“Is Olivier available?” Jean said, “I’d like to see him”

Elise glanced at Olivier for answers. Olivier motioned a harsh “NO!” with his arms as he tried to push the bumbling Damien into a hiding spot.

“No,” she said, turning back to Jean, “as I was leaving he became very busy with his patients. I don’t think he wants anymore—”

As she said this, Damien crashed into Olivier’s table and knocked over various dishes and trinkets.

“What was that?” Jean said.

“What was what?” Elise said, “Olivier’s really busy right now, I don’t think it’s a good idea for—”

“What’s he doing?” Jean was looking behind Elise.

Damien stumbled into the space behind Elise, Olivier followed and tried to restrain him.

“Father!” Olivier said, “What an unexpected surprise!”

“What’s going on, Olivier?” Jean said.

“This patient has gone mad! It appears that the plague has that effect on some people!”

“Madness? He looks gray and pale…and I see no signs of plague on him”

“Yes, yes, I have successfully removed the plague from him, but it seems in doing so I have accidentally maddened him”

“You look like you need help restraining him”

Jean walked inside to help control Damien. Upon doing so, Olivier tried to stop him.

“NO,” he said, putting his hand out, “STOP!”

Jean stopped, but so did Damien. Olivier slowly turned to look at Damien, who stood still and quiet in a feral pose. His eyes stayed on Olivier, awaiting his next command.

“Olivier,” Jean said, “what’s happening with your patient?”

“…I think it’s best that you leave,” Olivier said, keeping his eyes on Damien, “I clearly have much work to do”

“Indeed, you do,” Jean left without another word. Elise shut the door behind him and turned to Olivier.

“What is happening!?” she said, “I thought you would bring him back to life!”

“In a manner of speaking,” Olivier said, “I think I did”

He remained locked in sight with Damien, his starred eyes pierced the mask as he slowly approached Damien with overwhelming fascination.

“A revenant,” he said, “through this, I create life”

“This is not what I asked for!” Elise said.

“No, no, of course not,” Olivier turned back to Elise, bringing himself back to reality, “and my work is not done. But think of the implications of this! I am learning just as you are!”

“What value is there in creating mindless husks?”

“The mere fact that I was able to! Life is never truly gone, it’s just waiting to be brought back!”

“What are you saying?”

“That it’s real! Life is eternal, and through Him I can achieve it!”

“You mean through God??”

“Is this not a gift from God?”

Elise gave a confused glare to Olivier, then shifted that glare to Damien.

“What did you do to him?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Olivier said.

“How did you make him stop?”

“Oh, that I wonder as much as you, Madame”

“Do you control him?”

“It may be”

Olivier looked at Damien and pointed to his left without saying a word. Damien walked in that direction until Olivier switched hands to a stop. Damien stopped at his  command.

“Is my husband to be your slave??” Elise said.

“No,” Olivier said, “of course not, this is not what I wanted. I must admit, though, this development is…most fascinating…”

“‘Most fascinating’? Listen to me, Doctor, I want Damien back as he was, as he should be! Not a mindless husk at your service!”

“I will return him to you as such, but I may need more time. Come back in another week, I will see what progress I can make”

Elise started walking towards the door, but stopped to get one last word in.

“Are there others?” she asked.

“Others?” Olivier said.

“Other ‘patients’, hoping to cure death?”

“All who die are my patients, Madame Espoir”

Elise took a moment to think on this before walking out the door without another word.

#

“My, Olivier, a revenant??” Adrien said with a smirk. The two once again met at the apple tree.

“This is a most impressive pace to go at,” he continued.

“Thank you,” Olivier said, “but the revenant, Adrien…”

The two glanced behind them to find Damien bumbling around the garden, occasionally brushing against dead bushes.

“Why does it follow my command?” Olivier asked as he turned back to Adrien.

“Hmm…” Adrien said,  “perhaps a cured patient is incredibly grateful for the medical services provided”

“I find this behavior most intriguing. Though, he is not particularly pleasant to be around”

“Why not?”

“I feel I have no choice but to keep this mask on, even when I sleep. His stench reeks the palace. Speaking of sleep, he doesn’t”

“Doesn’t sleep?”

“A revenant must not need sleep, though he needs much food. Likely overrested and starving, both caused by his time spent dead in my infirmary”

“How long was this one dead?”

They both glanced back at Damien as he continued stumbling and limping like an injured animal.

