Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 Read Online Free PDF

said.
    With his words, ten children of various ages
appeared. They were wearing the same clothing and had similar
coughs. The hollow eyes of these trapped souls of these children
stared at them. Each child pointed to the black thread around their
midsection.
    “ Jacob,” Delphie
pointed.
    Like a silent movie, the apparition of four
women flickered in front of them. Their spirits were too entwined
in the entity to appear in full form. One woman held a screaming
baby in her arms. Shocked at the sight, Delphie took a step
back.
    “ How…?” Delphie
asked.
    “ I’ll try…” Using his
mind, Jacob attempted to remove the thread from one of the
children. When his mind touched the black thread, he felt a jolt of
dark power. He flew backward, hit the opposite wall, and landed in
a heap.
    “ Jacob!” Delphie ran to
his side.
    “ I’m all right,” Jacob
groaned and came up to his knees. “Try the salt water.”
    Delphie took a spray bottle out of her bag.
She sprayed the salt water in the direction of the thread. The
apparition screamed as if she was burning. A woman spirit came
forward to comfort the child.
    “ Earth?” Jacob
asked.
    Delphie took out a container of dirt from
the Holy site of El Santuario de Chimayo. Reaching forward, she
dusted the black thread with the holy dirt.
    Nothing. The evil black belts squeezed
tighter and the children began to cry.
    “ Earth, water, salt, and
mineral. The forces of nature,” Delphie began listing the elements.
“I brought these flowers but I don’t think they’ll
help.”
    She held up a few dozen white Shasta
daisies.
    “ Fire. Maybe electricity,”
Jacob said. “Give me the fanny pack. I’ll take on the entity. You
free the spirits.”
    “ No,” Delphie and Celia
said at the same time.
    “ It’s the only thing that
will work,” Jacob said. “If I get its full attention, it should let
go. They won’t realize they’re free at first. You must help
them.”
    “ I can’t make a tear to
the other side,” Delphie said.
    “ You won’t have to,” Jacob
took the fanny pack from her. He strapped it around his middle.
“We’ll clean up together. You’re the spirit shepherd. Bring them
into the central room. Make sure to ask them if there are other
spirits in this house.”
    Delphie nodded.
    “ Don’t forget to protect
yourself,” Jacob said.
    “ I grew up around evil
like this,” Delphie said. “I was like these spirits before Celia
and Delbert, your grandfather, saved me.”
    “ I know,” Jacob
said.
    “ You’ll be very careful?”
Delphie asked. Her worry was etched lines on her face.
    Jacob clutched Delphie to him. Stepping
back, they shared a look. He nodded and ran toward the darkness.
Delphie looked at the spirits surrounding her.
    “ Come with me,” Delphie
said.
    As if she was a first grade teacher herding
her class, Delphie encouraged the spirits down the hall and into
the large great room at the center of the home.
    ~~~~~~~~
    Monday early morning — 12:07 A.M.
     
    Aden heard a child cry. Seth shifted
uncomfortably next to him. The policewoman Gretel stared at her
partner, Jeff, whose head was shaking from side to side.
    “ What do you hear?” Aden
asked. “I hear a child crying. It sounds like Noelle. She’s calling
for me to save her.”
    “ I see my best friend from
high school,” Jeff said. “Can you see him? He’s right
here.”
    “ Your best friend shot
himself.” Gretel made an index finger gun and put it in her mouth.
“You know that.”
    Gretel punched his shoulder. Jeff’s entire
body jerked. He turned to look at her.
    “ Thanks,” Jeff
said.
    “ Detective O’Malley?”
Gretel asked. “What’s going on?”
    “ I see my partner,” Seth
said. “I know he’s not real but… It’s such a relief to see him.
Just to look into his face.”
    “ I felt like that,” Jeff
said. “Your partner’s dead?”
    “ Lung cancer,” Seth said.
“Eight years ago.”
    “ Oh my God,” Gretel
said.
    Gretel spun in place.