ⲥⲏⲁⲣⲧⲉⲅ 3
When I opened my eyes some time later, the first thing I instantly noticed was the bright light coming into the room through the gap between the curtains of the window. Slowly sitting up, I looked down at my body and noticed another thing - I was wearing a really comfortable buttoned shirt made of dark blue satin material and high waist black shorts, unsurprisingly also made of satin. This vampire really seemed to have an odd obsession with this material. I carefully looked around the room I was in and just now I finally realised, that I had to somehow pass out last night due to how exhausted I really was, because I do not remember anything after the vampire carried me inside the mansion. And regarding the clothes I am wearing - and the fact my fur is completely dry - I guess he might have done all the work, despite expressing rather hatred towards me during our first encounter. Hm, did my bad situation soften him up? I kinda highly doubt that, considering how determined he was to keep me out.
I carefully swung my legs over the edge of the bed and felt surprisingly soft and warm sensation on my paw beans. Looking down at my feet I could see a light green soft rug of a circular shape resting underneath the bed and surrounding the small area around it. I have never before seen or felt such luxury, so I was going to enjoy it as long as possible, until I will need to leave this place and return to the dark forest. With the werejackal - actually known as Zero - surely awaiting my return, so he could carry out his revenge. A soft sigh escaped my throat, as I dropped my ears and felt sad about it. This place gives me a sense of safety and freedom of fully letting my guard down in order to finally, properly relax. I did not want to leave such sanctuary, but on the other hand... Tails needs me out there. I am sure he is now super worried about me and keeps trying to find me. Oh, only if I could somehow contact him from such distance...
Snapping out of my thoughts I lifted my gaze up and let my eyes land on the nightstand next to the bed. It seemed to be made of a fine mahogany and consisted of three drawers. Not to mention, how robust it was, hence it stood firmly on spot, as it should. However, this majestic little piece of furtniture had a pair of gloves neatly resting on top of it, which caught my attention. Okay, was this actually the vampire's room and he forgot his gloves here? Or were these meant... for me? The spiral of thoughts constantly rotating in my head seemed to be unstoppable at this point, as I always have something to think and wonder about, sometimes even for a long hours. Leaving the gloves be, I stood up and noticed a pair of matching sneakers neatly sitting by the leg of the bed. How mindful of the noble vampire, huh? At first he treats me - literally - like an animal and now he does the exact opposite. Something must have happened, whilst I was outside talking with Silver. Ah, true, Silver. Where is the ghost now, when I need some answers? How do I summon a ghost? Hmm, I could have asked some sorcerer, who can do such spiritual stuff. There surely were such people somewhere, I would just have to be lucky enough to encounter them. Which I never was - if I do not count that crystalline demon possessing a dark magic abilities - so there is that.
Releasing yet another sigh I walked towards the door and grabbing the knob I slowly twisted it in order to carefully open the door and look around the hallway behind it. This hallway seemed shorter, than the one the vampire carried me through last night. Taking a deep breath I fully exited the room and walked cautiously down the hallway, soon finding out, that it is in an upper floor of the mansion, as I approached a wide staircase accompanied by majestic railings from both sides. I stood by one of the railings and let my eyes travel across the entire place. It looked much better and even more majestic during the daylight, I must admit.
"Enjoying what you see?" a sudden female voice spoke from somewhere around me and I frantically looked at all directions to spot its owner. At first I could see a small, white bat flying towards me and in a blink of an eye it poofed and turned into a female mobian bat with ivory skin tone covered by a snow white fur. The golden sparkles surrounding her soon dissipated and revealed her noble black dress with a corset hugging her curvy torso. Her teal eyes were framed by a black eyelines and decorated by a red-pink eyeshadows, whilst an elf-like black crown with a ruby gem attached to it sat on her forehead. In general, this woman looked gorgeous, to say the least.
"Careful there, gentleman~" she smirked at me and just then I realised, that my jaw slightly dropped in the process. Snapping out if my thoughts I awkwardly averted my gaze and felt my cheeks heating up in embarrassment.
"I-I am sorry," I stuttered a little, much to my further frustration.
"It's fine, young boy," I saw her black gloved hand reaching for my chin and felt her lift it up, making me look at her again. Her black gloves reached her upper arms.
"I can see all the questions in your eyes," she smiled at me and let go of my chin. Was it her charm or some secret ability, that made me so speechless?
"Come, I might give you at least part of the answers you are looking for," she invited me, so I followed her down the stairs and to... a kitchen?
"I bet you're hungry after such rough night."
Is she reading my mind?! This bat was really creeping me out.
"Who are you?" I asked her finally, when I regained the courage to speak up.
"My name's Rouge Batrock, I am Shadow's loyal servant and you already saw me once, you just weren't aware," she replied rather mysteriously and her words caught my full attention now. First of all, who is this 'Shadow' person she mentioned and second... did I really see her? I do not recall seeing any bat around the mansion earlier.
"I don't recall seeing you anywhere around," I retorted while crossing my arms.
