Won't go unnoticed

One month later…

"Every time when I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
It went by, like dusk to dawn
Isn't that the way
Everybody's got the dues in life to pay…"

There was a sudden knock at my door that surprised me, nearly making me fall off the step stool I was using to dust the book shelves in my grave. I set my hand on the wall for balance and stepped off the stool. I threw the feather duster on the couch and made my way down the hall to the front door while humming the song I was singing and opened the door.

"What goes Claw to the D to the A?" a flamboyant red head with no eyes said.

"I'm just sprucing the old tomb up before work. What's up Beth?" I opened the door wide enough for the short girl to walk through.

"I thought I stop by and walk with you to the bar once you're ready. Had nothing better to do otherwise." She fell onto my couch and propped her bare feet onto my coffee table. I twitched and went over to knock them off with my knees, "What are you an animal? This is mahogany from the colonial times, I don't even put decorations on this!" I used the feather duster to wipe off any dirt the crazy girl brought in.

Beth was a sweet girl I met a week after I started taking up shows in the Nail n' Coffin. She died when she was 14 around 20 years before I got here and it was under unfortunate circumstances that made me feel horrible for crying over my own death. Avoiding the foul bits leading up to her death, she was abducted by a man who was a longtime friend of her family. She said she used to have the prettiest green eyes but the man liked them as well and took them before he buried her in the woods. Thankfully her body was recovered and she was resting at peace knowing her rapist and murderer was locked away for life. The young girl became attached to me after hearing me sing at the bar and constantly demanded lessons from me whenever I could teach her. She was a handful but over all very sweet and great company to have. She was also the first friend I made here, aside from Margie of course.

"Are you saying I'm dirty?!"

"No, but you don't wear shoes and I don't want dirt all over my nice coffee table that I just waxed."

Beth snorted, "What's the point if it's just going to get all dusty again by tomorrow?"

She had a point but I chose to ignore it. After living in the land of the dead for a month I learned that cobwebs, spiders, dust, and dead roots were a common find around here. What with being '6 feet underground' keeping things tidy was nearly impossible. Some old habits were hard to break but once a neat freak always a neat freak. Besides it kept me busy when I had nothing better to do.

"It's going to be a swinging good time tonight! What will you be singing Claudia? Probably something fun and what you called up beat right?"

"I had a few ideas in mind. But you will have to wait and see." I tickled her nose with the feather duster and she giggled as she smacked it away.

"I can't wait to be able to sing like you Claudia. I can barely hold a note before cracking."

I hung the duster inside the closet in the living room and closed it, "It took me years to get where I'm at and I hate to break it to you Beth, I'm still learning and am nowhere close to the pros. You over estimate me."

"But you're the best in St. Mary's cemetery so you're the pro here!" Beth stepped on the cushions and leapt over the sofa making me wince. I had just fluffed the cushions free of wrinkles. "If you keep practicing you will get miles ahead better!"

"Your enthusiasm is so sweet I would be taken out by diabetes if I weren't already dead." I laughed as I patted the red head on the shoulder. "Let me grab my jacket and we will be off." I ran upstairs and threw the door open to grab my jacket from the closet. Over the month as I sang at the bar it came to my surprise that there was a 'tip jar' for the band and it was filled up with rusty old coins and gold pieces. The band I performed with, known as the Grim Grinners, generously gave me some as a thank you for giving them new content to work with and asked me to be a permanent member. Of course I obliged. The coins and gold pieces were worthless a majority of places, like Margie said, but I learned rare items were sold in shops and boutiques that could only be acquired by these ancient pieces and doubloons. With these generous offerings given to me from my shows I had shopped in all sorts of stores and boutiques and bought myself a few new outfits that I thought would be fun to wear for special performances. Despite my closet having only four new outfits I kept the clothes I died in for it felt odd wearing anything else. Margie had explained that people usually never changed out of the clothes they died in, for what reason she didn't know but all she said it was all a part of your death. To embrace it. Which I still hadn't come around to.

I swung my jacket on and descended the stairs where Beth was waiting in the hallway and poking at a picture frame. "I didn't know you had pictures hanging. Who's in them?"

