, where was I? Oh yeah, where the f*** did I end up this time?' I heard the sound of birds chirping in the distance. The air smelt like nothing, the sun was out, it felt slightly warm and somewhat breezy.
Just where am I exactly?
I then saw what was in front of me.
An average sized blue and white castle, that looked oddly familiar.
'Huh, this place looks strangely familiar.' I raised my eyebrows.
I took a few steps forward and looked at it more closely. 'Mhm, now that I'm seeing it awfully looks a lot like…'
Just then, a couple of people came from the front of the place. I was in a bit of a panic but for some odd reason, they didn't notice me. Phew. I couldn't make out who they were though, but as they got closer, they looked familiar, very familiar…
Two hedgehogs, a blue elderly one followed by another blue one, but he was much younger, almost in his late teens probably.
'Wait! Isn't that?…no it couldn't be' But judging the similarities, the clothes and that their both hedgehogs…I knew exactly who I was looking at.
Jules walked out the front doors of the castle, Sonic following behind him. Once they walked out far enough, they then turned around to see the castle in full view.
Jules spread his arms to show him what he meant.
"My present to you is this…"
Sonic, raising his eyebrow in slight confusion, stood there for a moment before coming to realization.
"Y..your home, really?" He stuttered a little bit.
"You know that I'm not going to be here one day right?"
"Yes"
"Well, once I'm not here anymore, there'll be no one here to take care of this place, no one to rule or take charge of it. That's why I'm giving it too you today. Once your old enough, this place will be your's to keep and rule yourself."
"Y..You mean that this is going be mine one day?" He balled his hand into a fist and dragged his arm inward.
"This is the best birthday ever! Thank you grandfather"
Jules smiled at his grandson.
"Anything for my grandson. Now let's head back inside for some cake, it's your favourite."
"Alright!" He dashed back inside the castle.
Jules gave a small sad frown.
'I can't tell him what my condition is, not now, especially not today, it'll crush him.'
He sighed heavily.
"When the time's right he'll understand"
Jules then walked back into his home.
'Oh, my god…so, this was Sonic's other birthday present?' I can't believe Jules would give him such a thing! But it does make sense that he wouldn't be here one day and leave the castle unattended. That was very generous of him to do that…
But sadly, in the end, Sonic got his wish, but got turned into a terrifying twist. Instead of being a ruler himself and taking after his grandfathers legacy, he instead got turned into something even more horrible, something even more depressing then his grandfathers' death…
Just when I said that, something at the bottom of my eyes spotted something in front of me. I looked up to see what it was…
!
Just standing a few feet away was Sonic, this time wearing a red cape, but had his back facing towards me.
"I could've had everything Kristina…the perfect home, the perfect lover, the perfect life…it was right in the palm of my hands. But because of that bloodsucker that bit me, it took everything from me…everything."
Tears were pouring from his eyes…making his eyes slightly glossy.
When he meant everything, that included Amy too…his crush, his love, his supposed to be future partner…but that never happened…he didn't get what he wanted.
"You, were just so happy that day, weren't you?"
"Very…it was honestly the best day of my life"
For odd some reason, I wanted to go hug him, but I didn't know if it was a good idea. But I know for a fact that my mind and heart were telling me to go to him. So I did.
I slowly walked towards him…
Just when I was about to hug him from behind, he turned around fully.
!
He…doesn't look the same the first time I saw him. No claws, no fangs, and his eyes…
Instead of the golden yellow colour I saw, they were now a shiny emerald green.
Sonic, looked like himself here…he looked, mortal. Living, breathing, and still very handsome as ever. But why here though? Can he somehow control his own dreams?
"I know these are only dreams, but this is the only place where I can be and feel at peace, be normal again. These feel so real, and I wish I could just go back to being in that life again…have you ever had dreams that felt so life like that you wish they were real too?"
