Shadows and Blue Eyes

Boredom. It was the one thing in the universe that had the power to make time move backwards; the one thing that could freeze the clock in its place for years at a time. The only enemy it had was fun, and it was a rival that was easily over-powered. All it took was one adult talking, and BAM! The fun was murdered in cold blood and the clock never spoke again. Truly, boredom was a foe that no teen wanted to deal with, especially not Sally. Especially if it meant listening to her father's lecture.

"You have a duty to… you must not shurk your responsibilities… as princess you… cannot let them ever… and don't even…" Sally loved her father, she really did, but his lectures were tiresome and they bored her to tears. "And if you ever… make sure that… then you'll be able to… when you accomplish this, you'll find yourself better… and only then will you…" However, over the years, Sally had perfected the art of zoning out during her father's speeches and still being able to nod and agree at just the right times. Yes daddy, I understand daddy, of course daddy… It had saved her from death by boredom on many occasions…

Unfortunately, today was not one of those days. "Sally Alicia Acorn!" Her father's exclamation made her jump in her spot and cringe, and for the first time in five minutes, she found herself staring at her father without a glazed over expression. "Were you even listening to what I've been saying?"

Sally swallowed as she shrunk back in her spot and looked around the room, doing her best to wrack her brain for anything whatsoever. Responsibility… shurking… duty… the princess shrugged after a few minutes and looked back at her father. "I'm shurking my duties…?"

Her answer had obviously been the wrong one, for once she had finished, her father's face turned a lovely shade of radish red. She cringed and scrunched her eyes closed, ready for the yelling to begin. Somehow, miraculously, the shrieking never came. Instead, she heard her dad release a frustrated sigh. "Go to your room."

Sally simply stared at her father for a moment, but she quickly nodded and ran off without another word. As much as she still wanted to be out and about, she knew that she needed to respect her father's words (or at least, make it look like she was). Her father was equally silent as she rushed up to her bedroom.

As soon as she was in her room, she threw the door shut, being as careful as possible so the door wouldn't slam. The last time she had accidently slammed her door, she had earned a scolding much scarier than the scolding that had sent her to her room. Having to endure another one wasn't exactly her idea of a good time. "You know," Sally nearly jumped five feet in the air when a voice appeared from behind her, "If you just did as he told, he wouldn't get mad at you all the time."

The princess whipped around in her spot, glaring when her gaze fixed upon the figure sitting on her bed. "And if you actually started using the front door, maybe you'd actually be welcome here, Shadow!" She exclaimed, picking up the hair brush that was sitting on her dresser and throwing it at him without another thought or word.

He simply moved to the side, smirking and humming as it whizzed past his head. "And I would take you seriously if you didn't throw things at me every ten seconds."

Sally huffed and folded her arms. "I don't throw things at you every ten seconds. You know as well as I do that I go for every three seconds."

Shadow smirked and laughed, "Such a temper, my friend. It's going to get you in trouble someday."

The princess let out a "ha" and brushed at the air as if to shoo him away. "It'd be much easier to keep my 'temper' in check if I was actually eating like I should be. Do you know how long it's been since I've had a decent meal? I've had nothing but snacks lately."

Shadow chuckled, "Worried about your weight?"

"My dad hasn't let me grab anything for awhile." Sally sighed and shrugged. "Apparently, being irresponsible also means that you're unsafe to be on the streets after dark."

The ebony hedgehog hummed, his arms folded as he pondered. "If you're really so hungry, I'll take you out for a bite. My treat."

Sally's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Sure. It's been awhile since we've hung out anyway."

A smile took over the princess, and she clapped her hands together. "You're the best Shadow!"

He shrugged, "What are friends for?" And with that he stood up and walked to the window, opening it without making a sound. "I'll be waiting by the usual place. Be there in an hour. And make sure you're dressed for the occasion."

Sally simply smiled and nodded, and with that Shadow jumped out the window. Then without another word, Sally started to rummage through her closet. She had the perfect outfit for the occasion…

"Darn it Sonic, wait up for me!" The blue hedgehog—who was currently dressed in a cheerful costume of orange and black—rolled his eyes for the fourteenth time that night. "You know I can't keep up with you!"

