Bernie stood from the couch, making his way to the door. He grabbed both their coats, handing Nora hers. Abuela approached holding her little dog.

“Don’t forget to say goodbye to Guapito, he will miss you dearly.” Abuela said, turning her body so the ancient toothless chihuahua was closer.

“Of course. Lo siento, Guapito, how could I forget you.” Bernie reached his hand out; the dog growled and bared his toothless grin. Bernie continued and stroked his back unfazed by the aggressive little dog. In his youth, the dog would terrorize him, chasing him around the house. Nora approached and Guapito rolled slightly, wagging its tail, excited for belly scratches. “That dog has known me for… That dog might be older than me… he’s known me for years. Only known you for six months and he shows you more love.” Bernie said scowling at the dog.

“Ok Abuela, thanks for making dinner. I’m going to drive Nora back home. I may be back late don’t wait up, ok?” Bernie winked at Nora. Abuela noticed.

“I may be old, but I know that girl only lives 30 minutes away. It’s only 7:00 pm, Bernardino, you better not be up to something you shouldn’t be.”

“Of course not Abuela. I’d never.”

“Especially not tonight, Nieto.” Abuela said, looking between her grandson and the calendar. “Tonight is the anniversary of the…” Frustrated, Bernie rolled his eyes and reached for the doorknob.

“Don’t start with that old mumbo jumbo.” Nora was giddy seeing the interaction between Bernie and Abuela.

“What is significant about tonight, Abuela?” Nora asked, stirring the pot. Bernie stared at Nora and shook his head. Abuela grabbed her Virgen de Guadalupe candle. Lighting the candle, she waved for them to join her on the couch. Nora sat down close to Abuela. Bernie shook his head and leaned against the back of the couch. Abuela pulled a box out from near the couch. The box was red and wooden with a cross inlayed on it.

“What is that box?” Nora looked concerned.

“Don’t let her fool you, it’s not as mysterious as she makes it seem. I saw her buy it at the dollar store…” Before he could react, her chancla slapped into the side of his face.

“Don’t be rude, chico.” Abuela turned back to Nora and opened the box. It was filled with tied bundles of sage, tiny Jesus’ on crucifixes, small containers of holy water, Vick’s, and a buddha statue.

“Why do you have a buddha statue?” Nora asked.

“It’s good to cover your bases.” Abuela said rubbing the buddha as she set the box on her lap. She pulled out one of the sage wraps and lit it. The smoke became unbearable as it filled the air causing everyone to cough.

“Many years ago, a storm blew through the town. The rain was terrible the lightning cracked across the sky. A rancher was driving his carriage along a rocky ridge. It took all of his skills to keep the carriage from rolling off the ridge. The man saw a woman standing along the side of the road. She was wearing a long white wedding dress with a veil over her face. The man stopped, being a good man, he could not leave her on the road in this terrible storm. As he stopped, he got down and walked over to the woman, but she was gone. He looked around but could not find her. He yelled out for her, but his voice was lost in the storm. Eventually, he began to question if he had even seen her. He climbed back up into his carriage and continued along the dangerous road.

As he made his way, he thought he saw her again, but when he slowed to look for her, she was gone again. A few more times he thought he saw her, but each time she was not there. The stress of the night, going through the dangerous road in this weather must have messed with his mind. The man was almost to the end of the journey. The weather had let up, the rain had stopped, and the wind was still. The night was quiet now; he could hear the huffing of his horse and its feet on the muddy road. The moon began to appear from behind the clouds. The air was fresh after the rain and distant rumbles of thunder could be heard. A hand grabbed his shoulder, he snapped backwards and saw the woman in white. She screamed “Why!” So scared, the man drove off the ridge and died.” Abuela blew out the candle.

“And tonight, is the anniversary of that event. It is important that you know that tonight is not a safe night. They say the bride can be found wandering the ridge road, looking for her next victim.” Everyone sat in silence, pondering on Abuela’s story.

“If…” Bernie looked seriously at Abuela. “…if that man died, how do we have the story, and what the ghost said to him?” Abuela grabbed her chancla again getting ready to smack Bernie but was interrupted by Nora.

“I’ve heard of the story before, back when I used to go ghost hunting with my friends during freshman year of college. You need to take it seriously; those stories are true… or at least they are based on some truth.” Bernie stood back up and grabbed his coat.

“Ok, well now I know you two should be hanging out less.” Waving Nora over to the door she stood up. “Thanks again for the dinner Abuela, I’ll be back tonight.”

“It really was a great meal…” Nora said as she leaned in and whispered to Abuela. “You and I should talk more about spirits.” They both nodded at each other. Nora put her coat on and walked to the door with Bernie. Abuela followed and stopped Nora before she left the house. She handed Nora a rolled bundle of sage and a lighter.

