In the Forest of Light and Dark

by Kasniak, Mark

  The black cat—Midnight—stood up from her spot perched atop my grandmother’s headstone and let out a powerful meow as I approached. Katelyn then having been startled spun around to see me standing there behind her.

  As her eyes bulged at the sight of me she asked me right away. “Cera, what are you doing here?”

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I sternly shot back at her. “And what the hell are you doing to my grandmother’s grave?”

  “Your grandmother’s grave?” Katelyn then asked sounding confused. “What do you mean your grandmother’s grave?”

  “That’s my grandmother’s grave you’ve been bleedin’ all over!” I snapped gruffly as I pointed my outstretched finger at the newly erected headstone. Midnight then let out another meow and jumped down from the headstone to begin circling me and rubbing up against my legs like she seemed to like to do.

  “You said your last name was, Singer.” Katelyn then said still looking perplexed.

  “It is.” I answered, stepping towards her as if asserting my dominance. I had become quickly bad-tempered by this point and ready to defend my family’s final resting place. “Singer is my step daddy’s last name. My mama’s is Barrett. Lyanna Barrett is my grandmother. All of these graves down here belong to members of my family.”

  “You’re freaking kidding me, right? You’re a Barrett?” Katelyn then asked me sounding flabbergasted. As if she was completely taken aback by my revelation.

  “Yeah… Yeah, I am.” I reiterated forcefully.

  “No wonders everyone in the village...” she then began, but stopped speaking mid-sentence to just stare at me.

  “No wonders everyone in the village, what?” I asked her forcefully as if demanding her to answer me. But she just continued to look at me, staring.

  After a few moments had passed. I began to think that Katelyn was going to remain taciturn forever. As if someone had placed a hex on her ability to speak. But then, I came to the understanding that Katelyn wasn’t even staring at me any longer, but beyond me. And then the reason she had suddenly become so quiet became apparent. When the cacophony of an infinite number of cats behind me started meowing in unison of their own feline expression. I turned around to see them all over the place just like they had done before. But this time they weren’t scattered about and ducking behind the headstones. Like they’d done the last time I was here with my mama and step daddy. This time they all showed themselves behind me and were facing Katelyn like they were my own private Calvary backing me up.

  Katelyn slowly stepped forward, and the cats began to grow louder as more-and-more of them started to shuffle in from in and around the graves and over-grown hillside.

  Midnight still at my feet mewed again and began rubbing herself even more vigorously against my legs while pawing at me. I bent down to pick her up. Holding her opposite the sleeping kitten in my other arm. The rest of the cats stayed behind me still riled up and meowing in an almost perfect harmony.

  “They’re protecting you.” Katelyn said, giving me that mischievous smile of hers. “They know who you are. They know you’re a Barrett.”

  “What are you talking about?” I responded dismissively. “They’re just a bunch of stray cats. They live here in the cemetery. The place is probably full of mice. They did the exact same thing to me and my mama and step daddy the last time we were here too.”

  “No, they know who you are.” Katelyn reiterated. “They know what blood flows through your veins.” She then turned to nod her head towards my grandmother’s grave.

  “You still haven’t told me what it is you’re doing down here?” I then asked her trying to put the conversation back on her and not me. “What were you doing to my grandmother’s grave with your blood? What were you saying?”

  “Relax, Cera. I didn’t mean your grandmother or her grave any harm. She was a friend of mine.”

  “Friends, huh... What kind of friends?”

  Katelyn then said to me speaking very slowly. “Now, don’t take this the wrong way, Cera. But your Grandmother Lyanna had been a witch just like me.”

  “No! She wasn’t.” I said curtly letting her have it. “There’s no such thing as witches. You people in this village are all fuckin’ nuts with this crap!” As I shouted this at Katelyn. I remembered for a moment that it had seemed like the sky suddenly grew dark. Like it was going to clabber up and squirt all over us.

  “I’m afraid she was, Cera.” Katelyn obstinately said to me in response as she slowly took a few more steps towards me. “And, a powerful witch too. She taught me everything I know. And she was the only one in this village who could keep Abellona Abbott at bay all these years. She protected this village from her. Your grandmother is the only reason any of these people is alive today.”

  “What the hell are you talkin’ about?” I asked again. Surely sounding contemptuous. But before Katelyn could even answer I went on. “Abellona is just some poor girl who the sick assholes around here murdered because they were such ignorant douche bags. She was never a witch. There is no such thing as witchcraft. There is no curse on the heads of the children in this village. And, my grandmother was never a witch either, and neither are you.”

  “Abellona Abbott is real, Cera.” Katelyn continued on. Now using a softer tone as if to try to mollify me. “She has done horribly wicked things to this village over almost the past three centuries. Horribly Wicked Things! She has a grudge against your family. A vendetta. And she won’t stop until you’re either all dead or have left this village permanently. She’ll continue to kill off the children of Mount Harrison until none of them are left, and then she’ll go to work on all the adults who remain here. It’s her way of strong-arming the people of this village into driving you Barretts out, or even exterminating your family altogether.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” I said having felt completely incredulous to what she’d just told me.

