id:5435980

A/N: Phoenix Wright & Miles Edgeworth do not belong to me, worse luck; they belong to CAPCOM. The plot, the SuperNaturals, the Ghost Bride, her intended husband and any other SuperNatural supporting cast members belong to me with the sole exception of the Chinese Ghost Ceremony which is real. I have used the tags that Mercedes Lackey uses in her "Heralds of Valdemar" series for psychic powers [Mind magic, Projecting, Fetching, et al] because I think it's REALLY COOL!
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A distraught bride comes to Phoenix and Miles for help in locating her lost intended who mysteriously vanishes a few days before their Ghost Ceremony is to be performed. As they begin to investigate, little do they know what twisted events are waiting for them...

The first story of what I hope will be a very long and successful new PxE AU series! :) I've had this story banging around inside my head for quite some time so I'm very pleased that I have the Prologue finally complete! Now that Phoenix and Miles are both Vampires, they have their own Undead Law office (which they call "The Wright & Edgeworth Undead Law Office") and take cases from those who dwell in the Other World, helping the dead, newly dead or the "Don't-know-they're-dead" with any and all problems that they face. In this story, the Ghost Bride is looking for her intended bridegroom, who has mysteriously vanished just days before their Ghost Ceremony was to take place and she's desperate to get him back. (More on the Chinese Ghost Ceremony in the next chapter.)

Miles is broody that evening, thinking back on the events that lead him to where he-and Phoenix-are now. He hasn't thought about the woman he saved (she'll be back in a later story) for over a year but, with the dismal, dreary weather, it's brought back to him full force. He wasn't Turned by choice-far from it!-and he's feeling depressed although Phoenix will provide, quite accidentally, a little bit of a lift! (Normally, Vampire angst bugs the living daylights out of me, particularly when the person in question wanted to be Turned! If they didn't and had it forced on them, as Miles does, then that's understandable. Who wouldn't be depressed when your whole life is turned, quite literally, upside down and inside out! It certainly would be one heck of a HUGE adjustment to make!

This is the beginning of my Halloween series of stories and I hope that you will enjoy them!

Thanks to all my readers and those who have read, commented, story alerted, favourited and reviewed! I really appreciate it very much and thank you! I aim to improve my writing and it is comments that help me to do so! Thank you all! :)

Thanks to Midnight-hunter, my beta, for all her insights and comments! Much appreciated! :)

A special thanks to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for all his advice, our discussion of plot points, comments, support, nagging (when necessary) and love during the writing process so I wouldn't end up tearing my hair out! Love you, honey and thanks! :)

I hope that you will enjoy this new AU series and, as always, comments and suggestions are welcomed and much appreciated!

Teen, AU/Supernatural/Suspense, Vampire!PxE
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October 15th
7 P.M.

I looked out of our living room window on that cold, moonless evening shortly after Phoenix had been Turned, wondering how we were going to make our way in the world now that we were both officially living both outside and apart from it. In the background, I could dimly hear Phoenix rooting around in the attic above my head and I smiled slightly, wondering what it was he was looking for since he'd been up there all afternoon and for a good part of the evening, as well.

A half-drunk cup of tea lay on my desk and I closed my eyes as I remembered the full-bodied flavor slide over my taste buds. I was glad that my new Vampiric unlife still allowed me this small pleasure, at least, since I had precious few left over from my mortal life.

All too soon, that pleasant thought faded, to be replaced by equally and vastly unpleasant thoughts of our new, Undead lives. With regard to us now both being Vampires, it seemed ludicrous, at least to me, that we had to upend our previous, human lives and try to make something new out of them with new thoughts, new powers and a new way of unliving.

I sighed and turned to face the empty room, reflecting-not without a twinge of irony-that any phase of life, human or otherwise, brought changes as well as challenges along with it. Even this, being Turned and at once set apart from humanity and, thus, far out of the ordinary, was no exception. Although I wished there could be.

