The Black Parade
Chapter 1
The End


The young boys and girls began to weave in and out of the towering adults, knocking one another over. Not a sound was produced as people aimlessly roamed about the church, handkerchiefs in hand. Sniveling and sneezing on this cold foggy day, a man in a black suit and white collar stood up before everyone, beckoning them to take a seat. "Please, my children, please. I beg of thee to take a seat so the ceremony can begin," His pleas fell on deaf ears as no one sat down, but instead came upon the casket for a look.
The story of the man in the casket was one no one could remember, but if they knew, they would surely never forget. He strangely was dressed in the opposite gender's funeral attire, which left many to scratch their heads. It was exactly as he had planned. He could see what was going on at the moment, because although his spirit had left this world, it had come back. There was someone whom he wanted to see, but alas, she too was dead. His memory had not recorded the moment when she died, but now he was sure of it.
In the bathroom of the church, a girl in her early 20's, about the same age as the deceased man, wiped her makeup off. She couldn't take this day and it showed. Despair was not a new mood to her and a black dress was something she wore normally. But today she just seemed like she couldn't go on being normal and such. Her body felt foreign and difficult to use and her skin was ghostly pale. Out of her purse she pulled out a white dress and exchanged it for the black one she was wearing.
As she stepped out of the bathroom, no one paid notice to how out of place she was. Trying not to be rude, she waved her hand in people's faces, still getting no responses. She withdrew her hand immediately and feared herself. As she backed into people and mysteriously went through their middles, a hand was finally placed on her shoulders. She yelped and turned around, only to be even more frightened. The man in the casket was standing in front of her, also ghostly white and wearing a white suit.
"I've just gone over the fact that you've died as well. I see you haven't changed either..." The man had decided to engage her in conversation. She gulped and shook his arm off. "Yes, but I am still unsure why we both had to die. So, we're ghosts now? What an untimely ending," she scoffed.
"Oh Lily, you were never a serious one, were you?" The man chuckled as he placed his hands on his hips. Lily turned away from him and headed for the door. "Aww, Lily! C'mon! Save me here. Just get me the hell out of here!" He dashed after Lily.
"Gerard, what do I have to do with you anymore?" By this time, she was crying and she still put up a tough front.
"Lily, no one notices us but each other. If you leave here now without me, you'll be all alone for the rest of your life and there won't be any turning back. Who knows if we can get into Heaven or Hell now!?"
"I should've just stayed alone to begin with. If I hadn't met you, I could still be alive and not at this pathetic excuse of a funeral. Your dead body is dressed in drag, for Christ's sakes!" Gerard stared down his nose at her as he come close to her shivering body. He ran his fingers through her hair while Lily kept her eyes glaring at him, refusing to look away. "I'm only dressed in drag because it's my resignation from life. I deserve to also resign from what I am, which is a guy. I just thought it was silly, Lily."
"Can we leave now? The piggies are sitting down to hear your whole life story, when frankly, I was in most of it. What is the point in that? What about the others? Are they dead too?" Lily poked Gerard's chest harder and harder and she asked him each question. He grabbed her finger violently and said, "Mmm, I think some of them may be, but I don't know. I'm sure Frank isn't. I pray Mikey isn't."
"I was just asking because I thought that if they were dead then we could find and talk to them. Sheesh, don't tell me all this useless stuff," Lily complained. She really wasn't acting like she normally had been before her death and Gerard noticed. "Lily, why so down? I know we're dead, but this is pretty messed up of you to just take it all out on me, now of all times. I had cancer! I was gonna die anyways and you got in the way." Lily blinked at him for a moment, then took a chair and planted herself upon it.
"If we can just think back to what happened... Gee? What made your life so special that I had to die for it? I barely remember a thing. Did I really love you?" Her eyes watered as they made eye contact. "I know that I don't love you like I loved you yesterday..." Gerard stared at the ground as he muttered the words.
"Oh, I remember that. Please don't bring it up. Now that I think about it, those were painfully dreadful times. Babe, you hurt me and I hurt you... I'm sorry, but now it is a little too late!" She jumped up and tried to hug him, but it was Gerard's turn to be in a sore mood about what happened.
"Just think back... Let's think back to the day you found out you were dead. Gee, do you remember that?"
"I do..."
"Then just remember...and then we can get the hell out of this place..."