Ava opened her eyes and slammed them shut. Feeling the wet, warm sensation of breath on her face, she had to look. She stared into the face of a monster.
In all of her twenty-three years, she had never seen anything so terrifying. The creature was a pitch black serpent with black translucent wings. It had chicken leg like skeletal arms and legs. Razor sharp teeth lined its almost canine jaw. Its large black eyes with red pinpoint pupils filled what would have been a forehead. The eyes locked on Ava’s.
Horrified, Ava began to hyperventilate. The leather strap constricted her throat. Knowing she would die if she didn’t calm her breath, she panicked even more. She fought with her breath.
The creature lifted a skeletal claw with blade-like talons and pointed to Ava’s face. Unable to move, Ava watched the talon come toward her face. She shut her eyes and felt the talon rip into her right cheek. Terrified, she began to pass out.
She heard music.
The woman had returned. She was humming a tune.
“Will you hum with me?” the woman asked.
“I don’t know the song,” Ava said.
“You don’t?” the woman asked.
The music swelled and Ava recognized the song. She was listening to her favorite movie track. She loved that CD. She’d listened to it so much that she’d worn it out – twice. The music always lifted her heart and gave her hope. Feeling a moment of elevation, Ava opened her eyes.
And saw the creature laugh at her.
The rotten stench of its breath blew hot against her face and surrounded bald head in a cloud of darkness. The creature opened its horrible mouth. Its terrible black tongue dripping with clear mucus stretched out to lick the blood off her cheek. Ava felt the wound open and pour blood into the creature’s mouth. Ava panicked.
“There, there,” the woman’s voice entered her ears.
“This… thing…” Ava said.
“You don’t have to look,” the woman said.
“It’s right in front of me!”
“So is the sun but you don’t look into the sun do you?” The woman gave a sweet laugh. “Don’t look, Amelie. You don’t have to.”
Ava shut her eyes. And the music returned. Ava hummed.
“They’re on their way,” the woman said. “Your job is to be alive when they get here.”
“Even if I make it,” Ava said. “I can’t fight this thing.”
“Don’t worry. The people who are coming are capable of dealing with his kind. They’ve done it before,” the woman said. “Seth will be here with them.”
The woman’s voice caressed Seth’s name. Ava had to ask.
“You know Seth?” Ava asked.
“He was my love,” the woman said.
“Bonita?” Ava asked.
The woman smiled. A toddler appeared on her lap. Another boy hung on her arm.
“Will you tell him something from us?” the woman asked.
“Anything,” Ava said.
“Tell him the music he sent rescued us,” the woman said. “We are at peace. Remind him to remember what he noticed. He’s forgotten. He’ll know what that means.”
“If I get the chance, I’ll tell him,” Ava said.
“I’m with him every day,” the woman said.
“You pushed him into the river at Sand Creek,” Ava said.
“I did,” the woman said. “You might say that I’m the pain in his ass.”
Ava smiled at Bonita’s joke. They heard a helicopter pass overhead. The creature screeched with rage. Ava felt a wave of horror rip through her body.
“They’re here. And so am I,” Bonita said. “This will be over very soon.”
~~~~~~~~
Tuesday night — 9:25 P.M.
Looking for a place to land, Zack brought the helicopter in low over the barn.
“What’s the ground like?” Zack asked Jacob through the intercom.
“Two feet of mud,” Jacob said.
“That’s what I thought.”
Zack maneuvered the helicopter toward a slip of cement left from the demolished house near the barn. When the helicopter touched down, one of the crew opened the door.
“You kids stay here,” Jacob said. “We’ll be right back.”
Jacob, Jill and Delphie climbed out of the helicopter and ran across the mud toward the barn. They were almost to the barn when they heard: “MMMOOOOMMMMMYYYY!!” Trailing Charlie, Nash, Noelle and Teddy, Katy ran across the mud to them. Jill jogged back to scoop up Katy.
“Go back!” Jacob yelled to the children.
“What?” Charlie yelled over the helicopter.
