It's so dark.

I'm so scared.

How did I fall into this nightmare?

Oh yeah. And it's all my fault.

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. I didn't know where I was exactly. Some alley in some city in some state. I wasn't sure. All I remembered was running. Running until my legs couldn't carry me anymore and the wracking sobs forced me to fall to the ground and just cry. Just cry for all things lost.

I lifted my head weakly and for the first time since I got here, hours ago, looked around. I was in a dark alley on the corner of… I squinted my eyes. Broad Street. I looked around, trying to find what city I was in. Not that it mattered anyways.

I sighed and squeezed myself into a little ball. I would sleep here for the night.

Sleep. Yeah, right.

***********

When sleep finally came I had known it would be terrible. But not like this. Not this vivid. Not this…real.

"Starlight, RUN!"

Smoke and flames were everywhere. I could barely breathe. But that didn't matter.

Where was Sonic?!

Where was my brother?!

I sped around, terrified, searching desperately for any sign of the streak of blue that was Sonic.

Where oh WHERE could he be?!

Had they caught him? No. No. I pushed that thought away quickly. Sonic was like my other half. It would be unbearable to live without him.

I gasped and screeched to a halt as another tree came tumbling down in front of me. The flames sprang to ten times their size right in front of my eyes.

I heard the shouts of my parents, trying desperately to hold off the Metarex, while I searched for Sonic. But it was practically impossible to see. I shouted his name over and over, each time becoming more and more afraid that I would never see his laughing emerald eyes again.

Suddenly…I saw him. My knees went weak with staggering relief and I rushed to him…

Only to get knocked aside by a giant Metarex arm.

"Star!" My poor little brother shouted. But it was already far too late.

The Metarex grabbed him as he tried to reach me. The speed with which those arms moved… I shivered in my sleep. He shouted as the Metarex pulled him away, throwing him into their ship. In two seconds, they were gone.

"SONIC! NOOOOO!"

I crashed headfirst into the next memory.

We had given up far too early.

"We have to keep looking!" I shouted at my parents.

"Starlight…" my father began.

"We can't just-!" I interrupted.

"Starlight, please! Your mother and I…we can't…we just can't take it any more. We know it's just as hard for you as it is for us, if not harder. But, honey, we can't just keep holding on to this impossible hope. Starlight…Sonic is gone."My father gazed at me through old, tired eyes.

"No!" I screamed now. "I refuse to believe that! Sonic would never give up that easily! Never!"

"Sweetheart, we know. We think…well, oh Jane how do I say this? Starlight..we… think the Metarex may… have killed him."

Tears welled up into my mother's eyes and she laid her head on my father's shoulder, sobbing.

I stared at them, horrified. "How could you just… Just THINK? You just THINK they killed him? I want to know!!! I want to know if my brother is still out there, cold and alone, dying because WE aren't there for him!"

My mother sobbed louder. "Starlight…" my father warned me sternly.

I was disgusted. I spat out the words at them, the words I would never forgive myself for.

"I hate you."

And I burst from the house, running like the wind, anger rising up like bile in my throat.

Give in, that voice whispered in my head.

I tried to refuse, but my anger was too great. How could they? Sonic was their son!

Yes, yes! The voice urged me on.

I let go, letting the hatred fill me. I began to change. My bright yellow fur and quills turned to a dark, dark blue, almost black. My emerald green eyes, so much like Sonic's, turned blood red.

The change was complete. Anger pulsed like power through my soul. It was fun for me to hate, pleasure to hurt, easy to kill. I was the other side of me.

The wrong side.

Yes! Now we are free. Don't you see Starlight? They keep you from your full potential! Fill yourself with Dark! The power we will have will be unlike any other!, she shouted.

No. Wait… I struggled, realizing too late that I had made a terrible decision. She brushed my struggling off easily. She was on the outside now, and I was on the inside.

I know. Let's have some fun, shall we? I cringed at her words of pure evil. Why were they so tempting? Why was it so easy to give in?

She turned our body around, facing toward the trees. With a single movement of her hand, they caught fire. I recoiled, inside. She was so powerful…

Hahahahaha! It feels good, doesn't it, Star? This power… she narrowed her eyes as she thought. This power should not be contained. It should not be forced inside. A sadistic smile crossed her face. Let's kill them, Starlight. It will be so easy! Like squashing a bug. Then we will never have to trap this power again!

No! No! I struggled harder this time. How could I have let her out?! I couldn't let her kill my parents! I had already lost so much…

She was already making her way back to the house. Her speed was blistering, twice as fast as I normally was. She was going to make it there. She was going to kill them.

NO! I was no longer struggling but ripping my way out, determined. I WON'T let you hurt them!

She tried to push me back but she underestimated my strength. I heaved my way out, trying once more to regain control of my body. It was like punching through a steel wall. But I had to do it.

She screeched in protest as I found a hole in the wall. Get back where you belong! I shoved her back inside of me and I was once again in control.

I panted heavily, exhausted. I heard her recede into the back of my mind angrily. This is not the last you have heard of Dark, she whispered, then was silent.

I needed to get back home. I had no idea how long I'd been gone. An hour? Two? I had lost track of time. I started to run back to the house, suddenly feeling extremely guilty for what I had said.

It was then that I saw it. That unmistakable ship in the sky.

The Metarex.

No no no no NO! I broke the sound barrier, rushing to get back home. Please please please please please, I prayed.

I skidded to a halt in front of the blazing fire that was my home. "Mom! Dad!" I screamed. It was losing Sonic all over again.

Then I saw them.

They were lying dead on the ground, under a pile of burning wood. Their blood stained the sand beneath them, their fur and quills shredded.

Looks like someone beat me to it, Dark said smugly.

And I ran.

I awoke with a start, back in the alley, tears streaming down my face. Oh why, oh why?

Oh, stop bawling. We're better off on our own anyways. You always were fond of running away. Dark's words hit me like a punch to the stomach.

SHUT THE HELL UP! I screamed at her, forcing her to the very back of my mind, so I could have some peace.

And I laid on the cold asphalt ground and cried.