Revenant: The Forsaken

By L.S. Slade

All seems wrong when Alec awakens from a prophetic dream, and he seeks out the key players in said nightmare. Meanwhile, Dmitri finds another boy unconscious in the woods. What will this mean for them all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.S. Slade
• Release date: Mar 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370528424

Book preview

REVENANT

THE FORSAKEN

BY L. S. SLADE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ALEC 5

DMITRI 10

HENRI 14

NOT A DATE 27

TRIGGER 41

JUNK FOOD 73

ANN MILLER 112

UNCOMMON SENSE 128

REUNION 142

SECOND NATURE 156

CHEESEBURGERS 179

RUDE AWAKENING 216

IT’S OFFICIAL 282

MORALITY 292

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CHAPTER ONE

Alec

It was an unknown force that drove his shaking, adrenaline-wrought arm forward into the paled flesh before him. Glimmering metal painted crimson depressing further and further into the wound until his fist was pressed against the other's gaping insides…Until, finally, the hateful sensation of the other's heated, fresh blood against his skin knocked him from his apparent trance—his gray-blue orbs trailing sluggishly across the room.

The finer details of his surroundings were difficult to make out, but he noted several fallen bodies and agonized faces laid out around him: A red-headed woman with sparkling yet diminishing wings laid out on the floor holding her side; two younger men, seemingly around the same age, spread apart on the floor beside each other—one with a leaner build and darker hair whom was lying on his stomach, his face in the cement; and the other, a dyed-blond with a much thicker build, staring blankly up at the ceiling; a brown haired woman, lying on her side, with a dark haired boy lying on top of her in a manner that implied having landed on her after a fall; and lastly, a professional-looking older man with blood pooling in his mouth and dripping from his lips.

The faces, the morbid expressions, and the even more morbid wounds seemed to replay in his mind once more before it all instantaneously blackened.

A throaty gasp escaped his lips, and he rolled forward into a seated position in one, quick, fluid motion. Hands rose to his face, hiding it from the plain-sight of others-- Not that anyone would see him like this. He was currently alone, in his apartment.

What was that?

It seemed as if his dreams were getting progressively morbid with each passing night... And he could not help but think that maybe this was his subconscious getting back at him, that maybe he needed professional, psychiatric help.

No. With those sorts of dreams, they would lock him up in a psych ward. He shook his head. These dreams were just the product of an overactive imagination. He'd been reading too many violent stories lately... That was it.

Shower, outfit, breakfast, and he was out the door, his messenger bag hanging from his left shoulder.

There was really nowhere he had to be today, but he felt like it would be wise to catch up on some of his work from home; so, thin laptop inside his bag, he was off to a local cafe to pound out a few hours’ worth. A coffee would definitely get his mind rolling, and a small walk would only help him further. So he decided to travel on foot rather than by vehicle, staring briefly at the clear blue sky as he walked down one the city's sidewalks.

When, suddenly, a hand waved enthusiastically within his field of vision. Alec, hey, greeted a blond haired woman, her hair tucked loosely into a ponytail. Off to the café again?

Oh, Kristen. Alec responded with a glance toward his backpack, clearly pulling its contents into his mind’s eye. Yeah, I have some things I need to catch up on.

I told you not to call me that. Repeat with me, Kristy, Kristyyyyy.

Kristyyyyyy. The man repeated with a sarcastic tone, and a grin.

Good. She retorted, and crossed her arms as they walked nearer their destination.

But Alec stopped dead in his tracks, like a deer caught in headlight; his eyes widened, and his chin slack open—which earned him a worried glance from Kristy. What?

The boy, whom had just walked out of the café…He recognized him.

He recognized him from his dream.

CHAPTER TWO

Dmitri

The phone call seemed like it’d be like any other call he received from the old man on an average day. But he hadn’t been prepared for what would come after.

‘Dmitri, if you haven’t yet found someone in the local area, I've heard rumor of a man whom passed away just a few days ago.’

The teenager smirked. ‘So I heard—A little bird told me.’ The tone was playful, rather than argumentative as the wording may have otherwise implied if they had been targeted at anyone else. That is how they had talked before the old man had...

... ... Well.

‘Don’t proceed yet, though.’

‘Got it.’

The conversation hadn't lasted very long, and then he was out the door, backpack swinging from his shoulder as he prepared to head out for the woods. For the dead man. He was too impatient to wait for his old man’s ‘good to go’ call.

He called for a taxi only after he was far enough from his house that no one would be able to pinpoint the location of his home. And he did not hesitate to let out a long, detailed description of where he planned to go—well, not that detailed, because he didn't want any of this firing back at him should it go wrong, of course. And, just to be extra safe, he had the man let him off some distance from his destination—if only for the extra security and to ensure that there would be no suspicion of him being involved with the this incident, should it be made publicly known.

That would only complicate things, and he really didn’t need that on his schedule.

Going to the bar, eh? The driver inquired with a welcoming smile. Ain’tcha you too young for that, kid?"

The driver’s words were funny to him. The concept that he was just like any other kid out there, worried what they’d wear to prom, worried about who they’d take with them, worried about who they hung out with, worried about who they wanted to hang out with… The idea of it was hilarious. He wasn’t your average, run-of-the-mill teenager, not by a long-shot. Though, sometimes he wished he could have that innocence back.

