Ashley the Hedgehog

Prologue: Monday, January 25, 2010
Ashley the Hedgehog's point of view

Two paces after entering my house, I knew there was a different air to it. Though it was a foreign smell, it was comforting. A few seconds later, I recognized the scent as lavender. As I arrived in the family room, I was surprised to see my brother, Sonic, sitting down and watching the television.
I raised my hands in confusion, pretending to waft around the wonderful-smelling air.
"Amy's been here," he explained. I plopped down in the seat next to him, and made sure to sniff the hair right underneath his ear; he smiled.
"So...what are we going to do now?" I asked.
"I just kind of light sitting here...and relaxing. We don't get to do too much of that anymore," my brother responded.
"Okay," I said, snaking my hand over his lap, secretly reaching for the remote. "That sounds cool."
"Glad you like the idea," he said, smiling.
I finally made it to the remote, snatching it, and changing it to the comedy channel. He just gave me an awkward glance for a moment, as he had been tied up in the show we were previously watching.
"Calm down," I sighed. "Scrubs is on, and it's a new episode."

lol, okay. Not bad I guess.

Thanks. I'm planning to get a chapter up tonight after finishing my Social Studies/Spanish homework.

Nice start!

Pretty light-hearted so far, which isn't bad.

I can't say much about it yet, though. It's not far enough along to do any sort of in-depth critique, but I'm liking where it's going, even if it is Scrubs (I hate that show). XD

Nice job!

Also, maybe make the next chapter a little longer, hmm? It's hard to get into a story that's barely there, if you know what I mean.

Chapter One: Thursday, January 28, 2010

"Gotcha, Ashy!" Ashley heard, seconds after feeling hands pull her back into conciseness.
"Hm?" she asked, looking up into her brother's green eyes. The same as hers.
"I decided to wake you up," he said, smiling as he returned his gaze to the floor ahead. He set Ashley down on the sofa, which she expected to take at least a minute.
"How did we get down so...." she said, staring around. She hadn't felt him running.
"Uh, you fell asleep in my bed," he admitted.
Ashley blushed. "I'm real sorry--"
"It's fine. You and your internal heating system kept me warm."
"Okay," she said, smiling. "Please plug me into the docking system, as my battery is low."
"No, I'm going to make your battery die. Saves the battery life," he objected, walking into the kitchen. Ashley stood up after he had gotten a few feet in front of her, and she followed him in and sat down at the table.
"You're going to make breakfast?" Ashley asked. "This requires clarification."
"I have rights to make food, too," he said, opening the pantry.
"If you think so," she said. "So, are we going to have any guests for breakfast or something?"
"No, why?" Sonic replied with a question.
"...Just wondering," Ashley said, truthfully denying to have expected anyone for breakfast.
"Alright," he said, preheating the stove. "What do you want?"
"I'll make it while you make whatever you're having," she said, pulling the cabinet door from the base.
"Sure," he said.
They sat down for their breakfast.
"So, what's our plan for today?" Ashley asked.
"...I have bad news."

Wait...is Ashley a robot? I must've missed that detail.

Cliffhanger... D:

Hayzer wrote:Wait...is Ashley a robot? I must've missed that detail.

Cliffhanger... D:

LOL. She's not a robot. They were just joking; all siblings believe at some point that the other is a robot, no matter which age that comes at.

Ash The Hedgehog wrote:

Hayzer wrote:Wait...is Ashley a robot? I must've missed that detail.

Cliffhanger... D:

LOL. She's not a robot. They were just joking; all siblings believe at some point that the other is a robot, no matter which age that comes at.