The kids continued toward them until they were standing outside the barn. Hearing a sound, they looked up to see the creature’s horrible head peering down at them from the rooftop. The creature screeched at Jacob.
Noelle and Nash screamed with pain. Holding their ears, they collapsed to the dirt.
“Protect them!” Delphie screamed.
“Charlie! Teddy! Do it now!” Jacob yelled.
Charlie and Teddy knelt down around Noelle and Nash. Seth pulled his car into the gravel driveway of the mansion. In one motion, Seth stepped out, put his arm over the hood of the Bugatti, and emptied the clip of his handgun into the creature. The creature laughed at his efforts. Flying above, the creature spread his wings and screeched at Seth. Noelle and Nash cowered in pain.
“Jill! Stay with the kids,” Jacob yelled. “I’ll let you know when you can come.”
Jacob kissed her cheek. She stroked his cheek, ran to the children, and set Katy down. Reloading his handgun while he ran, Seth joined them on the hill.
“There’s nothing you can do,” Jacob said.
“Ava?” Seth asked. He holstered his weapon.
“She’s inside,” Delphie said. “We have to get her away from…”
Delphie gestured toward the creature. Seth nodded.
“Listen for me. Come when I call you,” Jacob said to Seth. Turning to Delphie, he asked. "Ready?”
“Ready,” Delphie said. Jill nodded.
With a nod, Jacob and Delphie ran into the barn.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY-EIGHT
Chances
Tuesday night — 9:35 P.M.
“Oh my God,” Delphie gasped when she saw Ava. “Jacob!”
“Create the vortex!” Jacob said. “Do it now!”
Delphie created a white energetic vortex to keep the creature off them while they worked. Unable to see Ava clearly, Jacob began climbing a ladder attached to the barn wall. He was halfway up the wall when he backed down a few rungs. Trying to determine what held Ava in the air, he lingered on the ladder for a moment.
“What happened?” Delphie asked.
“The ladder is electrified at the top,” Jacob said. “He must have expected Seth.”
“Can you…?” Delphie started to ask.
With one hand, Jacob used his kinetic capacity to suspend Ava’s weight. There was a loud clanging sound as the creature bashed against Delphie’s vortex. With his other hand, Jacob unhooked the leather strap from Ava’s wind pipe.
Clang! The creature bashed against Delphie’s vortex.
Jacob removed the dowel from under Ava’s elbows. The dowel bounced on the beams until it dropped to the ground.
Clang! The creature bashed against the vortex.
“Seth!” Jacob screamed. “NOW!”
With his weapon in his hand, Seth ran into the barn.
“The gun won’t work. All metal goes right through him,” Jacob yelled.
Seth holstered his handgun.
“You have to catch her,” Jacob said. “We’ll only have a moment before it’ll attack. Stay with Delphie.”
Still supporting her weight, Jacob undid the straps holding Ava’s wrists to the beam. Ava’s body dropped and the creature attacked. The full force of the entity’s malice broke through the vortex. Unable to support Ava’s body and fight the creature, Jacob had to let her fall. She dropped into Seth’s arms with a thud. Jacob
repelled the creature long enough for Delphie to pull the vortex around herself, Seth and Ava.
“Seth! Take her to Jill,” Jacob rushed the creature. “Go!”
Jacob’s entire attention turned to the creature. Unlike the last time, Jacob didn’t have supplies: no salt, no fire, nothing. He had to face the entity on his own. But this time he had two advantages: he’d fought this entity before and he’d weakened its power the last time. The creature seemed unable to retreat into its semi-vapor state. Jacob pushed the creature out of the wretched barn and into the open field.
They fought.
For every blow he ducked, the entity landed two more. For every blow he dealt, the creature slipped through his grasp. The creature’s keepers, the ancient Native American shamans, joined him in the battle. They fought shoulder to shoulder against the evil creature. Moving in, they created a tight circle around the creature. It flew straight up. Screeching, the creature flew over their heads toward the barn.
“DADDY!” Katy screamed in horror.
