We were at a party, Jasien and I... A party like one I'd always promised my mom I would never go to. But I had. Why? Jasien had wanted me to... Jasien my knight-in-shining armor, my best-friend, my protector... my boyfriend. He'd suggested we leave, though, after he had seen all the stuff that was going on. Drinking, some couples having wild makeouts, drugs... He hadn't wanted to be there, either, and he certainly hadn't wanted me to be there.. So we left, and that's when it happened.
Some boys were picking on me the day I'd met Jasien... He stood up for me. The kind of standing up for a completely strange girl that only happens in movies. He'd told them to step off...and it had made them mad. Evidently they thought he was "one of them"; maybe he kept up an act to fit into the "in crowd", but he dropped it when he saw that. I guess that's what you'd say had won my heart.. Anyway, the same boys who had been picking on me where at that party. They thought they'd win Jasi back by proving how much of a fraidy-cat I was by driving their car at us... They'd been drinking and were stupid to begin with.
They hit us, going pretty fast... I remember flying through the air and landing hard, pain surging through my chest and head crushing my lungs and making my vision swim with red. Jasien was hurt, too... I remember that. He picked me up despite one of his arms being hurt... he was crying and felt bad--really bad. Like it was all his fault; but it wasn't. It wasn't his fault that... How could he have known that that night I... Died.
The realization suddenly came to me: I was dead. I'd been hit by some drunk idiots with a car and now I was dead, and my boyfriend thought it was all his fault because he had taken me to that party. But what of me? Why could I still think?
"You look a little lost, newcomer," a soft masculine voice greeted me. I "looked" towards the source and saw a light grey apparition that looked as though it were an anthro cat man. He looked back with red-colored eyes and gave me a fangy smile. "And a little confused, too..."
"Who...." I began, but stopped in surprise at the sound I was making. I could talk, too! "Who are you?"
"Amifri Heartpaw...and in case you were wondering, I at least used to be a Katri, now I'm a Katri ghost..." the apparition replied, looking down at his handpaws thoughtfully.
I shook my head in disbelief and began to laugh nervously. "You can't be serious! I know there's no such things as ghosts!" I continued to laugh until the "Katri ghost" glared sharply at me. Under his bright red gaze I hushed into a nervous silence.
Amifri looked me over for a few moments with his arms folded over his chest, his plumed tail swaying behind him. Soon I began to feel as though I would die from embarassment for my stupid laughter and comments. He didn't say anything though, just merely shook his head as though he were sad. "...How do you explain yourself, then, young lady?"
"I...I honestly don't know, sir," I admitted reluctantly. "By all rights, I shouldn't be able to do anything anymore... I'm dead..."
"That's what I thought..." Amifri said with a sigh, rubbing his forehead with a handpaw. "You humans have so much to learn... It's like you live in a bubble."
"Hey!" I exclaimed quiet loudly, irritated at the insult geared towards the race whom I used to be a member of. I almost immediately regretted it, though. What had the human race ever given me when I was alive? Stress and a low self-esteem... Maybe I'd be better off as a ghost. "...sorry."
Amifri raised a paw, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it... Can you tell me your name?"
That took me a few moments to remember, but soon I snapped my fingers. "Mary... And don't you dare call me 'Bloody Mary'!" I screeched.
The Katri ghost looked shocked. "I would never think to do so, young lady..."
I must've turned bright red. "Sorry...old habit..."
Amifri sighed. "Well, welcome to your afterlife, Miss Mary... I hope you get accustomed to it soon..."