“Just in case you need it. Burn this and it will keep evil spirits away.” Abuela said as Nora left the house smiling as she stuffed it into her pocket.

Bernie and Nora were driving down the road toward her apartment. The drive was quiet, until Nora broke the silence.

“Can we go drive on the ridge road.” She gave her best puppy dog eyes to Bernie. “Please.” He rolled his eyes smiling.

“Why? You don’t really believe in all that craziness from my abuela, do you?” She reached out and touched his arm.

“Look, I really miss my ghost hunting days. You’ve never gone with me.” She looked to see if he seemed convinced. He was not. “…And if we don’t find anything, it’s a romantic drive, you’ll get a great view over the city… maybe a romantic spot to kiss…”

Bernie sat straighter in the seat looking at the street names as he drove.

“We didn’t miss the exit, did we?” He said not wanting to seem too excited. Nora squealed with excitement. They made their way down the road until they found the exit they needed. They turned on the “Old Ridge Road”. As the road curves out of the town, it quickly becomes open desert. The night was clear, and the road was empty.

“Keep an eye out.” Nora said looking quickly between the passenger window and the windshield.

“So, their will just be a … bride … out here … in the middle of nowhere?” Bernie said as he strained to focus on the dark road. Nora jokingly swatted his arm.

“Come on take it seriously or no kisses for you.” Bernie rolled his eyes and chuckled. The winding dark road suddenly became very rough.

“Out here, far from town, the roads are not well maintained.” Bernie explained, trying to portray confidence with his driving. Bernie braked hard as an unexpected turn came up quickly. “Hang on.” He turned left hard, the wheels skidding as he tried to not slide off the road. Focusing on the white lines on the right side of the road, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A woman standing on the side of the road, pointing her finger to her right. The sight shocking him he slammed on his brakes coming to a stop. He got out of the car.

“What’s wrong, did you see something?” Nora asked unbuckling her seatbelt. Bernie looked around along the side of the road, illuminated only by the red lights of his car. He couldn’t find the woman he thought he saw.

“I, um, I think I saw something.” Bernie said walking back to the car, looking back over his shoulder. “I don’t know maybe it was a sign or, I don’t know. It looked like a woman pointing.”

“What was she pointing at?” Nora questioned.

“I don’t know she was, like, pointing down the road.”

“Let’s keep going, maybe slow down though.” Nora tried to joke, but Bernie was quiet looking back behind the car. They got back in and began driving down the road, much slower now. They both stared intently looking for anything along the road.

The paved road had ended a few miles back, as they crawled along the dirt road. Finding the end of the road, they slowed to a stop, turning off the car. They sat quietly looking around, not wanting to get out. The windows were starting to fog up, and the cold desert air was starting to howl. The desert could get very cold, freezing, at night. They could see their breath. Neither wanted to talk, the air was charged with an eerie energy.

“So, miss ghost hunter, what do we do now.” Bernie said looking at Nora hoping she would say to drive back.

“Well…” she started but was interrupted.

“LEAVE NOW!” A woman’s voice screamed from the back seat. Bernie and Nora screamed as they jumped out of the car meeting in front of the headlights. They held each other looking into the dark back seat of the car. A woman sat in a white wedding gown, her face covered by a veil.

“Babe, babe, what is …” Bernie said as the bride faded away. “Oh no she’s gone! Where did she go? You heard and saw that right?” Nora was silently hyperventilating.

“Yeah, I saw her, it’s … the bride.” She wanted to look at Bernie’s face for comfort, but she was too scared to look away. Holding his hand was the only thing she could think to do. “We need to get out of here, now.”

“We can’t get back into the car…” Bernie said looking around for anywhere they could go.

“I know but where do we go.” Nora said staring at the car. Screeching and whaling echoed through the desert. Nora started running away from the car, Bernie in tow. She ran along a footpath taking them away from the car. Coming to a withered tree, they huddled at the base.

“I am not having fun, Nora.” Bernie whimpered.

“Neither am I. This has never happened when I’ve gone ghost hunting before. Usually, we just mess around, but we’ve never found anything before.”

“I told you to leave, Bernie.” A voice whispered from behind them. Bernie took off holding Nora’s hand. He tripped on a root sliding across dead grass; he slammed his head on a hard piece of stone.

“Bernie, are you ok?” Nora pulled her phone out to use the flashlight. Bernie moaned and rubbed his head feeling a warm liquid running down the back of his head. Using her light, she could see a laceration on his head.

“That does not look good Bernie, we need to get out of here now. I think you need a hospital or something.” Nora stood and tried to help Bernie to his feet. He stumbled catching himself on the stone he hit his head on. He looked at the stone.

