Why hello, dear readers! I hope you enjoy!

I own nothing but the plot.

Prologue

"Hey, Mom, check it out! I'm almost to the top!" a young boy's voice calls from above. Aleena looks up towards the direction of where the voice originated from, her green eyes straining to catch a glimpse of her son against the setting sun's rays.

Spotting flashes of blue, indeed near the top of the tree he's climbing, the purple hedgehog yells, "Sonic the Hedgehog, get down here immediately!"

"Oh come on! I'm being careful!" he argues.

"I said get down!" She uses the mom voice this time, the voice that every kid understands as, 'listen to me now or suffer the consequences.'

"Ugh," she hears him groan. Then she hears the rustling of branches, a whoosh, and finally a solid thud as he lands from his jump. The little cobalt blue hedgehog pouts as he trudges over to his mother, complaining, "I climb trees all the time at home though, and you just tell me to 'be careful,' so why can't I climb them here?"

"Because this is not home, Sonic," Aleena sighs and turns back to getting their camp set up. "Here there are certain rules, and climbing trees is one of them. Also, it's starting to get dark out, and I certainly do not let you climb trees at night." The purple hedgehog side-eyes her son, daring him to argue further.

"What am I supposed to do then? It's boring here!" The little hedgehog plops down on the ground, ripping grass blades out of the ground out of both frustration and boredom.

"You could go help your father get the firewood," his mother suggests.

"That's not fun, that's just work!"

"Then quit complaining about being bored," Aleen states, turning her focus onto a troublesome tent-pole that won't snap into place. Sonic huffs and crosses his arms, but he says nothing further, knowing she will force him to work if he does.

He was really looking forward to going camping, but all their usual spots have been taken. His dad says that's because it's labor day weekend, 'the last chance people have to camp before fall kicks in,' or whatever. All he knows is that because of those other people, they now have to stay in this boring campground called Campground Oak, where there are too many rules, no freedom to adventure, and no water nearby to skip rocks in.

'Some camping trip this is,' Sonic thinks to himself, and he settles for resting his head on his arms and watching some ants work on their anthill near his feet.

When it gets dark enough for Aleena to get out a lantern and their flashlights, a dark blue hedgehog emerges from the bushes located towards the back of their campsite. "Sorry it took me so long! I couldn't find enough wood laying around here, but I ended up meeting an older couple on the other side of the campgrounds that were nice enough to share theirs," Jules explains as he makes his way over to the fire pit.

"How generous of them," Aleena smiles with relief. She was beginning to worry something had happened to her husband. "I'll start prepping dinner while you get the fire started." She then turns to their son, who's laying down on the ground, repeatedly blowing a tall strand of grass out of his face.

"I'm making your favorite, Sonic," she says in a sing-song voice, trying to cheer the boy up. She's not terribly fond of campgrounds herself, but she knows it doubles for her energetic son.

The little hedgehog's ears perk up, and his emerald-green eyes glance toward his mother with mild interest. "Does it include chili and hot dogs?"

"Of course."

"Can I help you, Mom?" Sonic is over by her side in the next second, a bright, eager smile on his muzzle as he looks up at her in excitement. She chuckles adoringly and hands him the cans of chili to open.

After they get the food over the fire to cook, a flash of headlights catches the family's attention. They watch as a gray SUV parks into the campsite one down from theirs, the vehicle loaded with traditional camping gear like theirs.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones who couldn't find a spot," Jules muses. Aleena looks over at their pile of firewood, then back at her husband.

"It's pretty dark out now, and it looks like they'll be needing firewood too."

"Then let's go greet our neighbors," Jules smiles at his wife, charmed once again by her thoughtfulness.

"Don't forget we have dinner cooking," Sonic reminds his parents as he warily watches his dad grab some wood for the newcomers.

"Don't worry, Son. We'll be back in time to save it from burning," Jules smiles wryly and leads the way to the neighboring campsite.

'Riiiiight. Because adults definitely talk for a short time,' the blue hedgehog thinks to himself as he follows his parents. He'll make sure to not stray too far from the fire so if it does burn, he'll be the first to smell it.

