asked.
“Bony? What do you mean?” Nora asked.
“Like, bony.”
“Like the dead clapping with their bony hands?” said the skeleton man who had told them of Jake's accidental crossing over.
“Yes, like that,” Isabella answered.
“We liked your band the best,” he said.
The skeleton woman from earlier joined him. “The black dog appears to have wandered off. I don't know what drew it here, and I hope it will not be back.”
“Thank you for your support,” Leah said. “I'm not sure we could have won without you.”
“It was nice to get out for a change,” the skeleton woman said. “And it was good that you faced the danger of the black dog and traveling beyond to save that young man. We couldn't help him; we're glad you did.”
“This is apparently what we do,” Leah said dryly.
They seemed to shrug. “It is not for us to question why we are gifted or cursed; it is only for us to use those gifts as we can and overcome what curses face us,” said the skeleton woman. “Good luck in your endeavors.”
“Thanks!” Maryann said brightly.
They seemed to smile, more or less, and then disappeared into the crowd.
“Does this mean you're finally moving out?” asked Skipper, who was dressed as a zombie.
“Well, we still have to meet the agent and convince him to sign us on,” Maryann answered.
“Okay, you do that and then move out.”
“I'm so glad you're happy we won,” she said dryly.
“Yeah, congrats. Anyway, the costume contest is starting and I need you to vote for me,” he said.
“Did you vote for us?” Leah asked.
“Of course I did.”
“And did you vote for Bad Apple too?”
He shrugged. “No one said we could only vote for one band. Anyway, come on. Oh, by the way, don't bother with the haunted house. It's lame. Like real dead people would ever come to the Monster Mash.”
“Oh, no, of course not,” Leah said sarcastically. The others stifled their giggles.
“So come on already,” he said, and disappeared into the crowd.
Isabella yawned. “I'm suddenly exhausted.”
“Well, let's go show our support for Skipper in the costume contest and then we can go back to my place and get some sleep.”
“That sounds like a plan to me,” Nora said.
And that's just what they did.
The Lyrics:
A veil on a lady's hat
Increases mystery
With a twinkle of glamour
From onyx used in jewelry
Ties for formal affairs
The quintessential little dress
Trench coats of leather
Worn plain or with finesse
Refrain: In the absence of light
Is the spectrum of black
From sunken stars far away
To Death, the debt all men pay
Oil, remnants of a long-dead era
The iron foundation of industry
Smoke which chokes the air
Every color of a Ford Model-T
A newspaper with no blank spaces
Penciled notes in books on history
Charcoal sketches on white paper
Ink used to compose great poetry
Refrain
The ghost dogs of Avalon
Feline killers with razor claws
Or smaller witches' familiars
Stalking prey on silent paws
Skeletal trees in winter
Silhouettes and shadows
In the dark of the night
Ravens, rooks, and crows
Refrain
Before the movie starts
When we close our eyes
After the curtain drops
The night before moonrise
Called the color of mourning
The hue of funeral attire
Long cars for the formerly living
The garb of a widow, human or spider
Refrain
Track 11: Blood-sucking Fiend
The Interview:
Brad: You Ravens certainly exhibit familiarity with a variety of song genres and eras.
Lee: To paraphrase - if we can see farther than others, it is only because we stand on the shoulders of giants.
Brad: Okay then. So I guess as a group of four women, you felt you had to put in a song that is very reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s girl bands such as the Chordettes or the Shondelles or others?
Belle: I wouldn't say we felt we had to, but those bands, as much as they are derided as nothing but bubble-gum pop and critically worthless, did help pave the way for other women in music.
Lee: That's what I said.
Anna: Anyway, there is a place for bubble-gum pop and other music that critics call worthless.
Lenore: Yeah, it sells if nothing else.
Anna: That's the cynical view, I guess. But if people like it, and it doesn't hurt anything, what's so wrong with it? We all have something that we like that other people will call worthless or lame or whatever.
Belle: Even the fluffiest pop princess dance number ever has some merit to it.
Lenore: Maybe not much.
Belle: Not critically, but again, what's music for if not for people to enjoy?
