The Black Parade

This Is How I Disappear

I stared at Gerard, trying to process the fact that I was indeed dead.He smiled, gestured for me to follow him and I debated whether to oblige or not.

I just met him, plus I don't know if he'll do something to me.Then again, I'm dead.I didn't cut myself on the broken glass and nothing was sore even though bruises littered my body.I am dead, I have nothing to lose.

I shrugged, and walked over to him as he opened the door wider.I looked inside timidly, slightly shocked at the sight.There were four other men, all leaning against doors in a large black room.Gerard pointed to a lanky and handsome man with glasses,"That's my brother and he's the one you have to follow first.His name's Mikey."

I nodded and walked towards the man, his head snapping up when he heard my footsteps.

"O-Oh,hey. I'm Mikey, Gerard said you were an unexpected arrival.How did you die?" Mikey smiled sympathetically at the end.

"Lung cancer."I said simply, his eyes widening at my answer.

"That's how Gee died too."Mikey whispered and took my hand, smiling at the others then pulling me into the dark corridor.

.................

"I'm a ghost, that's the path I decided to take along with being a dead marcher." Mikey explained after a while of walking through darkness."I'm not gonna turn you into one if you don't want to, I'll show you what you would look like if you wanted to be one."

I nodded, processing the information.This sounded tough for him.

"How did you die?" I looked up to meet his shy eyes.

Mikey raised an eyebrow, then sighed.

"All the men you saw at the start and I were in a band called 'My Chemical Romance'.We all died on the same day which is why we all are together here.I died after a show, nothing fancy, a car crash.I was on the way to the hospital when Gerard was nearing his end after the concert 'cause of the stress it was causing his lungs."Mikey breathed out at the end, his breath turning to mist.

"Oh." I simply said.

We finally came to a large wardrobe filled with random clothes and a weird looking mirror.I looked at him for permission to touch the mirror, Mikey just chuckled and nodded.

I walked cautiously forward, touching the mirror with a pale hand.Ripples came from my hand and I gasped, jumping backwards and nearly falling over.Mikey caught me and laughed,"Ah, you're gonna be just like Frank."

I stood up and slowly opened the wardrobe door a bit more, looking at Mikey with a confused expression written all over my face.

Mikey lifted a hangar from the wardrobe and it was zipped in a black bag."I think this is yours, Ellie?" He read some writing on the black bag.

I nodded, taking the hangar and looked around for a changing room.Mikey laughed and made his arm opaque.

"Don't worry, I won't look." He reassured, covering his eyes with the opaque arm.

I sighed, then began to change.There was a dress in the bag along with some gloves and a pair of black flats.The dress was about knee-length and was black with red lace trimming the collar, sleeves and hem.The gloves were also black with red lace around the edges.

I changed, looking at Mikey every now and then.He seemed to be a pretty decent guy, I hadn't asked his age yet but I assumed he was about 30 or maybe 28.

You couldn't see his hair as he was wearing a beanie to hide it.He was a lot taller than me, about six foot or so.I could see the resemblance he bore with Gerard or Gee as Mikey calls him.

You could see he was getting impatient."Done yet?" Mikey said, exasperated.

"Nearly." I replied, pulling on the gloves."And...done."

Mikey let his arm fall, smiling at the sight of me."You look great."

I blushed at the comment and looked towards the mirror.My whole body was translucent along with the clothes.My eyes didn't have the black substance around them anymore.Instead they had a dead fish look in them.

I twirled, realizing that I hovered slightly if I wanted to in the mirror.I grinned looking up at Mikey.

"You like it?"He questioned.

I nodded and he chuckled."Good, because you look amazing."

"Can I stay in these? For the 'journey' I mean."I asked politely and held up quotation marks with my hands when I said journey.

Mikey nodded and smiled."Before we go onto the next step, I need to tell you something about being a ghost."We began to walk back to the door.

"When your a ghost, you are still allowed in the human world.You won't be human but you'll be the guardian, friend, even, of a human.It will be your duty to protect them until the time of their death comes."Mikey said simply.

"Oh." I breathed out."Who do you protect?"

"A nice guy called Pete. He's lovely but I think I'm falling for him."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"Ghosts aren't meant to fall in love with humans.Most likely, we won't end up in the same place when he dies.It's very rare that somebody is destined to take the job of a dead marcher. Pete will probably go to heaven or hell immediately when he dies, meaning we'll never see each other again."

I looked up to see Mikey with tears brimming his cold dead eyes.

"Hey,"I held his pale hand."That means all the more that you have to treasure the time you spend with him everyday.I have someone that I fell in love with in the human world and it aches my heart to not see them now.But I'm glad because I made so many amazing memories with her when I was alive.I died happy."

Mikey stared at me, squeezing my hand.

"Thank you."

"Don't sweat it."