"Hello?" Jules calls as he and his family enter the dark campsite, not too far from where the vehicle is parked and where someone is unloading its trunk. The figure straitens upon hearing Jules, and they turn around, revealing themselves to be a red female hedgehog.

"Oh, hello!" She smiles and then turns her head to call out, "Darren! Amy! We have company!"

"Huh?" The head of a white male hedgehog pops out from the bushes near the back of the campsite. "Ah, just a sec!" Darren's head disappears again into the thicket.

"Those two are always getting distracted," the female sighs as her husband and child emerge from the bushes and rush back to the car.

Sonic watches as the pair comes closer, noticing the pink little hedgehog who's struggling to keep up with her father's longer strides. She looks close to his age, well, close enough anyway. Maybe he can make friends with her and have something to do while they stay here.

"Hi there!" Darren greets once he makes his way over to where they all are. "What can we do for you folks?"

"My name's Jules the Hedgehog, this is my wife Aleena, and this is our son, Sonic," Jules introduces. "We thought we'd come over and see if you might need some firewood?"

"You just saved us," Darren grins while slumping with relief. "I was just wracking my brain on how I was going to find wood here in the dark and with people starting to call it a night!"

"You wouldn't have," Jules answers. "I actually had to get some from people on the other side of the campgrounds, so we are more than happy to share and spare you the trouble."

"Well, thank you. We really appreciate it," the red female hedgehog smiles.

"Daddy," the little pink hedgehog suddenly tugs on her father's hand.

"Yes, Princess?"

"You didn't introduce us back," she says disapprovingly.

"Ah!" Darren's eyes widen and he whips his head to face the Hedgehog family. "Where are my manners? My name is Darren Rose," The white hedgehog shakes Jules and Aleena's hands. "This is my wife Vallory," he gestures to the red female who also shakes their hands. "And this little lady here is our daughter, Amy." Darren picks Amy up and sets her on his hip with an adoring smile.

"Thanks for reminding me of my manners, Princess." Amy beams with her father's praise.

A sudden gust of wind ruffles Jules and Aleena's quills, and Sonic's gone.

"Sonic? What are you doing?" Aleena calls after him. He's back before he can finish her question, though.

"Me? I'm just saving dinner from being burned." Sonic glares accusingly at his father, who only chuckles in response.

"Daddy, Daddy! Did you just see what he did? He's so fast!" Amy exclaims, her jade eyes sparkling with excitement as she stares at Sonic.

The little blue hedgehog puffs up with pride and says, "You haven't seen nothin' yet!"

"Before Sonic wreaks havoc on the campgrounds," Aleena suddenly interrupts by grabbing his shoulder firmly. "Would you all care to join us for dinner? We're having chili dogs, and we have plenty," she reassures.

"Well," Vallory smiles and looks at her husband, who smiles back. "Only if we get to supply the s'mores."

"Deal!" Sonic pipes in, making the adults laugh.

Darren sets Amy down so he can grab their fold-out chairs to take over, and the little pink hedgehog immediately makes her way over to Sonic.

"What did you do earlier? Did you run? It was like you just, poof! Disappeared! Can you show me that again?" Amy is practically bouncing in place, her smile not once losing its radiance.

Soaking in the attention, Sonic winks and answers, "Sure thing! See our picnic table over there?" She nods. "Watch." He zips over to the table, a blue streak following him from where he just was with Amy.

"Wow!" Amy gushes while running over to where Sonic is. "You're the first person I've met who can do something so much cooler than I can!"

"Yeah? What can you do?" Sonic asks with interest.

"I can do," Amy makes a stance with her legs spread out and her arm straightened out. "This!" A snap suddenly sounds, and Sonic sees a giant red and yellow hammer appear, right before he sees her swing it down towards him.

"Whoa!" he doges to the side and watches as it impacts the ground awfully close to where he just was with a mighty boom!

"Amy!" Vallory says sharply. "Put your hammer away. People are trying to sleep!" Amy grimaces, and with another snap, the piko piko hammer disappears.