“A week almost,” Olivier said.

“I supposed I would feel the same way,” Adrien said, “If you want to bring your wife back, remember to stock up on food”

“That’s the next step,” Olivier said as he looked back at Adrien, “But how do I do it?”

“It says in the book I gave you,” Adrien said.

“Right, the book that is unclear in instruction”

“Have you even tried?”

“No, I have only now reanimated a corpse”

“And what will you do with this corpse?”

Olivier looked back at Damien as he mindlessly gnawed at a dead branch.

“I suppose…the nature of this revenant calls for new experiments…I want to see what I can do with such a creature”

“But what of Elise? She seemed to be in such distress over the loss of her husband when I found her. Will you keep that from her?”

“She will have him back, as promised. But perhaps other, older corpses can be experimented on until I perfect a full resurrection”

Adrien grinned.

“An army of undead servants,” he said, “I did not expect such grand ideas from you”

“Just until I can cure them,” Olivier said, “I do not wish to own slaves”

“Of course not, but I encourage you to pursue this endeavour”

“Of the revenants?”

“These creatures fascinate me as they do you. They may serve a purpose yet”

#

Olivier dug his spade into the cemetery dirt under the moonlit night. Damien stood next to him, ready to help when needed. As he shoveled the dirt away, Elise came across him.

“Doctor!” she said, “What are you doing!?”

Olivier shot his head out of the hole to see her, “Elise!” he said, “I’m…finding new patients!”

“New patients!? There are plenty of dead across Caen, why must you stoop to robbing graves!?”

“Look at your husband!”

“I see you insist on bringing him with you! What does he have to do with this!?”

“I want to learn more!”

“More!?”

“About these revenants! Elise, why does your husband do as I say??”

“I wonder the same thing, why does he follow you and not return to me!? Why do you keep him on this chain to be your servant!?”

“Exactly why I am here! I need new bodies to experiment on, but my patients demand results. Older bodies are not as well missed”

“And why must Damien be here?”

“Someone must help me carry this coffin. But when I am done here, I will return your husband to you. I am a man of my word”

Olivier continued digging while Elise maintained a disappointing stare.

“Do you know who this is?” she said.

“No,” Olivier said, “and that’s the point”

Olivier carried the coffin with Damien to the palace, up the stairs, and to the infirmary where he can conduct his experiments the next day. Reversing decay was easy this time because the body had been dead for only a few months. Once again, Olivier reanimated a corpse into a new revenant.

Jean arrived for his owed visit soon after. When he knocked on the door, Olivier was jumpscared and frantically hid the revenants in his garden.

“Father!” Olivier said as he opened the door, “What brings you here today?”

“What I came for earlier, Doctor,” Jean said, “I’ve come for your medical services”

Olivier’s subtle shock peaked through his mask.

“Are you sick?” he said.

“Yes”

#

“Lay in this bed,” Olivier said as they entered the infirmary.

Jean laid down as Olivier rolled out his medicine cart, full of old medicines meant to keep someone alive.

“How long have you had it?” he asked.

“I’ve known for two days now,” Jean said.

“Two days…that’s plenty of time for this pestilence”

“But it’s not too late, not with your care””

“Of course, not!”

Olivier exposed Jean’s bare arm and saw buboes. He opened his jar of starving leeches for the first time in weeks and put one on Jean’s arm.

“We’ll wait for this creature to do its work,” Olivier said, “have you experienced other symptoms?”

“Chills,” Jean said, “general malaise”

“And you feel warm,” Olivier said while feeling his head, “warmer than any man should be”

“Not so bad then?”

“Early stages. You’re lucky”

“I’m glad you think so. Are you so lucky with other patients?”

Olivier stopped at that questions. Other patients were already dead, collected, and experimented on to cure death. Olivier remembered the revenants outside.

“Not so much,” he said, “but you…you may be healthy enough to go back home. But you must stay home, do not perform any church duties, and send for me if symptoms worsen”

“Of course,” Jean said, “but I cannot promise to not do the work God has commanded me to do, just as you do”

#

As Olivier left Jean’s home to which he escorted him, he turned to find Adrien in the open and broad daylight. His feet sunk slightly into the dark, muddy ground where he stood as the corpses of fresh plague victims waiting for disposal surrounded him.

“Adrien!” Olivier said, “Is it not dangerous for you to be here!?”

