Daywalkers...

(Sociopaths)

Let there be night

The lingering shadows of the night begin to retreat at the approaching golden rays of dawn. She awakens from her slumber at the characteristic sound of the small alarm clock that’s situated on the teak cabinet which stands beside her bed. Faithfully over many years this trusty little clock has heralded the start of many new days charged with positive expectation. So why should today be any different? Why should her luck change so badly? How could fate be so cruel?

Wrapped in knots of unknowing she gets out of bed and stretches widely while emitting a slight yawn before opening the brightly coloured curtains to greet the light of a new day. And the energy and warmth of the sun beams reassuringly around her bedroom. How could something that begins with so much light be the prelude to so much dark?

The conditioning of years helps her to move into her habitual routine as she quickly moves into the shower and the final soporific vestiges of sleep are washed away with the ebb and flow of the currents of revitalising water which burst energetically from the shower. ‘It’s a new dawn – it’s a new day’ she sings to herself as she smiles in anticipation of what she imagines awaits her today. But you never can tell – can you?

Having enjoyed the benefits of a fruit breakfast and chamomile infusion she leaves the protection of her home and steps out into the embrace of the coming nightmare. What makes this so sad is that she thinks she’s going to be safe in the daylight. But looks can be deceiving.

She arrives at the appointed rendez vous and sits down on a blue and grey speckled office chair that’s a clone of a million other such chairs that can be found in many thousands of similar office complexes around the country. Everything seems so normal. Such a bland setting for such an impending catastrophe.

Naturally she’s a bit nervous. This is to be, she thinks, an important meeting for her future career. For so long she’s been seeking a role in a Human Resources department. She likes people, she gets on well with people and practically everyone likes her too. She’s highly talented and she’s got lots to offer. Oodles to offer. That’s why he noticed her.

Incisor dealing

He’s calculating. He’s cunning. He’s an adept compulsive liar with a cruel streak that when utilised has rapier-like sharpness. And he wears a charming mask of charisma that has proven, through regular use, to be his most prized weapon of all. Too often, too many of his quarries have forgotten the age old warning given to remind us that sometimes the Devil can appear, to those he intends on duping, in the form of an angel of light. Everyone likes angels. You can trust angels. And today is to be no different. She too, victim number ‘who-knows-how-many?’ is to fall the same way.

A cut above the rest

Vampires don’t really exist. At least, not as they’re portrayed in the movies. And even in the movies there is only one so-called ‘Daywalker’, a vampire who has all of the powers of the demonic bloodsuckers and almost none of their weaknesses. He’s called Blade and he’s stronger than the others. Daylight doesn’t bother him (which is why he’s known as the ‘Daywalker’). Garlic and religious symbols are not a problem either. The reason for this is because his mother was bitten when she was pregnant carrying him and as a result of this twist of fate he was born part vampire - part human, so to speak. He possesses all of the ‘benefits’ and almost none of the weaknesses. Almost none. But the weakness that he shares with his erstwhile ‘family’ is a significant one. It’s…the thirst! However Blade is different from the despotic vampiric bloodsuckers. He has goodness in his heart and chooses not to vent his own flaws on those weaker than he. Instead he prefers to inject himself daily with a special serum designed to keep the unwanted bloodlust at bay. That way, instead of hurting others he uses his talents to protect society from the many Nightwalkers who stalk the city streets.

Understandably, in this fantasy world, many of the vampire Nightwalkers want to gain Blade’s invulnerability to daylight and they constantly seek ways to do so, including genetic engineering. Because if they could become Daywalkers too they’d enjoy a round-the-clock feeding-frenzy! But Blade manages to keep one step ahead of them and stymies their plans for world domination. As a result bad vampires remain vulnerable to light and Blade remains practically invulnerable and he fights for the cause of Right. At least that’s how it is in the movies.

