23. Runaway

Molly – April 2, 2036, 9:13 P.M.

I carefully opened the door to Mom's bedroom and peeked inside. Once I made sure she was fast asleep, I sneaked downstairs with my backpack, put on my raincoat and boots, and went to get my bicycle from the backyard. Right before I took off onto the streets, I glimpsed backed at the house and bitterly muttered, "Bye, Mom."

I was traveling to Dutres so I could live with my dad. I love him more than anyone else in the world but I almost never get to see him anymore— ever since he had to move away, Mom wouldn't allow me to see or visit him. Even Uncle Sonic doesn't want him near us even though he was good friends with him in the past. Fortunately, Dad lives with my aunt and other uncle, whose address I knew: 7 Masem Street.

Dutres is pretty far from Station Square, but the route between to get there from home was easy to remember. Plus, my bike was modified by one of Uncle Sonic's friends who's a mechanic to include a small GPS device, so I could use that just in case. Still, I remained cautious and attentive since I was riding through a rainy night. Besides hazards and moving cars, I needed to watch out for other people who might also be out; no one would ever expect a kid riding her bike alone at this time, and they'll definitely get suspicious if they see me.

Upon reaching the crossroad where Blake Road and Woodlock Street met, I stopped to take a short break. It had only been around twelve minutes since I left, but the rain and cold weather was tiring me out faster than normal.

"I can't believe I'm really doing this," I breathed, looking behind me. "I wonder what Mom will do when she finds out I'm gone. Would she even care?"

I shook my head. No. No, she wouldn't. Not anymore.

I got back on my bike and continued on my trip. If anything, she'd be glad that I'm not her way anymore.

…

It was nearly half past ten when I saw the sign for Dutres. I had arrived there after more than an hour of traveling by bike. By then, I was getting tired from cycling for that long and the rain certainly didn't make things easier.

Being in the suburbs of Dutres at nighttime felt eerie. I've been to this area a couple times during the day, it was always busy and loud for a small town. But during the night, it was almost entirely quiet and dimly-lit only by its street lamps and the occasional lights coming from the insides of buildings.

"I hope Dad or someone's still awake when I get there. If everyone's asleep, then… aaahh!" My bike abruptly fell over and I hit the ground, scraping my right palm and knee against the pavement. Groaning in pain, I fraily stood up and checked to see what happened to it. Turned out to my dismay that the front tire had punctured.

"Oh no… I don't have anything to fix this." I wasn't sure what to do. Dragging my bike along would be burdensome, but abandoning it away seemed like a huge waste. But I didn't have time to make a decision before a man called out, "Is someone there? Are you alright?"

A white hedgehog and a lavender cat approached me from up ahead. "Huh? What's a little girl like you doing out here at night?" The latter questioned.

I had no idea what to say. "I, uh… my bike got a flat tire…"

"Kid, we can see what happened," The hedgehog said. "We want to know why you're out here in the first place. Where are your parents?"

I kept quiet. I had been trying to avoid people throughout the entire trip that I didn't even prepare myself for this kind of situation.

"She probably snuck out of her house, Silver," The cat said to the hedgehog. "No parent would let their child outside at this hour without any supervision."

I shook my head and blurted, "No! I was just… on my way back home!"

"Doesn't seem like you were from the way you're talking to us," Silver saw through my lie.

But I insisted, "No, I really was going back! I live only a few blocks away!"

The two paused and looked at each other for a moment before turning back to me. "Stay right here with us," Silver ordered as the cat took her phone out.

"Huh? Why?" I uttered.

"What's your parents' number? We're going to call them," He told me.

"No! You can't! I don't want to get in trouble!" I pleaded.

"Do you know how dangerous for someone your age to be out at night all alone? It's for your own safety." He stated.

"But my house isn't far away from here! It won't take long to get there!"

"It doesn't matter. Who knows what could happen on the way?" The cat backed her friend up. "And we can't take your word for it. We're not certain that you're telling the truth."

There was no getting around them. I thought maybe I could convince them to take me to Dad's instead and pretend that I live with him. But I scratched that out of my mind, fearing that they wouldn't buy into a lie.

