《Blackmere's Revenant》


 Act 1: "All is vanity"

    THE VILLAGE OF BLACKEMERE, NEW ENGLAND, THE 19TH CENTURY


    "And so, with this final rite, we entrust this body to the earth, to rest until the day of resurrection, when all shall be reunited in glory. May the grace of God be upon us all, and may His light guide our loved one home."


    The priest said as yet another body is thrown into the deep, Dark and cold hole, Deaths, Specially ones with strange causes, Are a sightJonathangot used to as agravediggerin theBlackmerevillage, Lifeless bodies, Cries of grief , The priest''s speech and crows observing from the distance, Are things Jonathan is forced to witness in a daily paces for living, And with each burial he attends, The same line of thoughts cross his mind.


    The priest nods to Jonathan, Signaling the time for his duty, Jonathan picks up the shovel, Stepping in, And with resolution despite his reluctance, Jonathan starts burying the body, Filling the grave hole with chunks of soil, All while his mind is busy running with thoughts.


    With each scoop on the pale corpse, Jonathan''s restless mind recalls memories he''s exhausted of, Rewinding a past that led to his hopeless present.


    <u>YEARS AGO</u>


    During Jonathan''s childhood, His parents were blessed with a peaceful life of religion and farm work, Similar to their fellow people of Blackmere, They have never missed an opportunity to attend the church, Despite the harsh circumstances, The couple never doubted God''s will, eager to be God''s most obedient creation,Until the inevitable happened...


    To their misery, Jonathan''s mother,Eleanor, Was cursed with a malignant disease, With each day, Eleanor''s health only seemed to worsen, Her energy reduced by time, And her fate was at the door, The lack of technology and skill made it clear that her ending was not a good one, Jonathan''s father,Nathaniel, Never rested a day, Determined to find a cure, Roaming the earth, From one specialist to another, Everyday, He desperately begged god for his spouse''s recovery, Despite his faith in god''s will, He couldn''t help but grow uncertain about his wife''s survival.


    Eventually, The lamentable happened, And God''s will decided that her story ends in the hands of her sickness, Her death was slow and tragic, Only bringing darkness to her loved ones'' lives.


    Nathaniel''s trust to his creator completely vanished away from his guts, Demolishing in front of his eyes, The weight of his loss left him in confusion, His heart fueled with mistrust, Hatred, Denial but most importantly..Refusal, Refusal to believe he obeyed a master he thought was not for their words, Refusal to let the phenomenon pass by, Refusal to accept his loss, And with a decision completely out of selfishness, Nathaniel turns to the forbidden ways of sorcery and black magic, With determination for one last attempt to save his loved one''s soul.


    The years went by, And Jonathan grew up, Having to face the world''s bitterness dealing with the tragedy he faced that led to the fated change of everything that prevailed his life with black and white, His busyness with grief over the years left him with the only choice of becoming a gravedigger for living, His family''s long dried farm turned into a graveyard, Life to him has lost its sweetness, Despite his no longer belief in religion, He still maintained his good deeds as the only thing he had left.


    <u>PRESENT DAY</u>


    Jonathan opens the door to his so called home, Entering with heavy steps, The once clean home filled with warmth is now dark and covered with dust, Tossing his shovel aside, Jonathan sits back on the old wooden chair, His mindfraught with thoughts, The air is dreary in the sombre interior reflecting his constant thoughts about his life''s situation, But just as he was taking his breath, A voice called from the other, Much darker and tenser room, Cutting his line of thoughts.


    "Jonathan","Jonathan!"the voice kept calling, It was non other than his nowwarlock father, Nathaniel, Despite Jonathan''s disagreement with his father''s decision, He still maintained his obedience and loyalty towards his only family.


    Jonathan, Still dealing with the exhaustion, Reluctantly gets up, Entering his father''s room with slow paced footsteps, Looking around, The sight of the dark room full of corpses belonging to animals and talismans scattered around could bring fear into the souls of whoever witnesses it, The furniture is dirty and untouched, And the air was oddly thick, Despite his atheism, Jonathan could feel a presence in this room, The presence of tens of cursed and evil spirits around, But Jonathan brushes the feeling off with denial, refusing to fall into what he thought was delusion, Jonathan stands behind his father.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "Yes, Father"Jonathan answered, Looking at the appalling figure in front of him, There stands Nathaniel, Who changed and became foreign even to his son, His skin is pale, Signs of age are visible in his weak, skinny body, And his hands lost their steadiness, Nathaniel was flipping through the pages of what seems to be agrimoire, Quickly going from one page to another, His reading speed and the ability to collect knowledge fast is unreal, Adding another layer of mystery and fear.


