Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5

by Claudia Hall Christian

  ~~~~~~~~

  Tuesday night — 8:55 P.M.

  “Where’s Honey?” MJ caught Jacob in the Castle driveway.

  “I thought she was with you,” Jacob said.

  “She got a call! From you!” MJ’s voiced bordered on hysterical. “You told her to meet you at the salon. You were regrouping there!”

  Jacob spun in place and jogged back to his Lipson Construction truck. At the truck, he yelled for Aden and ran to the truck. Jacob started the truck.

  “What?” MJ asked.

  “We’re regrouping here,” Jacob yelled and drove the truck out of the parking lot. Driving Celia’s Mercedes Benz sedan, Delphie pulled into the parking lot.

  “Would you like to come with me?” Delphie asked. “Hurry now, the police, FBI and other folks are going to be here in a second. We’ll be stuck.”

  MJ jogged around the vehicle and got into the passenger seat. She peeled out of the parking lot and turned toward the salon.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Tuesday night — 8:55 P.M.

  “BANG!”

  Valerie stopped singing. That was a gun shot.

  “BANG!”

  She dropped the pan of pizza rolls on the counter and ran to the front room. She recoiled in horror at the sight of Honey’s empty wheelchair.

  “Honey?”

  Hearing movement downstairs, she went to her purse and pulled out her collapsible baton. She poked her head in the basement.

  “Honey?”

  She flipped on the basement light.

  And saw the children surrounding Saint Jude.

  “Valerie! Run!” Honey yelled.

  “Let her go, shithead!” Valerie yelled. She ran down the stairs. With a flick of her hand, she unfolded her baton. “I said leave her alone.”

  Saint Jude, and the evil creature inside him, laughed at Valerie.

  And Valerie struck.

  After six months of martial arts Eskima training, and three months of filming, Valerie attacked with everything she’d learned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Charlie, Nash and Teddy surround to help. Using her baton, she smacked Saint Jude’s left leg out from under him. She continued her swing and attacked his left wrist. His wrist broke with a satisfying pop and he let go of Honey.

  Sissy grabbed Honey before she hit the ground. They landed together in a heap. Scooting on her rear end, Sissy pulled herself and Honey into a safe, dark corner of the salon basement.

  Before Saint Jude could right himself, Charlie, Teddy and Nash were on him. Saint Jude and the creature easily repelled them. Valerie watched in horror as Saint Jude’s wrist and leg healed in front of her.

  “Nash! Noelle! Join me!” Valerie called.

  Noelle and Nash ran to her side. Valerie collapsed the baton and tucked it into her pants pocket. She gave them ear plugs.

  “Remember what Delphie told us,” Valerie whispered. “Like in Harry Potter.”

  Nash and Noelle nodded to Valerie. Noelle pushed up her shirt sleeves. When they’d put in the ear plugs in, Valerie took their hands.

  “You want us,” Valerie said.

  Saint Jude spun away from Charlie and Teddy. His face brightened.

  “You want me,” Valerie said. “I know you do.”

  “I’ve been looking for you for a long time,” Saint Jude said.

  “You’d be surprised at how many people say that to me,” Valerie said.

  Noelle, Nash and Valerie began to pulse with white light. Saint Jude beamed at their brilliance. He began walking toward them.

  “Ready?” Valerie whispered. “Remember he’ll feel it through his clothing.”

  “We’re ready,” Nash said.

  The children and Valerie ran forward with their palms out. They placed their hands on Saint Jude. Valerie pressed her hands against his face. Noelle pressed her hands against his arm and Nash pushed against his legs.

  Their pulsing bright light encompassed Saint Jude.

  The creature screeched. Protected by the ear plugs, Nash and Noelle held on.

  The creature screeched again.

  “Hit him NOW!” Valerie screamed.

  Charlie, Teddy and Pete’s kids attacked Saint Jude. Weakened by their touch, Saint Jude’s knees crumpled. Valerie, Noelle and Nash pressed their hands against his torso and neck.

  The creature had enough.

  As if sloughing off a dead skin, the monster slithered out of Saint Jude and took to the air. Saint Jude collapsed and fell against the brick side wall.

