Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 Read online

  At the doorway, the entity grabbed him by the shoulders. The darkness lifted him into the air and hurled him toward the tile floor. With his hand out, Jacob used his skill to slow his momentum. Back on the ground, he made it into the kitchen.

  The entity followed.

  At the corner of the room next to the gas stove, Jacob turned to assess the creature. The entity vibrated and floated up and down. Thousands of tiny string like strands came off its body and into the world. Even as the entity drew into itself, evil power pushed out through those tendrils. If the spirits were ever to be free, Jacob had to cut these tendrils.

  Jacob removed a small propane torch from his fanny pack. Turning on the gas, he lit the torch and moved toward the entity. He aimed the flame toward the thin tendrils of dark power.

  The creature absorbed the hot blue flame and seemed to grow in size.

  Jacob flicked off the gas and retreated to a tight tile lined corner next to the stove.

  His mind whirled. The entity absorbed all energetic intervention. Salt didn’t affect it. Sage smoke blew right through it. Blessed earth had no impact. He opened four vials of holy water and set them on the stove. He tossed the water in the entity’s direction. Like the smoke and salt, the water went right through the vaporous creature.

  The creature laughed at his efforts. He was not the first human being this entity had conquered. This was not the first time someone had attempted to destroy this darkness. A low choking sound vibrated through the walls.

  Standing with his back to the wall, he watched the creature condense into a nightmarish form. Almost serpent, not quite human, the black smoke entity settled in front of him. Pulsing tendrils of power and control came off its torso. Jacob took ear plugs from the fanny pack and stuck them in his ears.

  “Try it now,” Celia said.

  As if he was hitting a racket ball, Jacob hit a vial of holy water with the palm of his hand. The open vial spun across the room flinging water. The holy water dropped on top of it before the creature could disperse. Through the ear plugs, he heard the entity let out a high pitched screech.

  “Salt!” Celia coached.

  Jacob threw a handful of sea salt on the entity. For a fraction of a second, the pulsing tendrils retreated.

  The creature flashed solid with power. Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob saw the spirits of three elderly men appear into the kitchen. The tramps’ spirits showed the marks where a black tendril had been before Delphie had freed them. Enraged, the spirits moved toward the entity. Other spirits appeared.

  Trapped between the enraged spirits and Jacob, the entity attempted to return to its vapor form. Jacob doused it with handfuls of salt and the rest of the holy water. The creature screeched. It rushed toward the spirits but in its weakened state, it was pushed back into the room. Stepping away from the wall, Jacob moved toward the center of the room.

  “NO!” Celia screamed.

  In a flash, the entity consumed Jacob.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday early morning — 1:17 A.M

  .

  Aden ran as fast as his legs would carry him. They’d barreled down from Brighton at over one hundred miles an hour with Jeff’s police cruisers lights wailing. Even with the luxury of a police escort, he might be out of time.

  Sandy had spiked a fever and was…

  He wouldn’t allow his mind to complete the thought. He just had to get there. He ran though the Emergency Room and into the ICU. He passed a stunned looking Tanesha. Heather wept silently in a chair in front of her bed. Jill hovered close.

  Sandy’s mouth was open for the tube that went into her lungs. Her lungs rose and fell with the pressure of the machine. Her long hair was still in the cockeyed braid that Noelle had given her. Her eyes were closed.

  She looked so peaceful and so very dead.

  He grabbed her hand and almost immediately let go. Her hand was cold. Outside of the machine that kept her heart beating, his Sandy was dead.

  “Oh Sandy,” Aden whispered. He fell to his knees by her bed. His face pressed against the blue sheets of her hospital bed. His hands went around her body.

  “I’m very sorry sir,” a doctor with a thick Indian accent said. “We did everything we could do.”

  “How could this happen?” Seth asked.

  “Her fever increased, sir,” the doctor said. “Her kidneys shut down. After that, it was only a matter of time. Her brain, well, baked from the heat. She held on as long as she possibly could. I believe she was waiting for you. But…”

  The doctor shook his head and stuffed his hands in his white medical jacket.

