The Midnight Stand (The Elysia Saga Book 1) (12 page)

Harley’s eyes were wide with terror as Balor
held the gun to his temple. Everyone seemed to stop breathing as the sight of
what they were seeing registered with them. Daniel’s face was ashen. He looked
like the blood had drained out of him.

“Balor, what the hell are you doing?” Daniel
asked. His voice was shaking with a combination of fear and anger. “Are you
crazy? Get that gun away from my boy.”

“It’s better you stay out of this, Dan.” Balor
said. “You have very little to do with this anymore.” His voice was steady and
calm, all business with not a trace of emotion. He could have been a robot for
all Ancil knew.

“This wasn’t part of the plan.”

“The plan has changed,” Balor said to Daniel.
“You’ve nearly compromised this mission and I cannot allow that to happen.” He
looked at Ancil, who still had the knife up to Anderson’s throat. “Release the
officer.”

Ancil didn’t make any move to let Anderson go. “Release
him or I put a bullet in his head,” Balor said, pushing the gun harder into Harley’s
temple. Harley moaned through Balor’s meaty hand.

“Okay, okay,” Ancil said, taking his hands off
of Anderson and putting them out in front of him. “Just don’t do anything to
him. So help me God, if you try and hurt him.”

“Appealing to your gods will do nothing at this
point. Now drop the knife.”

Ancil let the knife drop to the floor. Anderson
moved away from him and touched the cut on his neck with his finger. He checked
the damage and saw blood on the tip of it. He quickly grabbed his gun from the
floor and aimed it at Ancil.

“Cuff him,” Balor said to Sheriff Bailey.

Sheriff Bailey looked uncertainly from Ancil to
Balor debating what to do. Finally, he took out his handcuffs and snapped them
on Ancil, pulling his hands behind his back.  

“All right,” Daniel said to Balor, “he’s
disarmed. Now let go of my son.”

“I can’t do that.”   

“The deal was to get my son back to me. That’s
what this was all about.”

“The deal was to get your son back for us, not
for you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s simple, Daniel. The project needs kids
like your son, kids who will grow up to be the future of the project and
fulfill its mission. Whether you came along or not was irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant? I’m irrelevant to you?” The anger
started to rise in Daniel. “The project would have never gotten as far as it
did without me.”

Balor gave him a smug grunt. “You overestimate
your contribution. You were an important cog, yes, but you served your purpose
for us and now you are released of your duties.”

Conway came up behind Daniel and put the gun to
the back of his head. Daniel froze when he felt the metal on his skull.  

“What are you doing?” Sheriff Bailey asked
incredulously. His face had swollen from the blow from the vase and two black
circles were beginning to form around his eyes making him look like a raccoon.

“Solving the situation,” Balor said.

Sheriff Bailey raised his gun to Balor. “This
has gone far enough. I didn’t come here to be involved in a hostage situation.
We were brought in on direct orders to secure the child back to his father and
nothing more. We have the grandfather in custody. The job’s done. Now hand over
the boy to his father or we will take you and your partner in as well. The
three of you can share a cell.”

“We’re under direct orders as well, Sheriff. Mr.
Ellis was clear. Make sure to secure the boy. Anyone else can be sacrificed if
needed.”

“Sacrificed?” Daniel asked. “What are you
talking about?”

“Mr. Ellis is only concerned with the boy.”

“He’s my son. You have no grounds to do this,
you hear, none.”

“Let him go Balor, or I will put one through
you. That’s a promise,” the Sheriff said.

Balor smirked. “You were always so gung-ho Sheriff.
That’s why we brought you in to begin with. You made for a good man to have on
the inside of the law, but now, much like Danny boy here, you served your
purpose to us.”

“I was elected by the people of this county to
serve and protect them. They are the only ones who can say whether I served my
purpose or not. I’m not beholden to you or anyone in your group. You’re all
outsiders as far as I’m concerned and I’ll be damned if you’re going to speak
on behalf of those good citizens.”

The fire was rising in Sheriff Bailey now as
well. In all the years that Ancil knew him and it was many, he never saw him
get this emotional or worked up.

“For God sakes just shoot him, Bill,” Daniel said,
calling the Sheriff by his first name. In a normal situation that would have
been a sign of disrespect, especially in a public setting, but considering the
current situation it seemed almost appropriate to be on such familial terms.
This was a standoff between two sets of people, them and us, the outsiders and
the citizens of this town. Daniel was now finally seeing that, albeit too late.

“I won’t warn you again. Release the boy and put
your hands over your head,” the Sheriff ordered. He was trying very hard to
sound in control but his shaking hands said that this was the first time he was
in a real gun showdown. “Do it now!”

“I’m sorry, Sheriff,” Balor said, “but this is
where you reach your authoritative limit.” His eyes shifted to Officer Anderson
who was standing behind the sheriff. “Now.”  

Before Sheriff Bailey even had a chance to turn
around and see Anderson raising the gun at him, the shot rang out, blowing a
hole in the front of the Sheriff’s head the size of a quarter. He dropped to
the floor with a thud. Blood and brain matter stained the wall. Half of Ancil’s
face was covered in blood, little white bits of brain stuck in his hair.

Harley was shaking with fear and a small puddle
of liquid started to pool around his left sneaker. He was making despairing
whelping sobs, sucking in breath with every inhalation.

The shotgun was still on the floor close to
Ancil’s feet. No one had picked it up. He knew he had one more shot in it. If
only he could figure out a way to get to it with his hands cuffed behind his
back.

“Shut your eyes, Harley,” Ancil told him. “Close
them tight and think about home. Think about hunting in the sand flats. Think
about the crickets chirping on a warm summer night.”

Harley did as his grandfather told him and shut
his eyes tight. “Good. Imagine yourself away from here. Go to that place in
your mind. This will all be over soon.”

