Sonic: Earthbound

Chapter 3

Somewhere Alex's phone buzzed. Her hand fumbled clumsily in the dark until her fingers brushed her lamp, which sprung to life at her touch, bathing her bedroom in a soft warm glow. She had fallen asleep, and in a pretty deep one, too, from the looks of it. Her hair was plastered against one cheek and her Sonic plushie, which she never remembered grabbing, was matted with drool.

"Oh man... Sorry, Sonic," she mumbled, setting him aside and reminding herself to put him in the washing machine later. She found her phone buried beneath the pillows and swiped the screen. She had two missed calls from her aunt and, just now, a text.

CALL YOUR MOTHER!

Alex ran a hand down her face and groaned. She quickly texted back.

Calling now.

She scrolled through her contacts list until she found 'Mom,' and hit the call button. The phone rang twice before her mother answered.

"Hey, Mom," Alex greeted, trying to sound more awake than she felt. "No, no, I'm fine," she said quickly. "Really. I promise. Doctor did scans and everything. He said there's nothing to worry about. Just a mild concussion."

Alex rose to her feet and slowly paced the room, running a hand through her hair "Yeah, exactly. So there's no need to worry, okay? More importantly, Mom... How are you doing?"

Alex chatted for about 10 minutes before her mom started to get tired.

"It's okay, Mom. You just get some rest, all right? I'll visit this weekend."

Just as Alex ended the call, another text message came through. This one from Diane Sully, her swim coach.

You missed practice again. Big swim meet next week! Don't forget! Hope you're practicing!

With a groan, Alex dropped her phone on the bed and ran to the bathroom to don her bathing suit. She couldn't believe she'd missed another practice. First, it was because she agreed to fill in for a sick coworker for a late weekday shift that conflicted with practice, but it was too late to get out of. Coach Sully had let her off the hook for that one. And no doubt if she explained the reason for missing the second one, her coach would be more than understanding. Still, missing two practices this early in the year was a recipe for failure. If she wasn't in good shape by the meet, she could get kicked off the team and there'd go her scholarship.

Alex quickly changed and grabbed her towel. This time of night, she'd have the community pool all to herself. And the nights had been unusually warm for September. It was the perfect time to practice. She slipped on her sandals and grabbed her keys and headed out, locking the door behind her. On the bed, her phone screen lit up, signaling an incoming call, but she wasn't there to answer. The caller left a voicemail.

"Miss Parker... It's Dr. Gallagher. I was taking a second look at your MRI scans and saw something peculiar I hadn't noticed before. I don't necessarily think it's a cause for alarm, but erring on the side of caution, I'd like it if you could come in and retake some scans. Please call me back when you get this message."

***

As Alex went for a late-night swim in the public pool, something extraordinary was happening in Scottstown. High in the night sky, there was a bright white flash. Engaged as she was in swimming laps, Alex never saw it. If she had, it might have looked very familiar to her, given her recent experience inside the REMgage. The bright flash deposited something through the fabric of space. A figure plummeted through the night sky, limp and unconscious. As he fell, the air whipping against his face awoke him. A pair of large green eyes fluttered open.