  “We waited to remove her from life support,” the doctor said. “We figured you might want to take the time to attend to this matter.”

  “What did you say?” Seth asked.

  “We don’t expect her child to survive,” the doctor said.

  “Rachel?” Aden looked up from the bed. “But…”

  “Too much infection for such a tiny baby to survive,” the doctor said. “She hasn’t succumbed yet but we expect her to do so within the hour.”

  “No,” Aden sobbed. “How can that be possible? She was doing really well.”

  “Take your time, sir,” the doctor with the Indian accent said. “When you’re ready, we’ll turn off the machine.”

  “Seth?” Aden looked up at Sandy’s only real family.

  “Oh God,” Seth’s eyes seeped with tears. “I… I don’t know how… Oh God, Sandy.”

  “Sandy what? What’s happening?” Gretel asked. “What’s going on?”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Jeff pushed Gretel away from Aden and Seth. “Have a little compassion!”

  “I have compassion. What I don’t have is any idea what’s going on,” Gretel said.

  “Sir?” the doctor asked.

  Aden looked at Seth. Seth nodded. Aden nodded. The nurse began turning off the machines. The heart rate monitor screamed. Overwhelmed with grief, Aden clutched at Sandy’s lifeless body and wept.

  “Aden,” Seth said.

  Seth put his hand on Aden’s back. A nurse came in with the still, lifeless form of Rachel Ann. Seth helped Aden to stand.

  The nurse set his baby girl in his arms. Her tiny face was blue from lack of oxygen. Otherwise she was perfect. This small child, the baby he thought was a boy, was conceived by accident on a fun trip to Mexico after a visit to an ancient fertility shrine. She’d fought her way to be born. She’d fought her way to survive even one day. She was gaining weight. She was getting better.

  But it was all too much for her to endure. Like his Sandy, his soul mate, the love of his life, she was dead. His heart broke into a million pieces. He could hardly take a breath. He leaned down to nuzzle Rachel’s face.

  “This isn’t happening,” Aden whispered. “This can’t be happening.”

  “That’s what I’m saying,” Gretel said.

  Aden kissed Rachel’s face. He laid her next to his beloved Sandy’s body.

  “Seth?” Aden asked. “How did we get here?”

  “Jeff’s cruiser,” Seth said.

  “How did we get out of the mansion?” Aden asked. “Only Jake could get us out of there. Where’s Jacob?”

  He bent down to kiss Sandy’s face. With his eyes closed, he whispered, ‘I love you.’

  “Jacob’s in the mansion,” Seth said.

  “What are you talking about?” Gretel asked. “We’re still in the mansion!”

  “We’re still in the mansion,” Seth said.

  “We’re in the mansion,” Jeff said.

  Aden stroked Rachel’s cheek and kissed Sandy’s forehead. Closing his eyes, he breathed in.

  “I’m still in the mansion,” Aden said.

  When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the salt circle in the haunted mansion in Brighten.

  “God,” Jeff whispered. “That was so real. How did you…?”

  “I don’t know,” Aden said. “It was like a whisper in my brain. ‘This isn’t happening.�
� That’s what it said. ‘This isn’t happening.’ But… I could see it, smell it, and even taste that hospital… whatever.”

  “Horrifying,” Seth said. “This thing is willing to take our love and pervert it. My Sandy’s not dead?”

  “No way to know. Our phones are out. We won’t know until we leave here,” Aden said. “But one thing’s for sure, I’m no psychic.”

  “I’m no psychic,” Seth said. “That’s for sure. Jeff?”

  “Me neither,” Jeff said.

  “It can take our memory, our thoughts, our love and make it into something horrible” Seth said. “Quickly, before it starts again…”

  Seth held out his hands. Gretel and Aden took his hands. Jeff completed the circle.

  “We did this before and…” Jeff said.

