Remember Me Part 2

Remember Me
Part 2
This is a bit of weirdness inspired by a funky dream and the Sci-Fi movie The Forgotten, which I highly recommend.  Sally awakes to a new world.  But which past is real?  I do not own Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, Tails, or Robotnik, they are copyrighted Sega and Dic.  Joe, Lorna and Dr. Newt are mine.  Also I of course do not own the movie The Forgotten.  It is copyrighted by Revolution Studios.  Enjoy!  



Sally was digging in her small flower garden, planting bright sunflowers when Reese came around the corner of the fence that surrounded most of the yard.  She didn’t notice him at first and he watched her cover the roots of the flower with potting soil.  Sally shifted slightly and she jumped up, seeing him out of the corner of her eye.
   “Whoa, whoa . . . chill . . . I won’t hurtcha.”
   “What do you want?”  She asked trying to sound angry, but sounding mostly hurt.
   “I wanted ta . . . ta see ya again.”
   “Why?  So you can try to seduce me like all the other lonely wives you meet?”
   “Not . . . not all of ‘um.”
   “Oh, good for you Reese . . . it’s good to hear you have some restraint.”
   “Call me . . . call me that other name.”
   “No.  I made a mistake . . . you aren’t him.”
   “Sal . . .”
   “Don’t call me that.”
   “Why?”
   “Because . . . because I said so!”  Sally began to head toward the back door, her hand reaching for the knob.
   “Did I really jeopardize a mission for a chili dog?”  He asked and she stopped short, turning to look at him.  She just stared at him for a long, long moment, her expression unreadable.
   “On several occasions.”  She replied, shaking her head.
   “Somethin’ real weird happened to me yesterday after I met ya.  It was like . . . I dunno how ta tell ya.  But I heard ya say that to me, in my head.”
   “A memory.”
   “Yeah, maybe.”
   “Is that all?  Was there anything else?”
   “Yeah.  I remember I called my wang a chili dog.”
   “Sonic.”  She whispered, stepping away from the door, moving closer to him.  Sally stopped when she was about an arm’s length from him, her teeth gently worrying her lower lip.
   “I wanted ta . . . ta really look at ya, like ya asked me to yesterday.  Can I?”  Sally nodded and he stepped closer, his eyes delving into her own.  They stood that way for a short eternity, the only movement the rise and fall of their chests.  There was not a particular second that Sally could have pinpointed as to when the change happened for she felt almost entranced by the green eyes devouring her.  She did not see the change, did not feel it all at once in some terrific rush.  It was simple in its complexity.  He was a stranger when they had begun, but by the time he pulled her roughly into his embrace he was Sonic.  He wept in her hair, wetting it with his hot tears as he held her close.
   “It’s okay . . . it’s okay Sonic.”  She whispered, but he shook his head.
   “I’m sorry . . . I’m so mondo sorry Sal.”  She wasn’t sure exactly what he was apologizing for, but she knew that it could be summed up simply.  He was sorry he had forgotten her.  They stood in the backyard for a while, holding each other, Sally eventually gently pulling away and taking his hand, leading him into the house.
Sonic sat at the kitchen table, watching Sally pour the both of them a glass of lemonade.  He leaned heavily on his elbows, feeling weary.  Sally smiled as she placed his drink before him, taking the seat across from him.
   “When did . . . did ya remember?”  He asked softly, not meeting her gaze.
   “I never forgot.”  Sonic glanced up then, looking hurt, but if the pain was from knowledge that he had forgotten and she had not or that she had quite obviously slept with Joe though she remembered him, was unclear.  “I was . . . very confused though.  I was told . . . that I had been in a coma and all the things I remembered, that it was a dream.”
   “Ya believed that?”
   “Not at first.  But, there was so much proof that this life was real and . . . Joe he . . . a lot of things about him are like you . . . a little.  Eventually I gave in, thinking that you . . . were just an idolized dream version of Joe.”  Sally sighed, her head cradled in her hands.  Sonic reach over, lightly touching her arm, stroking gently.
   “It’s alright Sal.  How long ago was it that ya . . . woke up?”
   “A little over three months now.”
   “It’s weird . . . ‘cause I still remember a whole life in this world.  A childhood.  A bro and sis.  Everythin’ like it’s real.  But now I can remember the whole other life an’ I know that’s the real one.”
   “Maybe . . . maybe we somehow entered a different dimension and took the place of a Sonic and Sally from this place.  Maybe they’re in our world right now, living our lives.”
   “That’s freaky.  Maybe it’s some mondo weird trick . . . . like we’re trippin’.”
   “You mean drugged?”
   “Yeah.”
