In one short stride, her hand found the hilt of her trusty rapier. If it had been bathed in the dying sun's light, it would have been glimmering radiantly right now. However, when it is held in the grasp of an undead, it could only be admired in the darkness. Always darkness.

She could hear the intruder's footsteps walking on the floor above. The whisper of their mind called out to her.

A mission, but that was all she could decipher, and that did not sit well with her.

Not a sound could have warned Yusuke Urameshi of the creeping death's movement up the dilapidated stairway, but he could easily sense her negativity. Although she radiated little spirit energy, there was a dark presence about her. The young boy gulped, Botan did not prepare him for this unnerving feeling.

He growled at those thoughts whilst regaining confidence in his prowess. Botan had openly claimed that although this woman would be powerful, he could take her down if she did not comply. Those raven eyes of his steeled onto the ominous cellar. Abruptly he turned heel.

The dhampir had moved behind him!

She almost looked normal to him with her plain white shirt and loose fitting jeans, but he had to wince in disgust as he looked at her colorless arms, which were to slender to be natural. He knew that the rest of her undead body must be in that pitiful condition as well. Yes, she almost looked like any other human. Almost.

"So are you going to come with me," the ebon haired boy stated more than he questioned. His dark eyes narrowed and his being screamed of arrogance. To him, it seemed as if he could take down the world.

A whisper told her confidence.

The dhampir merely frowned. What was he talking about?

His pointer finger nearly lined up with her body, but she could easily tell that it was off. Much to her surprise, she sensed something change in the aura of the boy. This aura of his manifested into gentle, but surely powerful, waves of pale blue.

She recognized the infamous spirit energy in its most raw of forms.

He whispered something, but she was not paying attention to what it was that he was saying. Rather her golden eyes were transfixed upon the energy forming at the tip of his finger.

The energy was released. Although it only clipped her shoulder, it blasted a large portion of the boarded window that was stationed behind her into singed pieces. The falling sun's light illuminated the remainder of the room.

The dhampir realized that she had not been the intended target.

"I'll say this more clearly. I've been told to take you to an alley not far from here where my assistant is to be waiting-" He was cut off when the woman interjected.

"Why," the simple question seemed to taunt him as if he was talking to a child, and this child had an addiction to blood, he remembered

Yusuke's eyes narrowed in frustration, but he continued on calmly, "I don't know, stupid. That's why we have to go and find out."

Something came over her. Normally she would just ignore this and either kill him or flee, but she had an urge to act in accordance with his request. Maybe she had not had an adventure in so long. Or maybe she just desired something different in this repetitive lifestyle that plagued her sense of wanderlust. Staying in a dark cellar until it rained was akin to death.

But was not death what she had been searching for?

She nodded her consent, and this boy sighed. Was it of relief? She felt that unlikely.

A whisper. . .

She shook her head, the whisper told her nothing meaning that the emotion, thought, or desire had never fully played out. Honestly, she did not mean to enact a weakened form of telepathy, but her vampiric powers were strong enough to do it, and they were too weak to be able to control it.

He arched a quizzical eyebrow. She simply smiled.

Once again came that accursed sigh, as if he had faced more tragedy that her, as if he had to fight the specters that assaulted him in every face, every day. He had not lived as long as she. Never could he know the pain of her torn existence, but she followed him out that door.

She did not cringe as the pale sunlight washed over her deathly features.

Many times this boy had turned around to make sure she was there for her steps were so quiet, but it was true that he could sense her. Does he not rely on the abilities of the mind? What is his vendetta against what is not seen? Then again, there could also be another motive to his continuous confirmation that the dhampir was there and not staring at his throat.

Yusuke then led her into an alleyway just like he said he would, and like the rest of the municipality, it was filthy, or at least that is what her mind told her.

She disliked conglomerations of humans for she feel as if they are so blind to not see past the present. What was the worth of money for it will crumble in time's all-loving, all-hating grasp? What did the brand of clothes matter when you will die with nothing on your back? Who cares about politics? How do they change the inevitable? Their existence was so heinous, not as if they were incarnations of devils, but as if they felt as if their lives were eternal. How could these creatures, which had been gifted with intelligence, degrade themselves like so?

Maybe vampires were meant to be their saviors, and simply end their pitiful lives.

The teenager was staring at her, she realized. All he did was snort and continue down the foul alley. Then he stopped.

"So, Yusuke, it seems as if you have managed to snag her then," exclaimed a cheery voice that came from a woman with pale blue hair. Her almond shaped eyes seemed to be akin to the colors of violet and brown, which the dhampir found peculiar. Never before had she encountered one who retained eyes that she could not fully describe.

Rarely did this undead woman gain interest in anything.

"So what is the objective this time, Botan?" The ever-impatient boy was quick to say.

"Sir Koenma has informed me of a sudden rise of vampiric activity. He believes that it may not be consequential considering that few vampires are alive, but he wants us to be prepared to encounter them.

'His resources led us to believe that there was an undead in Tokyo, and after further investigation, we discovered the identity of the dhampir woman Fi-"

"Wretch. I am Wretch," the almost named woman growled forebodingly.

This 'Botan' had been taken under surprise. However, she regained composure and quickly went on. "-That is when we discovered. . . Wretch," she looks more at the woman that Yusuke now, "Koenma and I were wondering if you could teach the Spirit Detectives all that you know about your half kin."

Does this dhampir who goes by the name of 'Wretch' accept or decline?

If she accepts, go to OPEN VEINS.

Or if she declines, go to THE DAWN BEFORE IT COMES.