Available Darkness Season 1

from his friend’s eyes, replaced by something else, something John couldn’t quite place.
    And then it hit him — greed . Something he’d sensed over the years, but never to this extent.
    “What have you done?” John asked.
    Larry said nothing. Instead, he dropped something else through the slot, a green, luminescent ball, the size of a tennis ball, fell onto his chest and rolled down to his shoulder.
    What the?
    John heard a hiss as air escaped the ball. Moments later he slipped into darkness, waking almost two weeks later with nothing but a note in his pocket.

    * * * *

CHAPTER 2 — Larry and John

    Larry

    Present day…
    October 21

    They arrived at the safe-house just after sunset, a nondescript warehouse in the middle of a well-stocked row, in the decaying heart of the inner city. Most of the warehouses in the six square blocks were routinely vandalized. Larry’s was left alone, thanks to a deal he’d made with a local street gang, calling itself Eastside Riders.
    As the van rolled into the warehouse, Larry was greeted by a six foot six black man, dressed all in black, and wearing a black skull cap. His name was Anthony Rollins, commonly known as Tiny, a former collegiate football player who never made it past his Junior year, thanks to some trouble back home. Now, he was a businessman dealing in narcotics and guns.
    “Hey, Tiny,” Larry said as the two shook hands. “Any trouble?”
    “No, ain’t even been a bleep,” Tiny said.
    “Great. You gonna be free the next 24 hours or so?”
    “Depends; what’s up?”
    “We’ve got some serious heat on us,” Larry said, pointing to the van, but not about to open the door for fear that Abigail might pounce. “So we need to lay low while I make a few plans. I might need some muscle. How many guys can you get me?”
    “Price is right, you can have twenty five here tomorrow.”
    “How about fifty?” Larry asked.
    “No doubt, I can get fifty, if you don’t mind a dip in quality.”
    “Twenty-five ought to be more than enough,” Larry said, reaching into his pocket and grabbing an envelope full of cash which he handed to Tiny. “This is for tonight. I’ll let you know later if we’re gonna need an army.”
    “Thanks,” Tiny said, “you need me to hang around or are you good?”
    “We’re good for now, thanks.”
    Tiny walked over to his motorcycle, hopped on, and was gone before the garage door hit the floor.
    Larry surveyed the warehouse, wondering if all the preparations they’d made would stand up to the onslaught they faced.
    The warehouse was 10,000 square feet, with an upstairs area divided into a row of small offices where Larry ran a duplicate network of the one at the motel. The bottom floor held three cars, a living space with couches, a TV, a bar, and a mini-kitchen, rows of work benches, tools, and enough parts to build just about anything they could think of. The warehouse also had a secret underground bunker with enough canned goods and food to last them a year or longer and a weapons store big enough to wage war on a small army, which they might need if shit hit the fan.
    Oh well, it’s now or never.
    Larry walked to the side of the van, patting the door twice before rolling it open.
    Larry fell sprawling to the ground as John leaped on top of him, screaming.

    **

    John

    “You fucker!” John screamed.
    Larry looked up, wide-eyed and seemingly confused. “What?”
    “I know what you did,” John said. “I remember. I remember everything. ”
    “What are you talking about?” Larry asked, as he scrambled back and got to his feet.
    “You were supposed to kill me,” John said. “You were supposed to let me die! You sold me out! You betrayed me! Why?”
    John could sense Abigail watching from the van. He could feel her fear growing, and he tried to keep that in mind as he struggled to control the urge to kill Larry right there on the spot.
    “Got your memory back, I see?” Larry said, his face shifting as he dropped the guise of pretending not to know what John was talking about.
    “Why?” John said. “And why did you kill Adam?”
    Larry said, “He was loyal to you; he would never have let me let you live.”
    “Well, at least one of you were loyal.”
    Larry looked at the floor, unable to meet John’s eyes.
    John went on, “You killed an innocent man! That’s not who we are!”
    “Hey, all’s fair in this war,” Larry said, “Adam was hardly an innocent! You don’t know half the shit he’d done