Setsuna peered into the inky blackness of the cold night, the sky 
sprinkled with small white dots, barely large enough to be called stars. The 
moon was full, almost too full, if that was even possible. Something seemed 
to move on the surface of the orb, but Setsuna dismissed this as a figment 
of her imagination. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cool 
night air. It was so peaceful, so quiet.
   Then she heard footsteps behind her. The footsteps were soft, barely 
touching the ground. Footsteps that seemed too ghostly to be human. But 
ghosts didn't walk... did they?
   Setsuna tried to turn around to see what it was, but her body wouldn't 
cooperate. It was almost as if she was frozen. Her mind began to race for 
options. (Okay Setsuna, think. You can't move and someone's coming behind 
you. What do you do?)
   Setsuna's mind halted as the scenery engulfed her. The color of the grass 
seemed to swirl and fluctuate between the green of the trimmed blades and 
the clear sparkle of the dew on their edges. The definitions of the separate 
cobbles in the pathway warped and distorted, until there were no 
recognizably individual stones on the ground. The blackness of the night sky 
swirled itself with the stars and the moon until it was an uneven void of 
molten silver.
   And then she heard the footsteps again, ever so delicately making their 
way towards her.
   Setsuna took in a sharp breath when she felt a soft touch against her 
cheek. The feeling was like velvet, but it was so cold, almost like ice. 
Like Yohko...
   Setsuna's eyes grew wide, and the creature touching her seemed to attune 
to this new sensation, this feeling, being able to smell the fear coming 
from this girl.
   Then, in a soft, lilting voice, the creature began to murmur and coo, 
seemingly trying to soothe Setsuna. Her body seemed to relax unconsciously, 
all the tenseness she had gathered when the world swirled beyond existence 
seemed to melt away, leaving only her. Her true self. A Setsuna with no 
restraints.
   The creature ran its hands through her hair, its long nails gently 
scratching the back of her neck. Setsuna felt no pain when the creature 
pressed its nails into her neck, drawing a small drop of blood. Rolling the 
droplet around on the surface of its nail, the vampire let it roll onto its 
tongue, savoring the flavor like a fine wine. Then it walked in front of 
Setsuna, crouched in front of her, and stared into her eyes.
   The creature's face was ghostly white, with an almost grey tinge to it. 
Flawless features decorated its pure white face, but its eyes were hidden in 
darkness, stowed behind the shadows of the creature's hair. Its anatomy was 
female and its perfect white teeth were biting softly upon its blood red 
lips.
   Suddenly, it bit down harder, and blood leaked from a small puncture 
wound in the scarlet flesh. The blood dripped down its pale white chin and 
onto its snow-white clothing, spattering the red liquid in all directions.
   Then, it looked up.
   It looked up at her with arresting yellow eyes, slitted like a cat's.
   Setsuna began to scream as the vampire pounced on her and bit into the 
soft skin of her neck.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
C&A Productions Presents...
A work of Improfanfiction...
Mystery Club
"But You Can Never Really Tell, Can You?"
Part 2
Concept by Aaron Peori
This part by Myth
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

   And she kept screaming as she woke up in the library, the eyes of more 
than a hundred studying students fixed upon her. Eyes wide in embarrassment, 
Setsuna felt a hot blush spread all over her. Quickly picking up her 
belongings, she made her way to the exit and fled towards the afternoon sun.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   Setsuna strolled along the concrete pathway under the grey sky. (Hmm, 
it's probably gonna rain,) Setsuna thought as she looked up at the clouds, 
squinting. Looking ahead of her, she saw a bench anchored to one of the 
concrete pathways that criss-crossed the quad.
   Stopping for a moment, she looked at the bench. (That's where Yohko and I 
used to eat lunch...) she thought to herself as memories flooded into her 
mind. She and Yohko at the library that rainy night when she had met Ibuki 
and Mitsurugi. She and Yohko studying together. She not understanding Yohko 
as much as she wanted to. She not using a lot of the advice Yohko had given 
her. She not paying attention to all the things Yohko tried to tell her.
   Shaking her head and using one hand to massage her temples, Setsuna 
closed her eyes and willed it all to rewind. For everything to stop and go 
away. For her best friend to come back to her. She didn't care if she had 
never heard about the Mystery Club if things rewound. She just wanted things 
to go back to normal.
