Chapter 1 - The Impossible Corpse
Hannah stared directly into the splintered opening of the immaculate white casket.
The heavy steel pickaxe slipped from her trembling fingers and crashed loudly onto the marble floor.
She had fully expected to find a completely empty box weighed down with sandbags.
Instead, a pale and terrifyingly familiar face rested peacefully on the white silk pillows.
It was not her supposedly deceased brother Julian lying inside the expensive coffin.
It was the body of her own father, a man who had tragically died in a car crash fifteen years ago.
His body was perfectly preserved, looking exactly as he did on the day he disappeared.
The young man in the black mourning suit, her cousin Marcus, forcefully shoved her away from the wood.
He desperately tried to cover the gaping hole with his dark suit jacket before the guests could see.
Eleanor, the powerful family matriarch, stood frozen near the altar with absolute fury burning in her eyes.
She quickly commanded her elite private security guards to lock every single door in the church.
Panicked gasps erupted from the wealthy mourners as heavy iron deadbolts slammed securely into place.
Hannah realized with a sickening wave of dread that Eleanor was not going to let anyone leave alive.
Two massive guards grabbed Hannah by the arms and dragged her violently toward the back sacristy.
She kicked and screamed, demanding to know what they had actually done to her father.
Eleanor calmly adjusted her black-and-white tweed suit and walked slowly toward the ruined casket.
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She looked down at the perfectly preserved body and offered a chilling, emotionless smile.
Suddenly, a pale hand shot out from the splintered hole and tightly grabbed Eleanor's wrist.
