The Midnight Stand (The Elysia Saga Book 1) by Louis A. Affortunato

never an open person. It felt like
she had to pull teeth just to get him to talk about his day. She was able to
put up with it when they were just married, but lately it’s been becoming more
of an issue and has only gotten worse since Jasper was born. Even Jasper’s
birth didn’t help change Harley. If anything it made him more guarded and
secretive. He believed his whole life was on a platter for the Council and it
could be taken away by them in a moment’s notice if they felt like it.
    He always talked about preserving their way of
life and how, if worse came to worse, they would have to fight to protect it.
It scared Sara when he spoke like that to the point where she told him to never
talk like that around Jasper, who was getting older and picking up on things.
She didn’t want him putting a lot of nonsense in Jasper’s head.
    There was something that gnawed at her about the
whole situation and it had to do with the new AutoHomes going up in their
sector in the recent months. The tract of land they were on was starting to see
more upgrading. To Sara it was about time the trucks finally made it out to
their sector, which was the most isolated and old world out of all of them. The
sight of the trucks made Harley even more paranoid. He made it seem like they couldn’t
get within fifty feet of their property without his say so. According to
Harley, the house or they weren’t going anywhere.
    “Well, what do you think it is then?” Dana
asked. “He had to have wanted you out of the house tonight for a reason.”
    “I don’t know, maybe I should call him.”
    “You mean he actually uses a phone?” Dana
sarcastically quipped.
    Sara ignored her sister as she got up and went
over to the wall touchscreen. She swiped through the contacts until she found her
name and pressed it. The phone began ringing as Dana got up and put her cup
into the washer. It rang and rang with no answer. On its eighth ring Sara hung
up. “If he’s not home where could he be?” she asked.
    Dana stood against the counter and looked at
Sara. For the first time the expression on her face resembled something close
to concern for her sister. “Listen, I don’t think you have anything to worry
about. I mean it’s not like he has any friends. What could he be doing?”         
    “Maybe I should go home and see what’s going on”
    “You’re over reacting. Look, I take back what I
said before. He’s not two-timing and he’s not secretly planning to blow up the
City Center. He’s probably just taking a shower or he’s in the yard working on
one of his hobbies you said he’s always doing. I’m sure everything’s fine.”
    Sara let out a sigh. “Yeah, you’re probably
right.”
    “And besides,” Dana continued. “Why would you
want to go back home when you can spend the night here? Where else are you
going to experience sleeping in temperature controlled beds while wearing a
rejuvenation mask? I swear, the thing takes five years off your face.”
    Sara smiled at that, but in her gut she didn’t
want to be there. She wanted to be home, close to Harley.
    Another planet exploded from the other room and
Jasper laughed over the crumbling debris. Jasper’s laugh always cheered her up
and he seemed genuinely happy to be with his cousin. He rarely was able to get
out and play with other kids close to his age and it warmed her to hear him
excited.
    She decided if she was going to go back tonight,
she would leave Jasper with Dana. No reason he should stop having fun tonight
because of her.

Chapter 8
     
    Brrrinnnnnggggg. Brrrrinnnngggggg.       
    The muffled sound of ringing came from upstairs.
Harley was in the basement with his head buried in a wood box when the phone
rang. He knew it was Sara calling to check up on him. Maybe she felt something
was up when he rushed her out of the house.
    The ringing stopped after what seemed like eight
or ten rings. She would probably think he was in the bathroom. It would buy