“Is it true, Doctor?” Adrien asked, “Is the priest sick?”

Olivier noticed glances turning towards them in interest as some overheard the conversation.

“Yes,” Olivier said with a hushed voice, “but I think I can save him. He came to me in the early stages, he is very lucky”

“Did luck have anything to do with it?” Adrien responded, “Or is God sending you a message?”

“What?”

“What methods of treatment are you using?”

“I applied a leech to his arm, and then I sent him home, ordering rest”

“And these methods have worked before?”

“…What are you suggesting?”

“Olivier, you have tried to cure this plague dozens of times, have you not?”

“Of course”

“With these very methods, and you have yourself admitted that they do not work!”

Olivier saw the people around them grow more attentive.

“I may have said that…” he said, “…I have said that…”

“What are you doing?” Adrien said, “Trying to cure this so called ‘bubonic plague’?”

“That is my job, is it not?”

“To cure pestilence. And what is the greatest pestilence of all, the only pestilence in this world that matters?”

Olivier paused  and looked around one more time to see the city quiet and staring, waiting for his answer.

“Death,” he said, “my job is to cure death”

“And you cannot do so if he is alive,” Adrien said, “your patients do not cling to false hope of extended life. They come to you dead, and you cure them”

“Yes, but I have not finished my work, I have only reanimated—”

“THIS MAN CURES DEATH!” Adrien’s voice thundered across the city. He turned and walked into the crowd that was forming around them. The people moved along with Adrien to allow him through. He spoke as he walked:

“This man has unlocked the secrets to life,” he continued, “he can preserve life, extend it, and now he has the power to bring back the ones you love. Friends, family, lovers, even yourself can be cured of the greatest pestilence of all, the only pestilence that matters in this world: death!”

Adrien turned and pointed at Olivier, “follow him, people of Caen,” he continued, “for life is eternal, and through HIM you can achieve it!”

The people turned and stared at Olivier. As they surrounded him, he felt the weight of his new responsibility over him. Life was eternal, it was up to him to achieve it.

“This is him!?” one man yelled, “This is the famous Doctor Pourriture he told me about!?”

“It must be!” another yelled, “Adrien told me all about him!”

“It is him!” one woman yelled, “I sent him my father after he died!”

“I have a sister with him!”

“How do we know it’s real!?”

“Has he actually cured death yet!?”

“He has created life!” A voice called, Elise climbed out of the crowd to reveal herself, “I have seen it myself! My husband, Damien, was taken by plague weeks ago, but now he is a walking corpse! Alive, but as a husk”

“Alive!?”

“But as a husk!” Elise repeated herself.

“I’ll believe that when I see it!”

“Perhaps,” Adrien said loudly, “we can see it with the priest! If Doctor Pourriture can cure him of death, he can cure anyone!”

“Cure the priest!” the statement was chanted by many as Adrien walked deeper and nearly disappeared into the crowd. As he was overwhelmed, Olivier ran after him, mud splattering around him.

“What do you expect me to do!?” Olivier said as he grabbed Adrien by the arm. The chanting quieted down with distance.

“Olivier!” Adrien said, “I just want you to understand where you are! The priest is sick, your newest patient, and he needs you!”

“You said it yourself! My patients come to me already dead, not sick and dying! Jean is still alive, he can make it!”

“I’ve never seen you this sure, not since Marie died!”

“Marie was different!”

“Different from the rest of them?”

“Yes! …No…”

“All the same, Olivier, they’re dead. All of them. And these people, these short-lived people, will die too if you do not commit to helping them, to curing death! The inevitable end to life makes you wonder why one should bother at all? With life, that is. Our brief time on this Earth has me asking that question every single day”

“What does God want with us?” Adrien continued, “Why does He bother creating life just to snuff it out in the time it takes for Him to blink? Look at me, Olivier! I haven’t much life left myself! And now it seems the Lord our God has decided these lives aren’t  good enough, and we need a clean slate as he did with the Great Flood!”

“It’s not right,” Olivier said, “this plague, it has taken so many lives. Is this really what God wants!?”

“We answered this long ago, Doctor”

Olivier was silent for a moment as the crowd caught up to them.

“No,” Olivier said, “the plague is a sign from God, a sign that it is time to cure death”

“Yes,” Adrien grinned, “indeed, very good! Now, don’t worry about the priest, Doctor. He will be fine under your care”

#

In the next few days, Olivier reanimated more corpses as revenants, mainly to show progress to the townspeople. Elise visited him to check his progress. In the palace, new revenants were acting as servants to Olivier.

