I'm Demise, the person who's going to be telling you this story. Now I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit bitchy and you most likely are going to hate me. But that's fine. I don't care. So let's get to what you want to know. I'm Demise Soul, from New York City.

  I was born on October First, 1979. I grew up living a normal life in the 80s, both parents were always there. I loved to go watch my favorite gymnast, Veronica Leash, perform in the stadium near my school. Until one day in 1997, she attempted a triple tuck back flip and landed on her head. 

  Right in front of the whole crowd, she snapped her neck and had bleeding in her brain. She died that night in the hospital. But let's get to how I died. One night in 1998 I decided to walk home from a party at my friend's house. As I walked I could have sworn I heard footsteps behind me.

  I ignored them and kept walking. They got louder and louder. My heart was pounding, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I clutched my purse and started to run but I felt something sharp and cold pierce and slice my back. As I fell to the ground someone snatched my purse. I got mugged. 

  I rolled over and stared at the wound in my stomach. I looked up at the man who did it and he saw I was still alive. As he pulled out another knife I screamed, "No"! He sliced my stomach twice and everything went black. I awoke to the sound of the city waking up. "Are you okay", a random woman asked me. "I think she's dead", her friend gasped. 

  My eyes jerked open and everything was different. I wasn't lying in the middle of the city, I wasn't surrounded by people, and it wasn't warm anymore. I sat up and watched as crows flew past me. I was in the graveyard, sitting on a freshly made grave. I turned around and looked at the headstone behind me.

  "Goodbye, Demise Soul", it read. "10-1-79, to 04-25-98". I started to cry as I looked down at my clothes. I was dressed in black clothing, I was dead! How I was alive if I was dead, didn't make sense. I turned to my side and saw a book. "Easy guide to being a ghost", the title read. A ghost, is that what I was?

  I opened it and read through the whole thing, ignoring the people that passed by. The rules were, Don't stay in one place for too long (people will realize you aren't aging), Don't kill humans unless they want to hurt you, Don't forget you're dead, and use your powers responsibly. "What powers"? I flipped to the end of the book. "Your powers will be based on your ghost species, phantom, wraith, etc.".

  "How to know what you are, say 'phantom form', out loud and depending on your appearance is your species. Phantoms will have bright blue eyes and glowing hair, poltergeist will have dark hair and eyes along with slimy skin, wraiths will look like they are scared and have no legs, banshees will have black hair and pale skin".

  I got up and ran to the nearest clothing store so I could use their mirror. I tried to not make myself seen, although my death probably wouldn't have even been on the news. I went inside the store and into a dressing room. I locked the door and stood in front of the mirror. "Phantom form", I whispered. My eyes and hair lit up blue. A small smile spread across my face as I saw my reflection.

  Being a phantom might not be so bad. I walked outside the store and to my surprise saw my parents. They both looked really upset, you could tell they weren't happy. They lost their one and only daughter. I was going to walk up to them and tell them that I'm here, I can come home.

  But I couldn't, they needed to move on. They would be terrified to learn their daughter was a phantom. I went back to the cemetery to finish the book. I was stuck in purgatory, which never happens when it comes to people dying. But it didn't say why. My only goal was to "get out of purgatory". But they didn't tell me how. I needed to figure out what to do now that I was a phantom.

  Once I closed the book the grim reaper came up to me. I thought that it was time for me to pass on. "To escape purgatory you will need a deadly friend", he told me. "Pick a weapon, Demise". "You can pick anyone that I have". There was a sword, a bow and arrow, two handguns, and a bat". I was going to pick the sword, but I looked back at him. "I want that", I said pointing to his scythe. "You want my scythe"?

  "Yes I do, you said I can pick anyone you have", I said with a smile. "Just who do you think you are, little girl"? "Demise Soul, thank you very much", I said staring into his empty eye holes. He chuckled before handing me his scythe. I felt a power surge through me as I took it. "You are a very smart girl, Demise, be careful on your journey". he left and I swung the scythe around, I had to learn to use it.

  I went and stole some clothes from a couple of stores and left for the streets. That's where I stayed for years. Soon I was able to get a small little hut on the outskirts, I didn't need to eat or sleep so it was just a TV and couch in there. I got into a lot of fights over time without most people even seeing my face. I lived like that for the next 23 years and got myself the name "Alley Cat".

  My journey out of purgatory was starting to begin.