Deliverance

          This neighborhood street, like many other nights, was quiet and undisturbed. The only light visible at this hour was due to the presence of the lone lampposts that illuminated their respective posts so as to provide some sort of secured watch. The bicycles that children rode rampant around the neighborhood laid still on the edges of the streets, lifeless yet awaiting patiently for the daylight to arrive to ride again.

            Except for the stray cats and nocturnal creatures that made haste across the streets or remained hidden in the shadows, not a single motion of movement could be seen nor heard.

            For the moment, all remained still.

            Until the Cloaked Figure made his presence known.

            He had appeared from out of nowhere under the dimly-lit extent of one of the lone lampposts. It was as if he had been there all along, merely waiting for the right time and moment to reveal himself.

            The Cloaked Figure was kneeling on one knee and breathing in a controlled manner, suggesting that he had been travelling on foot for several hours. His kneeling position gave the impression that he had leapt into the secured watch of the lamppost, further implying the way the Figure controlled his breathing.

            After a minute of remaining kneeled, the Figure glanced in all directions, as if he had been followed or making sure that he had at least not been. He then slowly and cautiously rose from his position. As he rose, it became more apparent that the Figure was tall and in his physical prime despite the Cloak covering every inch of his body. The shroud of the Cloak’s hood naturally hid the Figure’s face and identity, but under the light of the lamppost, only his chin, lips, and lower half of his nose could be clearly laminated.

            Upon his arrival, the Figure had appeared to have his arms held close to his chest. And as he rose, the lit extent of the lamppost revealed that within his grasp was an object. Its contents remained covered in a blanket of a navy-blue scheme. Whatever lay hidden in the blanket clearly was of importance to the Figure, whose grip was not only firm, yet, nurturing.

            The Figure looked down at what he had been safeguarding for several hours. Under the light of the lamppost, despite half of his face hidden by the hood’s shroud, the expression on his lips implied that he was worried about the state of the contents underneath the blanket, still within his grasp. Slowly, he pulled back a fold on the top half of the blanket. Upon seeing what hid beneath the fold, a smile formed on his face as a lone teardrop slowly streamed down his left cheek onto his chin.

            Under the lamppost’s presence, the face of the sleeping baby glowed with a heavenly brightness. And despite whatever distress had occurred prior, it was clear that the baby’s slumber had not been disturbed, not even once. Event the sudden light coming down from the lamppost failed to disrupt the infant’s slumber.

            The Cloaked Figure stroke his figure along the infant’s face, sighing with relief that the trip had not interrupted the baby’s slumber. He then looked up away from the baby to take one last look at his surroundings. After a few moments, he held the baby even closer to his chest, and stepped out from the lamppost’s safeguarding light onto the shrouded street. Each step he took was calm yet alert, still minding the surroundings as if an invisible, harmful force was bidding their chance to strike.

            After what seemed like an eternity of cautious strides, the Figure halted in front of the two-story that resided on the corner of the far side of the neighborhood. The Figure let out another sigh of relief: he had finally arrived to his true destination.

            The Figure, still holding the baby in his arms, then walked up towards the front door, stopping just within mere inches of the door. After a moment, the Figure knocked on the door, firm yet calm. For exactly ten seconds, he and the baby remained in complete darkness. But then, the lights of the front porch were suddenly lit; the door unlocked, and was slowly opened by its occupant.

            She was tall and dark-skinned, yet the light of the front porch made her skin glisten brightly. Her red and green silk bed robe also glistened under the light’s extent. Her expression was one of grogginess, having been fast asleep up to the Figure’s arrival. She took a moment to adjust to the light, and slowly looked up to see who had awoken her at this hour. Her slumbering state immediately changed to one of awake and surprise; although the hood of the Figure’s cloak still hid the top half of his face, the woman somehow clearly knew who he was.

            “Hello, Martha,” the Figure began in a hushed tone. “It’s good to see you”.

