From Darkness It Comes

Mr. Stark's Return

"You said you came here to help before Mr. Stark returned." Darrin says. "But things got worse when he did. What happened?"

Madame Laveau lowers her eyes and slightly shakes her head. "Jacob means well. I think he always has. But he had no patience to learn the proper balance of things to make sure no harm was done through his actions. I tried my best back in the bayou to see that he learned to watch for the signs and keep the balance, but he left in search of faster and easier ways I fear."

She pauses to take a short sip of her tea. "When I moved here there was much work to be done to return the balance to this place and my work had just begun to show signs of effect when Jacob showed up here again. I tried to reason with him but he was too far gone. He had look too deeply into the darkness to see the nature of the light any longer. All he saw was the shadows and wanted to destroy them, but believed he had no power to do so himself."

"But didn't you say he thought he was chosen?" Lisa looks confused, having completely forgone her tea by this point.

"Yes, child, he did. He told me of the old man who found him at school and set him on this path, calling him the chosen one. When he returned he talked of discovering the source of the power but no longer being able to touch it. That he had been tainted too much by then and had to wait for the next to be called. He still tried to prepare, but his actions were clumsy and harmful to the balance. I did what I could to convince him to end his works, but nothing I said seemed to make much of difference to the man."

She lets out a long slow sigh and lowers her eyes before continuing again. "I started to feel the shifting of the powers here and have been trying to counteract them the best I could, but with Jacob out there doing his thing in secret it has been tough. I felt it was going to be a losing battle so I already put the call in the ladies down in Baton Rouge, but I fear they may not be able to get here in time."

"Isn't there something we can do?" Darrin says with a serious face. "Can't we somehow get him to stop what he is doing or otherwise turn the tide back?"

Lisa just nods, but says nothing. Her face has grown as pale as the cream cloths covering the small tables here and no hint of a smile can be found anywhere even near her lips.

"As you saw by his reaction when he came here, there is nothing I can do that he will listen to and I have no way of finding where he is doing his things. Besides, even if I did he would have some kind of safeguards against my interference. He was always smart enough to protect himself. Only one who he would allow inside would have any chance of doing such a thing."

Darrin grips Lisa's hand and grimaces before speaking.