AS SOON AS MELANIE CLOSED her eyes, she felt as if the earth had fallen away from her feet. Her stomach erupted with butterflies as she felt herself being spun around, almost as if she were floating in mid air. Her eyes remained shut, and Louis's hands were still holding her gently by the shoulders, his fingers digging into her skin.

Through her eyelids, Melanie could see colours flashing constantly, as if she were standing watching fireworks being set off. The brightness only increased until all she could see was white. She slowly opened her eyes - and gasped.

She was back at Rachel's party, and the room was crowded with her high-school friends. But there was something wrong - everything was in black and white like in The Beyond. Melanie frowned and looked around at the grey figures moving to the music and the way they seemed to move in slow motion.

"So, this was the party, huh?" Melanie turned as Louis spoke. He was leaning against the doorway, and she noticed that only the two of them were in colour, just like before.

"Are we still in The Beyond?" Melanie questioned, slowly reaching out to touch the shoulder of her friend, Chrissy. She frowned as her hand went right through her. "Am I a ghost now?"

"In a way," Louis said as he pushed himself away from the door. "This is  your memories, Melanie. We're both inside your head."

"This is crazy," Melanie muttered. "What are we doing here? I thought I was supposed to remember how I died?"

"You are - this is how it works. Your memories fix themselves in your mind like a jigsaw, and when you're ready, you re-live those memories as you are now - a ghost, as you put it. You'll re-live everything over again, but this time you'll remember everything because you'll be watching it. It's almost like watching TV with yourself as the main role."

"Sounds complex," Melanie muttered as she moved through the dancing bodies. Literally, through them. She jumped multiple times as someone walked towards her and disappeared right through her. It was nerve-wracking being helpless and stuck in a ghostly land. "So, I have to find myself at the party and follow myself until I die, correct?"

"Pretty much," Louis said as he followed her. "Once you find out, we'll be back in The Beyond and I'll offer you the choice I mentioned before."

"Live or die," Melanie said, more so to herself than to him. As she looked around the busy house, a smile came to her face when she saw Michael - alive Michael - moving through the crowd to his girlfriend. Melanie had seen that happen not too long before Rachel had offered to drive her home. "Creepy case of déjà vu right there," she muttered and Louis laughed from behind her.

"Where were you at this time?" he asked her and she let out a sigh.

"I was drunk, Louis," she answered. "How am I supposed to remember?"

"You were able to remember the party and leaving with Rachel," he stated and Mel shrugged. Yes, she had been able to remember those things but only because they were so fresh in her mind. She didn't keep a record of where she was every second of the day.

As Melanie stood on her tip-toes to see over the crowd, she let out a gasp as she saw herself and Rachel in the kitchen with beers in their hands. "There I am!" she shouted to Louis.

"I see you," he said, nodding. They both made their way over to the Melanie and Rachel who were very much alive and well, dancing with each other to the loud music blasting from the speakers.

"So we just follow them - us. Me? Rachel and I," Melanie said, confused.

Louis stood beside Melanie and he nodded once again. "That's your best bet."

Melanie watched as she and her friend started talking to Kaleb, Rachel's boyfriend. Only then did Melanie realize that she couldn't make out what anyone was saying; all she could hear was the music and the mumbling of voices. It was almost as if someone were covering her ears.

"What's up with my hearing?" Melanie asked, her own voice and Louis's being the only clear things she could hear.

"Everything you heard while you were alive at this point in time," he started. "Only because you're dead, it will be much less clearer. Besides, I believe drunk hearing isn't always the best?"

Melanie laughed quietly. "No, it's not."

Melanie watched as Rachel leaned forward to kiss Kaleb before whispering something in his ear. He nodded to her, a serious look on his face after she pulled away. He waved Melanie and Rachel a goodbye before running out through the crowd. Melanie watched as her alive self swayed back and forth on the spot.

"You were really pissed out of your mind, weren't you?" Louis asked, laughing. Melanie just rolled her eyes at him and looked around at the dim room. She'd never seen a party so ... lifeless.

"What's happening back where Michael is?" Melanie asked all of a sudden.

"Well, considering that we both disappeared in front of his eyes, he's probably wandering around the town like a headless chicken, looking for us."

"Louis, he'll be so lost!" Melanie complained.

"He seemed completely lost when he arrived in The Beyond," Louis commented and she laughed. There were times where she couldn't hide her smile as cocky comments left his lips. In many ways, the pair of them were alike, and Melanie was almost grateful for that.

"I never thought I would get the chance to see myself through someone else's eyes," Melanie said, smiling to herself. "It's weird."

Louis raised a brow. "Technically you're looking through your eyes ... at yourself."

"Stop complicating everything," Melanie complained. "You know what I meant."

"I might not have..." Louis said, trialling off when she turned and gave him an annoyed look.