"Sorry, Mama," she apologizes. The red hedgehog huffs in fond exasperation and returns to helping Aleena with dinner.

"Wow," Sonic says, causing Amy to return her attention to the blue hedgehog. "You can just make it come and go? Like that?" Sonic asks while snapping his own fingers.

"Yep! When I was four, I found it up in my grandpa and grandma's attic. Grandpa says that someone in our family used it a really long time ago too, and that the hammer chooses who gets to use it," Amy explains.

"Really? Can I try holding it?"

"Well," Amy glances over at her parents, who are finishing setting up the table. "Only if we make this quick." She snaps out her hammer again and sets it down on the ground with its handle sticking up in the air. Sonic steps up, grabs the handle, and pulls.

Not only is he unable to lift it, the hammer doesn't even budge a single inch! The blue speedster steps back and looks over at Amy, wondering if she's pulling some kind of trick on him.

"I'm not doing anything!" she smirks. "No one can lift it, no one but me that is. Not even my mom and dad can." The little pink hedgehog walks back over and effortlessly lifts up the mighty hammer, twirling it once before snapping it back to wherever it goes back to.

"Huh." Sonic eyes where the hammer just was, not liking how the hammer couldn't even give him, Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest hedgehog around, an inch, but is light as a feather for this, this-

"Hey," he suddenly asks the pink hedgehog. "How old are you?"

"I'm seven," she answers, confused by the sudden question.

"You're three years younger than me and I still couldn't move that hammer even a little bit? That's pretty cool too," he grins at her and wonders if they meet again when they're older if he can then move the hammer at least a little bit.

She blushes from his praise and stammers, "T-Thanks."

"Kids! Dinner's ready, come eat!" Jules calls over to them.

"Aww yeah! Chili dogs, here I come!" Sonic zips over and is helping himself to his plate of chili dogs in the next second. Amy giggles at his enthusiasm and runs over to join her new friend.

"Hmmm," Sonic hums as he stretches awake, appreciating the sound of birds being his alarm clock rather than his clock at home or his mother.

After helping the Roses get their camp set up, their families stayed up last night until one in the morning, including him and Amy! They explored every inch of their campsites together, pretended to be a couple of heroes that protected the sacred woods, talked about their homes and friends, then played some more, all while the grown ups were talking about boring adult stuff. He really lucked out with having Amy as his camping neighbor. She's almost as energetic as him and is just so bubbly. He doesn't think there's anyone who could resist her cheerfulness. She does have a fiery temper, as he found out after attempting to sabotage her smore last night, but he's a quick learner when it comes to figuring out which buttons to push and which not to in people.

He's going to miss her after they leave. The thought dampens his mood, but he shakes it off and decides to see if she's awake yet. They might as well take advantage of the time they have left before one of them has to leave.

With that thought leading him, he unzips his tent opening and climbs out.

"Good morning, sweetie. How did you sleep?" He looks over and finds his mother in the middle of preparing breakfast, pancakes, from the look of it.

"Good. Can I go see if Amy can play?"

"I'm sorry dear, but the Roses have already left."

"What?" Disappointment floods through him. "She's already gone?"

"I'm afraid so." Aleena nods. "I went over just a bit ago to see if they wanted to come over for breakfast, but they were already gone."

"They left really early," Jules says from over by the fire. "They were already gone by the time I got up to use the bathroom, and that was at six this morning."

"Oh dear," Aleena murmurs, concerned over the odd time of departure, especially when they all went to bed after one o'clock. "I hope they didn't have some emergency."

"Yeah, me too." Jules is actually more concerned over the bangs he heard last night. It was around three o'clock in the morning when he heard three loud bangs, and they sounded an awful lot like gunshots. When he fully woke up and waited to see if there'd be more or some other commotion, though, there was nothing more than silence. Those bangs must have been the Roses packing their things up, and he must have dreamed them as gunshots. In a crowded campground like this, others are bound to notice gunshots, sleeping or not.

Satisfied with his logic, Jules looks over to their son, who is standing with a morose look on his face and is staring over to where the Roses were staying.

