SONIC INFECTED!AU

Chapter 1- The beggining

In the green hills, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping—a perfect Friday for school, eh? A girl walked through the hills with a school bag, her long brunette hair swishing in the wind.

A classmate—or rather, a friend—ran up to Eva.

"Evieeeee, wait for me!" a squeaky, girlish voice called. "Eva, I told you to wait for me! Or... at least you could've slowed down!"

"Gabriela. Nice seeing you on this particular morning at school," said Eva.

Gabriela huffed and, jokingly, added, "Don't tell me you took your favorite jacket—the one you stole from Damon (Shadow)! Are you crushing on him?" Eva sighed and gave a soft, annoyed glare. Gabriela giggled, "Anyways... have you heard? There's a book fair going on at school. Wanna check it out later?"

"Sure," Eva agreed.

---------------

As they walked through the school halls, the book fair came into view—half-built and shrouded in mystery. Gabriela stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes transfixed on a peculiar locket. More an amulet than jewelry, it held within it a thick, black liquid that shimmered with an almost malevolent gleam.

"What is that? It looks so...—" Eva began, her voice trailing off in hesitation. Before she could finish, a high, excited voice cut in, "COOL! It looks awesome, doesn't it, Eva?" But Eva couldn't shake the chill crawling up her spine. That dark liquid was no ordinary ink or colored water—it radiated a sinister aura that unsettled her deeply. "I think we should buy it later," Gabriela insisted. With a long, reluctant sigh, Eva nodded.

After the tedious classes, school finally ended, and the trio—Eva, Gabriela, and Jacob—made their way to the bustling book fair. The air was thick with the scent of old paper and hidden secrets.

"Uwahhh! Look at all these books—I can literally smell fresh paper!" Gabriela exclaimed with unbridled excitement. Jacob scoffed, "Gabriela, speak up! People here can barely hear you," his tone laced with sarcasm. With a playful grin, Gabriela replied, "My bad!"

Amid their banter, Eva's gaze fell once more on the eerie locket she'd seen that morning. Compelled despite her growing dread, she picked it up. In that instant, horrifying visions flooded her mind—swirling black goo, her face distorted in a shattered mirror, and flames dancing with a demonic fervor. Her eyes widened in terror, and her hand shook so violently that the locket slipped from her grasp, clattering to the floor.

"What the... heck?" Eva whispered, her voice barely audible.

"What did you find?" Gabriela asked, leaning closer. Eva quickly tried to regain her composure, curtly replying, "Nothing." Yet when she glanced at the spot where it had fallen, the locket had vanished without a trace.

Desperate for a moment of normalcy, Eva searched for her favorite comics—but everywhere she turned, the locket reappeared, as if stalking her. These weren't mere duplicates; it was as though the cursed object was determined to draw her in, beckoning her to unravel the dark mystery it concealed.

Then came a scream—a piercing, echoing cry that mirrored the one from her vision. Heart pounding, Eva raced toward the commotion where Gabriela and Jacob had gathered. Strangely, the scream carried an ecstatic, almost otherworldly quality that sent fresh shivers down her spine.

"Eva, look what I found!" Gabriela cried, holding the locket aloft. "I've been scouring this entire convention—this is probably the last one they have!"

"Why aren't you buying it?" Eva demanded, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and disbelief.

"Nothing convinced me," Jacob muttered, his tone dry and ironic.

"Sucks to be you, Manga boy," Eva teased, though her words barely masked the dread that had settled in her gut.

"Shut it," Jacob snapped softly, his voice a low whisper in the suddenly oppressive air.

After the convention, they all went home for the weekend. Yet Eva couldn't shake her worry—not for the locket, but for Gabriela. While Gabriela adored all things magical—lockets, amulets, trinkets—the cursed aura surrounding that one object was deeply disturbing. What if Gabriela, in her habitual clumsiness, were to break it? The mere thought sent a cold, paralyzing chill racing down Eva's spine, as if some unseen horror were waiting to be unleashed.