   “It seems too real for that, too detailed.”  She shrugged, her eyes straying to the wall clock.  “Joe will be home any minute.  I guess I should tell him what’s happened and that . . . I’m leaving.”
   “Isn’t he in on it?”
   “It’s odd but . . . I don’t think so.  He seems so sincere.  I think he honestly believes I’m his wife.”
   “Okay . . . if ya gotta.”
   “I’m sorry I . . . that . . . I did some of the things I did with Joe, do you know what I mean?”
   “You’re sorry ya let him slip it to ya . . . . yeah I got it.”
   “I thought . . . I’m just . . . . I am very sorry.”
   “Sal . . . I can’t really hold it against ya.  I mean I . . . I’m pretty much a womanizer here.”
   “Yeah, I gathered.”
   “An’ . . . I’m real sorry.  I didn’t know.”
   “I know you didn’t, it’s okay.”
   “I do feel just . .  .”  The front door opened and closed with a soft thump.  Sally took a deep breath, standing up.
   “Lorna?  Lorna, where are you?”  Joe called as he crossed the living room.  He stopped short when he saw Sally standing at the end of the room.
   “I gave her the rest of the day off.”  Sally said softly and Joe’s eyes narrowed.
   “What are you talking about?  Who the hell are you?”
   “Joe . . . it’s Sally . . . your wife.”
   “I don’t know any Sally . . . Lorna’s my wife.”
   “Lorna’s the maid.”
   “I’m calling the police!”  He ran from her, hitting the panic on the alarm system by the front door.
   “Sal . . . what’s goin’ on?”  Sonic, who had just round the corner asked.
   “The plumber!”  Joe exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger.  “Is that your game?  Scope out the place and come back later to rob us blind?”
   “Look man . . .”
   “The police are on their way.”  Joe interrupted, backing away from them.  The sound of sirens could be heard faintly in the distance.
   “We better book it Sal.”  Sonic told her, glancing toward the door.
   “Yeah.”  She nodded, then looked back at Joe.  “We’re going to figure out what’s going on.”  She told him, as Sonic scooped her into his arms.  A second later they were rocketing down the street, running for the Great Forest, more out of habit than anything else.

Knothole wasn’t there, but Sally hadn’t expected it to be.  Sonic sat her down in the clearing where it would have been, looking around a little forlornly.  Sally wondered around a little, looking for a good place to make camp.  She settled on a spot and began to gather wood for a fire, her mind racing.  Joe had not known her.  It hadn’t been an act.  He honestly hadn’t recognized her, just as she had not known him the day she awoke from her “coma”.  The ramifications of this seemed immense and yet indefinable.  What did it mean?  How could he not know her?  For that matter how could Sonic remember a life he hadn’t lived and forgotten every detail of who he really was?  How could any of this be happening?  Sally shook her head, sitting down heavily beside her stack of tree branches.
   “I think there’s a road somewhere close.  Listen.”  Sonic commented and Sally listened, hearing the faint whir of passing hover autos.
   “It’s a parkway most likely.  There was talk of building one through this area right before the war began.”
   “I’m gonna go check it out.”
   “Sonic . . . we need to be careful . . . police are looking for us, remember?”
   “Yeah, yeah . . . but we need supplies Sal.  I’ll make it quick.”
   “I guess if you have too . . .”  She began, but he was already gone.
Sonic returned a couple hours later, his arms laden with paper bags, a box containing a tent under his arm.  They sat up camp in silence, doing so quickly and with practiced ease.  After a time they sat to warming their dinner over the fire, sitting side by side.
   “Joe didn’t know ya.”  Sonic commented softly, shifting to stir the pot of beef stew.
   “No.”
   “What . . . what the heck’s goin’ on Sal?”
   “I don’t know.  It’s like his reality was changed, just like yours.”
   “But who could . . . do that?  ‘Buttnik?”
   “I don’t think so.”  Sally shivered and scooted closer to him.  Sonic wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against his side.
Night closed in tight around them as they ate their dinner, then cleaned up, finally crawling into the small tent for the night.  They sat across from each other for a few minutes, putting up the pretenses of getting ready for bed, though both were stalling.
   “I haven’t been this tired in a while.”  Sally commented off handedly, lying down in the middle of the tent, wiggling under the multicolored and rather itchy blanket Sonic had gotten from a convenience store gift shop.
   “Yeah . .  . me too.”  Sonic agreed, laying down beside her, their backs to each other.
   “Goodnight Sonic.”  Sally whispered, closing her eyes.
   “How was Joe?”  He asked instead of wishing her a pleasant night as well.
   “What do you mean?”  
   “In the sack . . . how was he?”
