Story-A-Day #150: By Gas Light

BY GAS LIGHT

There was something to be said for the olden days, the turn of the last century on the cobbled streets of London. Gas lamps burning on the street corners, merchants peddling their filthy wares, and prostitutes showing their pasty white thighs in promise of a good time to be had.

It was easier to figure out your place in society then. You either had, or had not, and a good day’s work was easy to come by. Society wasn’t so rigidly defined by class or societal positions, at least not in the hearty of Olde London Towne. It was different here in the new world, in the new millennium. People were always in a rush to get to their next destination, hesitant to make eye contact, or exchange a witty retort.

This is not the world I knew.

I suppose that makes me lucky though. I can actually recall those better days. Food was plentiful, if you knew where to pinch it, and money was more of a benefit than a requisite.

In my other life, if you wanted something, you could just take it. In my days, taking something you wanted was all it took to enter the realm of legend. I am a testament to that.

I never wanted to kill, but my desire to feel the warm lifeblood spill from the whores of Whitechapel has rendered me immortal. Ponder it for a moment, and you will recall my name.

I yearn for those days, but I am happy to begin anew. This new life is so full of light and noise it becomes overwhelming, but within that chaos, I will reign once more.

Do not ask how I have come to be once more. It is more important that you ask what will come to pass once my obligations have been fulfilled.

It is rare to see a gas lamp such as this in this day and age, but in that flickering illumination, I have been awakened; inspired to begin anew. You may not wish to make eye contact, or pass civil greeting, but know that I feel no such limitations.

Should I see you out in the dark of night and decide your warmth is something I wish to possess, you will feel me. I will be next to you, over you and all around you, one cold slice at a time.