“Yes, Harley,” Balor cooed. “This will be over
soon. You should open your eyes so you don’t miss it.”

“You don’t talk to him you son of a bitch,” Daniel
said. “I put my faith in you people and this is how you repay me. Everything I
did and sacrificed.” He was yelling now.       

“This isn’t a personal thing for us. It’s just a
necessary thing,” Balor said. “As long as people like you are still able to
make decisions from seats of power true progress can never be made. We need
young minds, like young Harley, to enter our project and be the new generation
that leads all of us into the next age. Your boy is very special. Mr. Ellis saw
it immediately. He is ingenious and intuitive and has instincts that no child
his age possesses. He scored extraordinarily high in our standard testing. He’s
exactly the type of child Mr. Ellis is looking for.”

“What testing have you done?” Ancil asked.

Anderson gave him a shove for speaking. “Shut
your mouth.” It came out like a growl.

“It’s okay,” Balor said. “We ran our testing
through the elementary schools. Every child from the ages of seven to fifteen
were given a series of exams to determine the best candidates for
consideration.”

Ancil remembered Harley telling him about the
tests he had to take in school. He said they were tests on everything from math
to critical thinking and moral aptitude. He just thought it was the regular
standardized testing that schools were so into these days. If he had any idea
what those tests were really about he would have kept Harley home from school
that week himself.  

“Determine candidates for what?” Daniel asked.

“Candidates for Henry Ellis’ successor.”

The words hung in the air for a bit after Balor
said them. Ancil tried to process what he just heard. Was this really
happening? Did these people think they could just walk in here and take his
grandson away from him to be used in some contest for the whim of a crazy old
man?

Daniel’s eyes grew wide. “Are you serious?”
Balor nodded his head. “Well, that’s wonderful.”

Ancil snapped his head towards Daniel, shocked
at what he just said.

“Harley, do you hear that?” Daniel asked his
son. Harley was still weeping, but he opened his eyes a slit. “You were chosen
personally by Mr. Ellis. Think about what that means. I always knew you were
special. Now you have the opportunity to be extraordinary”.

“Don’t listen to him, Harley,” Ancil
interrupted. “All this doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a way for them to make
you into who they want to be. That’s what this is all about.”

Anderson punched Ancil in the gut. He dropped to
his knees and then on his side in a fetal position struggling to suck in air.

“You don’t know when to shut up,” Anderson
snarled. Spit flew from his mouth as he bared his teeth. He could have passed
for a rabid dog.

“Take it easy on him, Anderson,” Balor said.
“He’ll never understand what we’re trying to accomplish here. But he can sit
and watch as the world moves ahead without him.” He looked at his watch while
still holding Harley with one arm. “We’ve wasted enough time here. Let’s finish
this.”

“What about him?” Conway said. He still had the
gun pointed at Daniel’s back.

Balor seemed to think it over for a bit. Daniel
looked at him with hopeful eyes. “Tie him. Throw him in with the other two. Burn
them all together.”

Conway grabbed Daniel’s arms behind his back and
took out a length of zip tie about two feet long. Daniel tried to fight him.
“No, wait. Stop. Don’t do this. You need me. The project needs me.” Balor
didn’t respond to him. Conway tightened the zip tie around Daniel’s wrists
hard, making him wince in pain. “Please, I can be useful. Henry knows it, he’s
seen my work. He knows what I can do.”

“Quickly, get them in the middle and tie them
together. Then get the car ready,” Balor instructed. “We should have been out
of here twenty minutes ago.”

Conway pushed Daniel to the floor. Anderson
grabbed Ancil by the legs and dragged him over. The shotgun was right at his
feet. The angle made it easy to kick out into the hall. Somehow he had to get
it to Harley. It was their only chance.

Ancil lifted his head to face Balor. “You think
your project will succeed? It will be a failure, you will be a failure. People
like me will see to that. They won’t stand by while you try and shape the world
in your image. You’re going to find gunfire at every house you visit.”

“People like you will die out one by one.
They’ll be where you are right now, on their faces watching as their homes burn
down to make way for true innovation. Henry Ellis will see to that.”

Conway and Anderson began to tie Daniel and
Ancil together.

“Harley, look at me,” Ancil said. Harley looked
at his grandfather for what Ancil knew to be the last time. He struggled to
hold back tears and keep his voice steady. He would never give these people the
satisfaction of seeing him break down and cry. They didn’t earn that right.
“Remember the trips out to the flats. Remember what I showed you. How to fire
your weapon properly. Do you remember?”

Harley nodded his head. “Good. What else did I
tell you? About defending yourself.”

“Save your breath,” Balor said. “They’ll be no
need for any of that where we’re going.”

Ancil ignored him. “Do you remember?”

“Yes,” Harley answered. His voice was more
assured now.

“Can you do it?”

“Yes.”

“Then now’s the time.”

Ancil shot up with all his force, driving the
top of his head into the bottom of Anderson’s chin. The blow was so hard that
Ancil saw stars for a moment and thought he was in real danger of knocking
himself out. His ears were ringing and his neck tingled from the compressive
impact, but he was able to get his bearing back quickly.

Anderson cried out in pain and stumbled back,
dropping his gun as he did. At the same time Ancil used his left foot to kick
the shotgun over to where Harley was. “Now!”

Harley slipped away from Balor, who was
temporality distracted by the diversion, and ran for the shotgun. Balor tried
to grab him, but Harley slipped away. He was incredibly quick and tactile. It
was always one of his traits and Ancil knew it would serve him well.

He got to the gun and picked it up. “Stop him,”
Balor screamed. Conway started to move in for Harley, but Ancil drove his
shoulder into his mid-section pushing him back.