Available Darkness Season 2

the purple bookcase beside her bed. “I have all my favorite books, and even found some new ones!” She started holding up kids’ books one by one — some he remembered her mentioning before, some he’d had memories of that he’d gotten from her when he saved her life, and still others he’d never heard of. As she went on about each of her books, Abigail’s face grew increasingly animated, her voice slightly squeaky and cheeks pink, an undeniable glimmer in her eyes.
    In that moment, knowing how sad Larry said she was, and how happy she now seemed, John felt guilt crashing on him like a two-ton slab.
    This is how she’d be all the time if I was here.
    John tried not to think of what might have been. That was a pointless, painful exercise in futility. The only thing he could do was try and make things right. Find Hope, then take Abigail, and Larry if he wanted to join them, and run somewhere far from the madness.
    As Abigail prattled on at a million words per minute, John wanted to hug her again and promise her things would get better. He was going to make things right.
    I can’t make promises to her again — it’s unfair. I just have to do what I need to do, then come back and deliver. If I break another promise, it’ll break her heart.
    It was hard not to promise, and harder still to shift their conversation to what Larry had told him downstairs, but eventually John steered their exchange to the fire, and to Abigail’s breakdown in the restaurant.
    They sat beside one another on her bed as she told him everything that happened. After Abigail finished, she looked at him, her eyes going from happy and excited to sad and scared.
    “Larry said we might have to move. Do you think we’ll have to?”
    “Yes,” John said.
    Abigail burst into tears. “But I was just starting to like it here. I’ve even made friends with this girl Katya.”
    “I heard,” John said.
    “Then why do we have to leave? Are the police going to find out it was me?”
    “I don’t know if the police will trace it back to you, but there are bad people who will be looking for you once they hear about this.”
    “I didn’t mean to do it,” Abigail said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, John.”
    “I know,” he said, feeling naked next to her sorrow.
    Abigail grabbed three tissues from the box on the top of her nightstand and blew her nose a few times before her eyes finally met his. “Am I broken?” she asked, clearly trying to stop her tears.
    John tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help it. Abigail’s question, and the way she asked it, seemed so innocent, almost cute. It reminded him of just how much of a child she still was, despite all she’d been through, all they’d been through.
    John pulled Abigail into another oversized hug. “No, Sweetie, you’re not broken. Not at all. Sometimes it’s hard to control the Darkness. I’ll help you work through it, though. I promise.”
    Shit, I had to go and use the p-word!
    “You will?” Abigail asked, her face still in his chest.
    “Yes,” he said, stroking her hair until she finally fell asleep, a few minutes before he drifted and joined her in slumber.

    **

    John woke feeling watched.
    He opened his eyes and saw Abigail’s big brown eyes staring back at him. She smiled. “Did you know you snore?” she asked.
    “I do not,” he said.
    “Yes, you do,” she nodded. “Like a big, giant bear.” She imitated a bear loudly snoring and said, “That’s you!”
    “No, it’s not,” John said, reaching over and tickling her sides.
    Abigail erupted into giggles, her raspy laugh even more infectious than Tiny’s deep booming guffaw. John hadn’t been around many children, but there was something about Abigail’s giggle that sounded like liquid happiness.
    “Stop it!” she said laughing, and kicking his shins.
    She then started staring at the blanket on the bed like she was trying to work up the nerve to ask him something, or tell him something. She was distracted by something, something he felt that had happened at the house when she set the fire. He was about to ask her what it was when a knock at her door surprised them both. Larry called from behind the door. “You two awake?”
    “Yeah,” John said. “Come in.”
    Larry opened the door, looking like he was about to explode with exciting news. “Cromwell is in town. Tiny’s got some men with eyes on the place. They say he’s there, and alone.”
    “Great! How far away is