YAY FOR CHAPTER 2! AND FAST UPDATES! =D We all love fast updates, right?

Anyway, after this story, I'll have another uploaded, based on the plotline of A Separate Peace by John Knowles. It's great. Trust me.

The Catcher in the Rye

Chapter 2:

Winter

May15th

Quicker reply than usual. I hope you're still taking the time to read my letters. I know I feel a release for each word I write. I'm alone in the world now. It's just me. Me and the rest of these lunatics. That's all that exists in my world now. And to think these white clad bastards think I actually have family to write to. What a bunch of shit. My family was lost a long time ago.

But I'm not writing you to ramble about my sucky life. I'm here to tell you this story. So I get off-track sometimes. Shoot me. Please.

Where was I? Probably mentioning something about James coming back. James. That man. That lucky bastard just barely escaped me. In case you don't know, James Avery Power was Mile 'Tails' Prower's father. But just by DNA and all that. I wouldn't even dream of comparing that low life to an actual father. What he did to Tails... I wanted to kill him for it...and nearly did.

But anyway, to clear things up, I'll tell you what happened.

Tails wanted to see his father. That much I knew. That much, he deserved. I would never deny Tails the chance to see his father, regardless of if the lowlife bastard abandoned him or not. So I let him go. On his own, too, because I knew he wouldn't want me to be there. And even if he did, he needed to face his father on his own. And he needed out of my shadow. He'd been there far too long.

But maybe if I would have went with him, I could have stopped the thing that would happen. Maybe I could've beaten James into a pulp then and there and stop my best friends heartache. Maybe I could've stopped him completely. But I didn't. I shook the tree branch. I caused him to fall. Maybe not deliberately, but I did. And, in a way, it was more my fault than anything. I could have stopped it before it even started. I could have saved him from himself.

But I didn't. I didn't, and that's what bothers me the most. Of course, besides the fact he's gone. He's gone and I'll never see him again. He didn't deserve that, but I let him walk right into it. It's my fault. My fault.

Of course the tears start falling here. I always cry when I think of him. Me, crying. Huh. Never thought it possible a couple of months ago.

I can't stand it though. He was my little brother, and I let him walk right into those problems. I miss him so much. It's terrible. Just horrible. And it's all my the white clad freaks are coming now i have to stop they heardmeinhere writing and sob ing so ill try write next week keep reading please dont give up on me yetimtrying to make you

The house was too empty. He couldn't stand it. It was too quiet.

Tails was gone for three days. For those three days, Sonic wandered around looking for something, anything, to entertain himself with. He tried watching TV several times, but nothing seemed to hold his interest very long. It was pouring the rain, so there was no way for him to run to get rid of his restlessness without becoming soaked, and he wasn't taking that chance.

On more than one occasion, he thought of Tails, and wondered, briefly, if he was with his father, and if he was okay. He actually missed the little guy. The house was way too quiet and empty without him. He wondered if James was treating him right...or if they'd even met yet. He hoped Tails wasn't walking himself sick in this rain for nothing. He pushed the worries aside. Tails was strong. Sonic had faith in him. He would take care of himself.

For those three days, Sonic wandered aimlessly around the house, staring outside at the rain as if willing it to stop. He became irritated with nothing to do, and in his desperation, he picked up a book and began to read. Without glancing at the title, Sonic opened it to a random page and started reading.

To his amazement, the story seemed interesting. He closed it and glanced at the cover; The Catcher in the Rye. The title, to him, seemed ridiculous, but he opened it to the beginning and started anyway.

By the end of the third day, Sonic had finished the book.

There was something inside those covers that intrigued him. The story himself left him speechless, and he sat there for several moments pondering on it. This had to be the longest he had sat still all his life. The overall story seemed to move him, and he carefully placed the book back on the shelf, walking into his bedroom to get some rest.

That night, Sonic dreamed of running through golden fields of rye, flying through them, a blue blur among the golden stalks. There was no wind, and the only noise was the laughter of children. It rang through the rye cover fields, happy and carefree.

