I turned onto my other side and draped my tails over the side of the seat. I was too excited about my current situation to let my mind ease into the restful state it needed in order to function properly tomorrow. The memories of everything that happened earlier today just kept filling my mind and nerves with newfound energy and excitement. 'I'm a criminal now!' This thought nearly fried my nerves. Just this morning I was an abused Vulpix who cowered in the corner out of fear of her fa-...Bill. Out of fear of Bill. Now not only am I no longer cowering in fear, I'm standing against it and everything good I stood for as a full-blown member of a crime group!

The idea of being a criminal is enough to tug at any teenage girl's conscious, but it just seemed to uplift mine. Maybe it's because the world in which I did things properly and followed the rules only resulted in beatings and violence. Now that I'm part of something far more dangerous and exciting, my life just might be better than it was before.

The others were 'sleeping out', as Axel called it. Whenever the weather was good, they sought out ways to sleep under the stars, yet still be close to the car. Chuck found comfort within the car's engine, as his ghostly figure allowed him to cram himself into tight spots. Kris slept in the trunk with the lid open, which had a pillow and blanket inside. I guess she was more accustomed to sleeping there anyways. Finally, Axel and Victor were out cold on the roof of the car. I could still hear quiet clanking of metal as the two tossed about in their sleep. Kris had suggested that I stay in the car. I'm not sure if it was because they don't trust me enough to let me roam about without their supervision, or if they were nervous about being at my mercy while asleep, or what. Maybe she just thought I'd feel safer being in the car for the time being.

I didn't mind. In fact, being in the car gave me a chance to roam around inside it. I hopped from the back seat into the passenger seat and opened the glove compartment. Inside was the gun and ammo, two knives, a pack of gum with six unchewed sticks, a small pack of 'AA' batteries, a newspaper, a pair of violet gloves and four pairs of sunglasses.

I decided against taking anything out with the thought that its absence would be noticed the next time it was needed. I felt about under the seat in case there was anything hidden underneath. My paw pressed against something soft and thick. I pulled it out and examined my findings closely; it was a large fur blanket with swirl and polka-dot designs stitched into it. The precise stitching indicated that this was made by a true proffessional. I tugged it over my body and was surprised by how warm and comfortable it was. Within seconds, I drifted off to a blissful sleep.


"Hey kid, wake up!"

My eyes shot open when I felt Kris shake me awake.

"Hmm?" My mind still didn't register what was going on since it was still a bit groggy. "Whozzat?"

"It's Kris, baby. Come on, it's time to get up now." When I remained slumped in the seat, she suddenly picked me up and carried me out of the car. It was sort of embarassing because she carried me like a baby with my tails hanging over her left elbow.

The others were gathered at a nearby stream somewhat far from the road. Kris carried me through the trees and past the bushes over to the stream and started splashing water in my face. "Come on now, Ash. Wake up," she ordered gently while shaking me a bit more violently.

Victor's top lip curled upwards in a disapproving sneer. "Why don't you give her a bottle and blankie while you're at it, Kris?"

"Oh, like you haven't had your fair share of rough nights before?" She shot back. Still, I inched out of her arms and leapt over to the other side of the stream. Staring down at my reflection, I gently cupped a small amount of water in my right paw and splashed it against my face. My fur was disheveled and matted to my skin from sweating; the water only provided a limited amount of relief.

For a long time, I kept my gaze on my reflection. The Vulpix in the water looked like she had seen better times, what with marks, scars, bruises, cuts, even a gash or two decorating her skin and knotted fur. Her amber eyes looked sad and glistened from the gleam of the morning sun as it danced across the water's surface. The dark circles beneath her eyes added to her look of pain and suffering. She looked as though she wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and never come out.

'This is what Bill did to me. His so-called 'discipline' has resulted in me looking a total mess. I look as though I'm about to topple over any second now.'

I suddenly heard splashing coming from the other side of the stream. Kris leaned down and gently laid her paw on my shoulder, looking deeply into my eyes with her dark orange ones.

"Don't let Vic's words get to you, Ash. He can be a bit bitter at times, but he'll like you more as he gets to know you."

I nodded without saying anything and merely skulked back to the car. I hopped into the front seat and tucked the blanket back underneath the seat. I then hopped into the back seat and leapt to the floor, where I began licking myself. This was my means of getting clean, whereas theirs was bathing in a stream or any other body of water. Seeing as how I was the only four-legged pokemon, it would've been awkward to do it around them. The last thing I needed was to be stared at for doing something I was naturally supposed to do.

