Available Darkness: Season Two (Episodes 7-12) Read online

  Contents

  Available Darkness: Season Two

  The Darkness is Back

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  PREVIOUSLY…

  EPISODE 7: PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1 — John

  CHAPTER 2 — Abigail

  CHAPTER 3 — Larry

  CHAPTER 4 — Abigail

  CHAPTER 5 — John

  CHAPTER 6 — Hannah (Hope)

  CHAPTER 7 — John

  EPISODE 8: CHAPTER 1 — Duncan

  CHAPTER 2 — John

  CHAPTER 3 — Abigail

  CHAPTER 4 — Hannah

  CHAPTER 5 — Larry

  CHAPTER 6 — John

  EPILOGUE

  EPISODE 9: CHAPTER 1 — John

  CHAPTER 2 — Abigail

  CHAPTER 3 — Hannah

  CHAPTER 4 — Duncan

  CHAPTER 5 — Abigail

  CHAPTER 6 — John

  CHAPTER 7 — Hannah

  EPISODE 10: PROLOGUE — Duncan

  CHAPTER 1 — Duncan

  CHAPTER 2 — Larry

  CHAPTER 3 — John

  CHAPTER 4 — Hannah

  CHAPTER 5 — John

  CHAPTER 6 — Jacob

  CHAPTER 7 — Hannah

  CHAPTER 8 — Duncan

  EPISODE 11: CHAPTER 1 — Hannah

  CHAPTER 2 — John

  CHAPTER 3 — Abigail

  CHAPTER 4 — Hannah

  CHAPTER 5 — John and Larry

  CHAPTER 6 — Abigail

  CHAPTER 7 — Larry

  EPISODE 12: CHAPTER 1 — Jacob

  CHAPTER 2 — John

  CHAPTER 3 — Hannah

  CHAPTER 4 — Abigail

  CHAPTER 5 — Hannah

  CHAPTER 6 — John

  CHAPTER 7 — Larry

  CHAPTER 8 — Hope

  CHAPTER 9 — John

  EPILOGUE

  A NOTE ABOUT OUR 2013 SCHEDULE

  Join The Goners

  Our Books

  The Most Important Thing You Can Do To Spread the Word

  About the Authors

  Available Darkness: Season Two

  Episodes 7-12

  (A new breed of vampire serial thriller)

  by Sean Platt &

  David Wright

  Copyright © 2013 by Sean Platt & David Wright. All rights reserved

  Cover copyright © 2013 by David W. Wright

  Edited by: Jason Whited jason-whited.com

  Email at: [email protected]

  WARNING: This book contains graphic violence and language. It is intended for mature audiences and may offend some people.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The authors have taken great liberties with locales including the creation of fictional towns.

  Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

  The authors greatly appreciate you taking the time to read our work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends or blog readers about this book, to help us spread the word.

  Thank you for supporting our work.

  Visit: http://collectiveinkwell.com

  eBook First Serialized Edition — Feb. 11, 2013

  Layout and design by Collective Inkwell

  CollectiveInkwell.Com

  Published by Collective Inkwell

  * * * *

  THE DARKNESS IS BACK

  A MAN BETRAYS HIS OWN KIND

  Following events of Available Darkness Season One, John finds himself one year later working for the very enemy who had hunted him for so long — the government.

  The woman that he loves, Hope, had had her mind erased and the only way he can ever find her again is to fulfill his duty, which means betraying his own kind.

  A CHILD STRUGGLES TO CONTAIN THE MONSTER WITHIN

  11-year-old Abigail, now living with the curse of being a vampire, struggles to survive in a lonely existence where every feeding weighs on her soul and overwhelms her with darkness.

  How close can she come to the abyss before she is pulled in?

  A WOMAN REMEMBERS

  Hannah Quinn had the almost-perfect life — a blossoming flower business, a loving boyfriend, and she was genuinely happy for the first time in years. But an accident is about to throw her entire life into chaos, leaving her with the question — Who am I?

  A DARKNESS LOOMS

  When a new portal appears, and an ancient evil threatens to destroy the world, John must fight not only to save those that he loves, but to save the entire world. But time is running out, and the Darkness will wait for no man.

  Available Darkness: Season Two is the nail-biting, heart-pounding, second part of the Available Darkness Trilogy.

  AVAILABLE DARKNESS SEASON TWO SCHEDULE:

  Episode 7 — February 12, 2013

  Season Two — February 12 (available the same day as episode 7!)

  Episode 8 — February 19

  Episode 9 — February 26

  Episode 10 — March 5

  Episode 11 — March 12

  Episode 12 — March 19

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  For a while, I didn’t want to write the second season of Available Darkness.

  The first season was also our first book together, and when I re-read it, a few months after publication, I only saw what was wrong with the story. It was too clunky, the wording too awkward, and it wasn’t the story I started out wanting to tell. It had grown into this giant, epic, thing!

  You could tell it was our first book together.

  Hell, you can tell that Yesterday’s Gone: Season One is our second book (and first true serial) together, with some growing pains I’d like to go back and mend.

