Shadow Plague cords

Now, hundreds of slender black cords converged on the mansion from all directions, entering through the walls, a few of them fairly thick, most slender and hard to see. The shadowy cords snaked away from the estate in all directions, many disappearing into the ground, some winding through the surrounding vegetation.

  "What's with all the wires?" Seth asked.

  "Wires?" Grandpa questioned.

  "Ropes, strings, whatever," Seth clarified. "They're everywhere. "

  The others regarded him with concern.

  "You don't see them?" Seth already knew the response.

  "No wires," Warren confirmed.

  "I've noticed cords like this before," Seth said. "Connected to the dark creatures. It looks like all the cords lead to the manor. "

  Grandpa puckered his lips and exhaled noisily. "We've uncovered hints that the culprit was a creature who had somehow merged with Kurisock. And we had information that the apparition who haunts this property has some relation to the demon. "

  "What could the creature be?" Warren asked.

  "Anything," Grandpa said. "When it merged with Kurisock, it became a new entity. "

  "But if it merged with the demon, how can it be here?" Dale asked. "Kurisock must remain in his domain. "

  Grandpa shrugged. "Best guess? Some sort of distant connection. Something like the dark cords that apparently unite the monster in the manor to the darkened creatures all over the preserve. "

Chapter 18