Let us prey

The good thing about being a sociopath is that you don’t come across as one. People never suspect you – at least not until some damage has already been done. But by then you’ve got all - or most - of what you want and you can move on. It’s funny, in a black-humour kind of way too, because vampires and sociopaths are very similar. They’re both parasites. They’re both able to exert powerful influence over individuals (and sometimes groups) to bring them under their sway. They both lie – very convincingly (confidence tricksters are called confidence tricksters because they’re very skilled at hoodwinking people in order to gain their confidence). They’re both callous and have no concern or compassion for their victims and they inflict suffering upon them without compunction. They’re also totally self-centred. And as in the movies disbelief in vampires is one of the worst forms of defence – so too in real life believing that ‘no one could ever pull one over on me’ is also a great handicap to an individual’s safety and security where a sociopath is concerned. And just as the vampires like to lord it over their human victims so too do the sociopaths like to control and manipulate their unwitting hosts.

Test the spirits

Anyway…back to the story. He puts on his most angelic smile. ‘Hiiii’ he says as he greets her. She rises to meet him. With feigned courtesy he motions her back to her chair and, artfully, pretending innate gallantry he gently moves it back under her as she resumes her seated position. This impresses her. A real gentleman! They talk about the job. He’s done his homework well. He knows about her aspirations, he even has some background information on her likes and dislikes and talks about how close he feels to her. About how much alike he says they are. It’s like they share a ‘special bond…a very special bond’ he continues. ‘It’s something spiritual’ he adds, his words dripping with contrived honesty (and somewhere a demon laughs – it’s something spiritual alright, but not the kind of spirit she expects). He knows that people like people who are like themselves – or who are like they’d like to be like. He can be witty. He’s clearly very intelligent. What a disarming combination! And all the while he’s ascertaining what he can persuade her to give up to him. How much he can get – and how quickly he can get it. Be it money, contacts, support, her emotional dependence on him or sex – or all of these things. Many others have fallen this way. And it wasn’t a problem in the past when it was a male victim he was working on because he can adapt his approach and change the ‘relationship’ from that of paramour to that of a ‘brother’. It’s quite easy really, especially when you’ve done it so often.

Trancefixed

Of course, he’s not really a director of the company he tells her he’s recruiting for. What’s more – it doesn’t really exist, but that’s a minor problem for him. In actual fact, as far as a career is concerned he’s always found it difficult to hold down any job for long. He keeps falling out with people. Which is one reason why he started doing this. And the other reason is – it’s just so much fun! But she doesn’t need to know about that. And if she ever does find out, chances are it will be too late by then, anyway. Because if she gets any doubts and starts to ask questions, he knows he’s adept at humiliating people with his perverted intellect and mercurial mind and, what’s more, he often does it in company, to make the pain more hurtful. Plus, he can always fire off a malicious lawsuit to intimidate her if the need arises - that always works. So with the confidence born of a lifetime’s experience he fixes his sugary gaze on her. On cue she melts at his beguiling manner. She’s transfixed – or trance-fixed. And as he continues to weave his convincing story she succumbs to its embrace. Like an unwitting insect bewitched by the scent of a Venus flytrap, her aspirations act as the bait and she remains oblivious as the cage begins to shut tightly around her.

Necking

As the weeks go by, for some reason they always meet at her house. He says it’s because he can’t introduce her to rest of the office yet. It’s because he’s got ‘bigger plans in mind’ for her, he tells her. Human Resources is not a big enough step for her, he effuses. She’s flattered. And she feels that an emotional, even romantic attachment is beginning to develop between them. He tells her that he feels the same, but out of respect for her he says they shouldn’t ‘rush into anything’. This means he values her, she concludes, and as a result she lowers her final defences and he notches up another sexual conquest to his list. His wife will never find out – and if she does he can always blame the woman. He’ll think of a reason, if ever such a situation arises. It shouldn’t be too difficult.