  But as time went by, and we found our legs as writers (something we’re still doing — I don’t think a writer is ever truly content with their words, always wanting to be able to tell a story better), I kept feeling a tug to return to the world of Available Darkness.

  It began last fall with revising the first book and fixing some of the problems, making it easier to follow, and turning it into a true serial, to match our other works in delivery.

  While revising the first book, which we re-released in late 2012, I rediscovered so much that I loved about the story — namely the characters of John, Hope, Larry, and Abigail.

  Abigail wasn’t even in the original concepts I had for a story. But she’s found a way into our hearts, and I hope yours, too.

  As we were writing other stuff, I kept thinking more and more about Available Darkness, wanting to know what happens next? How does Abigail handle being a vampire? Will John ever reunite with his one true love, Hope? What happened after Jacob and Caleb went into the portal?

  Sure, the story had changed from the initial story I had in mind, and became a lot more intricate (or convoluted if you’re a critic), but I’m OK with that. You see, one thing I’ve learned as a writer over the past year and a half is to trust your characters — let them bring the story to you. Don’t try to force a square peg into a round hole.

  So for Season Two, Sean and I met for story meetings, and talked about plot lines we’d discussed during the first season, what we wanted, what we didn’t want, and so on. But in the end, when it came to actually writing, I just asked the characters to tell me, what’s next?

  And this is what they told me.

  As always, thank you for reading,

  David Wright & Sean Platt

  PREVIOUSLY…

  Note: A lot happened in Availabl
e Darkness: Season One. A lot! This is by no means a complete summary, and serves only as a reminder to bring Season One readers up to speed.

  If you’ve not yet read Season One, you can read below and probably catch on easily enough to enjoy Season Two. However, you’ll be ruining a lot of the mystery and surprises which made Season One so much fun. We would highly suggest that you start your Available Darkness journey with Season One.

  Links to Available Darkness: Season One.

  US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009YWLV94/

  UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009YWLV94/

  Your last warning… lots of Season One spoilers to follow.

  PREVIOUSLY ON AVAILABLE DARKNESS…

  Thousands of years ago, Earth was once connected to a world called Otherworld, a place of great technology and magick. During a civil war waged by the technologically advanced North upon the South, several people came to Earth via portals, looking to start anew. They called themselves Pioneers.

  However, when their magick threatened to corrupt the natural development of the human race, a rift soon divided the group, with the self-appointed Guardians making it their goal to protect humanity from the influence of either magick or technology.

  The Guardians destroyed the portals home and waged war on the other group, the Harbingers, who aimed to influence humans with their knowledge, and to reunite the worlds.

  A truce was formed with the Guardians agreeing to let the Harbingers live peacefully, so long as they didn’t attempt to interfere with humanity’s development. The Guardians soon infiltrated the highest rankings of government, where they’ve been a mainstay for many years, with varying degrees of assistance when deemed necessary, but maintaining their secrecy outside of very close ranks.

  BROTHERS DIVIDED

  Around 30 years ago, a new portal appeared, very briefly, carrying over a woman and two children. The woman was fleeing Otherworld, and her husband, king of the Valkoer, people infected by an alien race of parasites which live within them. The parasites turn their hosts into vampire-like creatures who absorb the life force (or soul) from their victims’, along with their memories.

  The woman and her two young sons, John and Caleb, were soon hunted down by her third son, Jacob, a few years older than his brothers and already turned into a feeder (or vampire). Jacob killed her out of jealousy of being left behind with his cruel father.

  Jacob spared his siblings and spent years living among earthlings, feeding off of them, hoping to someday find a way back, as his portal was one-way only.

  Caleb, the older of the two boys, was adopted by an FBI agent at the request of Duncan Alderman, a Guardian and Pioneer who is not only a billionaire, but also pulls the strings of much of the government, and the FBI in particular. Duncan recognized the boys as his kind, and needed to know more about how they got there. He also soon developed a bond with Caleb, who he came to regard as the son he’d never had.

  Caleb’s mind was wiped of his origins and he was able to live as a human for many years.

  John, however, was infected with the Darkness, another name for both the parasite, and the powers it offers its hosts. Much like the mythical human vampires, the Valkoer have an extreme weakness to daylight, which can kill them.

  John spent much of his youth separated from his brother, put in facilities by the Guardians which tried to both heal him, and at other times tried to harness his powers and turn him into a soldier for the Guardians. This hypocrisy, that the same group who would destroy magickal artifacts from Otherworld would also utilize the same magick, and even try to create a magickal vampire assassin, disgusted John, turning him off to both Duncan and the Guardians.

  John eventually escaped, and found a way to squelch the Darkness within him and live among humans. During this time, in the 90s, he fell in love with a woman named Hope Barnett, and they lived together in St. Augustine, Florida. She knew nothing of his past, aside from the stories he made up. Nor did she know of the monster inside him.

  Everything was going smoothly until bodies started showing up burned and John was having dreams, and fears, that he was somehow taking lives at night as he slept.

