Chapter 1 - The First Breath
The sound of metal striking white wood cracked through the funeral chapel.
Every single mourner turned in their pew.
Beside the glossy white coffin, the young maid stood shaking in her bright orange uniform.
One hand gripped a heavy metal tool that she had found in the maintenance closet.
The other hand was pressed firmly against her chest like she was trying to keep her heart from breaking through her ribs.
The beautiful wooden lid of the coffin had cracked under her forceful blow.
An older woman in the front row gasped loudly, dropping her expensive black veil.
Someone else stepped back, their dress shoes clicking sharply on the cold marble floor.
Then a man in a tailored black suit rushed toward her.
He was furious and his face was completely pale.
“Stop!”
“What are you doing?”
The maid turned to him with fresh tears running down her frightened face.
But she absolutely refused to drop the metal tool.
“She’s not dead.”
The entire grand room froze in stunned disbelief.
The man stared at her, looking absolutely horrified by her words.
“Have you completely lost your mind?”
The maid shook her head violently, breathing hard.
“I heard her breathing.”
No one in the crowded chapel dared to move a muscle.
Even the quiet sobbing from the grieving family members stopped entirely.
The man slowly looked down at the damaged coffin.
Then he looked back up at the terrified maid.
Then slowly, against everything he wanted to believe, he leaned his body toward the cracked lid.
The maid whispered, “Listen.”
For one long, agonizing second, there was only the heavy silence of the chapel.
Then came a faint, unmistakable sound from inside the dark box.
It was a breath.
It sounded incredibly weak.
It sounded terribly trapped.
The man’s handsome face changed rapidly from hot anger to pure terror.
Suddenly, a pale hand pushed its way through the cracked opening.
The delicate fingers trembled violently as they reached desperately toward the chapel light.
The man stumbled backward, nearly knocking over a massive arrangement of white lilies.
His voice broke into a terrified whisper.
“Emily?”
The heavy wooden lid suddenly shifted upward, pushed open by a sudden burst of adrenaline.
Emily sat up slowly, coughing up a cloud of dry, stagnant air.
Her wedding ring caught the light as she grabbed the edge of the wooden box.
The mourners began to scream and scatter toward the heavy wooden exit doors.
David, her husband, rushed forward and grabbed her pale shoulders to help her out.
“Emily, my god, how is this even possible?”
Emily looked deeply into his eyes, her expression shifting from confusion to absolute, burning rage.
She violently shoved his hands away with the last bit of her returning strength.
She pointed a trembling finger directly at his chest for everyone in the room to see.
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“Arrest him,” she croaked, her voice echoing off the high stone ceiling.
“He was the one who poisoned me.”