He tells her about the expansion of the company, and how he plans to make her a director, with him. ‘Imagine, me and you together’ he says. What a team they’d make! ‘We’ll be unstoppable’ he adds. As he winks at her she fails to notice the dark clouds that have begun to gather outside, blocking the light of the sun. It’s daytime – but it just got very murky.

In order to present her to the Board as a potential director, he explains, ‘of course’ she’ll need to have ‘demonstrated commitment to the company’ already. ‘Conveniently’, he says, ‘they're just about to release some shares’. He apologetically says that he ‘shouldn’t really be telling anyone this – but our relationship is different’, adding that he feels sure that ‘God will understand, and that makes it alright’, words uttered with a very saintly look on his face. An appeal to holiness always works - when you go for the throat. And somewhere nearby the Devil chuckles gleefully.

Vlad to be of service

Three days later she goes to the bank with a spring in her step and a smile on her face and withdraws two-thirds of her life savings. Luck is certainly smiling on her today, she thinks to herself. She’s right – except that it’s bad luck that’s doing the smiling. And it’s less of a smile and more of a grin. She meets him at the appointed place. It’s where they first met; in the rented office, only she doesn’t know it’s a temporary rent. Of course, this one room, two chair, one table, no phone, no PC box-room must just be one of the ‘backrooms’ of this larger office complex, mustn’t it? He walks in and smiles. She lights up, and another dark cloud passes across the face of the sun. ‘The Board is looking forward to meeting you’ he says cheerfully, as he helps her into her chair again. She looks back at him lovingly and responds: ‘I just want to tell you now how much I appreciate everything you’re doing for me’. He replies with the silky words: ‘Darling, the pleasure is all mine’. Willingly she gives him her money as he tells her how his ‘friend in the stock broker office, Ubet & Ugamble, which is situated just across the road is waiting for the funds in order to turn them into shares’ and how, then, later they would ‘meet the Board for a vote’ (‘which was a foregone conclusion’) for her place as a director. He blows her a kiss and walks out of the office with the words ‘sit tight’. And she does. She sits…and she sits…and she sits.

Waiting in vein

After an hour-and-a-half, she goes back to reception and asks if anyone knows where he is. Is he already at the boardroom – or taking care of the paperwork somewhere? It hits her like the proverbial vampire bat out of Hell as the perplexed receptionist slowly starts to explain how Mr Hammerorror had ‘rented the office by the hour on just two occasions’. Adding that the ‘meet and greet welcome rite on reception comes as part of the service and out of courtesy we always put the name of the office renter on display in the foyer. It’s that final professional touch which makes the £15.00 per hour rate so competitive’. Actually, the receptionist remembers it was on the two occasions she visited the office that he’d rented the room. She looks in the log book, ‘Here you go, ‘Ms V. Ictim to meet Mr Hammerorror’ last month on the 13th and today’, which coincidently was the 13th too. ‘How about that for a fluke’ the receptionist says. Ms Ictim feels her blood run cold when the receptionist finally explains that ‘He only ever gave us a mobile phone number as a contact. We tried to call him once but the number was dead. Must have been a bad reception!’, she concludes.

Ms V. Ictim swoons at the final body blow. Her money was gone, he was gone, and he’d clearly used her as a sexual plaything in the process. And she’d consented to it all!

Psycho

‘Twenty-nine nine-fifty. Thirty thousand!’ he says gleefully as he counts his pickings. ‘What a sap. What a sap. They’re all so gullible…so gullible. They don’t deserve their money. I deserve it. Because I’m so talented. There’s more than one born every minute, ha ha!’, he laughs chillingly.

Remember: in the movies the Nightwalkers want to become Daywalkers so they seek to replicate Blade’s inborn talent to use it for their own nefarious ends. And remember, they don’t succeed. But remember, movies aren’t real. Frighteningly sociopaths are and they’re always ravenously seeking new ways and ‘new angles’ to improve their skills for manipulating others. Some train in law, some train in religion, others use other things and some turn to the field of psychology in order to learn how to exert power over others. And in the process they become the equivalent of what the vampires want to be, evil parasitic Daywalkers. Using their enhanced predatory range to quarry new prey.