I was gentle when I licked my wounds, but I did my best to lick away any crusty blood without making the wounds spurt out some new. Afterwards, I left the car again and rejoined the rest. Chuck and Kris had started a water fight while Axel and Victor were off in the distance talking about something. Judging from Victor's frustrated appearance and Axel's in-charge stance, I could tell they were still arguing about keeping me on their team.

Suddenly, a wave of water splashed me on my face, instantly taking my mind off of Axel and Victor. My eyes darted over to the other two. Chuck stared at me with his eyes wide in shock and his hands clapsed over his mouth, while Kris grinned at him with an expression of, 'Oh, you're in for it now!'

I grinned mischievously and jumped hard into the water in front of him, causing him to become drenched and a ghostly tuff of hair on his head to drape over his eyes, the water dripping off like rain. He used one finger from each hand to pull back his tufts of hair from his eyes and glare at me menacingly.

"Uh-oh," Kris said while backing off. "You messed with...the do."

You couldn't normally tell that Chuck has hair due to the fact that he kept it in a way that made it look like part of his head. Though his body was ghostly, water seemed to affect him and his not-so-ghostly hair. Normally, Haunters would only have tiny black irises for their eyes, but Chuck's eyes grew so big that I could see that there were dark purple irises actually around his pupils. He gave me a toothy grin before his hands drew back. Without warning, he started moving his hands in a fan blade-like motion and sent wave after wave of water after me.

I ducked behind a nearby bush, being careful to avoid the jets of water that shot through its branches. Once the attacks ceased, I leapt out and splashed him again, making another shower of water come from the motion of his hands.

The water war, which Kris eventually joined in, continued until noonish. Axel approached us three, who were all worn out and soaked from our fun game of water tag, with his arms folded across his chest.

"Ashely, do you have any family you might be able to stay with?"

I shook my head. "Nah...mom and...dad...are the only family I have," I said while trying to catch my breath.

Chuck was lying on the ground, so his head was upside down when he leaned back far enough to look his father in the eyes. "Dad, can she please stay? It's more fun with her around here."

I blushed slightly at his comment, but turned my gaze towards Victor with the same pleading look in my eyes. He looked at me with disapproval and slight disgust before stating, "You actually had a water war with this animal?"

That stung something fierce. My eyes trailed back over to Chuck, who looked as though he was about ready to fall asleep. "Call her what you will, things are more fun with her around. I haven't had a decent water war like that in a long time. In fact, probably since I was little..."

His father rolled his eyes. "You sound like you're still a Gastly. But, it's not like I've got a choice, now is it? Popular sovereignty counted in her favor last night, so she's staying."

Chuck flew up from the ground shouting, "Yes!" Suddenly, his hand was right next to my head in a position that Bill used whenever he threatened to slap me. "High five!"

I tilted my head in slight confusion at the ghostly hand in front of me. Purple fire burned behind it as it hovered in the air. "High...five?" I asked curiously.

His ghostly jaw fell to the ground in a way that made me giggle. Any other pokemon, save that of other ghost pokemon, wouldn't have been able to pull of a trick like that. "You've never high fived someone before?"

I hesitatnly shook my head. He gave a gentle sigh, but didn't remove his hand from its position. "Watch," he said making his other hand float over to Kris, who was trying to wring out her now drenched orange scarf. "High five!" He called energetically to her. Without a second of hesitation, she reached a paw up and hit his with an incredible amount of force. His hand vanished in a cloud of purple smoke and rose in the air along with hers. Both of their palms faced each other, then crashed down in front of their faces, without making contact, in the shape of fists, their palms now facing themselves.

He smiled again at me and said, "That's what we call a 'fist pump'. We do that to emphasize the awesomeness of a high five. Now you try!"

I gazed at the hand again before bringing my paw up to my face. I studied it worriedly and reached up. It came back a few centimeters before slapping his hand firmly, making a loud *clap* as they hit. His hand reappeared by his side and he rose it into the air. I slowly did the same with mine and we fist pumped at the same time. It felt...kind of good, actually. Satisfying, even.

"Well then," Axel said grinning at the two of us, "how about you two go dry yourselves off?"