I nodded as tears wounded up in my eyes. I couldn't help it really, hearing stuff like this, especially from someone like Sonic…its just to hard to hold back the tears.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry too"
My head was down while I rubbed my eyes. "I-It's fine really, it's just I get very emotional for almost everything, guess I didn't tell you that yet huh? Just seeing others like this, makes me feel the same way…but hearing this from you…it feels real to me…but tell me, just how am I suppose to believe that your actually real or not?"
…
I then felt a hand go on my left cheek, rubbing away the tears from my eye.
"You tell me…"
I put my hand where his was touching and squeezed it lightly…
His hand felt warm, strong and masculine despite that he's wearing gloves over his hands. I guess that's his signature look, it suited him well.
I then looked into his eyes fully, his eyes were still brightly shining with now dry tears staining down his eyes, like an actual green emerald itself. They were quite mesmerizing to look at, not realizing that they were putting me in a deep trance.
"I'm sorry for driving you crazy like this, with me popping up almost everywhere, but, every time I see you, I can't help it really, I just get so excited when I see your face. Your so beautiful and innocent. Like she was…"
Thoughts of Amy then flooded his head again, tears almost coming down again.
"I am truly sorry for what you went through Sonic, and still are, really I am" I said
"I know you are"
"And you know what, after everything that's been going on, I think I'm starting to believe that you are actually real"
"You know what else feels real, this…"
Giving me no time to react, he immediately pressed his lips against mine. This time taking me by surprise. But, I simply didn't care anymore at this point, I returned it back. The kiss was unexpected but softly planted.
Tears were still streaming down my face as the kiss got more intense. It lasted more then 5 seconds before pulling back for some air.
We looked at each other for a moment until out foreheads touched.
"Your right, that did feel real…"
!
Everything around me was starting to become blurry once more. "Looks like my time's up almost up." I said.
"It is"
"Before I go, I just want to say this. Whether that your real or not, I do enjoy these encounters with you, a lot"
"Oh, I know that you do, and don't worry, you'll be seeing a lot more of me very soon, starting tomorrow, where I'll explain everything…"
"Wait! What do you mean tomorrow?"
Just then something started pulling me back…pulling me away from Sonic…I was starting to wake up. I was trying to reach out to him but I was already too far to reach within his grasp, it was already too late, my mind went blank and soon enough I woke up completely.
I shifted then sat up.
'What the hell just happened?' I rubbed my eyes, noticing the tears that had fallen down on my face.
'This is new…I've never cried in my sleep before.'
!
I went to go grab my book that was in my backpack on the couch. I looked at it for a moment until flipping to the page/chapter where I left my bookmark at.
I then looked at the title:
'Sonic Maurice the Hedgehog'
…
Oh right, that's, where I Ieft off last…But, still there's no way that he could be…
I turned the page and noticed a picture of him.
"What the?"
It was a little similar to the one back in the castle's throne room, he was sitting crossed legged somewhere in the picture.
I looked at it more closely, only for me to realize…
I closed the book between my fingers.
"No, no, no, I must be tripping out right now."
My heart was beating a little fast. I took a huge breath and opened the book to the page again. I looked at the picture again…
This has to be my imagination talking, there's no way that…he's…
Thoughts suddenly came to mind…
The dreams, the golden eyes in the ally way, the shadow peeking through my window, the huge painting at the castle, the 'figure' at the window at the castle, this book…
!
I looked up with my eyes widened.
2:33pm
Vanessa was in her room on her bed, reading her book when she heard the door knocking.
"Ugh, it was just getting good!" In her head.
She set a bookmark inside the book page, left the book and went to go answer the door.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Uh, do you have a few minutes? I need to talk to you about something" I asked.
"Sure"
She moved aside for me to come in. Her room was exactly the same as mine, well she did get 4 rooms like this so same thing.
I went to go sit at the end of the bed while she closed the door behind her. She came and sat next to me.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked.
I took a heavy breath.
"Well, your probably not gonna believe me if I tell you but I'll just say it anyway-"
"Hey, before you say anything, just remember that no matter what you say, even its crazy, then I'll believe you no matter, I'm your best friend, I'm always here for you, remember that."