I zipped up my jacket half way and looked at the black frames I had put up to make my grave more homey, "It's a photo of me and my brother Jake. I think he left it for me when I was buried."

"He's still alive?"

"Yeah, he's alive. He is 16 years old and a sophomore in high school." I said sadly.

"Do you have any other photos hanging?" Beth began to feel around the walls for more frames but I grabbed her hands before she could knock anything down.

"Yeah, just a couple! I have one of my mom and dad and another with me and my dog Douglas at a park." I didn't really want to talk about my family for it only made me ache inside.

Beth nodded, "I wish I had photos of my family. Then again I wouldn't be able to see them." She chuckled.

"Yeah, um, we ought to get going Beth. I don't want to keep the guys waiting and I want to warm up before we go on."

"Right! Can't keep St. Mary's rising star from reaching the top!"

"You seriously put me on a pedestal too high to reach." I chuckled as I opened the door and walked out with the bubbly girl.

As soon as we got to the Nail n' Coffin the growing crowds turned and waved at me with hoots and hollers of praise, making me blush if I could. I waved at some of the familiar faces, some I knew by name and others I have yet to learn, and made my way to the stage where the band was already setting up.

"Hey boys! You ready tonight?" I asked enthusiastically.

"By all means girl!" Charles said. He was a nice boy a tad younger then I was, well by living standards, and wore a dusty grey dress suit and matching fedora. He had explained when he was alive he was shot in the head by another boy who grew jealous of him because a girl they both liked favored him more. "Are we still doing that song you gave us last week?" he said.

"If you guys had enough practice with it I'm down. Otherwise we can do something else?" I said as I tapped the old silver microphone. If only I had a more modern microphone to properly deliver my voice.

"This one was a bit tricky to get the hang of but it sounds killer Claudia!" Raymond, a kind skeleton, said as he toke his place on the drums.

"It's really refreshing learning new material from what's playing upstairs. Got anything else we can do for next week?" Said Caleb. He was the last of the member of the band and the oldest. He was a man who passed away in his early 30's in a car accident and had been a musician in life. I loved chatting with him for he was a talented individual who could play many instruments such as the trumpet, saxophone, piano, drums, flute, guitar, and trombone. While studying theatre growing up I only knew a bit of the piano but that was just from reading sheet music and notes.

"I think we should get pass this performance before moving onto the next." I chuckled. The band nodded as we continued to set up the stage and the pink and green lights were being fixated on us. The crowds were bustling looking for open seats or taking their spots standing near the stage.

Despite being dead I absolutely lived for this moment as a singer and actor. The rush of prepping before a show and seeing the audience before you. This was the closest I felt to living ever since I died.

"Good evening everyone! Thank you for coming out, we are the Grim Grinners and we hope you have a good time tonight." I said in the microphone as the crowds clapped and whistled in encouragement. I smiled and looked over my shoulder to the boys who nodded, meaning they were ready to go.

Caleb began to play at the guitar, having his moment of just him and the crowd, and as soon as I started singing the other guys joined in.

"There you are like the man of my dreams,
There you go saying all of the right things,
I'm just a girl
Or at least that's what you think
If loves a crime I'll rob you blind"

The crowd was getting really into it, and then there was Beth who was acting as if I was Beyoncé who came out for her birthday. I smiled into the mic as I saw her jumping up and down and kept on singing with as much attitude as I could muster up for the theme of the song. The song was about a man who played women and broke their hearts for fun until a beautiful woman comes in and plays the same game with him and leaves him broken hearted. It was modern, it was fun, it gave me an attitude on this stage and I was playing it for as long as the song would go for. Caleb started his solo and I stepped back to let him have the stage all the while subtly dancing beside Raymond who got a kick out of the routine.

"You hunt your prey like a carnivore
Thought that you were gettin me
Cause just one taste
leaves you wantin more
But baby I got you beat
Got you beat!"

The crowd was jumping up and down and quite a few gentlemen were whistling, making me want to laugh but I kept on singing as I strut up and down the stage. By the end of the song I knelt down to the ground, flipping my hair, and slowly rising while running my hand up the side of my body. I strutted to the center of the stage and raised my hand out as if I was grabbing the pink light and finished off the song going into the highest note I could muster.

