Chapter 7: Mark of a Rattlesnake

Priscilla stared at the outlaw for more than five minutes before she could respond to what she had just heard, her golden-brown eyes wide and her hands still resting in her lap as she finally spoke. "If ya were shot through the heart," she paused, still trying to get over the shock of what Jake had just told her, "shouldn't ya be-"

"Dead?" Jacob questioned, his eyes locking with Priscilla's for a millisecond before the dark haired girl had to look away.

"Yeah,"

"That's what I thought," Jake snickered slightly, running a hand through his untamable hair before continuing. "It turns out Billy's father lied to meh and da others about what exactly cured Billy." He paused, eyes once again locking with the young girls, obviously knowing that he had her full attention. "Billy died, just a day afta' my father an' I left fer the city. Her pa didn't 'no it back den, but the so called cure 'e made wasn't fer what Dawn had."

"Then what was it for?"

Jake looked at Priscilla, his golden eyes dancing with the flames of hell as he answered her question, his voice like ice, a shiver running down the girls spine as he spoke. "It was a way to cheat death."

I blacked out after the shot; I saw the whole white light thing that is legend of what happens once you die. Oh shit I was dead. Billy was toast, probably end up being some science experiment for Sig Harrison. God she told me to be careful! Now I know why dad always listened to Cilia and ma, if you don't you end up dead – wait. I felt the sudden pulse of fire that raked through my mind, the feeling of bones breaking, and muscles ripping from their places. Fucking shit I had never felt pain like this. It was worse than anything I had ever felt, I wanted to scream, but I couldn't, I wanted to open my eyes, but they wouldn't, I wanted to rake my nails through something so that the pain would fade slightly. But my body wouldn't respond.

This went on for what seemed like eternity, the pain making me want to scream, wanting to move and hope that the pain would dwindle, if only slightly. I could feel my body changing, I didn't know into what, but I knew something was going on. Jay must have taken my body with him to Sig, they must have made me into some type of monster, keeping me alive so that they could just test their products on me.

Then the pain spiked.

Every bone in my body cracked from place and snapped back as my muscles ripped from place and then returned. The fire that raced in my veins making me want to finally give up and die. My mind – between silent screams of pain – begged for it to finally be over, for the pain to just take me to the next world, at least then I would be able to see my family, my father, Cilia, Morgan.

My mother.

Then it stopped.

The aching in my body faded, the pain gone and my senses returned. I could hear the soft wind from the open window; feel the soft bed sheets that were underneath my form. I could smell the scent of the sand outside. I wasn't taken from the desert, I wasn't a captive of Sig Harrisons and Hawk. Then a scent hit my nose, something I remembered. It was fresh, probably an hour ago, and it made me open my eyes and sit up.

It was Billy.

The blood that rushed to my head had me closing my eyes, feeling feint as I steadied myself, breathing in softly and catching the scent of things I didn't recognize. Beneath my palms I felt the texture of the bedding, soft, yet every strand of fabric had a different feel, some silky, others like the cotton that rubbed against my back. I opened my eyes slowly, at first closing them against the harsh light that came through the open window, and when I opened them again, I almost feinted at what I was seeing. I could see the texture of the wooden walls that I faced, the light that came from the window, the dust as it floated through the air.

I could see the warmth that came off of the blankets underneath me.

'What the hell?' I breathed softly, my eyes landing on the skin of my torso. Or I should say, what was formally my skin. Scales similar to that of Billy's own tattoo traced along my chest, back and stomach, the color darker than my counterparts if only by a little, though the marking was almost the exact same. A rattlesnake wrapped around my body, the eye where I was sure I had been shot.

"Yur up." I jumped at the sound of Billy's voice, my eyes shooting up to look directly at her. For some reason though, I didn't fear her as much as I usually did, the way her eyes were slit, the scales that were naturally around her arm, the fang that pushed slightly past her lip. A soft hiss escaped from my lips, the muscles along my arms tightening as I moved to a crouching position, Billy's own stance shifting and her eyes narrowing as we looked at each other.

"What happened?" My voice was deeper than what I had remembered, but then again, almost everything about me had changed. I could tell that I was more muscular, taller and stronger; it's only obvious that my voice would change too. Billy sighed, her eyes casting down to the floor as her form seemed to relax in what I could only describe as defeat.

"My dad didn't know it," her voice was soft, softer than what I had expected, "but the cure 'e made wasn't for the disease dat I had gotten." She stepped toward me, her hands finding their way into her jean pockets as she looked out the window where white light seemed to flow like a river. "He gave me the dose right before I died, my heart finally gave out. All it took was a single beat before the so called cure found its way to my heart." She paused, leaning against the window sill and looking out at the tan colored sand that was our home. "You went through a transformation Jake," I gave her a look, she wasn't making any sense what so ever.

"What transformation?" I asked her, my voice probably showing just how confused I was. She turned, her amber eyes looking into mine, the glare from the window making me suddenly look away, my eyes finding the single mirror that laid in her room. I looked my reflection up and down, and like I had anticipated I was taller, larger built, my clothes torn from becoming too small. My hair was just slightly messier, and my skin a bit tanner, but when I looked into my own eyes I couldn't help but hiss and back away from my reflection. The usual golden-brown that I had for my entire life, the same eyes that belonged to my dead mother was gone, replaced by a glistening gold trapped by a ruby red.

Blood red.

I hit the wall after a few steps, unable to go any farther before Billy was at my side, only then noticing that she was once again shorter than I was, just like before she herself turned years ago. I looked into her eyes as she gazed at mine, she wasn't sorry for me, she didn't pity me. She knew what I was going through. In that one millisecond I knew what she had gone through too, I finally noticed the dark circles under her eyes, the bruises along her arms and chest as well as the cuts and scrapes that had healed into scars.

"Ih didn't know if ya would make it," her voice was a whisper, something that before I wouldn't have heard at all. "When you were shot, Hawk had finally run out 'a bullets, I was able ta knock 'im unconscious." She paused, looking away from me, "When I saw that ya were gonna die any second," her hand clenched into a fist as she turned away, "I injected the dose right inta yur heart, it was the best chance ya had. I got ya into the house and was going ta finish off Hawk, but he was gone by then." She looked down to the wooden floor, I could tell just from the tone of her voice that she was close to tears. "When I came back, ya were already startin' the transformation. I didn't start it for two days after I died before it finally worked, and with ya," Dawn turned back toward me, a soft smile on her face. "What shoulda took three weeks took ya two."

I stayed silent as she stepped back toward me, burying her head into my chest, her hands tracing down the scales that laid there and making a shiver run down my spine at the sensation. I wrapped my arms around her regardless, resting my chin on top of her head and just held her, whispering my unanswered question. "Dawn, what did they want?" Billy didn't move at first, but when she did the tears that were previously in her eyes were gone.

"They wanted the last vial, what I gave you," she looked away again before she continued, "They found the Gatling an' Rail gun though, probably gonna try and reproduce them and sell 'em across da country." I looked past her, to the window again and saw the barn open, the snakes released from their cages and six freshly dug graves and crosses in front of them, the rattlers avoiding them almost respectfully.

"What do we do?"

"What do ya think we do?" Billy almost growled, no she did growl as she gripped the wooden door hard enough it groaned in protest. I looked back out at the graves, my golden-red eyes narrowing and slitting like the snakes that were now my blood brothers and sisters. My hands clenching into fists before I grabbed the black hat Billy had traded me the day I had arrived, the rim dipping down in front of my eyes until I realized that the thing finally fit like it was meant to, the scared eye of the rattlesnake on my chest glowing gold as I spoke.

"We get 'em back."