Sarah: Open the coffin, Alex! Open it right now![cite: 1]
Alex: Sarah, listen to me, we cannot disrespect my father's body in front of hundreds of people![cite: 1]
Sarah: Disrespect? There is someone knocking from the inside! Move out of my way![cite: 1]
Sarah yanked her heavy silk train out of the way and pushed past Alex[cite: 1]. Her hands trembled violently as she reached for the broken brass latch at the front of the white wooden box[cite: 1]. Alex lunged forward, grabbing her wrist with a force that left red marks on her skin[cite: 1].
Alex: Do not touch that lid, Sarah! I am warning you![cite: 1]
Sarah: Let go of my arm! You're hurting me![cite: 1]
Jumpsuit Woman: Look at his face, Sarah! He's sweating because he knows his fifty-million-dollar inheritance vanishes the second that lid swings open![cite: 1]
Sarah's Father: Alex! Release my daughter this instant! What the hell is going on here?[cite: 1]
Sarah's father, a tall man in a dark grey suit, marched up the altar steps and shoved Alex backward[cite: 1]. The groom stumbled against the brass candle stands, knocking two tall candles onto the floral arrangements[cite: 1]. Flames licked at the white petals, sending dark smoke curling toward the high vaulted ceiling[cite: 1]. Nobody moved to put the fire out; every eye was fixed on the white casket[cite: 1].
Sarah's Father: Sarah, step back behind me[cite: 1]. Guards, lift that lid[cite: 1].
Security Guard: Sir, we aren't authorized to touch a deceased person's casket—[cite: 1]
Sarah's Father: I paid for half of this wedding venue! Lift the lid or I'll have every single one of you arrested for accomplice to murder![cite: 1]
The security officers looked at each other, their faces pale[cite: 1]. Two guards stepped up to the front of the altar and grabbed the edge of the heavy wooden lid[cite: 1]. The brass lock was completely broken from the hammer impacts[cite: 1]. With a heavy groan of wood and metal, the guards lifted the lid back[cite: 1].
Crowd: [Gasps and screams][cite: 1]
Sarah: Oh, sweet Jesus! He's breathing! He's moving![cite: 1]
Inside the silk-lined interior lay seventy-two-year-old Arthur Vance, his tuxedo torn at the collar, his chest heaving as he gasped for air[cite: 1]. His face was purple from lack of oxygen, and his fingertips were bleeding where he had been clawing at the wooden ceiling of his casket[cite: 1]. He looked up at the bright chandeliers, his eyes wide with wild, instinctual terror[cite: 1].
Arthur: [Gasping heavily] Help... help me... I can't... breathe...[cite: 1]
Jumpsuit Woman: Get him out! Lift him up! He's been in there for three hours![cite: 1]
Sarah's Father: Call an ambulance! Somebody call 911 immediately![cite: 1]
The two guards reached into the casket and lifted Arthur out, placing him gently on the padded front pew[cite: 1]. Sarah fell to her knees beside her father-in-law, her hands shaking as she untied his tight black silk tie[cite: 1].
Sarah: How could this happen? How did he end up in a coffin if he was alive?![cite: 1]
Arthur: [Whispering weakly] Alex... he... he gave me the tea... the paralysis drug...[cite: 1]
Sarah: What? Alex poisoned you?[cite: 1]
Arthur: He wanted... the estate... before the new will was signed...[cite: 1]
Sarah turned around slowly, looking toward the side exit where Alex was quietly slipping toward the heavy velvet curtains[cite: 1]. Her white wedding dress was stained with flower ash and dust, but her eyes burned with pure, white-hot fury[cite: 1].
Sarah: Alex! Stop right where you are![cite: 1]