"Oh, silly," she quietly giggled and gestured me to sit by the dining round table surrounded by 4 chairs. I complied by sitting on one of the chairs and she brought a delicious looking breakfast on the table. I felt my stomach instantly grumbling at the sight of juicy looking meat, smashed potatoes, vegetables and cheese. Not sure, what kind of meal this was, but heck, I was gonna take it!
"No, no, no, we wait for my master to join us," the bat gently smacked my hand, when I tried to reach for the utensils.
"What? You mean that Shadow person?" I looked at her in confusion.
"And who else, silly?" she chuckled in response and the nickname she used to address me by was slowly getting on my nerves.
"Can you... stop calling me that? Besides, where was I supposed to see you earlier?" I folded my arms across my chest and sort of demanded the answer from her.
"If you really must know, I am a gargoyle. I used to be a living being from flesh and blood, like you, once. But a dark warlock, Mephiles, put a permanent curse on me. Since then, I turn into a gargoyle statue every night, unable to move until the morning hours," I listened carefully to her words followed by a disappointed sigh and she then descended on the chair next to me. I lowered my gaze and rather rested my hands in my lap. For a brief moment I did recall seeing a gargoyle with wide open wings attached to the wall of the mansion earlier, but who would have thought, that it's going to be actually a living gargoyle?
"I.. I am sorry, that sounds terrible," I said quietly and she placed her hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry about that, hedgie, I am used to it," she assured me, but I still felt really bad for her.
"Wait, this reminds me, Mephiles is also responsible for my best friend being permanently stuck in a werefox form! Is this guy really enjoying these dark spells?" I looked at her and she shrugged.
"Mephiles is a demon and somehow he got to possess the dark magic abilities. Nobody knows, where he came exactly from or if he has been even summoned by someone, but.. he ruined many people's lives, mine and your friend's included," she shook her head and flatly folded her big bat ears down to her head.
"Is there a way to stop him?" I asked with hope lacing my tone and felt my tail slightly wagging while hanging over the edge of the chair, since these chairs didn't have any opening in the backrests. Needless to mention, that they were made of the same mahogany like the nightstand in the room upstairs. And heck, they also had armrests, which made sitting on it much more comfortable.
"There might be a way how to stop him," a familiar male smooth voice spoke up from the entrance of the kitchen and both me and Rouge shot our glances towards its owner. The vampire himself, this time wearing a black coat, that reached down to his ankles and heavy, goth-themed boots with red flame pattern on the top side of them, along with thick platforms. He approached us and sat on the chair across from me while glancing at me with his unusually calm, amber irises.
"May I know your name?" he asked me quietly. I couldn't stop looking down at his chest, where he wore a burgundy half-buttoned shirt underneath the black coat and the v-neck formed by the half-buttoning again revealed his fluffy white chest fur, which looked really soft and made me feel an urge to touch it.
"My eyes are up here, you know," his firm tone of voice snapped me out of my little trance and I quickly looked up into his eyes, trying my best to ignore the chest fur.
"S-Sorry, hehe. I-I am Sonic," I rubbed the back of my neck nervously while giving him a sheepish smile. I could hear Rouge quietly snickering next to me and when I glanced at her, I noticed her slightly smirking in the process. Great, a good way how to perfectly embarrass myself here. Damn chest fur!
"Honor to meet you, my name is Terios von Doom," the vampire replied and I wanted to say 'I know', but kept my mouth shut for my own good. And for Silver's sake as well.
"Y-Yeah, heh, n-nice to meet you as well," I tried to somehow keep the conversation in a civilized level, but I was actually never good at being extra polite, especially in front of a royalty such as this hedgehog.
"Apologies for the last night," his tone was suddenly laced with genuine regrets, as he even slightly dropped his ears.
"I believe, that you do have some explanation for it," I retorted while crossing my arms, expressing discontent with his previous behavior. He actually averted his gaze and staring down at his plate of the same meal like the rest of us he sighed.
"I was bloodthirsty. Whenever I reach the top limit of my feeding cycle, I become highly intolerant and in a few cases I even lose control over myself," he explained, then lifted his gaze back up to me.
"Is that why your eyes were orange for a moment?" I tilted my head and raised my eyebrow in curiousness.
"No. I was trying to use my special ability, but did not realise, that it does not work on hybrids and powerful magicians," he slowly shook his head, then started carefully eating the meal Rouge made for all of us. It all now made more sense to me, as to why he used that 'halfling' term in such rude manner. He was simply upset, that his ability did not work on me.
"Wow.. what is that ability of yours?" I asked curiously, wanting to know more about him. He was so intriguing and when he was this calm and polite, he way even really charming.
"Psychic pain. I can make my opponents feel an intolerable, painful agony, which completely paralyses their senses and I get the upper hand over them," he replied and I slightly gulped. Lucky me to be a hybrid then!
"Yikes, I.. heh, I guess I am really lucky then?" I nervously chuckled.
"What were you even doing in my bathroom?" he asked me a question this time and I sighed in response while looking down. I detected Rouge quietly finishing her meal and standing up she went to wash the dishes.