  “If I leave here tomorrow…” Aden began singing Leonard Skynard’s Freebird. “Sing. It helped me all those years ago.”

  “Will you still remember me?” Jeff joined Aden.

  “Music,” Seth said. “Occupies the mind and senses. Good thinking.”

  “For I must be traveling on now…” Gretel, Jeff and Aden sang.

  “But…” Seth started.

  “Sing!” Aden commanded.

  “There’s too many places I’ve got to see…” Seth joined in.

  In the horrifying dark, they belted out Freebird at the top of their lungs.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday early morning — 1:27 A.M.

  Like a thick blanket, the dark descended around Jacob. Everything light extinguished from his world. The horror and perversion of a thousand malevolent voices penetrated his mind. He collapsed to his knees.

  Every horror flashed through his mind. Loving memory twisted with hate. Jill’s kind face contorted with hate when she looked at him. Before his eyes, precious Katy was hit by a bus. Her body dragged under the bus for a block until the wheels finally came to rest on her head. Valerie refused to even look at a ‘loser like him’. His mother despised the man he’d become. Delphie laughed at him behind his back.

  His worst fear had come true.

  He was alone and unloved. He couldn’t protect the ones he loved most. He’d lost everything that mattered to him. His mind spun tale after horrifying tale.

  Rage boiled in his blood. How could this happen? How could they do this to him? How could they betray him like this? His shoulders collapsed forward in defeat.

  He would have to die. They would have to die. Death was the only option, the only release from this tremendous pain.

  Out of habit more than anything else, his right hand touched the tungsten wedding band Jill had slipped on his hand.

  “We give you this ring as a symbol of our love for you,” Jill and Katy’s voice broke through the dark cloud. “As it circles your finger, let it always remind you of our eternal love, surrounding and enfolding you day and night.”

  The entity’s dark pressure increased around him.

  “Katy and I are here,” He heard Jill’s voice.

  “Jill,” he whispered. “Katy.”

  “Mom, Steve, Candy and Meg are here to help. We’re sending healing love to you. Val and Mike are on their way to get you. I know you can hear me.”

  “And Daddy?” Katy’s voice was clear as a bell. “Don’t forget.”

  “Salt then blue fire,” Jill said.

  “NOW!” Jacob heard a chorus of voices – Jill’s, her brothers’ and sisters’, her mother’s clear Russian accent, Celia’s voice, as well as the voices of the long forgotten dead.

  Deep inside the entity, Jacob threw a handful of salt. Because the creature wasn’t in its diffuse form, the salt burned the entity from the inside. It screamed with rage. Moving quickly, Jacob’s fingers flew in practiced motion to light the propane torch. The blue flame continued what the salt had started.

  Recoiling from around Jacob, the creature let out a bone chilling screech. It pulled all of its darkness with it itself, then expanded again. Jacob met it with another handful of salt and the torch. The creature recoiled.

  It condensed into the serpent, human form.

  Spinning in place, the entity ran from the kitchen. Jacob followed in close pursuit. Tiny broken tendrils flew behind the creature. The creature flew through the Mansion’s back wall into the dark night. Jacob crashed through the back door.

  He followed the entity across the dry land and up the hill toward the large pole barn. The entity flew around the barn to an open area behind the barn’s entrance. It gave Jacob one last look before seeping into the earth.

  Jacob skidded to a stop. The apparition of an ancient shaman appeared before him.

  “Go back. Send the others home,” the shaman said.

  “But…”

  “We will stand guard,” the shaman said.

  A host of twenty shaman apparitions appeared around him. With a nod, Jacob turned and ran back toward the house. From his vantage point on the hill, he saw Valerie’s aged Mustang turn into the driveway. Valerie and Mike were here. He ran into the house and down the hallway. Sliding open the doors to the great room, he had to laugh.

  Delphie was standing in the middle of a sea of apparitions. The ghosts were talking all at once. Hearing the doors, Delphie turned toward him.

  “It’s time,” she said.