"Oh no you didn't see
What's hidden up my sleeves
Took the pain
But I took everything
Because I'm a heart breakin thief!
I'm a heart breakin thief!"

The audience erupted in applause followed by hoots and cheers making my smile reach ear to ear. I saw my friend Beth scream in excitement and I toke her hand, giving it a light squeeze before raising my hand back into the air. The boys behind me laughed in amazement of how well the song played out and especially my performance.

"Claudia! Claudia! Claudia!" The crowd chanted making me feel the happiest I have felt in months. This is what I missed from life. The thrill of the performance and the praise of the audience brought me back to life and made me feel for a brief moment that I was alive and performing in my schools theatre again.

"Encore! Encore!"

"Give us another song!"

"Or just dance!" The crowd laughed at the last request and a few others began to agree.

I laughed at their fervor of trying to get me to dance but I went on with the show, "Thank you very much everyone! But the fun has just begun. Hit it boys!" The band started up again playing a series of songs I taught them over the month. Most of the songs were upbeat and easy to dance along to and others were more soulful and meant for listening. But tonight wasn't a night for some sad love song, tonight was meant for fun and excitement. I was feeling alive and I was going to keep that up until everyone's bones fell to the ground.

"That was the best show we have ever had in the longest time! I mean, you JUMPED into the crowd and they carried you!" Charles laughed as he took his fedora off to set down on the bars counter. I laughed as I jumped onto the counter to sit on, "It's called crowd surfing, and I didn't even realize what I was doing until I was being carried!"

"Gotta hand it to ya doll, you're making us look good." Caleb nodded with a smile as he took a swig of poison from a beer bottle.

"It's you guys that make me look good, who're you kidding?" I chuckled, still dazed from the performance we had completed a little over an hour ago. If I had air I swear I would be out of breath right now! Tonight has been nothing but bliss and I never wanted this feeling to end.

"We gotta top it next week! Maybe something a bit more sultry eh?" Raymond jokingly ran his boney finger down his ribcage making a funny chime as he did so.

"Sultry? Are we going to be an R rated band now?" I teased.

"Depends what moves you start busting out there. You're lucky THIS," Charles sized his body up, "doesn't have luscious long hair to flip otherwise the ladies will be clawing at the stage just to get a piece of this."

"Oh come off it!" Caleb smacked the back of Charles head jokingly.

We all laughed as we each received a foaming pitcher from the bar tender and toasted to another successful show. As we continued chatting and laughing we would occasionally have a few people come up to us and give their praises to our performance. A few guys would also come up to me and try to ask me out but I politely declined and insisted that I wasn't interested in a relationship or dating in general. I bit my tongue as a sudden thought ran through my mind. I wonder if this happiness will last and if I will ever consider this afterlife normal. And no matter how hard I tried I couldn't look pass the thought of dating another a corpse as necrophilia. Even though it doesn't count as necrophilia because I myself am just as dead it still felt weird and I couldn't get over it. But it was just dating, it's not like I will ever get married and have a life down here anyway. For now I will drink and laugh with my band mates and come up with more music for us to play.

"Hey guys great show tonight." Margie said as she walked up to the counter with a rolled up newspaper under her arm.

"Thanks Margie! We should get you to sing next time, then we will have two fine ladies to bring the house down!" Raymond gestured a wink which received a smack from the bar owner.

"Oh hush you. Do you all mind if I steal Claudia away?" Margie said.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and turned to the guys who looked a bit confused but nodded. I turned back to Margie and climbed off the counter I was sitting on, "Sure that's fine." I said.

Margie nodded and led me up a flight of stairs that took us to the bars second floor. She opened a glass door that led into the balcony where a few patio tables and chairs were laid out. I walked over to the balconies edge and leaned over to see the view of the cemetery all lit up in the constant night our world was subjected to. It seemed so beautiful…if it wasn't so morbid.

"So what's up Margie?" I asked. Margie joined my side at the balcony and bit her lip before speaking, "Do you…read the paper Claudia?"

