Stop looking at me like that, Petey! You know that you're better off without me!

Before Jimmy's spirit could do anything, everything stopped. Literally everybody had stopped what they were doing. Stopped DEAD. Like as if time was paused.

Suddenly, a thunderbolt stuck the ground in front of the ghost of Jimmy Hopkins. A cardboard box appeared. All very puzzled at this happening, Jimmy walked over and crouched down to get a closer look at the object. He slowly opened the lid of the box.

Jimmy looked around to see if everybody was still paused. They were. So he opened the rest of the box. All that resided in the box was nothing but a folded note with the words "To: James Hopkins" printed neatly onto the side.

Jimmy didn't know whether or not he should've care what it said. Since he was dead, nothing much mattered anymore. Still, it wasn't exactly normal for a cardboard box to come from the sky through a thunderbolt. With this thought, Jimmy picked up the letter, unfolded it, and read it aloud.

Dear James,

Well, well, well. Looks like you've allowed yourself to become one that's among the dead. I suppose you're quite proud of yourself now, aren't you? Do you really think you're free?

You're WRONG. You're not free until you've decided whether or not you made the right choice. You may think you have right now, but the decision isn't final until you've suffered all of the five punishments all dead beings have to encounter before they're ready to leave Earth. The punishments are as follows:

1. Sorrow

2. Guilt

3. Abandonment

4. Association

5. Agony/Ecstasy

Each of these punishments will allow you to see what you're missing as each and every day comes by that you aren't alive. Whether or not these happenings will mean a damn to you is all up to nobody but yourself. Either way it goes, your soul is still joining us. Just at which price of emotional pain you must feel before doing so.

For more information, please check your skin.

-?????

Jimmy was once again puzzled. What exactly would he have to "suffer"? He suffered enough being alive! And the very last part of the letter...

"Please check your skin"????? WHAT THE-

Before his thoughts could end, Jimmy started to feel a sharp pain in his left arm. Confused that he was still able to feel pain, Jimmy grabbed his arm. His yelps only fed the atmosphere. Then he noticed that the pain was letters somehow being carved into his arm.

It seemed like an eternity until it finally stopped. He let go of his arm and held it up. Fresh blood soared down the arm. He began to read the message aloud:

Friends all feel like a virtue to you. They feel your pain as you might feel theirs. Why not go and see how much sorrow you can feel from them?

-D????

The blood dried rapidly as he finished reading. The only friends he could think of that would miss him would be Petey and Russell. Even though he wanted more than anything to talk to Petey, he knew he couldn't because he was frozen. So, he made his way to the Boys Dorm to find Russell.