Available Darkness Season 1

clients now?”
    “No, you’re not,” John said, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a key to a safe deposit box and handing it to Larry. “There’s enough there to keep you afloat in Mountain Dew and pizza for the next 50 years. Assuming your arteries don’t clog up before then.”
    “Oh, man, you shouldn’t have,” Larry said, grabbing the key and throwing his arms around John again.
    “I know, I was going to leave it all to Calvin, but he dropped dead on me, so I figured I’d give it to my other furry friend.”
    Larry laughed. A moment later, John did, too, surprised he’d find any levity in these final moments.
    “We’ve got to get started,” Adam called from above. “I need you to lay down in the box, John. Then Larry will lock it. And then…” Adam didn’t finish the sentence.
    “You bury me,” John said.
    John looked Larry in the eyes one last time, gave him one last embrace, and one last goodbye, and then sat down as Larry climbed from the grave.
    “I need your shirt,” Adam called out, “in case we lose the spot where you’re buried, I can use it to track you.”
    John took his shirt off and tossed it up to Adam, laid in the coffin, and lowered the lid.
    The darkness swallowed him whole. Though he’d never been claustrophobic, a panic rose in John’s throat, and it was all he could do to not scream a plea for release. While he was able to squirm a little, he felt suddenly paralyzed by his inability to turn over, scratch his back, or stretch his legs. Panic electrified his limbs.
    The coffin was rocked by a thud as Larry landed on top, fastening the locks. A moment later, John heard scraping and then sliding as Larry opened one of the slots. His friend looked down at him, eyes wet, “One last chance, buddy.”
    John wanted out more than he’d wanted anything ever in his life … except for the promise of safety for Hope and Caleb.
    “Close it,” John said, trying not to let his voice break.
    “Okay,” Larry said, “goodbye, my friend.”
    Behind Larry, John saw the night sky. It had never looked more beautiful, or far away.
    Larry closed the slot and sealed the tomb.
    John began to repeat a calming spell to quell the anxiety.

    **

    Adam’s words grew more muffled as Larry shoveled more mounds of earth onto the casket.
    John wondered how long it would take for the spell to take effect. How long it would be before he’d feel the familiar lust for feeding on humans. Fortunately, the sedatives Larry provided began to kick in before Adam’s voice faded completely. John hoped the pills would last at least eight hours so he’d sleep through the worst of the the transformation.

    **

    John woke with no idea how much time had passed or if Larry and Adam had gone. His heartbeat and breathing filled the small, otherwise quiet space. He reached into his pocket and retrieved another two pills and swallowed them.
    He began chanting another calming spell. He wished he’d though to bring something stronger to make him sleep, but hiding out and inactive for so long had left him less prepared than he’d once been.
    He thought about Hope. How beautiful she looked the last time he’d seen her more than a decade ago. He wondered if she was happy. If she’d found someone else. Though he didn’t like the thought of her with another, he hoped she wasn’t alone.
    Life was too difficult to go through alone.
    His heart ached, amplified by the effects of the pill. Hot tears streamed down his face.

    **

    The next time John woke, he felt the familiar hunger rising inside. The change had started. He could feel the earth around him, teeming with life — insects burrowing underground while rodents and birds scurried above. His body began to vibrate, tuning into their life waves, though they were all too painfully far from reach for to him to absorb.
    He repeated the calming spell to no avail.

    **

    John screamed, pounding against the casket.
    He had to get out, had to feed.
    Now.
    The hunger burned in his gut, in his bones, in his muscles, and most of all, in his mind. His thoughts were jumbled, snippets of sentences and memories peppered with staccato blasts of pain and rage.
    He was having trouble remembering things, simple things, and struggled to remember the only thing that he could think of besides feeding — Hope.
    He found two more pills in his pocket. Then two more, the last two, and swallowed them and waited for sleep to take him.

    **

    John woke to the sound of muffled voices