   Setsuna opened her eyes again, fighting back tears. Swallowing hard, she 
tried to shake the thoughts out of her head, to no avail. Biting on her lip, 
she decided to go find Mitsurugi and Ibuki. That would be enough to distract 
her from this.
   Hurrying towards Mirumoto's office, Setsuna tripped over her own feet and 
landed hard on her knees. Cursing her clumsiness, she felt a hand grab her 
and lift her up. "Are you okay, Miss?"
   "Yes, fine, thank you," Setsuna mumbled as she brushed herself off and 
dashed off toward Mirumoto's office.
   "What an odd girl..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   "Sanguinarian."
   "Vampire that lives on the blood of its victims."
   "Good. Nosferatu."
   "Nigerian vampire which possesses super-human strength. Translation of 
its name is 'that of the devil.'"
   "Hrm... Lampir."
   "Vampire with seven fangs, four on the top jaw and three on the bottom. 
Used for removing the victim's throat."
   "Ch'ing Shih."
   "Chinese vampire that kills by halitosis and then drains the blood. 
Required to count all the grains of rice in a pile if it encounters one."
   "All right then. Revenant."
   "N--"
   "Not a true vampire, but they're ugly, mean, and they smell funny too."
   Professor Mirumoto and Mitsurugi Taro looked up from their drilling 
towards Ibuki, who had just sauntered into the room, silent save for her 
last comment. Pulling a chair up next to her comrade, who was sitting 
opposite the old man at his office desk, Ibuki propped her head up with her 
hands, her grey eyes open in innocent curiosity. Or so it appeared.
   "So, what's up today?"
   "Oh, nothing, Ibuki-san..."
   Suddenly, a loud bang reverberated through the room as the door shot open 
and hit the unfortunate wall behind it. Standing in the doorway looking 
wide-eyed at the door was Setsuna, whose gaze traveled from the trio in the 
room, to the door, and back again. Shrugging, Setsuna moved into the room 
and shut the door.
   Professor Mirumoto walked towards Setsuna and placed a hand on her arm. 
"Oh, Setsuna! Welcome."
   Setsuna was silent.
   "We were just drilling on types of vampires. Would you like to sit down?"
   Setsuna just looked at him. Blinking, she nodded her head and sat down in 
a seat next to Mitsurugi. After a moment, she looked at the professor. 
"Please stop touching me," Setsuna said calmly, her voice shaking slightly.
   "Oops," Mirumoto replied as he jerked his roving hand from Setsuna's 
shoulder. "Sorry about that."
   Mitsurugi stood up and crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning 
against the professor's desk. "I may know something that will interest you, 
Professor Mirumoto. "
   "Yes, what is it, Taro?"
   "Treasa."
   Ibuki looked at Mitsurugi. "Do you mean she's back, Mitsu-chan?"
   "Don't call me Mitsu-chan. And yes, but I don't think she'll be a 
problem. We don't have anything she wants."
   Setsuna looked at the two, then quietly spoke up. "Who?"
   Mitsurugi looked at her and began to explain. "Treasa is the oldest 
vampire on record. A deamhan fola, if you would like to be precise. She's 
neither truly evil nor truly good. Neutral. Most of the time, she does 
whatever she feels and doesn't take any sides. In addition, she's mastered 
dream-walking, astral projection, and the practices of psy-vampires."
   "Dream-walking?" Setsuna inquired.
   "Yes, when someone can enter the dream realm and control or enter the 
dreams of another person."
   Setsuna thought about this for a moment, then asked, "Do you know what 
she looks like?"
   Professor Mirumoto quickly opened a drawer and pulled out a small 
sketchbook. Handing it across the desk to Setsuna, he said, "It belonged to 
one of my students. He could see anyone in the situation they were in. He 
was killed by one of the kuei-jin."
   Setsuna carefully opened the notebook. The grainy paper was rough against 
her skin, however, it seemed to be very thin. Looking at the first page, 
there was a pencil sketch of a beautiful girl. She had long black hair, 
white skin, shadows playing everywhere, and her eyes were slitted like a 
cat's.
