The Revenant

Short fiction horror story

It was particularly cold the evening Carlyle followed Mooney’s light pitter-patter towards the cemetery to visit his mother. Carlyle gently placed a single peony on her grave as Mooney pawed at a dead leaf. Carlyle watched as Mooney suddenly sat with his ears erect. Then with a little meow raced off in the direction towards the Norfolk woods blending in perfectly with the winter snow. Carlyle followed with a quickness. 

Eventually, he found Mooney pawing at something under a crooked Elder tree. As Carlyle walked closer crunching on twigs, dead leaves, and snow; he realized Mooney was playing with the ribbon bookmark of a little black book. Carlyle picked up the book from the little cat and released the binding of the book. As he unbound the book, he felt something strange fill the winter breeze. He fingered through the wrinkly pages only to find that nothing was written on the pages. Carlyle rebound the book as Mooney meowed in what seemed like agreeance that it was time to leave and go home.

Mooney stayed close to Carlyle as they strolled through the woods. Carlyle took notice of how the strangeness in the air never left. Finally, they came out of the woods. Mooney meowed as they walked pass the gravesite of Carlyle’s mother. Then he began to run ahead chasing a lizard that he had spotted. Carlyle continued on, walking pass Mooney; who had by then caught the poor lizard and had its hind sticking out of his mouth; thinking to himself about the sudden loss of his mother. 

His mother had been walking home one day when a startled horse bucked striking Carlyle’s mother in the face killing her instantly while in concurrence making him $20,000 richer. Succumbed by sadness he had not thought to do anything with the money, but continued to work and go home to what is now his little house at the edge of the cemetery. Now taken aback by the remembrance of his mother’s death, Carlyle was morose and silent even in thought as he opened the door to his house. Suddenly, Mooney came flying between his legs like a ball of white lightening, lizard now gone. This broke the spell of sadness that had fallen upon Carlyle, for a brief moment. 

Mooney then circled the fireplace as if to instruct Carlyle to hurry. Carlyle followed suit and placed the kindling in the fireplace and set it ablaze. Finally appeased, Mooney then snuggled into himself on the rug in front of the fireplace. Carlyle decided he would sit in front of the fireplace as well. He grabbed the little black book, a pen, and ink. Then he sat comfortably in front of the fireplace. Carlyle hoped that writing his mother a letter would soften his grief. He unbound the little black book and began to write his mother’s name which was Lavinia. As he thought of his sweet mother’s face, he began to cry on the wrinkly pages of the little black book.

As his tears subsided, Carlyle decided it would be best if he went to bed and try again the next day. He stalked down the hall to his room, changed into his nightwear, and then settled into bed. Sleep took him like a thief in the night quickly and quietly. Carlyle awoke the next morning by the light pounce of Mooney atop his bed. He then sat up groggy eyed and began thinking about the peculiar night he had. Carlyle then got up out of bed and began to walk down the hall towards the kitchen. Mooney of course followed trippingly behind his master. As Carlyle turned the corner, he became a ghastly pale and the world around him faded out. 

Carlyle faintly heard the meow of Mooney and thought to himself the image of his mother Lavinia sitting at the table must be from his grief induced state. He began rising from the floor and felt the gentle touch of a familiar hand helping him up. It was his mother! He looked at her in astonishment; for she looked as if she had never known Death’s kiss. She led a shaky Carlyle to the table and had him sit. There, they sat in silence.

Lavinia opened her mouth and said, “Carlyle, I got your letter”. Carlyle replied, “I never sent a letter mother”! “Oh, but you did my sweet”, she retorted “It appears you have found the Book of Revenants”, she said as she held up the book. “The Book of who...” said Carlyle. “The Book of Revenants, my dear.” “You wrote my name in it and awoken me”. “Your tears told me what your heart wanted to say and I followed you sorrows home”. 