‘£2000 will cover that psychology course leaving me £28,000’ he says to himself as the rain begins to fall heavily outside. ‘It will take about £100.00 to rent the next office and buy a couple of takeaway meals and a few bottles of wine, which will leave me about £27,900’ he continues. Such easy money – and such an adrenalin-pumping way of getting it! Living on the edge like this seems to be the only way he can fill the gnawing emotional void that often permeates his soul. Just like a vampire – the sociopath lacks any real depth of character. Driven by the lust and the emotional buzz of living on the edge his mind quickly moves greedily to begin the search for his next Ictim, or is that victim?

It could be you?

Six months later he looks out of the dingy apartment window that he’s just started renting. ‘It ’s a new day – it’s a new scam’ he sings to himself. He told his wife he would be away looking for work again – she falls for it every time. That’s not to say that she doesn’t have her doubts, some serious doubts even, but she’s got so much ‘invested’ in the relationship that she stops herself from doing what she knows she should, and lets things carry on instead. It’s such a shame, a crying shame.

The apartment gives him a clear view of the building across the road. His money’s starting to run out so he’s been watching someone for several days now. Take a look in the mirror, does that someone look like you? And in another town, far away, Ms V. Ictim wakes up to another day. Her curtains are now left tightly drawn, as has been her new habit for the past six months. Slowly, with all the fragility of a cracked egg she seeks to pull herself out of bed and ‘pull herself together’ so that she can get her life back on track. Numbly she nibbles on some burnt toast and downs another black coffee, while the trickle of tears gently washes over her face, like they have been doing so often lately.

The end?

Areas that sociopaths gravitate towards:

Law
Psychology
Religion

Evidence indicates that a high proportion of sociopaths will enter into, or hang around the fringes of occupations that enable them to exert power and influence over people. Law, psychology-related occupations and religion specifically being well-known hang-outs for people with sociopathic tendencies.

Warning:

So the moral to this story is this: remember, If you meet someone who seems to be ‘too good to be true’ you might want to ask yourself if maybe they are indeed just that, too good to be true.

The following links contain useful information about becoming aware of and protecting yourself from sociopaths (sociopathic behaviour is also kno wn as 'anti social personality disorder'):

http://www.lovefraud.com/02_howToSpotAcon/spot_con_artist.html
http://www.lovefraud.com/01_whatsaSociopath/what_is_sociopath.html
http://www.lovefraud.com/01_whatsaSociopath/key_symptoms_sociopath.html
http://www.exitsupportnetwork.com/artcls/socio.htm
http://www.exitsupportnetwork.com/artcls/underst.htm
http://www.findlaci2003.us/sociopath.html
http://www.sociopathicstyle.com/index.htm
http://www.hare.org
http://www.psychopathysociety.org
http://www.selfhelpzone.com/mental-health/sociopath-personality-disorder/
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-psychopath-and-a-sociopath.htm
http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Bin/sb.html
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/96/open_boss.html
http://www.freedomofmind.com/
http://jobsadvice.guardian.co.uk/officehours/story/0,,1313261,00.html
http://www.starboardwatch.com/sociopth.html

[The character of the 'Daywalker' called 'Blade' is owned by the illustrious Marvel Comics Group.]

The Traits of Hate:

Here are some traits associated with sociopathic men and women.  Education is a form of defence.

Sociopaths are avaricious: Sociopaths lust after power, money, sex, etc.

Sociopaths appear to be believable: Sociopaths are the ultimate confidence tricksters. They seem to be decent, trustworthy, caring people, when in reality they engage in scurrilous behaviour.

Sociopaths are blamers: Sociopaths believe that everyone else is ‘responsible’ for their problems in life. (And they have a lot of self-inflicted problems!) The expression 'Poor Me' would fit.

