Matilda Ramsey

***CAUSE OF DEATH*** - Asphyxiation and Traumatic Shock.

Matilda Ramsey was born in Jackman, Maine in 1973. She lived a peaceful life with her mother, father, and brother. In her spare time, she enjoyed playing hockey, listening to 80s rock bands, reading, and writing. She was very fond of classic tales, such as Edgar Allan Poe’s literature. She fit in well at her school and was always eager to be in style with the latest fashion fads. In her teens she had started experiencing problems with her heart. As she entered adulthood, her heart conditions worsened. Doctors confirmed that she had HCM disease. Although not considered serious, her heart was kept under close supervision.

On the evening of October 27, 1995, Matilda wasn’t feeling herself. While reading a book on her bed, Matilda started to feel light headed and sweaty. Her hands began to tremble. She stumbled to the edge of her bed as her breathing became more and more rapid. She collapsed onto the floor, screaming in pain. Her mother raced up the stairs to find her daughter on the edge of unconsciousness. With both of them in shock, Matilda’s mother held her daughter in her arms as she frantically failed to properly dial 911. After two botched dials she had finally gathered enough composure to get a dispatcher on the line. Matilda slipped in and out of consciousness with her mother sobbing uncontrollably. Once paramedics arrived and loaded her onto a gurney, she had lost all signs of consciousness. Matilda was pronounced dead on arrival from an unusual case of cardiac arrest; or so paramedics had thought.

Matilda’s family had religious beliefs that were contradictory to the traditional burial standards. They refuse to allow morticians to drain the body of blood and fluids, instead leaving the body in the state that it was in as the individual passed; believing it was a natural way of letting the deceased rest in peace. At the mortuary, the body was cleansed, the hair was adjusted, and makeup and clothing was applied; the eyes and mouth not wired shut. A private viewing and funeral service was held by only the family members. After a day of preparing her body, Matilda was taken to her final resting place. Hours after her burial, she awoke from her coma; six feet under. She died from asphyxiation and shock. She left her body with her eyes wide open, teeth clamped tightly together, and fingers bent. Scratch marks were carved into the casket lid from her panicked state. It is believed that some visitors in the cemetery heard faint agonizing screams, but almost as soon as they were heard, they had faded away. Matilda not only suffered a “fatal” cardiac arrest, she had also become a victim of the strange phenomenon, “Lazarus Syndrome”.

Matilda’s spectral appearance is one of the more macabre forms in the squad. Although most recruits appear in perfect condition, some (whether by choice or by fate) spend their afterlife with haunting scars of their past. Matilda’s clothing is shredded from head to foot. Her mortal fate of being buried alive reflects in her immortal spectral body; a corpse that was robbed of a promising future. While being buried alive is a fear for many on Earth, it isn’t likely to happen….although it has happened before….and will happen again….