Jacob raced around the side of the barn to where the children stood. Charlie and Teddy stood like soldiers as the creature moved in. Katy, Noelle and Nash cowered behind them. Seth sat next to Jill while her entire focus was on Ava’s neck.
“NO!” Seth screamed. Jill and Seth jumped to their feet.
The creature raised a hand to strike at the children. Pulling his handgun, Seth emptied another clip into the creature. Unfazed, the creature grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. Jill moved forward and reached out toward the creature.
With all her might, Jill struck with every sensation she could muster that was the opposite of her healing power. The blow seemed to strengthen the entity. The creature dropped Seth and turned to her. Its foul mouth turned up in a smile before it jumped to attack Jill.
“MOMMY! NO!” Katy screamed.
A pillar of light rose from behind Charlie and Teddy. Through Katy, Noelle and Nash formed a laser of light. Running from inside the barn, Delphie joined the children to direct the light.
The creature screamed in pain but the light held strong. The creature attacked the light with its talons and was repelled. Pushed back, the entity ran into Jacob. With the assistance of the laser of light, Jacob kept the creature away from the children. After checking Seth, Jill crawled back to Ava’s prone body.
Screeching, the creature took to the air. It flapped its wings over the small group. Swooping in to strike at the children again, the entity was attacked from above by an enormous, beautiful serpent like-being. The force of the serpent’s attack caused Jacob to fall back.
The creatures fought in the air. The purple serpent ripped a vicious tear in the creature’s wing. The creature plummeted to the earth. The serpent followed it to the ground.
They reengaged on the ground. The entity swiped at the serpent. Enraged, the serpent creature blew a stream of fire at the creature. The entity fell backward. It tried to take to the air but with its damaged wing, it fell to the earth.
Jacob and the Native American shamans surrounded the fight. The entity jumped to its feet, tripped then fell onto its back. The shamans drummed and chanted in unison. The earth opened and a dungeon appeared deep within the earth. The shamans’ voices raised in chant. The serpent gave another stream of fire and the evil entity fell into its earthen dungeon.
The shamans stopped. The ground shook and the dungeon slammed closed. The tremor knocked the small group to the ground. As if it had never stopped, the purple serpent took to the air and passed over the helicopter before sailing off into the night.
After all the chaos and noise, the only sound was the wind and the helicopter
“What the… what in the hell was that?” Charlie whispered.
“Which one?” Nash asked.
“I don’t know,” Teddy said.
“What did you see?” Nash asked.
“A dragon. I swear it fought that evil creature,” Noelle said.
“I saw a dragon and a… I don’t know what,” Teddy shivered. “Charlie?”
Charlie nodded. He helped Noelle and Nash up and held out his arms to Katy. For his own comfort as well as hers, he lifted Katy into his arms. She let him snuggle her.
“All safe?” Jacob asked.
“What did you see, Jake?” Charlie asked.
“I saw the earth right itself,” Jacob said. “My mother used to say that for every natural evil there is at least one beautiful light.”
“Only humans have to decide between dark and light. Everything else is born that way,” Delphie said. “Yes, that was a light.”
Jacob took Katy from Charlie and walked to Seth, Ava and Jill. Seth had taken off his leather coat and wrapped it around Ava. Holding her hand, he hovered over her. One of the flight crew arrived with emergency blankets and news. The police, paramedics, and Ava’s parents were on their way.
“How is she?” Jacob asked Jill.
“She’s going to be fine,” Jill smiled at him.
Ava opened her mouth to say something.
“Shh,” Jill said. “Your voice is injured. It’s better if you don’t talk. She needs a hospital now.”
Tears streamed down Ava’s face and she shook her head.
“Your parents are on their way,” Seth said to Ava.
“Jill? The children have a full night ahead,” Delphie said. “Let’s get them on their way.”
Jill got up from the ground. She winked at Seth and went to the children. Seth took Jill’s place at Ava’s head. He leaned down to kiss her face.
“How did you make that cool light?” Teddy asked Noelle.
