Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (48 page)

The man turned to look at her. He sneered at
Sissy. Nash, Teddy, and Noelle ran into the room followed by Pete’s
children. Charlie opened a cabinet and put Rachel inside. Turning
to the ugly dog, Buster, he said: “Stand guard.”

If Charlie didn’t know better, he’d have
sworn the dog nodded to him. Buster sat down in front of the closed
cabinet door. He gave Rachel’s hiding place one last look before he
ran out to help.

“
Sissy, go back,” Honey
said. “Don’t worry. I can handle this.”

Saint Jude threw Honey in the air and turned
her. She landed face to face with him. She spit in his face.

“
Go on. Sissy please. You
kids go back and lock yourself in,” Honey said. “Sissy
please.”

Saint Jude gave a low, malevolent laugh.
When he turned back to look at Sissy, the head of a slate gray
creature with razor sharp teeth poked out of the collar of his
white shirt. The creature’s round black eyes with red pinpoint
pupils filled what would have been a forehead.

Screaming, Sissy hurled herself at Saint
Jude. She battered his back with her fists. He gave her a vicious
kick and she flew backward.

“
SISSY!” Noelle ran to
where Sissy landed in a heap.

Honey bit Saint Jude’s shoulder. He turned
his attention to Honey.

“
You think you scare me?”
Honey yelled at the top of her lungs. “I’ve known you all of my
life. I’ve seen your evil deeds and thoughts pollute my family and
my world.”

“
Yeeesss,” the creature
said.

Honey’s white hair and translucent skin
glowed like a pillar of light in the dark basement. Saint Jude
pulled her face close to the monster. Honey bashed it with her
forehead. The creature chuckled at her efforts.

“
You think you can do
worse to me than has been done?” Honey asked.

“
I can heal you,” the
creature purred.

“
Same old lies. Same old
bullshit,” Honey said. “I’ve beaten you my entire life. You think
now will be any different?”

Saint Jude raised his hand to strike Honey.
Before he could plant a blow, Nash launched a Muay Thai kick at his
lower back. Saint Jude fell forward. Charlie punched Saint Jude in
the face. Teddy followed with a swift karate kick at his waist.
Saint Jude wobbled to the side. Distracted by the kids, Saint
Jude’s attention on Honey slipped. Honey pulled her handgun from
the pocket of her skirt. She pressed it against his heart. She
looked up to see Charlie moving the kids out of the way.

“
I can’t die,” Saint Jude
chuckled.

“
I’m willing to chance
it.”

Honey pulled the trigger. Saint Jude
recoiled.

She fired again.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 8:50 P.M.

Ava pushed open the door to her lab and
turned on the lights. Disappointed, she closed her eyes. She’d
asked her lab techs to come in. Most of them worked this shift
because they had other, more important things in their lives. Fran
was the only parent to four of her grandchildren. Nelson was a
bodybuilder. He slept, ate, and worked out during the days. Leslie
was seven months pregnant and had two children at home. And Bob was
remodeling their Park Hill bungalow house.

They weren’t here.

She turned to say something to Max
Hargreaves when Fran passed her. Fran held out her hand. Ava put a
plastic bag with twenty wooden spikes in it. Without stopping, Fran
continued into the lab.

“
Papers?” Nelson pointed
to Ava. “Where’s your lemon water?”

Ava shrugged.

“
I knew you’d forget,”
Nelson put a travel mug in her hand. “You’re welcome.”

Ava took a drink of the warm liquid and
cleared her throat.

“
Max?” Ava asked. “Nelson
takes care of all things related to the Internet and also the
technical stuff.”

“
In this case, I do the
technical research,” Nelson said.

“
When he’s done, he sets
up connections with other labs – FBI, CBI, UN, and Interpol. Do you
have information on this being used before?”

“
I have some information…”
Max held up a folder.

Nelson tugged the folder out of Max’s hand
and walked to his station in the lab.

“
Sorry I’m late,” Leslie
said. “I was cleaning the kitchen floor. Yes, Ava, with a
toothbrush.”

“
Leslie is nesting,” Ava
held up her finger and thumb. “Just a bit.”

“
Until we have the
analysis, there isn’t much we can do,” Max said.

“
There might be nothing
you can do,” Leslie said. “I, however, can do my job. We’ve trained
for an event like this for the last year. We’re ready to get the
job done. Do you have the autopsies of the people who died? I also
need the medical files for Seth and the other police
officers.”

“
They’re on the Denver
Health server,” Nelson said. “Their union rep just got us access to
their medical information. Do you have your log in?”

“
Excuse me,” Leslie said
to Max. She went to her station.

“
They’re faxing the hand
written notes,” Nelson said. The fax machine rang. “Right now. Ava,
do you think you can still do the press and public
health?”

“
I’ve got it. She can work
the spect,” Bob said.

“
I just requested the
blood samples from Denver Health,” Nelson said. “And… looks like
the CDC is bringing samples from the other events with them when
they arrive in… three hours.”

“
We’ll be ready for them,”
Ava said.

“
I understand you were
looking for me?” Bob asked.

“
You’re Blood Splatter
Bob?” Max assessed the man in front of him.

“
I’ve been called worse,”
Bob said.

“
You’re an anti-toxin
specialist?”

“
I’ve cooked up a few,”
Bob said.

“
Why…?”

“
Son, we don’t really have
time for that, do we?” Bob asked. “Why don’t you come with me and
leave these guys to do what they do?”

Max nodded. Bob put his arm over Max’s
shoulder and led him toward the door. They were almost out of the
room when Bob stopped. He turned to Ava and said:

“
Devil horns?”

“
I think we need to
harness the power of the mouse,” Ava said.

Her lab techs began digging around in their
stations. One by one they put their Mickey Mouse ears hat on.

“
Good choice,” Bob stuck
his hat on his head. “Now, Mr. Hargreaves let’s talk about this
toxin.”

Ava let out the breath she hadn’t realized
she was holding. She ran a hand over her bald head then put her on
Mickey Mouse ears. One last glance at her lab techs and she turned
on the spectrometer.

~~~~~~~~

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.