   “Sonic . . . why do you want to talk about this?”
   “I just wondered.”
   “He was . . . different.”
   “What, weird and kinky?”
   “No . .  .not at all.  Just different.  Different than . . . you.”
   “Different like . . . better than me?”
   “No Sonic . . . just different.”  Sally sighed, pulling the blanket up to her chin.
   “Example?”
   “Maybe we should talk about the women you were with?  How were they?”
   “Cheap and unappealing.”
   “Yeah right.  They may have been cheap . . . but you wouldn’t have slept with them if they were unappealing.”
   “I find ‘um unappealing lookin’ back . . . but Reese, he wasn’t too picky.”
   “I see.”
   “It’s true, cross my heart.”
   “I believe you Sonic.”  She replied softly, turning to face him.  “The women . . . were there a lot of them?”
   “I don’t know.  I don’t know how much a’ that life actually happened ta me.”
   “Let’s say you actually started living this life three months ago, when I woke up.”
   “Okay.”
   “So . . . how many?”  There was a long pause and she could hear him muttering, thinking to himself.  She heard a soft gasp before he replied.
   “I don’t remember.”
   “Yes you do.  Tell me, its okay.”
   “Ummm . . .  eight.”
   “Eight?  In just those three months?”
   “Maybe nine.”
   “Oh.”  Sally could think of nothing else to say.  She rolled back over, pulling the blanket up to her nose.
   “Sal, ya mad?”  He asked after a while and Sally shook her head no.  “I uh . . . I always wore the ol’ rain coat if it makes ya feel better.”  She shrugged and nodded slightly.  “Say somethin’ Sal.”  Sonic insisted after ten minutes of silence.
   “What do you want me to say?”  She asked gruffly, her voice colored with emotion.
   “I dunno . . . ya understand that wasn’t me . . . that ya know I wouldn’t ever do somethin’ like that if I knew.  That ya still love me a little.  Somethin’.”
   “I . . . I do still love you Sonic.  I’m not mad . . . I’m just . . . I don’t know, hurt.  Even though I know you didn’t remember me when you were with them.  I guess it hurts that you forgot.  That I was completely gone from your mind, from your heart.”
   “I know Sal.  It hurts me too, knowin’ I . . . forgot.  That I did those things.  It makes me feel nasty, real dirty.  An’ I’m sorry.”  He reach out, gripping her shoulders gently, turning her to face him.  Sally turned, but did not meet his eyes.  “Look at me, really look.”  He whispered, repeating her earlier words.  “Please see how sorry I am.  How much I love ya.”  After a time Sally looked up, her eyes focusing on his own.  She looked for a while then smiled slightly, nodding.
   “I see Sonic . . . I see.”  She hugged him then, snuggling close.

Sally awoke early, feeling immense relief as she became aware of the snoring emanating from the hedgehog beside her.  She had been afraid he wouldn’t be there.  It took a while to wake him up, as usual and once she got him awake it took another twenty minutes to get him out of the tent, but at last they both emerged, the sun just beginning to hover over the distant mountains.  They had a light breakfast, talking about old times, leaving the matter at hand alone for a while.  But it could not be avoided forever and finally they began to talk about what they intended to do.
   “I want to go to the library and look up some things.”  Sally told Sonic as the worked on braking down the tent, planning on hiding it away in case someone stumbled upon their camp site.
   “Like what?”
   “Public records.  Marriages, births, deaths.  I want to see if our alter-egos are recorded as being . . . well, real.”
   “Good idea.”
   “And I want to go to the house.”
   “What house.”
   “Joe’s house.”
   “Why?”
   “I want to see if the pictures are still there and my . . . my medicine.”
   “Are ya sick?”
   “Not really . . . I suppose anyway.  They told me I had epilepsy.  I just want to see what I was actually taking . . . if it could have affected my mind.”  She sighed, glancing over at him as he hid their supplies under several fallen tree branches.  “Were you on any sort of medication?”
   “Nope, picture of health.”  He came to stand beside her, shrugging slightly.  “It was a good idea though.”
   “Yeah.  Let’s hit the library first . . . it’s still too early to go to the house, Joe’s still there.”  Sonic nodded and scooped her up, speeding back toward the city.
The library was nearly empty when they got there, so there was no wait to use one of the computers, a small blessing.  Sally set to work quickly, looking first for her own birth.  She found her supposed birth certificate, looking over it.  So Sally maiden name Oak existed as far as the public records were concerned.  Next she tried to find her marriage license.  Nothing, but she found one for Joe and Lorna.  She looked up Sonic’s records next and found that Maurice Hedgehog also appeared in the records.  There were even marriage and divorce papers for him and a woman named Fiona.  Sally shut the computer down, finding Sonic wondering up and down the isles of books, keeping a watch on the front door.  He stopped when he saw her and smiled.