   Throwing the notebook back on the desk, Setsuna's hands twitched as she 
remembered her dream. The swirling colors, the woman, the cold touch, the 
pain in her neck...
   "She was in my dream!" Setsuna squeaked.
   The trio exchanged glances then Ibuki squatted in front of Setsuna. 
"Okay, Setsuna. Just listen to us now."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   A woman sat alone on a park bench on a lonely night in quiet Konpaku 
Park.
   Her raven-black hair fell into her eyes, hiding them in the shadows 
playing over her snow-white features. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, 
and her clean, white silk clothing billowed in the slight breeze. Her long 
black hair whipped in the wind as the breeze became stronger. Sensing 
something, the woman looked up, her eyes glowing yellow from the confines of 
the shadows. Suddenly, a voice from the darkness spoke.
   "Little girl, where is your aura?"
   The woman squinted at the figure perched in the trees, but remained 
silent.
   "Come on, little girl. It's the perfect moonlit night for death, don't 
you think?"
   Hopping down from the trees, the creature seemed to be a normal human. It 
was probably a psy-vamp, a mortal vampire who feeds off energy and auras 
instead of blood or 'breath.'
   "Come to me, little girl. We'll have so much fun."
   The man walked towards the woman, his footsteps echoing on the stone 
pathway, the sound reverberating through the trees. He seemed to lack a 
shadow, and the black trench coat that he wore seemed to melt off his 
figure. Moving as fast as lightning, he was by the woman's side in under a 
second, pinning her to the bench. The woman made no attempt to move, but 
instead bored into his eyes with hers.
   Her arresting yellow eyes, slitted like a cat's.
   Stunned, the psy-vamp didn't move. He tried to say something, but the 
words didn't form coherently.
   Suddenly, in a soft lilting voice, the woman spoke. "Are you lost in the 
woods, little boy? Are you not able to find your way home?"
   Slowly, the man let go of her and straightened himself, careful not to 
let the woman smell his growing fear, feel his burning aura.
   "What is it you feel? Are you afraid? Afraid of the dark? Afraid of the 
shadows in your past?"
   The man slowly began to move backwards, each step a little quicker than 
the last. The woman followed, licking her scarlet lips in anticipation.
   "Tell me how it feels, little boy. Isn't it the perfect moonlit night for 
death?" the woman asked as she smiled in an ironic way before pouncing on 
him, pinning him against the stone path.
   The psy-vamp's eyes widened in horror as he was thrown roughly to the 
ground. "Who the hell are you?!"
   "My name, little boy, is Treasa. Now, say goodnight."
   The woman then bent over, her long, white neck bringing her
head level with his throat. Slowly and quietly, she bit into the flesh and 
savored the psy-vamp's flavor. Crude, yes, but rather filling really.
   When the vampire beneath her stopped twitching and bucking, she stood and 
examined it. Then, after smiling at the corpse for a moment, she turned and 
made her way down the stone pathway.
   "Taingeil, beannachd liebh..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   Setsuna padded slowly along the sidewalk, the whisper of the wind 
traveling through the night scenery. She had missed the bus once again, and 
this did not make her happy. She remembered what happened the last time she 
had missed the bus. Nervously surveying her surroundings, she concluded that 
she would be okay. Hell, at least it wasn't raining.
   Watching her feet as she walked, she turned left down a street towards 
her place. Tripping over her feet slightly, Setsuna began to think to 
herself. It had been a long day, and she was tired. She just wanted to go 
home and sleep.
   Things had changed so much in the past few days. First and foremost, 
Yohko was gone. That was probably the thought affecting her the most right 
now. Things would be so different without her around. She wouldn't have 
anyone to talk to anymore and she would be eating lunch alone now. Setsuna 
realized that she was going to be very lonely. Unless she got closer to 
Ibuki and Mitsurugi.
   Who were also plaguing her mind. She didn't know what was going to happen 
now that Mystery Club was a factor. She felt scared and confused about the 
whole situation, and nothing that Mitsurugi, Ibuki, or Professor Mirumoto 
said to her was going to be able to change that. She had to conquer her 
doubts and misgivings on her own. She had to figure it out for herself. She 
was not alone. She couldn't be afraid. If she let the fear out, bad things 
would happen. What these bad things were, she didn't know, but that's what 
her instinct told her. Do not be afraid.
