N I G H T B R I N G E R . S E
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A DISEMBODIED ARM
According to legend, one branch of Scotland's MacKenzie clan is haunted by a spectral hand that manifests itself only under the grimmest of circumstances: Its appearance always signals the imminent death of a family member.
The ghost has been seen well into the twentieth century. On one occasion it supposedly materialized from the wall of a movie theater while a MacKenzie sat in the audience. In another instance, the arm reputedly appeared to a young woman in the family as she was about to leave her bedroom one morning.
Hearing something bang to the floor behind her, she turned and saw that a tall silver candlestick - a solid and heavy piece - had somehow fallen off a chest of drawers. She bent to pick it up, wondering what could have dislodged it. Suddenly she saw, protruding from the wall, a hand and forearm. The milk-white arm disappeared into the wall at the elbow. Its slender hand had tapering fingers and almond-shaped nails and clearly belonged to a woman.
Just as clearly, it had pushed the candlestick from its perch to the floor. Even as the young woman stared at it, the ghostly appendage slowly vanished. Knowing that the phantom hand played the role of death's messenger for the family, she feared for the life of her mother, who had been quite ill. Her qualms proved groundless, however; the mother recovered. But only a few days after the candlestick fell, the family received news that a cousin had died.
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