The Survivor by Parry Dennis

Author:Parry, Dennis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Valancourt Books
Published: 2014-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

Carefully he found the wall, aligning himself against it, so that his shoulders received a welcome support.

“James,” he said without a quiver, “where are you?”

“Ah,” replied the voice of James, “can’t you guess? I am in a beautiful region of light and flowers, of course, you bloody fool! And everyone is very happy. Papa is here and so are our respective mammas. They are very happy. We get what we want by just thinking about it. That’s what comes of being on a higher plane.”

“I should have thought,” said Roger, “that whatever your new status, it might have cured you of mocking at other people’s sincerity.”

“In that case, my dear Roger, the horrors of death are greatly exaggerated in your mind.”

“James,” said Roger, “perhaps it sounds ridiculous, but I’m not concerned to pry into your private affairs. You may be in torment or a kind of limbo or even condemned to earthly wandering, for all I know. In any event, I wouldn’t insult you with my sympathy. But for the sake of Charity, let Olive be. Let her alone, d’you understand?”

“Well, well!” said James. “Oughtn’t you to hang garlic round her neck and drive a stake through my heart?”

“You may be sure I should, if I believed either in physical vampires or in superstitious remedy. But I knew you alive, James. It was never the body you preyed on, it was the personality.”

“I suppose,” said James more mildly, “that you hold me responsible for even the most discreditable feats—such as saving a child’s life.”

“No doubt in that instance you justified yourself, though you chose the most revolting means and were probably actuated by nothing more than the pleasure of exercising your skill. I should be satisfied if I could believe that, having once used Olive for a legitimate purpose, you would refrain from repeating the performance maliciously, to cause damage.”

Out of the dark came a familiar, rasping, deep-throated chuckle.

“Still the same Roger! Talking like a second-rate attorney’s clerk! The reason you don’t like my little alliance with Olive is that you foresee it causing a certain amount of social embarrassment to yourself. Still, don’t worry. I think we shall concentrate on Eva. She reacted well the other day, when my will was read.”

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