  Not quite the size of the creature in Brighton and lighter in color, this evil slate gray colored twin flew under the basement’s ten foot ceiling. The children ducked when it flew over their heads. Charlie tackled Nash and Noelle to protect them. Valerie stood like a pillar of light.

  “Holy Crap!” Sandy said from the top of the stairs. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “It’s a female like the creature in Brighton,” Jill said. “Go”

  Jill nudged Sandy down the stairs. Heather, with Mack strapped to her back, followed Sandy. Tanesha stopped to collapse Honey’s wheelchair before taking it down the stairs with her. The yellow lab, Sarah, and Jill’s dog Scooter went down the stairs with Katy. Jill was about to go when she saw a figure outside the window. She ran to let him in.

  “Good,” Jill said to Tanesha’s boyfriend, Dr. Cam Morgan. “We’re all here.”

  “I saw Tanesha come in here and I…” Cam looked out over the basement. The creature was flying just over the children’s and Valerie’s head. “That’s a new one.”

  “It’s up to us now,” Jill said. “If we don’t kill this thing, it will take another host.”

  Cam looked deep into her eyes then nodded. They took off down the stairs.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FIFTY-ONE

  He’s alive

  After what felt like a lifetime of wandering in the fog, Seth found himself walking across the meadow in City Park. The day was hot and the sun was warm on his tanned back. He wore his summer uniform – no shirt, no shoes and cut off pants. Carrying homemade fishing poles and a can of fresh caught worms, his older brother, Saul, walked beside him. His younger brother, Silas, trotted along on the other side.

  They were going fishing in the big lake. His older brother’s voice filled the air with the number of fish they were going to catch and how he was going to ‘fry them up in a pan.’ Seth couldn’t help but smile. There was nothing better than being with his brothers in the middle of a warm summer day. They reached the big lake and found a wide tree to sit under. They put the worms on their hooks and cast out on the grey-green water. Like the men around them, they leaned back to on their hands to watch the water and the bright blue sky.

  Seth knew the exact moment in time he’d returned to.

  His younger brother’s high pitched laugh made Seth turned to gaze at his face. It would be twenty or more years before the horrible purple sarcoma would literally choke the breath out of Silas. Silas would be one of the first casualties of the AIDS virus that would go on to decimate entire neighborhoods in Denver. Unable to stop himself, Seth touched Silas’s fresh, clear eight year old face. In Silas’s bright eyes, he saw only younger brother adoration for Seth.

  “Hey look!” Saul said.

  Seth’s attention turned to his older brother. Twelve years old, Saul was ready for any adventure. As a young child, Seth had watched Saul’s wild streak lead to broken bones, skinned knees, and outrageous adventure. Sitting on the side of the lake, he couldn’t conceive that his brave brother would die on a peak in Laos only eight short years later. Saul hooted at his triumph over the catching a fish in City Park’s Big Lake. He gave a theatrical bow to Seth and Silas’s applause.

  The boys laughed and enjoyed the day. They couldn’t know that this would be the last time they would fish at the Big Lake. In an hour or so, they would return home to find their father waiting for them. Seth’s bags, and future, were packed for Eastman College. While his brothers’ wailed and his mother argued, his father dr
agged Seth to the bus station and put him on a bus bound for New York. By the time he’d returned, Saul was a sixteen year old jock with no time for his beatnik brother and Silas had retreated into despair over his sexuality. In this moment, the boys had no idea their lives would change so radically, so quickly.

  At this moment, everything was perfect. Seth wiped a furtive tear from his eye.

  “Don’t be sad, Seth,” Silas said. “We’ve waited for you for a long time.”

  “There’s nowhere we have to go this time,” Saul said.

  “Let’s fish,” Silas said.

  Seth threw his line into the water and leaned back.

  This moment was perfect.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Tuesday night — 9:15 P.M.

  “Captain Ferguson please.” Talking on Nelson’s phone, Ava turned to look out into the lab.

  “This is Captain Ferguson,” Ferg said. “Who might I be speaking to?’

  “Technician Alvin,” Ava said.

  “Ava! How are you holding up?” Ferg asked. “You know, I’ve know Magic O’Malley a long time and there’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to pull through.”

