Greeting yall! Joe Stalin here with his first Sonic story not involving Shadow Fox! I must warn you all that this story is gonna be graphic as I update it, so those of you with weak constitutions…beware!

Jack the Ripper

Chapter 1- A Shadow in the Night

It was coming back. The soothing noises in the background of the alley had acquired a new tone. A buzzing which hurt his head. The chitinous rattle of something insect like, something alien. It continued to drill into his head as the heavy downpour raged around him.

Every so often, images would flash between his eyes. People: hollow, hungry, hopeless. Hope drowned by despair. The buzzing got louder and more painful. There- out of the corner of his eye- a glimpse of one of these 'people' as they truly were burned into his mind. Dark, shuddering, rattling things, faces wrapped in dirty bindings, bodies crawling with minute, many-legged parasites. He kept his gaze on the object in his hand. A blade.

In the soft light it glistened with an unearthly glow. He smiled. It was beautiful. He didn't know what he would do if he ever lost it. To him, it was power. Power over the creatures that haunted him. With this knife, he was invincible. Casually, he drew a hand over the blade and wiped away the raindrops that had splashed onto it. With a wince, he drew his index finger hard over the sharp edge, drawing a thin line of blood. There was a painful throb accompanying it but it added to the release. He gazed fascinated at the crimson liquid that slowly dribbled from his injured finger. It hurt, but he didn't care. He needed to feel pain. Pain was the only thing he ever felt, indeed it was the only thing that made him feel that he was truly still alive.

He stared at his other hand, at the litany of scars from earlier treatment. Most were new, some from times past. There were a few that were deep enough to scar, while others were simple scratches. He smiled. Without pain, he mused; you couldn't feel pleasure because without pain, you wouldn't know what pleasure was. Like light and dark, pleasure and pain couldn't exist without the other.

He glanced up. The alley he was crouched in was beginning to grow darker. The shadows creeping inwards, swamping everything. The darkness seemed to amplify the clicking's and scamperings in his head. He clamped his hands over his ears and screwed his eyes shut…. It did no good. A light began to shine in the dark. He looked up.

There- picked out in the middle of the alien hubble, almost luminous in the dark- a window. He frowned.

It was an apartment building facing him from across the road to the alley. He didn't think he had ever seen it before, but in the back of his mind he knew that it was familiar. The greasy yellow light of the one streetlight in the alley flashed across his face. From the way a light flickered in the darkness of the apartment, he could tell that it was occupied. But he didn't care. He knew what he would see in the eyes of whoever occupied the room. They would be just like the others.

His injured hand went to the pocket of his coat. He stood up with difficulty, clutching the blade tightly in his fist. Once he had fully straightened up, his eyes never wavering from the window of the chosen apartment, he slowly made his way towards his target. There was only one thing on his mind.

Tonight, he would feed.

BR>

In the semi darkness, his eyes squinting on the glowing screen of the television, Shadow stifled another yawn. It was past midnight, but he wasn't bothered. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't get to sleep. He was beginning to wonder if he was suffering from insomnia. He hadn't had a good night sleep in over a week, and tonight was no exception. To take his mind of it, he had absent mindedly flicked on the television, but there was nothing on that interested him. His mind just couldn't focus properly.

He sighed, and flicked to the next channel.

'Perhaps if I keep this up, I'll bore myself to sleep''

He suddenly tuned his gaze towards the window. Was it just him, or had someone been watching him? He had definitely felt as if he was being watched. But there was nothing there, only darkness.

''I must be going mad! Now I'm seeing things! I'll have to go to the chemists tomorrow and get some sleep pills or something…''

Frustrated, he flicked the television off and lay back on his bed. He knew he wouldn't get to sleep, but at least he could get comfortable.

His eyes blinked open suddenly. Had he imagined it, or had he heard the front door open? No, that wasn't possible. He was just hearing things. Still, it had sounded real enough.