  He nodded and opened a spirit door. Like the afternoon sun on a summer day, a glorious golden light filled the room. The spirits flew toward the other side where their loved ones waited for them. The room began to clear. When the last of the children had retreated, one of the mothers came to thank them.

  “We’ve been trapped here since getting sick,” she said. “Bless you for rescuing us.”

  With a soft smile, she followed her children. Delphie positively beamed.

  “It feels really good to help them,” Delphie said.

  “Yeah,” Jacob nodded.

  The seam began to slowly close.

  “Shall we…?” Delphie started.

  Delphie turned toward the door and stopped walking. A male and a female apparition floated near the door. They looked like they were teenagers. They wore bellbottoms and sported long hair of the 1970s.

  “If you hurry, you can still…” Jacob said.

  “We need to talk to Gary,” the girl said.

  “Who?” Jacob asked.

  “Aden,” Delphie said.

  “Aden?” Jacob asked.

  “He lived here,” the boy said. “We know him. We…”

  “You’re the lovers,” Delphie gasped. “Jacob, this is the couple from under the Castle.”

  “We need to talk to Gary,” the girl repeated.

  “Why?” Jacob asked.

  “He will know,” the boy said.

  “He will know,” the girl said.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY-SIX

  The day after

  Monday early morning — 2:25 A.M.

  “He’s going down!”

  Valerie screamed from her perch in the parking area where a somewhat hostile uniformed police officer had instructed her and Mike to stand. She took off toward the haunted mansion. She wove her way through the sea of Kevlar wrapped police officers and forensic people descending on the mansion’s main entrance. Tiny in comparison to the officers, she made little progress.

  Mike barreled through the crowd. Trampling and pushing people out of the way, he got to Jacob before he hit the ground. He grabbed Jacob and threw him over his shoulder.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” a Colorado Bureau of Investigations agent asked. “I was talking to him.”

  “You can talk to him later,” Mike said.

  Out of breath, Valerie finally reached them.

  “Please,” Valerie said. “My brother is ill. He’s not leaving town. You can interview him later, when he’s better.”

  “I can easily arrest him if I…” the agent said. “You’re Valerie Lipson.”

  “I am,” Valerie said. “This is my little brother, Jacob.”

  “Let them go,�
�� Seth said. “I know where to find him.”

  “But…”

  “O’Malley’s the boss,” the CBI Agent in charge said on his way toward the house. “Do as he says.”

  “Take him home,” Seth said. “He did amazing things tonight.”

  Mike nodded. He took Valerie’s hand and dragged her through the crowd of officers. At the car, she opened her passenger door and put the seat down. Mike laid Jacob in the back seat. Valerie jumped in and Mike sprayed gravel down the driveway.

  “What do we do?” Valerie asked. “He can’t drink this water if he’s passed out. Should we take him to the hospital?”

  “They don’t have cures for evil spirit soul invasion at the hospital,” Mike said. “Let’s get away from the place and see what I can do. I’m not as strong as Jill but…”

  Jacob groaned. Valerie shook his shoulder.

  “Wake up Jake,” Valerie said.

  “I’m awake,” he said.

  “Then drink this.” Valerie thrust a bottle of water into his hands. “Do it now.”

  “I don’t want to,” he said.

  Valerie climbed into the back seat. She only had a second before he could over power her. She plugged his nose and poured the water into his mouth. He coughed, sputtered then sat up. Seeing her stern look, he knew better than to protest.

  “Why am I drinking this?” he asked.

  “Because you promised you would when you came up here,” Valerie said. “Do it.”

  His face twisted into a sneer but he drank the rest of the water.

  “Oh God, pull over,” Jacob said.

  Mike pulled the Mustang to the curb. Jacob flew out of the car and threw up. Valerie rubbed his back until he was done. Mike gave him a hand towel. Valerie held out another bottle of water.

  “What is all of this?” Jacob asked.

  “Drink it and we’ll tell you,” Mike said.

  He put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. Jacob screamed.