Their Marked Baby Boy

3

12:00

A firm knock on the front door echoes through the house. The door was quickly opened as if my father had been waiting for it. I sat up straight as hushed voices climbed the stairs towards my room. The creepiest thing was that I only heard one set of footsteps.

The door creaked open.

"Get up, Lucas, you're leaving." My dad's voice was rough but tinted with sadness.

"What," I questioned. " where am I going?"

He looked to the hallway and spoke quietly to the person I had yet to see. A deep sigh left his lips as he walked towards me and took me by the hand. We didn't speak as he led me downstairs to the living room. As we passed, I caught a brief glimpse of the mysterious figure. It was a man dressed in long black robes. I wasn't sure what itt was, but something about him was unsettling. I watched from the corner of my eye as he walked into my room.

Once we'd sat down, dad let out another sigh somehow even deeper than the last.

"You have to go with him." He stated.

"What? Why? If you want to kick me out, then do it, but don't try and ship me off with a stranger." I argued

"No, you don't understand. It's not about what I want. You... You belong to them."

"Them? Who is them? And how can I belong to someone to anyone. I'm a person, a human being,"

"But they aren't." He cut me off."They aren't human. I...I'm not sure what they are but they aren't human and they will find you no matter where you go."

For a few moments I said nothing, rendered completely speechless.

"But why, why me?"

He put his head in his hands like he couldn't even look at me.

"Because I gave you to them. You were theirs before you were even born. I... I did what I thought I had to. Your mother was dying, I was desperate."

At that point I was truly rendered speechless. My own father had given me away to these things that he didn't even understand. For a few minutes we sat in silence, unsure of what to say. What we could say.

Without warning, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped in my seat in shock and looked behind me.

"It's time." His voice was firm but not cruel.

I spared my father a glance, head in his hands he didn't even look up as I was lead towards the door. The hand on my back should have felt like a death sentence, but a part of me found it comforting. I had spent most of my life feeling like I was alone. At least there was someone with me now. Even if it was a strange being, who apparently owned my soul.

He led me out the door to a car with tinted windows. The situation was still so sureal that I didn't say a word. I just allowed him to push me into the back seat and pull the seat belt over me. I briefly noticed him placing one of my bags from my room next to me. I wasn't sure what he'd filled it with, but I wasn't sure it mattered. As the car drove away from all that was familiar to me I felt myself drift to sleep.