When my eyes opened I stood in a dark hallway. I began walking forward but as I walked farther it had turned into a jog then finally I was running. The hallway was never ending and even though I was running- I wasn't running to get out…

I tripped and the floor fell out from underneath me and I began tumbling and I watched as the black above me seemed to distance. I slowly turned over to see a body of water bellow me.

I braced for impact and hit the water like concrete. The surface tension broke and I slipped below the water. As I plummeted, I exited from the water- completely dry.

I landed on my feet lightly. My clothes had changed into ones I had worn a few days prior. My surroundings where a field outlined in a forest. I knew where I was and as a chilling breeze crept over my skin, I turned.

Crystallized claws clamped down on my collar and I was lifted to stare straight into Mephiles' cold eyes. "He's not here to save you, stupid girl." his voice echoed about and seemed far away despite how close he was. I watched in horror as his image changed to look like mine again. As his arms grew to be connected and changed to my skin tone, a black and cracked layer spread down my arms. I screamed but no noise came out and Mephiles let out a cackle "This is all your fault…"

I held up my arms and watched as they broke apart and felt to the ground, turning into dust. As I opened to scream again my lower jaw disintegrated and the hole spread down to my chest- which disintegrated down to the bone. All of my insides turned black minus my heart and my lungs began to slow and turn to rock, croaking my breathing. "He could have saved you…" Mephiles' hand pressed down over my heart and the sound of a crystal tearing flesh blacked out my nightmare.

I sat up quickly and smashed my forehead against my red lamp. "FUCK!" I yelled and put a hand to the small bump on my forehead. I looked over to see that Shona was already awake and staring me down with wide eyes. "Whoa- what kind of nightmare was that?"

"A terrifying one." I grumbled and rubbed my eyes.

"Can you remember any of it?"

Yes. "No… not really."

She nodded "Well… Both Sonic and Knuckles left to go and see if they could find anyone… where did you run off to last night?"

"Cascadia… I left a blanket for Shadow…"

Shona raised her eyebrows to what I had said. "Peace offering?" she asked.

"Yea... Kinda..."

"What else is there?" she egged on.

"I left my keychain there." I looked over to her. She was quiet for a moment "The keychain?"

I nodded.

"Well shit. How do you plan to explain this?" she snapped. I threw my hands up "I just figured it would make him have to talk to me again!"

"I can't believe you still want contact with that bastard."

"I can't help it!"

"Allie-"

"Sho I know!"

We were quiet for a few more seconds.

"I have this aching feeling that Sonic can't keep me safe- which is stupid because all he does is stop bad guys and save people... But I still don't feel safe..."

"It's just because you don't like him."

"Maybe your right but I still don't feel safe..."

We both grumbled back and forth for a bit longer about nonsense before rolling out of bed and fetching brunch. We chatted as we ate our cereal and continued chatting about as we got ready for the day.

"So what time do you have work tonight?" she asked, finishing her eye shadow. I checked the clock on my phone "At 4 o'clock so I have about two hours..." I hummed and finished curling my hair. She replied with a small hum then smiled brightly "Hey, doesn't Octo-tat work today?" she asked.

I thought for a moment "Yea I think so..."

"Perfect- I will come and visit later."

"Don't forget to leave a tip for your favorite hostess." I grinned over to her and she laughed. Her phone began to ring and she groaned as the word 'mom' glowed on the screen.

She answered with a low "Yes?"

Her mom chattered on the other side and Shona replied with small "ok"s and "sure"s then after a few minutes she hung up and rolled her eyes. "Mothers… I love her but she can ask some dumb questions…"

I just let out a laugh and checked my all black work uniform for any marks or makeup smudges about. After my quick check I proceeded to pull my freshly curled hair into a ponytail as required for my uniform.

"Well I have to go home and get ready for soccer… Mother's orders…" She held up her phone and I walked her to her car "Make sure you keep your red friend out of sight." I reminded her even though I didn't need to.

"Duh." She plopped in the driver's seat "Hey at least this one won't beat you up."

"Oh ha, ha. Remind me to tell you how funny you are." I grumbled with sarcasm.

After Shona had left I went about and cleaned the house to kill some time. I finished my final chore just as the clock struck the 30 minutes till work mark and I happily hopped in my Bronco, blasting the music as always.

In a second Sonic was in the passenger seat and I jumped out of my skin "Holy shit!"

"Hey where are ya' goin'?" he grinned.

"Work. I won't be back until 9:30." I slowed to the stop light as it flicked red. "Cool! So I ran to-"

"That's nice, Sonic." I cut him off, not caring. "Oh just a heads up- Mephiles is around. I wasn't sure if you were aware."

"Whoa! No I didn't- how are you sure?"

"He attacked me." I turned into the parking lot and kept an eye out for a spot.

"How did you get away?" his eyes were rounder than normal in surprise.

"Shadow saved me. Both times."

The car was silent for a few minutes as I concentrated on parking and Sonic stared down his shoes. "Is that why kicking Shadow out is making you feel bad? You feel like you owe him one?"

"I guess you could say that." I didn't like Sonic- I knew that much- but I wasn't going to tell him I felt like someone such as the Ultimate Life-form could probably come and save me much faster and do a better job at it.

"Well no need to worry about Mephiles! I'll take care of him if he show's his icy face!"

I put on a fake smile "Thanks, Sonic." I got out of the car and waited for him to dash off before locking it. As I walked into the Sushi restaurant I was greeted by my coworkers and I waved back with a bright smile.

The night passed by smoothly as I greeted and sat every party with a flow and without complication. Every so often a party of familiar faces would come in and I would have some time to chit chat. I would also get the good old question of why I had the bandages up and down my arms and of course the occasional "How is your boyfriend doing?"

As the dinner rush died off and I was dismissed as soon as we hit closing time at nine I was gave my goodbyes and walked with a small bounce in my step to my car. I unlocked it and opened the door to throw my purse behind my seat. I was welcomed by a big smile and obnoxious "Hey there!"

I let out a long sigh "Hello."

"Is everything ok?"

"Just tired."

"Oh… well at least you'll be able to get a good night's sleep!"

I groaned and jumped into my seat and put the keys in the ignition.

Yea… sleep… I wish it was good.

During the entire car ride home Sonic blabbed on about where he ran to and clues to finding more of the crew. I ignored most of it and tried to figure out some other new plan to get him away from me for an hour or so.

"-Mephiles showing up." I caught the last half of Sonic's sentence. "Wait what was that about Mephiles?" I asked.

"It seems like it may not be a while until he shows up again." He repeated and peered out the passenger window. "That's great news." I hummed with a small amount of relief.

I let out a yawn as we walked inside and he stayed down in the kitchen as I went my way to upstairs. I flicked on the light to my room and flopped down on the bed. I snuggled against my pillow and looked at the clock on my phone.

It was 9:30pm exactly. I heard a pair of footsteps stop in my doorway. "So I was wondering-"

"Sonic, for the love of god I am tired and wish to sleep." I grumbled and listened as his steps sounded down the hall as he walked away.