They sat for a minute with nothing, but dead air between them. Then he said, “Do you have to go back”? She paused for a moment before she solemnly responded, “Carlyle, life will not return to what it once was, darling. I cannot go out into the public as if I were not just buried a month ago.” Carlyle started “ But-“, before he was cut off by Lavinia saying , “ I no longer fit in the world of the living, my sweet and there will come a time when I no longer remember who you are or even who I am or was”.

“Well mother, I will do all the shopping”, said Carlyle as he went to get dressed for the day. Out the door went Carlyle with Mooney right behind him. For the first time since his mother’s death, Carlyle truly felt like his self! He enjoyed his trip to the market; in fact, he enjoyed himself so much that he rushed home to start dinner. He prepared a beautiful beef stew for his mother and him to enjoy. Lavinia did not eat, coming up with the excuse that being dead is tiring business. Early the next morning, Carlyle and Mooney went to fetch his mother’s favorites for breakfast. Again Lavinia did not eat, nor did she eat lunch or dinner.

This went on for three days. It was on the fourth day that Carlyle noticed that Mooney had taken a disliking to Lavinia. Carlyle thought about the first two days with his mother. They were splendid, but by day three she had forgotten half of their shared memories and had forgotten Mooney altogether. Today, the fifth day had been just as bizarre. His mother just sat still in one place. He would leave and return to his mother still in the same place.

Later that day, he and Mooney left to get kindling, but when they came back his mother was gone. Carlyle thought that she was finally getting back to her old self, but she was nowhere to be found. He went out in the darkness of the night to find his mother; Mooney close behind as always. They walked pass the cemetery getting closer to the Norfolk woods where they heard what sounded like the screech of an animal. As they neared the woods, he began to see a trail of blood in the snow. It wasn’t until they neared the old crooked Elder tree that Mooney began to hiss at something in the night. As Carlyle followed the trail of blood he spotted his mother feasting on the flesh of a live deer; while the animal stared off aimlessly into the darkness. 

He doubled over vomiting in disgust; which caused Lavinia to turn around suddenly from the carcass. She slowly lifted her head and stalked towards Carlyle. When Carlyle looked up he seen his mother walking toward him no longer sweet looking, but pained by a look of insatiable hunger. In her hand he noticed the little black book. “Mother”, he said, but he already knew his mother was no longer there and only the Revenant remained. Hearing his voice her eyes softened for only a moment before she went from a stalk to a full attack upon the person she once called son clawing and scratching at him beneath her weight. 

Carlyle noticed she had gained supernatural strength and quickly grew tired of fighting. Suddenly, Mooney jumped out of a flurry of snow and began clawing, scratching, and hissing at the shell of what used to be Lavinia. Mooney’s fight against the Revenant caused her to drop the book due to the white cat gripping her face and tearing her flesh. When she dropped the book, Carlyle seized the book out of the snow and started to run out of the woods. His heart broke at the thought of leaving Mooney in the woods. 

Carlyle heard a howl behind him and the sound of fast approaching footsteps. He stumbled by many trees almost falling on hidden roots, and slick ice before seeing a glimpse of the cemetery. He turned around briefly seeing the Revenant gaining on him as he crashed out of the woods. Fear and panic had almost settled in when he recalled his mother’s words. “The Book of Revenants, my dear”. “You wrote my name in it and awoken me”. While still running through the cemetery, he found the page his mother’s name was written on and began tearing it up into little pieces. As he finished tearing up the page, he slipped and fell onto a grave. As he opened his eyes and went to stand, he noticed little Mooney behind him. Mooney had made it out of the fight with the Revenant hurting only his front paw. As Carlyle let the relief wash over him that the Revenant was gone, he sat and realized the grave he had slipped on belonged to his mother. Lavinia Tomilson, the tombstone read, with the single peony still nestled gently on the grave.

Author's Note

I originally wrote this story for something else, and thought I would make my return to the forum with this shorty story instead of my usual poetry writings. Enjoy!