Turning in his spot, Sonic sighed and growled. "If you didn't stop every five minutes to fix your hair, there's a possibility that I'd consider waiting for you more often. And it was pretty dumb of you to wear such a fancy dress too… not to mention the heels."

The girl growled as she finally caught up to the blue hedgehog, throwing her fancy sequenced bag out to smack him in the arm. "I'm acting the part, you dummy!" She exclaimed as Sonic threw up his arms in an attempt to block the blow. "I have to look my best, because—"

"Miss Piggy is fabulous, I know, I know! Sheesh, if I would have known you'd be dressed as her, I wouldn't have come with you Amy." Sonic growled, swatting the bag away again as Amy tried once again to hit him.

"She's a diva Sonic, so she can act however she wants!" Amy exclaimed.

"Yeah, but you're not her, so you can't act like such a brat!"

Amy gasped dramatically, and Sonic silently wondered to himself if she was being serious or not. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly growled and shook her head. "I have no idea why I asked you to come along with me."

"Me neither. I thought you were done with trick or treating… and stalking me." Amy sent him a glare that could have put the devil to shame, but it didn't faze the hedgehog. "Besides… shouldn't you be spending Halloween with Cream instead? She is your best friend, after all."

Amy simply threw her gold feather scarf over her shoulder and huffed, "I can do what I want, Sonic Hedgehog! And just to let you know, I will be going over to visit her after I go to the—"

"If you explain your plans to me one more time, I'm going to leave right now and I will not wait for you. You'll never even know where to start looking for me."

The pink teen simply stared at her friend with a glare of resentment and frustration. She growled and furrowed her brow, "Well you're—you're just—you don't—" But she had no idea of how to insult him, so instead, she folded her arms and turned away. "At least I'm not dressed like Tigger."

"I'm least I'm not dressed like a—"

"If you even THINK about finishing that sentence, I WILL use my hammer on your head."

The hedgehog merely sighed, growled, and shook his head. "Let's just go…"

And with that, the two arguing friends made their way down-town…

The way the wind blew Sally's hair would have annoyed her on any other occasion, but with her hair tied back in a clean braid, it felt rather calming instead. It was a cool breeze that was drifting through the air, and if it wasn't for her warm clothes, it easily would have been considered to be cold. At least, it would have been considered cold to anyone not clad in a fancy costume of some sort.

Sally hummed and folded her arms as she gazed about, examining the extent of the rooftop as she let her thoughts wander. She had seen tons of people in fancy costumes throughout her period of waiting, but so far, there had been no sign of Shadow. "What's taking him so long?" She asked aloud to no one in particular. "He's never late…" The girl sighed once again and shook her head, folding her arms in the process.

At the moment, the princess was clad in an outfit of only black; her boots, pants, and jacket were as dark as the moonless night sky. Her hair had been pulled back in a fancy braid that wrapped around her head before hanging down off the side, and a bow and quiver of arrows had been strapped to her back. Her face only harbored a bit of make-up; a bit of eye shadow and mascara to keep her from looking like a total savage. The last thing she wanted was for someone to insult her because she didn't look the part… which was silly, considering that Katniss wasn't a character that wore a lot of make-up.

Of course, given how "smart" people were, they were still going to criticize her on something. Growling at the thought, Sally turned in her spot to gaze up at the sky. Only the stars shone down at the moment, and in a way, it was eerie. Wasn't there supposed to be a full moon on Halloween nights?

"How strange." Sally nearly jumped in her place when she heard his voice, but instead, she simply turned. "No moon on Halloween."

When Sally's eyes met Shadow, she nodded at his words before raising her eyebrows. "You sure went all out."

Shadow's costume was similar to hers in one thing and one thing alone: the color. Other than that, his costume was alien to hers in every way. He was wearing a black tunic, a dark pair of pants, black boots, and a black hat to complete the iconic look of the Hero of Hyrule's shadow. Along with it was a brown belt (some of the only color besides the darkness) and a darkly colored sword and shield attached to his back. Sally didn't doubt that the sword and shield were real.

After a moment of examining each other's outfits, Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Speak for yourself. You brought a real bow. And I'm sure that those arrows aren't exactly dull either, right?"

"You brought a sword. Is that even legal to have on the streets?" He shrugged, and she sighed. Before she could speak again, though, Shadow took a turn to speak.