  “My lab is hoping to speed up that journey,” Ava said.

  “God, you do have a great voice. Seth said it was deep and sexy but it’s gorgeous,” Ferg said.

  Ava laughed.

  “You know I didn’t mean anything inappropriate by that,” Ferg said.

  “I know,” Ava said.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “We’ve been going over the diagrams of the apparatus used in the other First Responder Toxin Incidents,” Ava said. “Have you been able to collect the one Saint Jude used?”

  “Not really,” Ferg said. “SWAT destroyed it. Why?”

  “The diagrams for the other apparatus show a container with the toxin in it,” Ava said. “Did you find anything like that?”

  “Lemme check,” Ferg said.

  The line went quiet. Ava turned around to at Nelson. He mouthed ‘Worth a try.’

  “Ok,” Ferg said. “They found a tub filled with the wood stakes. Looks like the bastard was ready to kill the entire city of Denver. You want these?”

  “I’ll take them,” Ava said. “But we were hoping for some of the toxin without the wood. The wood seems to be pressure treated with creosote. It dominates our samples, even with the spect.”

  “Can’t make the anti-toxin?”

  “We’d have a better chance if we had a clean sample,” Ava said. “We have one coming from Geneva, but they won’t be here until morning. I was hoping…”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Ferg said. “Hang on.”

  The line went dead.

  “They don’t have it,” Ava said to Nelson. “I ordered nuclear imaging on what we have. We might be able to see the creosote separate from the toxin. We’ll have that in an hour or so. But…”

  “Got it,” Ferg said. “They just found a tub of the stuff or they think it’s the stuff. But get this, they also found the chemicals he used to make that junk with.”

  “Why would he leave that?” Ava said. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “He set explosives,” Ferg said. “He was planning to blow up the place.”

  “What?”

  “O’Malley’s magic, my dear,” Ferg said. “Jude wired the explosives into the damn grid. When the SWAT team blew the apparatus, they blew out the electrical lines. No power, no bomb.”

  “Wow,” Ava said.

  “I’m going to send this straight to your team. But you’ve got to be meticulous about chain of custody,” Ferg said. “If you don’t, we’ll be screwed at trial.”

  “Got it,” Ava said. “Thanks.”

  “Hey, your Dad’s been here,” Ferg said. “He says he’s looking for you. We don’t know what he’s doing but he’s sniffing around. The Chief says he’s going to hold a press conference. State Attorney Alvin believes Seth screwed the pooch and let Saint Jude go. He’s going to fry him.”

  “I’ll call my father,” Ava said.

  “I don’t want to put more pressure on you and your team, Amelie,” Ferg said. “But it’s not just these guys’ lives on the line now. If Saint Jude’s really gone, it’s going to rain shit on all of us.”

  “Guess we better get to work,” Ava said.

  “Good girl,” Ferg said. “Better send someone to the door ‘cuz your toxin and the chemicals are going to be there in three minutes.”

  “Go,” Ava said to Nelson.

  Nelson jogged out of the lab and up the stairs to the street entrance.

  “Thanks Ferg,” Ava said.

  “Any time,” Ferg hung up the phone.

  One step closer to saving Seth and the other men. Ava smiled and went to greet the uniformed officers.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Tuesday night — 9:15 P.M.

  Jill stopped on the stairwell to assess the situation. The children were scattered around the basement. Cam went to check on Honey and help Tanesha get her into her wheelchair. Sandy was hugging Charlie for saving Nash and Noelle. She hugged Nash and Noelle and turned to hug Sissy. Pete and Molly’s children were hugging each other in fear. The creature landed in front of Valerie. Valerie had expanded her baton and was ready to fight the beast. The dogs were milling around their families. Valerie struck at the entity and it took flight.

  “Where’s Rachel?” Sandy asked Charlie.

  Charlie pointed to the hidden space. Buster gave a bark and Sandy ran to get Rachel from her hiding space.

  “Sarah! Buster! Scooter!” Jill yelled. “Surround!”

  The dogs rushed at the slate-grey creature. Landing, the monster pulled her wings back and screeched with rage at the dogs. Undeterred, the dogs surrounded the brute. Working as a pack, one dog nipped the creature while the others barked and snarled. They moved the fiend away from Valerie.

