Available Darkness Season 1

feeder , too?”
    “Let me finish,” Duncan said. “I was working for the FBI at the time, and I was first on the scene when your mother was murdered. I saw what had been done. You and your brother were traumatized. The early signs of infection in both of you were clear. We took you to a special hospital. The Guardians above me at the time wanted to kill you both to prevent the possible spread of The Darkness to others like ourselves, or humans. While our kind can coexist with the parasites, humans don’t fare as well. If The Darkness were to spread, it could wipe out humanity, so you can see why we were concerned.”
    Caleb asked, “So, why did they let us live? How did we, or at least I, get cured?”
    “Oh, they wanted to kill you. But under questioning, you both mentioned a portal home, how the magician had created a way back which you could both access together, should you ever need to return. But you could only do it together, as the spell doesn’t work without you both. While the Guardians wanted to prevent the portals from ever being opened again, there were some among us who felt that we should have a way back … just in case. But we couldn’t trust everyone with that knowledge. So we split you and your brother up, erasing your memories, and in effect, your disease.”
    Caleb asked, “How does erasing our memories cure a parasitic disease?”
    “It’s a bit more than erasing your memories. It’s experimental, even still, and involves some of the very same magick we tried to stamp out. But we were determined to save you and John. I found a home for you with one of our best agents, and my best friend at the time, Ed Baldwin. However, John was harder to cure and we had to keep him in a special hospital. No matter how many times we wiped his memory and cured him of The Darkness, he kept relapsing. The memories came back as did the disease.”
    Caleb’s head was spinning with all the new information. Pieces of the unseen puzzle were finally snapping into place, though huge chunks were still missing.
    Caleb asked, “So, then what?”
    Duncan continued, “At some point, and we’re not sure how, Jacob, who had meanwhile taken over a then leaderless Harbinger group, found out about the portal. That’s when he started searching for you and John. While he’s come close, we’ve been able to keep that from happening so far. But his group will stop at nothing to get to you both. They’ll hurt or kill anyone that stands in their way.”
    Caleb, still trying to piece everything together in his head, asked, “So, what happens if he finds me and John? He gets us to open the portal, and then what? Why not let him, and all the Harbingers for that matter, go home?”
    Duncan responded, “He killed your mother. Don’t you want to see him punished?”
    “Until these dreams, I barely remembered my mother, and certainly didn’t remember her murder. Sure, I’d like to see justice, but I don’t see why you all are so hellbent on not allowing him to return home.”
    Duncan sighed and then leaned forward, “We know what Jacob is capable of here. If he can get home, he can keep the portal open on his side, and there’s nothing we can do from here to close it like we did last time. We have no idea what’s happened since we left, but in all likelihood, that world would come here and annihilate Earth and strip its resources.”
    “How can you be sure of that?” Caleb asked.
    “Because, it’s what we were sent to do.”
    Caleb shook his head, “What?”
    “There were three of us among the Pioneers who weren’t looking to escape, but were in fact, working for the King, on an exploration mission. We were the original Harbingers. But once we were over here, once we saw the beauty of this planet and its people, we couldn’t allow the massacre. We instigated the infighting as an excuse to go after the portals. To close them all and prevent anyone from ever using them again.”
    “Why didn’t you just tell the others what you were really doing?”
    “They would have killed us,” Duncan said. “It’s far better the way it happened.”
    “Jesus,” Caleb said, soaking it all in. “So, what happens with John now?”
    “He’s out of control; he’s a monster, short and simple. The Guardians have wanted him dead for years. If they can kill him, they can ensure the portal stays shut.”
    Caleb stood up and shook his head no. He wasn’t sure why he was feeling so defensive of John, but something in his