Phantoms of the Moon

by Michael Ciardi

In the months following the Occurrence on Route 51, as investigators now coined it, Gary Wescott’s prediction of an onslaught of media exposure proved to be as prophetic as anything he ever uttered. Reporters and agency officials congregated in a never-ending stampede upon Glen Dale’s pine groves. Some sought to survey the existing crater firsthand, while others hunted for similar areas within the region that promised more than just the aftermath of an unknown phenomenon.

  Ultimately, neither scientists nor authorities provided any definitive theory on the precise nature of events. Despite hundreds of confessions from the locals, who surfaced from the underground more explosively than the UFO itself, the powers-that-be filed inconclusive reports. Conspiracy theories abounded, most of them signifying that the government orchestrated yet another cover-up to prevent mass hysteria from overtaking the country. This sort of hype only heightened the intrigue surrounding Glen Dale’s grandest attraction.

  In the first six months, a day had not gone by without multiple groups converging upon the clearing, which was now officially designated as a hazardous zone. Even with this warning in place, people still camped along the fringes of Route 51, hoping to catch a glimpse of something to exhilarate their lackluster lives. A host of organizations insisted that whatever erupted from the soil had definite intentions of returning to the scene. But their conclusions had thus far disappointed all those who listened—and waited.

  Perhaps Wescott loathed the rejuvenation in his town’s popularity more than anyone. Whenever a television camera or microphone was set in front of his face he viciously chastised the media for disrupting the quietude of his provincial town. Of course it soon became a hypocritical endeavor for the former chief. Though Wescott professed to loathe such publicity, he ironically frittered away most of his hours fielding questions and juggling as many interviews as his schedule permitted. Inevitably, Wescott’s recollections of past years became the focal point of his discourse. It was only a matter of time before he revealed his connection to Ryan Hayden and his family.

  Naturally, curiosity guided investigators to Belle Falls in pursuit of the one person who might have been able to shed a sliver of light on the controversy at hand. After locating Ryan’s grandfather, however, they learned about the boy’s own disappearance. Frank refused to speak a word about what he thought happened to Ryan, and he was not rushing out to assemble any search parties either. Frank’s prolonged silence spawned further speculation, but the old man found all the closure he needed at the wide end of his gin bottle.

  Out of all of those who came to gawk at the occurrence, the only two individuals who could have handily squelched the rumors were not anywhere to be found. Victor and Hailey both elected to avoid the frenzied media for as long as possible. Victor figured that Hailey would have eventually recovered from her ordeal and disclosed all that she knew. It did not happen. After months of waiting, Victor concluded that she had no intention of mentioning her relationship with Ryan Hayden or her encounter aboard the alien spacecraft.

  The passing months also brought another fact into focus in regard to Hailey’s condition. Concealing her pregnancy could not be achieved by wearing baggy shirts and sweatpants any longer. Consequently, the hallways of Belle Falls High School soon echoed with gossip on the father’s identity. Neil Chandler was immediately thought to be responsible, and Hailey had purposely slept with the boy numerous times over several months to secure such a notion in his mind. He was either too obtuse or indifferent to attempt the math that disqualified him as a potential parent. She, of course, realized that the child within her womb belonged to Ryan Hayden. But she did not confess this fact to her family or closest friends, and vowed to maintain her silence for as long as her unborn child’s safety remained in jeopardy.

  As Hailey neared her pregnancy’s final stages, Victor was perhaps the sole person in Belle Falls who suspected that Neil’s paternity was uncertain. Victor had originally planned to become closer to Hailey over the last nine months, but she retreated from all forms of socializing and ultimately decided to leave school for the remainder of the year. Before Hailey departed, she spoke to Victor personally on a few occasions, and maybe fielded a sporadic phone call or two, but she refrained from mentioning what was most essential to Victor. Hailey’s only thoughts on the matter reiterated what she had affirmed to him on the night in question: she wanted to block the incident from her mind permanently.