  “Is it ridiculous? You’ve heard of what happened to the Mather family, right?” Katelyn then asked quizzically. As if she was planning to tie what had happened to that mother and her poor four children to Abellona. And then she did. “They lived just a couple of blocks over from your Grandmother Lyanna’s house. Or, should I say your house now? Anyways, three little boys, Keith, Michael, and Aaron all killed in that car accident the other night during that bad storm. They died along with their little sister Miranda, only four-years-old. But their mother survived the crash with only superficial wounds. Why do you think that is?”

  “I don’t know?” I said sarcastically. “These things just happen.”

  “No, they don’t. Not here.” Katelyn said in response and then began looking across the creek at the forest beyond as if she could see something in it. Something hiding among the trees that she could sense watching us. “These things don’t just happen here because of some kind of coincidence. These things are far too numerous an occurrence around here. Abellona let Stacy Mather, the mother of those children live because that’s her way of punishing the people of this village for what they did to her. She wants the people of Mount Harrison to suffer dearly. Suffer before she ultimately kills them and takes their souls.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s a good story an-all, but it’s a little far-fetched for this Southern girl.” I said blowing Katelyn off. “Now if you would’ve told me a story about a swamp ape killin’ your goats or the Chupacabra stealin’ your chickens, you might’ve had me. But, a mountain witch killin’ all the kids in this village because she’s pissed off at my family for some reason. Not to mention my grandmother being the good witch of the North, and you being a witch too. Oh, and better not forget that the villagers are planning to mob together with a two hundred eighty some-odd-year-old dead girl to try to evict me and my family out of our new home... Well, I think I’ve heard about enough.”

  “It’s true, Cera.” Katelyn pleaded, trying to convince me. “Why do you think you have such a hard time making friends here? Not just with people like Keri Mahan, Hallie Dune, and La
urie Altman, but I’m sure with everyone you’ve met here so far other than me. And it’s not just you, is it? Your mama’s been having a hard time here too, hasn’t she?”

  “Well, I don’t see you with many friends, now do I?” I abruptly shot back at her.

  “No, you don’t. And, you won’t either. I like you, am in Abellona’s crosshairs. I was friends with your Grandmother Lyanna. I was what you might call an apprentice to her. But I’ll never have the power she had. The gift was never given to me. Never endowed to my family like it was with yours. At best all I can do is take advantage of the knowledge your grandmother was gracious enough to bestow upon me and use it to protect myself and those around me. Even then I don’t know if it will do me any good. But it’s kept me from becoming one of them so far.” Then, just when Katelyn had finished speaking. She pointed to the cats still congregated behind me. Who by now had quieted down. Many having gone to sleep.

  “What, the cats.” I said, giving her a queer look as if she was crazy. “Don’t tell me that you can become a cat now?”

  “No. I can’t turn myself into a cat, Cera.” she said now being dismissive to me. “But haven’t you realized the correlation between the amount of children that have died here over the years and the amount of stray cats Mount Harrison has? Just look, there’s like five hundred or so that are sitting behind you?”

  “So, what... In each of these cats is the trapped soul of a dead child Abellona has killed? You really are a whack-a-doodle aren’t you, Katelyn?” I asked her mockingly.

  “It’s no joke, Cera.” Katelyn protested, taking on a serious tone. “When Abellona cursed this village, she said that she would come for the villagers children’s souls. But she has no place to hold them after she’s destroyed their earthly bodies. So, she keeps their souls imprisoned in the bodies of these cats.”

  “Yeah, okay, whatever, Katelyn.” I said again mocking.

  “Why do you think there’s so many of them? Why do you think they all hang out here in a graveyard? What do you think the reason is they don’t die?” Katelyn asked me in rapid fire, and I thought she sounded like she was starting to get frustrated.

  “Of course they die. Everything dies.” I responded.

  “With all the cats that this village has. Have you yet to see a single one lying dead on the side of the road? Have you seen a single one dead, anywhere? Go ahead and kill one if you don’t believe me? Spike that little one you’re holding like a football. It won’t stay dead. It will be back tomorrow just like all the others. In the past the village has tried to reduce their numbers by hiring exterminators to kill’em off, but it didn’t work. They’d always come back. So, eventually the village council just stopped trying.” Katelyn then took several deep breaths while looking around at all the cats. Then, she glanced at the forest before speaking again. During which time I just watched her not having anything else to say. She then said to me sounding sincere, “Look, you don’t have to believe me right now. I know how I must sound. But, when you’re ready. I have somebody I’d like for you to meet, okay? I won’t bring any of this up again until you’re ready to know the truth, okay?”

  “Okay, fine.” I then assented telling her, “When I go crazy. I’ll come lookin’ for you, and you can then fill me in on the benefits package.”

  “Deal,” she said and then flipped the conversation by asking, “So, who do you have here anyway? Let me see this little Guy.” She then reached out to take the tiny sleeping kitten from my arms. But before I gave him up I asked her, “Wait, you’re not going to break his neck just to try to prove a point to me that these are zombie cats, are you?”

