People were suddenly seeing me in a different light. My nightly excursions had begun as a topic of interest— sure people were upset about disappearing money, but it had never really affected them— that had changed. Now it was their money that was gone, and someone had gotten hurt. My title had begun to instill fear, and I had a feeling it would only get worse. Wraith had been testing me. This city would burn before he was done. Everything I had accomplished for the doctoral committee had sent my GPA higher than I thought possible. However, it had been almost two weeks since I gotten my last mission.

I sat in my room tinkering with my sonic projector. It wasn't working correctly after I had landed on it diving from the blast. Just as I was connecting a wire, my phone rang. I jumped and dropped my tools. Muttering, I answered it.

"I've decided your next task. it starts now." Wraith. I shoved my costume into my bag and dashed out the door. It was not good to keep him waiting.

It was two miles to school, and, seeing as I could barely afford to pay for classes, I didn't have a car, so I ran. "I have to hurry," I kept telling myself. Keeping Wraith waiting was the last thing I needed. As I went, I watched my feet. All I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears. I didn't think either of these were great excuses to offer the person I crashed into head first. We both ended up on our butts in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Sorry," I said, springing to my feet.

"It's okay. I wasn't paying attention either."

Hold up... I knew that voice. I turned slowly. He stood with his head bowed as he brushed off his jeans. All I could see was the neatly combed, brown hair that topped his head, but I knew who it was. The detective finally raised his head and my grey eyes met his familiar gold ones. With something close to satisfaction, I noticed the healing injuries across the side of his face.

"Do I know you?"

His words caused me to jump. Panic seized me and I stammered, "N-no. I don't think so."

"What?" he asked, tilting his head so one ear was closer to me.

"I said, 'No'," I practically yelled.

He stared at me quizzically for a moment longer before stooping and picking up my backpack. Not good. I grabbed it from his hand. A moment later, my phone beeped. Crap. I had forgotten about Wraith. With barely a word to the detective (rude, I know) I ran off. I could NOT be late.