"So, what are you hungry for?"

Instantly after the words had left his mouth, Sally stood up straight. A subtle smile found its way onto her face, and silently, Shadow smiled a sly smirk in return. The two exchanged a thousand words in-between their glances.

Finally after several seconds of silence, Sally's smile widened into a demonic smirk. "Oh you know. Just a quick snack." Shadow merely chuckled in agreement. Below them on the streets, the sounds of teasing and friendly insults could be heard…

"If you hit me one more time Amy Rose, I swear, I will throw that stupid little purse of yours so far, you will never find it again."

The pink hedgehog simply raised an eyebrow at Sonic. "You will not." She said carelessly, as if his threat was nothing but a challenge. Sonic merely growled.

"I will too. If you don't believe me, then go ahead and—" And as expected, the younger teen proceeded to smack him with her purse once again. Without even stopping to think, Sonic pulled the purse from her grasp, making the young teen gasp yet again.

"Don't you even da—" The purse disappeared in the shadows of the alleyway before she could even finish her sentence. "Darn it!" She exclaimed, sending an icy glare to Sonic immediately afterward. The blue hedgehog simply shrugged.

"I warned you."

Amy merely growled, her hands forming into fists as she shook her head. "I swear Sonic Hedgehog, you're going to drive me insane."

As Amy stomped off down the alleyway, she heard him laugh for the first time that night, "I try, Amy!"

Her teeth gritted tightly together as a result of his taunt. She was going to cave his skull in with her hammer if he kept teasing her like that…

Her plans were going to have to wait for awhile, though, because within five minutes of walking down the alleyway, Amy realized that Sonic's threat had been quite accurate. She hadn't been able to see where the bag had landed, and as a result, she had no idea where her bag was. In fact (giving Sonic's strength), she had no idea if the bag was even in the alleyway anymore. Amy sighed and shook her head at the thought, but proceeded down the alley anyway.

To her pleasant surprise, though, her eyes spotted the silver bag after several seconds of searching. She smiled at the sight of it, and without another word, she dashed off (as best as she could in heels) towards the bag. When something suddenly moved within the shadows next to the bag, however, she let out a gasp—a squeal really—and froze in her place. For a moment, her entire body screamed at her to run away as fast as she could.

"Did I scare you? Sorry. I was just picking this up for you." The figure before her spoke, instantly sending a wave of calm through her body. She watched as he leaned over, "I'm assuming it's yours anyway." He picked the bag up, but before anything else could happen, the contents of the purse slid out and landed on the ground with a series of clinks and pops. She could hear him growl. "Crap."

She found herself smiling softly for some reason at his actions, and she began to move forward once again. Once she was next to him, she joined him in his goal of returning the objects to the purse—several rings, a tube of lipstick, and a few other things—back into their proper places. It took only a few moments with his help to put everything away, and once it was done, he handed the purse to her and smiled.

"Sorry about that."

She simply smiled at the black hedgehog (who she could at least see a little bit of) and nodded. "It's okay. No harm done!"

He nodded in return. "That's good." And for a moment, it was awkwardly silent afterward. "I'm Shadow, by the way."

"Amy. Amy Rose."

Within the silence, the initial instinct to run away kicked in yet again. Instead of following it, though, Amy stood there as she watched him raise an eyebrow and smile a dangerously toothy grin. "Amy… that's a pretty name."

Amy smiled back and opened her mouth to thank him, but the sight of his flawless smile (particularly his canines) caught her attention for some reason and stopped her from talking. His canines were sharpened to a point… like needles, but thicker. For some reason, she laughed at them with a nervous chuckle, "Wow, nice vampire teeth. They look good!"

He smirked. "Thanks. I worked hard on getting them just right."

She smiled back again, though it was a forced action. The feeling of danger creeping up on her was growing stronger with each second, and although she wanted to follow it, she stayed glued in her spot for some reason. Though there was something gnawing at her gut telling her to run, there was something equally powerful telling her not to look away from the hedgehog before her…

Tapping his foot for the fourteen-billionth time within the minute, Sonic growled and finally threw his hands up in the air. "That's it! I'm leaving, Amy! You can get to the store-party-thingy by yourself!" He paused for just a moment to wait (just in case she finally decided to show her face), then shook his head and began to walk off. "Later!" If she was just doing what she usually did, she was going to run after him in a few moments, and she'd start to chew him out like she always did.