"I tried to run away from a werejackal. He wants to kill me for what I did to his friend many years ago," I tried to somehow explain this hellish situation I was in.
"Ugh, some guys can't really leave the past behind, can they," Rouge scoffed.
"Well, I killed his friend while protecting mine," I admitted and tensed up afterwards due to the guilt flowing through my body. Silence took over the kitchen and you could easily hear a pin drop on the floor. I did not mean to kill anyone, but back then I suppose I didn't have any other choice. It was either Tails or them.
"Alright, I take it back. No wonder he is after you. If Sha-"
"Rouge!" the vampire strictly cut her off and glancing up at him I saw him burning Rouge alive with his bright crimson irises. Wow, this vampire was truly something special!
"What? It's true tho, if you ever get killed, I shall focus on carrying out my revenge until it's done," she opposed and I saw Terios clenching his fists while baring his sharp fangs at her.
"Not what I meant!" he growled at her, whilst I tried to figure out, what's the issue here. My eyebrows met in the center of my forehead due to how hard I frowned and thinking back to the conversation with Rouge right before the vampire king joined us, I finally realised. This has to be probably about his name. The name Rouge used for him, Shadow. Is that his actual name? Or some forbidden one?
"Oooooh, we're sensitive about that nickname of yours~?" she dared to tease him, whilst I was trying to make myself as small as possible.
"Don't make me use my power on you, Rouge! You know damn very well, that I use that nickname only with the closest people! He is a stranger to me, so he has no privilege!" the vampire pointed at me while glaring daggers at Rouge and wow, if he had an ability to kill with his glare, Rouge would be dead at least 100 times by now for sure.
However, I felt a stinging pain in my chest, when I heard him saying that. He was basically right, but he didn't have to put it in such harsh way.
"My baaaad~" Rouge carelessly giggled in response and rushed out of the kitchen before he could use his power on her.
"Why you little-" he hissed at her, then glared at me, his eyes remaining crimson. I gulped and raised my hands in defensive gesture.
"H-Hold it, I am gonna pretend I didn't hear it, okay?" I tried to assure him, that I am not going to mess around with him by using that Shadow nickname in front of him. Even though, it fits him probably even better than Terios. In a way, it compliments him.
"Tch.. you should have never knew, halfling!" he scoffed and taking a few deep breaths he calmed down, as his eyes gradually shifted back to their original amber shade.
"I am really sorry, I didn't expect her to mention you by that nickname earlier," I justified my accidental learning of that name.
"Doesn't matter... just, don't call me by that name and you'll be fine," the vampire replied in quiet tone and continued eating his now surely cold meal. Mine was cold as well, but I did not complain and just humbly ate it.
"May I ask...why?" I spoke very carefully and felt the tension still present in the air.
"Don't push my mood, halfling! Just comply or face the consequences of doing the opposite!" he growled at me and that actually shut me up, as I just quietly ate along with him. I now wonder, how come he is eating the normal food, if he is a vampire and needs blood to survive? My tongue was itching to ask him, but I also knew better to rather wait for when he is in a better mood. Besides, it was probably even rude to ask a vampire about their feeding routines and habits. Once he finished, he stood up and went to wash the dishes, also taking mine after I finished and just remained sitting by the table.
"Why aren't you wearing the given gloves and shoes?" he suddenly asked, as he descended on the chair across from me again.
"I wasn't sure, if they're mine," I admitted truthfully.
"I see. That's understandable, given your situation. Have you ever tried to wear anything?" his voice was calm again and I thanked all possible existing Gods for that. I slowly shook my head in denial.
"Hm, alright. It is better if you wear clothes and shoes around the mansion. I like to keep the place civilized, including anyone, who crosses the doorstep of it," he advised me and I subtly nodded in response.
"Go back and put the gloves and shoes on, Sonic. When you're done, meet me at the library, right next to that room," he stood up and so did I, silently complying I left the kitchen and headed up the stairs to the second floor. I expected him to walk beside or behind me, but I couldn't see him anywhere around. Guess he needed to do something in the meantime?
Anyways, I headed back to the room I woke up earlier in and grabbed the shoes first. Sitting on the edge of the bed I put the shoes on my feet and man, it felt weird. Kinda restrictive, as I felt my feet no longer so free to move anyhow I want. Despite the bad sensations, however, I really liked the design. Black base, crimson layer under the white laces, cyan colored tip and heel, grey platforms and yellow arcs on the outter sides of the shoes. The gloves were in a matching style, black fingerless outter layer, white inner layer, cyan knuckle pads and yellow palm pad. The gloves felt a little strange too, but still more comfortable, than the shoes, to be honest. Grabbing the edge of the nightstand I helped myself up onto my feet and tried to get used to the new sensation the shoes brought to me. I made a step and wobbled a little, as I tried to keep my balance. I couldn't properly feel, how my feet stand on the floor, yet I tried my best to just deal with it for the vampire king's sake. Making a few more steps I started getting a hang of it and soon I was able to walk pretty much normally. Approaching the door I opened it, walked out of the room, closed the door and headed to the said library, where Shadow - I mean Terios - already awaited me.