Page 26 of Escape into the Night

Chapter Fourteen

Elias

Calebhadtrulyoutdonehimself, again. Elias wasn't surprised by that fact, but the comfort of it brought only meager reassurance. The Kennedy Center Terrace was picture perfect—banners danced in the warm breeze around the press podium, tidy rows of pristine white chairs lined the space in front of it, and beyond the railing, the Potomac glinted silver, deceptively serene in contrast to the storm churning in Elias’ chest. How could everything look so right and feel so awfully wrong at the same time?

Standing just off stage, his hands clasped behind his back and his suit crisp and impeccably tailored courtesy of Caleb’s deft hand, Elias wrestled with feelings of failure and inadequacy. The crowd was startlingly massive, yet another testament to Cay’s prowess and quiet capabilities. There were campaign staffers, political operatives, press galore with their cameras trained on the stage to immortalize this moment. The weight of expectation sat like a rock on his chest.

Inhale, hold, exhale. Theo’d taught him that one. The thought was an intrusive one, cutting sharp as glass. His Theo, innocentof all and victim of circumstances beyond his control, was forced into hiding by the very institutions Elias had spent his entire life believing in. Now, he had to take the stage and cry out a call for hope and defiance against corruption. Pretty words paled in the face of a faceless foe. But he’d follow through. He had to. For Theo, for their friends, for the world. And for Parker. Elias stole a glance toward the boy as he climbed the stage with practiced elegance.

Parker was onlynine. He should be worried about soccer games and trending reels and his upcoming science project, not sitting front row at a press junket wielding a sign he’d created solely for the occasion. America needs my Dad for President! His beaming smile appeared over the top of the massive poster, his eyes shining with pride as he pushed his glasses higher on his nose before waving like a maniac. Elias’ smile came easier as he waved back. He didn't have to pretend to be a family man. That came easy as breathing. The calm came over him as he stepped onto his masking tape mark behind the podium and returned Caleb’s subtle nod from where he sat beside Parker. To Parker’s left, Matthew made the same movement, a silent show of solidarity and support. Inhale, hold, exhale.

His eyes darted to the teleprompter and promptly shifted back to the crowd waiting with bated breath for his words of hope and resilience and the promises he was about to make to millions. With a brush of his fingers over the edge of the podium to ground him in the moment, he began the speech he'd painstakingly memorized despite the chaos consuming his every waking moment.

“My grandfather once told me that history is not made in sweeping gestures, but in the precious moments when ordinary people decide they will no longer accept the status quo. Change isn't born from the powerful. It's forged by those who refuse to be silenced any longer.”

Cameras clicked. Applause rippled through the air. The sunset washed the world in richer tones of gold as Elias let the moment wash over him. The support bolstered his heart. He had to believe that standing here, speaking these words, calling out the rot in the system, would make the world a better place for them all. Safer for them all. Safer for Parker. After a beat, he continued.

“For far too long, we have been victims of unchecked corruption. We have watched helpless as public servants—elected by the people, for the people—sold their integrity, their souls, for personal gain and evil agendas. We’ve been shown time and time again that the system cannot change, that justice is negotiable, and that truth is only worth what the highest bidder is willing to pay. I refuse to accept that, and I know I'm not alone in taking this stand.”

Another ripple of applause, louder this time and accompanied by cheers, gave him a moment to reflect and recenter himself. Caleb had counseled him to let them react, to give his words time to breathe and settle, but he hadn't realized at the time how much he would also need this time to breathe.

“The work ahead will not be easy, but I refuse to stand aside. The battle for transparency, for truth, for justice, is not an easy one. But history is watching and I will not back down, because I hold one belief above all others: democracy belongs tous. Not to lobbyists, not to back room dealmakers, not to those cowards who profit off the suffering of others, not something to be sacrificed foroptics. Democracy belongs tous—the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. And that, my fellow Americans, is why I intend to run for President of the United States. Because enough is enough!”

Applause and cheering erupted from the audience, cameras clicked at a feverish pace that sounded like the keys of a typewriter hammering over the riotous noise. Elias caught themovement from the front row as Caleb jumped to his feet, clapping and smiling so brightly, it was nearly blinding in the low light. Elias returned his husband's grin with a smile of his own—the first real smile he'd been able to muster all day. It was then that he realized that the crowd had organized into a chant that was punctuated by rhythmic applause for each word spoken in unison.

“Enough is enough! Enough is enough!”

Overwhelmed by the support, Elias nodded, his jaw set and his hand held aloft to wave, to acknowledge the collective in any way that he could. He was no longer concerned about sound bytes or photo ops or the need for building a narrative to compliment his future campaign. He had all that in spades now. Better than all that, though, was the fact that he also had the people. The spark of something potentially profound had taken hold and he finally had hope. Honest to goodness hope that maybe this would work out for the best.