There should be loopholes for the Undead, I thought, my mouth twisting with a tinge of bitterness, my fingers brushing over my lips with an impatient swipe. God knows that we give up enough to have the rules change for our benefit! My fingers gripped the arm of my chair until my knuckles turned white, the corners of my mouth twitching, revealing the depth of my distress. It's not a casual thing to do, after all! To give up all vestiges of our humanity in exchange for eternal life isn't something made lightly, despite some assertions to the contrary made by people who don't know any better. In truth, it does have some benefits, I don't deny that, but what we give up in exchange for it is considerable, particularly for those of us who had the Turning forced on us by outside circumstances and not by our own free choice.

I looked out the window again and sighed as I watched the wind blow through the nearly naked trees, scattering the few remaining leaves in a crazy, twisting dance which brought to mind this evening of the incident that resulted in my Turning over a year ago. As I picked up my tea cup to take a sip of tea, I dimly wondered if the nameless woman I had saved-from the pack of what I now knew to be SuperNaturals-had succeeded in escaping with her life, like her humanity, intact.

I swallowed quickly, taking a larger mouthful and nearly burning my tongue in the process, cursing myself for not paying attention. I'd never given this nameless woman another thought for over a year but, with the bleak weather and the knowledge that winter wasn't too far off, I couldn't help but wonder what, if anything, had become of her. For all I knew, she could very well be dead and buried. There was one thing that bothered me more than most things these days did and that was loose ends, the not knowing of whether the sacrifice of both my life and my humanity had, in turn, saved hers. I hoped it had or all of this would have been for nothing... and I couldn't think of anything that would be worse than that.

I wonder where she is now. I felt my stomach churn and closed my eyes tightly, willing the pain to go away which it did a few moments later but left a bitter taste in my mouth. Is she alive and, if so, is she all right? Did she manage to escape and did my intervention save her life and her humanity while costing me mine? I closed my eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to subside which it did a few minutes later. That's the cusp of what's really bothering me tonight and it isn't all that surprising, really. I've had a bad day which, in turn, brought on this episode of brooding with the end result being, as Phoenix would say, I spend all together too much time engaging in! I quickly finished the remaining tea in the cup, setting it down with a soft clink on the saucer, settling back into my chair.

I tried diverting myself with pleasant things but, try as I might, I couldn't completely get rid of either the feeling or the bitter taste in my mouth. Grimacing, I supposed this would change after a few centuries of Undead living and it was something among many other things that I would simply have to get used to. What other choice did I have?

That's a tall order, I thought tartly, my eyes narrowing as I watched the leaves blow past the window in a steady, twisting stream, and much like asking someone who detests milk to get used to drinking it. Not a completely analogous comparison but it works well and gets the point across, I think, fairly well. I shrugged. If it doesn't, I'm not overly concerned about it.

I sighed once more as I slowly turned the chair around to face the desk, my left hand cupping the side of my face, feeling thoroughly out of sorts and terribly depressed. It wasn't often I felt this way but a combination of both the weather and the horrible day I'd had earlier had brought this latest episode on. I had the feeling that, if I didn't do something and soon, I would go stark raving mad.

That would be somewhat of a relief although I don't think the world really needs another insane SuperNatural to add to the already growing collection. I winced as I remembered the SuperNatural we had our latest run-in with four days earlier. To say that this creature had been insane was an understatement, if there ever was one. There's far too many of them as there is for either my liking or comfort, not to mention the world's!

I nibbled on my lower lip, wincing as I accidentally bit through the skin, a small drop of blood welling up from the wound which I dabbed with the handkerchief I had brought out of my jacket pocket. Face it, Miles, you're in this for eternity whether you like it or not so you might as well make the most of it. Besides, there's at least one good thing in all of this: Phoenix is a SuperNatural, too, so I at least have him to lean on when I need to; I'm luckier, in that respect, than the majority who's Eternal Lives push them to the far outskirts of the world alone, hated and, more often than not, Hunted. I rubbed my eyes tiredly. With that as an alternative, it's no wonder so many go insane; what other choice do they have?