“I was so scared that I grabbed Nash,” Noelle said.
“Katy was going to run to her mom,” Nash said. “I grabbed her to protect her.”
Nash and Noelle looked at Katy sitting on Jacob’s hip. Katy laughed like she’d made a funny joke. Noelle laughed with Katy. They began to walk back to the helicopter.
“Scrappy Doo,” Charlie whispered to Nash.
“Katy?” Nash nodded conspiratorially. He nudged Teddy and nodded to Katy, “Scrappy Doo.”
Teddy laughed. Jacob slipped his arm around Jill and walked back to the helicopter.
“How are you?” she asked.
“Battered but good. I may need your magic touch,” Jacob raised his eyebrows suggestively. She blushed. “You?”
“Happy for Ava,” Jill said. “She’s head over heels for Seth. Do you think he’s the same?”
“I don’t know him well enough to know,” Jacob said.
“But their future?”
“Bright,” Jacob smiled. Most women would be overwhelmed by the horror, filth, and evil terror of the last few moments. But his Jill’s only focus was on love. He kissed her head. “Why don’t you go with the kids and Delphie? I can get back with Seth. He’ll need the company.”
“I saw the car too,” Jill smiled at him.
Jacob laughed. He helped her into the helicopter and lifted Katy in after her. Katy ran off to sit next to Noelle. Standing back, he waved to Zack and watched the helicopter rise. He jogged across the field. When he approached he heard Ava’s whisper of a voice. He was about to turn away when he heard:
“Joystick Jake,” Seth laughed.
“High school.” Laughing, Jacob shrugged. He looked up to see Seth and Ava kissing.
“Would you mind…?” Seth asked.
Jacob shook his head and walked down the hill toward the mansion. Seth bent over Ava.
“You’re going to be all right now,” Seth said.
“Please don’t leave me,” Ava whispered. Her voice came with a deep rasp. He had to put his head next to her mouth to hear her.
“We don’t have much of a choice,” he said. “Your parents will be here to care for you. You need peace, quiet, and time. You have to grieve… Beth, this horrible experience… it takes time and peace. I can’t give you that now.”
“You haven’t found him,” Ava whispered. Seth kissed her face.
“I barely
found you,” Seth said.
“But you did,” Ava said.
They heard a siren. Across the dark field, they could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles racing in their direction.
“You won’t forget me,” Ava said.
He shook his head.
“You’ll wait for me,” Ava said.
He nodded. He looked up to watch the Brighton police cruise come up the old driveway. He was about to get up when Ava grabbed his hand. She eyes searched his face until their eyes caught.
“You’ll find him,” Ava said.
“I’ll do my best,” Seth said.
“I love you,” she said.
Seth smiled. She chuckled
“You love me,” she said. “You just can’t say it. It’s all right. Bonita told me.”
He touched her face and stood up to meet the paramedics running toward him. Jacob ran up the hill to stand with him while they worked on Ava. They had loaded Ava onto a stretcher when a Denver Police helicopter landed in the muddy field. Ava’s mother and father ran to her side. Police officers swarmed the area. The Chief of Police came to stand next to Seth.
“Good work, O’Malley,” the Chief said. “New Mexico State Police confirmed the residence. You were right. There’s an entire room of photos and detailed logs of murders. We’ll be able to recover the rest of the bodies next week.”
Seth nodded.
“Go home,” the Chief said. “You’ll need to make a full statement, your friends too. IAD’s going to want a piece of you for disobeying a direct order. Then, I’m going to need you to find the bastard who did this. But for now, I’m giving you a few days leave.”
The Chief leaned into him.
“I know how much she means to you,” the Chief said. “This is going to be a circus. Her father’s up for re-election in November. He’s going to have the press crawling all over this thing.”
Seth ground his teeth with disgust.
“That very face is the reason I want you at home. You’re too valuable to me, to this investigation. I can’t have you thrown out for scowling in the background of the press conference,” the Chief said. “I’ll see you Monday morning bright and early, my office. Agreed?”
Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 Page 18
