The Blessed One

There are two types of people in this world. A mass majority of the population believed in what their eyes could only see. Living day by day, absolutely oblivious of the truth of what goes on behind closed doors. Only very few, a select few who were chosen from birth, thought outside the box and asked the important questions. The ones who were creative with the gift of pure innocence and knowledge of the truth behind the cruelty in this world. Ones who could easily create great destruction or grant wonderful power for the hope of peace. This world was not as it seemed to those with their eyes closed.

Starr happened to be one of the blessed. Even at the young age of three, she has shown great potential. Her mother, Rose and father Alex were the ideal married couple. They were very much in love and made sure to show Starr the proper affection. However, every fairy tale had its flaw. Rose and Alex were very important, powerful people in their growing business. Who knew that the small idea of various children’s toys would take off so far. The simple idea that so many doubted now constantly forced them on adventures around the world with nothing but potential and profit. In the end, leaving the little one behind. However, Starr was never alone. Nana, her nanny, was very nurturing. She would bring Starr to daycare every morning as well as care for her the nights her family were away. Starr enjoyed the company of the others around her age and seemed to dominate most conversations.

To be honest, Starr didn’t have to worry about much. Even though most children her age really didn’t know the meaning of worry. Rose and Alex worked hard and had plenty of money. Starr was very social and had various play buddies, as well as a caring family around her. The house she lived in wasn’t luxurious by all means. It was just large enough for her small family and it was comfortable with a room that Starr could call her own. She was quite proud of it! She was very insistent on having the room themed around winged angels. Constantly praising them. Angels, the very definition of angelic. It was a subjects that once brought up Starr would go on for hours talking about. Rose tried to make Starr express that energy elsewhere by planting a garden and entrusting it to the chattering child. That’s when they found out Starr had more of a black thumb. Her life was as close to perfect as perfect could get. She couldn’t wish for anything more. Even so, she couldn’t help but feel lonely, no… Different might describe it better. If only Starr knew just how different she truly was.

Once upon a time, Cor had believed in innocence. He had believed that the glow in a child's eyes could be preserved indefinitely. He had believed that he could protect it. Now? Now he knew better.

He had not expected to find another one so soon. Once it had taken him years of roaming the world after finding one to find another. Now they seemed to be appearing in ever increasing frequency. He had found the last one only a month ago, in a broken-down house in the slums of Chicago. The boy's mother had been on a drug-induced stupor. She hadn't even questioned the short, brown haired man with a broken nose, weasel-face, and unbalanced eyes who appeared without warning in her living room and gently picked up her four-month old son, cooing to the child until his wailing subsided slightly. His cry had echoed around the room for the last half-hour, which was what had convinced Cor the place was empty. Considering the young woman's state of mind, it might as well have been. When the child had been cared for and settled back into its crib with a clean blanket around it Cor had brought the woman a glass of water, a bucket, and another needle. The only thing she had eyes for was the drug. Moments later she had passed out on the couch once more.

Cor had remained in that house for exactly two hours, caring for the child, giving it the attention for which it had so long starved. Two hours, until the world around Cor shifted. It was as though another lair had been plastered over everything, showing the flow of the world around him. He could see the wires in the walls, the electricity flowing through them. He could see the way that the fan in the air conditioner stirred the air, and the way the cold and heat mixed together. He could see the beating heart of the child, of the mother, and of himself. It was completed. The Blessed One had accepted Cor as his Guardian.

The ability was a particularly powerful one, and Cor had known he was going to miss that one more than he missed most, but it had only proven the absolute necessity of Cor's job. The child had gurgled, placing a tiny hand on Cor's scruffy, pock-marked cheek as the man picked him up, wrapped in the soft blue blanket that he had brought in from the car outside. Then he had walked out of the building, child in hand, and stepped into the car. No one had seen him leave. With the ability that the child had granted him Cor had no doubt of that. In the end, though, it wouldn't have really mattered if someone identified him. Cor had been identified before, but no one had ever found him. He was far too experienced at hiding, especially in plain sight.

