Available Darkness Season 2

energy, but Shadow’s bed was as empty, as was the rest of the room.
    John turned, about to check the closed bathroom door he passed, when the shape appeared in front of him — something barely there against the wall in the darkness, then fully formed in front of his face — a skinny, young Asian man in a black robe.
    John raised his hands at Shadow. “I just want to talk.”
    Before John could send a blast to knock him out, Shadow’s hands dropped something to the ground, blinding John with a blast of smoke.
    Shadow knocked John back with a kick to John’s chest. John tried calling for backup, but all he could do was cough on his way to the carpet. To John’s horror, he couldn’t move his arms or legs.
    Oh, God, he poisoned me .
    Suddenly, they weren’t alone. The drunk was standing in the door, yelling, “What the fuck is going on in here?”
    Shadow swung his arm up, sending a long wire flying from beneath his sleeves into a coil around the drunk’s neck. The drunk started screaming, but only screeched a syllable before Shadow pulled the wire and sliced the man’s head clean from his already-sagging shoulders. Shadow dropped his end of the wire and looked down at John, eyes blazing orange.
    “Why are you here?”
    John tried to speak, but could barely suck air through his cough.
    Shadow’s hand unfolded, drawing John’s eyes to a swirl of dark and light spiraling from the center of his palm, and then filling the room with a brilliant blue radiance. The light spread into a perfect circle hovering in the air above them.
    John stared, unable to believe the small portal appearing before him.
    How is he doing this?
    Shadow reached down, grabbed John, yanked his body up with seemingly no effort, and slung him over his shoulder.
    John tried screaming, but couldn’t even cough. The world was spinning around him as Shadow leaped up and into the portal with John.

    **

    John felt pulled from his body.
    He was being moved but was too numb to truly feel it, as if it were happening through several layers of reality so thick they could barely reach him.
    The world was nothing but darkness, but at least he was still alive.
    Where am I?
    John remembered Shadow creating the portal and carrying him through it, but he had no idea where the portal led.
    Am I in Otherworld?
    He closed his eyes, trying to forge a connection with either Larry or Abigail, but felt nothing, especially them.
    Then, he heard a woman’s voice as clear as if in the Darkness with him.
    “John?”
    “Hope?”

    TO BE CONTINUED…

EPISODE 8:
    CHAPTER 1 — Duncan

    Duncan Alderman sat, phone against his ear, wondering if he’d made the biggest mistake of his life by letting John live. He’d had the chance to kill John many times throughout the years. But John was Caleb’s brother, and Caleb was the closest thing to a son that Duncan would ever have. So, each time, he’d given into his better angels, figuring that the Guardians could manage the situation before it got out of hand. Yet, each time he was proven wrong.
    “What do you mean they have John?” Duncan asked Bob Cromwell. “ Who has him?”
    “We’re not sure. Harbinger, or maybe Outsiders.”
    “Outsiders?” Duncan said, tapping his pen against the glossy surface of his large desk.
    “Aliens, freaks, and the humans who mingle among them. Our operations have made us some new enemies. More than expected. People who might not have been a threat before are starting to organize against us. They’re calling themselves Outsiders.”
    “Great,” Duncan said. “So we have no idea who took John?”
    “No. John went to meet a Halfworlder called Shadow at the Channel Hotel. He’s an Outsider and information broker. We believe he has a lead on Jacob. John insisted that he go in solo, though we had teams in place waiting to move. Something happened inside, we’re not sure what. Both John and Shadow vanished.”
    “ Vanished? ” Duncan asked. “How the hell did they disappear if you had teams working this?”
    “I don’t know, sir.”
    Duncan closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to keep calm. Cromwell was paid too much to not know. This was pathetic. He wanted to cut the man to nothing with his tongue, but could sense the remorse in his voice. Besides, Cromwell was so fueled by his need for approval, Duncan’s silence was a sentence served.
    Duncan remained quiet, gazing at the long rows of books lining the many shelves inside his private library. He noticed,