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It all started when I joined Team Rocket... Go ahead; tell me I deserve what I am now for the decision I made then. I was young, I still am, but I was foolish at that time... So foolish... I should have known that joining Team Rocket would bring me nothing but trouble. Yet I loved to steal! I'd been a thief my whole life, picking pockets in the streets, slipping into people's houses and taking a little cash... It was fun, and the only skill I had. When I was sixteen, I was discovered by Team Rocket. God I remember that day so well... I had stolen someone's wallet, but as I disappeared into the crowd, he somehow realized his wallet was missing, and started to chase me. I wasn't used to being chased, for I had perfected the art of effortlessly extracting things from people's pockets, and they never noticed. But fortunately I knew the streets well; I always had escape routes planned, just incase. So I ran, I ran like my life depended on it, which it did. Unfortunately for me, I took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end. He had walked up to me slowly, a youngish man with spiky black hair and sharp blue eyes, and suddenly drew a knife out of his pocket. I cowered in fear, pleading with him to spare my life, telling him I'd do anything, so long as he didn't hurt me. He'd looked at me, seeming to think it over, then told me to get up and follow him. So I did, stupid as it might sound. He led me to a building, a seemingly abandoned building, but when you stepped inside, it was nothing like the outside. It was full of people, all dressed in Team Rocket outfits, all busy doing something or the other.... And so I was made to join Team Rocket... It was, at the time, the only way I could have kept my life. I had to go through many tests, not written tests, physical tests. I was trained, my method of stealing was refined, and I was brain washed. Not brain washed in the sense that they used a machine to wipe out my memory, but the young are impressionable, and it is easy to get them to swear loyalty to someone, to strongly believe that what they are doing is right, and to practically worship the one they work for. By the time I was eighteen, I was a star Team Rocket member. I'd been working on my own most of the time, and had strongly refused any offers for a partner. I worked best alone, in my opinion. I had grown up by myself, on the streets, which was why I had learned how to steal, which was probably the reason why I didn't want a partner. I didn't know how to work with someone, as I never had done that before. However, it was not long before I was ordered to Giovanni's office for that reason. It was the first time I had actually met him, first time I had seen him close up. He sat behind his desk with a young meowth in his lap. Giovanni wasn't very old, and I was surprised that the brain behind Team Rocket was only most likely in his twenties. But he made up for his lack in years with his attitude. He just seemed like someone that you should obey, someone who deserved to be the boss. He complimented me on my work, telling me that I had been doing my job well, and that he admired and respected that, but then he introduced me to my new partner, and this time, I couldn't do anything about it. No sweet talking my way out of getting a partner. His name was Daemon. A simple name, but a far from simple person. He was quite tall, and though I am tall for a girl, he stood a few inches over me. My eyes fell on his dark brown hair, short, and spiky, and then immediately I was draw to his green eyes. A beautiful dark green that completely mesmorized me. And he was handsome... The main 'flaw' that he had physically was the scar under his left eye that curved down his cheek, but I did not consider it a flaw. Rather, it intrigued me, and I thought it added character to his appearance. He'd walked up to me, a warm smile on his face, and introduced himself. What was a guy like him doing in Team Rocket? I wondered. I still wonder about that... He just didn't seem the 'ruthless, stealing/killing' type... Heh, I remember staring dumbly at him, like a stupid little teenage girl, before breaking about of my trance and introducing myself. He grinned at my shyness, and told me that I had a pretty name. I don't think I've ever turned that red before... Damn, those were the good days. We made a great team, the pair of us. At first, I was a bit nervous about working with someone, but Daemon, he was a born team worker... Within a month, I was comfortable around him. We stole pokemon, jewelry, money, whatever was needed... Killing was not my area, but it turned out that was why Daemon had been assigned to me. He was an assassin. A professional killer. He took people's lives for a living... Yet he just didn't seem that type... There were many times when our job would require that we not only rob someone, but also kill the person. I'd do the robbing, he'd do the killing. It bothered me, and he knew that, so he tried not to kill in front of me. He was such a considerate person... He always went out of his way to please me. And it always surprised me. No one had ever gone out of his or her way to please me. It always seemed like people went out of their way to get on my nerves... We were eventually assigned a pokemon partner after working together for a year. His name was Rao, and he was an umbreon. Rao was a perfect addition to our team. Just what we needed. He could sneak, unnoticed, into almost any building. His hearing was almost perfect, and he had good night vision. Sure he tended to get on my nerves by teasing me about Daemon,(yeah, he could talk. He was one of the