   “Ya done?”
   “Why didn’t you tell me you were married?”
   “I ain’t married.  Reese was.”
   “Still . . . you should have . . .”
   “Sal . . . I thought we were past this whole what Reese did thing.”
   “Alright, fine . . . We both appear in the records.  But my marriage to Joe . . . it’s not there.  Only a license for him and Lorna.”
   “Maybe they were both in on it.”
   “No . . . I honestly don’t think so.  And there were pictures Sonic . . . I saw them.”  Sally shook her head, sighing loudly.  “Let’s head to the house.”
   “What we gonna do?  Brake in?”
   “I have a key.”
   “An’ what if Lorna’s there?”
   “Well . . . we’ll worry about that if she’s there.”
There was no one at the large brick house and Sally used her key, unlocking the front door.  She made a bee line to the shelf in the den where the photo albums were kept.  She pulled one down, then another flipping through them.  She did not appear in any of the pictures.  In her place was Lorna.  Sonic watched over her shoulder as she looked through the big books.
   “Sal . . . are ya sure that . . .”
   “Yes I’m sure!”  She sat the book aside, turning to look at him.  “It’s been changed.”
   “They look pretty real ta me.”
   “They are.”
   “I thought ya said . . .”
   “I did.  I . . . I don’t know how . . . it’s crazy . . . but it’s true.”  She made her way upstairs and into the master bath, pulling open the medicine cabinet, looking inside.  After a moment she pulled a tall brown bottle from the top shelf, glancing at it.
   “Is that it?”  Sonic questioned from the door.
   “It was . . . it’s Lorna’s prescription now.”  Sally opened the bottle, shaking one pill into her hand, tucking it into her pocket before putting the bottle back.
   “I’m itchin’ ta get outta here.  We’re gonna get caught.”
   “You’re right . . . we better go.”
   “Back to the clearin’?”
   “No, back to the library, I want to look up this medication . . . see what it really does.”

“It . . . it’s a placebo.”  Sally said again, shaking her head as she stared at the computer screen.  “It doesn’t do anything.”
   “Then why . . . ?”
   “To make me think I was sick.”  She wrapped her arms around herself.  “To make me believe the lie.”
   “But who would do this Sal?  Who could?”
   “Someone . . . something . . . very powerful.  More powerful than I think we can even imagine.”  There was a long silence as both thought about this.  “Do you think the others are out there too?  Bunnie, Antoine, Tails . . . all living fake lives . . . all believing it’s true?”
   “I . . . I dunno.  It’d make sense I guess.”
   “Sonic . . . I’m afraid.”
   “Me too Sal, me too.”

Sally crawled from the tent, kissing Sonic lightly on the nose before she exited.  She hurried over to a near by clump of bushed, squatting down to relive herself.  She and Sonic had come back to the clearing after their second visit to the library, unsure of what else to do.  They sat and talked for a long time about options, but there seemed to be no reasonable ones, none that would result in more than them spinning their wheels, getting nowhere.  And so they sat up camp early and had spent the evening making love.  
Sally wiggled her bottom and stood, intent on walking back to the tent.  But the tent was gone.  The clearing wasn’t even there anymore, just a foggy forest, dense with foliage.  Sally cried out, a sound rather than a word, trembling as the night seemed to close in on her, swallowing her whole.  There was blackness then, inky and perfect.   If not for the fact Sally could feel her heart thundering in her chest she would have thought she was dead.
   “Do not be afraid.”  A voice said, strangely asexual and booming.
   “Where am I?”
   “Nowhere.”
   “Who are you?”
   “It does not matter.  I am as a God to you.”
   “You did this . . . changed everything, didn’t you?”  Sally moved forward through the darkness, her hands out before her.
   “Yes.”
   “Why?”
   “To see.”  It answered simply.
   “To see what?”
   “What would happen.  How easy it would be.”  A sound like a rustling of wind echoed and Sally knew it was a laugh.  “It was easy.  Except for you.  You would not forget.  The others accepted all the lives I gave them, no matter how many times I changed them.  But you . . . something about you is different.  You are stronger.”
   “Stronger than you.”  Sally said matter-of-factly and the voice scoffed.
   “Stronger than them.  No one is stronger than me.”
   “Then why couldn’t you make me forget?”
   “You are tricky.  I am learning your tricks.  It was the same with the Hedgehog, his tricks were easier to overcome though.”
   “What do you mean?”