  Together with Larry, his personal private eye and apprentice magick-user, he realized that John’s brother Jacob had found him and was trying to find Caleb as well.

  Jacob discovered that together, John and Caleb, could create a portal back to their world, which would allow him to also return. Jacob has grown sick and weary of this world and the humans, whom he considers little more than ignorant animals. He must return. But he needs both brothers to make the spell work.

  THE GUARDIANS

  The Guardians, who control the secret FBI Omega division, cannot let this happen. If Jacob gets back home, there’s a good chance he can keep the portal open. An open portal to Otherworld could spell disaster if Harbinger, or the Valkoer on the other side, decide to utilize it and invade Earth, enslaving its people.

  The Guardians wanted to kill John, who is hard to find, but would instead kill the unwitting Caleb whom they have in their employ, to prevent Jacob from activating the portal.

  John, sensing the growing danger on all fronts, decided to have Hope’s mind wiped clean and to have Larry put her somewhere else to start her life anew, without any memory of him. It is the safest way for her to survive the oncoming war.

  Larry’s mind was also wiped of Hope’s location to assure her safety.

  John and Larry were going to find Jacob and kill him, but realized the danger was too great to Caleb, so they went into hiding for more than a decade.

  A DECADE LATER…

  In 2011, Duncan found John, informing him that the Guardians were growing restless. Jacob was gaining strength and it was only a matter of time before Jacob found John, and through John, found Caleb.

  Duncan forced his hand — sacrifice yourself or your brother will die. Duncan also showed John a picture of Hope and delivered the threat, “We know where she is.”

  John agreed to sacrifice himself.

  He had Larry and a magick-user named Adam perform a spell to revert him to his vampire self, and then bury him in a special coffin. After the spell took effect, two days later, they would raise the coffin and open the slot built into the lid, allowing the sun to come in and kill him.

  Once John was dead, the portal could never be opened, and the world, along with Hope and Caleb, would presumably be safe.

  However, Larry betrayed John, not wanting to lose his friend, and the person who showed him so much magick — a person who helped him feel less like a loser. Larry and Adam returned to the grave to raise the coffin, but instead of opening the slot and leaving him to die, Larry had Adam wipe John’s memory. Larry then shot Adam dead and apologized to John as he slid a paper into John’s coffin with an address to Larry’s safe house.

  John awoke with amnesia, thanks to the memory wipe, unaware of who or what he was.

  He wound up accidentally murdering a man named Randy Webster. To John’s surprise, he found that Randy was keeping a child in his closet as a sex slave — an 11-year-old named Abigail whose parents died years ago. She was sold by her trashy uncle to Randy and had nobody to care for her.

  John wound up taking her with him as he tried to piece together his identity and past.

  MEANWHILE…

  Caleb was following leads on a serial killer who burned his victims alive. Among those victims, his wife Julia, more than a decade ago. Soon, Caleb found out from his superior, Special Agent in Charge Bob Cromwell, that this killer is no ordinary killer, it is an alien vampire.

  Cromwell manipulated Caleb, never telling him that the alien is his brother, and that in reality, John didn’t kill Julia.

  John, on the run from Harbinger agents who are now working for Jacob, wound up in a shootout which resulted in Abigail being mortally wounded. John saved the girl, instinctively, by infecting her and turning her into a vampire, too. Unlike him, she will have no hope as ever living as a human again, though. If the parasite went
dormant in her, she would die.

  John immediately regrets saving her, feeling as if he’s sentenced her to an immortal curse.

  Soon, John’s mind wipe faded and he remembered everything — including Larry’s betrayal. John and Larry got into a heated fight and Larry apologized, begging for forgiveness. Abigail convinced them that they need to stick together now more than ever. There’s too much on the line with Jacob and the FBI closing in on them.

  Larry recruited a gangster he knows, a giant of a man named Tiny, to put together a small army to go after Jacob.

  Jacob managed to kidnap Abigail and hold her hostage, demanding that John find Caleb and bring him to his compound where they can finally create the portal and Jacob can go home. Jacob promised to let Abigail, John, and Caleb all live, provided he is just allowed to return home.

  John concocted a plan to defeat Jacob once and for all. It began with a blast of truth to his brother, Caleb.

  Turns out that more than a decade ago, Jacob and John’s presence so close to Caleb who was working the murders in St. Augustine, triggered the parasite laying dormant in him. He woke to himself feeding on his wife. John and Adam discovered him in the act and proceeded to wipe his mind of the event, and the self-torture which would haunt him. They also managed to return him to his normal status, forcing the parasite to go dormant again. Adam built a phrase into the mind wipe, however, which would erase the fabricated memories if ever needed. John delivered that phrase to Caleb.

  Caleb, now fully aware of what happened, was led to Jacob’s compound where he followed John’s lead and helped open the portal. Caleb, using a knife given to him by his boss to kill John (and which can be used on any feeder), was going to kill Jacob the first chance he got.

  However, a battle broke out between John’s army of gangsters, led by Tiny who agreed to be turned into a vampire to help even their odds going against the monsters and soldiers that Jacob had accumulated.