They would never find the body of the baby boy, who had been buried with great care in a quiet forest, so that no animals would ever desecrate his resting spot. As he had gently laid the infant's body to rest in the narrow, deep hole, curled around the little blue blanket as though sleeping, Cor had allowed himself to feel a pity for this Blessed One, and even more for his mother. Cor knew what it was to lose a child. Maybe the woman would remember what had happened, and would clean herself up before her inevitable next child was born. Maybe not. What Cor knew, though, was that the Blessed Ones could not be allowed to reach the age of Awakening. Most likely this child would have died anyways, under the care of a different guardian. But there was a chance that he would live, and would Awaken.

No child could live eighteen years in this cruel, cold, bloody world and still retain innocence. No matter what the Guardian believed, if this boy Awakened it would not be an Angel who greeted the Guardian, but a Demon. And then chaos would spread, plunging the world into another dark time. The world already balanced on the edge. One more Demon might tip it over. Especially one as powerful as this boy would have been.

Cor had thought he would have gotten over the trusting brown eyes of the child as he had smothered him with his own little blue blanket before he found the next one. He thought there would have been enough time to lay the memory to rest in the graveyard of his mind just as gently as he had laid the infant down for its final sleep in the forest. There wasn't

He had been driving across the state of Wisconsin, heading to a meeting with a friend of a friend who had a job for someone with Cor’s unique talents, a job which promised to pay very well, when he had felt the tug. At first he had passed it away as fantasy. It couldn’t be. Not so soon after the last one. But as he found himself making turns he never intended to take, heading in a direction he had not wanted to go, Cor knew it was true. He had found another Blessed One.

“Story time children, everyone form a circle.” The nice old lady who ran the daycare announced. Mrs. Linda was what everyone called her. All the children enjoyed Mrs. Linda. She was a very kind lady.

Starr propped down in front of Mrs. Linda, the others slowly began to huddle in as well forming a rather deformed circle. The giggles and chatter didn’t calm until Mrs. Linda silenced them with a finger to her lips then threatening them by saying there will be no story time if there is any noise when that didn’t work in a reasonable amount of time. That seemed to always do the trick. Personally, Starr loved the stories she read to them.

Today’s book was about a colorful hungry caterpillar making sure to eat his fill so he could grow into a big healthy butterfly. Starr was able to picture every word without the dashing pictures provided on the pages of the book. There was no need, her imagination was much more detailed anyways. Slowly she closed her eyes and just listened, picturing how he was such a beautiful caterpillar with furry greens and yellows. However, he turned into a miraculously wonderful butterfly. His wings glittered blue, purple, red, and yellow. they would gracefully lift him into the air with such strength. Starr imagined the joy he felt as he soared through the air and danced with the flowers. A smile couldn’t help but creep upon her lips. however only to frown when Mrs. Linda folded the book in her hand informing them of the end of the book and time for clean-up. It was always a disappointment to leave her paradise that was created by simple words in a book.

Starr graciously began to help out with whatever her tiny hands could grip and made sure to place it in its proper place. It wasn’t long before Nana was there to pick her up. Starr’s face lit up, smiling ear to ear as she ran to her side yelling out her name as a greeting. The time with Mrs. Linda and friends were always fun but as the saying goes, there is no place like home.

The CD skipped so many times it was difficult to actually make out the song. However, Starr didn’t seem to care. Her voice was loud and clearly off key as she sang along to the stuttering music. Her miniature hands waved at each passing car then giggling when someone would actually return the gesture. Nana could only smile to herself as Starr chattered about the passing scenery between her horrid melodies. So excited about the large trees and dancing love birds of the everyday life, knowing the beauty of the world that most would miss. The drive didn’t last long before nana pulled into the curved driveway, getting out before grabbing Starr. Nana’s trembling aged hands seemed to engulf Starr’s delicate but supportive grip. With hand in hand, side by side, they guided each other up the cemented hill and into the comfort of what they could call home.

