THE GRAVE WITHOUT A NAME
513 Words
The bride smiled.
It wasn't a warm smile.
It was the smile of someone who had waited far too long...
...and had finally found what she was looking for.
Alexa's blood ran cold.
"Damien..."
His face had turned ghostly pale.
"We have to leave. Now."
The church bell rang again.
Dong...
The sound echoed through the forest like a warning.
Branches swayed violently although there was no wind.
The temperature dropped so suddenly that Alexa could see her breath.
The bride slowly raised one hand.
Her veil slipped just enough for Alexa to catch a glimpse of her face.
Half of it was beautiful.
The other half...
Looked as though it had been burned away.
A scream caught in Alexa's throat.
The ghost disappeared.
---
They didn't stop running until they reached Damien's truck.
Neither of them spoke.
Only when the engine roared to life did Alexa finally ask,
"Who killed her?"
Damien gripped the steering wheel.
"I don't know."
"You said you've studied this town."
"I studied the legend."
"And?"
"The truth was buried."
Alexa stared at him.
"You know more than you're telling me."
Damien looked away.
"I know enough to be afraid."
---
The next morning, Black Hollow looked almost normal.
Children walked to school.
Shopkeepers swept their storefronts.
People smiled.
But the moment Alexa stepped onto the sidewalk...
Every conversation stopped.
Dozens of eyes followed her.
An old woman crossed herself.
A little boy hid behind his mother.
Then someone whispered,
"She's the next bride."
The words spread through the crowd.
Like a disease.
"The next bride..."
"The bells chose her..."
"She'll die before the seventh sunrise."
Alexa felt her stomach twist.
She hurried away.
---
Damien led her to the oldest cemetery in town.
Ancient gravestones leaned crookedly beneath towering oak trees.
Some were so weathered their names had vanished.
"This way."
He stopped before a grave hidden beneath vines.
There was no name.
No date.
Only a single sentence carved into the stone.
THE BRIDE WHO NEVER RESTED.
Alexa knelt.
"There's no name."
"It was erased."
"Why?"
Damien's expression darkened.
"So no one would ever speak it again."
The ground beneath the grave suddenly trembled.
A crack appeared in the stone.
Then another.
Alexa jumped back.
From inside the broken earth...
A woman's voice whispered,
"...Alexa..."
She froze.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't threatening.
It sounded...
Heartbroken.
"...Please..."
The whisper came again.
"...find me."
The cemetery fell silent.
Alexa looked at Damien.
"You heard that."
He nodded slowly.
"I did."
Before either of them could move...
An elderly man appeared at the cemetery gate.
His long black coat brushed against the ground.
His silver hair moved gently in the breeze.
He stared directly at Alexa.
Then he spoke the words that made Damien step in front of her.
"Leave this town."
The old man's eyes never left Alexa.
"Or you'll finish the wedding that began one hundred years ago."
He turned...
And vanished into the morning fog.
Damien whispered under his breath,
"...Father Benedict."
Alexa frowned.
"You know him?"
Damien's voice shook.
"He died twenty-three years ago."
- Writer
