Chapter 2

"What?" That was all Michael could manage to choke out. He didn't know what to do. One part of him wanted to grab his mother and brother and run as fast as he could back to town. But he couldn't move. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that he was brave, he was just a kid. And, at the moment, a scared kid. There was no escaping and nothing he could do about it. These four men had them trapped, and they were going to meet the same fate as that poor Indian.

"It's ain't nothin' personal," Manny said. "It's just that I don't like a few decision that's been made 'round here, so I'm tryin' to fix the mistakes this town has made and I can't have anybody knowin' what I'm doing." Manny jumped off his horse and started to walk towards Rachael. She tried to back away, but two men grabbed her and held her arms back. Jason screamed for Michael to do something. Michael could feel the rage surging through his body and it was enough to jerk him out of his frightened trance. He ran towards Manny in a blind fury and knocked him down. He punched Manny repeatedly in the face as hard as he could. He managed to burst Manny's lip open and give him a black eye before one his goons pried Michael off.

"No! Let me go you son of a bitch!" Michael screamed and he tried to fight as much as he could, but it was no use. The men had a grip on him.
Manny stumbled up and wiped his fingers across his lip.
"You're a feisty one you are." He walked towards Michael and lifted his chin up with the sharp end of the knife. "Cute too. I got special plans for you." Manny licked his lips and Michael could see a crazed excitement in his eyes. Then he turned around and once again started towards Rachael.
"No, please!" Michael and Jason were both crying and pleading. Manny refused to stop.
"Boys?" Rachael looked at her children one last time. "I love you."
"We…love you too." Michael and Jason cried.
"Aw, ain't that sweet." And then, in one swift motion, their mother lay on the ground, the sand soaking up her blood and her children sobbing.
"Now for the little boy." The man said as he licked blood off the knife. "Mmmm, she tastes good." Michael was ready to murder him.
"You sick son of a bitch! If you touch my brother, I will send your soul straight to hell!" Michael screamed through his tears. Jason tried to escape and run towards his brother, but the man grabbed him by his hair. Jason screamed for Michael to save him. Michael struggled as much as he could but it was all in vain.
"Please take me instead. I'll do whatever you want, just please don't hurt him!"
"You want to know something, I would take you up on that offer, but" Manny tilted Jason's head back. "I really don't like little kids."

Jason whimpered "Michael?" And then Michael watched as his brother's blood sprayed through the air and his body fell down next to his mother's. Michael's stomach lurched and he felt bile rise up his throat. He leaned forward and retched. The two goons holding him let go and Michael fell limply on his hands and knees. He coughed and sputtered for what seemed like forever. When he was done, hot tears welled up in his eyes and fell down his cheeks. Michael choked back a sob that shook his whole body. The only people he ever truly cared about were gone, their blood staining the ground. He wanted to give up. He wanted to die.

Michael felt a hand lift up his chin and he fought the urge to bite it. With the tears still running down his face, he looked into the eyes of someone who might as well have been the devil himself.

"You're pretty when you cry. You know that." Michael grimaced as Manny kissed the corner of his mouth. He knew what was coming and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"So pretty, so sweet." Manny moaned as he trailed kisses down Michael's neck. Michael wanted to throw up again when he felt Manny's bulge press up against his leg.

"Please," Michael begged. "Please just kill me. Why can't you just kill me?" Michael was sobbing now.

"But I wouldn't get to have any fun if I killed you." He then pinned Michael down and pulled his pants down. And that's when it started. Manny thrust into Michael as hard as he could. Michael screamed in agony as pain tore through him. His body jerked up and down and he screamed for Manny to stop, but that only seemed to make it worse. It went on like that non-stop for an hour until Michael heard a moan of pleasure escape from Manny. He slid himself out of Michael, leaving him shivering, his pants still exposing his lower half and blood dripping down his thighs. Michael lay on his back wanting nothing else but to die right then and there. Manny kneeled down next to Michael and kissed him on the cheek. Then he leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "I know you probably want to die right now, but I want you to live a little longer with everything that just happened burning in your memory. I want you to suffer." Manny then took out his knife. He lifted up Michael's shirt and put a deep gash in Michael's stomach. Michael cried out in pain and held his stomach. He could feel the blood seeping through his fingers. Manny then stood over him and said, "Bitch. You a weak, punk-ass kid who got a few lucky shots. You couldn't even save your family," he laughed. "You're pathetic." He spit in Michael's face then he and his gang left the boy there with guilt weighing heavy on his heart, thinking that maybe everything he just said was true. He was about to curl up on the ground and sob when he heard his name.

"Mich…ael." he heard someone whispering. Michael painfully pushed himself up on his hands and knees and looked around.
"Mi…chael." He heard it again. He looked and saw that his mother's eyes were still open and blood was bubbling out of her mouth. Michael crawled over as fast as he could and grabbed his mother's hand.
"Mom?" Michael said, tears running down his face. "You're okay!"
"No son," she said faintly. "I'm dying."
"Don't say that mom! Please, you're gonna be okay." He needed her to be okay.
"Son, p-please don't g-give up. You h-have to stop t-those m-men. Please son, f-for me and y-your brother."
Michael looked back at his brother's body lying lifeless in the sand.
"Okay mom. I promise I won't stop, I won't give up until those men are brought to justice."
"T-that's my good boy." Rachael started cough up blood.
"S-son, you c-can't let m-me go on like t-this." she pleaded.

"Mom? What do you mean?" Michael had an idea about what she meant, but he knew he couldn't go through with it.
"Y-you h-have to e-end t-this. P-please, son."
"Mom…" Michael knew he couldn't leave her like this. That would make him just as bad as that demon spawn. Michael looked around for anything that would end his mother's suffering. Not long after he came upon a knife. He had found it half buried in the sand next to his mother.
"That sick bastard." Michael said aloud. "He did this on purpose." This man really wanted Michael to suffer a fate worse than death. He slowly raised the knife above his mother's heart. Tears streamed down his face.
"Mom, please forgive me."
"I-it's n-not your f-fault son." she said spitting out more blood. "I love you."
"I love you too, mommy."
Michael plunged the knife into his mother's heart. Without looking at her, he mustered up all his strength and ran as far away as he possibly could with the little strength that he had. He collapsed when he could go on no more. Racking sobs shook his body until he passed out, praying that when he woke up he would be in heaven next to his mother and brother.