  Perhaps Victor had already undergone his own degree of shock pertaining to Ryan’s passing. Since a body was yet to be discovered, he had not even fully accepted his best friend’s death. During Victor’s lonelier moments, which increased in frequency each day, he awakened from sleep saturated in a chilled sweat. His attention immediately shifted to the stars, where he sought out the boldest one hanging in the horizon. At least in these moments Victor reminisced about the happier times he spent alongside his friend and his telescope. Within the boundless region of the vast unknown, Victor sensed a security that could not be duplicated within this planet’s atmosphere. Even now, after enduring the loss of his only true friend, Victor felt entranced by the heavens. He was tempted to believe that Ryan still watched him from a region unknown to Earth.

  Victor was content to never utter another syllable in reference to the Occurrence on Route 51. But an unexpected visitation from an elderly man, whom he never met before, changed everything. This slightly eccentric man, who neglected to identify himself, prompted the boy to engage Hailey in conversation after she gave birth to her child. Victor debated the information revealed to him for three weeks—right up until Hailey’s anticipated date of delivery. He assumed Hailey would have been escorted to the nearest hospital upon going into labor. Since everyone in Belle Falls had somehow finagled their neighbors to spout forth information, arriving at Belle Fall’s Medical Center on the day Hailey gave birth proved to be less taxing than he originally surmised.

  The medical facility in Belle Falls handled most of the routine procedures for the residents. An influx of babies being delivered in the area over the past few years prompted construction of a new maternity ward on the structure’s third floor. As it was with most modern additions, the ward keepers here attracted mothers-to-be by marketing the environment less like a hospital and more akin to a hotel suite. Hailey’s family had been excruciatingly cautious throughout their daughter’s pregnancy. At one point, they almost demanded that she abort it in order to preserve her own reputation, but they were really more concerned about the repercussions on themselves. Since Hailey refused to harm her unborn fetus, they suggested adoption as a second option, but she rejected that notion as well.

  “Nobody is going to take my baby away from me,” she said on numerous occasions. And here in Belle Falls, within the safe quarters of a homespun hospital, no one challenged her decision any longer.

  On a late September morning, while surrounded by her suddenly supportive family, Hailey gave birth to a healthy eight-pound boy. The presumed father was nowhere to be found. Neil had apparently figured out that his obsessive steroid usage probably excluded him from him fathering any children in his lifetime. But Hailey never shed a teardrop over what her family assessed as a devastating consequence.

  “I don’t need Neil or any other man to help me with my baby,” said Hailey, shortly after cradling her infant son for the first time. If anyone sought to argue her pledge, they withheld their comments for now. In respect to Hailey’s wishes, her family soon left her alone so that she had an opportunity to bond privately with her new baby.

  Victor had taken the necessary steps to sneak into the maternity ward undetected. After disguising himself as an orderly, he ambled directly between two security guards and a police officer standing in the main lobby. The officer was in fact a Lieutenant for the township for many years. Lieutenant Braxton was a long-time resident and highly respected by the locals. He was a swarthy-skinned man who was rumored to have a nose keener than a bloodhound when it came to sniffing out trouble, but he did not expect any danger when l
ooking at Victor’s congenial face. Besides, Braxton’s business at the hospital was of a personal nature today. His own daughter-in-law had just given birth to twin girls. Braxton busied himself by handing out cigars to random folks in the lobby—a token gesture that was truly as passé as the lieutenant’s off-duty wardrobe.

  Once Victor was buzzed into the maternity ward, he used a mop to sweep his way to a doorway at the end of the corridor—precisely where Hailey Gardner tended to her newborn.

  Upon noticing Victor in the doorway, Hailey was immediately startled. She glanced over his blue and white uniform tentatively before saying, “Victor—what are you doing here?”

  Victor had lost almost ten pounds from his already emaciated frame since the last time Hailey had seen him nearly six months ago. He leaned heavily upon the mop’s handle, while watching Hailey shift uncomfortably in the bed with the infant nestled against her chest. Following a few seconds of silence, Victor answered her sprightly. “What does it look like I’m doing?” he then held out his mop for her inspection. “My guidance counselor always told me I was destined to clean up—apparently, now is my big chance.”

  “You work here?”

  “Yeah—just part-time. I figured I could save up some money for a new car—not brand new or anything like that, but something nicer than my dad’s old Buick.”

