Available Darkness Season 1

Ceremonies.
    “Brother!” he said with a wave of his hand. “So glad to see you! It’s been years!”
    “Where is she?”
    “The girl is in safe hands, I assure you. For now. However, as they say, the clock is ticking, and morning is on it’s way.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Let’s just say that if the sun comes up before my portal opens, she’s gonna be ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
    “You fuck!” John spit, ready to charge the stairs.
    One of the gunmen pushed the barrel of a gun into the back of John’s head, freezing John in his tracks.
    “We’ve got a couple of hours,” Jacob said, “to get Caleb here.”
    “He should be on his way,” John said.
    “Really?” Jacob sounded genuinely surprised. “You always manage to surprise me, John.”
    “How do I know you’ll let Abigail go, if I give you what you want? How do I know you won’t kill us all?”
    “If I wanted you dead, I could’ve done so a long time ago. You’re a lot easier to track than your brother. The Guardians must’ve really wiped him clean. Truth is, I have no interest in anything on Earth anymore. All I want is to go home. Once I leave, you can all go about your wretched lives on this planet. Or hell, come with me. You’re free to do as you wish. As for my soldiers, they can come with me or go back to their lives, everyone’s free to do as they please, really.”
    “You don’t even know what you’re going back to,” John said, “why so eager?”
    Jacob descended the stairs, “I’m gonna be honest with you, brother. I’ve grown weary of this world. I came here because I hated our mother for leaving me with father. Leaving me and bringing you and Caleb here. I wanted to make her pay. To make you all pay.”
    John said nothing.
    “What kind of mother leaves her own son behind?”
    “She said you were infected,” John said. “She wanted to create new lives for us, ones where we weren’t hunted like monsters.”
    “She fucking gave up on me!” Jacob spit, “You don’t ever give up on your children!”
    “You’re right,” John said. “I’m sorry.”
    Jacob now stood directly in front of John, staring into his eyes.
    “You know what? I actually believe you.”
    “She shouldn’t have left you. She should’ve taken us all, but I think she was afraid you’d infect us.”
    Jacob laughed, “And yet, you were infected from the beginning. Ah, irony is so cruel sometimes. Tell me, how is it that Caleb has not been infected?”
    “He was, briefly. But the Guardians were able to help him.”
    “Not you, though, eh?”
    John shook his head. “No.”
    “We’re a lot more alike than I would’ve thought,” Jacob said. “Guards, stand down. I don’t think he’s going to try anything. Right, John?”
    “No, I just want this over, and I want Abigail back.”
    “You’ll have her back as soon as Caleb helps me get back home. He will help me, right?”
    “I hope so,” John said.

    **

    Caleb

    Caleb arrived at the address on the paper, greeted by two gunmen in black paramilitary gear and assault weapons.
    “I was told to come here. My name is Caleb Baldwin.”
    The men asked him to step out of his vehicle and patted him down. They found his gun in its holster and took it. He prayed they wouldn’t find the knife, which he’d taped to the inside of the front of his belt. Content with the gun, they ushered him inside the house.

    **

    John

    “Ah, the guest of honor,” Jacob called out as Caleb arrived.
    John looked at his brother, saw recognition in his eyes. His memory was back. How long, John wondered, until The Darkness came back, too? Caleb looked like a man whose world had just been pulled out from under him. John wasn’t sure what was driving his brother, but hoped he would play along until John could dispose of Jacob and ensure Abigail’s safety.
    “I suspect you know why you are here, Caleb?” Jacob asked.
    “You want us to open the portal.”
    “Ding! Ding! Give this man a prize!” Jacob said, far too enthusiastically. “Are you going to help me get back home or not?”
    “Please,” John pleaded with a lie for Jacob’s sake, “As I said on the phone, they are holding someone very dear to me hostage. Please, just give them what they want.”
    “Okay,” Caleb said in an almost trance-like voice, bled of emotion.
    “Christ, if I knew it was this easy to get everyone to agree with me, I would’ve done this years ago!” Jacob made a sound that resembled a laugh,