Since the 50’s it was considered the bridge of death after the death of Eve Collins in Bob Davis’s car when he ran off the road and over the bridge drunk.
He blamed himself for her death, she didn’t want him to
drive, they had an argument at the drive-in but he swore to her that he was
fine to drive and forced her into the car so that he could drive her home, he
was determined to get her back to her parents’ house before her curfew ended, her old man was a bastard if you didn’t live by his rules.
Racked with guilt and grief Bob committed suicide two weeks
after Eve’s death by jumping from the bridge with a rope strung around his
neck. Rumour in the town is that he didn’t die instantly but suffered for
several hours hanging while slowly strangling to death. Few locals called it
the bridge of death but were ridiculed stating that they were trying to scare
the people in the small town.
It was ten years after Eve and Bobs deaths that the bridge
claimed another life with a car veering off the bridge in the exact same spot at
approximately the same time as the car that killed Eve, that night two lives
were taken, a newly wedded couple on their honeymoon, Beth and John Thompson with John moving into the area just prior to their wedding to take on the role as Principal at the local primary school.
At the time of Beth and John’s death, the bridge which was named Hanson’s Bridge more locals adopted the bridge as an identity all of its own and got its nickname the bridge of death.
Two years later the bridge lived up to its namesake claiming the life of Mary Portelli as her and her boyfriend were fishing on the bridge. Mary slipped and fell to her death as the side railing gave way. The bridge was cordoned off for almost two months as repairs to its structure took place.
After Mary’s death many locals refused to cross the bridge stating that it was haunted or possessed, with many stating that they had seen several ghosts.
Councillors had a hard time trying to convince the locals that the bridge and the deaths associated was co-incidence, several locals called in spiritual advisors where the advisors believed that Eve’s ghost was taking revenge for her death, of course this was not taken seriously by many.
In nineteen seventy two the bridge collapsed as a bus carrying school children crossed killing three children, the bus driver and a teacher, twelve children were injured in the crash and after the bus tragedy the town’s councillor’s had the bridge dismantled and an entirely new bridge built in its place and renamed Collins Bridge.
On the twentieth anniversary of Eve’s death the bridge was closed and a vigil was held in her honour and to commemorate her life and the lives following that were lost, but on the twenty-first anniversary of Eve’s death eighteen months after the new bridge was built, Henry Reynolds whilst driving over the bridge in the exact same spot at the exact same time suffered a major heart attack and died instantly.
In the space of twenty one years the bridge had claimed nine lives with most locals taking a ten minute out of the way route to get to the other side. Over the next twenty years a further five lives had been lost on the bridge. In nineteen ninety eight the town was divided on the fate of the bridge with more than half of the town’s people wanting the bridge closed forever and another built in entirely different spot.
A committee had been formed raising funds to build a new bridge and with the majority of the town in favour of the new bridge the council had no option but to join in with the development and the Collins bridge was closed to traffic allowing only foot traffic. In the year two thousand and one the brand new bridge renamed the community bridge was opened.
Katrina felt goosebumps travel over her body as she read about the most speculated haunted bridge in the country, the rumours that not only was it haunted but possessed had her intrigued, it was in the town where her grandfather lived and she was surprised that he had never mentioned the bridge.
She decided to take a visit to see him and ask him about the bridge some more, it would help with her research if she had a locals view and experience of the bridge.
“I don’t want to talk about it Katrina. You will find that no-one wants to speak of it.”
“But Grandpa why?”
“It’s possessed by the devil itself taking lives that are not meant to be taken.”
“You can’t seriously believe that Grandpa”
Katrina looked at her Grandfather as he said nothing, chills ran up her spine as he sat and stared at her.
“Come with me.”
Katrina followed with Grandfather down the path from his home as he walked slowly with his cane as an aid.
He stood at the edge of the bridge. “I won’t walk on it, but I want to tell you a story, believe it or not.” He took up a seat near the bridge that overlooked the rushing river “Everything you’ve read is true. I was Mary’s boyfriend, at the time we didn’t believe the rumours that the bridge was haunted and against her mother’s wishes we went on the bridge, we thought we were safe because we weren’t in a car if the rumours of it being haunted and possessed were true.”
Poking at a leaf on the ground with his stick, he then raised his face to the sun and continued. “It was a beautiful day like this and then it clouded over quite quickly, we began to pack up the fishing gear Mary screamed and I saw it, a ghost, the ghost pushing her off the bridge. I ran down to the water’s edge and yelled for help but she had broken her neck. I couldn’t tell anyone what I saw no-one would believe me I could only tell them that she was leaning on the rail and fell to her death. I was under suspicion of pushing her to her death until Antonio Benutti came forward and said he saw her fall by herself, he didn’t tell the authorities that he saw a ghost but he later told me. Other people have seen it too.”
He took his granddaughter’s hand in his. “If you sit here
long enough you will see her, she waits for her next victim.”
Sceptical Katrina sat with her grandfather if anything just to appease him and after an hour she was about to suggest they go back, it was then that she felt chills up her spine, the hairs on the back of her neck go up, her heart began to race and the cold blast of air even though it was sunny and there was not a breath of wind.
There on the bridge a white shadowy figure appeared looking down into the water and then at Katrina the ghostly figure pointed to her before disappearing.
Katrina had no doubt that the bridge was possessed and took
on a new view on the life of ghosts.
I hope you enjoy the above story it is not something that I normally write but as I would like to get into the paranormal writing this is a nice introduction. Please note that it has not been proofread but posted in its raw form.
Til next time
Happy Reading
Valissa
