A dark figure leapt off a rooftop, feet landing roughly against the cold, hard pavement of the adjacent building. Cold mist escaped chapped lips as the lone figure dusted herself, straightening to her full height before striding forward, back disappearing into the roof’s door.

A plethora of scents overpowered the dark figure once she entered the edifice from the roof. There were scents that spoke of wrath, anger, and spite. There were those that smelled of love, all sweet and lustful. And then, there were of sadness, and those were the smells that she – a wraith – had been looking for.

A wry smile appeared on her lips once she came upon a door that marked her target for the night. Room 1889. Yuri inhaled the lovely scent of melancholy into her lungs, filling them with the bittersweet tinge of the gloom that laid beyond the marked door.

She slipped in, her form diffusing through the wooden door like she was air passing through hollowed spaces, spaces that set molecules of matter apart. She was a daughter of darkness, a being of death, a silent gatherer of souls.

In the morrow, she will be a mere mortal, one with radiant hair that was as black as the night itself. She will be a tall woman, one whose body would boast of health and youth at its prime. Her tanned skin would mark her identity – she was a wraith, Death’s daughter, set free on Earth to collect mortal souls whose time on Earth had come to a halt.

Yes, that task of college papers, books to read, boring lecture halls, and pushover professors should be left for the morrow. For now, she was not a mere mortal and her task was at hand, waiting for her at the bedroom.

Yuri could hear the faint, muffled sounds of sobs resounding from the bedroom. Any moment now, her task would be done. She’ll just need for the mortal soul to take those pills. Sleeping pills? They’re a death sentence to people who looked to them for comfort. Yuri had always known of that. She had always known after having taken hundreds of souls who have sought Death’s comfort in the form of those pretty little things in a bottle.

The room suddenly felt cold. Yuri hadn’t anticipated this one. It seemed as though someone from the realm of Ice had come forth, but the wraith had been so sure that she hadn’t smelled a single divine being in these halls. Shrugging the weird thoughts just because of a simple temperature change, the wraith crossed the foyer, dark eyes locked on the door that housed the soul she was tasked to collect.

‘Please make this a quick one,’ Yuri had thought to herself as she slipped past the physical barrier, finding herself in a gloomy abode, the temperature now dropping so low that even the wraith herself shivered, clutching her ebon raiment closer to her form as she explored the victim’s room in silence.

A small glint of light guided her to what she had assumed to be the bathroom, peeking a little to see a figure hunched over the sink, sobs resonating from the petite form. ‘Poor woman,’ Yuri shook her head as she witnessed sadness sweep over the person.

To her surprise, the woman looked up, swollen and reddened eyes staring right into her dark orbs. Yuri almost reeled back in astonishment, but then, she recomposed herself upon realizing that her Deathly garb kept her invisible to mortal eyes. The figure’s tears began flowing down porcelain cheeks as the victim turned to face the mirror, eyes scanning the miserable face reflected on the smooth surface.

Yuri could only empathize with the woman, but she has her duty to fulfill and she couldn’t wait to finish the task. She had waited in patience as the woman took a bottle from the medicine cabinet, eyes locking onto the object in her hand before she strode towards the door, towards Yuri who waited for this moment.

The wraith stared at the beauty that was about to pass through her, admiring the sharp features of the young woman, who she postulated to be of her mortal age. Poor girl. She must have her heart broken so bad that she chose for this way. Yuri could only watch as the young brunette curled in her bed, hands tightly clutching the bottle of pills into her chest.

Curiosity got the wraith when she remembered smelling a different scent coming off the woman when the mortal soul passed through her invisible form. ‘This one was touched by a deity.’ Yuri realized. Now things got more interesting.

The wraith carefully strode closer to the bed, looming over the curled bundle of sorrow who continued to cry.

“Let me see your despair, child.” Yuri cooed as she drew closer, hand touching the mortal’s forehead.

A flash of light struck the wraith and she found herself into a vortex of memories – the mortal’s memories.

Yuri saw the mortal in her past memories. The woman was in love. And Yuri found herself appalled at this, seeing that the mortal had fallen in love with a deity – a forbidden love. The wraith watched as the mortal laughed heartily at the deity accompanying her. Yuri found herself frowning at the sweet scene, knowing full well how this relationship ended.

“Taeyeon! Stop it!” The mortal landed a playful slap to the deity’s arm, earning a loud episode of laughter escaping from the deity, whom Yuri had come to know as Taeyeon. The wraith watched as the deity, a high cherub, wrapped an arm around the mortal, furtively running her hand across a bust, eliciting a squeal from the mortal lover.

“Taengoo…” The mortal groaned, teasingly distancing