Available Darkness Season 2

Shadow’s eyes widened, staring behind John.
    John turned, but he was too late. A sharp pain sliced into his back, sending him to his knees, the world erupting in pain. He fell to his side as something burned through his body. He looked up and saw Jacob in black robes, staring down with a smile.
    “Hello, brother,” he said, stepping over John and walking to where Shadow was still frozen stiff, likely captive in some spell or enchantment.
    John flashed out to Tiny , Tiny! Help!
    No response.
    Jacob is here! Jacob is here! He stabbed me!
    “Where is the list, boy?” Jacob asked.
    Shadow’s mouth opened, gasping as if Jacob had just given him the ability to use it. “I don’t know,” he said.
    “I let you use your tongue, and you use it to lie to me?” Jacob said, shaking his head as he loomed closer to Shadow, until he was inches from his face. “Open your mouth, boy.”
    Shadow shook his head. His shaking turned violent as Jacob took control, parting the man’s mouth against his will. Jacob’s gloved right hand reached into his robe and pulled out a dagger. His left, also gloved, moved to Shadow’s mouth and pulled at his tongue.
    Shadow screamed as Jacob raised the dagger, tracing the black blade against Shadow’s cheek, drawing blood as it moved.
    John reached behind his back, trying to feel the pain’s source — another dagger, stuck in his back. He tried to grip it, but the moment his fingers touched it, they locked, unable to move.
    Shadow screamed as Jacob cut his tongue off and threw it to the ground in front of John, where it landed with a sickening splat. Blood gushed in rivers from Shadow’s mouth, but he couldn’t bring his hands high enough to stop the flow with Jacob controlling his body.
    “Now,” Jacob said, “I want you to use your hands and go get me that list. Remember what I did when your tongue disobeyed.
    Shadow’s hands went to his mouth, feeling his severed tongue as he cried out in anguish.
    “Now!” Jacob shouted.
    Shadow kneeled and began unzipping a green camouflage knapsack. Jacob watched him carefully as John tried to keep his focus through the burning sensation.
    Tiny! Come on!
    Shadow handed the list to Jacob. “And where’s your father’s crystal?”
    Shadow reached down the front of his shirt, hands shaking as he retrieved a crystal pendant, glowing just the slightest bit red, on a black leather cord, and handed it over to Jacob.
    “Thank you,” Jacob said, then thrust his blade into Shadow’s chest and shoved him to the ground.
    John screamed, “You fucker!”
    Jacob turned to him, smiling. “Now, little brother, what to do about you?”
    Suddenly, Tiny was in the room, charging at Jacob.
    Jacob spun out of the way seconds before Tiny could get a hold of him. Tiny fell forward, nearly colliding with Shadow’s fallen body, missing the wounded man by inches. Jacob’s eyes fell on John, then went to Tiny and back. He smiled and ran from the door.
    “I’ll get him!” Tiny said, jumping to his feet.
    “No!” John said, “Get this knife out of my back.”
    Tiny’s eyes went wide, almost scared. “Oh, shit.”
    “Put your gloves back on or else it might burn you.”
    Tiny retrieved his gloves from his jacket, slid them on, then yanked the blade from John and dropped it to the carpet next to him. The fire was gone, but the pain remained.
    John looked up as Shadow crawled toward the duffel, blood spilling in pools from his wound. He pulled out a notebook and pen, then opened it on the floor and scribbled across the pages.
    “What is it?” Tiny asked Shadow.
    “Jacob cut his tongue out,” John said as he got up and went over to see what Shadow was writing.
    The top of the paper read, “5 ”
    “You remember the names on the list?” John asked.
    Shadow nodded, keeping his eyes on the paper as he struggled through dying breaths to move his pen and get names on the page.
    The names weren’t names, they were Social Security numbers. John stared as Shadow scrawled numbers as fast as he could.
    He’d written three sets of when he had to stop, surrendering to a violent fit of coughing that lasted for nearly a minute as bloody nuggets spewed from his mouth.
    Shadow turned back to the paper and scrawled. He reached the fifth set of numbers when John’s eyes locked on the last set in disbelief. His heartbeat nearly tripled in speed. He knew that Social Security number. Could never forget it.
    No. It can’t be.
    John kneeled next to Shadow. “That