"The newspaper? Uh, no? I didn't think it would have anything interesting for St. Mary's isn't really a big cemetery."

Margie sighed, "It doesn't just cover news around the cemetery dear. It gives us news of those who join us down here, things that go on in neighboring cemeteries within Ohio, and even some news from above…especially those that relate to some of the people buried down here."

I turned to Margie, "What are you talking about Margie?"

She held out the rolled up newspaper and I hesitantly took it from her. Slowly, I opened the black and white paper and read the head line in bold black letters.

Murderer Runs Free!
On March 4, 2017, Claudia Reed was welcomed to the land of the dead after her sudden murder on February 28th. Sources of the alleged suspect for murdering Reed has been under investigation for over a month but has found no further information. The Ohio Police investigation team has brought in several suspects in for questioning but no arrest has been made due to the alibis proven by the accused suspects. Chief of the Ohio state police department, Richard Davis, has concluded the investigation believing the murderer to have fled the state and has notified neighboring states to be on the lookout for a man who fell under the description listed below. No comments of the deceased family has been made.

My hands were shaking. Everything was shaking. I read the words over and over again in my head but nothing was registering. All but that damn headline. Murderer runs free. My murderer got away. I was stupid enough to believe this whole time the man who killed me was sitting in a petty jail cell regretting everything he has done to me and my family but instead he got away. And my family hasn't said anything because they were probably just as upset as I was right now!

"What the fuck!" I yelled as I threw the paper to the ground and screamed, "He got away!? That fucker got away!?"

"Claudia,"

"I don't give a shit! That ass hole killed me for no god damn reason and he gets away with it? The police aren't going to do shit about it either!"

"Claudia enough!" Margie yelled. "This is a part of death. Something you have yet to grasp. You cannot keep playing around expecting this game of yours to work." Margie said.

"Game!? What game can I possibly be playing Margie! I'M DEAD! I already lost!"

"No. You are setting yourself up for failure. You coming in every few nights to sing and dance trying to feel alive again is only slowing you down. This," Margie picked up the newspaper and showed me the head line again, "is the reality of your death. You don't know what it truly means to accept death and until you do you will be left to nothing."

I was about to retort when I noticed the picture of the police drawing of the man who murdered me. I toke the paper and looked at the detailed drawing. He was 6 ft. tall and had sandy blonde hair with blue eyes. He looked like any other ordinary man except he had a small mole on his chin. I knew this man.

"Peter…peter walker."

"Excuse me?" Margie said.

"Peter fucking walker was the guy who killed me. He was a student at my university. He never said anything to me or anyone but was taking all the theatre classes. I knew I saw him from somewhere! What the hell did I ever do to this guy to deserve this fate!?" I crumpled the paper and threw it over the edge.

"No fucking point of having this information right? I'm dead and the living will never hear me."

"That's enough Claudia! There are rules that are made for the land of the dead and you must never EVER insult death himself. He doesn't take kindly to those who insult him when he has been generous to leave you in a place of existence." Margie warned.

I shook my head in frustration, "Then if he is generous why am I still suffering!? I know who killed me but he got away and now I'm just another unfortunate murder victim to scrawl across the bottom of a news line who will be forgotten when new news comes along!" I turned on my feet and ran out the door and down the stairs, ignoring the odd glances and people calling my name. I pushed the door open and ran down the stone street going nowhere in particular.

I felt nothing. There was no air to breath. Barely any tears to cry. And no heart to break in sorrow due to the fact that my death was unjustified and my murderer was as good as free. Free to live a life I never got a chance to explore and make my own. He will continue to go to school, make some sort of career for himself, and do whatever the hell he wants while I sit down here to rot for eternity. I ran into an alley and screamed into my hands, muffling the sound as much as possible, and fell to my knees. No matter how many shows I perform and amounts of poison I consume I will never live again. And I could never get over that.

Authors note: Thank you for reading!
Songs that Claudia sang: Dream On by Aerosmith
Thief by Alexander Jean

I hope your enjoying the story so far and dont worry your favorite corpse bride characters will be debuting in a chapter or two.