Promenade in Red
by Ken Walker
Title
Promenade in Red
Artist
Ken Walker
Medium
Digital Art - Digital Painting
Description
4th in the collection "Abstract and the Written Word" a series of stories and poems inspired by the artwork.
-Chapter One: The fog was especially thick this morning along Brooklyn’s busy Promenade with an almost blood-like hue, something not lost on Talyn. Shades of crimson condensation pooled around his feet as dawn’s light pierced through the haze with menacing intention ever slowly creeping to touch his flesh. This he could not allow. Yet there were times that the memory of what he’d allowed himself to become threatened to overtake his self-preservation. Just two steps forward, embrace the light that now firmly settled on the park’s benches and walkways ahead of him, and his pain would cease.
“In the countless centuries, I’ve never met anyone with such capacity for self-loathing as you, my young squire,” the voice drifted from the shadows. It was a voice both comforting and foreboding to Talyn as what followed was the inevitable request to join on some damn foolish quest to find his kind’s Holy Grail, and once again make peace with the sun. “Perhaps it’s because there’s never been anyone so worthy.” Talyn responded already resigned in the knowledge he wasn’t worthy of such a quick out. “No, not going to do it Malek.”
Malek shifted out of the shadow like a puma on the hunt, quiet and dangerous. He wore an expensive suite under a heavy overcoat in shades of black and charcoal grey, the staple of men’s fashion in Manhattan. His signature accessory was an ornate ebony cane with a pure silver raven handle. Malek loved toying with the ludicrous inventions of man. In fact, it was Malek on one of his infamous drunken binges that told a wild story one night to some would-be-author about a guy named Vlad he once hung around with, who, from the telling, was a complete monster with anger management issues and was allergic to silver. As the years rolled along, the stories grew more and more complex, some true, most not and for them this was most often a good thing, as they could hide behind the fiction that they do not exist.
Malek had been Talyn’s mentor over the many years since he was born into this life and as such wielded an undying influence over him which he repeatedly used to sway Talyn to accompany him on his next adventure. Malek, though he would never admit it out loud, loved having Talyn around as a means to keep ahold of his humanity. Talyn had that effect on him.
Malek pressed his cane into Tayln’s chest, “My boy, don’t be so rude. We both know I am going to wear you down. So, why not save us both time and fast forward to the part where you capitulate, have some much needed distraction, and actually have some fun, though you won’t admit it, instead insistent on shoving a huge wooden stack through your own heart!” Malek was right and Talyn knew it. He sighed in defeat. “Luck be a lady…ugh” Talyn whispered a soft tune in feigned disgust. Malek continued, “Besides, I’ve come bearing a gift and maybe end your misery and mine in the process. It’s about Lucienne, ah, Lucy. I found her.” Talyn’s wide-eyes of hope betrayed his attempt at resistance, “Leave it be, Malek. She doesn’t want to be found and can we blame her after all the crap I unloaded on her? ‘Lucy, I know this is going to be hard to believe, but you’re not completely human. Second, you’re a being called the Light Bearer destined to bring the Vok’el, what humans have called, vampires, (yes they’re real), out of the shadows into a new age of existence and, oh yeah, I’m a vampire and I’m in love with you. Save me!’” Malek winced at that last part then broke out in a snicker, “Ok, that last part was…well, my boy, there aren’t words to describe how horrifically painful that was to listen too. But as confessions of love go, and I’ve witnessed quite a few over the centuries, and, after a few too many drinks, engaged in a few myself, I can say that yours was passionately real and original.”
Talyn cracked a smile. Malek always knew how to lighten his mood. “Even if she didn’t think I was completely mad, why would she want anything to do with me? I’ve taken away everything she thought she knew about her life and reality. Say she believes me. Then what? I’ve confessed to being a monster. Hell, I’ve practically called her one!” Talyn collapsed. “Malek, I’ve seen fear in their eyes before, but it never bothered me like seeing it in Lucy’s eyes. Why didn’t I listen to you and wait?” Malek, never one to turn down a chance to rub in it responded dryly, “Because you are a daft bastard.” Tayln nodded in agreement. “Do you think there’s a chance?” Malek let out a bellow of laughter, “Relax. I think the girl doth protest too much. She just needed some time to process. You didn’t exactly wax poetically, so a little extra time and therapy should do the trick. Besides, mistakes for the sake of love are made to be forgiven” Malek answered. Great bumper sticker, Talyn thought, but surely worth listening to. His love for Lucy was worth protecting. She was worth protecting and he knew he couldn’t leave her to carry the truth alone, even if she didn’t believe it herself.
It was time to leave and finish this conversation elsewhere. Morning was upon them and the sons and daughters of the sun were once again awake, filling the promenade with daily runners, dog walkers, and the retired claiming their spots on the benches that dotted the pathway there. The reddish tints of dawn were replaced with joyful shades of blues and purples, morning’s jeweled crown. “Come,” Malek urged, placing his arm around his young protégée’s shoulders as he led him back into the now receding shadows, “I’ll pour you a drink and tell you about the time I spent on an island with Amelia Earhart. Wild woman. I’ll have to introduce you to her sometime,” Malek offered, reminding Talyn, once again, why he enjoyed the old man’s company. Malek was always full of surprises. Maybe, just maybe, Lucy would surprise him too.” -To be continued.
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March 28th, 2020
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