We raced each other out into the sunlight and started playing tag. The air that ran over us dried us off quickly, but Kris, who somehow managed to get dry before us, wouldn't let us get in the car unless we were one hundred-percent dry. After about a half an hour later, we fell to the ground panting and laughing.

Chuck smiled and sighed at the sky. "I haven't had this much fun in a while."

Curiousity got the best of me. "Say, how is it that Victor's your father when you're a Haunter? Was your mom a Haunter?"

He looked over at me with one eyeridge raised. "That's a bit personal, don't you think?"

I shrugged. "Just thought I'd make friendly conversation, what with us being part of the same criminal orginization and all."

"'Criminal orginization'," he repeated while holding his chin. He suddenly grinned at the sky above us and glanced in my direction. "I like the way that sounds, it makes us seem more bad-ass!"

We spent a while cloud watching, pointing out shapes and pokemon we saw in the sky. The sun beamed down on us harshly, speeding up the drying process which the other three were waiting patiently for. "That one looks like a hot air balloon," the ghost/poison-type stated while pointing at an oval-shaped cloud "doesn't it?"

I felt an eyebrow raise. "What's a hot air balloon?"

He looked over at me in disbelief. "Wait a sec, first you didn't know what a high five was, and now you're telling me you don't know what a hot air balloon is? How often did you ever leave that house of yours?"

I cringed inwardly at his question, which seemed accusing by the way he said it. I rolled over onto my left side which made me face away from him. "I don't wanna talk about it," I said in a raspy voice.

The way he sighed guiltily told me he knew he approached a touchy subject. "What, did your parents never let you leave the house, or something?"

I shut my eyes, suddenly wishing he would just leave me alone. "That's a bit personal, don't you think?" I asked in a mocking type of voice that came out a touch colder than I had intentioned.

He scoffed at my response. I kept my tails curled beneath me as I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling myself slowly become enraged. 'How DARE he judge me,' I thought to myself, 'he doesn't know anything about me, so why does he think he does? Why does he act as though he thinks he's superior to me? Sure, he's a tad older than me, I assume, but that doesn't mean that he's much better. He's an outlaw who pulled me into his world. He didn't have to help me shut the door yesterday, but he did.'

'...wait, what? Am I seriously pissed that he helped me get away from Bill just because he's asking about my home life? He and the rest saved my life and here I am all pissy about him getting to know me better. Then again, he was doing the same thing not two minutes ago, so-'

"Yes."

"Huh?" I turned to face him again, slightly startled by his sudden outburst.

"Yes, my mom was a Haunter."

I felt even more bewildered. "So what happened between-"

"You don't understand," he said sighing while running a hand through his hair. His dark purple eyes were fixated on the sky. "Dad was having an affair with my mom. His real love didn't know about my mom's existance until dad presented her with a certain egg sometime later. By then, mom was long gone because she didn't want nothing to do with raising the child of a married pokemon. As you might imagine, his wife divorced him and kicked him out. Shortly after, we joined Axel and his gang. I was about your age when we joined, and believe me when I say that I was rebellious at that time. But Axel and Kris set me straight by letting me be reckless in their plans. It wasn't until about a year ago when I settled down and became the peaceful, youth-yearning Haunter you see before you."

I smiled, grateful he finally opened up to me. "So how old are you now?"

"Twenty."

'Three years. That's how long he's been on an emotional rampage. I can't imagine how dangerous he must've been; I'd hate to have been in a holdup with him pointing a gun at my face back then. Still, how could Victor do that to the pokemon he loved? She never did anything to him, yet he stabbed her in the back.'

"So what pokemon was his wife?"

He didn't have shoulders, so he brought his hands up in a gesture of shrugging. "Beats me. He won't tell any of us."

I had my doubts he would've been as bitter towards Kris as he is me. Axel most likely would've kicked him out of the group if he was ever sour towards Kris or himself.

"So now that I've shared my story, care to share yours?" He asked looking at me worriedly, as though he was afraid that I'd up and leave at the mere mention of the subject.

I sighed and turned my eyes back to the heavens. Surely we were dry right about now, but I knew he'd want to talk about this sooner or later. Sooner was probably wisest, that way he won't ask while around the other three. "Well, my mom was a beautiful Ninetails when she was younger. I guess all the boys admired her for her beauty and sincere nature. Oh, she always had a graceful way of moving, as though any step she took would light up a section of the ground for months. Anyway, though many asked her for her heart, she somehow found love in my father. Though I really doubt that's possible since he's a rude, abusive, ignorant, self-righteous, conceited bastard." I said the last sentence with a feeling of vomit threatening to spew from my mouth.

