Errors That Persist

Dark Memoirs - Index

"Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity." - Xunzi

People seem fascinated by the idea that there must be a hierarchy — that I must be damaged goods or working for a “big bad.” This is the real world, of course. Besides, I lack nothing — money, freedom, or immunity from consequence. Why would I need a financial backer, or why would I blindly follow the directions of another?

Damaged? Maybe. But it’s reaching. Hierarchy is a comfort blanket for the frightened.

What if, though, some things just are?

Dracula is a case in point. So often people feel the need to dilute Stoker’s character until he becomes something else entirely — something more human — completely missing the fucking point. Dracula was evil because he needed to feed on the blood of mortals, and because his enjoyment of continued existence mattered more to him than sacrificing himself to save worthless cattle.

He just was.

You could try to untangle which strands of an individual’s timeline contributed to their deplorable acts, but what if the inconceivable were true — that it came down to personal taste and preference, not childhood trauma or abuse?

There are those of weaker constitution, lacking self-control and self-awareness, driven purely by weakness. They are errors that persist too long.

Recently, one woman found that the paths of our destinies collided. She was a whistleblower — or something equally unimportant, just noise.

I held her in a forgotten part of the city. It could have been any city; after I had sanitised it, it would become the forgotten part of every city.

She pleaded for her life, trying to “talk me down,” swearing that I’d never rid myself of the shock of killing her. I looked at her plainly and watched as blood gently coated one side of her face. It was a fitting demise for someone who asked too many of the wrong questions.