Desert Rain

Lost Love

Kaine had travelled miles across desert, mountainous regions and barren wastelands before he reached Texas and the one place that still lingered in his mind, the ranch where he had come to when he was on the run from Gabriel. He remembered it so clearly as if it had happened only moments ago, how he had stumbled into the arms of a woman, wounded and almost close to death. She was the woman of his dreams, the one who had haunted his every move, his every thought and being. So kind, so gentle and caring in nature. The woman he had grown to love during his time at this place, Elizabeth.

Even as he stepped off his horse and made his way across the yard to the place, he realised how little had changed. The cattle in the pen stirred uneasily at Kaine’s presence. He heard the horse’s in the stable stirring as well and he realised he could not stay long as they would become frightened and alert attention. He had to remind himself he was no longer human, but an abomination, a monster created by the deepest and darkest forces of Hell.

The house itself looked dark and quiet almost as if it was no longer occupied. It was a school as well, as Elizabeth taught children and he figured they were all in bed. Only one light shone from a nearby room and as Kaine went towards it, he saw a room illuminated by the glow of a warm fire, a single candle glowing on a table and a woman sat on a rocking chair reading a book which Kaine knew was the Holy Bible. Everything about this place had the presence of God’s love about it, and Kaine felt it all around him. It made him feel more emotional then usual and he struggled to keep his feelings under control as he peered through the window, watching the solitary figure in the room, the one love of his life Elizabeth.

She looked exactly the way he remembered her, the warm smile still on her face, those dark blue eye’s that radiated a gentle love about them. She was a woman in his heart that did not hate, that cared deeply for the suffering of others, a woman with the capacity for great love in her heart. He remembered how she cared for him, how she tended to his wounds, and nursed him back to health. Yet she had done so much more to him. She had changed him, his entire outlook on life, made him realise the error of his ways. She had touched his heart with love. Even now, in the decaying form that was once his body, he still felt that love, and it ached for her touch.

Through all the long nights he had travelled as the Dark Rider, he had thought about his time with her, wondered constantly what his life would have been like had he stayed with her, had they fallen in love and married. He wondered what she had thought of him now after leaving the note for her revealing who he really was, whether she hated him for who he really was - an outlaw and killer. Or whether she had forgiven him, maybe even loved him as he had loved her. He wondered if she had learned of his death and whether or not she mourned his passing.

He would never know the answers to these questions and he believed this was the best way. Maybe some things were best kept the way they were. He only hoped that she had found herself another man, or would one day find a man that would give her the kind of love he had never been able to give her in his former life.

“How sweet, seeing you here pining for the love of a women you never knew,” said a familiar voice beside him.

Kaine’s face contorted into a snarl and he looked down at the small Imp that was standing beside him in the pouring rain.

“Are saying one last final goodbye before you go?” it asked him.

Kaine turned away from the window, not wishing to see any more. His face hardened. He hated the fact that even though he was dead, he could still feel. He wondered if the devil, with all his power would not choose to take his emotions away from him when he brought him back, why he still had all the memories of his past deeds. It was a distraction to him, even the love he still felt in his heart for the only women he ever loved. Maybe it was the devils way of torturing him, even though he was no longer in the pit suffering eternal torment. He had to focus now, to find the Preacher and bring him down so he could earn his ticket out of the pit.

“None of your business.” he told the Imp.

The small creature grinned at this. He jumped up and down in a muddied puddle, making splashes. The animals in the stables began moving uneasily , making noises as if they were spooked. The Imp laughed at this. “Kaine loves Elizabeth! Kaine loves Elizabeth!“ it shouted.

He laughed out even more. But he did not laugh for long. Kaine’s large gloved right hand grabbed the little creature and lifted him off the ground non too gently.

Kaine held the Imp and let him dangle in mid air. With his left hand, he pulled out his gun and pointed it at the small creature. Of course, this did not intimidate the Imp at all, who laughed out even more. It seemed to Kaine, even with all his powers, the Imp was no scared of him at all.

“What you going to do,  shoot me with that thing?” it said to Kaine.

“It would shut you up,” threatened Kaine, his eye’s burning with a fire like intensity. “Give me one good reason not too”.

“Because you cant kill me,” grinned the Imp. “I am the one who dragged your soul out of Hell and put you back in that rotting meat carcess of  a body. I put you here and I can take you back just as easily”.

“You and what army?” replied Kaine. He tossed the Imp to one side, and the small creature landed face first in the mud. Without another word, he jumped up on his steed and looked out into the distance. He sensed the Preacher was very near. All those nights of tracking him down, chasing him. He was now ready to face him. This is what it had all led too, this one big confrontation. All the anger in his body from the injustices he had suffered in his life, from the cruel hand fate had dealt him throughout his past, was now focused. He was going to take that anger out on the Preacher and nothing would save the fallen angel from his wrath. He had thought about this moment every single night he had been on the earth plane. Thinking about the punishment he would deal out on the Preacher. How he would rip the very wings off the angel, beat it to a pulp and then deliver it’s lifeless carcess to the devil. He had the powers to face the Preacher and he felt unstoppable, almost like a god.

It was only an hour and a half before sunrise and he was going to use the time he had left to unleash the fury within him. Only then he hoped he would be free, be free of the pit, of the rotting body he inhabited.

“I am going to enjoy watching you fail,” the Imp told Kaine. “Then I can get to deal some punishment out myself on you”.

“ I won’t fail,” Kaine said. “It ends tonight with the Preacher”. He took one glance at the house where Elizabeth lived. The light inside the room she was sitting went off. Thankfully for him, she had not heard the commotion outside. It was the last time he would see this place and silently he wished the only woman who ever showed him kindness, love and happiness for her future. Then he looked down at the Imp and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t stand in my way. I will finish the job”.

With this he rode off in a shower of mud and water, his steed riding faster then the eye could follow. The Imp simply grinned at this and then stepped back into the shadows, melting into the blackness as he did.

The war had now started….