I was standing in the middle of the room, when a gun shot rang and an eerie scream filled the room.

My name is Finley Krush and this is the story of how I died.

And how I came to find out who my murderer was.

---

It was your normal average day, a Saturday.

The perfect day for a party, or to go to one at least.

I was upstairs in my room getting ready for the birthday party my friend Starla was making me go to.

It was for some guy named Brandon.

She had met him at school and wanted me to go as her date.

I was curling my long auburn hair when the door rang.

Frustrated, I set the curling iron down and walked down the steps to the front door.

The party started in an hour and a half and I had already procrastinated enough in getting ready.

Looking out the peephole, I groaned loudly.

It was my psychopath ex-boyfriend, John.

He wasn't always crazy, but after I had dumped him because he started to get aggressive, he got super crazy and weird, saying I was the only thing keeping him alive and going and stuff.

I knew he wouldn't go away until he talked to me, so I unlocked the door and opened it just a crack.

"What do you want, John?" I seethed through my teeth, trying to sound nice.

"You, Finley." He tried to push the door open more, but I held it closed.

"Go away, John."

"You know I won't, Finley. I'll always be here, waiting for you to come back to me."

"No. I won't, John. We're done. I'll never go back to you." I shut the door and locked it.

I could hear him shouting outside.

After a while it didn't seem like it was coming from behind the door, more like from a different place around the house.

I began to walk around with my half curled hair. I walked into the moonlight in the living room then I suddenly froze as I saw something from the corner of my eye that I would probably never unsee.

I turned to look at the window that was next to the front door in the living room.

The curtain was blowing slightly from the slightly open window, but that's not what made me stop.

John was standing there, a devilish smile plastered across his face. His head was tilted down, his dark brown hair hung over his green eyes.

He was wearing a suit, an indicator that he was probably going to the party too.

I shuddered and quickly ran to the window to close it, but John spoke before I could.

"You can't outrun me, Finley. I'll always be there..."

I mentally cringed as he walked away, keeping his eyes on the window.

I then closed the window once I was sure he had no more to say then I went back upstairs to finish curling my hair.

After I finished curling my hair, I unplugged the iron and went to my closet to pick out a dress.

I had two to choose from.

They were both lengthy and long.

One was a deep red that had a halter top with sequins lining it.

The other one was a royal blue with full sleeves.

As I contemplated my choices, the door bell rang, again.

I internally groaned and walked back down the steps to the front door.

As I made my way down, the bell rang two more times, an indicator that it was Starla.

Glad that it wasn't John, I unlocked the door and flung it open, ushering her into the house.

She was wearing a mid length purple dress, her short blonde hair was curled and it bounced with each step.

For some reason, this was a VERY fancy birthday party. Probably because he was turning twenty-one. College parties tend to be super crazy and extreme.

She eyed me up and down. "Finley! What's the hold up? Why aren't you dressed? We have to leave in ten minutes!" She then ran upstairs towards my room.

How did she run up the steps in heels without falling?

I have no idea.

I sauntered after her and saw her gazing at the two dresses.

She quickly glanced between me and the dresses.

"You got anything white?" She began to rummage through my closet.

"I don't know. You can look, though it's probably not super fancy." I crossed my arms.

"It doesn't need to be super fancy... Aha! Found one!" She pulled out a mid length white dress that flowed at the back along with a light pink sash wrapped around the waist.

"This is the one." She held it up to me.

I playfully rolled my eyes. "Okay, whatever you say."

She laughed as she turned around so that I could change quick.

I tossed off the comfortable clothes that I was wearing and tugged on the dress.

"How do I look?" I spun around for her.

"Simply magnificent. Here, put this on." She handed a silver charm necklace to me. "I saw it on your dresser when you were changing."

I smiled as I put it on. "You gave me this at my sweet sixteen."

"Uh huh." She flashed me another smile before frowning. "Did you hear that John was going?"

Way to ruin the mood.

I cringed at the name. "Yeah. He came here and told me himself."

"Oh, really?" Starla spoke with disgust and empathy in her voice.

"Yeah, so I'll be seeing him again tonight."

"He really is crazy you know." She came over to me and began to mess with my hair, grabbing half of it and pulling it up.

"I know. I'd still be with him if he didn't get so angry and possessive and stuff."

"Yeah... Hey, random thought, but would he kill for you?" She continued to do my hair.

"Kill? Ha. I don't know if he would actually kill someone, but he would probably hurt them if they tried to do something to me. Why?" I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.

She shrugged. "Just curious."

"Alright." I waited for her to be finished with whatever she was doing.

"And done!"

I walked over to my mirror and spun around, smiling.

"Okay, let's go!" I grabbed my heels and purse in one hand and Starla's hand in the other and then rushed out of my room and down the stairs.

I opened the front door to a pitch black night.

The sprinklers were on and the moon was out.

It was lovely.

Until...

Until HE came.

"You look marvelous, Starla." A voice said.

I whipped my head around to see Brandon standing by a black car.

He was wearing a black suit with a green tie and his light brown hair was gelled.

"Brandon?" I looked over at Starla with a confused look on my face as I bent down to put on my shoes.