  “Why aren’t you at college? Didn’t you tell me you were going away?”

  “Change of plans,” said Victor. “Scholarship issues, but I didn’t come here to talk about that boring stuff.”

  Hailey smiled politely, but her facial expression indicated that she was a tad unnerved by his presence. Victor did not wait for an invitation into the room. He pushed his way in with the broom extended in front of his footsteps. “I can see that you’ll have your hands full from now on,” he said, gesturing to the baby. “Wow—I think it’s really cool that you’re a mom. I guess we really are getting older, huh?”

  “I guess,” Hailey spoke softly, still appearing somewhat awkward with her unwanted company.

  “Hey,” said Victor, “I hope I’m not here at a bad time or anything—”

  “Actually, I was just trying to get the baby to go to sleep,” Hailey offered. “Maybe you can come back later—how does that sound?” She still attempted to be cordial, but the tension in her furrowed brow was obvious from across the room.

  “Um…I’d really like to, Hailey, but I only have a few minutes before my boss will start to miss me. I promise I won’t take up much of your time—or your baby’s either.”

  As Victor edged closer to the bed, Hailey found herself instinctually swaddling her baby tighter in her arms. She watched Victor’s actions carefully as he set his mop beside the bed and hunched down into a recliner next to her. From where he was situated he saw the baby’s tender pink face and slate-blue eyes. The infant cried a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary. The baby’s powder-blue cap, which covered a portion of the baby’s dark hair, permitted Victor to indulge in obligatory small talk.

  “It looks like a boy,” he announced joyfully, “and a cute one, too.”

  “Thanks,” said Hailey, easing the rigidity in her posture slightly. “He’s a beautiful boy,” she reaffirmed. “My beautiful baby boy.”

  “Does he have a name yet?”

  “Randy. I named him after my father.”

  Victor smiled and glanced quickly around the room without pivoting his head. He appeared to be searching for a person who he already suspected was not present. “Speaking of fathers,” he said hurriedly. “Where’s Neil?”

  The mention of this name caused Hailey’s face to become wan. She felt herself stuttering when she replied, “I…I don’t think he’s coming. Truthfully, he doesn’t accept the child as his own.”

  “That’s strange. Why do you think he feels that way?”

  Hailey felt offended by this question. She believed Victor’s voice sounded more accusatory than genuinely concerned. “Neil’s a jerk,” she said bitterly. “That’s not a newsflash. I suppose he’s like most boys his age—he lacks discipline and wants no responsibility.”

  “We’re not all like Neil,” Victor countered tactfully. “Ryan, for example, was certainly different—wouldn’t you agree?”

  Hailey prudently refused to become entangled in such a conversation for nine months, and she had no desire to partake in this exercise now. “Look, Victor,” she replied. “I’ve already told you that I don’t want to talk about Ryan—not today. In fact, I don’t want to discuss him ever again.”

  “I’ve been extremely patient with you, Hailey.”

  “Yes, you have, Victor. And I thank you for respecting my wishes.”

  “Don’t thank me,” responded Victor. “Help me understand the truth about the night you were abducted.”

  “You know I can’t,” she declared nervously. “Please don’t ask me again.”

  “Ryan was my best friend,” Victor reminded her as tears moistened his eyes. “We practically grew up together, shared some identical dreams…and even cared about the same girl.”

  Hailey’s voice softened before she replied, “Victor, I know what you’re going to say next. It’s just too complicated for us to ever get involved as more than just friends.”

  “Is this how you treat your friends, Hailey—by shutting them out?”

  “Listen to me,” she whispered more definitively. “I haven’t even told my own parents about what happened aboard that spaceship. They’d think I was crazy. Don’t you understand that?”

  “Regardless of what they might think, Hailey, there’s a lot of people who’d be eager to hear your story. I can’t exclude myself from that group, but I didn’t come here today to question what I witnessed with my own eyes—I’m here to confirm what I didn’t see.”

  “You’re confusing me,” Hailey whimpered as she clutched her baby closer to her body. “I…I want you to leave now, Victor…please—or I’ll call security.”

  “I’ll leave,” Victor assured her, “but you need to answer me one question first.”

