THE HAUNTED HUSBAND

By Rudy Kerr

Dead bride haunts husband and his new fiancee to prevent them marrying. Page 2

Donny kissed his fiancee Sissey Carson good-night. One by one the lights went out, first downstairs then upstairs throughout the rambling wood-shingled house. The last to go off was Mrs. Major's because she was still checking last-minute details. She wanted more than anything else in the world for Donny to be married and happy. No one knows exactly who heard the first soul-searing scream. No one knows exactly what time that scream shattered the slumbering silence of the Major house. But Donny Major will never forget the exact moment he saw his fiancee standing on the top landing of the stairs. The window had blown open. At first, Donny thought the white flapping material was part of the curtain. He ran to Sissy as she backed away from the open window, screaming. Then Donny froze. The white flapping material was not part of the window curtain. As the shape materialized, Donny realized it was a bridal gown. Donny could not believe his eyes. There, twenty yards away was Becky--his dead bride. But this Becky was bloodied. Her once beautiful face, mutilated.

Bangor, Maine	Her angel voice, a hideous roar as if coming from the depths of hell. With out-stretched, bloodstained hands, Becky moved toward Sissy. Sissy backed away in horror, slowly moving toward the edge of the steep staircase behind her. Donny yelled for Sissy to look out for the stairs as he made a dash for her. It was too late. Sissy fell backward down the slate steps and landed in a silent, crumpled heap at the bottom. Donny tried to go after Sissy but Becky's icy hands clutched him. Donny saw Becky's disfigured face, her bloodied hands trying to embrace him. Her mouth moving to kiss him. He shoved her away in horror. She understood.
	In that instant her eternal love turned to eternal hatred. She roared and hissed with all the venom and jealousy of a woman both scorned and doomed. The rest of the house guests arrived to see Becky disappear into an ice cold fog that drifted out of the opened window. Donny and his mother hurried Sissy to Bangor East Hospital. She recovered physically. But emotionally she would never be the same. Mrs. Major cancelled the minister, the caterer, the band and the honeymoon trip. Guests went home. Weeks later the last of the wedding gifts were finally returned. Sissey never returned to the Major house, but she mailed Donny a brief good-by note from the airport.
Donny's fiancee, Sissey Carson, "We can only hope Becky's spirit is at peace now that I'm gone.	CONTINUE CELEBRITY INK cover