"Sorry, Finley. Hope you don't mind. I told Starla I'd be your guy's ride to the party." He walked over to us.

"Oh, no. That's fine. I'm just curious as to why Starla didn't tell me." I flashed her a fake smile.

She rubbed her neck. "Well, when you dragged me into your house and I saw that you weren't dressed, Brandon kind of slipped from my mind."

I chuckled. "Nah, I'm just kidding. Let's go. By the way, happy birthday, Brandon." I nodded to him as he opened the back door of the car for me so that I could get in.

"Thank you, Finley." He then held the passenger door open for Starla and she got in.

As he's walking around to the driver's seat I pop my head up and around to look at Starla.

"So, you and Brandon huh? Strandon?" I wiggle my brows.

She playfully hits my head. "Finley!"

I laugh as I climb back to my seat just as Brandon gets in.

He glances between us. "Everything alright?" He chuckles.

Starla crosses her arms, a light blush on her cheeks. "Just peachy."

He shrugs as he starts the car and pulls out of the driveway.

We drive in comfortable silence for a while, until Brandon breaks it.

"Hey... Is that... John..?" He nods his head over to a figure that's walking along the side of the road.

I immediately tense up as I turn my head to look where he had nodded, and sure enough, there was John.

And to make matters worse, Brandon pulled over next to him.

I slowly slid down in my seat as Starla shoots me worried looks.

Brandon rolls down his window, and calls out to John.

"Hey, John! You need a ride?"

John turns his head at the sound of his name being called, then he grins upon seeing who it is.

"Sure, why not." He walks up to the car.

I slid down further.

"Okay, you'll have to get in the back next to Finley though. Starla's up front." Brandon points his thumb behind him.

John's eyes widen at the mention of my name. He then nods as he coolly slips into the seat next to me.

"Finley." He crosses his arms and nods.

"John." I look out the window.

Whenever John is around Starla or anyone else then he tends to act normal and not super crazy in love with me.

Wish he still did.

The bad thing about this situation though, was that Brandon doesn't know about John and I dating.

So this is super awkward for the three of us, not including Brandon.

"Oh, this is going to be great! Thanks for coming guys." Brandon flashed us each a smile.

We all said something along the lines of "yep", "uh huh", or "mhm" in return.

We didn't really want to talk about anything since John was there.

It's not that he's a bad person, well kind of, but not really, he just takes things very personal sometimes and it's not a good thing.

"Hey, John. Are you hoping that a certain girl will be there?" Brandon glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

John smirked. "Yeah." Then he glanced at me.

I internally cringed.

"How about you, Finley? Got your eye on a guy?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Aw, that's too bad." John playfully frowned.

"Yeah, totally." I sarcastically remarked.

We drove in silence for the rest of the drive and soon pulled up to Brandon's house.

It wasn't too fancy.

His house was one story like an average house.

He wasn't rich, but he wasn't poor. He was just living in a suitable home for the time being while he was still in school.

There were colorful lights on inside and music being played.

People were already here.

We all got out of the car and walked towards his house.

Brandon slung his arm around Starla's shoulders, and I wrapped my arms around myself and walked faster to keep away from John.

We walked inside and were greeted with some of our other friends from school.

A couple of people we didn't know that Brandon did.

We chit chatted around until Brandon got everyone's attention.

"I just wanted to say thank you all for coming." He grinned.

Applause and cheers.

"And here's to being twenty-one!"

More cheers and applause and a couple of whistles from the guys.

We all had little glasses of carbonated apple juice, except for those who were twenty-one and older. They all had champagne. My birthday was coming up so I was still twenty and had apple juice.

We clinked glasses then drank and the music was turned back on.

The party went on like a regular party.

Eating, talking, and dancing.

Until, gun shots were heard.

Then screams.

Some girls that I didn't know ran into the room from the hallway and started yelling at us to get out.

Brandon rushed over to them with a worried look on his face, trying to calm them down.

I heard him ask if anyone got shot or hurt and they shook their heads.

I started to walk through the crowd to see who had the gun and to see why in the heck they would be shooting it, unless they were drunk.

I was in the middle of the room when I saw the gun being held up just in front of the entrance to the living room where we all were.

Everyone had seemed to crowd around me as if I was the tough one.

No one could tell who was holding it.

The gun cocked and I took a step back, panic spreading through me.

Then the gun shot rang and I felt pain shoot through me everywhere.

All I felt was pain as I screamed and tumbled to the ground, slowly dying.

Everyone else began to scream and scurry around.

My vision was blurred as I blacked out for a second, before awakening again.

I lifted my head up and squinted my eyes in confusion.

Didn't I die?

As I looked around I saw people yelling and others crying.

As I got up I felt weightless. Free.

I looked down to see that I was rising up from my own body.

I was now a ghost. There was no doubt about it.

I studied my dead self that was laying on the ground.

The white dress I wore was stained with blood and my hair was sprawled out around me.

I looked at my new hands.

They were white and almost thin, invisible like.

I wore the same dress from before, but it was clean.

As I was wondering what the heck I was going to do next, there was a thump behind me.

