It was dark outside by now, and rain was splattering off of the pavement mercilessly. Cars drove by sending rooster tails of water splashing onto the sidewalk. Standing silently under an the overhang in front of a tiny book store was a slender young woman with straight layered hair that reached to her mid back. The top layer was a deep red-brown while the bottom layer was dyed black. Her skin was fairly pale and she was dressed lightly considering the chilled weather. Over all she wore only a tight black spaghetti strap shirt with lace around the top over a short black denim skirt and thigh high stockings with a decorative lace top. The only thing close to a coat that she wore was a black knee-length duster sweater. She held a white bag in her hand with a couple of books inside which she absently swung back and forth with her fingers as she stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot and listening to the sound of her boot connecting with the pavement.

She couldn't believe she had gotten herself stuck here like this. It had been a nice, slightly cloudy day when she left and decided to just walk the four blocks to the book store to save gas, and not it was dumping buckets. With a sigh she leaned back against the brick wall and stared out at the road with cool blue eyes. "Well... this is just perfect." She muttered under her breath. No wonder she was the only weirdo who decided to walk today. Apparently everyone else had the sense to watch the weather.

Same town, but different. Another world, but the same. The skies were clouded over, a dark gloom overcast made the whole city seem black and white. Buildings were crumbling, rubble filled the streets. The city looked like a war zone, broken glass scattered like confetti. The city was surreal, a hellish wasteland from some catastrophe long forgotten. Perpetual fire burned in the streets, in small puddles as if a rain of fire had just ended. The air was still, it smelled of burning. Nothing stirred but the dancing flames, the town seemed deserted.

On the broken sidewalk, a small burst of energy erupted in midair. A tear in space, inky blackness leaked out of it, until a sort of doorway stood facing the war-torn street. A figure appeared from the doorway, standing maybe five and a half feet tall from the glass-covered pavement. The figure looked male, and as the inky blackness dissipated from around him and his hair, you could see his bright blond locks. Contrasting to his hair his skin was tanned a near bronze, his face showed black marks of soot and filth. The male's clothing was fairly modern. He wore black loose trousers with silver sippers from the knee down on the outside of his legs, silver zipper for his fly, hidden, and zippers for pockets. His short sleeve shirt he wore was clean white, not a hint of the dirt or grime that showed on the guy's face. Over it, he wore a black button-up dress shirt, kept unbuttoned, that hung to a little past his waist. He wore a few silver necklaces, no trinket or medallion upon them. His face was boyish, but in his blue eyes there was that sense of hardness, the eyes of someone who has seen enough of the world for one lifetime. An almost sadness.

His expression was emotionless as he stood there surveying the city in which he stood. One of the fiery puddles near him popped and crackled, then exploded with flame, casting bits of fire onto the sidewalk on which he stood. The flames tried to eat at his shoes, and the ends of his long pants, but as soon as the flames connected with the male's figure, they sizzled into smoke and went out.

The male took in a deep breath of the foul, gray air through his nose, and let it out with an unaffected sigh. He then took a single step forward as the dark cloud behind him dissipated into nothing.

For another couple of minutes she stood there silently, waiting to see if the rain was going to let up any time soon. Finally she abandoned the notion and wrapped the bag around her books to keep them from getting wet before tucking them under her arm and starting out into the downpour. Between the sheets of rain and the moonless, starless night she could barely see where she was going once she got away from the street lamps on the block. Already her hair was soaked and sticking to her as well as her clothing soaked through. She kept her head down to shield her eyes from the driving rain and her teeth chattered whenever a wind stirred.

Barely two blocks down she paused, catching a glimpse of movement from the corner of her eye. At the far end of the ally that she was passing she noticed someone standing there staring up at a darkened window. For a moment she shuddered, her mind flickering to one of the vampire books that she had been reading recently... vampires lurking in dark ally ways.

Something seemed off about this man too... he was standing in the middle of a downpour, but he didn't look wet at all. Slowly she took a few steps into the ally, mentally kicking herself for acting like one of the idiots that usually got picked off very early in a horror movie, but she wanted to get a closer look. All that she could see of the man was a mess of blond hair falling to his shoulders. If not for his build she may have thought it a woman from behind, but the shoulders were a bit too wide. She could not see much other than the hair for lack of light and color in his clothing. She froze as he moved, looking away from the window and turned about to face her, though he looked straight past her as if she were not standing there at all.

Before she knew it he was walking toward her, though for some reason his movements seemed much too fast as if he were taking four steps in one. Suddenly, he was right in front of her and for an instant she could see the dark tan which automatically etched out her vampire theory, and the glint of something around his throat above his white shirt... and then he was behind her. She stood there frozen for a moment, trying to figure out what had just happened, but when she turned around, he was gone. She shook her head then and sighed. Spirits... it had to be some kind of spirit. Ever since she was a child she was able to see them, though she had never seen one that looked quite so...well...alive. Most had injures from whatever killed them (since it was mostly those who had suffered a violent death that stayed behind). That one had not had a mark on him...or at least not that she had seen. That was also the only way that she could explain away his rapid movements and inability to see her...or touch her.