I smiled genuinely.
"Well, this last week has been really great, but I've been getting weird feelings around me everyday."
"Weird, how?"
"Like, every time we were out, I just got the feeling that someone was watching me from a distance, and I've been having these weird about this mysterious blue hedgehog and well I don't know how to say this but…I'm starting to think that these rumours are true…"
Vanessa started to feel guilty but tried not to show it. She kept it casual and listened.
"You said, about the hedgehog from the dreams but what else makes you think that?"
"The night we got here, when we went to McDonalds, I stopped to tie my shoe, this black cat came out, I was playing with it, after a minute, it went into the ally way next to me then I saw a pair of golden eyes staring back at me, I then heard a voice in my head saying 'We met again stranger', it was like calling to me in some way so I went closer to it but then you guys called and I had to leave then."
Vanessa had a look of slight worry and guilt, but just nodded for now.
"When I was about to go to bed that night, I saw a shadow at the window, I went to go look but nothing was there. Same thing at the castle today, before we went in, I saw this figure at one of the castle's front windows, and it was looking back at me with worry and regret, like it was trying to tell me something and I heard the whole voice in my head thing again, this time saying 'Nice to see that you came today, I'm glad.' And before we went inside the castle I looked at the same window again where it was, but nothing was there, even when we left the place today, nothing was there still. When we were inside the throne room, the painting we saw of Sonic, I kept having this feeling that we were being watched somehow. Every part of that place we were in, every room we went to, I got the exact same feeling. A..and now, I just saw a similar picture of him in this book I'm reading."
Vanessa glanced at it for a moment before saying anything.
*Pfft* "I'm sure your just exaggerating."
"I don't know V, maybe I am, maybe it's my imagination just talking or I don't know anymore to be honest but these things keep happening for some reason, I don't know why or how, but, whatever they are, I think Sonic's trying to tell me something but I don't know what, it's confusing. He's real V, I just know it."
Vanessa started to feel her stomach twist. The guilt came back and didn't go away no matter what she was hearing.
I wasn't hearing anything from her, I looked up at her. She had her hands on her stomach.
"V, you alright? Say something?!" I was worried for a second that she didn't believe me but she just sat there looking at the ground.
The guilt was coming too quickly, she couldn't hold it any longer.
"T..that's because he is."
My eyes widened. "What?!" I wasn't expecting her to believe me that quickly but if she's saying what I think she's saying, then it's true.
"Kris, there's something I've been keeping from you and the girls for a while..and I think its time that I told you."
"…Vanessa, what's going on?" Then I realized something…
"Y-you've seen him too, haven't you?"
"I haven't just seen him Kris…I've meet him."
1 hour later…3:33pm
Within the past hour, I was literally in shock the whole time as Vanessa was explaining to me on how she knew Sonic, and when they encountered.
Long story short, she came across Sonic on a school trip 2 years ago before coming home for the holidays and accidentally came across this room where she wasn't suppose to go too. That's where Sonic caught her, and was slightly ticked but knew it was an accident. But really, the secret that she promised Sonic, was to not tell any one about it, and by that, she meant not to tell any one that he's actually real. Or else, he'd be exposed and done for, and it'd be all her fault
And she's been keeping that secret for the past couple years.
"Well, at least it's good enough to know that I'm not the only one that knows about this, and not to mention the fact that it's been driving me nuts lately" I said.
"I can tell, you've been acting weird for a little bit anyway. And its because of Sonic, I know…"
My eyes shifted towards her. "…What how do you-"
"Remember the other day at the spa when I told you about that one dream I had where I encountered this mysterious black cloaked figure?"
…
I put my face in my hands. "I'm not even gonna ask who it was that you saw"
"Look Kris, he told me specifically not to tell anyone, and I didn't. But telling you this, its alright…"
"And how's it alright exactly?"
"Because he told me last night, in my dream"
"What?!"
