Chapter 6:
Chapter 6, "The worst years of life":
Janet, after crying to herself, hears a thump come from Sonic's room, and she runs up to see if he is okay. 'Mabey he threw something down in his anger.... no... Sonic isn't like that, what could that have been?' She opens the door, and screams as she watches in horror as Sonic slowly suffocates from the rope he was hanging from. Acting quickly, she opens his drawer, finds a knife, and, grabbing onto him, cuts the rope.
As she cuts it, they both fall to the ground, Sonic gasping for air. Before Janet says anything, Sonic screams, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!?" He covers his face and starts to cry hysterically. Janet, who was about to give Sonic a tongue-lashing, sighs as she whips her hair back, and she places a hand on Sonic's back. She rubs her hand on his back as she pulls her phone out. The rest of the kids rushed to the door, but Janet held a hand up to stop them from interfering with the situation.
She dials 9-1-1 on the phone, and after explaining the situation to the operator, sits with Sonic until the ambulance arrived. Sonic was taken to the mental intsitution, and after confirming that Sonic had not hurt himself TOO bad, admitted him. Over a 2 year 'rehabilitation course', Sonic went through therapy, medical treatment, and even specially designed school. Throughout the whole thing, people constantly came in and tried to get him to turn himself over to god, and he always turned them down; one time, someone started screaming that he needed to be placed in a straight camp.
After the course, he was evaluated by a few therapists, they then cleared him. He was released 2 days later, and he went back to the foster home, where a warm welcome awaited him. To his dismay, however, Shadow was not there. Apparantly, Shadow was told about Sonic going to the hospital, and he didn't respond. This made Sonic upset, but he tried to put it out of his mind. Sonic was turning 16 in a week and a half, and soon after his birthday, he went to get his liscense.
2 years soon passed, and life was perfect for Sonic... well, almost perfect. He graduated highschool, and he even started writing books, but he was missing something important in his life: Shadow. He had not heard from Shadow in almost 5 years now, and no matter how hard he tried, Sonic couldn't help but think about him. For his 18th birthday, Terrance bought Sonic a car, with help from the rest of his friends, of course. Sonic was amazed by it, and he repeatedly thanked eveyone for it.
Later on, Terrance pulled him to the side to talk. "Sonic, you do realize that you can't live here anymore, right?" Sonic frowns, but nods, "Yeah, I know.... But I don't know where I could go..." Terrance smiles, "I hear New York City is wonderful this time of year... why don't you try there?" Sonic shrugs, "I don't know, it's pretty far away-" "I'll drive you, and pay for the gas if you want." Terrance interrupts. Sonic raises his eyebrow, "Okay... But I'm still not sure-" Terrance interrupts again, "But 'IT'S WONDERFUL THIS TIME OF YEAR'..." He winks, and Sonic, still confused, said, "Okay, sounds great."
A few hours later, Sonic said his goodbye's and got in his car with Terrance. Terrance drove, and neither talked much at all during the 18 hour drive. They only stopped for food and bathroom breaks. When they arrived at the New York City Airport, Sonic sighed as he got out of the car, along with Terrance. "Well old buddy, looks like this is the end of the road for you and me." Terrance said. He smiled at Sonic, and Sonic smiled back as they shook hands. "Hey Terrance, what did you mean by 'It's lovely this time of year', because it's FREEZING out here. You must've drove me here for another reason."
Terrance paused for a moment, then laughed and responded, "You know, could you do me a favor Sonic?" Sonic nodded, "Sure, what?" Terrance rubbed his hands togeather to gain heat, "I think you would be a great writer, and I want you to go and try to publish something. I'm serious, I want you to do this... for me. Can you do that for me?" Sonic thought it over for a moment, then shrugged, "Sure. I don't know if I would be any good, but i'll give it my best shot, I promise."
Terrance smiled, and shook Sonic's hand once more, then walked off without a word, leaving Sonic still confused and dumbfounded by Terrance's strange behavior. He shrugged it off, got in his car, then drove off in search of somewhere he could sleep for the night. The first place he saw was a Holiday Inn, and being so tired, he stopped there. Sonic rented a room, walked to it, went inside, and plopped on the bed.
After resting for a few moments, he dug through his bag in search of his prized possesion. He finally found it, and carefully placed the small box on the nightstand. It contained Shadow's birthday gift, and a picture of him and Shadow. Sonic sighed, knowing that he should let Shadow go; he knew that he would most-likely never see him again, but some part of Sonic still held hope.
Sonic yawned heavily, 'It's late, I should get to bed so I can get an early start tomorrow. I guess I have to go try to find a job first. I can't write with no income, and I did promise Terrance.' Sonic kicked his shoes off, and after undressing, climbed into bed. He glanced at the box sitting on the nightstand and sighed sadly, 'Oh Shadow... will I ever find you?' He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
More to come! Thamks for reading, feel free to post or comment, and do read on!