   But it was hard to not be afraid when the oldest vampire on record knows 
who you are. When she walked into your dreams, your thoughts. Her thoughts 
seemed to trail off as Setsuna shivered involuntarily. It could have been a 
coincidence. Maybe it didn't mean anything. Perhaps it was best to think 
that it was all okay for the time being, to keep her fear under control.
   Rousing herself from her train of thought, Setsuna viewed her 
surroundings again.
   And failed to recognize them.
   Setsuna's head filled with questions. Where was she? Was she lost? How 
did that happen?
   And Setsuna failed to come up with answers for any of them. (Okay, 
Setsuna. You've gotten yourself lost. You'll be fine, just find out where 
you are,) she thought to herself as she looked around. Unfamiliar buildings, 
unfamiliar streets, and up ahead, the gates to an unfamiliar park. Silently 
walking towards the gates, she surveyed her surroundings carefully. The 
streets were silent, except for the occasional howl of the wind.
   Putting a hand on the metal gate, it creaked at her. Looking up, she saw 
'Konpaku Park' written in gold and red kanji above the portal. Entering the 
park, she seemed to recognize it: the cobblestone pathway, the cool green 
grass, the bench, the moon.
   Eyes wide in fear, she spun around and ran directly into the gate, which 
was now locked and closed. Slowly turning back around again, she looked 
about herself. She had to try and control her fear. Nothing was going to 
happen to her. She was going to be fine. She was perfectly safe. She was 
going to--
   --change. It was like the rain washed away his regular face and 
underneath was some hideous demonic visage. It was all teeth and glowing 
eyes and rotting flesh. Setsuna gave another shriek as she backed up. She 
felt her back brush up against her savior's legs and looked up to see him 
still cocking his crossbow--
   --when Yohko came out of the house. She didn't even bother with the door, 
the wall nearest them buckled and exploded outward in a shower of debris and 
the lithe form came hurtling out. She cleared the not-inconsiderable fence 
with one leap and landed in the middle of the street. Seeing the two getting 
away she roared, an inhuman sound of pure malice and now her face -did- 
change, becoming something twisted and filled with a giant toothy maw and--
   --then she kissed her. It was like someone had shoved her face onto a 
corpse. She could feel the deathly cold lips press firmly against hers, but 
more than that she could feel Yohko breathing. It wasn't pleasant and from 
the strange sounds Yohko was making Setsuna almost got the impression she 
was trying to... trying to... suck her breath out? Yohko stopped and looked 
up, her eyes--
   --watering, Setsuna scratched at her face with her nails, trying to make 
the visions stop. The memories were too painful. She didn't want to see 
them. Tears began to course down her face, leaving behind shining streaks in 
their path. Setsuna drew in ragged breaths, trying to calm herself to no 
avail. Sobbing quietly, she sat on the cold cobbles, rocking back and forth 
slightly. She began to whisper to herself quietly as she swayed. "It's okay 
Setsuna. Don’t be afraid, everything's okay."
   And then she heard it. A sharp crash from within the trees. Setsuna's 
head snapped up, her eyes searching for the source of the noise. Then, her 
eyes rested on a patch of darkness. Staring into the shadows, she was amazed 
when two glowing red dots appeared. They slowly began to move towards her 
when she discovered, much to her horror, that they were eyes. Blood red 
eyes, slitted like a cat's.
   The creature then stepped out into the moonlight, causing Setsuna to gasp 
in horror. The creature was at least seven feet tall, and was covered with 
coarse, black hair. The hair was longer on the back of its neck, like a 
mane, and shorter over the rest of its body, which was made up of rippling 
muscles.
   Then, it opened its mouth. Its jaws were powerful, and there were seven 
sets of fangs. Four on the top, three on the bottom. A noise issued from its 
throat. At first it was a groan, a deep moan that grew in volume until it 
was a menacing snarl. It curled back its lips and growled at Setsuna as it 
began to circle her, as though she were its prey.
   As though she were its prey? That was definitely not good.
