Hey hey hey!! It's Katie Shut everyone!! I hope you enjoy my latest story! Also I will not be finishing any stories, so quit asking me please Anyways, please enjoy ~~~~~~~~~~~~<><><><><><><>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It wasn't long before she realized that she was dead. Although she moved through the dense crowd of people, none of them even looked at her. Curious, she raised a hand to touch the woman beside her. As she did so, the woman didn't respond at all. She remained as she was, not acknowledging the touch. "Can you hear me?" asked the girl. No response. "Hello? Excuse me Miss... can you hear me?" she asked once again but there was no returning response. "What is this? Am I dead?" she thought. She looked around at her surroundings and took a deep breath. She couldn't be. Just that morning she had gotten up, showered, ate breakfast, got ready for school, bade her mother farewell and was on her way. The bus! She thought. It had crashed...? Hadn't it? She pushed her way through the crowd of people, though none of them could sense her there. As she got to the front, she noticed that the bus was at a stand still. She felt queasy as she gazed upon the nearly disfigured body on the ground. As she got closer she could scarcely recognize the face. It was her own. "No!" she gasped. She looked away as shook her head. "I don't understand! I didn't die! Was I... hit by the bus?" She couldn't remember anything. "You did die," said a voice. "Angelica Sorvino?" "Yes?" replied the girl. She looked around and her head began to swim with fear. All the eyes from the crowd were now on her. What was happening?! "Right here," said the voice again. Angelica frantically searched the crowd for the one speaking to her. She finally found him. He was walking towards her, in short strides. He had medium length dark hair and blue eyes. His face was young and handsome but had a sort of maturity that one can observe in an adult. "You are Angelica Sorvino?" he asked, looking her over. "Yes..." she said quietly. "I see. I didn't expect to find someone so young," he said and he raised a hand to his head. "I thought she'd look older... wiser? Just how old are you?" "Excuse me...?" said the girl. "I don't understand what you mean..." "Answer my question. How old are you?" "I turned sixteen in April," she said softly. "Now will you please help me to understand..." "No. It doesn't matter at this time. Anyways, you do realize that you are dead?" Angelica nodded. "I am aware... but I don't understand. I don't know how I died. The last thing I remember is leaving my house this morning for school," she said. "Interesting..." he said. "Anyways, it was rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Alexander Mason. I am neither dead nor living." "Then what are you?" she asked in a low tone. "Have you ever heard of a Paltrice?" he asked. A slight smirk spread across his face. "Ever read about it somewhere? It's quite interesting really." Angelica shook her head. "A Paltrice is someone who has committed suicide." "I've never heard that term before," said Angelica. She tried to remember all the news reports on suicides, and not one had ever mentioned the term, Paltrice before. She frowned. Had he just made it up? "The human world does not know of the word." "What? I don't understand. You just asked if I had read about it... obviously I haven't if my world has no knowledge of the term..." He smiled a bit. "Anyways, I am a Paltrice." Angelica felt her stomach tighten. If he was a so-called Paltrice... that meant that he had committed suicide... she was curious to know, but she didn't ask, just in case he was deeply offended or something. She didn't want that. "So... you're a Paltrice. What am I?" "You'll find that out sooner or later," he said. "What?" Just then Angelica bolted up. She felt a weird sensation overcome her body and she trembled. When it was over, she opened her eyes. She was lying in her own bedroom. In her own house. She stared in disbelief. She got out of her bed and went to her door. She creaked it open ever do gently and peered out. "Mom?" she asked. "Angelica! Hurry up! You'll be late for school!" came her mother's voice. She felt to the ground, her head spinning. Had it been a dream? No. It was much to real to be a dream... but why was she here? Yes. It had to be. It just had to have been a dream.