But no. The universe had a much greater plan for him. He was far bigger than that.

He just smiled toothily. No such thing.

***

There was one particular bit of information that had him scanning through the woods as quickly as possible, and that was that someone, who had apparently been on their morning stroll when his unfortunate man had recently met death, sent in a report that they had spotted a corpse there.

Unsurprisingly, the news team had leapt on that story. Even though there really was no... Solid facts on it just yet. But that is exactly what the news people always did, so it wasn’t like he was surprised. All they knew at this moment was that someone else had claimed that they saw a body. That was it. For all they knew, it could’ve been a lie.

But that was alright with him. A corpse. And in the woods of all places. A place that would only make it easier for him to hide in the shadows, and avoid getting caught. Not to mention that it was a wide enough piece of land that it would be awhile before this body was found, much less confirmed.

So he'd have to find it first.

CHAPTER THREE

Henri

He tried to be quick with his search, turning on his heels when any of the areas seemed empty—because if someone had spotted the body on their morning stroll, then it couldn’t have been that far out of plain-sight. It had to be obvious enough to be seen within his peripheral view.

It had taken somewhere around an hour before he found him—But he did. And, funny enough, he spotted the man in a pretty open location. Just as he thought. The man was sprawled out on the grass, eyes closed, or rather, swelled shut. And there were bumps, hives, all over his now very bumpy skin.

The teen couldn't help but sigh as he kneeled over him. And, common decency aside—he couldn't help but look the poor guy over once more.

Well, that doesn't look like fun. He said, mostly to himself, a tinge of concern in his tone as he looked over the stings.

You'll be fine though. He said, reaching forward to clasp the man on the shoulder.

*

…Pain, pain, pain…

It seemed there was nothing else in this world for him but suffering. And then, it seemed, everything had fallen along with him into a state of nothingness. All that remained was a bright, white light that stood in the center of his consciousness. Seemingly without reason.

And then it grew, pulling every part of him toward it like a menacing black hole. Before it could finish its job, he had felt something, a single point of contact. The only solid thing in a sea of light. The only physical thing in a non-physical world. He clung to the sensation, pulling it toward himself, using it to pull himself upward towards the source. He could already feel the pain rolling towards him harshly, as if to coax him back towards Death.

But he fought anyway. He pulled…

And he awoke with a ragged gasp, body tense and shaking.

*

A serious expression came over Dmitri’s face when he noticed the other man’s spasms. Good. All that the spasms meant to him was that the man would live. That it worked again.

There was a brief moment where his attention became glued to his own hands; as if they were made of gold, of diamond; as if they held the secrets to the universe. Regardless of how many times he'd been through this, it didn't cease to seem like a miracle. But the end-result was always the same: He’d touch the corpse, and life would flow through it again. It hadn’t failed yet, so it couldn’t just be a coincidence. Or rather, it couldn’t be proven wrong yet. He was able to give people a second chance—A chance to do things right the second time around. He had a gift, something that others just didn’t have.

And he couldn’t waste it.

At the shuffling of the man’s body against the dry grass, Dmitri returned from his thoughts and focused on the waking man. Suddenly, he remembered what he should be doing right now. Hey, can you hear me?

The question was met with a momentary silence. Naturally, when faced with silence between himself and a newly-revived-corpse, he took the liberty to pull out his cellphone and call an ambulance. Alive or not, the guy might need an ambulance for those stings before he died again. But he hadn’t gotten to the whole 9-1-1 part before a hand clasped at his arm—making him jump.

After the initial shock of having a dead person grab him by the arm died away, he scanned over the other boy’s form. And from his point of view, the boy seemed… Well, okay wasn’t the best way to put it—But he was breathing.

... Shit, The boy spat, after a long moment.

There was a pause before Dmitri’s laugh broke the silence, "What did you do?"

Of course, he was referring to the welts that still covered his entire body and a decent portion of his face. And he was also referring to how the boy had sunken into himself as he stared up at him.

But there was a moment of silence before he finally spoke. "I... I was hiking—and I swear there were like... A hundred bees—where'd they go?" He asked while cringing back.

"I think they died—after they all stung you." Dmitri said flatly, raising his eyebrows with that hint of 'Isn't that much obvious?'’ in his tone.

Despite the offensive sarcasm, the boy still stared up at Dmitri. He was still dazed, still wondering how the hell he was alive right now.

Oh, he said with a blink. But I'm... I'm allergic to bee stings—are you an EMT?

Looks like you were. He retorted, blue-orbs taking in the various welts on the other man’s skin. It was horrendous. They were swelling up even more than they had before… The poor kid looked terrible. But, no. I'm better than an EMT.

I—I don't understand, He replied, thoroughly lost. He couldn’t have been dead, could he? He didn’t remember any defining moment that would have stood out as death—

You died. Dmitri stated, straightforward and cold, and blunt and careless as one could be when informing someone that they had momentarily passed on.

And in response, the boy just stared at him for a long time, like Dmitri was cruel, or perhaps an idiot. I... What? Then