The temptation of impatience seemed to get the best of the little Starr. Once through the doors she didn’t waste a moment of time to ramble on to Nana about her playtime today at the nursery. Starr’s explanation of the frail caterpillar's extraordinary evolution was spoken in a carelessly detailed mess. It was as if her mouth moved faster than her brain could process her next sentence causing her usual stuttering words of excitement. If allowed, Starr would continue her jumbled speech for hours. In a desperate attempt to keep her sanity after several never ending minutes of circling the same subject, Nana finally decided to turn to her last resort.

The older woman dipped to Starr’s level. Her voice was smooth and convincing, almost manipulative in the vast of ways. “how fascinating! Why don't we go explore the jungle, I'm sure you can show me all kinds of pretty butterflies there! They have been waiting for you to play with them all day!”

The purest of joys exploded into Starr's expression. With a silent smile of excitement her little legs raced with an ungraceful pace into the wilderness of the jungle. No doubt. no hesitation. Only a child full of innocent imagination. To a young child, even a small yard would seem like a wild adventure! However every time she roamed out into the enormous field it was as if entering a whole new world with so much to discover! The imagination of a three-year-old was impeccable.

He had crept in through the band of trees that separated the neighboring houses, which was thick enough to offer him protection from the eyes of both the old woman and her neighbors. Cor sat down, waiting and watching. She was a beautiful young thing, he had to give her that. She looked to be nearing three years of age, and it was quite a miracle that no Guardian had found her yet. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that she lived far out in suburbia, in a house with a backyard so large that it was hard to see the neighboring houses from the back porch through the distance and the trees. Then again, that hadn’t stopped him

A sweet looking older woman had just let her loose on the yard, and her short little toddler’s legs were doing their very best to keep up with her torso, which was gaining more and more momentum as she ran away from the porch. She sat down heavily in the green grass in the center of the yard when her legs could no longer keep up. This was going to be harder, since the girl was older. She would have already developed a close bond with her family, and for her to accept him as a Guardian she would need to be willing to relinquish her bond to her family.

Perhaps this was a child he could simply leave. Without a Guardian one of the dark things would find her soon, and it would lead to her death. Cor need not do it. Not so soon after... No. He would stay for a few days and see how quickly the natural bond between them grew. He was good at bringing in the Blessed Ones. He’d had a lot of practice. If she still rejected him after a week then he could leave, without concern that another Guardian would find her and bond to her.

Those tiny legs struggled to keep up with her body as she chased after some flying bug that flapped its wings desperately trying to get away from the playful child. Finally, Starr admitted defeat by plopping on her bottom exhausted. A rustle in the bushes caught her attention. No. That wasn’t truly it. There was no audible sound. It was more like an intuition, a pull in that direction. Curious, Starr followed. That’s when her big green eyes met with his sad desperate gaze. silence filled the air as their connection intensified. Starr wasn’t scared or alarmed however, she kept her distance from the trespasser. She felt like she knew this stranger. it was a tortured familiar glare Starr has seen many times in her dreams.

The disposable phone in his pocket buzzed. “Yeah?” he answered softly, voice rough and husky. then, In the yard the girl looked up. Their eyes met.

After long moments of silence Starr spoke, “Don’t worry mister… There is no need to be so sad anymore.” Her voice was full of confidence. “Your smile will be just as beautiful as the butterflies! I’ve seen it!” A smile crept across her lips as she held her arms out wide as if showing just how large his smile would be. “The angels have shown me. Don’t you have faith? ‘cuz we believe in you…” Starr’s head jerked back to the sound of Nana’s panicked voice as she yelled out to Starr. “You better hurry mister.” With an angelic smile Starr turned, almost skipping her way into Nana’s worried arms that soon embraced her tight.

“Something’s come up. It’ll be a few days.” He spoke into the phone, honestly not paying it any mind before ending the call. May it be his intuition but this child might be worth his time. Yes, he would watch her carefully for the upcoming days. Faith? The very thought made him almost burst into laughter. Faith was just an imaginary sense of hope mankind have created to forget the damnation in this world. There was no hope for Cor. Not any longer. It was obvious that his welcome was long overdue when the young older woman took the girl inside.It was time to leave, for now.