  “If it’s about—”

  “Just answer me honestly with no conditions,” Victor interrupted. “Can you at least promise to do this one thing for me before I leave?”

  Hailey sighed heavily, but assumed the more quickly and quietly he left, the better it was for her. “Okay,” she agreed. “Ask me.”

  Victor leaned closer to Hailey’s bedside, while staring unflinchingly into her eyes. He then asked, “Who is the father of your baby?”

  As Victor already surmised, Hailey hesitated with her response. She shifted her gaze to the infant and then again to Victor. Her eyes were visibly tearful when she sobbed, “It doesn’t really matter at this point, does it, Victor?”

  “Oh, it may matter far more than you care to realize,” said Victor fearfully. “You need to tell me the truth, Hailey—is Ryan Hayden the father of that baby?”

  Hailey’s sorrowful eyes told Victor more than what she coherently confessed. She had a look of someone who stood to gain more by denying what needed to be clarified. “Please—just forget about my baby and me,” she implored. She then turned her shoulder so that he could not see the infant in her arms. “Ryan is gone now,” she continued icily, “and I’m trying to move on with my own life. I just want to care for my child.”

  “You’re still not answering the question.”

  “Would it matter to you either way?”

  “Immensely.”

  “Why are you doing this to me?”

  “As bizarre as it may sound, Hailey, I’m trying to help you—that’s all I ever wanted to do.”

  “I…I can’t do this—”

  “You must!”

  Hailey then reached for an emergency switch suspended from a cord beside her bed, but Victor snatched it from her fingers before she depressed the red button. She now sensed tenacity in Victor’s demeanor, and this by itself caused her to shudder. “I’m begging you to leave,” she cried. “Please don’t make this any ha
rder on me.”

  “If you won’t answer my question outright,” Victor persisted, “then I’ll assume you’ve been concealing the truth the whole time.”

  “You’re acting insane. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Without offering further admonishment, Victor lunged forward from his reclined position, and demonstrated a level of aggression that even startled him. He swung both hands forcefully down upon the bed’s mattress, causing Hailey to shiver in anticipation of his next action. She remained petrified, while cautiously inspecting the frenzied glare oozing from the boy’s eyes.

  “I won’t be treated like a fool any longer,” he warned her, but his voice was carefully pitched to a serene level. “For the past nine months you’ve been rather secretive about your pregnancy. But a few weeks ago, I finally figured out why you neglected to tell anyone the truth.”

  “I don’t think my personal business is any concern of yours,” said Hailey.

  “I’m no longer worried about privacy in this matter,” Victor replied, mercilessly disregarding the girl’s whimpering. “I’m referring to the worst kind of deception.”

  “I…I really think you’re delusional,” she quivered. “Get away from me or I’m going to scream.”

  “Scream if you must,” said Victor, “but that won’t change the facts—will it, Hailey?”

  “What facts?”

  “The fact that Ryan is the father of your baby. If you hadn’t chosen to deceive everyone in town—perhaps even yourself—I might’ve not have given as much thought to this circumstance. But now, faced with the knowledge of what’s been told to me, I’ve concluded that you know more about Ryan’s true identity than you’ve willingly confessed.”

  Hailey remained motionless on the bed. She nearly locked her arms together with the infant secured between them. She tried to remain sensible as the weight from Victor’s stare plastered her against the mattress. Her fingers softly stroked the top of her baby’s forehead as she pondered a way to pacify Victor’s temperament. “You can think whatever you want,” she declared. “For better or worse, Ryan is dead, and he’s not coming back.”

  “Tell me what you know about him,” Victor insisted. “I want to hear it from your lips, Hailey.”

  “You’ve known him much longer than me,” she countered. “What do you think I can say about him that you don’t already know?”

  “What happened on that UFO?”

  “I…I can’t recall,” she said emotionlessly. “Now if my answer still isn’t good enough for you, Victor, then you’ll have to draw your own conclusions. It seems to me that you’ve already done that anyway.”

  Victor already estimated that he had compiled enough evidence to do as he originally planned. He forwarded no further verbal indication on his next decision. Before Hailey had an opportunity to react, Victor pounced forward and started to pry the infant from Hailey’s hands. She resisted initially, but Victor’s grasp was firm enough to injury the baby if she continued the struggle.

