Chapter 1 - The First Fracture
The heavy iron-headed hammer felt entirely too large for eight-year-old Leo’s small palms, yet the damp wood of the white lacquer coffin yielded with a sharp, sickening splinter under his second frantic blow. Inside the gleaming, flower-scented sanctuary of St. Jude’s Funeral Hall, the echoes of the impact bounced violently off the stained-glass windows, terrifying the rows of seated mourners.
“Stop him!” Uncle Richard roared, lunging forward from the front row with his dark suit jacket flying open, his face flushed with sudden, desperate panic. “Somebody tackle that boy! He’s out of his mind!”
Aunt Clara shrank back into her dark blue dress, pressing her manicured hands over her mouth as a muffled, choking sob tore through the stunned silence of the room.
Leo swung the tool downward again, breathing heavily through his mouth, his big hazel eyes wide and terrified as splinters of white-painted wood sprayed across the polished marble floor.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Leo! Put that down right now!” Richard shouted, his long strides closing the distance between the pews and the altar with alarming speed, his hands outstretched to grab the boy’s shoulders.
“Leave me alone!” Leo cried out, his voice cracking with a mixture of raw grief and absolute terror. “She’s in there! I heard her breathing!”
“He’s desecrating the service! Security, get him away from her casket!” a distant relative screamed from the back, kicking a folding chair over in the chaos.
Leo ignored the shouting adults, planting his black leather shoes firmly against the base of the pedestal. He raised the heavy tool one more time, his pale arms trembling violently under the physical strain, and brought it down squarely onto the center of the lid. The wood caved inward with a loud crack, tearing the fabric lining and exposing a jagged, dark void beneath.
Richard reached the podium and grabbed Leo’s arm, yanking the hammer away with a furious jerk that sent the tool clattering loudly against the stone floor.
“Are you insane? Have you completely lost your mind?” Richard hissed, his face inches from the boy’s, sweating profusely under the harsh overhead spotlights.
Leo ignored his uncle entirely, dropping to his knees on the velvet carpet. Through the splintered, jagged hole in the white wood, he stared down into the suffocating darkness of the casket, his heart hammering against his ribs. A pair of terrified, tear-filled eyes looked back up at him from the shadows, accompanied by the muffled, desperate hum of a woman whose mouth was tightly sealed with heavy silver duct tape.
Leo’s breath caught in his throat as recognition flooded his pale face.
“Mom?” he whispered softly.
May you like
Richard froze, his expression instantly draining of all color as a cold shadow fell over the front of the church.
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