"Hey, bud. Why don't you go for a run? Breakfast should be ready soon, right Hon?"

"Yes, that's a great idea. Your food will be waiting for you by the time you come back," Aleena smiles gently at the cobalt blue hedgehog. She's glad their kids made such fast friends, but it would've been nice for them to have said goodbye to each other. She can only imagine how Amy's handling their sudden departure.

"Okay," Sonic sighs, then dashes off. Runs usually manage to put him in a better mood, and he knew he'd have to say goodbye to Amy; he just didn't expect it to be so soon.

Before going full speed and zooming all throughout the campground, Sonic stops by campsite 46. He doesn't know why; maybe he just needs to see for himself that Amy and her family are really gone. Sonic stands there, observing the empty campsite that once harbored his friend. He couldn't even make out any footprints or trampled grass from their stay.

With a mournful sigh, Sonic turns to officially start his run when he notices some rustling in the bushes near the back. Could it be the bird that's nesting in there, the one that Amy showed him last night?

'That's a lot of movement for a little bird,' Sonic thinks doubtfully to himself, and he walks forward to investigate.

"Hello?" The blue speedster calls out, also ready to make a dash for it should it be a dangerous animal.

There's some more rustling, then a small voice answers, "Sonic?"

"Amy?!" Sure enough, out of the bushes steps a tired and confused-looking Amy, still wearing the green shirt and orange skirt from yesterday. "What are you doing in there? What about your mom and dad?"

"My mom and dad? I-I really don't know. The last thing I remember is going to bed last night." Amy starts to tear up. "W-Where's my mom and dad?"

"H-Hey! It's alright! We can figure this out," Sonic comforts her, trying to put a stop to her tears. He's never been all that good with people's crying. "Hey! Why don't we check with the entrance guy? He'll know if your parents really left or not."

"R-Really? You sure?" Amy sniffles, blinking away her tears.

"Yup! Here, I can carry you and we can be there in no time flat." The blue hedgehog extends his arms out to her. Amy hesitates before stepping over to him.

"Okay," she nods. Sonic moves to scoop her up princess-style, but right when he touches her, there's an electric shock. They both jump, and Amy looks accusingly at him.

"Heh, oops. Sorry, didn't know I had some static on me," the blue speedster grins at his pink companion. She huffs, but still smiles back at him. It didn't really hurt either of them; the shock was more a warm tingle than a sharp sting, for the both of them.

Sonic continues picking her up, and he zips off towards the entrance of the campground. Amy clings to him as she watches the world blur by in both awe and intimidation. How can he see where he's going when it all blurs together like this?

They find the entrance shack, and Sonic sets her down. "You okay?" he asks her, remembering the other trips he gave people and how a few ended up losing their lunches.

"Just fine," the pink hedgehog gulps, still overwhelmed by all the colors and the speed they were going. "I don't think I could ever get used to going that fast."

"Sure you could. I did, and now I wouldn't give it up for the world," the blue hedgehog winks at her. Sonic then turns his attention to the little building and walks over to the open window where an elderly hawk waits inside.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Hmm?" The hawk turns his head to see who's there, then lowers his head to see Sonic. "Oh! What can I do for ya, lad?"

"I was wondering if a Darren and Vallory Rose checked out earlier this morning?"

"'Rose'?" the hawk questions, an odd look overcoming his face.

"Uh, yes?" Sonic nods, unsure why the guy was making that face. "You see, they have a daughter, A-"

"Amy Rose," the hawk finishes. "In campsite 46, yeah?"

"Yeah, one away from my family's," Sonic nods, hopeful now that the guy clearly remembers who he's talking about. His hope turns into confusion, however, as the older male just stares at him, mystified.

"Alright, my boy, how about we go talk to your parents and get this all figured out, hmm?

"Oh, uh, sure." Is that the problem? A kid is asking him about the Roses instead of his parents?

'Maybe, adults are finicky about that kind of thing', Sonic muses to himself as he follows the older hawk to his golf cart. While the hawk gets the cart started, Sonic lets Amy sit in the passenger seat while he sits on the back portion.

