Available Darkness Season 2

family.
    Larry hated how his mind always found a negative follow-up for every what-if.
    Relax, everything is good. Do you see any signs that something shitty went down?
    The apartment complex was quiet. The night air was cool, and the rain had stopped. There were no sirens or police laying tape.
    Larry parked in a handicapped spot and raced from the van, up the stairs, and to the second floor of the four story apartment building.
    He went to Katya’s door and knocked.
    It was late, but he figured Abigail would be awake — if she’s OK.
    Stop thinking negatively.
    The pit in his stomach tightened as the knock went unanswered.
    He pounded against the door, harder and louder.
    No response.
    He tried the doorknob, but it was locked.
    Larry pulled a Starbucks plastic gift card from his wallet, slid it between the door and doorjamb, then bent the card and forced the lock back as he pressed his weight against the door.
    The door popped open to a darkened room.
    Larry turned on the light and wished he hadn’t.
    Oh God.
    Katya’s body was reduced to a withered husk.
    No, no, no, what happened?
    “Abi!” he called out.
    No response.
    Shit.
    Larry called her name again and again as he ran through her home.
    Abigail was gone.

    TO BE CONTINUED…

EPISODE 12:
    CHAPTER 1 — Jacob

    Jacob sat cross-legged at the top of a wooded hill, alone beneath a fat moon, staring down at Duncan Alderman’s house as it was swallowed by flames in the distance. Walls of brilliant orange curled against the bright white wood — a stark contrast against the pitch black behind it, and all the dancing stars above.
    Soon, the world would burn with a million fires.
    His kind would come to claim Earth as its own, and its people as the livestock they were. Some would be spared — those deemed worthy of evolution to join his race, the Valkoer. But most on Earth were unworthy of the honor — ignorant, petty, violent, tiny-minded creatures who sickened Jacob to his core. It was they who would be cast to the ghettos, and serve as cattle for the elite as nature intended.
    Why the Pioneers, who came to this godforsaken world so long ago, decided to spare the humans their appropriate fate, was beyond Jacob’s understanding. He had thought he would invite the Pioneers to join him, but in further reflection, decided not to. They deserved to be shackled to the humans’ fate.
    They had been weakened by their time with humans. They’d grown fond of humans, thinking them worthy, and in exchange, like a person who takes in too many animals, eventually, they were weakened for their efforts. Perhaps they devolved from Humkoer to human. Jacob would be making no such mistakes, however. For him, it was about evolution of the species, and evolution of himself above all.
    It was nearly time. He had two of the six crystals — just three more to get before he would have the power of the Last Great Wizard. Then, the walls would crumble, and Earth would be ripe for the plucking.
    Jacob’s mouth curled into a smile, lighting his face as he watched waves of flame devour Duncan’s grand estate, a monument to misplaced arrogance. Duncan and his Guardians were trying to stop nature, not unlike how their Otherworld counterparts, the Humkoer, the ruling class who had tried to eradicate the Valkoer. On his home world, his kind were at a disadvantage. Here, Jacob’s people were the top of the food chain.
    Humans had no clue what they were in for.
    He couldn’t wait to prove his father’s trust in him, to present him with the greatest gift a son could offer, a world for the taking — an opportunity for the King to lead his people to a new era where they were the superiors, free from the Humkoers’ persecution and ghettos.
    Jacob smiled wider.
    He held the crystals in a black velvet pouch, and could feel their vibration intensifying. Jacob turned to Mr. Dark as the man appeared behind him on the hill holding a pouch like Jacob’s. “Sir, Elim has returned with three of the crystals.”
    “Ah,” Jacob said, smiling and rising from his spot in the grass.
    Mr. Dark handed the pouch to Jacob, who opened it and looked inside. These crystals, like the others, were glowing bright red. They were vibrating too, as if they sensed the proximity of their brothers. Perhaps they did. If the crystals contained the soul of a powerful wizard, wouldn’t they be sentient?
    Jacob looked up at the thief standing a good distance from Mr. Dark, and nodded a thank you.
    “Pay him,”