The Black parade

"And if you would call me your sweetheart..." a raspy voice sang out from gloom, echoing in my ears.

The dying soldier gasped and wheezed, writhing in the mud. I looked around frantically, trying to find the speaker of the eerie voice. It was just me, him, and the dead all around us.
Suddenly, she appeared.

Her dirty unruly blond hair looked like Medusa's gorgon-like serpent locks, her face hidden by a dirty faded gas mask, her dress was faded plaid and torn sleeves and hemlines. She moved like lightning, one moment behind me, the next she would flash two steps in front of me, advancing towards the dying man.

"I'd maybe then sing a song..." her voice chimed. She lowered her head, to gaze down upon him, her small clawed fingers curling and and uncurling in anticipation.

I heard a loud "sucking" sound from behind me, and turned to find dozens of decaying bodies of soldiers, climbing out of the blood stained muck and scum of the earth. They all fell into formation as best they could, most missing arms, legs, and other body parts. The stench was unbearable!

"But...*wheeze* but there's shit...*sputter* that I've done...w-with..*cough* f-f-f-...uck..of a gun..." the dying man managed to ramble.

The unsightly woman shook her head, and silenced him by running a finger over her throat, causing his throat to be sliced open by invisible blades.

I gawked in horror, as his blood spilled out, his eyes blinking rapidly behind his shattered spectacles.

"It matters not what you have done, you are mine now. For what you've done, we're going to find a place for you. Just mind your manners, and all will be well for you within my army. We're damned after all, through fortune and flame we fall." the woman said calmly, pointing at the dead behind her.

"Stop! Leave him alone!" I shouted.

The woman slowly turned to face me, I couldn't tell if she was staring at me because of the blackened lenses of her mask. She took a few steps closer to me.

"What are you doing here? You are far from your parade are you not? A trial? My minions speak of a trial! Since you are here, why not join my ranks, it has been foreseen. From your grandfather there, to your dead and rotting father, now to you. Come, join my ranks...and become one with hell itself!" she rasped, offering her hand to me.

The skin on her hand was cracked and peeling, every time she moved, I could hear the crack and pop of ancient old sinews, muscles and bones working a long dead vessel. She moved closer, her arms reaching out to me, her claws coming closer to my face. I couldn't move, couldn't scream. She grasped my head with her roving hands, and dug her claws into my skull, a sudden wave of pain erupted within me!

I felt bullets tearing into me, my skin melting off my bones, bayonets impaling my innards, then being twisted and pulled in a "Z" formation. I felt my legs being blown off, arms being torn from sockets, my head being crushed...all of these horrid sensations all at once! I was feeling what all soldiers have felt in battle since the beginning of time.

I started to scream in endless agony as she tore my mind apart, bit by bit. My body was shaking uncontrollably as she raped my spirit of all that I had held dear.

"MOTHER WAR!!! THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!! BACK DOWN NOW!" A loud commanding voice shouted, echoing off into the distance.

Mother war stopped her assault, dropping me limply to the ground.
I heard her hiss, "What business do you have here? This is my domain! Begone before my army tears your pathetic parade to pieces..!"

I was able to catch a fuzzy glimpse of a dark tall figure standing high above the killing grounds. He leapt from his perch and gracefully landed on his feet only a couple feet away from me and Mother war.

"It is not your place to decide the fate of The Savior!" the stranger said, pointing a finger at me.

"This was all an agreement, an accord that was struck long ago! He is mine, and no one else's!" Mother war replied, grabbing a hold of my foot and started to pull me along.

Suddenly two wolves leapt out of the mud and pounced on Mother war, one knocking my foot out of her grasp, the other biting her arm, severing it.

"M-Master!" she cried out in alarm and fear.

"As you see Mother war...the master does not approve of your actions! Begone, while you still have the legs to carry you!" the stranger said.

The wolves dragged me by my gown, dragging me until I was laying in front of the stranger. I could only open one of my eyes, but was able to make out Virgil standing there.

"Do not move young master, do not think, do not speak! Just lay still!" he said sternly.

Mother war backed away slowly, the twin wolves growling at her, "I take my leave you master, but this is not over, not yet!"

With that, she vanished in a cloud of mustard gas, her undead army falling back to the muddy ground, dead rotting corpses once again.

"V-V-V" I tried to stammer.

He silenced me with a gentle hand, "Young master, I told you not to interfere with those around you! You are lucky that my master came to our aid! Mother war is not one to be trifled with!"

I coughed, thick brackish blood oozed out of my mouth, "Th-thought...couldn't...d-d-die...hell" I sputtered.

"Mother war has that power, to kill the broken, the beaten, and the damned. To draft them into her undead army of lost souls, she nearly got you boy!" Virgil said, lifting me up and gently carrying me.

"Am..I..gon...die...gain?" I rambled.

"I don't know my boy...I don't' know.."

I felt something wet on my forehead...at first I thought Virgil was crying. Can hell spawn cry? But it soon started to rain......
We made our way back to the awaiting black parade in dismal silence.