“You certainly know how to please a crowd,” Elise said, “but I want a dead man brought to life”

“Of course,” Olivier said, “Damien is not yet properly alive. And for that, I apologize”

“Adrien did not make things easier”

“I disagree, he reminded me of my purpose”

“Your purpose?”

“To cure death. If anything, he made it easier. I don’t feel a need to hide anymore, the town is open about it now. No more secrets. Even if Jean finds out, he couldn’t care”

“I still think he would”

“We outnumber him”

“That feels like a threat to his life”

“Since when do we care about such things? Death can be cured, it is temporary, and life is eternal. We know this”

“…When Adrien told you not to worry about the priest, did he mean for you to let him die?”

“Perhaps, but he’s right. The old methods of medicine have failed. The leech I gave him won’t work, neither will my orders of rest even if he follows them to the letter. This medicine is simply not good enough, and God has provided a new one by sending Adrien”

“I do not want people to die, certainly not the priest”

“As do I, but we must accept that his death is inevitable. But now, it does not have to be permanent”

Elise didn’t speak, but her thoughts were clouded with the stench of the death roaming Olivier’s palace.

“I see,” she said as she gagged, “you have new patients around”

“Yes,” Olivier said, “but most of them were reanimated for the sake of showing progress to my work. You are not the only person I do this for”

“Of course, of course…I must ask, Adrien mentioned someone named Marie? Who was she?”

“…Let me show you”

Olivier brought Elise to the closet in which Marie was stored. When he opened the door, Elise repulsed at the sight of her. She was still dead, covered in amber, frozen in place and time. She was as beautiful as she was when she died, but only on the surface. She was empty, emotionless, soulless, and Elise saw this clearly.

“What is this?” Elise said.

“This is Marie,” Olivier said, “my wife…and first patient”

“Is this who you’re doing this for?”

“Yes. I wish to cure her of the pestilence”

“Doctor, how long has she been dead?”

“…I’m not sure anymore. Two weeks? A month, perhaps? It doesn’t matter. I’m close, Elise. I am so close, when I cure your husband you will have him back and be happy again. Then, I can cure Marie. Nobody has to stay dead”

“…Can I see Damien?”

“Of course”

Next, Olivier led Elise to the garden, where Damien was seen limping and stumbling as he always did. He was in the middle of eating Olivier’s apples straight from the tree when they found him.

“Still an animal,” Elise said, “when will he be better?”

“I am so close,” Olivier said, “would you like to be closer to him?”

“…I suppose…”

Olivier motioned for Damien to come to them. Damien dropped his apple mid eating and stumbling over to Elise, groaning and grunting along the way. He stood a mere foot from her. His stench was sickening, his hair was greasy and repugnant, his skin was pale and clinged together, and his eyes were as empty as Marie’s.

“Damien?” Elise said, forcing a slight smile through it all.

Damien did not respond.

“I’m sorry,” Olivier said, “for some reason, he only responds to me”

Elise’s smile dropped back to an authentic, melancholy look.

“Oh,” she said, “right”

“You can go now,”  Olivier said to Damien, “continue as you were”

Damien wandered back to his apple. He slumped over to pick it up, barely able to even achieve this, and he continued eating it.

“I suppose I should let you continue,” Elise said.

“I promise,” Olivier said, “I am so close to bringing them to life”

#

Olivier heard a knock at his door. He sent a revenant to open the door and bring in whoever it was. It was Elise. She entered the infirmary where he was attempting to bring Damien’s soul back.

“Elise!” Olivier said, “What timing! I was just attempting to bring Damien’s soul  back into his body!”

“The priest sent me,” she said.

“…The priest?”

“It’s urgent. He’s dying”

“Then…then I will cure him of death just as I will the others!”

“He wanted to see you before he goes”

Olivier arrived with Elise at Jean’s house. He laid sickly in bed with deep, black buboes covering his entire body.

“Olivier,” Jean said, “I could not be happier to see you”

“Jean,” Olivier said, “don’t worry, I can fix this”

“As Elise tells me, Adrien has filled your head with lies”

“You told him!?”

“He was right!” Elise said, “I saw Damien, I saw your wife, what you’ve done to them both is repugnant beyond words! They will never come back, I wish only to move on now!”

