Rise of the Nightmares

Chapter 6

Despite the surrounding darkness, she continued to run. Kate was being chased, and she didn't want to get caught. Her only thought was to flee, evade capture, and evade him.

As she ran down the dark hallway, she could hear him chasing her. the sound of her footsteps echoed, but strangely, despite how she was being chased by him, she couldn't hear the sound of him running after her.

"You can't escape!" she heard him angrily shout.

Kate spotted a door, and she reached for it, as she could feel something cold grab her arms and try to pull her away from what could be safety. She let out a panicked scream as she felt the cold air touch her skin.

Kate woke up, gasping from her nightmare as she did. She shook a little, and that's when she heard someone snoring a few feet away from her. Lying on the cold hard ground was Knuckles, who was sound asleep.

Kate took a few seconds to look around. She forgot that she had accepted Knuckles's offer to hide out on Angel Island while she needed a break from the Mushroom Kingdom. They had arrived in the wee hours of the morning, where it was still dark out. Knuckles had given her a spare sleeping back he had, and told her to use it since they would be sleeping outside nearby the Master Emerald.

It was chilly outside, and after having her nightmare, Kate felt colder than she normally would if she was just out in the middle of the night. She shivered a little bit and tried to crawl back into her sleeping bag, hoping to try to get some more sleep.

But it was to no avail. As she lied down in her sleeping bag, Kate teared up a little, remembering how she had her argument with Shadow and Rouge.

The whole time, she thought that her amnesia was caused by however she got here in the first place. So to discover that the very people who found her and who had been trying to keep her safe since she first ended up here were the real cause of her losing her memories, it horrified her.

Maybe Shadow and Rouge did mean it when they said it was to protect her, but that didn't make her any less angry with them. She was still furious on how they could keep such a thing from her.

Right now, she needed to take a break from the Mushroom Kingdom. She needed space from Shadow and Rouge, for she couldn't trust them right now, and probably, she may never be able to trust them ever again.

The familiar feeling of daylight touched his face, causing Knuckles to wake up. Fighting the feeling of drowsiness, Knuckles was about to get up and start stretching, ready for his first day back to guarding the Master Emerald.

But as he tried to move, he felt something lying next to him on his right side, holding his arm. Knuckles turned his head, and that's when he saw that at some point in the night, Kate had moved to lie down next to him, and she was hugging his arm.

The echidna blushed in a deep shade of red when he saw that his new girlfriend was lying right next to him.

'Sweet Chaos! I know we agreed to take things slow, but I didn't think she'd want to lay down with me already!' he thought.

Knuckles let out a small sigh, trying to calm down.

'Try not to freak out, Knuckles! Maybe she just got cold last night. I mean, she hasn't ever slept outside like this probably, so she just needed some warmth. This doesn't mean we did anything crazy or whatever. But I probably should move away from her in case she thinks that... what am I thinking?! I doubt Kate would think that! Still, I gotta get up, and I can't wake her up...' he thought.