Finally, with another glance back to where she had first seen him, she left the ally quickly and hurried up the sidewalk, anxious to get home and change clothes so she could hope to feel her fingers and toes again sometime soon.

The fires burned white around the man, and the man stepped forward with purpose. The look on his face was determined, he was focused on his goal. He felt the warm, female aura near him, but disregarded it. The man was lost in his own purposes. The energy given off by those with the abilities of a medium were particularly satisfying, and often drew spectral beings towards them like flies to rotting meat. But no, this was not the time to feast upon such a treat, the man's purpose was important; Why else come this close to the barrier? Even so, the power that lay in this man's future was more powerful and alot more satisfying than some wallflower unsuspecting spirit power. The man would have to move quick, the agents would soon be upon him. The rift was a risky move, the man knew that they were already tracing it.

----

A forest, surreal. The sky twinkled with white and blue dots against a dark purple background. The sky was brilliant, emanating its own radiance ganging from dark purple to bright green licks. Speckled over with the shining stars, the night sky was a breathtaking array of color. A tapestry or canvas if some drug-induced inspiration of a skilled artist. A dark yellow moon hung large and shadowy in contrast in the eastern night sky, the brilliant nebula shining behind and all around it. This breathtaking mural reflects off the surface of the clear lake in the middle of endless trees. A woman, thick in frame, with shiny, blue-green, platinum hair stood upon the surface of the water, in the center of the lake, staring up at the night's beauty. The woman's green robe ruffled in the increasing winds, the green treetops blew wildly around the lake. Large ripples distorted the glass surface of the water, the wake zoomed towards the woman's pale bare feet. The woman suddenly lost her balance as he waves collided with her feet, and then, a bright white flash erupted.

----

Startled, a woman jumps on her stool and her eyes open wide, wildly studying the world around her. She sighed heavily as she realized she was still in the smoky lounge in the basement of a local coffee shop. She looked down and noticed the liquid in her cheap paper cup had stopped steaming, then everything started rushing back to her memory. She looked around, and wondered how long exactly she had been entranced in the dark beatnik hangout listing to the smooth jazz music that the saxophonist painted onto the atmosphere so thick one could taste the rhythm.

The young woman made it to the final block before she would have been home, but by then she felt like she was about to freeze and the rain had picked up even more. "Ow!" she yelped as she felt something hard strike her shoulder. Hail... perfect. She raised her small parcel over her head a started to run to the nearest open business, bolting through the door as quickly as she could as she tried to escape the dime sized chunks that had started to pelt her body.

Upon entering the small building she could hear the sound of a saxophone playing over the sound of the hail beating against the rooftop. Brilliant... Jazz... I hate Jazz... She thought as she took a few more steps inside. It took her a moment to realize that she had just wandered into a coffee shop, and it was the smell that alerted her more than her surroundings. She was standing near the entrance of a somewhat shabby looking room with several rounded wooden tables and worn chairs. She glanced over toward the beaten counter and sighed softly, starting in that direction. Since she was here, she may as well get something to warm her up.

As she approached the counter a burly looking man with a full red beard smiled at her. "Dumping cats an' dogs out there, ain't it, lass?" he commented as she took a seat on a stool.

"Yes, it is..." she responded dully. "...Can I get a hot chocolate?" she asked simply, waiting almost impatiently as he fixed it and set it in front of her. She started to reach for her purse when he shook her head.

"Don' worry about it, lass, this one's on me. You look like you could use it." he told her with a large smile which she tried to return.

"Thank you." She said politely before starting to take a few small sips. She was content just holding the cup in her icy fingers for now.

The woman's long, ebony hair fell in her face as she jumped down off her tall stool. She was short in stature by comparison, her table only came up to just above her chest as she pulled her beat-up messenger's bag off the table. It was about this time that a striking, pungent smell started to choke all her senses. It was a terrible smell of fire, brimstone and burning flesh. The smells of an inferno seemed to blanket the room. She started to lose her balance standing there and grabbed hold of the table for support. She coughed, choking as she frantically searched the room with her large, hazel eyes. No one else seemed to be affected, even the barman was going about his job oblivious to the smell. He was tending to some girl that had just walked in.

This... Girl...
The woman's eyes locked on this girl and she saw an outline of red around her as her eyes blurred with water. The jazz music was lost to the ears of this long, black-haired woman. This overwhelming odor was emanating from this girl, the hazel-eyed woman coughed again, she was quickly losing her breath. She tried to control her breathing, she didn't want to cause alarm to the other oblivious patrons. She began to long for the door. The woman grabbed her black, wool coat and put it on hurriedly over her black blouse. She hurried to the door in a haze, slightly staggering, all of her senses overwhelmed, towards the door. The woman almost gagged as she passed the girl, something was tainted about this girl's aura, and it enveloped the entire room. The woman pulled open the door, struggling a bit, and breathed in deep as she pulled the door shut behind her with a clunk.