Oh, okay. That clears up some confusion. XD

Chapter 2: January 28, 2010

"Hm?" Ashley said, halting the process of eating her cereal--which she had picked out due only to the lack of other food in the house--and stared into her brother's deep, green, identical eyes.
"You put a lot into Project Jared," he said, "right?"
"Of course" was all she could say, waiting for the truth to come out.
"Well, we were just about ready, so Tails tried today...there were some, er, complications...bottom line is, Tails is in a coma and Jared blames himself. I doubt you'll--we'll--be talking to either of them very soon.
She stared, speechless for a moment, when she darted to the phone and punched in Jared's number.
"Don't have a heart attack!" Sonic said, stepping to her side.
"Easier said than done," she grunted as the rings from the other end of the line went dead and she hit the voice mail system.
She slammed the receiver back onto its base, and Sonic worried for a moment that she had crushed the phone.
Ashley spun around to face him for a moment, and then, hissed: "Couldn't they see this coming?"
"Actually, they could. You didn't think Tails would've prepared for basically anything that could happen? He made a solution for getting people out of comas--it's proven very effective, with you, me, and a whole lot of other people...but some idiot decided to call the police and he's in the hospital."
"Why not just bring him the medicine? They should let us in."
"Well, when we go in there and ask them to administrate foreign medicine to an eight year old without any authority, they're going to say no. And if they test it, they'll waste the whole thing figuring out what it is; and the only person who knows how to make it is the person in the coma himself. It's an...impossible question."
"This is as crazy as...as...UGH!" Ashley said, storming upstairs.

One hour later:

Ashley had fallen asleep upstairs, and came down forty five minutes later after drifting off. She had began to cook, something or other, for lunch. Cooking was her way of relieving stress--at least, her non-violent way of relieving stress.
This is all my fault. I shouldn't have been so greedy...couldn't I have just left Jared the way he was? Anyway, if he comes back, what's going to happen to me and Will? Ashley thought. Soon, her thoughts snowballed from the present dilemma to finding ways to blame herself from every current issue in the world.
"OUCH! DAMMIT!" she cried, suddenly breaking the silence.
"What's up?" Sonic asked, not bothering to break his gaze from the television.
"I cut myself," she sighed. "Never mind."
She remembered back to when she could actually have a long amount of pain from being cut, but ever since her abduction when she was two, there was nothing that could penetrate her hard enough to cause her to bleed. She had an operation to get her tonsils removed when she was around six, and they were absolutely shocked to see that inside, all of her bones were bleached white. There was absolutely no part of her, internal or external, that was covered in blood. It was not her skin that was strong; it was simply the fact that her veins were indestructible.
Why wasn't I paying attention to where I was cutting? She began to criticize herself again.
"My God, Ash, what the heck is wrong with you?" Sonic suddenly snapped. Ash turned in shock, not expecting his sudden outburst. She suddenly realized, far too late, that he was coming at her.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked, struggling to keep him off her throat as he pinned her to the wall.
Her brother went limp, falling to the floor. She dropped to her knees, and tried to rest his head on her lap, and felt his pulse. It was steady, and hadn't even picked up at all.
"That's not right," she whispered as her older brother's fingers twitched.

Chapter 3: January 28, 2010

"Ugh...." Ashley said, waking up three hours after falling asleep for no apparent reason.
"Ashy?" Sonic asked, waking up when she began to stir underneath him. "What happened?"
"You attacked me, and then you passed out, and then I must have fallen asleep," Ashley explained.
"What? I attacked you?" he requested clarification.
"You...you snapped at me and then you came at me. And pinned me to the wall."
"I'm very sorry," he said, tenderly touching her ribs. "This feels like a break."
Ashley winced when he handled her ribs. "You're right, it does...you either pushed me really hard or you weigh slightly too much."
He sat up, and carried her onto the sofa.
"Can we dress it here or do you want to go in?" he asked of his sister's approval.
"Well, we want to fix it before it heals wrong," she said, and Sonic got the message. He dialed Will's number in the phone, and requested that he come over as soon as possible.
"I just wonder why you would've done that," she pondered, thinking deeply into the subject. The pain in her ribs was a minor problem at the moment.
"I don't remember doing such a thing," her brother interjected. "Maybe I was being possessed or something."
"Sure seemed like it," Ashley said. "For a moment, I could have sworn your eyes were red."
"That's really creepy," Sonic said, poking his head out the door to see if he had arrived yet.
"Well, it's over now, isn't it?" asked Ashley.
"I sure hope so," he said, holding the door open for Will as he walked in, one strap of his backpack resting on his shoulder.
"Let's see what we've got," he said, sitting down next to Ashley and placing her head on his lap. He felt around the injury for a moment, then inhaled sharply.
"This is bad...."

