From Darkness It Comes

Astonishing Tales of Baton Rouge

"What did Mr. Stark do to make such an impression on you all those years ago back in Louisiana?"

Madame Laveau shakes her head slightly and takes another sip of her tea. "I was practicing down in Thibodaux, not too far outside New Orleans, but I made regular trips up to Baton Rouge to visit some friends and family I had there. Or for some ritual I might of been needed on. You know how those things can go, vacations you end up working on."

Lisa absent minded nodded in understanding. Darrin just sat there, tea forgotten, concentrating on every word as if something in it might hold a secret that will make everything make sense.

"It was on one of these trips up to see Mother Justine that I first met Jacob. Your Mr. Stark." The last part was added with a nod towards the kids on the couch, to make sure they weren't confused about the name. "You see, when I met him he was fairly fresh out of college and full of a fervor for knowledge about ancient and dark things. I was in Justine's shop and he walked right up to me and introduced himself as Jacob Aurelius Stark. Before I could do more than just reply with my name he was already asking me about the dark forces and what can be done to control them. The boy seemed so eager, but untrained in what he sought to involve himself in. I had trouble keeping him quiet long enough to answer anything he asked."

Darrin listened with shock on his face. Mr. Stark wouldn't stop talking? He thought quickly as she paused to take a sip of her tea. Now he will barely say anything and never explains any of what he does say,

"I saw the dangers that boy was heading into and couldn't let it happen. I told him to come down to Thibodaux and let me show him some things, so I could guide him away from himself. Although I never told him that part. Sure enough, a few weeks later he showed up at my doorstep wanting to learn the arts of Hoodoo and talking about some ancient evil he was destined to fight. The boy seemed half driven out of his mind."

"That sounds like Mr. Stark, alright." Lisa quietly voices with only sight jest.

"I tried to help him. To bring his mind back from the brink he had be driven to by some other man at that school. You see, Jacob was confronted by some old man during his time here and was had it beaten into him that he was the chosen one. The only one who could keep the darkness at bay. He was told just enough by this man to set him out on this crazy quest for knowledge and ancient artifacts, hoping what he would find before he had to go back would be enough to do what he was destined to do. I could see the darkness inside him, much as I do with you Darrin."

Darrin looks at her with eyes wide and mouth so dry it felt like summer in the Sahara. He couldn't speak, but the white flush over his face and terrified expression said it all. Lisa gripped his hand and felt the cold sweat coating his skin. She wanted to look at Madame Laveau to plead but couldn't take her eyes off his gaunt face.

"Do not fear, child. You are not lost to it yet, and neither was he at that time, but he didn't listen to what I tried to teach him and followed the dark path the old man set him upon. The darkness here had a much tighter grasp on him than you. I can see you are connected to it, but you have only been recently touched so there is still more than enough time to free you from the dark energies here."

"Jacob, on the other hand, almost seemed to embrace the darkness. Even as I was trying to show him the ways of things, the connections of everything through nature, and meanings of life and death and spirit. He didn't take to it. He cared little about the why and nature of being. He only cared about the how and the powers to control. He was dangerous and growing more so every day, so I had to accept that I could not help him."

"I told him that my time with him had shown me that I could not allow myself to train him or allow him to train with others anywhere near here. I asked in vain that he give up his obsession and learn to understand the nature of things, but he rambled on about his destiny and his quest to find the answers he needed. He talked of powers to fight the darkness and mystic items of times long past that would aid in the battle. He never would explain what exactly it was he was looking for before he left."

"It wasn't until I came here, where I was called to help maintain the balance and help keep the dark energy here from gaining strength, that I saw him again. Saw what he had become. When he returned to this place, where he first was set on his obsession by the old man I have not been able to identify, he was too far gone to save and had too much information. It made him dangerous and the balance started to falter. He may have even of found some of those things he was looking for to help him."

She shakes her head sadly. "He wouldn't talk to me when he came back. He thinks I betrayed him."

Darrin nods gently and asks her...