[Dean's World] J.A. Eddy: *Methuselah's Daughter*, Part 4 Chapter 36

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Posted by J.A. Eddy:
*Methuselah's Daughter*, Part 4 Chapter 36
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1199648135.shtml


                                 Chapter 36

   Pennsylvania, April, 2005 CE

   She wasnât looking at me, but was sitting back in her chair staring
   out the window with her hands clasped behind her head and her bare
   feet up on the coffee table. I turned her words over and over in my
   head, but there simply wasnât any way to avoid what sheâd just told
   me.

   âHow longâ¦â I started, but that wasnât the right question so I
   started over. âHow many⦠how many people did you kill?â

   âIt wasnât killing,â she replied, her voice still flat and ominous,
   âit was murder.â I didnât argue. I noticed that the hair was standing
   up on the back of my neck and had been for almost an hour. âLess than
   one thousand?â she went on. âYes, perhaps somewhat less than that, but
   not by much. It went on for a long time, thirteen years. Once it took
   hold of me Iâd say I managed to strike at least once a week, on
   average anyhow.â

   âWhy? What could it possibly mean to you?â

   She turned her gaze on me and just stared, which was almost worse than
   any response I could have imagined. Ever since Iâd come to
   Pennsylvania sheâd seemed to be on this downward spiral, the person
   oozing away and slowly replaced by this thing sitting in the chair,
   casually recounting horrors and cold-blooded murder. I remembered the
   story she told me about the pregnant woman Saennuz, but that was so
   different than this. Where was the regret, the quiet admission of
   being wrong? For that, sheâd seemed to want forgiveness, but for this
   she seemed unremorseful, almost like a vampire she was so casual about
   it.

   Her face was still completely expressionless, but she struggled to
   speak for a bit, then finally answered.

   âThey were vile,â she said, finally showing some emotion. But it was
   almost worse: it was contempt. âTheyâd stolen something from me,â she
   went on, âsomething precious. I was determined to have it back.â She
   paused then, looking into my eyes. What she saw there made her frown.
   Then she sighed, âIt truly was that simple.â

   âI donât buy it. You had to know there was nothing to gain. How could
   you not know?â

   âNothing to gain?â she snapped back, and I saw genuine anger in her
   face. She suddenly leaned forward, her feet falling to the floor and
   her voice became louder, almost threatening and I recoiled a little as
   she went on. âWho the hell are you to tell me what I felt I had to
   gain? Who are you to presume to tell me what I had to have known?â

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                       Methuselah's Daughter, A Novel

References

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