The Howler Garden and other Weird Tales by David Rees-Thomas

Author:David Rees-Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David Rees-Thomas
Published: 2021-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

##

The revival is a process, and Cherie has the theory and past visuals to go on. She's never actually done this before, and even though she's seen the family and their cunning science, she isn't wholly sure she can replicate it.

But they demand an offering, and she's determined she'll bring them something special so that finally she'll be rid of their unwelcome evil.

She waits until sunset, hiding in the undergrowth of a small copse of trees. Only a few more hikers go past before the sun begins its slow descent. By six thirty, it's almost disappeared beyond the horizon. Heavy gray clouds like chunks of concrete ship their way across the curving sky, dipping to the ocean, but never touching.

A dog comes nosing at their lair, but senses darkness within, and yelps a few times, running back to its owner.

And then all is still.

His wounds are slight but lethal, Cherie knowing the proper way of incapacitation and then quiet death. She turns Donavon onto his back so she can see into his face. Very American, healthy, robust, that swagger they carry etched into his skin and bones.

She kisses his dead, cold lips, and tries to discern some life behind the clouding eyes, though the meager moonlight manages to cast some pale fire into them, reminding her that life can be accessed.

He will rise.

The ceremony is supposed to be quick, but brutal. She takes a piece of his heart, a slice of his liver, and a chunk of tongue, and mixes them on a stone, the blood and slime leaving trails as she swirls them about with a stick.

Cherie reminds herself that she's never done this before, and the stench becomes so much that she gags, doubt seeping into her own mental wounds for the first time with a real sense of purpose.

This might not work. And if it doesn't, she's killed a man. The true gravity of those thoughts begins to take hold, but she can't let it dig in, attach its dangerous talons, and drive her insane.

What if it does work?

This idea stops her dead. There is a disconnect between what she's trying to do and the reality of succeeding. True fear rams itself into her mind, and onto her physical being. True fear like she's only ever known before from the family.

She eats the concoction from the stone, and waits a while, the mass creeping its way down her gullet. She's as prepared for this as anyone possibly could be, and fights the gag reflex, each movement of the evil mixture causing her body to rebel, until finally it's done. She touches his eyes, his mouth, then his heart, and mumbles the words she remembers from the ceremony.

Though it's not really a ceremony at all, it just has the look of one, an artifice.

It's done, and Cherie waits.

For a minute the air seems to calm, and the sky and sea even seem to halt in their constant shifting.

Then, a finger twitches, a hand, an arm, feet, legs.

Donavon opens his eyes, and there is nothing there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.