Brad: Wow. I guess I never thought about it that way, especially considering my magazine. Although I have to say your track, “Blood-sucking Fiend” isn't about the typical topic of the 50s girl pop tunes.
Belle: It's not? How is it so different from, “My Boyfriend's Back” or “Mr. Sandman?” It's about a boy and a girl and their romance.
Brad: But he's a vampire.
Lenore: Well, vampires are the hottest trend in emo angsty sensitive bad boy romantic interests.
Brad: I'll concede that point, although I get the impression from this song you're not exactly on board with that trend.
Anna: No. None of us are going to claim to be experts on romance, but we think dating monsters is universally a bad idea, no matter how romantic it may seem.
Belle: As a rather wise comedian once said, and I paraphrase, women who actually stay with bad men tend to end up on an episode of Cops telling the police who are hauling away their bad man to “Lock him up this time!”
Anna: In short, the real-life consequences are as far from romance as possible and we think it's a shame that somehow pop culture has convinced so many people that being emotionally broken is a desirable quality in a significant other.
Brad: So you've turned a silly song into something with a message?
Lenore: If you want to read it that way. All the song actually says is that dating someone who has to actively work to not kill you is a bad thing. Which, you know, ought to be common sense.
Brad: So what was the inspiration for this song? The musical genre or a real life event?
Belle: You think we met a girl dating a vampire?
Brad: [laughs] Of course not! I was asking if this was based on a woman you know in a bad relationship.
Anna: We prefer not to say too much about the inspiration for our songs. You know, just in case someone else gets the same idea. The music business is hard enough without imitators.
Brad: But ravens are imitators and this song imitates a certain musical style.
Lee: Clearly we have said too much.
The Flashback:
“You guys are going to love Seattle,” MaryAnn said. “And you'll love my cousin. It's so nice of her to let us crash at her place for our gig.”
“I'm all for saving on hotel costs, especially if it means we don't have to sleep in the van again,” Leah said, “but is she going to have room for us?”
“And the instruments? I really don't want to leave the instruments in the van,” Isabella said, in her usual role as the driver.
“Are we going to see any sun while we're here?” Nora asked despondently, looking at the rain st
ream down the glass.
“I'm going to go with yes, yes, and no,” Maryann answered. “Ooo, turn here.”
Eventually they pulled up to a nice house in the Queen Anne neighborhood.
“Oh, that should have plenty of room,” Leah said dryly. “What in the world does your cousin do for a living?”
“She's a computer systems analyst. And she got through college on scholarships so she's debt-free with a high-paying career without any kids.”
“Oh.”
“Come on, you'll like her.”
Maryann pulled on her bright yellow rain slicker and popped a bright red umbrella. Isabella had pulled the inner liner from her surplus military trench coat to serve as a raincoat and opened a white umbrella with blue trim. Nora wore a fashionable dark purple windbreaker style coat with a hood but opened up a light green umbrella anyway. Leah had the jacket half of a dark green set of rain gear from a camping store and an extra large, black golf umbrella. They walked up the stone pathway in the well-kept lawn, and Maryann rang the doorbell.
In a moment, the door was answered by a woman a couple of years older than Maryann but who looked remarkably like her except her hair was pale blonde. She was wearing a fashionable casual outfit in pink. “Maryann!” she said, hugging the redhead.
“Steph!” she exclaimed, returning the hug. “These are my friends, Leah, Nora, and Isabella.”
“Oh, like the Twilight girl!” Stephanie said.
Isabella was about to correct Stephanie but was interrupted.
“I love those books. I love those movies. That's great! I also love Sookie Stackhouse, but who doesn't? Come on in, everyone! I'm so excited you finally got to come see me, Maryann!”
“Oh, my lord,” Nora sighed. “We've got two Maryanns on our hands.”
“This may be a long couple of days,” Isabella agreed.
They followed their hostess in the large house. They were shown their rooms, and the house was big enough that they didn't even have to double up. There was even space for all their instruments. Stephanie was even more bubbly and cheerful than Maryann. She talked almost