    "Come closer, My boy"Nathaniel said, His tone of voice brings both disgust and terror to the ears of listeners, Being used to his father''s antics, Jonathan is not shaken by any of thelunacy he''s facing, Jonathan steps closer to his father, Standing right besides him.


    Nathaniel, Putting a hand on Jonathan''s shoulder, Spoke with a fatigue tone of voice"The voices, The spirits, They have told me something, *coughs* I am afraid, It will not be long ''till i join them,My end is nearer than i ever thought"


    Jonathan''s eyes widen in surprise at the unexpected confession, It was no wonder Nathaniel''s death was close due to his bad habits and health, But knowing his father, Sharing the news definitely meant it was closer than ever, Before he could spell out his response, Nathaniel continued.


    "I can not submit to fate, I have done an uncountable amount of unspeakable sins, But it showed me... It showed me what it meant to challenge the all-mighty God of creation, I have the power, But i need the time"Nathaniel turns to Jonathan, His gaze was dark, The signs of the pain he faced throughout the years are visible in his deepmalicious eyes"I found it, The spell of Revival, I got the ingredients, I only need one, And I am certain you can help me with it, Dear boy"


    With a hesitant voice mixed with suspicion and a hint of concern, Jonathan asked"What do you need?"


    Nathaniel immediately answered sternly, Holding Jonathan''s forearms with a firm grip"An organ, A heart, Not just any heart, The heart of a human that could not pass a full day circle within his burial, Can you do that for me?".


    Jonathan, Knowing what he was asked to, Spoke after a moment of silence with a nod"I will... Do it".


    Nathaniel spoke with a pleasant smile"Ahh, I knew you would be to my trust, My child, You have never failed to satisfy me", With a pat on the shoulder, Nathaniel lets go of his son, Turning back to the table full of sorcery methods in front of him"Bring it by the midnight, Before the sunrise, I will be here"


    With hesitation still lingering inside him, Jonathan nods, Accompanied with a quiet sigh, He exits the room mentally troubled, Knowing what he''s demanded to do, It was a task he almost couldn''t bring himself to do.


    <u>HOURS LATER</u>


    Constantly looking around, Wary of witnesses, Jonathan makes his way to the graveyard, Clinging to his shovel, He makes his way to the specific grave he buried this noon, With one last look around, Jonathan starts digging in the middle of the cold night, One pile of soil after another, With each move he does, He could feel the tension in the air rising, Driving him to dig faster despite his previous confidence in his safety, Mistaking it to hallucination, He could swear hearing hushed voices around him, As if the spirits of the dead are trying to stop him, Or rather,Warn him of his actions.


    Jonathan kept digging with determination to fulfill his father''s wishes, Until he got to the corpse that barely got adjusted to the soil around it, Carrying the corpse out of the grave hole, Jonathan replaces it with bags of rocks to fill the absence of the poor body, But filling back the hole did not stop thehallucinations, As they only grew stronger, Jonathan could see the corpse moving its head to face him from the corner of his sight,, He couldn''t tell if these were phantoms anymore, He just kept digging with his face sweaty and his hands shaking, Hoping this will end safely, He could swear the dead corpse was trying to talk to him with words He could not understand, They sounded understandable yet foreign, It felt like it was from a whole different language, Throwing the last pile of soil, Jonathan quickly looked up to the body on the ground besides him, And to his relief, The body didn''t move a muscle, With a sigh of relief, Jonathan hesitantly carries the corpse on his back, Stepping back to his house, Making sure no one attended the madness he just committed.


    Later, Upon his arrival to his home, Jonathan walks back to his father, Dropping the corpse on the wide table his father sat up, Nathaniel, Who was rummaging through the book, Turns to his son, Revealing a smile curved on his wrinkled skin"Good, Good, just in time, you''ve done well as always, Dear boy"


    Jonathan, After the madness he has done, Is now cleaning his hands from the dirt and soil, He could still smell the scent of that dried lifeless body in them, Jonathan holds his hands in front of him, They were still shaking ever so slightly from what he witnessed, Despite his disbelief and refusal to follow religion, Jonathan is still feeling the weight of what he has done, A sin for both the believer and not, He kept trying to fool himself by remembering the reason his father is doing all this, He''s just blindly following his father''s delusional acts, and for what? just for it to no longer be about his mother, But about his father''s stubborn refusal to face the ''fate'' he is afraid of,But then, He drops his hands down with a sigh, After all, That''s all he got,That is what is left for him...


    TO BE CONTINUED...