  “What are you doing?” she wailed, her voice rising with sheer terror. “Give my baby back to me!” Hailey’s screams for help now became instinctual, but Victor instantly stifled them by curling his fingers around the infant’s throat.

  “Please—please don’t hurt my baby,” said Hailey distraughtly. “I swear I’ll do anything you want.”

  Victor realized that the time had passed for negotiation, and he only had a few moments before security responded to Hailey’s cries. “Keep your voice down,” Victor warned. “You know it’s not in my nature to hurt another living creature,” he continued, “so please don’t make me act against my better wishes.”

  Hailey attempted to compose herself as quickly as Victor expected, but she still quivered with trepidation. “Okay…okay…I’ll tell you whatever you want. Just give my baby back to me.” She held out her arms beseechingly, but was promptly denied.

  “Not so fast,” said Victor, pushing the blanket away from the sleeping infant’s face and bare upper body.

  “Please—he’s only a baby, Victor. What do you want with him?”

  “Is he only a baby?” Victor’s voice quaked suspiciously.

  “You can plainly see that he is,” Hailey trembled.

  “I can’t see everything. No one can.”

  “Just tell me what you need,” Hailey sniffled. “I want to help you, Victor.”

  “Shut up!” Victor snapped as his eyes raced over the infant’s pink skin. “It looks human,” he muttered with perplexity.

  “You’re scaring me, Victor—of course he’s human.”

  “For the last time, Hailey,” Victor fumed, “tell me who its father is.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Don’t lie to me. Tell me—or I’ll do something we’ll both regret.” Victor wrenched his fingers around the infant’s neck, causing it to gasp slightly.

  “Are you really going to kill my baby?” she sobbed with disbelief.

  “Shut up. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  “You’re not that cruel, Victor. I know you better than you realize.”

  Victor’s fingers twitched as he released his grip from around the infant’s throat and slid his hand down the length of the child’s body. His concentration seemed dedicated to the surface of the baby’s skin. “It’s not there,” he muttered pensively. “I…I don’t see it.”

  “See what?”

  Victor’s eyes then shot back to Hailey, who was positioned upright on the bed with her hands extended in front of herself. “Tell me once and for all, Hailey—did Ryan father this child?”

  “Explain why that matters so much to you, Victor?”

  “Answer me now—I won’t ask you again.”

  Hailey paused. Her breath seemed stunted as her face sunk with a sense of desperation. Then, before Victor acted upon anything he threatened, she said meekly, “Yes. Ryan is the father. Are you happy to know the truth now?”

  Victor’s face whitened, almost as if he was bathed in the Moon’s pallid glow. The confirmation of his lamented thoughts caused him to shiver violently. But it was not until he checked between the baby’s fingers that he fully accepted the reality of this situation. A tiny silver sparkle glistened on the infant’s skin. Though barely discernable to the naked eye, Victor knew precisely what it signified.

  “You’ve known all along,” muttered Victor as he flashed a wicked glare at Hailey. “You’re in on this, too.”

  “Give my baby back to me, Victor,” Hailey insisted. She revealed no sympathy toward any of the emotions he revealed in these seconds.

  “Why did you let this happen?”

  “Would you expect me to do anything other than protect my baby?”

  “But it’s not human. Its blood is tainted!”

  “And what makes your blood so pure, Victor? Look at his face—does he appear any different than you or me? Even if his blood indicates otherwise, he’s as human as we are.”

  “No,” said Victor. “Ryan wasn’t human. I know the truth, Hailey—just as you do.”

  “Are you prepared to kill your friend’s baby? It’s the last piece of Ryan that’s still alive. Why would you want to take his son from this world?”

  Victor wanted to be merciful, and no one would have faulted him if he simply returned the baby to Hailey and left this all behind. But there was something greater at stake than his reputation among others. He could not ignore the potential consequences that this birth might have on the human race. Even if one child of this nature survived, it had implications beyond his present understanding, but none of them were favorable.

