A CONVERSATION: By Jim Bronyaur
Thursday, March 31st, 2011PULSATE: Part 9
Nights came, nights went. Asa slept, her mind did not.
Miles and worlds far away yet oh-so close, Mr. Rogers couldn’t sleep. He knew that as much danger as Asa found herself in, he shared it too. Old Man vampires were the toughest vampire. They were capable of walking night and day. They had the eye sight of a night seeker. And they had the look and feel of a human. They lived among humans and controlled more of the world than most could imagine.
And Old Man vampires were deep into what Mr. Rogers did. They helped negotiate and control the balance in the world.
Sure, with six billion (known) people in the world, what’s one person like Asa mean?
A lot.
Asa was the killer. The balance of power for humans. Vampires knew their place because they feared her. Before Asa, creature attacks were more common, often sought in large numbers. This was a time before humans had access to technologies so the kills were often blamed on disease, catastrophes, or accidents.
But it became too much. And a killer was needed. Across the world there are hundreds, maybe thousands of killers, but they came and went like passing seconds.
Only Asa made vampires think twice. Only Asa made it so creatures eventually bartered for killings instead of treating the world like an open buffet.
And now, only Asa has pissed off an Old Man vampire.
As she lay in bed a week after the last time she spoke with Mr. Rogers, she had tears in her eyes.
Dying didn’t anger her but senseless pride did. Dying for a cause – or the cause – was one thing but dying because of stupidity was, well, stupid.
“I can’t stop this.”
Asa smiled at the voice. She touched her temples and wished she could see Mr. Rogers.
“What were you thinking?”
Asa noted the fear in Mr. Rogers voice.
“I was thinking over everything… at once.”
“Asa… that was…”
“Old Man. I know.”
“Asa, I can’t stop this. It’s about me. You know the power struggle we face. Some of these creatures keep us…”
“He was going to kill that woman.”
Mr. Rogers went silent.
Asa understood the silence.
“So it’s okay for some to die? We just pick and choose?”
“Asa, it’s not like that.”
“It is. If I hadn’t shown up, he would have killed her…”
Mr. Rogers sighed. “Asa, it was a set up. To test you. Lure you in, from the beginning.”
“Lure me in?”
“I saw the Old Man and knew he wasn’t going to harm that woman. He was gong to wait for you, hoping something inside you would take you there.”
Asa kept quiet. She thought about it. Her question as to why that woman came onto her balcony may have been answered.
A trick.
“They want me dead that bad? Why not just kill me?”
“They want to prove a point. They want to slay the greatest killer ever. Put fear into the world.”
“What about balance?”
“Don’t confuse balance with any sort of kindness. That balance exists because of you. And if they can mess with the balance, they will. All you had to do was stay home. Let it all go.”
Asa didn’t respond. Mr. Rogers was right. If Asa stayed home…
“But I didn’t. I want out. So now what?”
“He’s coming to kill you. He’s touched you, he knows where you are.”
“What about you? Will you leave?”
Asa couldn’t see Mr. Rogers face, of course, but if she did her confidence would have been shattered. Mr. Rogers would just pull the plug on Asa and move on.
He could leave.
“I’m with you Asa. This is both our lives.”
“How so?”
“If you die, I die. They will kill me. So tell me, can you kill an Old Man?”
“I can kill anything,” Asa replied. Her confidence had been shaken lately but not broken.
“Okay. But you have to listen. No fence acrobats.”
“I promise.”
“And just so you know, no killer has ever taken care of an Old Man.”
“Never?”
“Never. Old Man vampires either die of old age or by one another. If you pull this off it will change everything.”
Asa felt her heart tug. Mr. Rogers said if, not when.
The conversation ended and that evening as Asa closed her eyes she knew that without Mr. Rogers believing in her, she was as good as dead.
After she fell asleep, the Old Man vampire showed up.
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©2011 Jim Bronyaur
