The Lies They Told Us About Balance

XI

In a normal situation, I would let out some sarcastic line such as "no sh*t, what gave it away, was it the smell of me pissing my pants?", but I held my tongue. Something told me we weren't exactly close for me to make that kind of joke. Instead:

- "I admit that I am a little bit confused..."

- "If you are only confused you must have nerves of steel." - he said in his out of this world kind of voice.

- "Well, I might also be scared to the bones." - I added as a matter of fact.

- "I appreciate your honesty." - he nodded and opened an awkward and wide grin. - " Now, do tell me, did you think of any answer for your questions?"

I allowed myself to move and I took the mug to my lips, wondering about what I should tell him and where I would start, but mostly, I was wondering how big of a mess I got myself into to have such a hideous creature standing across me.

- " I don't have any pleasant one... But, for starter, what are you?"

- "That is a good question..." - he said and his neck cracked, leaving his head hanging in a very uncomfortable looking position. He used his hands to c***k the neck again and normalise the head's angle. - "Your kind catalogued me and some of my kind as demons, though the whole evil thing it's a deceitful concept, I believe."

- "You believe? You do realise I found you with a human woman that you merciless killed right in front of my eyes, right?" - I asked sarcastically.

- "I've been watching for too long, so I got a little bit carried away." - he states.

- "What do you mean with that? You don't usually possess people? I thought that was your thing." - I ask skeptical.

- "Oh, I do possess humans, but I am not always lucky enough to find a host I can manifest with." - He notices my confusion and adds. - " I didn't manifest in 246 years."

- "What is it that you couldn't manifest?" - I stop pretending that I knew what he was talking about, because I had no clue.

- "What do you think a "possession" stands for?"

- "Well, you get a hold on the person's physical and psychological capacities and commit a bunch of gruesome crimes?..." - I take a guess from popular folclore.

- "If only it was that simple..."

- "Is it not?" - I ask genuinely interested.

- "If that was the only porpoise of that "possession it would at least mean we had a choice." - from the look on my face, he must've realised I was not following his thoughts. - "We do not take control over the human, although that would be great, what happens it's that we attach our presence to their bodies. You see, we do not have a physical body, we are unphysical beings with a nucleus that needs feeding to survive, thus the reason why we live for so long, there's nothing to age."

- "Okay... That's new... Still doesn't explain why you can't control a human though." - I try to push the matter a little bit more.

- "This nucleus of ours feeds on the humans vital force and immunities. To be able to control a human we would need to set the nucleus on the brain, that would kill it in a matter of a few hours. To properly feed and not exterminate your kind completely we place the nucleus on your blood."

- "Why the blood? And why do you care about our kind's extinction?" - I can't seem to find out where this conversation is going.

- "We found out that we can feed longer if we run through your blood. If, instead, we take an organ it would deteriorate too soon, killing you too fast. It is in our best interest to make sure you populate the earth so we can feed and survive."

- "But, eventually, you kill the human..."

- "Not willingly, but yes, eventually the human dies."

- "So... You're parasites." - I state nonchalantly, and watch his facial expressions harden. - "That's a very nice explanation, but if all of what you're saying it is true, how are you talking to me through, what I guess, it's a man?

- "There are exceptions." - his expression softens a little, but I felt I touched a wound when I called him a parasite, which it's quit human if you ask me. - "From time to time we find a special human, one that can survive longer with our nucleus in its brain. It still does not live as long as if we take the safer option, but enough to give us a little bit of fun."

- "So... How long have you been with this host?"

- "For about 67 hours. Enough time to find some pretty good challenges, even in so little time."