Ash The Hedgehog wrote:"Hm?" Ashley said, halting the process of eating her cereal--which she had picked out due only to the lack of other food in the house--and stared into her brother's deep, green, identical eyes.
"You put a lot into Project Jared," he said, "right?"
"Of course" was all she could say, waiting for the truth to come out.
"Well, we were just about ready, so Tails tried today...there were some, er, complications...bottom line is, Tails is in a coma and Jared blames himself. I doubt you'll--we'll--be talking to either of them very soon.
She stared, speechless for a moment, when she darted to the phone and punched in Jared's number.
"Don't have a heart attack!" Sonic said, stepping to her side.
"Easier said than done," she grunted as the rings from the other end of the line went dead and she hit the voice mail system.
She slammed the receiver back onto its base, and Sonic worried for a moment that she had crushed the phone.
Ashley spun around to face him for a moment, and then, hissed: "Couldn't they see this coming?"
"Actually, they could. You didn't think Tails would've prepared for basically anything that could happen? He made a solution for getting people out of comas--it's proven very effective, with you, me, and a whole lot of other people...but some idiot decided to call the police and he's in the hospital."
"Why not just bring him the medicine? They should let us in."
"Well, when we go in there and ask them to administrate foreign medicine to an eight year old without any authority, they're going to say no. And if they test it, they'll waste the whole thing figuring out what it is; and the only person who knows how to make it is the person in the coma himself. It's an...impossible question."
"This is as crazy as...as...UGH!" Ashley said, storming upstairs.

Hehe, pretty funny.

Chapter 4: January 28, 2010

"OW!" Ashley screamed as Will accidentally handled the injury slightly too roughly.
"Sorry, sorry," he said, thinking the situation over.
"Well, whadda we do now?" Ashley asked. As happy as she was to have Will over, she was annoyed at both of the boys in the room equally.
"Feels like you detached this one from the main bone and then it cracked in half," Will explained.
"Will I have to go to the hospital?" Ashley asked nervously.
"Probably," Will admitted.
"I'M NOT GONNA FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS, EVER!" she suddenly screamed, jumping up and grabbing her brother by the shoulders. Seconds later, they both collapsed to the floor.
"What?" Will asked, sitting down by the two. Their pulses had not changed at all, and nothing seemed to be wrong--except for the fact that they had passed out. He dialed the hospital.
After dressing Ashley's rib as best as he could, he counted the seconds until the ambulance finally arrived, carrying the two off. They let him on to the ambulance, and allowed to stay with his best friend and girlfriend.
Halfway to the hospital, Ashley began to stir, soon followed by her brother.
"Are you alright? You just charged at Sonic," Will said.
"Like...like he did to me?" Ashley asked.
"Your eyes were red for a moment there," Sonic choked.
"They were?" Ashley panicked. She winced when her sharp inhale brushed her rib.
"Relax, guys. I'll get it and it'll be gone," Will said, trying to bring humor into the situation. The two stared at him, and he suddenly felt out of place.
"Sorry, sorry," he mumbled as the ambulance was parked and they were taken in. Sonic ended up walking out, carrying his sister.
Ashley was brought into a room, and nurses came in occasionally to take her temperature and check her blood pressure. They continued to pray that none of the nurses would decide to do a blood check, or that her condition wouldn't require surgery. However, it seemed as if the nurses weren't sure.
There was a small knock on the door, and Amber strode into the room.
"You again?" she said, taking in the trio.