Sonic shook his head to himself as he walked down the street and rounded the corner. Such a drama queen, Amy could be sometimes… It drove Sonic insane, how she always had to get her way, especially when she decided to—before he could finish his thought, a blood-curdling scream ripped through the air. It stopped Sonic dead in his tracks, and it sent his heart racing, for he instantly recognized who it belonged to.

Without another thought, Sonic turned on the spot and ran—ran as fast as his legs would carry him—and reached the alley in less than two seconds. As soon as he was there, he called out her name in a loud voice, "Amy!" and stopped to listen. When only silence answered, Sonic ran into the alleyway.

It was beyond dark, but even Sonic could tell that Amy was not there. Even so, his eyes continued to frantically search up and down the walls as he moved farther into the blackness. How could she have disappeared so quickly? Was she playing a joke on him? Her scream had sounded so real, though… but then again, her scream always sounded like that, even if all she saw was a tiny bug…

"Amy! Where are you?"

"She's not here right now." A voice from behind Sonic made him jump three feet in the air and whip back around. His tense shoulders relaxed when he saw who it was—a teenage girl (maybe a squirrel or a chipmunk), probably his age—and he sighed in relief. She smiled at that for some reason, and then spoke again. "She took off."

Sonic stared at the girl and nodded, sighing yet again in the process. "I figured as much."

The girl smiled a sympathetic grin at him and shrugged. "Sorry." And then, suddenly, she folded her arms, making Sonic raise an eyebrow. "But… I think she said something before she left."

"Really?" Sonic paused, "What was it?"

She hummed for a moment before a look of realization—recognition—took over. "Behind you."

Sonic's brows furrowed together. "Behind you? What kind of—"

A force of what had to be a thousand pounds crashed into his chest suddenly, hurling him back into the brick wall behind him. The breath was knocked out of his lungs right then and there, and it was quickly replaced with a wordless gasp. A painful wordless gasp. How on Mobius… what on Mobius? Sonic gritted his teeth together, closing his eyes as he tried to bite back down on the hurting that was echoing throughout his body.

"Well, you're not a very good listener. That's too bad…" The girl's voice rang out once again, and a shiver ran up and downs Sonic's spin as a result. "I was hoping that you would be. But hey…" When she paused dramatically, Sonic reluctantly opened his eyes. About ten in front of him was the chipmunk/squirrel girl, smiling a devilish grin. "Beggars can't be choosers."

Before he could even think about talking, the girl snapped her fingers together, and the feeling of being crushed intensified. He gasped out another wordless breath, and for a moment, Sonic was sure that right then and there, he'd die. His lungs were going to pop, his ribs were going to crack, his heart was going to burst; all the girl would do is laugh. He couldn't even move his finger.

A moment later, though, he realized that the crushing was merely a part of the grand plan; his was a much crueler fate. Blacking out and returning to his regular vision, his breathing becoming heavy and quick; he barely noticed her walking toward him. Only when she directly in front of him did anything go off in his head, and only one word went through his mind. Crap.

"Just do me one favor… stay still. I don't want to ruin either of our costumes." What was she going to do? Was she going to kill him? Why? The girl smiled once again at him as she moved up onto her tip-toes and leaned forward as if to kiss him. He was unable to breathe as he watched her. What exactly was she…?

And then she hissed and he jumped three feet into the air. What on—? She grabbed onto his shoulders suddenly and bared her teeth—sharp fangs—and thrusted her head forward into his neck. A sharp pain shot through his throat immediately afterward, and this time, he couldn't suppress a cry. It hurt like none other. In comparison, the crushing felt like a pillow placed on his body. It hurt… it hurt! And somehow after several seconds of it, the feeling began to spread. It was like liquid fire racing through his veins, somehow still cold enough to freeze him in his place and keep him from speaking.

He was fighting to say on his feet after a few seconds of the girl's… whatever it was she was doing. Consciousness was gradually fading from him as well, and he could feel his body becoming colder. Was he going to die? Was this it? He was going to die by being attacked by a teenage girl of all things? It took a few moments for his mind to react to his own questions, and when they did, an urge to fight bubbled to the surface.

