Available Darkness Season 2

Jacob said, and returned to his seat in the grass.
    As he sat, the crystals hummed, lightly shaking in their pouches. Jacob opened one of the bags to look inside and was surprised when the crystals hopped out from the bag and hung suspended, hovering in the air as if held by tiny filaments. He opened the bag given to him by Mr. Dark, then watched as the other three crystals flew out, joining the others in midair, five crystals in squared formation, with one floating in the center.
    They began to glow brighter and then, to Jacob’s surprise, moved closer to one another. He thought about stopping the movement, then thought better.
    Who am I to interfere with nature?
    The crystals began to shift into place like a puzzle piecing itself together, brightening as the individuals fused into a single glowing sphere of crimson; an almost perfect circle, save for the missing piece.
    The sphere hummed, a vibration so low you could barely hear it, though Jacob could feel it in the depths of his soul.
    He felt his power emanating, and without even thinking about what he was doing, reached out to brush the sphere with his fingers. They wrapped around the sphere, and an almost violent energy exploded through him, even stronger than the last crystal had delivered — raw, powerful, and perhaps everlasting.
    It felt as if Jacob was somehow able to tap into and harness the power of a sun.
    He closed his eyes and savored the moment, feeling as if the stars were aligned to shine on his destiny. It was his time to conquer this world. He felt something else, too, something he’d not even recognized within himself until the moment the sphere shined its light into the darkest recesses of his brain.
    Jacob didn’t just want to save his people, he wanted to finally prove himself worthy of his father’s love. The father who had always mourned the sons he’d lost, John and Caleb, and who had treated Jacob like less than flesh and blood. Jacob was always an embarrassment to his father. Not any longer, and never again.
    All he needed was the final crystal, then nothing could stop him.
    Where is it?
    The sphere responded to his wonder, showing him a vision of the woman with the crystal — Hope.
    Then it showed Jacob where she was.
    He opened his eyes, and gazed upon the fire consuming Duncan’s estate. It was but a signal fire, a portent of what was to come.
    Yes, soon, the world will burn.

    * * * *

CHAPTER 2 — John

    John opened his eyes to total darkness, on his feet and ready to fight by the second blink.
    He was in a small holding cell with a cot, a toilet, and a door. He closed his eyes trying to feel where he was.
    John was in the Building, a 12-story office building the FBI had sanctioned exclusively for Omega’s use. The ninth and tenth floors were devoted to a secret prison which no one other than the highest security clearances knew existed. Not even prisoners knew where they had been taken. They arrived with drugged heads stuffed in thick black sacks, just as John was sure he had. They left, if they were lucky enough to leave alive, the same way.
    John’s cell had both a camera and speaker system used to monitor the prisoner, and a row of lights behind thick bullet-resistant glass. Like the lights at Cromwell’s, they were designed to kill his kind.
    “Why am I in here?” John shouted, looking up at the camera.
    A few moments later, Mike Mathews’ voice came over the speaker.
    Mathews said, “Hello, John. I’ll be with you shortly.” Then, after 10 minutes, the metal door slid open, and Mathews stepped into the room. He was wearing his field uniform, covered head to toe in black, and an enclosed helmet with speakers on the side — designed to protect him from John’s touch. He had no weapon.
    The door closed.
    “What the hell is going on?” John asked.
    “I’d like to ask you the same thing. One minute you were storming into Shadow’s hotel room, and the next you two were gone,” Mathews’ voice said through the speakers. The man’s visor was thick black, but John didn’t need to see through to know that Mathews’ cold stare was fixed on him.
    “What are you saying?” John asked, knowing exactly what the he was implying.
    “I’d like to know how you two escaped.”
    “We didn’t escape. He took me against my will, through a portal.”
    “A portal?”
    “Yes,” John said.
    “How the hell did he create a portal? Is he working with Jacob?”
    “I don’t know. But it wasn’t the kind which travels