            “You,” Martha replied, her voice only half-awake. “There had better be a good explanation for waking me up at this hour”.

            The moment she finished her sentence, Martha saw a lone tear-stream stretched along the Figure’s lower face. It was now clear to her that this was no pleasant, let alone ordinary social call.

            “What happened?” she calmly asked.

            The Figure did not speak for five seconds. He then replied with sadness in his voice.

            “I am afraid that the reasons for this visit are not for pleasantries”.

            The Figure lowered his hooded head once he finished. Martha then realized what he was referring to.

            “No,” she said, her tone expressing shock and horror upon the revelation.

            “I wish it were not so,” the Figure continued. “But He found us. I tried the best I could to stop Him…but He has been growing in strength and power ever since we last saw Him”.

            “And Mary…?” Martha worriedly asked, knowing full well what the response she did not want to hear be.

            The Figure replied, this time with true sadness in his voice: “…She…she sacrificed herself…protecting the baby from…”. His voice choked in tears. “He’s lost, Martha. By killing her, He’s beyond the point of redemption. Her last wish, before she passed,” the figure continued as he extended his arms with the sleeping infant to Martha, “was for you to take care of him until the boy comes of age”.

            Martha, upon seeing the baby extended to her, fully realized what was now expected of herself.
            “But…but why me?” she asked, her voice expressing uncertainty.

            “You were her closest friend, Martha,” the Figure replied, “the closest thing to a sister she never had, and one of the few people she truly trusted. And,” the Figure added, “you always were the more nurturing type”. As he spoke this, he nodded towards the vegetation that laid around the front yard, which, under the moonlight, appeared lively and perfectly healthy.

            Martha chuckled at the Figure’s last remark. “Well, you’re right about that. Mary always did know me too well. But, are you certain about this? I mean, I trust you and Mary more than anyone else. But with Judas constantly hunting you and now Him…I…I just don’t know if I’m truly the right person for this task”. Looking down at the baby, she added, “a very long and rigorous task”.

            The Figure chuckled. “I know you are more than capable, Martha. Believe me, I would have not come to you had I not had any faith in you. But the moment his…talents…emerge…then they will come for him. And as long as he is with me, he will always be in danger. Please, Martha…care for him. Make sure that he has a chance at life”.

            After a few moments, Martha took ahold of the baby from the Figure’s reach. She grasped the baby in her loving arms, stoking her finger along the sleeping infant’s face, which once more glistened a heavenly glow under the front porch light’s presence.

            Martha then looked back up towards the Figure, who had started to walk away from the front porch back into the darkness.

            “What do I tell him when he’s older?” she asked.

            The Figure halted halfway along the walkway and looked back, his face now fully engulfed in the shadows.

            “Tell him,” he began, “that his parents died in a house fire, and that he was the sole survivor. Tell him that they sacrificed themselves so that he could live. But until his coming of age and discovery of what he is capable of,” he concluded, “the boy must never know the full truth of his past”.

            “What about you?” Martha questioned.

            “I will continue to watch over you both. Once he comes of age and his potential is realized, have him seek out Zeus. But only if the boy wishes to do so”.

            “But why must it be his choice if it is destiny?” Martha asked, puzzled by the Figure’s words.

            “Only he can forge his own path, Martha. We are merely meant to help guide him towards that path”. The Figure started to walk towards the street.

            “And how will he find Zeus”?

            The Figure paused. “Hopefully, and with any luck…Zeus has already found him and keeping his distance until the time comes”.

            And with that, the Cloaked Figure disappeared into the shroud of the night.

            Martha looked out into the dark-lit street, still uncertain if she was capable of what was now expected of her. She then looked down at the baby in her arms, still covered in the navy-blue blanket and uninterrupted from his slumber, his face still glowing under the light of the front porch. The sight of the baby brought both tears and a smile to her face.

            “Hi, Dylan.”, she whispered softly, knowing full well of the destiny that awaited Dylan Myers.

ONLY THE BEGINNING…