The three smiled. "Nice to see you, Amber," Sonic said, seemingly the only one with enthusiasm in his eyes.
"Nice to see you too," Amber replied. "Just, not nice to see you here. Well, what's wrong?"
"I broke my rib," Ashley stated. Amber felt her broken rib, and grimaced.
"This doesn't feel promising," she muttered. Amber turned to Ashley, and Will, her younger brother. "Have you two been up to anything?" Amber asked with a smile.
"Of course not," Ashley said, trying not sound offended.
"Just checking," she said, turning to a cabinet to look for something to wrap the bone with. "Here we go," she said, and Ashley sat up so she could wrap the fabric around her injury.
"I'm going to have to put your arm in a sling," Amber explained, searching for one in the overcrowded cabinet. She successfully found one, and helped Ashley put it on.
"May I ask why?" Ashley asked.
"Just so that when you move your arm, it doesn't tug on the bone. Nothing really that bad; it's just to apply some pressure on it so it doesn't move around."
"Okay," Ashley said, and the three got ready to leave.
"Well, my shift is just about over," Amber said, glancing at her watch. "Can I treat you guys to dinner?"
"Sure," Sonic said, and they followed Amber out the door and down the twisting halls. Ashley felt a vibration in her pocket, and answered the call.
"Hello?" she said. The number was unfamiliar, but one of her friends could've just gotten a new phone.
"Am I speaking to Ashley?" a gruff voice said on the other end.
"Uh, yes," Ashley answered. "That's me."
"Good," the voice grunted. "Because you're friend is next."
The line went dead.
Ashley hung up.
"Change of plans, guys," Ashley said. "...Maybe I should make dinner tonight."
"Sure," Amber said. Everyone knew something was wrong, but they didn't object. Ashley was a good cook.

Ashley absentmindedly stirred the boiling angel hair on the stove, not paying much attention to the various spices and seasonings she casually threw in.
A sharp knocking on the front door interrupted the friendly background noise of the television, and friends chatting.
"I got it," Sonic said, standing up and unlocking the deadbolt.
"Hello," the gray cat outside the door said, keeping a straight face though he fought the urge to smile.
"Um, hi," Sonic replied.
"May I come in?" the cat asked.
"Sure," Sonic said, stepping out of the way. "What's your name?"
"My name is Comet," he said, "and you are?"
"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic introduced himself.
"Is Ashley here?" he asked. Will, hearing a strange boy asking for Ashley, growled.
"I'm right here," Ashley called from the kitchen, turning the stove off with a click and setting the pot on the island.
Comet strode into the kitchen, and faced Ashley.
"Hello; I've heard about you, and I'm pleased to finally meet you."
Ashley didn't know what to say, and stared at him for a moment.
Comet smiled.

Man, this is pretty good. Keep it up.

Oooh...

*likes where this is going*

"Um...hi," Ashley said, staring into Comet's blue eyes.
"Hello," Comet said. "I am here for personal reasons, to answer your question."
It dawned on Ashley that the stranger was a mind reader. Better keep my credit number out of my head, Ashley thought, and Comet smiled.
"You must understand that I am here for your own good," Comet insisted. "I have faint images of the future. I warn people."
Ashley gulped. "What's going to happen?"
"Something will tear through you. You'll hurt. That's all I know; the future comes to me in riddles."
"I...I'm going to die?" Ashley asked, her breath escaping in ragged pants.
"I said nothing about death," he said. "And from what I see, you're not going to die."
Ashley sighed in relief. "Well, thanks for the warning. Do you want to stay for dinner?"
"That would be quite nice," Comet replied. "I and I might have to come often. You seem to get in trouble a lot."
"I know," she responded with a smile.
Everyone stared at Comet the entire time they ate, and soon everyone was ready to go.
"Well, I better give Tails the medicine before the hospital closes," Amber said, breaking the eerie silence.
Will nodded, placed his plate in the sink and smiled at his friends as he walked out. He showed no signs of realizing Comet was even there, and Ashley was a little glad. Shortly after, Comet climbed into his silver car and drove away.
They watched the two cars leave. Soon, a white car had pulled up in front of their house and the front window rolled down.
The only thing the twins saw was the metallic circle facing them.
A gun.

Oh wow. This is what you meant, eh?
...Am I the only one who thought of Silver when you said silver car? :P

Two rounds ripped out, and it wasn't until Ashley felt something pass out her back that she realized she'd been shot. Her brother lay on the ground, his breathing labored, bleeding from a small bullet hole to the left of his stomach.
Before tending to her brother, Ashley stared with pure rage into the eyes of the shooter. With a flick of her wrist, the doors and the trunk flew off and clattered on the asphalt. The man in the driver's seat got his gun loaded and cocked, but Ashley shattered the dashboard and the men sped off. In the distance, sirens echoed off the darkened streets.
Ashley dropped to her knees, and placed her hands on Sonic's head. Ashley tore off her jacket, which seemed hardly bad at all, even with it being her favorite jacket.
She ripped it in half, and wadded up one side, applying pressure to his bullet wound. Ashley took the other stripped and wrapped it around his injury, and waited in silence.


