4: Fox

When I woke up I felt refreshed—something I hadn't felt in forever. I grinned, stretching slowly and happily as I slid off the bed. Khalla barely moved from where she lay beside me and I crept to the bathroom, noting that Spider and Alex were still gone which, admittedly, worried me.

I took a shower and almost danced and sang at the feeling of being clean. We had limited times when we were able to bathe, so I always smelled like crap. But after using the nice-smelling shampoo and body soap the motel provided I felt even more refreshed and chipper. I had to brush my wet hair with my fingers, but I looked cleaner than I've looked in—well, forever, pretty much.

I even got my clothes washed, though I had to walk to the outside washing machines in a towel. Not that the men there minded. I sat by the washing machine the whole time waiting for my clothes. During this time a boy walked up to me, probably a bit older than me, and I was surprised considering this was a motel. Why would a teenager be here?

He was handsome, I had to admit. He had bright blue eyes and golden hair, ruffled in a way that made me want to touch it, just to see if it felt as soft as it looked. He wore a blue hoodie and baggy jeans, so it wasn't as if he was underprivileged or anything.

Oh. And he was smiling.

At me.

"Hello," he said. I stared at him.

"Hey," I greeted coolly, leaning against the rumbling washing machine.

"I'm Henry," he introduced himself, smiling at me. He must think he's suave or something, hitting on a chick in a motel laundry mat. Real smooth Henry, I thought sarcastically.

"Fox," I finally said.

"Nice name," he laughed. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Better than Henry."

"Touché."

"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked rudely.

"My mom owns the motel. I live here," he said. "I was just wandering around when I saw you."

"Is that supposed to be cute?"

"Um….yes?" he smirked.

"You're not very good at this," I observed. He blinked at me.

"Good at what?"

"Picking up girls."

"I'm not? Well, why don't you teach me?"

You've got to be kidding me. At first I thought this was all just a fun game, but this Henry guy was starting to get on my nerves.

"Can you like….go?" I quirked my eyebrow at him. "I'm kind of busy."

"I can wait with you," he offered.

"No."

"Why not?"

"You annoy me," I replied with a shrug. This guy was persistent. Annoyingly so.

"Ouch," he grabbed his heart dramatically. "That one hurt."

"Dude, go away, you don't know what you're getting into with me."

"Inform me," he flirted. I grinned slyly, suddenly having fun again.

"Well, for one thing, I just escaped a giant building that did freaky experiments on me since I was a baby, resulting in a freakish mutation. I have creepy dog-men chasing after me intent on bringing me back, and I have emotional problems. Can you handle all that baggage?"

He stared at me. "I just remembered I have school. Bye."

He ran off. Ha. It was a Saturday. I triumphantly leaned back on the washing machine, somewhat perturbed at our little exchange. I felt unusually happy today, no wonder I was playful, like the fox I am.

Man, even my thoughts are corny.

I turned when the washing machine beeped, alerting me that my clothes were ready. I pulled them out and put the in the drier, wandering off to get a drink while they dried. I wasn't all that surprised when I ran into Onion.

"What are you doing out of the room?" I asked him.

"Khalla's taking a shower," he mumbled. "I was hungry."

I smiled. "Come with me," I offered. He nodded and followed me to some vending machines nearby. I pulled out the leftover money I had swindled and I got him a bag of chips and a soda. I got myself a giant cookie and some water. I saved enough money for Khalla to get something too. Onion came back with me to the laundry and we ate there, chatting idly. I really thought his accent was alluring in some way; if I had an accent maybe my appeal would increase.

Man, sometimes, I had strange thoughts.

"Alex and Spider…are they okay?" he suddenly asked as I threw away our trash.

"They'll be fine," I said. He stared at me blankly and I sighed. "Okay, okay, I admit, I'm worried. They should be back by now."

"They should," he said sadly.

"Hey, cheer up kiddo," I assured him, patting his head fondly. "They're strong, stubborn freaks. They won't be taken so easily."

He smiled slightly. "Still….worried."

"I know."

I got my clothes, which had dried not long after, and went back to the room with Onion. I changed near my bed, not minding that Onion was still there. He was only a kid anyway, and besides, he had the decency to look away when I changed. Actually he was watching some kid cartoon on the tiny TV they had in the room.

Khalla stepped out not longer after I had joined Onion on the bed watching TV. She was dressed again and looked cleaner as well.

"My turn!" Onion cried, dashing into the bathroom. Khalla joined me on the bed, her expression serious.

"We need to find Alex and Spider," she said.

"I know."

"What if they got caught? Onion would be mortified," Khalla said slowly.