Rachel placed her beer bottle down after a few minutes and leaned over to Melanie to say something. Over the loud music, Melanie couldn't even make out a mumble as she watched her friend yell in her ear. Melanie saw herself nod before Rachel started to drag her out towards the door. That's when Michael showed up again, leaving at the same time as they did.

"Should we find out how Michael died?" Melanie asked.

"No." Louis's voice was firm. "No tipping the balance, remember? He needs to remember on his own."

"Oh," Melanie mumbled before she started forward, following her alive self out the door, Louis close behind. Melanie watched Michael turn the opposite way and start stumbling around the town, like he had said he'd done. "Bye, Mikey," she whispered before she followed herself and Rachel again.

The pair of them rounded the corner until they were standing before Rachel's car. Rachel helped Melanie inside it, and she fastened her seat belt for her. Melanie looked over at Louis who nodded to her before stepping forward. He walked through the car until he was sitting comfortably inside it and Melanie gaped at him.

"You just walked through the car!" she gasped. Louis nodded.

"Well, if you can walk through the people, what's so different about the cars?" he questioned. Melanie let out a sigh before closing her eyes and jumping forward. She jumped onto something soft and when she opened her eyes again, she found herself sprawled out across Louis's lap. Awkwardly, she sat up and apologized when a pained look crossed his face.

"I think you broke my dick," he groaned, cupping his crotch as if trying to shield it from more attacks.

"Wait, you have a penis?" Melanie asked.

Louis looked at her incredulously. "Of course I do! I'm a guy, aren't I?!"

"Yeah, but ... it's not as if you need one, right?"

"Why the fuck would you say that?" Louis asked, his eyes wide.

"Well, it's not as if you'll be getting lucky any time soon." Melanie said, shrugging. "Considering that you're always stuck in Hell."

Louis rolled his eyes at her before shuffling around in the back seat to get comfortable. Rachel opened the driver's door and sat down next to a drunk Melanie, making sure her seat belt was clipped. Melanie watched herself as she leaned her head against the passenger's window. Rachel leaned over and started talking to her quietly, a mumble in Melanie's ears.

"I can lip read well," Melanie told Louis. "She just told me to try and sleep it off."

"I think you were sleeping as she told you that," Louis stated, nodding at the Melanie with her face squashed up against the window.

"Shut up. Alcohol has a bad effect on me," she retorted and Louis snorted.

"It has a bad effect on a lot of people," he said. As the car started, Louis leaned forward and watched as Rachel pulled her phone from her pocket. Melanie shuffled closer to see who Rachel was texting. It was Kaleb.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Melanie wondered aloud. She watched as Rachel's painted fingernails tapped quickly across the keypad, a message forming across the screen. Melanie felt her heart sink as she read the finished text.

To: Kaleb
Everything's set. She's in the car with me, sleeping. You're car ready?

Louis laughed and Melanie looked over at him curiously. "I don't know what's worse: The fact she's planning to kill you or her bad spelling."

Melanie slapped his arm and quickly leaned forward as a faint buzz sounded from Rachel's phone. Melanie leaned closer to see the message.

From: Kaleb
Yep, let's get ourselves some money ;)

Melanie sank back in her seat. She couldn't stop the tears that fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Louis looked over at her sadly and bit his lip. There was very little he could to to try and comfort her, and to even be thinking of helping her was a change. Louis only did what he had to do, and that was to help the dead remember how they died, not offer them comfort.

Slowly, he reached out and pulled her against his side.

"Shh, it's alright," he whispered, rubbing her shoulder gently. "We've still got a little more to go."

Melanie nodded against his chest. "Why would she do this to me?"

"'Cause she's a bitch," Louis added helpfully and Melanie looked up and gave him a small smile. Just then, Rachel pulled out of the drive and started down the main road, driving past the primary school and bakery on the left. Melanie slowly sat up and looked ahead at the road, hatred burning inside her.

"Now I'm wondering if we were ever really friends," Melanie said through her teeth. "Or if this was her plan from the beginning."

"How long have you been friends?" Louis asked.

"Since we were little kids," Melanie answered and Louis laughed.

"I doubt a kid would have such murderous thoughts. Seriously, this is new." Louis said, giving Mel a reassuring smile.

"Even so, she's chosen to do this. For money."

"What I don't understand," Louis began, "is how she thinks she'll even get any money if you died. Like, it's not as if she was truly family."

Melanie thought it over in her head. Louis made a fair point - how would Rachel know for sure that there would be money in it for her? Melanie didn't have anything like a last will stating that Rachel would be allowed a certain amount of money if she-

"Oh my God," she muttered. Melanie dropped her head into her hands. "The diary."

"You keep a diary?" Louis asked, humor in his tone. "What a girl."