results of a Team Rocket pokemon project), but we all got along. We were one, small happy family of thieves and killers. We celebrated each other's birthdays, we hung out together, we spent our (short) vacations together, and we worked together. Life was perfect. But I should have known. I should have known that there's no such thing as a perfect life... That you always have to pay for your crimes. We were robbing someone's house. The boss had told us to be wary of an alarm system, and also, of the owner, but we were overconfident. We thought we knew how to get through any system out there... But not this one, no... Not this one... This was a unique system, and I still haven't figured it out. The theft had gone well. Getting in had been no problem. Getting out was... Somehow, Daemon triggered an alarm as we were escaping. We tried to make a run for it, but the alarm had locked us in the house. I remember thinking that, that was it. We would be caught, taken to the police and put in jail for a year or less. There was nothing linking us to previous crimes, or Team Rocket, and we hadn't killed anyone on this job. I was wrong again. I remember hugging Rao, kissing him on his forehead, and then ordering him to leave. I had sensed something was wrong, and I wanted Rao out of there, he could easily find a way to escape, and call for backup. Maybe he could even find a way for all of us to escape. But that wasn't what was bothering me. Why was the owner of the house not down yet...? Why was he stalling? Then a bullet whizzed by my head, and I immediately crashed to the ground, tackling Daemon as I fell. The man who fired said not a word, but instead, just flicked on the light, standing over us with a gun aimed at my head. That was when I saw that Daemon had been shot. The bullet that had missed me by barely an inch, had hit Daemon... It had pierced right through his lung. Maybe even had got his heart... I wasn't sure. I never went to school, I don't know anatomy. All I knew was the one I loved was dying... The one I had worked with for four years... The one I should have admitted my love to a long time ago, but was afraid that he would reject me... And now, he was dying. I remember crying, my head on his chest. I vaguely remember someone pulling me off of him, and restraining me. I remember them carrying him away, taking him away from me to die alone. But then I remember breaking free, and running to him, my grey eyes filled with tears. "Veris...I love you...escape... for me and Rao... I love you, Veris." Those were his last words... Those were the last words he ever said to me. "I love you..." I told him, and then, I kissed him, he kissed back, and then, he breathed his last breath, and died. My first kiss, my last kiss. The first time in my life that anyone had ever told me they loved me, and the last time. I turned around, and noticed that no one was watching me. Remembering my promise to Daemon, I ran. I ran, not to save my life, but to keep my promise to Daemon. I didn't see a point in surviving. Even for Rao... I loved that pokemon dearly, but Daemon had been the glue that held us together... It's been a month now. I never returned to Team Rocket... I couldn't bear to go back there. I haven't seen Rao either, although I suspect he's been stalking me... I keep sensing someone watching me... But now, I sit here with a gun in one hand, and a pen in the other, and I'm ready to say goodbye to this world. I know I've left out a lot in my story, but I don't have time. I don't want to stay in this world any longer. I want to be with my Daemon again... Good Bye. --------------------------- I put the pen down, and I grasp the gun in both hands. I smile, then laugh for no particular reason. Maybe I've gone insane, who knows? I mean, I've lost the only one I allowed myself to love, and I'm about to kill myself... I guess I am insane. "Veris..." I spin around, ready to shoot, but when I see the speaker, I lower the gun, and tears come to my eyes. "Rao..." I say softly. "Veris... Please, don't do this!" "I'm sorry Rao... But I must..." "No you don't!" He cries out, advancing towards me. I notice that his normally glossy black fur is dusty, and he's thin... His ribcage is showing. Poor Rao! What has he let happen to himself? He has so much potential... He can survive in this world on his own. I just want him to let me be... "You can't stop me Rao. If you try to... I'll... I'll shoot you!" I aim the gun at the shocked umbreon. "Please Rao... Go away.... I don't *want* to shoot you... You could easily find a trainer or someone to take care of you... But let me do what I wish! And I wish to take my life!" I end fiercely. "What's happened to Veris? Where's the girl I used to know? The one who giggled when I gave her a flower, the one who used to give me fresh magikarp on my birthday... The one with the beautiful long black hair and sparkling grey eyes... Where is she?" He asks, a worried expression on his face. "She died when the one she loved died." I reply coldly. "But she didn't have to! She can come back! We can live together... I... I have some money stowed away from some of our steals, we can start an honest life, away from Team Rocket." He says, walking a little closer to me. "I'm sorry, Rao." And I aim the gun at my heart, tightening my finger around the trigger. "NO!" He yells, launching himself at me. But he's too late. All he succeeds in is knocking the gun out of my hand after it fires. God it hurts, it hurts like h*ll, like a fire in my chest. "Goodbye Rao, my friend..." I whisper, coughing up blood. "Hello, Daemon, my love..." I begin seeing red, and then I see black... And then, I die. ------------------- |