I never wanted to come back here again, last time I promised myself that I would never come back, it's just too hard. The problem is that my feet always seem to find their way here when I am feeling at my worst and it's been happening a lot lately. I miss her.

My birthday is next week; since she died I haven't really celebrated them much. In case you're wondering, I'll be 314 years old. You don't believe me, do you? Let me explain.

I never really thought about it much after the accident itself, sure I realised that ghost were pretty much immortal, if you could really use that word as they are dead, except of course if they accomplish what they failed to do during life or become sufficiently weakened by ectoplasm-based attacks such as those produced by an ecto-gun or any of the attacks of another ghost. I just didn't really foresee how it would affect me.

A year after the accident I noticed that I wasn't aging like my friends, but I didn't mention it to anyone. Tucker had started to grow taller and fill out, he began to rival Dash and could have joined the football team if it wasn't for the fact that he would rather make out with Kwan than play with him on a team, though that didn't stop them from trying to recruit him every second of everyday. Sam filled out too, though it still took a while before I realised I liked her as more than just a friend.

I didn't change; I still look the same as on the day I 'died', 14 years old.

I eventually had to tell them. My parents accepted my ghostly half readily, having accepted that Phantom wasn't completely evil long before, but it was my appearance that took some getting used to. I mentioned it to Vlad too, he did some research into it and concluded that, because I got an equal dose of ectoplasm all over my body in a higher concentration than Vlad did, I was more 'ghost' than he was and therefore wouldn't age. It was hard staying the same while everyone else around me aged, and eventually, died.

I'm starting to forget their faces.

Tucker died first, when I was 20. A stray ectoblast during a battle with Vlad, I never forgave him for that. It was then that he finally realised that I would never join him as a son and gave in to the desire to kill me. I've had many face-offs with Plasmius since and although both of us have been brought close to death many times, neither of us have managed to actually kill the other. Vlad did die though, by some ghost who entered his home through the ghost portal that he accidentally left open, the ghost then escaped but I tracked it down and returned it to the ghost zone and it has never been seen since.

My parents were next, when I as 30. Dad finally succumbed to the inevitable, a heart attack during his sleep. The doctors said it was painless as he was gone suddenly. Mom was never the same after he was gone, she truly loved him. She took to drinking and died of a rapidly progressing cancer in her liver, most likely caused by the drink, 5 years later.

Jazz lived a long time before she died of old age at 97. She succeeded in going to Stanford to study psychology and graduated with flying colours. She married a fellow graduate a couple of years later and had many children and grandchildren. I had to pass as a child or grandchild during many holidays or days out as nobody would believe that I could have a 50 year old sister, if asked.

Now the person you've wanted to hear about, Sam. As I've mentioned before, I did realise that I liked her as more than a friend, and that she, too, liked me in much the same way, but I never got the chance to tell her before I found out about my 'problem'. Once she realised that she would grow up and I wouldn't, we grew apart. She got a boyfriend, a couple of boyfriends, and eventually she too got married and had children and grandchildren as well. At first I hated her for abandoning me, but eventually I realised that I too had to move on. I was eternally 14 and therefore our relationship would be awkward as she grew and I didn't. She, too, died of old age at 93. Before her death she came to me, begging for my forgiveness for leaving me. I explained to her that I understood now why she had done it and had forgiven her long ago. She died peacefully with a smile on her face the following day

I watched many of my classmates, as they too grew old and died, at least those who remained in or returned to Amity Park during their lives. I remained to protect the citizens from the ghost who returned again and again to terrorise the town, they never gave up so neither could I.

I have searched the ghost zone many times for traces of my friends, but they have moved on. None of them had an obsession strong enough to keep them here. I'm happy that they had no unfinished business but I still miss them, though I would never deny them paradise.

I now watch over the descendants of their children and grandchildren, keeping them safe from ghosts and anything else that life may throw at them. Though now as the ease at which I can defeat my ghostly opponents has improved and my battles have become quieter and quicker, they, like many of the citizens of Amity, no longer know of my existence. After the deaths of my friends I wanted to be left alone, I couldn't bear to lose another set of friends, so I abandoned the company of humanity and trained. Now, not many of the residents of the town believe in ghosts, as many have never seen one, and I like it that way. Not even the descendants of my friends know of my existence. I have become mere legend.

Clockwork told me of another halfa who lived many years before me, she too gained a dose of ectoplasm much like mine and gained a longer life but died eventually. He told me that there was no way of knowing if that would be the case for me, but if it was, then I, like her, would know when it came to my time to die, and that I, like her, would eventually move on to paradise like she did.

Now my time has come, I've known for a while now that it was coming close to my time to leave.

Distracted by the sound of a bird overhead, I turned again to the gravestone that I'd read so many times.

Samantha Cay

1991-2084

She will be remembered by those who live on

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder; I turned to see a 14 year old girl whose face I hadn't seen in years. I was Sam. I wondered what she was doing here, and voiced my surprise to her, but she just smiled and motioned for me to stand up and follow her. I did and she walked through the forest at the end of the graveyard for what felt like an hour before we came to a white door. Here Sam turned to me smiled again before grasping the handle and turning it. I was almost blinded by the light on the other side of the door, when it faded and I could finally see, I was met with the sight I'd longed to see for so many years. I could see Tucker, Jazz, my parents and many others whose names I knew but couldn't remember in my astonishment. Again Sam touched my shoulder and pulled me through the door.

I had finally reached paradise.