  “Listen to me,” Hailey advised Victor. “You can’t escape this hospital with my baby. Give him back to me now and you can go. I won’t say anything about this to anyone. You have my promise.”

  “You’re a part of this madness,” said Victor as he edged toward the back of the room with the child pressed against his body. “How long have you been involved?”

  Hailey’s eyes
suddenly sparked with a silvery glow at each pupil. Her face twitched as she eyed him with defiance. “He’s my son, Victor, and his blood is now a part of me as much as mine is a part of him.” She stretched out her arms more fervently, while centering her eyes on Victor’s stare. When she spoke again, her voice sounded almost hypnotic. “You want to give the child back to me now…you don’t want to hurt him You love him as I do.”

  Victor sensed himself lurching toward Hailey’s bedside again, almost as if being summoned by a force beyond his control. But a sudden commotion outside the room distracted Victor, causing him to avert his eyes away from Hailey. Once this occurred, Hailey’s screams intensified.

  “I can’t let you continue as you are,” Victor yelled above her voice. “This child must be destroyed!”

  “Help me!” Hailey wailed. “He’s crazy—he’s got my baby!”

  The sound of hurried footsteps filled Victor’s ears with a sense of dread. He had only seconds to react. In one swift movement, he pulled the blanket over the infant’s head and darted out of the room, pushing his way past two terrified nurses in the process. Hailey leapt from her bed in pursuit, but she only reached as far as the door before the security officers converged on the scene.

  “He’s stolen my baby!” Hailey bellowed, pointing at the figure dashing up the corridor adjacent to her room. “Stop him! Please—stop him!”

  “Settle down,” said one of the guards. “Who took your baby?”

  “Stop him!” Hailey screeched, while rushing pass the guards in her hospital gown. “He’s going to kill my baby!”

  Victor’s progression through the corridor remained unimpeded by those he initially passed. Several nurses and other staff members were too startled to determine exactly what was happening. After the frantic shouts from several security officers rebounded through the hallway, an RN triggered the central alarm. The doors within the maternity ward automatically sealed, rendering Victor’s original escape route unusable. With no other options available, Victor turned into an emergency stairwell, which he knew had to be locked manually.

  The security officers followed closely, and used their radios to broadcast the situation to the main lobby. Once the call reached Lieutenant Braxton, he dropped his cigars and entered the stairwell from below. Another armed police officer accompanied Braxton as well. Since Victor was on the third floor, his escape now became secondary to his primary mission. He was cornered from both ends of the staircase, with at least three officers behind him and two approaching from below.

  With nowhere else to turn, Victor faced the stairwell’s railing and dangled the helpless infant over its precipice. “Don’t come any closer,” Victor hollered to anyone who cared to listen. The security officers immediately stopped. At least two of them had their guns targeted at Victor, but they could not shoot him without causing the baby to plunge to its certain death. “Come an inch closer and I’ll drop it!” Victor told them.

  The impasse provided Braxton and the other policeman enough time to reach the platform one floor below from where Victor stood. Braxton, who was not in uniform and unarmed, attempted to calm the situation. “Take it easy everyone,” he shouted up into the stairwell. “No one has to get hurt here today.”

  By now the excitement had startled the infant. Its cries echoed against the stairwell’s concrete walls. Victor still held the baby over the railing, precariously using one arm to show that he was serious. “I said stay back!” he reaffirmed. “I’ll drop it—I swear I will!”

  “You men hold your ground up there!” Braxton yelled restlessly to the security guards, who still inched closer to the boy. “Hold your positions—hold your fire.”

  The officers momentarily obeyed Braxton’s order, affording the lieutenant a few seconds to clear his head and make sense of this situation. “Let’s just all settle down,” Braxton continued. “Now, young man, I don’t think you really want to hurt that baby.”

  “It’s not what you think it is! Nothing is what it seems,” Victor quivered. “This is not a baby.”

  Braxton glanced at the officers with a partially confused expression. He still had to maintain a level of calmness so that no one acted too abruptly. He permitted Victor to listen to the baby’s cry for several seconds before attempting to do anything else.

  “You hear that?” Braxton said to Victor in reference to the noise. “That’s a baby crying—that’s a baby you’re holding over those stairs. Now I’m sure that whatever is bothering you has nothing to do with that infant.”