As soon as they appeared, the police shoved the two kids into the ambulance, and despite Ashley's telling them that they didn't have any parents, they searched the house anyway.
"We don't have parents!" Ashley screamed.
"Child neglect," the seemingly naïve cop concluded.
Ashley growled, but cool hands pulled her back into the ambulance. They injected her with a sedative, and drove away.

Waking up two hours later didn’t help Ashley’s sleep deprived mind at all.

Though her eyes struggled to stay open, she was determined to find out what’d happened to her brother.

There was a bandage around her waist, though she didn’t need it. Thankfully, she wasn’t hooked up to any IVs that would slow down her escape. The first thing she did before setting out to find Sonic was slipping out of the annoying bandage that made it hard for her to move.

As always, the “wound” where the bullet had entered had simply turned white. It would take the normal amount of time for a bullet wound to heal for it to turn back to her normal color, but she didn’t really care. It wouldn’t be exposed by her shirt, anyway.

She wandered down the wing, trying to peer without staring into rooms with open doors.

It was sad, what she saw. Most of the kids were her age, some with visible wounds, others with what she assumed were diseases.

But…how come they’re all in the same ward? Isn’t there a separate one for diseases?

Then, she realized there was something they all had in common. The people with wounds didn’t have blood stains on their bandages. The people with diseases were walking around, without IVs.

This was the ward for the “special” people.

Ashley suddenly felt herself hyperventilating, and soon she knew that her brother was probably already undergoing surgery. She was stuck, right where she was. They weren’t going to let her out; they weren’t going to let her pick her brother up from surgery and take him home instead of leaving him in the care of these strangers.

She dashed to the reception desk, and the attendant looked up from her papers casually. Aparently, cardiac arrest didn't seem like much of a threat to the patients in this ward.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Where's my brother?" Ashley panicked.

"I need his name," the attendant said, obviously bored.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," she panted.

"He's in the other wing," the attendant retorted. "Now, you need to go back to your room."

Ashley nodded slowly, and returned to her room



***



Ashley stared around the room and counted the seconds.

Ashley stared around the room and counted the minutes.

Ashley stared around the room and counted her breaths.

Ashley stared around the room and counted her heartbeats.

Finally, her hand had such the urge to move that her arm twitched to the television remote, which was connected to her bed. She flipped through the channels, failing to find anything that seemed interesting the slightest bit. Suddenly, the Electric Discharge logo flashed by her eyes, in the corner of the news screenshot. She returned to the station.

"Electric Discharge's concert sweepstake's Las Vegas preformance has been temporarily cancelled, due to the lead guitarist and her brother being temporarily hospitalized after becoming victims of a drive-by shooting. The boy is undergoing surgery right now, and is expected to be out in less than a week, but the girl is in an interesting situation. Stay tuned to hear more."

Ashley decided to listen to the following story, about her and realized sadly that her English teacher's 10-year-old, Electric Discharge obsessed daughter, had been the winner of the sweepstakes by chance only. She knew that they would always make it up, though, and that it would all be okay. If they ever let her out of the hospital.

"Ashley the Hedgehog and her brother Sonic have been victims of a recent drive-by shooting," the female news reporter said, standing right in front of their house, which had "POLICE LINE: DO NOT CROSS" tape littered everywhere. "Sonic is undergoing surgery to remove the bullet, while Ashley is stuck in a rather strange situation. She will be kept in the hospital until further notice, due to the fact that she does not bleed. Yes, when doctors tried to take a blood sample to figure out why she didn't have a bullet wound, no blood was removed and they were not able to collect a sample. When undergoing surgery to find the cause of this, there was no blood covering her organs at all. It all flowed through her veins, as if they'd not just been cut apart. The only sign that she was ever shot was a small discoloration where the bullet wound should have been."