  The creature swiped at Scooter and he fell onto his side. Scooter yelped with pain. Leaning its head forward, the creature’s opened her mouth exposing her razor sharp teeth. Before it could swallow Scooter whole, Sarah bit the winged beast’s leg. The miscreation raised its face to the sky and screamed with rage.

  When Katy ran to her dog, Jill raced down the stairs until she was between the creature and her child and dog. She had psychic dreams. Delphie had warned her that she might be able to move objects. She’d just never tried. Desperate to protect her child and dog, Jill had to try psychokinesis.

  The creature leaned forward and screamed at Katy and Scooter. Jill had to try.

  Jill focused her attention to her hands. As she’d seen Jacob do, she flicked her hand and the creature hurled away from them. Recoiling from the energy, Jill flew in the opposite direction from the creature. She hit the wall hard and fell to the ground.

  “MOMMY!” Katy screamed.

  “I’m okay,” Jill said.

  The evil being smashed against the exposed floor joists and fell down in front of Honey, Tanesha and Cam.

  “Jill!” Tanesha screamed.

  Jill hopped to her feet and braced herself against the wall. She tossed the monster away from her friends. The creature landed in the middle of the room. The serpent’s sinewy thin tail whipped Jill across the face. Staggering, Jill fell to her knees. Heather dragged Scooter and Katy away from the action.

  “Join hands!” Jill said. “We have to join hands!”

  Teddy helped Noelle to her feet. The children and women took each other’s hands to form a circle. One foot at a time, Scooter made a wobbly attempt to stand. Once on his feet, he shook himself and ran to Sarah and Buster’s side. The children and women surrounded the creature. The dogs formed a tight circle around the winged beast.

  “We have to kill this thing. We’re the only ones who can,” Jill yelled.

  The creature screamed and rushed at the circle of women and children. Using their combined strength, the dogs, children and women managed to keep the creature hemmed in. The fiend attempted to take to the air again. Sarah and Buster grabbed a foot
and a wing. The dogs yanked the monster to the ground.

  “She’s weakening,” Jill yelled over the snapping and snarling dogs.

  The creature stumbled and fell.

  “She has to find another host to survive!” Jill yelled.

  The creature rushed at the children and was held back by the dogs.

  “She’s looking for a male who doesn’t have the mitochondrial DNA,” Jill yelled.

  “Protect Charlie and Teddy,” Sandy yelled.

  “If she finds a host we are all dead,” Jill yelled.

  Sniffing, the monster loomed over Noelle and Teddy. Baring her teeth, Sarah rushed at the monster. It fell back. The brute ran toward Nash and sniffed. Buster threw his bulk at the winged brute. It fell back. The creature raced toward Pete and Molly’s children. To protect them, Valerie broke the circle to jump in front of the children. She battered the monster with her baton. Even distracted by Valerie, the fiend took a whiff of Pete’s children and moved away.

  “Auntie Valerie!” Katy screamed and held her hand out.

  Valerie ran to Katy. Taking her hand, the circle was complete again. The creature staggered.

  “Hold tight,” Jill said. “We can do this.”

  The creature jerked to attention. Spinning in place, the slate grey creature barreled toward Sandy. She screamed and let go of Teddy and Charlie’s hands. Jerking, she wrapped her arms around Rachel and turned her back.

  “Teddy!” Noelle covered him with her body.

  The long sinewy tail of the winged beast whipped around Charlie’s in the shoulders. Charlie fell into the circle. The creature hopped into the air then dove toward Charlie. Paralyzed with terror, Charlie screamed.

  “Charlie!” Sissy screamed.

  Sandy rushed to his side. Heather and Tanesha ran to Sandy. Jill tried to throw the creature away from Charlie but it was moving too fast. Knowing that she and Rachel had the DNA, Sandy threw herself in front of Charlie. The creature was an inch away when it caught wind of Rachel. Rachel let out an angry scream.

  The creature screeched with pain.

  “Sarah, Buster, Scooter, attack.” The dogs herded the creature away from Charlie. Heather and Tanesha grabbed Charlie and pulled him back to the circle.