Somehow, deep in his bones, he knew, felt that God had answered his plea. Maria was there, waiting for him. That was it. He should go down and see her. No! His rational self argued against such an act and his fingers dug into the wood of the bedroom door frame as if his feet might try to go downstairs against his will. It was insane to even imagine that Maria could come back. What had be been thinking of?

Somehow, a voice deep inside him said, God has sent your wife back to you. "No," Jake groaned softly. "It isn't Maria."

But whoever it was lingered now in the living room as he listened attentively, then slowly walked through the hallway and was standing now at the foot of the stairs, pausing in the shadows as if waiting for something.

Jake crept forward into the hallway, peering over the railing into the gloom. Seeing nothing, he stepped back and his fingers snaked toward the light switch. He found it and flipped the lever, but nothing happened.

The electricity must be off, he thought. Someone must have cut the power and then broken in. He ought to go back into the bedroom and lock the door; call the police. Yet he couldn't force himself to move. Instead, he listened and waited, as did the form at the bottom of the stairs.

"Who are you?" Jake cried at last. "What do you want?"

The stranger moved forward out of the shadows, dragging one foot behind, then mounted the first step.

Jake inched toward the railing and peered down the stairwell into the gloom. At that moment the moon appeared from behind a cloud and shone through the stained glass window on the landing, throwing a blue-green glow across the form that slowly ascended the stairs. The gossamer clothing the figure wore billowed softly as if the wind were blowing, yet the air was deathly still and Jake felt no hint of a breeze in the hallway, where he stood paralyzed.

He knew he should turn away, run. But he couldn't move. "Maria? Maria, is that you?" he croaked.

There was no answer.

It couldn't be Maria, he told himself. He must be having a nightmare. Yes, that has to be it, he thought frantically.

The figure was halfway up the stairs, glowing ever so slightly in the moonlight.

"Maria?" he called again, almost hysterically, as if he were unable to control himself.

"I've come back," the apparition whispered.

"Come back?" he sobbed. The figure paused at the top of the stairway. Jake gasped, still frozen where he stood. Suddenly, he could see clearly in the darkness, as if the lights had come on. "Maria?" he cried as she resumed her approach.

"I've come back," she murmured again, lifting her face to stare deep into his eyes, her empty, hollow eye sockets gaping at him. "Your prayer has been answered," she crooned, her lips cracking and falling away to reveal a crooked, toothless grin on her mummy face.

Then he realized his mistake. He had simply prayed she come back - but not as she had been. She had come back the way she had become in the grave. He tried to scream as she took his hands in her bony fingers and pulled him to her bosom.

"Kiss me," she commanded.

Jake's screams echoed in the wide hallway and he clutched his chest, only vaguely aware through the paralysis of his fear of the pounding pain of his heart. He sank to his knees and they sprawled across the hard wooden floor.

"Oh, oh," Marie said, kneeling beside him. "Having troubles? Your heart was always weak, wasn't it? But don't worry, my love."

"You... You could call. The phone's right in there." He winced at the pain that shot down his arm. "Nine, one, one."

"After you die I will hide and let them take your body. Then, at the proper time, I'll bring you back the same way you brought me back - I've been here in spirit watching all you did. After the worms work on you, you and I will be a matched set. You won't be so fearful once you're like me."

"No," Jake gasped, averting his eyes from the horror next to him. "Oh, God, not that." He groaned at the weight that seemed to be crushing his chest.

"See you soon, dear."

The darkness descended over Jake.

But not for long.