"He's known you long enough to know that your trustworthy and won't say anything about this, including keeping that book of his safe."
I looked at the book that was in my hands, I then hugged it tight to my chest. "So, he really is real then…"
Vanessa felt bad for telling her this, but saying this out loud to someone who she can trust and keep this secret to herself, made both of them feel better and let some air out of their chest.
"Now I know what he meant by 'tomorrow'"
"Wait, what do you mean tomorrow?" Vanessa asked.
"Ever since the flight, before we even got here, I've been having these weird dreams where I've been encountering Sonic a lot, and just now not too long ago, I had a dream where I saw him and Jules. He was presenting his castle to Sonic as his birthday present, he looked so happy that day but only to see that it was when Jules was still sick at the time and didn't want to tell him. Then I saw Sonic, who looked, well, normal…so normal"
Vanessa worried at this, ever since she noticed her acting all weird, she knew something was up…but she kinda figured it was coming from Sonic.
"He was just so sad, the tears coming from his eyes, all that anger inside of him, I can tell by all of that just how lonely he really is…"
…
"Well, that's a lot to take in, what he went through was traumatizing, I get it, but that still didn't answer my question, what did you mean by 'tomorrow'?
"Oh right that, uh, well before I woke up, he said: 'you'll be seeing a lot more of me very soon, starting tomorrow, where I'll explain everything…' "
I didn't mention him kissing me suddenly, so I kept it to myself so that she wouldn't mock me about it.
"Wait, tomorrow…is your birthday…I guess he just wants to prove everything to you that he's real and not just an illusion that come into dreams.
"You think so?"
"What other reason would there be?"
"Well, I did mention in one of the dreams to him that I was coming here for my birthday, but how does he know what day it is?"
…
"…Wait, you don't suppose your folks know about this do you?" I asked questionably.
"Why would they know about this? There's no way that Sonic would've just
followed one of them, expose himself and ask them just like that, it couldn't have been that easy. But, to be fair, they're the only people here that know when your birthday is, so…"
"The only other possible way he did it, was somehow convince them without them exposing him completely…"
Vanessa was thinking, then came out with a possible answer. "Well, according to this possible info we have, I think it took a lot more then convincing for them to tell him, most likely it was a deal."
"You think so?"
"Think about it, its both not only your birthday tomorrow but your party as well. And that tomorrow will most likely be his only chance that he'll get to see you, and explain on whats been going on."
"Your right."
Vanessa reassured me, put her arm around me. "Look, tomorrow's gonna be a big day for you, and I don't want you worrying too much about it, so let's just keep this between us for the time being, we'll tell the girls when the time's right."
"Ok" I said getting up, making my way back to my room. "And one more thing…"
Vanessa looked at me.
"Thanks for believing me. With everything going on, its nice to know that I'm not the only one going through this bull****, I don't what'd I do without you."
She smiled softly, accepting the compliment from her best friend.
"You know you can count on me for anything, right? So for now, think about all that nice tasty wine were gonna have tomorrow"
"Oh ho, you bet I will"
She followed behind me, escorting me out the door. Once I left she closed her door behind me, feeling guilty but relieved.
'Sorry, but I had to tell her, I was getting worried about her, and so were you, I hope you can understand…'
Meanwhile…4:20pm
I was back in my room sitting on my bed, but I wasn't tired anymore, instead of going back to sleep, I decided to finish off what was in this book with out it framing me out.
"Well, let's see what you have to offer Sonic…"
4:50pm
About half hour had past, and from the looks if it, it wasn't even dinner time yet, and go the book done fast.
The chapter on Sonic was just explaining his birth, and his life from then on. I can already tell, that he had such a perfect life…until the incident.
But that wasn't the only thing, the last chapter 'Final Days', didn't have anything on it, no writing, nothing, it was completely blank.
…A thought came along
I get it now, why Jules gave him this book, not to only read it but to finish it off for him.
Now I know why he gave him this book, to finish it off for him.
To finish off his story…