So instead, I made a break for it and ran.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" The cat yelled. I sprinted with all my strength, my feet hitting the pavement hard with every step I took. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that I was already a good distance away from those two. It didn't seem like they were even pursuing me.

Gotta hide somewhere once they're out of sight, I glanced around as I sped away. Where can I hide? Where can I—

Suddenly, my whole body froze and glowed a bright teal color. I tried to move, but not a single limb or muscle in my body would budge.

"What the— what's happening?!" Then I felt myself being forcibly pulled back, and in less than a second I was back together with Silver and his friend.

"Nice try, kid. You probably would've gotten away if it weren't for my psychokinetic powers," Silver boasted. "I guess we'll have to take you to the police instead, even though we didn't want to."

He kept me suspended in midair with his powers while the cat sighed and dialed 9-1-1 on her phone. We moved underneath a bus stop so the rain wouldn't always be pouring down on us. I again tried to escape from Silver's grasp, but it wasn't possible.

Disappointment was all I could feel while I lay ensnared in the hedgehog's grasp. I had come all this way to reunite with my dad only to be caught and restrained, and sooner or later the police were coming to take me back. After this, Mom will ground me for the rest of my life and make sure I never get the slightest chance to leave my room. I'll never have the chance to see Dad ever again.

"Strange… why isn't it working?" The cat mumbled to herself, redialing 9-1-1.

"Is something wrong, Blaze?" Silver asked her.

"I can't seem to get in contact with the police." She answered.

"Maybe the reception here is bad. Storm seems to be getting heavy again."

"No, the signals are strong, or so it shows— for some reason, no one's answering my call. I can't even leave a message."

"That's absurd. Emergency services are never absent. Your phone's probably not working properly or something," Silver took out his phone and handed it over to Blaze. "Try to call them on mine."

She took it and dialed for the police again. But it appeared that she still wasn't able to connect to anyone. "What is going on? Why isn't 9-1-1 answering?" She grumbled, trying several more times without success.

"Forget it, Blaze. We should find a police station instead." Silver suggested.

Blaze sighed, "I guess that's our only option right now. Do you know where we can find one?"

"I don't remember. Hey, let's ask that person over there." Silver pointed towards someone from across the road. "Excuse me! Do you have a moment?"

The person turned to the three of us. The rain made it hard to make out what they looked like, but we could see their emerald green eyes, which appeared to be glowing in the dark for some weird reason. The person didn't say anything back and walked away, disappearing into the night.

"Okay, I guess not…huh…! ACK!" Silver released me from his powers and grabbed hold of his neck. I was confused at what he was doing, but soon enough I saw what was going on and I was horrified.

He was bleeding profusely from his throat, which had somehow been slashed.

"Silver, what are you— oh my god, Silver!" Blaze came to his aid and tried to stop the bleeding while I stood there, shocked and petrified, before fleeing the scene. I ran aimlessly and as fast as my legs could, covering my ears so as to drown out Blaze's screams.

I don't know how far I went, but eventually I was all alone again with nobody in my sight. Out of breath, I boggled over what had happened back there.

"How… how did he get hurt like that all of a sudden?" I panted. "No one was close enough to attack him or any of us… was there?"

"Of course there was," A raspy voice spoke out of nowhere. "It was me who did it."

Spooked, I checked my surroundings but didn't find anyone nearby. "Who's there? Where are you?" I demanded.

"You can't escape me, Molly." The voice sounded like it was coming from all around me like an echo in an empty room. "You were never meant to be, after all."

My heart was pounding in fear like crazy. The fact that it knew my name made me shiver even more. "Why…why did you attack that man? Why did you do something awful like that?"

There was a low groaning noise. "He got in my way. I was really going after you." It answered.

"Leave me alone! What could I have that you want?"

"You matter to a sinner… connected to him, even…" Footsteps began slowly sloshing towards me. "You must… vanish… to make him repent."