   “He resisted.  His love for you . . . made it difficult.  It was his trick.  I overcame it.  I confused sex and love in his mind.  I gave him an ease with the females, they found him nearly irresistible.  He forgot you.”
   “And then he remembered me.”  Sally reminded with a smirk.
   “Yes, he remembered.  I know to separate the two of you now.”
   “He’ll find his way back.”
   “Not this time and you will not be so persuasive if such a thing was to happen, you will not remember him.”
   “I’ll never forget!  I remember everything.”
   “That is good Sally . . .  remember.  Remember your friends.”  Sally remembered, but strangely it seemed the moment she brought their faces to mind they vanished.  Their names, their voices, their personalities seemed to be stripped from her, ripped away, stolen.
   “What are you doing?”
   “Remember your father.”  She fought to keep her mind blank, but his image came to mind and was wiped clean.  “Remember Knothole.”  Tears formed in her eyes as she recalled her home, only to forget it a second later.  “Remember Sonic.”
   “No.”
   “Remember Sonic, Sally.”
   “No!”  She tried to think of anything else, but her mind seemed void of any other thought.  He came to mind, his sleepy smiling face as she had climbed out of the tent.  Gone.  His arms around her as he remembered who he was.  Gone.  It was like a movie in reverse, very moment she had spent with him playing backwards in her mind.  And then it was gone.  “Please . .  no, please.”  She whimpered, but the erasure continued.
   “Remember the first time you saw Sonic.”
   “No!”
   “Remember the first time you said the name . . . Sonic.”  Sally struggled, withering in emotional pain unlike anything she had ever known.  But she could not resist.  She remembered.  She forgot.
Sally collapsed to the forest floor, feeling spent, feeling empty.  For the first time she got the impression that she could see the thing that had been speaking, though she could not remember what it had been saying.  It was tall, menacing and she closed her eyes, blocking its image out.  
   “Sally?”  The thing queried softly and she shivered.
   “What?”
   “Do you know Sonic?”
   “Sonic?  Is that a name?”  There was a booming laugh, like a clap of thunder.
   “You see, no more hedgehog.”  It laughed again, turning away.
   “Hedgehog?”  Something buzzed in the back of Sally’s mind, a funny little itch that seemed to be growing.  “Hedgehog . . . hedgehog.”  An image appeared, blurry and unfocused.  A tiny child, a tiny blue hedgehog playing beside her.  “Blue hedgehog.”  She muttered and the thing turned back around to look at her.  The memory grew.  Green eyes.  Boisterous laugh.  Her friend.  Her very best friend.  A name bubbled to mind, his name when they had been so young, before the other name.  “Reese.”  Faster the memories came now, bombarding her.  He ran . . . he ran so fast, like the jets . . . . like Daddy’s sonic jets.  And she had renamed him.  Renamed him . . .  “Sonic!”  She screamed it, memories flooding her, drowning her until every last one was in place again.
   “No!  It can not be.  It simply can not be!”  The thing yelled above her.  There was a sudden sound and a disturbance of the air around them.  
   “It is over.”  A new voice thundered, seeming to be everywhere.
   “No, I just need a little more time.  I have more ideas, more . . . .”
   “It is over.”  The voice repeated.  And suddenly it seemed like the world was crumbling, the ground losing its solidness, Sally falling through.

Sally sat up with a jerk, blinking rapidly.  The late afternoon sun shone through her window and she jumped out of bed.  She was in her hut, surrounded by her things.  She ran out her door, her eyes wide as she took in Knothole all around her.  Knothole solid and real.  Her friends there as they should be.  Antoine napping on his porch, Bunnie in the garden, and Tails playing dirt hockey.  Sally’s eyes scanned over the scene quickly, searching for Sonic.  She did not see him, but a smell was in the air and she rushed toward it, following her nose to his hut, jerking the door open, rushing inside.  There leaning over his wood stove, stirring a steaming pot of chili, was Sonic.  Sally paused, watching him for a moment before he turned around, smiling brightly.
   “Hey Sal, almost done.”  
   “Sonic.”  Sally rushed to him, throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace.  Sonic chuckled, hugging her back.
   “Man Sal . . . what I do ta deserve this?”
   “Nothing . . . everything.”  She laughed, raining soft kisses all over his face.  “I just love you so much and I’m . . . I’m so glad you’re here.”
   “Well . . . I love ya too.”  He shook his head, his nose brushing against her’s.  “Where else would I be?”
   “I don’t know . . . it doesn’t matter.  Just as long as you’re here with me.”
   “That’s my favorite place ta be.”  He told her with a wink and Sally closed her eyes, her body seeming to melt into his own, happy to be home.