Great. Now, they were on to her and she would be spending the rest of her life in the mental ward.

Very interesting. This is getting really good.

A headache began to form in Ashley's head, and she groaned in protest. She planned to open the window, but the window was glued shut. They must not want to lose their experiment victims, she thought, and returned to the uncomfortable bed.
Ashley stood up, and went back to the front desk. The woman looked up at her this time, perhaps knowing that she was one of their "special" patients.
"Can I help you?" Ashley was asked.
"When can I get out?" Ashley growled.
"I'm not sure," the woman lied. "You'll probably be able to leave when your condition stabilizes.
"Are you kidding? I'm perfectly fine--you people just don't want anyone in this wing to leave, do you? 'Cause we're all freaks, aren't we?"
The woman was speechless.
Ashley glared at her, and gave her the look. The attendant shuddered when Ashley's eyes turned gray, and she moved to the "call" button.
Down the hall, Ashley heard a "crack" and a scream. Before she knew it, her legs were in motion and she was running.

Woah, what happened? I'm quite curious to know.

There was shouting from the employees behind her, and suddenly there were other footsteps in the hallway, some in sync to hers.
She was too scared to see what the crack had been, and was thankful that whatever it had been that it wasn’t her.
Ashley pushed her way out of the door, and zipped down the labyrinth of corridors until she found a door into the outside world. She was about to dash out, when she realized that there was a news van parked outside, with reporters and cameramen climbing out. She began to run the other way, to see if there was a back exit that she could take without being noticed.
Since her brother would be let out whenever he wanted to be, she didn’t stop to get him. For all she knew, they might have still been stitching Sonic up.
There was no way she wanted to go back to the mental ward, but she was kind of confused as to what to do now. If she went home, she would be found when the electricity for the empty house spiked. If she went to one of her friend’s houses, they would be the first place the police would look for the escaped patient. For someone who was usually quite good at running and hiding, Ashley had no idea what to do.
So she went to the one place she had.
The club house had originally belonged to Sonic, Jared, and herself, and had later welcomed Tails, who at the age of five turned the place into what could only be described as a lair.
She pulled the almost broken door, and wasn’t all that surprised to see Tails sitting in the center of the room with his back faced to the door.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Ash!” Tails said, turning around. “I thought you were never going to come out!”
“That’s what they thought, too,” Ashley said with a smirk.
“Is Sonic gonna be okay?” Tails asked.
“Of course,” Ashley said. “He’ll be let out when he wants too,” Ashley sighed.
“Well, aren’t they looking for you now?” Tails asked.
“Yes, but they’re not going to find me, are they?” Ashley replied with a small smile.
“I was just scared that I wasn’t going to see you again,” Tails said softly. “Well, Jared’s downstairs and Will’s at home. He’s been pretty down since they took you away.”
“Well, let’s invite him over and I’ll make us something,” Ashley said, kicking the wall a couple time until she hit the right panel. Behind her, Tails laughed quietly. Everyone else but Ashley had always been able to open the panel on the first try.
Jared smiled sadly when he saw Ashley on top, and she jumped down and they hugged. The only reason that Jared and Ashley secretly wanted to keep him as a ghost was the fact that now, Ashley had fallen in love with Will, and though it seemed that they would be in competition they were really good friends.
Will was slightly scared that when Jared came back, she would fall for her lost friend, but he kept the worry hidden.
Since Jared had died, however, he had met a ghost girl named Lise who he had fallen in love with, thinking that he would never get back with Ashley. If Jared was able to return, they would bring back Lise, who had also died of cancer.
The reason that they didn’t need a fake body was that Jared could appear as a normal person, but not for extremely long. If the machine could do its work while Jared solidified himself, then that was how he would appear when the process was done.
While Lise and Jared loved each other, Ashley was still Jared’s preference. Lise understood, as she was in the same situation and they knew that it was going to work out for them.
“I thought they weren’t letting you out,” Jared said.
“Well, they weren’t,” Ashley replied. “I did.”

Nice, but it feels like quite a bit was revealed regarding Jared and whatnot in a quick manner. Probably should have been explained better or something.