Chapter 1: The Woman in the Aisle
THE WOMAN IN THE AISLE
The hall had been filled with music and flowers only a minute before the doors opened.
It was a clear morning.
Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, and two rows of white flowers stretched down both sides of the red carpet.
Guests in their finest clothes sat on either side, and at the far end stood a pair of tall wooden doors.
They had been shut.
Now they stood open.
Nothing in the hall had any writing on it.
A woman stepped through them.
Caroline was around thirty, oval-faced, her long dark hair loose around her shoulders.
She wore a white neck brace and a beige trench coat, and beneath the coat showed the pale fabric of a hospital gown.
She moved slowly up the aisle and stopped in the middle of the red carpet.
Her expression was calm.
At the front of the hall, the bride and groom turned together.
Vivian, the bride, was twenty-eight, long-faced, with her hair pinned up, in a white gown and an emerald necklace.
Graham, the groom, was thirty, square-jawed, in a black suit with a bow tie.
Vivian's expression changed all at once.
Her voice rang out, sharp.
“Security!
Get her out of here!”
Caroline did not move back.
Her eyes remained on Vivian's face, and her voice was steady.
“You know who I am.”
In the rows of guests, an older man rose slowly to his feet.
He was about sixty, gray-haired, in a dark suit.
His voice trembled, little more than a whisper.
“It's her.”
Graham took one step backward.
The color drained out of Vivian's face a little at a time.
Her eyes went wide, her lips trembled, and her voice came out barely audible.
“No...
You're de@d.”
Caroline stood in the middle of the carpet without moving.
The hall was utterly silent, and between the two rows of white flowers, the open doors let the sunlight pour in.
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Why is Vivian terrified to see Caroline alive?
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