There's only one ticket to hell, and that is murder. To kill a soul, you're gaining a spot on the Devil's party list, a list you have to RSVP to sooner or later. Any kind of murder will drag you down. Serial killings, mercy killings and killing in defence. Even suicide counts as a murder, almost like murdering yourself. Those all earn you a free pass to damnation.
Of course, there are those times that the Devil feels... particularly benevolent. He'll offer you a Reapership. You do his bidding on Earth, and he'll let you live out the rest of your remaining years on said planet. Or you could be one of the luckys, and get out completely free. No strings attached and no debt to pay. You just have to impress him.
Down in Infernua, the Devil's realm, it's pretty hard to get noticed. You have to rock the boat enough to get Lord Lucifer himself to notice you. In a world full of murderers, cheats and skanks you just have to be that bad. Of course, the more people with you on your 'quest' the more reputation you're likely to achieve, only that means more people to fight with for the freedom.
When you receive your freedom, if you get any that is, you're transported to the place you were before you killed someone. In that split second you have the choice to kill them all over again, or just walk away. It's like dreaming of your life in hell before you act. Like 'seeing the light' or 'having your life flash before your eyes', those are the words of someone who has escaped Hell.
Of course, the Reapers aren't that lucky. The amount of time they spent in hell reflects on their sentence of Reapership on Earth. Take 300 years attracting the attention of the Devil; spend 300 years on Earth working off your debt. You have to exorcise the world of the spirits of the murdered, and clean up the rest of the Devil's messes before God spots them. You outlive your friends, family and all acquaintances you make. Naturally, once your Reaper sentence has ended, you get to live out your remaining years on Earth. Although most go mad with guilt contemplating what they have done. Being a Reaper shuts off all emotion, though all that emotion hits you during your term being 'reborn' as it were. It's the Devil's way of suckering you back in.
What have we learnt from this? Making a deal with the Devil always bites you in your ass later on.
Now, bring on Harleigh Isabel D'Lacey. Harlot turned social outcast. That description fit Harleigh to a tee. She once was on top of the school, and by top I mean that literally. She used promiscuousity as a bargaining tool. Being pretty and somewhat elite gave her a buzz. Hitting senior year though sent a shock to her system. People saw her for what she truly was... a slut.
Her man-cannibal status soon fled, to be replaced with filthy skank. The guys that wanted in with her now wanted out. They grew tired of her non- exclusivity. The girls who egged her on beforehand left her. Dropped like last season's Prada bag. There was a new queen in town, and she didn't want Harleigh around to steal her throne.
So, being treated like an ostracized leper Harleigh could handle. The things that stung her most were the constant thread of taunts that her former friend's surrounded her with. This didn't even begin to blow the volcano. The death of her mother did. She became wild and violent, and subject to even worse bullying causing her to just... snap. She tied that noose round her throat and swung from a beam in her bedroom. Well done Harleigh, take a one way ticket to Hell and please wait your turn in line, or run like hell and get yourself out.