“A head stone.” Bernie whispered. Nora looked around her realizing they were in a small old western cemetery. She could see a decrepit church nearby as well.

“My headstone…” the voice whispered. Nora and Bernie froze. The voice sending a chill down their spines. Feeling a cold breath on their necks, they turned slowly lifting her light slowly, seeing a tattered white wedding dress. Covered in intricate detailed flowers, the dress looked very old. The bride stood before them, her veil covering her face.

“Please don’t hurt us.” Nora pleaded. The bride’s rasping breathes filled the air.

“I mean you no harm. You need to leave, now.” The words gurgled from behind her veil.

“How did you know my name.” Bernie asked, covering his head, his heart racing. The bride pointed at the headstone. The name “Catarina Villanueva” was carved into it. Bernie Recognized the last name. “My Abuela is a Villanueva. Are you related to us?”

“Family…” Shock and confusion filled Bernie’s heart. “I… must… protect… family” the bride struggled to say. Sitting in unbelief of the situation they were in, Nora asked a question she didn’t know if she would want the answer to.

“What are you protecting your family from?” Nora and Bernie both feared what the bride would say.

“The man who murdered me.” Catarina looked around as if she heard something. “You need to go; leave now he’s coming.” Catarina vanished. Nora looked at Bernie, the bleeding had stopped but the pain persisted.

“She is right, we need to get out of here now. Come on, let’s run back to the car. It’s not far.” Nora stood up helping Bernie to his feet. He held her arm tight as they shuffled along the dirt. Their eyes shot back and forth looking for any sign of movement. They walked to the car. Nora planned to drive due to Bernie’s head injury. As she reached out to grab the passenger door handle, the sound of a third set of footsteps stopped near them. The air was filled with the sent of tobacco and whiskey. Bernie was filled with terror and didn’t dare look around. Nora’s heart sank, but she looked up and saw, standing on the other side of the car, a shadowy form of a man. He seemed to be wearing a wide, flat brim cowboy hat tipped down obscuring his face. All aspects of the man were pitch black and seemed to be made of a thick smoke.

Nora squeezed Bernie’s arm, breaking the terrors hold on him for a moment. He looked and saw the man, his heart began to race as his body was filled with a generational terror for the man. The man looked up, his face formless and black. His eyes shot open, glowing golden light. Nora and Bernie both stepped back.

“Y’aint leaving here.” A booming rumbling voice said. Not loud and forceful, but powerful like the rumble of a distant thunderstorm. “It’s my land… my gold… IT’S MINE!” He screamed in an ear-splitting tone, lunging through the car he reached out grabbing Nora by the arm. Nora screamed as his hand sent a burning, searing pain through her body. Bernie grabbed her and pulled her away from the man. They ran as fast as they could toward the little church. The door was locked, but in his absolute terror for Nora and his own life, Bernie slammed his shoulder into the door falling to the ground as he broke through. They both scrambled across the old wooden floor.

Scurrying down the pews the couple rested against the altar. The man’s form filled the doorway of the tiny chapel. His golden eyes pierced into the dark hall, penetrating the souls of Nora and Bernie. Nora’s arm continued burning as she seethed in pain. Bernie looked at Nora and truly wished that he listened to his abuela. Nora looked at her arm seeing a glowing handprint on it. She looked at Bernie feeling guilt about them being in this situation.

“Ironic…” The man said, stepping into the chapel. “This is where I thought I destroyed your family…” his boots scuffed across the wood floor. “She tried to keep you from me… but I’ll finish what I started.” The man crouched down to their level, placing a cigar in his mouth. He lit a match across his face. The soft light of the flame illuminated his face momentarily, a rotten skull, his eyes gone, filled only with a golden light. He breathed out, the smoke seeping through cracks and holes in his skull. The sound of a lighter sparking surprising both the man and Bernie, they both looked at Nora who was lighting the bundle of sage from Abuela. The smoke flew from the sage forcefully. The man growled as the smoke filled his face, he reached out to grab Nora again. Bernie reached for Nora’s hand, when he held her hand the smoke bellowed from the sage, stopping the man’s hand from reaching Nora. The man began coughing and yelling.

The sage stopped smoking as it caught fire illuminating the rotten skull face of the man. A powerful voice filled the chapel as he choked on the smoke.

“You won’t ever harm our family again, Hutchins Riggs!” Catarina shouted as flames erupted from the sage. The flames spread across the chapel pushing the man out, as it lit the candles around the altar her ghostly form appearing behind it. The man slid across the dirt. He stood and adjusted his hat.

“Nah. This ain’t over with darling. I’ll be back again, and I’ll finished what I started the night of our wedding.” He tipped his hat his eyes still locked on Bernie and Nora. “Be seeing you two…” and the man vanished.