Chapter 26
Back at Brandon’s house, the firefighters finally get the fire under control and are now searching for a cause. A tall man in black slacks, white dress shirt and a brown trench coat smoking a cigar was standing near the house. “Detective Williams,” an officer said as he walked towards him and saluted.
“What did you find?” said Detective Williams.
“We found the body of an Afro-American female, possible late thirty or early forties.”
“Can she be identified?” asked Detective Williams.
“Hard to say. The body’s too badly burned. We may have to use dental records,” the officer answered, shaking his head pitifully.
“Do the neighbors know who she is?”
“Not really, all they were able to tell us is that she lived here with her son and they mostly kept to themselves. The mom worked and the son went to school.”
“What school did he go to?” asked the detective.
“Um, Theodore Roosevelt High School.”
“All right, keep asking the neighbors about them. Hopefully someone knows something else besides their lifestyle.”
“Yes sir.” The officer said as he left to ask more questions.
When he left, a female officer walked up to Detective Williams and said, “Sir, we have a friend of the son here. He says he knows both the mother and the son well.”
Detective Williams smokes his cigar and says, “Ok, take…what’s the friend’s name?”
“His name is Dan Snider.”
“Ok, take Mr. Snider down to the precinct and get as much info as you can on the mother and son.”
“Sir.” said the female officer as she left to take Dan to the precinct.
Detective Williams looked sadly at the ruined house. “Damn,” he said softly as smoked his cigar.
“Did you find the boy?” a voice said from behind him.
Detective Williams turned around to see a young man dressed in black wearing a lengthy trench coat and matching hat with fingerless gloves. He had his head tilted slightly so the hat was only covering his eyes. “No, we didn’t.” said Detective Williams.
“What happens if you don’t find him?” said the young man.
“Then we’ll have to assume that his body was incinerated in the explosion.” Detective Williams smoked his cigar as curiosity entered his mind, “Did you know the mother and son who lived here?”
“Yes,” answered the young man.
“Are you Dan Snider?”
“No.”
“Ok, well can you give me their names then?” Detective Williams said as he took out a small note pad.
“Yes. The mother’s name was Harriet Mitchell.”
“Harriet Mitchell,” Detective Williams repeated the name as he wrote it down, “And the son’s name?”
The young man hesitated for a moment, “Brandon. His name was Brandon.”
“OK, thanks. Listen just wait here a minute; I’ll be right back.”
Detective Williams jogs up to the medical examiner and hands him the piece of paper with the names of the mother and son on it. “Thanks for your help. You just saved us a whole…” he stopped walking to see that the mysterious young man in black was gone. He looks back and forth amongst the neighbors to catch a glimpse of him, but he was nowhere to be found. If only Detective Williams had known that the young man he was talking to was in fact Brandon.
Chapter 27
Over the next few weeks, reports of a mysterious figure doing good deeds all over Philadelphia begin brewing. The local news stations have been reporting about the figure since its first appearance. The first news station to report it was Channel 8. “Reports keep coming in about a possible ‘super hero’ in Philadelphia. It seems that this modern day ‘super man’ has been going around the city, helping anyone who’s in trouble. We take you live to Robin Jones who is at the scene of the latest sighting of Philadelphia’s own ‘Superman’.” said the news anchor.
“Thank you, Carrie. I’m standing here at the Philadelphia entrance of the Ben Franklin Bridge with Matt Johnson, one of the maintenance workers working on the bridge. Matt, tell us what happened.” Robin said.
“I was doing a routine check on the cables when all of sudden, I lose my footing and fall off the suspension cable. I tried pulling myself back up but my safety line breaks and I start falling. Next thing I know, I feel a tug on my harness and I’m being lowered to the ground. I turn around to see who grabbed me but all I saw was somebody flying off back to the city.” Matt explained.
“You are very lucky that whoever it is was there to save you. Is there anything you would like to say to your hero?” Robin said.
“I don’t who you are or where you came from, but thanks for savin’ my life, man.” said Matt.
“Thank you, Matt. Live from the Ben Franklin Bridge, I’m Robin Jones for Channel 8 Headline News.”
Other news stations began asking people, those who have seen the mystery hero and those who haven’t, to give their opinion about the hero.
“Hey, if some guy wants to run around Philly and save people and actually do a good job. Then I don’t see nothing wrong with it.” One man said from his sanitation truck.
“It’s good that there is actually somebody out there doing what’s right, ‘cause lord knows with the way this city’s been, we need a hero. So Mr. Hero, whoever you are, may God bless you.” An elderly woman said.
“I don’t know. Me, personally, I would wonder if those accidents really did happen or did this guy cause them?” said another man who was driving a taxi.
“Well there you have it. Just a few opinions about Philly’s very own ‘super hero’. Some people like him, some people don’t like him, but you can all leave your opinions and/or comments at our web site: www.news7.org. Right now, we have Tommy “Tornado” Schmitz in the weather center with some rain and the five day forecast,” said the news anchorman.
“Thanks John, what we have is severe thunderstorm warning for much of the Tri-state area…” Tommy said.
Chapter 28
The sky is again angry as a thunderstorm welcomes not only Philadelphia, but someone else who can appreciate it even more. Crouched on top of the Winchester office building looking down upon the city and the streets below is the hero everyone was talking about, Brandon Mitchell. He’s crouched on the edge of the roof as the lightning from tonight’s lovely storm illuminated the city below and the sky above. He thinks to himself as he surveys his city, “One day you will achieve greatness. That’s what my father always told me. That at some point in my life I would do something that would change my life forever. I didn’t understand it at first, but over the last few weeks, it’s starting to become clear to me now. Well I have achieved greatness, dad. I’m helping those who cannot help themselves. I’m protecting those who shall need it, and whenever a voice cries for help; I will be there. Brandon Mitchell is dead. I am their savior. I am their protector. I am…their Guardian.” The lightning continues flash intensively as the newly named Guardian flies over the city he has sworn to protect.