I turned to see John on the ground.

He was being pinned by Brandon who had taken his suit jacket off.

"I swear I didn't do it!" John snarled.

"Tell that to the judge, buster. You were the only one with a gun." Brandon pinned him closer to the ground.

"I didn't shoot it I swear! I mean I was, but that was before someone else did!"

My green ghost eyes widened.

John did it?

My mind went racing back to when Starla had asked if John would kill for me.

He wouldn't kill for me, he'd kill me and for what reason I didn't know.

That was, until a girl named Rome asked.

"W-why'd you do it, John?" She was crying.

"I told you I didn't!" He growled. "But I was going to do it because I was sick and tired of her ignoring and rejecting me! If I couldn't have Finley then nobody could have her."

Brandon's eyes widened at John's confession.

I crossed my arms and scoffed. "You are so pathetic, John."

But of course, no one could hear me.

A slow and silent tear made its way down my face.

"I wish I could go back and see what happened."

And as fate would have it, it was eleven eleven.

The time you made wishes at.

Everything went backwards after that.

Slow at first, but then faster and faster.

Everything around me just a blur.

Then it all stopped and I was standing in darkness.

I heard a faint voice say to not be so quick to judge then I appeared back in the room where I died.

My ghost figure was standing off to the side from my real one.

I recognized the scene as before the girls came in screaming.

I decided to go check out what happened in the hallway.

I saw the two girls chatting and talking, not seeing John anywhere in sight.

The gun shots rang a few minutes later and they screamed and ran off into the living room.

John wasn't even in the hallway when he made the first shot.

I rolled my eyes and sauntered after the girls, standing back off to the side from my real body.

I watched myself walk towards the hallway until the gun was exposed.

I studied the gun until I heard the shot go off.

I didn't recall seeing the handle being pulled.

I jerked my head to look at my body.

What I saw, I didn't expect.

The shot had been made into my back.

John didn't kill me.

Someone else did.

And I have no idea who.

I turned around to look behind me to see if I could tell who shot me, but there was no sign of anyone having a gun.

Nor anyone knowing about someone shooting me from the back.

All I saw was the crowd gasping and staring. They were all just shocked by the fact that someone would shoot and even kill somebody. The fact that it was me probably made it even more crazy to think about.

I turned back to the other side where I saw the gun being held up, but it wasn't up. It was on the ground.

Then there was some yelling before Brandon dragged John out from the hallway and threw him on the floor.

Then everything turned black again.

"Wait! What's happening?" I shouted into the pitch dark.

"Now you know the truth."

It was the voice again.

"Well what am I supposed to do with it?" I looked and turned around to try to find the source of the voice.

"You can live your new life knowing that it wasn't John."

"Then who was it?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Then it was bright again.

I was outside and it smelt like it had just rained.

The air was humid.

I looked around me to see that I was at the cemetery.

I shuddered as I knew who's grave I was at.

Mine.

I looked down to see my headstone.

A picture of me smiling was imprinted in it, along with these words:

Here lies Finley Krush
July 24th 1989 - June 6th 2009
The angel we all wish we could be

I smiled as a small tear went down my ghostly face.

I realized that I got transported into the future a couple days later to see my grave.

"I never wanted this." I whispered as I hugged myself.

"Neither did I."

My eyes widened as I heard someone's voice.

It was feminine. Another ghost. But who? One of my friends?

I turned around to see...

Starla?

She was wearing normal clothes.

"S-starla? What are you doing here?" I ran to her and gave her a hug. It was a nice strong hug that living people would give to each other.

That could only mean one thing.

Starla was dead too.

We pulled back from the hug.

"I died, Finley." She looked down.

"Well, obviously, but how? Why?"

"I couldn't live with you being dead." Her voice barely above a whisper.

"T-that's silly. You know I'd want you to live a happy life without me."

"Not after what I did." A tear went down her face.

"W-what do you mean after what you did?" I wasn't quite sure if I wanted the answer to that.

"The reason why you're dead... Is me. I killed you, Finley."

I let out a small gasp and took a step back. "W-what? Why?"

She looked up at me. "I knew John was going to try to kill you, so I decided to kill him first, but... I missed and hit you. I couldn't bear living with what I did, so after I confessed the next day and they let John go, I hung myself."

My eyes softened. "Oh, Starla."

She pointed to a grave next to mine. It read:

Here lies Starla Cruzco
March 6th 1989 - June 7th 2009
The other angel

A small picture of her was imprinted on it.

I turned to her and gave her a hug.

"You really are the bestest friend." A small tear went down my face as one went down hers.

She hugged me back. "I try." She let out a small laugh.

We pulled away. I had a smirk on my face.

"Let's go haunt John together."

She smirked back. "Deal."

We held hands and walked away from the graves and toward John's house.

And at that moment I knew, I'd be living the life I wanted as happily as I possibly could with my best friend at my side.

The End

A/N: Hey!! Hope you guys liked this story story!! A huge thanks to JaneConquestBackup for hosting the contest and OceansInfinity for the title and thank you so much bubleteabangtan for the cover up above. I had so much fun writing this. Please tell me your thoughts!! Love you!!