The woman's senses cleared as she now smelled the moist, rainy air cleansing her sinuses. Her eyes shined out from under her hood as she watched the water pour down the concrete stairs before her, and into the sewer grate at the bottom of the stairwell just before her feet. A ball of hail bounced down the stairs and brushed against the long satin skirt that hid her legs from any prying eyes. "Great..." she thought aloud, still a little dizzy from the strange episode she just had. Now, she would have to re-enter the place and tell her employer she couldn't deliver the parcel yet. She was very reluctant to re-enter that atmosphere though, even at that moment, the door behind her seemed to pulsate with some otherworldly heat energy that most people wouldn't be able to detect. She leaned against the concrete wall of the stairwell and sighed, suddenly tired. She closed her eyes and listened to the hailstones pound against the aluminum awning high above her head.

The young woman just sat there, innocently sipping her coco until something caught her attention, a voice. "This...Girl..." was all that she heard, but she quickly realized that it wasn't coming from someone's lips. She glanced around until she saw another woman, decidedly shorter than herself, standing by a table and staring at her with watery eyes. She tilted her head slightly, her stringy black and red layers falling over her shoulders as she stared at the woman with questioning blue eyes. What was her problem? After a quick glance down at herself to see if there was something offensive about her soaping wet clothes, she looked back to the woman, only to see her make a break for the door.

"Hey wait it-" she started and then was cut off as the door closed. "...is hailing out there." she finished dully. Oh well, she guessed he'd figure that out when she got outside. She watched the door from the corner of her eye, expecting it to open again at any moment. With a quiet sigh she went back to sipping her coco and then turned her eyes back to the top of the bar. Today really hadn't turned out the way she'd planned. She still half wondered what had been wrong with that woman. She almost looked as if she were choking on something when she ran out. And why had her thoughts stuck out so strongly to her. Sure, she was telepathic, and could hear just about anything that anyone was thinking, but she usually had to really concentrate first.

After a moment when the door didn't open, she stood with her drink and slowly started to make her way toward the door, now just wanting to make sure that the woman was alright since she hadn't really seemed to fine when she ran out. She slowly twisted the door knob and pulled it open, slicking her head out warily just in case the wind blew any hail stones in her general direction.

"Hey, Wake up!!"
A higher-toned voice commanded in a worried and annoyed tone. The black-haired woman slumped against the concrete wall of the stairwell, leaning forward, hair covering her face. Her hands lay limply in her lap, her legs both to one side. She was completely unresponsive as another pale-skinned woman took her by the shoulder and tried to make her wake up. The pale woman had whitish, blue-green hair, falling straight and unkempt from the top of her head to her chest area. Her entire body was covered in a stylish deep green hooded robe; it was tied at the waist and at the neck with a corset-pattern on her stomach. her pale bare feet stood on the wet pavement, but that didn't seem to bother the young woman. There was just something peculiar about the way this woman looked. When the large heavy door began to open again, she jumped back up a step in a skiddish surprize, and the bouncing hailstones falling down the stairs flew right though her figure and landed on the bottom step in front of her. The girl was translucent, and you could see the stairwell right through her! The robed girl stared at the other girl that was exiting the building, she knew that this girl was different immediatly. Normally the pale girl wasn't this skiddish, but there was this energy radiating from this other figure. She looked to the passed-out woman that sat in a slump, and then back to the girl coming towards her.

"You!" she exclaimed, and iched herself to the opposite wall from the unconcious girl. "Y-you... stay away!" she commanded, and hoped that the girl radiating such vile energy wouldn't hear her, like most people. The translucent girl pressed herself against the concrete wall, she could go no further, and dared not turn her back and run from this woman that frightened her so much.

Rayne was relieved when she realized that the wind wasn't going to bombard her with hail stones. She stepped out slowly and glanced around, though her eyes immediately landed on the translucent girl. She blinked and tilted her head slightly as she started to move away from her. She turned round just long enough to close the door behind her before starting to take a few steps toward her. "Who--" she started before she was told to stay away. She paused and narrowed her eyes a bit, more in confusion than anger. "Why do you look so afraid of me?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle. She looked down at the other woman and slowly stepped forward again. She knelt beside her and reached out to place her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Ma'am... Are you alright?" she asked her, starting to get a little worried.

What in the world is going on here? The last two spirits that I have seen....do not seem normal at all... She looked back to the other girl again and blinked, swiping her stringy damp bangs away from her eyes. "Do you know what is wrong with her?" she tried to ask the fidgety spirit. Perhaps she was just shy... She had never had a spirit act so frightened of her before.