Without taking a moment to think, the blue hedgehog threw his hands up and with all the energy he had, pushed the girl off him. The two stumbled away from each other because of it, but they both regained their balance quickly.

Their gazes fixed upon one another, but neither said anything. Though Sonic didn't know why she wasn't saying anything, Sonic himself knew why he couldn't speak. The girl before him had blood leaking from the corners of her lips, and sharp fangs shaping her scowl. And most surprisingly to him was the fact that her eyes—her blue eyes—were glowing. Up until then, he had never thought of blue eyes to look… evil.

"You're making this hard." When she spoke, Sonic's eyes widened, and his hand involuntarily moved to his neck. He felt warm liquid and he swallowed. She wanted to finish it. She wanted to finish him. He wasn't going to let her.

So without another word, Sonic turned and did what he did best; he ran. He shot off so fast that the sonic boom that followed made the girl fall back onto the ground, gasping and yelping in surprise as a result. Sonic didn't turn back to see it, though, for he was much too busy worrying about his life. Had he lost a lot of blood? Was he going to be able escape? And where was Amy? Sonic shook his head. If she had been attacked…

He growled and did his best to push the thought away. He'd find his friend, he would! No matter what, he wasn't going to let any more of those… those monsters get her. Sonic would find her, and he knew that for a fact. The hedgehog gritted his teeth together and ran faster, but just as he was about to reach his top speed, his throat tightened and—to his shock—his heart clenched up. He gasped aloud and fell, landing on his side, and skidding a good five feet before coming to a stop.

At first, Sonic did his best to get up, but he found out quickly that each breath and every heartbeat kept him from moving. It felt as if his heart was being squeezed and crushed every time it moved. Was… was he having a heart attack? Sonic gripped at his chest, trying his best to take in a deep breath as he laid there. He tried his best to convince himself; he'd be fine, he'd be fine, he'd be fine…

"Sheesh," He was dead. "Did you have to run off so fast? I nearly lost you…" Though it felt nearly impossible to do so, Sonic turned to look up at the girl in black. "You know, if you would have let me finish, you wouldn't be hurting right now."

Sonic found himself unable to reply. Every part of him ached and his throat was his throat was so dry, he could barely breathe. Even if he would have been able to speak, what would he have said? Please don't kill me, or please end it now? No. He wouldn't beg. He wouldn't even give her the satisfaction of hearing him talk.

It was as if she had heard his thoughts, for the girl smiled a wide grin after that. "You're a trooper, are you? I like that." And for just a second, Sonic thought he saw—as she smiled—something mortal about her grin. Like she was genuinely happy… "Name's Sally, by the way. You're going to have to remember it."

Remember it? Why would he have to remember it? The girl smiled again as she got down onto her knees. Ever so carefully, she grabbed his left hand. She opened her mouth and spoke, "You know that the other girl—Amy was it? She lasted longer than you. You know, when you were bitten. I guess it's because your heart beats so much faster…" For a moment, she appeared to have lost herself in thought. "Of course, she screamed."

Sonic's eyes widened once again, but before anything else could be said, Sally sunk her teeth into his wrist. His heart skipped a beat and he gasped from the pain. It doubled and tripled and his heart skipped another beat, and he suddenly found himself becoming very cold… and he saw that Sally was still smiling…

"Sally… Sally? Sally Alicia Acorn, are you there?"

Sally blinked once and shook her head, releasing her from her daze. She turned to look at her mother, who was sitting politely in her chair with her hands in her lap. An expression of disbelief was on her face, as if she couldn't quite grasp the fact that he daughter had actually spaced out on her. "Did you hear my question?" Sally stared and quickly shook her head. Her mother sighed, but repeated it nonetheless. "What did you and Shadow do on Halloween?"

The girl stared for a moment, then smiled a toothy grin at her mother. "Nothing special. We just went out for a bite and made some new friends."

A darkish parody on generic vampire stories. I still can't believe I got myself to write one... :P But hey, whateves! It's all good. B) I had fun with it anyway! And I hope you guys liked it! If not, that's A-Okay. Feel free to review!