  “No... I would never.” Katelyn then said letting out a small laugh that was soft and almost motherly in a weird sense. “I would never hurt any of these cats, especially this little guy.” She then added as she started to pet the kitten slowly atop his little white head with her index finger. I then handed him fully over to her and set Midnight back on the ground before we began walking together back up the winding pathway that led through the towering willows on its way up the hill.

  As we ascended. The rest of the cats began breaking up and dissipating. By the time we’d gotten to the top of the hill. None could be seen any longer.

  “That’s a nice stone your mama picked out for Lyanna.” Katelyn said as we walked down one of the rows of graves. She then followed that up with, “She really likes it.”

  “Oh, is that what she said?” I said back to her once again sarcastically mocking her. “Well, I’m glad she likes it.” Katelyn then just smiled at me as she continued to stroke the kitten’s head. We then finished our walk together out of the cemetery in silence.

  After we had left the cemetery. I had decided to stop back at my house so I could set up a box in the garage for the kitten, fully equipped with milk, food, and a warm blanket. I didn’t think it would be a good idea for him to tag along with us all day, and I just didn’t want to let him go either. Having to make it all on his own there in the cemetery. He was really small. Even for a kitten, and I thought he may have been just born a day or two ago. I also knew that there was no doubt that a kitten that small should still be with its mama. But, like an idiot. I hadn’t thought much about that when I’d first found him. Now that I had, I really hoped that his mama wasn’t anywhere nearby hiding from me when I’d picked him up and walked off with him. The very thought of kitten-napping him made me feel like crap.

  After we had gotten back to my house. Before coming inside. Katelyn decided that she should bless the house and put some of her voodoo, hokum nonsense on it. So that way Abellona Abbott wouldn’t come for me and my mama in the middle of the night. It wasn’t hurting anything. So, I figured what the hell and just went ahead and let her have her fun.

  After the blessing. We entered the house through the kitchen and that’s when I had told Katelyn that I would be right back. I was going to go down into the basement to see if there were any of the old boxes that we’d used during our move still left down there.

  When I got down into the cellar. I looked around for a bit and found that I was in luck. In the far corner of the basement. I came across the perfect size box that I could use to house the kitten in for a while. The box, was presently being filled with my Step Daddy Cade’s old skin magazines. Which I quickly discarded before stealing it. Screw his smut.

  When I got back up to the first floor of the house. Katelyn was no longer in the kitchen where I’d left her though. So I went off in search of her. I ended up finding her in one of the two living rooms. (It was the one which contained all the pictures of my Grandmother Lyanna and her friends.) She was just standing there unmoving, still with the kitten held snugly to her chest with one hand. The other now holding a picture frame she pulled from atop a piece of furniture.

  She hadn’t noticed me come up behind her, and instead of making my presence known by asking her what it was she was doing. I just walked up to her as surreptitiously as I could because I was curious to see which of the room’s pictures she held in her hand. To my surprise it was a photo of her and my grandmother. Up until that point I had thought that I had seen every photo in that room already. Every photo in the entire house for that matter, at least ten times, and yet, I hadn’t seen this one.

  In the photo, Katelyn and my grandmother stood next to each other in what looked like the backyard, each of them holding dream catchers. My Grandmother Lyanna was smiling while looking down at Katelyn like she was her granddaughter and not me. It had caused me to think of all the memories I had lost having never met her.

  Would we have had a lot in common and been close with one another like she seemed to have been with Katelyn in the photo? I thought sadly. Then, I thought. What if Katelyn was actually telling me the truth about my grandmother really being a witch? Would she have taught me everything she knew about the craft like Katelyn had said she had taught her?

  Just then Katelyn saw me standing there just behind her, but she didn’t say anything about my presence.


  “So, you did know my grandmother?” I asked.

  “Yeah, this was from a couple of summers ago just before your grandmother stopped leaving her house.”

  “She seems happy in that photo, like you two were grandmother and granddaughter.” I said, feeling a tinge of envy.

  “I think she had liked to think of me that way. As a granddaughter.” Katelyn then said with a warm smile having taken over her face as she continued to reminisce about her time spent with my grandmother. “She didn’t allow a lot of people to come visit her in the last couple of years of her life, but she always welcomed me though. And, she used to talk about you all the time. Did you know that?”

  “Oh, yeah... What kind of things did she say about me?” I asked, feeling a sense of gladness that my grandmother hadn’t just forgotten about me having been born.

  “Oh, she used to talk about how you were growing up to raise hell in Alabama for one thing, and she used to talk about how beautiful you were. You know your mom used to send your grandmother letters a couple of times each year telling her all about how you and she were doing?”

  “I didn’t know that.” I said, feeling a sense of shock and yet wonder over the fact that my mama had kept up a relationship with my grandmother over the years. She had never let on to it.

  “Yeah, your mother used to send your grandmother pictures of you too. You were such a cute baby.” Katelyn then teased, trying to embarrass me.

  “What? Get out of here... She did not.” I told her actually feeling a little embarrassed for not having known any of this.