Bride-and-Seek

Example 4

A bride and a groom were both very young, around 16, but decided to get married anyway, as was the way in those days. It was a huge, elaborate wedding and the reception was held at an old mansion, an heirloom of the family, of sorts.

After most people had left and all were drunk of wedding champagne, the bride whined she was getting bored. When asked what she'd like to do, she grinned and said she always loved a good game of hide-and-seek. Though reluctant to play such a childish game, all agreed and the maid of honor was "it."

It took only about 30 minutes for all to be found... all but the bride, that is. Everyone began searching the entire house, but no one found her. The groom, thinking maybe she had second thoughts about the marriage, grew angry and sent everyone home. After two or three days, he put out a missing persons report but no luck. Eventually he moved on with his life.

After the girl's father died, the mansion was being cleaned, the family taking what they would before the auction came around. The mother of the long-gone bride was up in the storage attic, cleaning out the old clothes and junk when she saw an old trunk with a lock on it. After breaking the lock, she peered inside... and began to scream. All ran upstairs to see what was happening.

Inside the trunk was the bride, dead after the lid fell on her head and crushed part of her skull... though she was still grinning at her little game of hide-and-seek.