Tom never thought he could be this happy. He held Caroline in his arms as they swayed in time with the slow beat of their wedding song. Their first dance. Tom spun her out, still while  holding her hand. Then as the lights cut out he was shoved sideways and Caroline’s hand slipped from his fingers.

There was a soft thud of someone hitting the ground.

“Who cut the lights?” Yelled the best man.

“Caroline? Caroline!” Tom called in panic but there was no response.

“Somebody get those lights back on!” Another voice called out between the screams and cries of the unsuspecting guests.

Moments later Tom was blinking in the bright lights of the community hall. “What the he-” Tom stopped in his tracks as his gaze finally fell on Caroline.

Caroline was lying motionless in the centre of the dance floor. The handle of a knife visible between her delicate fingers. The skirts of her wedding dress were spread messily over the linoleum floors. The blood had soaked into the delicate white lace of the bodice of her dress, while more started pooling out from under her.

“Caroline?” Tom managed a broken whisper as someone rushed past him.

He watched as if in slow motion as Sarah skidded to a halt and knelt beside her. She placed her shaking fingers on Caroline’s wrist, then glanced back up at Tom, her eyes wide.

“There’s no pulse.” Sarah cried out, her voice stricken.

A strangled scream reached Tom’s ears as though through a thick fog. He only realised it was his own once he’d run out of breath. His legs suddenly losing all strength, Tom crumpled where he stood. He managed a whispered “no!” as he stared blankly at his wife’s lifeless body. Why?

It was only as he was pulled away from where she lay that he recognised the knife as the one they were meant to use to cut the cake together.

Earlier That Morning.

“Do you think he’ll believe it?” Caroline asked as she and her Maid of Honour, Sarah, mixed the fake blood in an old ice-cream container in the small kitchenette of the B’n’B where they were getting ready.

Sarah snorted. “You’re recreating a scene from one of those English village murder shows you love? Course he will.”

“Good,” Caroline grumbled, “I’m ruining a good dress for this so he better.”

“I just want to see the look on his face when you stand back up.” Sarah grinned as she poured the deep red liquid into a small bag.

“Same here.” Caroline hummed back, then paused. “This would have to be a murder mystery original,” she thought aloud as she took another sip of her champagne.

“The corpse waking up?”

“Nah,” she laughed, “the bride planning her own murder for a change.”

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This was the criteria for Furious Fiction this month:

Each story had to take place at either WEDDING or a FUNERAL.
Each story had to include something being cut.
Each story had to include the words “UNDER”, “OVER” and “BETWEEN”.

I had a lot of fun with this one!