"You sure you don't want to sit up front here?" the older male asks the little blue hedgehog.

"Nah, I'm fine back here, thank you sir," Sonic declines, not wanting to crowd everyone up front.

"Alright. And the name's Edwin Roberts, but you can just call me Ed." Edwin starts driving the cart down to campsite 49, where Sonic's parents are.

"Mine's Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic replies, while Amy keeps quiet, since Edwin clearly already knows who she is.

It takes less than five minutes for them to drive over to Sonic's campsite - he could've been there in less than three seconds, but who's counting - and both Aleena and Jules come to attention once they notice their boy being escorted by the gatekeeper.

"Sonic, what did you do?" Aleena asks warningly.

"What? I didn't do anything! I was just asking him about Amy's family!" Sonic exclaims defensively. Sure, he might get into more things than he should, but she shouldn't automatically assume that he's the source of the trouble. Trouble finds him, thank you very much.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog," Edwin greets and climbs out of the golf cart, Sonic and Amy following suit. "Don't worry, your boy here isn't in any trouble. I just had some questions for you folks about the Rose family?"

"Oh? Is everything alright with them?" Jules asks as he walks over to his wife's side.

"So you did see them? All three of them?" Edwin questions.

"Yes, we invited them over to have dinner with us last night. Now, what's this all about?" Aleena asks the older hawk, starting to grow concerned for the Rose family.

"I need you to bear with me here for a bit." Edwin takes a deep breath. "Three years ago, also on Labor Day weekend, a family of three came to this campground. It was dark when they arrived, but that was because they were trying to find a more traditional camping spot, like how your family was. We had a spot open for them, and they settled in for the night.

"That same night, though, there was a criminal on the run in these woods here. The cops were hot on his tail, and he was armed with a gun. If I remember right, they were after him for some warrant they had out for him. That guy stumbled upon that family's campsite, and-" Edwin pauses, his gaze turning grave. Sonic is frozen, hanging onto the hawks every word. He doesn't understand what is happening, but his every being is telling him this is important because something is wrong.

"No one can really say why he did it, but he gunned down that family. The police apprehended him less than a mile down from here, but it still wasn't until later that people realized it was that family that was shot, and by then it was too late for any of them. The names of that family were Darren Rose, Vallory Rose," Edwin looks over at Sonic for the last name. "and Amy Rose, their seven-year-old daughter."

"That's impossible," Jules breathes, while Aleena has her hand covering her mouth in horror.

"A year after their death," Edwin continues, "one of our campers mentioned meeting a family of hedgehogs that came into the camp real late, that the Rose family were a lovely family and that it was such a shame that they left so early the following morning. I thought they were pulling my leg. After all, it was the anniversary of their death and folks nowadays are all into the supernatural and things. Last year there wasn't really a report of them, just that some people saw a vehicle come in real late, that there were a few loud bangs in the middle of the night, and that the vehicle was gone long before anyone woke up. This year," Edwin gazes at all three of the Hedgehogs. "it seems you all not only met the Rose family but got real acquainted with them as well."

"Loud bangs," Jules murmurs. "Do- Do you know around what time they got shot?" he asks, wanting to disbelieve what he is hearing, but also knowing he heard gunshots and surely this can't be real, surely there must-

"It was around 3 in the morning," Edwin answers grimly.

"Jules?" Aleena asks her husband as she watches her husband slump in disbelief.

"I heard gunshots around 3 this morning, but I thought I dreamt it since no one else seemed to have heard them," Jules answers his wife, now coming to terms with how his family met and made friends with ghosts.

"B-But we ate, talked, touched them and everything!" Aleena watches Edwin, looking for any sign that this is some cruel prank made for publicity, while Jules whips out his smartphone, searching for evidence of Edwin's tale.

"I understand your disbelief ma'am, I haven't really believed it myself until I spoke with you and your family today," Edwin admits as he watches Jules elbow his wife and show her what he found on his phone.

