I'll Be There

I'll Be There- Part Five

A few hours later, Shadow had opened his eyes to see that he was laying in his bed. Scared and confused, he quickly sat up. 'Where's Maria?' He thought, panicking. 'She HAD to have made it!' He quickly jumped out of bed to see that his best friend, Rouge the Bat, was standing in the doorway. "Hiya, handsome", she said with a wink. Shadow smiled at her, but immediately afterward, fear and worry consumed his heart. "Rouge!" He exclaimed, his voice shaking. "Where's Maria!? Did she make it!? Please tell me you brought her with you!" Rouge was silent. She closed her eyes and looked at the ground, her ears flattening onto her head. "Shadow..." she began, feeling destitute. "After Maria had her chat with you, she... made it into heaven." Shadow's expression quickly turned into a mixture of shock and depression. "W-what?" He studdered, hardly able to comprehend the news he'd just heard. Rouge nodded sympathetically. "Maria is gone, now", she said, feeling sorry for her friend. "Please, try not to feel too bad. You were the last person she ever got to speak to." After that statement, Rouge said no more. She could tell by the look in Shadow's eyes that he'd fully comprehended everything she's said. Hearing this news made Shadow's heart feel a pain he's never felt. It was the equivalent of a bullet penetrating his chest, if not one hundred times worse.  At that moment, he came to the realization that he'd never be able to see his best friend again. Maria was the one thing in the world that had made him truly happy, but now she was gone forever. Feeling very upset, Shadow covered his depressed expression with a look of anger and resentment. "Go", he ordered the bat, seriously and angrily. Rouge looked shocked. 'Why is he so mad at me?' She thought. "Shadow-" she began. "I SAID GO!" Shadow demanded, interrupting Rouge's sentence. Rouge's ears flattened once more. She didn't understand why Shadow was so upset with her. She was only trying to help. Right now, all she wanted to do was stay by his side, hugging him and soothing him until he felt a bit better about life. She just wanted to see Shadow happy and smiling again. But at the same time, no matter how good her thoughts seemed, she had to push them out of her mind for now, or she may never see a hint of joy in the black hedgehog again. Rouge proceeded to hang her head low, and slowly exited her best friend's room.