Sociopaths blow hot and cold: Sociopaths like to make people feel like they're in favour and then out of favour - because it keeps their victims off balance.

Sociopaths are bright: Sociopaths usually possess well above average intelligence.

Sociopaths are chameleon like: Sociopaths will sometimes change their location, occupation and identity to avoid public scutiny of their bad behaviour and to avoid the aftermath of results of any trouble they've caused. This can mean changing town - or even moving to a different country (in order to start another scam).

Sociopaths appear to be charming: Sociopaths can appear to be very charming when they need to be - but it's just an act and it won't last for long.

Sociopaths are narcissistic: Sociopaths enjoy being the centre of attention - including their own - because they're narcissistic.

Sociopaths are cowardly: Sociopaths, like all bullies, target those they perceive to be vulnerable. They fear and avoid those they can't intimidate.

Sociopaths are emotionally cold: Sociopaths may talk a lot about 'love' - personal and spiritual - but in reality they're emotionally cold. They don't really know the meaning of the word.

Sociopaths are evil: We live in a world that often doesn't like to acknowledge the existence of evil. Sociopaths deserve the appellation.

Sociopaths are habitual liars: And they're very good at it. Sociopaths lie without a shred of conscience.

Sociopaths are irredeemable: Short of a real act of God, sociopaths are irredeemable. Evidence suggests that sociopathic behaviour cannot be 'trained out' of a sociopath, because they don't want to change. (Although, when caught, they like to fool people into thinking they have changed and are expressing contrition for their actions.)

Sociopaths are lazy: They like to get others running around doing things for them.

Sociopaths are litigious: Evidence suggests that sociopaths will make use of the legal system as a means of intimidating people (although this can backfire on them of course).

Sociopaths are manipulative: Sociopaths are driven by the need to be ‘in control’. They feel the need to assert their dominance - because in reality they're deeply insecure.

Sociopaths are morally corrupt: Unlike most people who have a sense of conscience which exerts a certain amount of influence on them sociopaths have no such moral compass. They experience no shame, guilt or remorse for their corrupt behaviour.

Sociopaths are perceptive: Sociopaths are very good at 'reading' people, most of the time. They interpret 'body language' well and utilise this skill when hunting their prey. They are exceptionally good at noticing fear in others - which they enjoy, and exploit.

Sociopaths are spiteful: Sociopaths enjoy hurting people - they will go out of their way to do so.

Sociopaths stare: Sociopaths have an unblinking stare - sometimes coupled with a smile. This is a technique they use for asserting their control over people. Who blinks first loses - in effect. What they don't understand is that it's a petty game that only someone with serious character flaws would habitually indulge in.

Sociopaths are vengeful: Sociopaths hold grudges - they don't forgive.

And their number is more than 666: Estimates put their number at about 5% of the population (4% male – 1% female).

The Sociopathic Stare:

As mentioned above, sociopaths exhibit a characteristic stare that's known as 'The Sociopathic Stare'.  Here's a verse to help you remember this fact so that, should you ever have the misfortune to encounter it... well, forewarned is forearmed:

Beware the stare...

Beware the stare, Beware the lies, Beware the monster, Who traps with his eyes,

Beware the stare, Beware the lies, Beware the monster, Who will only despise,

Beware the stare, Beware the lies, Beware the monster, Who likes fear in your eyes,

Beware the stare, Beware the lies, Beware the monster, Who's a devil in disguise,

Beware the stare, Beware the lies, Beware the monster, Who hides a nasty surprise!

In order to raise awareness of the kind of dangers of situations as those addressed in this article I've brought a number of incidents to the attention of those working in some of the highest offices of power, including a President of the United States, three British Prime Ministers, a Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury…along with the police, an MP - plus experts in the field of human behaviour.

(c) Kerin Webb 2006-2010.

Kerin Webb: psychic medium, clairvoyant, channeller and past life reader, based in Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.