"Oh Chaos," Aleena whispers with her eyes glued to the news article Jules found, staring at the picture showing all three of the Rose family members. "That's them. Oh, Amy was too young! Too young!" Aleena nearly sobs at the thought of those lovely people and their bright little girl having their lives cut short by such a cruel being.

Amy's name jolts Sonic out of his stupor, and he remembers why he even went to Edwin in the first place.

"W- Wait! Amy's not dead! She's right-" Sonic's voice stops short once he catches sight of his pink friend's face. She's staring blankly at Edwin, but tears are pouring down her face. His dad asks him something, but he doesn't register it. What's wrong with her?

"Amy?" he whispers, afraid he might somehow break her if he's too loud.

Meanwhile, Amy had listened to Edwin's story, but she also re-lived it as he told it. She remembers how tired they all were when her family finally found a place to spend the night. She was so tired she didn't even change out of her clothes and fell asleep the moment her head hit her pillow. She remembers jumping awake to a loud bang, hearing her mother's scream being cut short by another bang, and seeing a dark figure at the opening of their tent. She needed to run, and she needed to run now!

She slipped through the opening by their right leg and ran towards the bushes near the back of their campsite, where she could try hiding from them. She was a few more steps away before she heard another bang, felt searing, white-hot pain tear through her stomach, and lost her senses. She stumbled - did she scream? Her mouth was open like she did - and she fell into the bushes. She curled up and panted through the pain, hoping with her entire being that her parents are okay and that everything will be okay again once this person leaves them alone.

Had they left yet? She didn't hear anything, but she was also getting really cold. She curled up tighter, trying to keep warm, and waited for help to come. Help will come, so she can rest her eyes, just for a bit. Help will come…

"Amy?" The pink hedgehog startles back to the present, and she meets Sonic's worried gaze. She then looks at the adults, but they are all watching Sonic, not her, as if she isn't even there, as if…

With a newfound dread, Amy approaches Edwin. Not once does he glance in her direction, like he hasn't done since Sonic first spoke to him, like how Jules and Aleena haven't done after Edwin brought them back. When she's right next to the older hawk, she reaches out to take his hand.

Her fingers slip right through his hand without an inkling of warmth to be felt from him.

Amy turns around to look at Sonic again, to see if he saw what just happened, but she's met with his terror-stricken face and hears him stutter, "A-Amy, y-you're bleeding." Sonic starts crying from his overwhelming fear of the situation and for his friend, who was clearly not okay and why was no one doing anything to help her?

At this point, all the adults rush over to comfort Sonic - What's wrong with him? Was the story of the Rose's death too much for him to bear? - while Amy looks down to see what was scaring Sonic so.

She finds a bullet hole where she remembers feeling the bullet rip through, and surrounding it and staining the whole lower-half of her green shirt, is her blood. Wondering if it's her newfound memory that's making her see her wound, she pokes it and grimaces, waiting for that blinding pain to follow. Instead, she feels absolutely nothing. She pokes at it some more and finds that the blood isn't even staining her gloves. It's like it's no longer something bad, it just simply exist, something that's a part of her now.

'Does that mean the same for me? I'm no longer somebody to worry about' Amy wonders as she watches the grown ups fret over Sonic, still not sparing one glance in her direction. 'I'm just somebody that… exists.' Is this what they call shock? She always wondered why some people don't cry or panic when something really bad happens to them in movies. Her mom said shock can stop people's feelings and make them seem like robots. It must be what she's going through because instead of collapsing down to the ground and sobbing all of her grief out - My mom, my dad - she walks over to the still-panicking Sonic.

At his wits end, Sonic starts yelling, "I'm not the one who needs help! If you would just look over and see that A-" Amy clamps her hand over Sonic's mouth to stop what he was saying.

"Sonic," she smiles mournfully at him. "They can't see me. They're gonna think you're crazy if you keep talking about me like this." She removes her hand.

"But-"

"I remember, Sonic. Mom and Dad died. I died." Her voice is starting to waver. 'Not yet, I can't lose it right now, not right now.' "I'm a ghost and no one can see me. Only you can."

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