The buzz of excitement lasted as the evening turned to night. It was easy to brush aside his nerves and anxiety as he mingled with the people, offering exclusive comments to this broadcast channel and that, amongst a plethora of other individuals from all walks of life eager to hear from him one on one, testing the veracity of his beliefs and the depth of his knowledge. He wasn't alone in that—more often than not, he found Matthew embroiled in the same conversations, as well as Caleb and even little Parker, who darted between being glued to Elias’ side or perched on Caleb’s hip. Hell, the little socialite in the making even gifted Matt and Cynthia with his adoration, all the while smiling with effortless ease for each camera man and photographer. Elias’ heart was filled to bursting over the resounding success of his first official debut as a potential presidential campaign.

For a brief moment, he was able to forget the weight of the risk, the troubles that had plagued them all. Unfortunately, history dictated that nothing this good could last. It happened subtly at first, so subtle Elias nearly missed it. The flicker of the lights illuminating the terrace would have been easy to ignore if it weren't followed by a second and third flickering. Goosebumps prickled his skin as the sound system piping quiet music over the gathering skipped, glitched, and eventually stopped. Instinct drove his actions as he excused himself from an eager newspaper columnist to weave through the bodies in search of his husband and son. In the most grim timing possible, his hand had barely made contact with Caleb’s narrow shoulder when all hell broke loose.

There was a low whine, a subsonic sort of pressure that lanced through the air and pierced his skull. The intensity of it grew as the lights went from dim and flickering to burning white hot, so bright he was forced to squint against the onslaught lest it become blinding. Just when he thought the shrill whine would split his brain it half from the inside out, a monumental thud, loud enough to be a physical sensation in his chest, swept over them all and brought gasps and cries of fear to the lips of many. It was like the seal breaking on a pressure cooker. And then the lights went out completely. Plunged into darkness, his eyes instinctively sought out the remaining light, but horror swiftly overtook him as he watched the glittering skyline of DC in the distance blink out in three parts. From right to left, massive chunks of the familiar view were swallowed by an impenetrable black. When the last third of the view disappeared, the Washington Monument vanishing into the inky dark of the night, his stomach dropped.

“Dad? Dad!” Parker's reedy voice wavered, the pitch rising high enough to be heard over the frightened rabble of too manypeople with not enough answers. He swept in closer to Caleb, surrounding them both in his arms as he leaned in.

“Right here, bud. I'm here. You're okay.”

“El, what the…?”

“Cay, I don't know. But we need to step up before this turns into a disaster.” Elias didn't need to explain any further. The press and pull of bodies was a physical sensation, the ebb and flow of a tide becoming a rip current that could pull any one of them under as the fear took hold of the group. Caleb was quick to jump into action as he passed Parker into Elias’ arms and took charge. Elias was right behind him—they would always be two halves of a whole and this scenario was no exception.

“Okay, ladies and gents! No need to panic!” Caleb's tenor called out as his cellphone flashlight appeared above his head like a beacon.

“Please remain calm! We’ll light the path to the emergency exits, but we need to move in an orderly fashion!” Elias dug his own phone from his pocket to enable the flashlight, noticing with grim clarity that he had no service at all. Not even an SOS functionality. Nevertheless, he shifted the device to cast a swath of light toward the ground.

“Follow this way, friends!” Matthew. Elias exhaled a soft sigh of relief as another light turned on toward the left.

“We’ll get through this together,” Cynthia added, another flash of illumination coming to life from where he heard her voice.

One by one, numerous cell phone flashlights joined theirs until the terrace was an eerie aura of artificial light in the midst of a darkness that Elias had never experienced before. It was miraculous how the meager light could soothe the instinctual fear that had nearly seized the crowd in its grips. Strangely calm, the group began a coordinated exodus, worried cries and anxious shouting becoming hushed reassurances and quiet collaboration. A little leadership went a long way, he thought tohimself as he shifted to the side to make a clearer path for the people moving in a startlingly orderly fashion toward the nearest exit.

“Step carefully. That's perfect. Please get home safely, darlings. There are no streetlights and no traffic lights.” In the dim lighting, Elias could just make out Caleb's movements—a gentle hand to a shoulder, a squeeze of an arm, a pat on a back, and throughout it all, the warm, gentle smile that came so naturally to him.

“Right this way, right this way.” Matthew’s calming voice accentuated Caleb’s reassurances as the crowd continued to fall into line and carefully moved along the path they’d illuminated with cellphones and emergency flashlights collected by the campaign staff. If ever there were a test of mettle for a staffer, this was it. Elias suspected Cay was simultaneously cross referencing names with faces in his mind while helping direct the flow of foot traffic.

As effortless as exhaling, the terrace was finally empty of all but the most vital core of personnel. Caleb, Parker, Matt, Cynthia, and a half dozen venue staff exchanged harried looks across the sphere of light from their phones, not needing to say a damn word to know what they were all thinking. Despite that, Caleb voiced it anyway.

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