  Victor snickered at the lieutenant’s limited insight. He then said, “Aren’t any of you people paying attention to what’s happening around you? We’re not alone on this planet—others have arrived to infect us! If we continue to do nothing, they’ll eventually destroy us.”

  “Okay,” Braxton returned, “but if we’re going to talk about this sensibly, don’t you think we should do it somewhere else? If you give one of the officers the baby, we can discuss whatever is troubling you—does that sound like a good idea?”

  “You still don’t get it,” Victor sighed, motioning to the baby that he now shook by its legs. “This thing is the reason I’m here!”

  “Why do you want to hurt the infant?” asked Braxton.

  Victor glanced at the baby, but only briefly before he said, “You all need to understand something. This thing may look human—it may even sound human. But it is not what it seems! It needs to die!”

  “You can’t mean that,” responded Braxton, noticing that Victor was dangerously close to releasing his hold on the infant. “If you drop that baby, you’ll be a murderer of something completely innocent. Are you prepared to live with the consequences of that action?”

  “You’ll do what you must,” Victor told Braxton and the others. “But I want you to remember what I’ve told you—even if I die here today, you must believe me. This is not the end of it—they’ll be others to follow!”

  Before Braxton spoke another word, the guard beside him raised his weapon and aimed at Victor’s upper torso. Since he figured Victor planned to drop the infant anyway, he pulled his revolver’s trigger.

  “Hold your fire!” Braxton roared, but it was too late. The launched bullet met its mark in the center of Victor’s chest. The boy staggered and fell backwards against a concrete wall. As he body grew limp, he released the infant from his hand, but another security guard had reached him in enough time to grab the baby before it slipped into the stairwell’s opening. The baby boy cried as the rescuing officer nestled it gently in his body, but he appeared unharmed. Braxton immediately bounded the stairs toward the point of the bullet’s impact. In the same instance, the other guards surrounded Victor, but the boy had already collapsed to the concrete platform with a pool of blood forming around him.

  “Get a doctor in here!” Braxton yelled to an officer as he bent beside Victor. After inspecting the wound at close range, the lieutenant realized the wound was indeed fatal.

  “You…fools…you must kill it!” said Victor through clenched teeth. He spewed blood from his lips with each breath. Braxton pressed his hands against the boy’s chest, trying to reduce the bleeding, but he could not stop the flow.

  “For God’s sake—why did you do it? Why?” Braxton said to the boy as he held him tightly in his arms. Victor’s body jerked spasmodically in these seconds.

  “Fools…you…must believe me…beware of the Moon…beware of the Moon.”

  Braxton attempted to make the boy comfortable in these final seconds, but the onset of death never came quickly enough in such instances. At least three minutes passed before Victor’s body finally stopped twitching. His warm blood ran like a ruby river over the staircase’s cold, gray treads.

  “He’s gone,” said an officer standing beside Braxton. “Damn waste of life.”

  “The kid was totally insane,” another guard noted. “If we waited another second, he would’ve killed that baby for sure.”

  Braxton watched the boy’s blood seep between his own
fingers. He sensed futility like never before in his lifetime. He then glanced tentatively at the guards hovering around him, especially toward the one holding the infant in his arms.

  “Is the infant okay?” Braxton asked.

  “The baby is fine—a little shaken up, but I think he’ll be okay,” responded the officer.

  “I suppose we can call this a bittersweet victory,” Braxton mumbled as his eyes trailed back to the dead body in front of him.

  “But what the heck was that kid babbling about?” another guard inquired. “I couldn’t make heads or tails out of anything he said—before or after Lukas shot him.”

  “I’m afraid we may never know for sure,” answered Braxton as he rose to his feet and smeared the blood against his brown suit. “Truthfully,” he then muttered, “maybe it’s best that we don’t know.”

  Even before Lieutenant Braxton left the stairwell, he suspected that his own inquisitive nature would not allow this case to remain a mystery. The blood on Braxton’s hands washed away beneath cool currents of water, but Victor Walden’s dying words swirled like a storm raging within the recesses of his mind.

  CHAPTER 24