"I wrote it down," Melanie said, as if Louis hadn't spoken. "A few months ago, Rachel and I were talking about how we were such great friends and we'd do anything for each other. Rachel said if she died, all of her possessions would be mine, and she wrote it in my diary. And because I always helped her and her family out, I wrote down-"

"That all your money would go to her," Louis finished, nodding slowly. "How much money is it exactly?"

"I only promised all of my savings. In my bank I have about six-thousand," Melanie said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm so stupid. I should never have written that down."

"We'll sort it out, don't worry." Louis leaned back against the leather and looked out the window as Rachel drove the car towards the town exit. Melanie watched as they passed the 'Welcome' sign and she shuddered as realization hit her like a ton of bricks - she was about to watch herself die soon.

"Louis," she mumbled, her lower lip trembling. "I-I'm scared."

"It's alright, Mel," he said, taking her hand in his. "You can't get hurt again. It'll all be over soon."

Rachel's hand was shaking on the gear stick, and Melanie frowned. Why was she shaking? She was the one who was going to be killing her best friend! Suddenly, the car sped up and Rachel unclasped her seat belt slowly. She looked over at the sleeping Melanie and said something quietly to her.

"She's apologizing..." Melanie told Louis and he frowned. "Why is she apologizing?!"

"Shh," Louis hissed as he leaned forward to try and make out what was being said.

"Can you not hear well either?" Melanie asked. "You weren't there or drunk. How is your hearing weird too?"

"We're inside your memories, Melanie," Louis said. "I hear everything that you hear."

"Oh," Melanie mumbled before her eyes caught sudden movement to the right. Rachel had thrown her car door open and was ready to jump. Melanie looked forward to see the headlights of another car racing towards her and her eyes widened. "Michael saw me die."

"Looks like it," Louis said quietly. Just then, Rachel jumped from the car. Melanie turned in her seat to look out the back window, her eyes searching for her friend. Rachel was staggering to her feet from where she'd fallen, and soon she was running after the car. "Melanie, look."

Melanie turned to look where Louis was looking: at herself. The drunk Melanie was slowly waking up, and only when she looked over to see the driver's side empty did her eyes spring open. Melanie watched as her drunken self fumbled with her seat belt and jumped into the driver's seat. But then she looked up and saw the other car.

"Shit!" screamed the drunk Melanie and Louis sat back in his seat, watching the ghostly Melanie beside him, her eyes wide.

"Who the hell-" Melanie started, leaning forward to try and see the person in the other car. Only when her drunk self swerved the car to the side, did she make out a face in the driver's seat. Kaleb. "Oh my God..."

"Melanie, sit back and close your eyes," Louis warned all of a sudden. Melanie looked forward to see the oak tree she had woken up under, right in front of the car. Before she could close her eyes, the car crashed into the trunk, and Melanie watched in horror as everything slowed down completely. The bonnet of the car slowly caved inward, the steering wheel crushing the drunk Melanie's chest.

So that's what happened to my chest, she thought, her eyes still wide as she watched her own death unfold around her. Just before Louis grabbed her hand, Melanie saw herself being thrown forward until her head made contact with the windscreen, the glass cracking from the force. Louis's hand tightened around her's and suddenly, the scene faded to a white landscape. Melanie closed her eyes to block out the bright light.

"It's alright," she heard Louis's muffled voice say in her ear. "You're alright."

Like before, she felt the earth give way beneath her. She continued to keep her eyes closed as her and Louis were suspended in mid air, the brightness surrounding them like a fog. Suddenly, it was over as quick as it had began, and Melanie felt the ground beneath her again, and arms wrapped securely around her. She looked up, her head having been pressed against Louis's chest. He was already looking down at her. 

"They killed me," Melanie sobbed, burying her head in the crook of his neck. Louis cleared his throat awkwardly and hugged her back, rubbing small circles on her back as comfort.

"It's OK," he said quietly. "Look, we're back in The Beyond."

"Great," Melanie said sarcastically. She reluctantly let go of Louis and wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "I can't believe they'd do that to me. I thought we were friends..."

"Out of the thousands of souls I've helped, deaths I've re-lived with them ... yours is by far one of the most tragic, Melanie. I've honestly never seen such a twisted death before."

"Hm," Melanie mumbled, not sure what to say back. Just then, she heard footsteps running towards her and Michael was there, worry in his eyes. That's when Melanie noticed that they were back outside the town hall, standing on the steps.

"Thank God you're back!" Michael gushed, his eyes wide. "Did you... I mean, do you know how you were killed?"

Melanie shook her head slowly in disbelief, wiping away more tears. "I do."

"I'm so sorry, Mel," Michael said before hugging her. She welcomed the warmth his embrace gave her, the feeling of being comforted by a close, real friend, bringing a small smile to her face. Michael pulled away. "So, what happened?" he asked seriously.

Melanie sniffed. "Rachel and Kaleb killed me."