   Whimpering, Setsuna quietly scrambled away from the creature until her 
back hit the iron gate. Licking its lips, the creature made its way towards 
her with steady, even strides, advancing upon her like a lion on a downed 
antelope. Hungry.
   And then it stopped. Looking about wildly, it yelped as it looked into 
the darkness. Turning away from Setsuna, it growled into the night, the hair 
on its spine standing on end. Setsuna squeezed her eyes shut and listened. 
"Oh my God, when the scary things get scared I'm really in trouble," she 
mumbled.
   Then, she heard a yelp. Not like the one before, because this one seemed 
to be more out of pain than fear. The creature whimpered. Then, Setsuna 
heard footsteps. Even, steady footsteps that seemed to be running. After 
that, she heard a sharp twang, and the sounds of a scuffle on grass, 
followed by sounds that could be best described as 'whump!' and 'thwap!'.
   Hearing more whimpering and a rustle in the trees, Setsuna decided to 
keep her eyes shut. Whatever got that thing was probably going to come over 
here and get her next. And she probably would not survive the encounter.
   Wrapping her arms around herself in a hug, her eyes squeezed shut even 
tighter than they were before. Hearing a rustling in the trees above her, 
she tried to calm her shivering, make herself as unobtrusive as possible so 
nothing would see her.
   Feeling a cold touch on her face, Setsuna held her breath. Then, she 
heard a silvery, lilting voice say, "Don't be afraid. Sleep now. Shh..."
   Setsuna personally thought it was a good idea. She was tired. She was 
scared. What better thing to do than go to sleep?
   But then there was a part of her that screamed, "But this is a park! Who 
knows who could come and mug you? You don't even know who this is!"
   But the tired part of her overwhelmed her reason, and Setsuna fell away 
from the conscious realm.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Setsuna stared at the ceiling of her 
room.
   Sitting up slowly, she felt a pain in her forehead. Touching it gently, 
she felt a bandage over her left temple. (Hmm, I must have scratched myself 
last night,) she thought as she looked at the piece of paper on her 
nightstand. The note read:
   Setsuna,
   Last night you were attacked by a Lampir, a South American vampire with 
more animalistic characteristics than human. When we arrived, it was running 
away from you, but you were unconscious and bleeding from a wound in your 
forehead. We would like to discuss this with you sometime later. Oh, and by 
the way, take today off to get some rest. We already phoned in for you.
                                ~Mystery Club
   Setting down the note, Setsuna stood shakily and gained her balance. Then 
she slowly moved over towards the mirror on the other side of the room. 
Looking at herself through her tangled mess of hair, she seemed to see 
herself for the first time. She saw the real Setsuna. Who the real Setsuna 
was, she couldn't quite explain, but she felt... different. Strangely, she 
felt good.
   Stretching, she moved to the door, but took one last glance back at the 
mirror. A shadow moved across the reflective surface as she smiled. She was 
getting the hang of this Mystery Club thing. True, she didn't know what had 
happened last night. Nobody else did either, so that wasn't really a big 
deal. She knew things weren't going to go back to normal, but she had to 
accept it. Yohko was gone and she belonged to a supernatural, 
extra-curricular club. It didn't seem so strange now.
   But you can never really tell, can you?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~Myth
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AUTHOR'S NOTES!

Okay, what I'm trying to do with titles is 2 things. First, work your title 
into your story somehow. Second, make the whole lists of titles mean 
something. Maybe tell a story. For example, now it's "You are not alone" 
"But you can never really tell, can you?" After that, something like "Don't 
be afraid" and then "Because fear is your greatest enemy". I dunno, but you 
get what I'm trying to do, yes?

Oh,yes. Notes on Treasa. This is just stressing points already made. Ok, 
first things first, Treasa is NOT necessarily evil. She's neutral. She 
doesn't care about the squabbles of good and evil and will do what she can 
to get by. She's smart, she's powerful, she's talented, and if you kill her 
off in the next chapter... grr. She's meant to be a lasting baddy, yanno, 
like the baddy of all baddies. ^.^;

Well, that's it. There's not much to say. C&C, flames, Canadian kilted 
yaksmen, and love letters to: GenXWolf@hotmail.com

Prereaders, thanks: Epsilon, Stephica, and Chaos