"Then, of course, I came into the picture. I don't have any recollection of him ever treating us nicely, though. I've grown up fearing him and being his punching bag. The only friend I've known is a girl Eevee, though she preferred to boast and brag about her popularity than to talk to me about any problems either of us had. No wait, I take that back, she talked to me once about her problems, but suddenly had an errand to run when I asked her if I could talk to her about mine. That was during school."

"Did she ever invite you over to her house?" He asked.

"All the time. But... he wouldn't let me go for fear that I'd blab about my abuse. Our abuse," I corrected myself bitterly.

"Well, surely your teachers noticed your marks, right?"

"Yeah, but dad always found ways to cover up the truth. If he wasn't so convincing, neither me nor my mom would have been living with him."

He tilted his head, his eyes sympathetic. "So your dad has always beat you?"

I shook my head in discontent at the memories, then got up and sat near the creek and stared down at my reflection. Within seconds, Chuck was at my side, gazing at my worriedly. "Only every second he could," I said in a low voice.

I shut my eyes in shame. Even after a single day of being away from him, the pain of my past with Bill was still lingering over me, like a dreadful stench that I couldn't wash away. "You don't know how many nights I wished I was dead, Chuck. I prayed for salvation, but it never came. And some nights, when he still had plenty of left-over anger from his day, dad would barge into my room with a belt and whup me until either I passed out, or he got tired."

"Your mom never did anything to stop it?" He asked tenderly.

"No. She probably thought that it was better me than her. If you've ever been beaten by my father, you would too." I felt a single tear streak down my cheek and land in the water. He gingerly placed his hands on my back and pressed our bodies together. I at least knew what this was; a hug. Even with all the coldness in the world, I've at least been granted the knowledge of what a hug was. Though hugs usually brought comfort with them in the few times I've recieved them, this one didn't help end the pain that kept emanating. In fact, the pain didn't subside at all until that night.


We were about seventy miles from that creek when we had started getting ready for bed. It was raining pretty hard outside, so everyone slept inside the car. Kris was laying down in the back seat with me curled up on her stomach, Chuck found refuge on the floor, Axel was in the driver's seat with it as far back as it could go and with it leaned as far back as possible, and Victor was reclined in the passenger seat. Turns out Kris had kept all the blankets in the trunk of the car for just such occassions and that there was a way to remove a cushion from the back seat to access the trunk. However, Kris was somewhat claustrophobic, so she didn't want to bunk in the trunk tonight due to the lid needing to stay closed.

As I watched the rain land on and run down the window, I felt my sadness melt away. It had often rained after Bill beat me severely, and it always made me feel better. It was as though it used to come as a message from God stating that not everything in the world was awful. I became a little worried; if it was raining and I wasn't being severely beaten, did that mean that mom was?

A wave of guilt washed over me. Indeed, escaping Bill has left me in the safety of Axel's group, but what was it doing to mom? No doubt Bill was taking all of his anger out on her, and my disappearance was eating away at her mind.

"You okay, Ash?"

I smiled over at Kris and laid down on her stomach. "Just worried about my mom."

Victor turned in his seat. "You wanna go home?" He asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

My eyes trailed to the floor. "No."

The blade pokemon uttered a small curse under his breath as he turned back around in his seat. Kris gently began to stroke the curls atop my head. "So why are you worried about her? Is it because of your father?"

"Yeah. That, and the fact that she must be worried about me. I mean, I doubt she'd think nothing of it if he chased me out of the house and returned alone."

Axel reached back and rubbed the back of my head affectionately. "I'm sure she's fine, kid. I heard that Ninetails are quite the fighters if provoked."

Kris glanced at him in confusion. "If that's true, then why would she put up with her husband's abuse?"

"Because she thought he knew what was best for us," I answered. "She told me that when I was little. Dad had just gotten through beating me and left. Mom came in and told me as she tucked me in, 'Dear, your father loves you. All he wants is what's best for you, okay? He doesn't mean anything he says or does.'"

The older female continued to stroke my head fur. "Do you believe that, hon?"

I rested my head on my paws. "I don't know. I mean, I guess so. I can't really think of reasons why he would want to beat me, though. I told him that the teachers at school were asking about my marks and he said that they were from trying to keep me in line. He said that every father needs to beat his children to maintain order within the household, and that every child needs to be disciplined."

