I Sing Of Chaos And Eternal Night

1155

Pulling the curtain back, I watched in silence as we rolled into town. The main street bustled with townsfolk in fancy clothes and red wagons like this one, sending up clouds of dust into the air. To the left of me, Peter had his face pressed against the window. His eyes darted around as if he were looking for something. Or someone.

Finally breaking the silence that befell us, I asked, "What are you looking for?" 

"Oh, nothing." He tore his gaze away from the window and smiled at me. "It's nothing."

I nodded as the stagecoach slowed to a stop. "Alright then."

Peter suddenly leaned forward in his seat, clapping his hands together. Another one of those strange looks had crossed his face. "So I was thinking we could go down to the gambling hall—"

Go to the town square.

"Julia?" He shrank back as I rose up from the seat, pushing past him towards the door. "Wait! Where are you going?"

I did not answer him as I hopped out of the wagon, heading for the place I was commanded to go. Even when I heard him shout my name over and over, I just kept walking. I could see the fountain in the middle grow larger as I drew closer—the water that trickled from it beginning to sound in my earhole. A crowd had gathered there, looking as if they were waiting for something. But for what I could not discern. Nothing was happening.

Stop.

My feet came to an instant halt at the command. It was then, after coming to a standstill, did I recognize why the townfolk had gathered there. For there, on the other side of the fountain, was my sworn nemesis. The Man in White.

"You know how this goes!" He called to me, placing his hands around his belt. "You can either surrender right here and now. Give yourself up nice and clean to the sheriff. Or—" He glanced around at the grinning crowd. "Since it's about to be high noon, we can have a showdown."

I scoffed before licking my lips and spitting into the dirt. "I never surrender! You know that better than anyone. But it's not for us to decide." Turning to the crowd, I addressed them. "What do y'all think? Should we settle this with a showdown?"

They all gave a resounding cheer.

"Alright then. When the clock strikes noon, we draw and fire." The Man in White narrowed his eyes at me. "May the better man win."

"You mean woman," I smirked, tugging the brim of my hat lower. 

A silence filled the crowd as we waited for the clock to strike from atop the tower. While everyone gazed up at the clock, my eyes remained fixed on the man standing only a few feet away. Even if I wanted to look away, I couldn't. 

Much like my own, his eyes were fixed straight ahead. Like me, his hands were at his sides as he waited. Not for the clock strike, but for the command to shoot. Just as expected, at the stroke of noon, a chime rang out through the square. And not a second later, the Man in White whipped out his pistol and fired.

Draw your gun and fire.

But I was a second too late. The bullet pierced through my right hand, taking several fingers and the gun with it. I fell back onto the dirt, clutching my broken hand as I waited for the Man in White to finish me off. From all around me, I could hear the crowd cheering him on to do so. 

He started to approach me, marching forward with a scowl on his face and his gun in his hand. But before he could raise it back up, a gunshot went off. For a second, he remained frozen in place—a gaping hole in the middle of his forehead—before slowly falling backward onto the ground.

I turned my head back, seeing Peter standing there with his gun in the air. His eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets and his mouth hung wide open. But as soon as his eyes met mine, he snapped his mouth shut and ran towards me.

"Julia! Are you okay?" He dropped to his knees beside me. "Oh my God... Your hand!"

I could only blink at him; his words drowned out by the sound of the booing crowd. Yet, he acted as if he couldn't hear them. His focus was only on me. 

"Hey! You need to get back!" A deep voice yelled from behind me.

Peter rose up to his full height, narrowing his eyes at whoever was behind him. "Don't tell me to stand back! You know who I am!"

"Sir, I don't care who you are! You need to step back!" Another voice shouted, sounding much closer than the previous one. 

But whoever it was, I never saw. I could only watch as Peter's face contorted into something ugly and unnatural. "Hey! What are you doing?! Don't you touch—" 

Just as I never heard the rest of Peter's words. For once again, the world around me went dark.