The hedgehog blinked in confusion and climbed off his bed. He felt around for the light switch, but in the darkness he couldn't find it. It was dark in the bedroom. But he could still make out the dark silhouettes of the furniture.

He heard another creak. This time he was certain he wasn't hearing things. It had come from the bathroom, he was sure. With a frustrated snarl, Shadow stood up and creeped towards the bedroom door. This was just what he didn't need. Some thug trying to break into his flat. Still, at least it would take his mind off sleep whilst he was kicking the shit out of whoever had dared to break into his apartment.

Opening the door with care, Shadow poked his head out into the hall. Nothing. Not a thing out of place.

He shivered suddenly. He wasn't alone in the flat. He could feel it. And that's when he saw it…

In the darkness, for a brief second, something had moved. And whatever it was, it had left its imprint on the wall. A dark smear. Even from this distance, Shadow could smell the strong scent of blood.

For the first time, Shadow tensed up. He was scared. Scared of whatever was inside the flat with him. He slouched against the door, too afraid to do anything else. The entire place felt cold, causing him to shiver. Though whether it was from cold or terror he didn't know. With a gulp, Shadow walked out into the hall. His ears suddenly pricked up. He could hear something…. breathing. And it wasn't his own.

Shadow was trembling now. Whatever it was that was inside his flat…it was evil. He wished now that he had thought to pick up some kind of weapon. But it was too late now. He had to face whatever it was. After all, he had a reputation to live up to. Even if it was just to himself.

With a frown etched across his face, Shadow slowly made his way towards the wall. Squinting through the darkness, he peered at the stain. It was definitely blood. Even now it was slowly dribbling down to the floor. Trying not to retch, Shadow suddenly jumped as he heard a bang reverberate through the darkness. Shadow breathed heavily and turned towards the source of the noise. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Down the hall was the bathroom door. It was lit up with the dim glow from the window. It was covered in blood, so was the carpet beneath it. Shadow clutched his chest, and felt the heavy beating of his heart. He had never been as terrified as he was at that moment. Outside, the rain began to fall harder.

With a huge intake of breath, Shadow made his way up to the blood stained door. He looked down and realized with disgust that he was standing in the crimson liquid. Very slowly, he laid a trembling hand on the doorknob. For a few seconds he remained that way. Then with a yell of fury, he flung open the door.

His eyes flicked across the room. It was empty. Not a single thing out of place. The only thing that stood out was the thin drops of blood that speckled the tiled floor. At the far end of the room, the window was fully open allowing the typhoon outside to leak in. With a sigh of relief, Shadow wiped his forehead. Whoever it was, they had obviously heard him outside the room and had done a runner through the window. He was safe.

As he continued to stare at the fully open door, a shadow loomed over him from behind.

Shadow suddenly tensed up. He could sense it. It was still here with him.

Without warning, the blade flashed down and buried itself in the back of the black hedgehog. Shadow crumbled to the floor as the blade was removed from his back. He could feel the blood escaping from the stab wound, and there was blood pouring from his mouth. With a huge effort, he managed to turn his head to face his attacker. What he saw made his heart skip a beat.

''You!''

As Shadow looked on helplessly from the floor, the silent figure raised the blade once more.

The last thing Shadow saw was the bloodied knife slicing towards him. Then…only darkness.

BR>

It wasn't until the next day that Shadows house keeper discovered his body. Her hysterical screams had alerted the other tenants of the apartment building, and one had rung the police.

Shadow had been dead for at least several hours. His body had been found by the cleaner in his bedroom. Two deep knife wounds had killed him, one in his back, and the other in his chest. But that wasn't the worst thing.

The real horror show came when the police were able to prize open the bloodstained bathroom door. They had been greeted with a sight of unimaginable horror.

There was blood everywhere. On the floor, up the walls and even on the ceiling. And on one of those walls was a message, scrawled in Shadow's own blood-

''JACK THE RIPPER''

BR>

Oh my! I've scared myself! Please R&R!