This was clearly getting me nowhere; I felt worse than I had previously so, pushing these thoughts quickly into the back of my mind, I hurriedly thought of my Beloved who was currently rooting around in the attic above the room I was sitting in. Thoughts of Phoenix flooded into my mind, bringing with them peace, security and serenity that I was hard-pressed to feel ever since I was Turned.

I felt my lips curving into an amused smile as my eyes closed and settled down into my chair, relaxing for the first time today, a dry chuckle emerging from my throat. Knowing him like I do, the first thing he'd say to me would be "Miles, you brood too much." And he would, too. He's also right and I'm sure he knows it as well, curse him.

I sat for some moments in pleasurable silence, enjoying the quiet stillness; lost in happy thoughts, I felt better than I had all day today, relishing these all too rare moments of solitude when all felt right with the world and I could leave my problems behind me. For what seemed like hours, I basked in warmth, peace and security, my dark thoughts drifting away to be replaced by warm and loving ones of the man I loved more than anyone else in the world.

Finally, all was right in my world and I longed to feel more of it until I was jolted, rather uncomfortably, out of my reverie by a loud crashing noise, complete with muttered invective, above me that sounded like the entire SuperNatural world had just come crashing pell-mell into our house via the roof. With an undignified and startled squeak, I practically leapt out of my chair, grabbing the saucer on my way and careened over to the other side of the room, my heart pounding double time in my chest.

Once I had had a moment to catch my breath, my eyes narrowed into evil, little slits as I looked up at the ceiling above me, silently cursing Wright in my mind for disturbing the one quiet moment I'd had the entire day. I glared at the ceiling, resisting the urge to give him a solid mental swat and waiting until my heart, which had made an impromptu trip into my throat, made its way back to where it belonged.

What the hell is he doing up there?!

I didn't have long to wonder since a loud cracking noise filled the room as the ceiling gave way and Phoenix plummeted through it, landing with a loud yell on top of my desk after he bounced off my chair, bits of ceiling tile, dust and OSB board littering not only the top of my desk but the floor in the immediate area and covering Phoenix's midnight-blue suit as well.

I had to admit that he looked really funny sitting there on top of my desk covered in bits of tile and ceiling dust but anger overrode my amusement, my eyes narrowing as I glared at him.

He looked positively sheepish as he met my angry glare, a blush staining his pale white skin a rosy red, stammering, "H-Hi...Miles..."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" I asked acidly a few moments later, my arms folded across my chest.

"Well...yes..." he replied, blushing furiously as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, coughing and brushing the dust and tile from his suit with his free hand. "Mostly, anyway."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Mostly?!" I asked in disbelief, allowing my very real anger flow to the surface and find free expression, unfolding my arms and waving them around. "You destroy half the ceiling and you say you mostly found whatever it was you were searching for?!"

He looked put out by my outburst which only made me angrier and I gathered my mental energies together to give him that mental swat that he so richly deserved when both of us were distracted by the door bell ringing at the front door. Phoenix, grateful for any reprieve, scrambled off of my desk and hit the floor running, disappearing quickly into the living room.

I was still angry as I let my energies slowly dissipate but not as much as I was previously; if someone was at the door, it was because they needed our help and I should at least make myself look presentable to a prospective client and not frighten them away by looking like I wanted to eat them.

That definitely wouldn't be the professional thing to do, at any rate. We need clientele and it would only hurt us in the long run if it's bandied about that I might try and devour them if I'm annoyed. I smiled wolfishly as I casually dusted myself off and opened the door. Besides, I can always get even with Phoenix later on but, right now, duty calls.

With wonderful thoughts of revenge coasting blissfully through my mind, I walked quietly out of the room and closed the door quietly behind me as I joined Phoenix in the living room, a wide smile on my face as I greeted our client.