“I had my suspicions myself,” Jean said, “when I first saw Damien”

“Is this why I’m here!?” Olivier said, “To be reprimanded!? I am trying to bring everyone back! This pestilence cannot win!”

“We’ll beat it, Olivier,” Jean said, “but not like this!”

“Look at yourself, Jean! You are sick, dying, barely able to lift your head to speak! The pestilence has claimed you, I am speaking to a dead man!”

Olivier got closer to Jean’s bed.

“What do you want me to do!?” he continued, “What do you expect me to do!? What grand plan does your god have for you only for it to end here!?”

“Olivier,” Jean said through dreaded coughs, “it was never about me. God’s plan isn’t about me, or you, or Marie. It’s about all of us”

“All of us? All of us!? What I do, I do for all of us! You’re right, Jean, it’s not just about me, or you, or Marie, this gift of necromancy he sends me because his plan is for death to be cured!”

“Is that what he told you?”

“That God wants us to have eternal life, and only through me is it achieved!”

“Listen to yourself!” Elise said, “Who are you to decide this!?”

“I am the man who cures death! I am the man who will save us from this pestilence on the world, and all will be happy and healthy! Look at what traditional medicine does, both of you! Look at what it did to Damien! Look at what it did to this city, this continent, and to Marie! These archaic methods are old and only serve a false hope to cling to! I offer something better, I offer the truth!”

“You’ve lost hope,” Jean said, “then why did you start bloodletting when I came to you? Olivier, I know there is good left in you. Your methods could have saved me, but you gave up”

“You still have hope in these provingly false treatments?”

“I never lost hope in you, Olivier”

The door swung open. Adrien arrived with an army of revenants waiting outside of Jean’s house.

“I must say, Father,” he said, “I am inclined to agree! I believe Olivier’s methods will save us all”

“You!” Jean said, “What have you done to our doctor!?”

“A new perspective, Father. Death need not be so inevitable, or at least, not permanent. I was gifted the Testamentum Morte myself, but never had the means of achieving it as Olivier does. You must understand, he is of utmost importance to me”

“You’ve corrupted him! You’ve corrupted this whole city! What have you done with our dead!?”

“What, these? These are the people who will help carry out my goals. The ones who, unfortunately, could not be saved. At least I give them purpose rather than let them waste away in the ground as you would!”

Adrien motioned towards Jean and Elise. One revenant for each person came and seized them and dragged them into the muddy street. Olivier followed. Outside, all of Olivier’s revenants and more surrounded them.

“Adrien,” Olivier said, “you brought an army? To what end?”

“Because, Olivier,” Adrien said, “it’s just as I told you! They do not want you to have her back! They do not want their own loved ones back! They will stab themselves in the back for their ‘greater good’, if it so pleases the Lord!”

Adrien raised his hand in the air and clutched a fist. Olivier watched as Jean and Elise were being slowly choked out.

“Be not afraid!” Adrien said, “You’ll be back…right, Olivier?”

Olivier watched them both slowly turn a pale blue.

“You’ve helped me a great deal,” Adrien continued, “and for that, I brought you another gift!”

From the crowd, Marie emerged. Pale, greasy, and deadeyed as the rest of them, she stumbled towards Olivier to greet him. When she made it to him, her stench pierced through the mask and assaulted him. Jean and Elise grew more blue.

Olivier raised his hand towards Adrien. Marie stumbled over to him and attacked him. More revenants joined in. Adrien escaped the revenants, ran to Olivier, and stabbed him in the chest. While bleeding out, Olivier kept sending more and more husks after Adrien. Eventually, he succumbed to their hunger. Marie raised her head as she gnawed on an arm.

The revenants released Jean and Elise. As they rubbed their necks and gasped for breath, Olivier collapsed. Every heartbeat pulsed blood out of his chest. The two ran to him.

“I’m sorry,” Olivier said, “for all of it. You must destroy it. In the palace, you must destroy the book. Burn it all. Let none learn from me”

Olivier laid to rest for the last time. The revenants collapsed to rest with him. He awoke at the pearly gates of heaven, where Marie was eager to greet him.

#

After Jean’s funeral, Elise visited the palace with a cart full of oil lanterns and a fire striker. She tossed lanterns to various points around the palace, including the garden. The fire quickly consumed the entire property as she circled back around to her cart. She tossed the last lantern high onto the roof and watched it all burn down.

END.