Available Darkness Season 2

John clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes tight trying to repel him, but the burning rotted his ability to fight.
    Skinner was in.
    John felt the man seize upon the information he was most trying to hide. And then Skinner was out.
    As his pain receded, John watched as the crimson skin on his arms slowly started to heal.
    Skinner turned to Mathews, “He’s searching for vessels — people with crystals stuck in their flesh. Five crystals which contain the soul of the Last Great Wizard from Otherworld. The person who pieces them together controls the wizard’s power. Jacob is hunting the vessels, then killing them to get the crystals. Hope is on the list.”
    John glared at Skinner, wanting to sink his fingers into the bastard’s flesh.
    “Thank you,” Mathews said. “You’re excused.”
    “Yes, sir,” Skinner nodded, the German accent crisp on his lips. He left the room, not daring to meet John’s stare.
    Mathews stepped closer to John, looking down at him, almost daring him to make a move. John considered it, but the man’s finger was on the button, and the man had grown sadistic enough to fry him just for laughs.
    “So, that’s why you want to find Hope. It’s all so perfectly clear now. Interesting.”
    “You have to bring her here,” John said. “If Jacob gets to her, he will kill her.”
    “Yes, yes, good idea,” Mathews said. “She should be here.”
    Mathews fell several steps from John, then said into the radio in his helmet, “Get me Agent Overton.” Moments later, Mathews was talking to Agent Overton, instructing him to bring Hannah to The Building. “If she resists in any way, kill her immediately.”
    John went to strike, but wasn’t fast enough. Mathews pushed the button again, flooding the room with lethal light and sending John back to the floor in crippling pain.
    Mathews clicked the lights off, then leaned down to John and calmly said, “Your free ride is finished, John. You had exactly two friends in the Agency looking out for you, and, as it so happens, both Duncan and Cromwell are now dead. That means a new boss. Are you familiar with Bernard Walsh? He’s now in charge of The Guardians, and unlike his predecessor, Walsh understands that this job leaves zero room for misplaced sentimentality.”
    John rode out the pain, rocking back and forth on the floor as Mathews continued. “None of this would have happened if Duncan had done the right thing when it had to be done. But I assure you, John, you will not see me making the same mistake. When it’s time to choose between one life and millions, I won’t falter.”
    John forced himself into action through the pain. He tried to reach out, but his attempt fell pathetically short.
    Mathews stepped away from John, as if trying to evade a swatting old cat. “Goodbye, John. I’d like to say it was great working with you, but we both know that would be a lie.”
    Mathews left just as John managed to stand.
    The door closed and locked.
    John wondered why Mathews hadn’t simply killed him, and figured he either still needed him alive, or Mathews wasn’t able to make the call for John’s death — yet.
    There was also a third option: Mathews thought the torture too fun to end so soon.

    * * * *

CHAPTER 3 — Hannah

    Hannah was sitting on the couch in the apartment where she and Greg were sequestered, trying to relax despite her frayed nerves, when Greg got a call from his bosses. He left the apartment to take it. She pressed her back into the cushions, waiting through the anxiety that sat like lead in her stomach.
    As her foot tapped a thousand times on the carpet waiting for Greg to return and tell her what was going on, Hannah expected her other inner voice to chime in with more doomsaying. But that voice was uncharacteristically quiet, and had been since their arrival a few hours earlier.
    The door finally opened and Greg said, “We’ve gotta go. The Agency wants us in Washington immediately.”
    She wasn’t sure if it was the look in Greg’s eyes or a simple fear of the unknown, but Hannah felt as if she were about to be strapped into a ride without escape.
    “ Washington? For how long?”
    “Washington State, not D.C. My division is headquartered up there. As for how long, I don’t know,” he said.
    “But what about the shop? I need to call Jenny and update her.”
    “Jenny’s not expecting you back until next week, so we can wait until we arrive before doing anything else or making any other decisions.