The footsteps got closer and closer until a girl appeared in front of me. She was a pink hedgehog girl who looked like Rosy if she was a few years older, except she appeared zombified. Her red dress was tattered and tarnished; her fur was dirty and her skin was pale and rotten; and her eyes had the glowing green color just like the person I saw earlier.

I took one look and instantly booked it. But before I could take any more a few steps, something snatched onto my left leg, making me trip and fall over. I turned my head and saw that the girl's arm was attached to me— her arm had stretched like a rubber band and reached my leg!

What the heck is she?! I tried to crawl away and kick her hand off as her arm retracted, slowly dragging me closer to her, but she wouldn't let go. I kicked and kicked as hard as I could, but it only made her grip on me even tighter.

"No! Let me go!" I begged. "Somebody help!"

Once I was back in front of her, she violently lifted me up by the neck and started strangling me with great strength. I gagged and choked, fruitlessly tried prying her hands off of my throat. My neck felt like it was going to snap, and I grew weaker and dizzier every second.

I… I can't die… now… not here! I propped my foot against her body and pushed myself backwards, hoping to break apart from her. She tried to pull me back while still strangling me, but I didn't give up. I kept pushing my legs against her with all the strength, gradually spacing myself away from her until—

SNAP!

To my horror and excitement, I literally tore off the girl's arms and broke her from grasp. No sooner had I fell to the ground and gasped for air than I quickly stood up and used whatever strength I had left to sprint away from her. I didn't pay any attention to where I was going— all I cared about was getting far, far away from that girl or whatever monster she really was.

When she was no longer in sight, I stopped running and collapsed on my knees. Out of breath and energy, I struggled to get back up as my whole body, especially my legs and feet, ached all over. I felt like I was going to throw up and cry.

"Why did I think this was a good idea?" I vented against myself. "Why am I so dumb?! A kid like me could never go on a long journey like this on her own!"

It was like a nightmare. I was shivering terribly bad, and it wasn't just from the bad weather. I was scared, frustrated, and practically hopeless. On top of all that, I was no longer aware of the time or where I was anymore. I was totally lost. Maybe, now that I mentioned it, this really was a just nightmare, and I had merely fallen asleep shortly after Mom threw me in my room. Maybe I'll wake up next to my bed soon…

I stopped moping and got back on my feet and started walking once more. My legs were still feeling sore and weak and moved at a sluggish pace. At that point, I was simply following the road, not caring where it was leading me to. Being out in the cold rain for so long made me feel sickly and want to find somewhere to stay in. Heck, now that I was in this position, I even began to regret not following Silver and Blaze's orders.

After what seemed like forever, I spotted a street sign about ten yards to my left. Relieved, I slowly approached it and read, "Okay, I'm on Archer Lane right now, and the road next to me is… Mason Str–...? No, wait!"

It was Masem Street! When I saw those two words printed on the sign, I could hardly believe myself. I was finally going to see my dad again!

I picked up the pace and ran down the street, checking the number of each house and mailbox I passed. My chest and legs were now hurting even more, but I tried to ignore the pain and exhaustion as much as I could. I was near my destination and no longer had the patience to slowly walk my way there.

"Ten… nine… eight… seven! Here it is!" The lights in the house were still on, so I hastily ran up to the door and pounded my first against it. "Somebody please answer! Please!"

The door flung open after what felt like a long while. "Okay, who's out there?" A man grumpily complained. "We all want to go to sleep, so you'd better…"

He stopped talking when he looked down and saw me. "What the… a kid? What do you—?"

I looked back at him and took off the hood of my raincoat, revealing to him my face. I started to sniff, "Dad…"

His face instantly went from annoyed to shocked. "Molly?" He uttered, his eyes now wide open.

"DADDY!" I burst into tears and tightly hugged him. I don't know how to describe how I was feeling at that moment; it felt so heartwarming to be with him after so long, but at the same time it made my heart ache so much because I never thought I'd see him again.

"Molly, why are you… how did you get here?!" Dad asked, closing the front door.

"I… I ran away from home, Dad. I decided I'm going to live with you from now on," I sniffled, looking back up at him.