"I know," I said again. "But what can we do? We don't have wings."

"I know, but…we have to try to do something," she persisted.

"There's nothing I can think of," I sighed.

"Think harder."

"Easier said than done."

"Only if you think you can't do it," Khalla said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying, you've been pretty negative," Khalla said calmly. "You keep insisting they're fine, when you know they can't be fine if they're not back yet."

"I don't want to scare Onion!"

"So? I don't see you trying to help."

I was appalled. Khalla was never argumentative, much less accusing. I kind of understood what she meant though. But still—the nerve to make it seem like I didn't care! I cared about the flock, more than they probably cared about me. Khalla's words, though not as cruel as they could have been, upset me.

"Where are you going?" she asked as I stalked toward the door. I stared at her angrily.

"To meet a friend."

It wasn't hard to find Henry. I mean, he lived here, of course he wouldn't go far this early or anything. I found him smoking near the back of the motel, looking pretty bored. He had a pink-haired girl chewing bubble gum next to him, arms crossed as she said something to some guy with long dark hair and piercings adorning his creepy face, which was sort of hidden by his hood pulled up. I was a bit perturbed at the fact Henry hung out with these sorts of people. I mean, he looked like the preppy type. Heh…who knew?

"Hey," I approached him. He looked up, as did the other two, and his expression hardened.

"Fox," he greeted.

"Sorry about earlier, I was just trying to freak you out," I said carelessly. He chuckled slightly and I stopped in front of him, keeping a weary eye on the stone-faced girl and boy. Literally, in the boy's case—he looked stoned. Pathetic, really.

"Smoke?" Henry offered.

"No," I said, "I'm not fond of lung cancer."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged.

"Oi, Henry, who this?" the pink-haired girl asked in an ugly New York accent, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Fox," Henry said vaguely.

"I met him in the laundry mat," I added. "He had the worst pick up lines."

I smirked when his face turned red. I fixed my hat, which I had bought quite a while ago so I could go in public without weird looks. I actually liked it—it was big and all, but pretty cute. I got distracted fixing it and when I looked over the stoned boy was standing and approaching me.

"I'm Will," he said.

"…Mallory," the pink girl said slowly, also approaching me. Henry watched on silently, continuing to smoke his cancer stick.

"Hi," I said thinly. "I'm—"

"Fox," Will grinned slowly. "We know. Quite a…sexy name."

"Ew," I said. He laughed.

"Henry, can I have a go at 'er?" Will asked. Henry's eyes narrowed. Mallory looked apathetic, stepping back and leaning against the wall next to Henry.

"But I like 'er," Will said when he saw Henry's look. "She looks soooo tasty."

I grimaced. Ew.

"Fine," he finally said after a pause, "but leave some for me."

"Um, I'm right here, ass holes," I growled, annoyed at that point. "No ones gonna have a bite, so don't even try."

"Feisty," Will laughed in amusement. Mallory rolled her eyes but didn't move. Will stepped closer, hands lifting to grab me. I felt my eyes glisten when my instincts kicked in and I snapped my arm out, whacking his arm away. I reached out with both hands and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back and pressing my knee against his back so he fell to his knees.

"Try that again," I growled.

He whimpered. "Dude, let me go, it hurts."

"Pathetic," I sighed as I released him, stepping back. Mallory was watching me, fascinated, and Henry was laughing so hard he had to put his cigarette out so that he wouldn't hurt himself with it.

"I'm leaving," I said, bored already and wanting to go back to plan with Khalla. I turned to leave when Henry padded up behind me, grabbing my arm.

"Wait, Fox," he said. I stifled the urge to roll my eyes. "Stay."

"You just told your friend he could rape me," I said. "I don't think I want to stay. Besides, remember those Dogs I told you about?" I pointed to the sky. "They're here."

Confused, they looked up. Sure enough two (only two? Weird, but considering that Spider and Alex just fought, I didn't find it too strange) awkward flying Dogs were hovering above the split of the alleyway, glowering about—probably looking for us.

Their shocked reactions gave me enough time to run back to the room. Once I entered I saw Khalla and Onion. Onion was bathed and dressed and Khalla was saying something to him but stopped when I slammed the door open.

"Dogs," I said.

"Oh," she said in surprise. Onion's eyes narrowed.

"So, we run?" Khalla asked.

"We run."

D: I do not own MR.
I own Onion and Mackenzie/Spider.
InkDrinker owns Alex.
booknerd333 owns Ariadne.
Starskyluvsfang14 owns Khalla.

N: Haha, apparently Fox likes fucking with people. XD
Yeah, not much going on here. Next chapter, we get to see what happened to Alex and Spider! :D