Axel pulled the newspaper from the glove compartment. "So what did you do to deserve punishment?" He asked while reading the headlines.

I sighed and closed my eyes. "Nothing. I never did anything wrong, I did what I was told to do, I kept my grades up, I did nothing to deserve punishment."

"Dear," Kris started while using her thumb and forefinger to turn my head to meet her gaze, "that's not discipline, that's abuse. If you haven't done anything to deserve being beaten, he shouldn't ever have laid a paw on you. There's a difference between abuse and punishement, and you, dear, have suffered from abuse."

"And from what it sounds like," the lucario started, "he never wanted what was best for you, he just wanted a good punching bag."

I stared down at the floor again. Chuck was making hand puppets for amusement, but mouthed, 'Should I tell them the rest?' while the others watched the shapes on the ceiling. I gave a faint movement of my head in a 'no' gesture and he nodded understandingly.

"Did your mom ever say anything about leaving him?" Chuck asked while making a dragon. Having ghostly hands enabled him to bend them in any way he wanted.

"No, not to me."

"Did she ever say why she wanted to stay with this oaf?" Victor asked, surprising us all with the fact that he had been listening.

I glared out the window. "When I was fourteen, I made the foolish mistake of telling him I was gonna go to the police and tell them about what he was doing to us. He beat me so bad, I was in the hospital for two months. Mom came and saw me every day, as well as a few friends from school. Dad...told them that I had fallen down the stairs and a dresser I was trying to move had followed me. Anyway, the fourth day I was there mom and I were finally left alone. I asked her why she wouldn't divorce him, or just leave. She told me that he was...wealthy. The money he made would be able to give me more opportunities for college and a chance at a better life."

Victor turned in his seat to look at me better. "He put you in the hospital? ! ?"

I nodded. "Child Services came by the hospital while mom wasn't there and asked what had happened. I told them the truth without a moment of hesitation, and they put me in a foster home for a single night. They returned me to my father the next day, who beat me enough to keep me home for the rest of the week."

It may have been my imagination, but I swear I saw his eyes soften for five brief seconds before he turned back around in his seat. "Did he ever put your mom in the hospital?"

"No. I think he knew she would never have stayed if he did."

Chuck sighed loudly. He had grown bored of making shadow puppets and turned onto his side. I glanced over at Axel, who was reading the sports section of the paper, then over at Kris, who was starting to fall asleep. I rose and curled up at the other end of the seat, so she could cover herself up.

"Well, this gig might not be as rewarding as any rich job your father's got, but it has its perks," Axel stated while folding the newspaper back up. "No news on us today, Vic. But the Giants won the Super Bowl a few days ago."

"Goddamn it," the other stated irritatedly. "I can't believe the Patriots would lose to those ammateurs."

Our leader crossed his arms in front of his chest and smirked at the other. "Oh puh-leez. The Giants won the last time they played in the Super Bowl. I told you this time would be no different." He suddenly glanced back at me. "What about you, Ash? Who are you a fan of?"

I felt bitterness rise in me. The only time I've ever heard anything on TV about sports was shortly after Bill beat me. Every time he got done taking his anger out on me, I'd always hear a golf game playing in the living room, or soccer, or basketball, or baseball. Football was the one sport that I had caught a break on when it came to beatings. If there was a game on, Bill would be too occupied to beat me, though I knew well enough to hide in my room in case his team lost.

I shrugged. "I'm not really into sports. Dad was though, and I think he was a Patriots fan."

Despite hearing his team's name being mentioned, Victor sneered at my response and readjusted his seat, so he could lean back in it.

Axel grinned at me. "I guess we should hit the sack, too. You're lucky you joined us when you did, we had just hit pay day. Tomorrow we'll introduce you to some real criminal action."

That didn't settle very well. Could the 'pay day' that he's referring to be the robbery of Bill's Billions? And what's in store for me tomorrow? Oh well, time to prove myself worthy of being part of their group. I'd rather do criminal stuff than have them return me back home, which I already know Victor would want if I'm not of any use to the group.

Though Victor was still kind of bitter towards me, I had to admit that being part of Axel's group was rather enjoyable. I'd take being part of their group over being back home any gentle pattering of the rain helped me fall asleep early that night. As I drifted off into a blissful world of rest, I couldn't help but mentally rub it into Bill's face that I was happier with outlaws than I was with him.