After school had finished, Danny called the three back to the apple tree out of sight so that they could all talk privately. All the way there, Sam and Tucker just stared at Vixey in confusion and suspicion, but it seemed as though she was loving the attention. She grinned at them all the way. As soon as Danny scanned the area to make sure that they were alone, all three of them opened their mouths ready for the questions to start flowing. However, Vixey beat them all to it.
She waved as if she was in some sort of therapy group, "Hello, I'm Vixey and I'm not really sure what to call myself so don't ask for a label. Yes, I can turn into a fox at will. No, I am not a ghost. No, there no others like me that I know of. Uh... anything else?"
"HOW?" all three of them chanted together.
She reddened, "Now that I can't tell you, I'm really sorry but I can't."
Sam folded her arms, "No offence, but it seems a lot to ask to expect us to trust you if you won't even explain that to us."
"No offence, but it seems a lot to ask to expect me to explain everything when I'm not even sure how to explain it." Vixey retorted, "Anyway, you never instantly know everything about someone the day you meet them."
"But, Vixey, you have to understand that we're naturally going to be asking questions..." Danny added.
"Hey. I haven't been questioning you! You're half ghost for crying out loud!"
"Because you've been spying on him!" Tucker snapped.
"That's a tad harsh..." she muttered, shoulders dropping slightly, "You don't get it, well I thought you might. Bad stuff happened and I don't want to remind myself of it, so I'm sorry if I can't tell you why I'm like this, but I figured that people like you wouldn't care about what a person is or why they're like that. I figured... I figured that you'd accept me, even if I am a freak."
Everyone fell silent. A pang of guilt shot through them. Danny shifted uneasily. Freak. He'd heard that word enough, they all had.
"You're not a freak, Vixey, what was it you said earlier? A victim of circumstance?" he smiled, "You can tell us what those circumstances were, if you want?"
She returned a grateful smile, "It's complicated, I'll try to explain it but -"
In seconds, the chain of the pendant around her neck shrunk in size, tightening around her throat and cutting into her skin. She dropped to her knees and gasped for breath. Tucker yelped in horror and backed away while Sam instinctively reached out and pulled at the chain, trying to loosen it. However, he feeble attempts seemed to be making things worse. Vixey was slowly turning pale, her eyes getting heavy and unfocussed. Danny grabbed at the object on the chain. It was a silver trinket in the shape of a fox, its eyes were two emerald jewels that were now glowing brightly. He tried tugging at it, but nothing was working.
Vixey was making strangled gargles from her throat and weakly managed to push them away from her. There was a flash of light and she was back in her fox form. She stumbled around on her paws and panted heavily. For a moment, she lay flat on her stomach, her violet eyes closed. Danny crouched down and gently placed a hand on her back.
"Are you okay?"
The little creature lifted its head weakly and nodded. She returned to her human shape and rubbed at the red cuts around her neck.
"What was that all about?" Tucker demanded, prodding at her pendant which hung loosely now.
"I can't tell you," she was shivering, her pupils dilated with fear, "Please don't make me tell you. I'm going home now. I-I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"
With that, Vixey sprinted off away from them. Danny called after her, but she didn't look back. Tucker and Sam exchanged glances, feeling a mixture of concern and guilt.
"Should we go after her?" Sam asked.
"We don't even know where she lives…" Danny sighed.
Tucker pulled out his digital organiser and started tapping the screen, "Now if I can just get past the fire-wall… Done! Here!"
He handed Danny the device which was now alight with the school logo along with numerous details on every student that attended. He scanned down the list until he came across Vixey's name, he loaded up the page and waited with very little patience. Sam leaned in over his shoulder, part of her hair swaying into his eyes. He liked her perfume, it was like fresh fruit and an icy breeze. He snapped himself out of his trance and narrowed his eyes on the screen. Finally, he located an address.
Danny nodded at the pair of them who stood next to each other to form a shield in front of him, behind them, he let the two circles of energy pass over him, transforming him into his ghost self. He grabbed a hold on Sam and Tuckers wrist and passed his invisibility through himself and over them. He lifted them into the air and flew in the direction of Vixey's home, not knowing what they were going to find there.
The flight was actually shorter than planned, landing in the middle of a deserted and run down set of apartments. He set his friends down on a fire escape while he hovered next to them by an open window. This was the place. They peered inside and found a small, practically empty bedroom, mainly consisting of a bare single bed and a fold-away clothes basket and a bedside table. On the table was a very decorative trinket that looked like a gravy-boat. Sam gasped, she knew that thing all to well. The boys narrowed their eyes in distrust at the object…
Just as she was about to explain, Vixey came storming into the room, tears streaming down her cheeks. She ran straight over to the trinket and rubbed her palm roughly against it. The room was filled with sparkling green smoke. When it had cleared, Vixey was left glaring up at a familiar figure. She was shapely wearing a pale blue belly top and bottoms that stood out more over her acid green skin, her jet black hair hung down past her waist, her bangs draped over one of her glowing red eyes. The three friends gasped in unison.
"Desiree!"