He would run to the kids preparing to walk unknowingly off the cliff, and save them moments before their demise, racing toward them and sweeping them up, dropping them toward the middle of the field before going back again.

It was a game of tag, one he felt he would play forever.

He saw Tails hiding amongst the rye, and he smiled; his twin-tailed younger brother seemed to want to play, too. In his dream, Sonic raced after him, forgetting of his duty to the kids, and one by one, they tumbled down the invisible cliff, unbeknown that their hero was off playing.

As he and Tails ran through the rye, and suddenly the wind picked up. It was then Sonic noticed that the laughter...it had stopped. Horrified, he forgot of Tails and turned back around, only to find the rye field was gone, replaced by an empty, barren desert. The cliff loomed dangerously in front of him, and Sonic realized, with a panicked cry, the kids had fallen. He had failed.

"Sonic..." he heard Tails shouted, and when he turned around, he watched as Tails smiled and, along with the rest of the surrounding area, little by little, bit by bit, began to disappear.

Sonic awoke in a cold sweat, gasping for breath and his heart flying. The dream...It had been so strange. So strange. He knew it had come from that book, that damned book. He shook of the feeling of dread that had leaked from his dreams to reality, and pulled himself out of bed. It was four am. Stretching, Sonic retreated into the kitchen, grabbing a soda from the fridge.

The dream was still vivid in his mind, and Sonic knew he needed fresh air to get rid of it completely. He heard no rain outside, to his relief, and he stepped out, breathing deeply as he walked off the porch. It was still dark, and the silence outside soothed him. It was cold, the chilliness of the air causing a shiver down his spine.

He walked slowly toward the bushes near the cliff, the fresh air already had cleared his thoughts. He planned to sit on the cliff side until the sun rose, and then go for a walk. But there was something moving in the bushes on the opposite side of the cliff. Sonic whipped around, ears perked, twisting in the direction of the noise. The can of soda in his hand was dropped to the ground, causing a loud thump, which, in turn, caused a gasped from the bushes. Sonic's eyes narrowed, and he braced himself for battle.

"Who's there?!" he called, and the only answer he got was a muffled noise. His ear twitched, and he stepped toward the bushes, pulling them apart with a jerk of his hand. What he saw surprised him.

"Tails?"

Hunched in the bushes, Tails lifted his head slowly, looking up at Sonic with bloodshot, wet eyes. Tails was disheveled. He looked like he had been crying. There was a long cut on his knee, still dripping blood. A red mark striped along his cheek. He looked horrible.

"Tails, what happened?" Sonic demanded, bending down next to the kitsune, who dropped his head on his knees.

"...He didn't want me, Sonic," the kitsune whispered, cutting straight to the point. Immediately, hatred poured through Sonic's bloodstream. James. That bastard. "He...he told me to leave. Told me he changed his mind." Tails looked up at Sonic finally, his eyes lost, hopeless, alone. "He told me...he hated me. That I shouldn't have even been born. Told me I was...worthless." Sonic felt his blood burn. "And then...then he...h-hit me..."

Sonic stood, his ears burning and his heart bursting into flames. He would kill him. The bastard would die. Tails was sniffling behind him, his young heart broken, his spirit crushed. Sonic made a vow, right then and there, to kill the sick bastard. But Sonic had no idea how deeply the wound ran though Tails, how it had struck his heart fatally.

Sonic turned and helped Tails to his feet. The two walked into the small house silently, Tails heading straight for the bedroom. Sonic stood in the living room, having to force himself to not run there now and kill him. No one touched Tails like that. No one would hit him. Especially someone who didn't even know anything about him.

From that moment on, Sonic hated James. It was such a deep hatred, so vicious, so strong.

Feeling his blood boiling, Sonic finally disappeared into their bedroom, curling into his bed and dreaming of the ways he planned to kill the sick bastard.

End of Chapter