Read Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 for Free Online Page B

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