"Wait, did you come all the way here on your own? With no one else?"

I nodded. "Y-yes…"

"What were you thinking? You could've gotten yourself hurt or even killed out there, especially when it's nighttime! It's a miracle that you were even able to get here!" He raised his voice.

"But I couldn't be with Mom anymore! She hit me, Dad! She hit me right here!" I showed him the bruise on my left cheek, and he was visibly disturbed at the sight of it.

"Even so, you shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that." He tried to calm down. "Something far worse could've happened to—"

"Knuckles, who's at the door?" My aunt and uncle joined us at the front entrance and were just as surprised as Dad when they saw me. "Oh my… is that Molly?"

"It sure is. She says she wants to live here with us now cause Sonia's been beating her," Dad answered.

Aunt Tikal was dumbstruck. "That's awful. How could she do that to her own child?"

"I don't know," Dad shook his head before turning back to me. "Can you tell us why Mom hit you, Molly?"

"She… she thought I got into a fight with a boy from school when I didn't." I said, still clutching onto him.

Uncle Shadow gave me a doubtful look. "Why didn't you try to explain yourself to her?" He questioned.

"I did, but she never, EVER listens to me!" I responded.

"That can't be true," Dad tried to tell me. "You know your mom cares about you, and I'm sure she'd understand—"

"No, she doesn't! Mom doesn't even want to hear what I have to say!" I let everything out. "She always yells at me and thinks I'm constantly misbehaving and getting into trouble when I'm not! She's been like this ever since you left, Dad, and I can't take it anymore! I hate her!"

He gently stroked my hair. "Molly, don't say that…"

I hugged him tighter. "Please, Dad? I–I want to be with you again. It's been so long since I last saw you."

There was a long pause before anyone else spoke another word. Then I briefly heard Dad say something to Aunt Tikal and Uncle Shadow, though I didn't hear if either of them responded.

"Okay, Molly," Dad lifted my chin up. "Since it's already late, we'll allow you to stay here for tonight."

I loosened my arms a bit. "R-really? You mean it?" I sniffled.

"Of course." He replied, softly wiping my tears away. "We'll have a longer talk about this tomorrow. Understood?"

I nodded yes.

"That's good. Now, come on— let's get you to bed."

Dad held my hand and took me down to the basement where it had a small room with a bed and old-fashioned TV. On top of the bedside table and next to the lamp was a picture frame displaying a photo of Mom and me, taken back when he was still living with us. Seeing it made me wonder if Dad truly wanted to get back together with Mom again.

"Isn't this where you sleep, though?" I asked.

"Don't worry about me. I can take the couch upstairs," He proceeded to take my raincoat and boots off before tucking me in bed. "If you want, you can leave the lamp on overnight. But you're not afraid of the dark anymore, are you?"

"I'll be fine without it," I replied. "Thanks for all of this, Dad."

Dad smiled and kissed me on the forehead. "Sleep tight, kiddo." He whispered before he turned off the lights and left, closing the door behind him.

"You should let me take Molly back home first thing in the morning," Uncle Shadow told Dad just outside the bedroom.

"I told her we'll talk tomorrow. She's scared right now, and I'm not entirely sure what happened. I can't just send her back." Dad argued.

"Then let me call Sonia in the very least. She'll be worried when she finds out her daughter's gone all of sudden."

"No, don't. She doesn't exactly trust me… she'll probably think I'm up to no good and exaggerate the situation. And besides, there's no way she'd believe that Molly made it all the way here by herself— Station Square is like thirty minutes away from here by vehicle."
"You're kidding me, right? The longer Molly's away, the more distressed Sonia will become. It'll only get worse from there. Also, unlike you, I'm trained to handle situations like this. Are you forgetting that I'm a police officer and a former GUN agent?"

"I'm Molly's father! She trusts me more. Look, just give me a chance to sort this out with her. She really needs me right now."

I rolled over and tried to fall asleep, praying that I'd be able to convince everyone to let me live here permanently. No way I was gonna return to Mom and separate from Dad again. Not after all this.