The driver yelled out that we arrived. I opened my eyes. I looked around. It was early morning. I looked at Meryl. She was still out. I chuckled.

"Good morning," I said. "Hate to wake you up, but it's time to get up."

"No dad. Just give me a couple of more minutes."

I nudged her. She stirred. She slowly sat up. She looked around. My coat was hanging over her shoulder. My arm was still around her. Her face was a little red. She quickly pushed my arm off of her. She looked away.

"What were you doing?" She asked.

"I was keeping you warm. It was freezing last night. That, and you fell asleep on my shoulder. I was just helping you out as much as possible."

"I see. Well, thank you. Let's get off now. Millie! Are you awake yet?"

"Yes sempai," Millie said with a dull tone.

"Oh boy," I said. "Did you get any sleep at all?"

"Nope. Something kept me awake last night."

As soon as she said that, a fly came out of nowhere. It flew around Millie's head for a while. It soon landed on her nose. Almost instantaneously, her hand shot at her face. There was a loud slap followed by a yelp. I slapped my head. At least now I knew what kept her awake. I shook my head and let out a sigh. When I was done, I thought about the date. I thought about what happened ten years ago. It was around that time. I shook my head as I stood up. Meryl gave me a funny look. My face went sour rather quickly.

"Are you okay?" She asked me.

"Yeah. I just need more rest."

"Same here!" Millie said loudly. "I could sleep for the rest of the day!"

I ignored what she said. I walked out of the bus. I started to be as silent as mute. When I got out, I quickly go to the top and grabbed our luggage. It was strange. It felt significantly lighter. Seems that the days you carry the world upon your shoulders, everything else seems insignificant. At least I didn't live like this everyday.

"Mr. Harry!" Millie shouted out. "What are we going to do first? Go to an inn?"

I nodded. I still didn't say a word. I wanted to keep to myself. Nothing seemed to get through to me. I ignored everything around me... including the women. God I was really out of it. I just wanted to get inside. I just wanted some time alone. I sped up. I opened the door to the inn. I looked at the man at the counter. He was thin, had combed brown hair, looked middle aged, and wore glasses. Looked like the stereotypical kind of innkeeper. He gave me a long look.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Yeah. I need rooms for three people."

"Very well. Hmmm. We have one room with a single bed and one with two. Is that okay?"

I nodded. I turned my head to face Meryl and Millie. Meryl had a rather irritated look on her face. Millie just looked tired. I looked at the innkeeper again. He had three keys in his hand. He mentioned which room was which. I nodded. I grabbed them and turned around to face Meryl and Millie. I handed them the two keys.

"Harry?" Meryl asked. "Are you trying to ditch us or something? You kind of tried to run off (surprisingly, you did with all that luggage on your back). Are you okay?"

"I'm sure he's all right!" Millie said. "Mr. Harry's always all right!""

"As far as you know," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just gonna turn in right now. I'm tired as hell. So tell you what, give me some time and I'll buy you some lunch and dinner later. Okay?"

"Yea!" Millie shouted. "Good food!"

I gave them a weak grin. I turned around and headed up the stairs. I looked around for the room. I found it with ease. I stuck the key into the slot, turned it, and opened the door. I looked around. There wasn't much. There was a bed and bathroom. There was also a table in the center of the room. I sighed. I got on the bed and sat there for a while. I then actually lied down. I stared up at the ceiling. This happened twelve years ago and I still couldn't ignore it.

"At least it can't happen to me again," I muttered.

I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep. I was tired and stressed out. As soon as I did, I started to wish I hadn't. I heard screaming. Following it were maniacal laughter, gunshots, and agonized sobbing. I woke up, quickly sitting up and looking around. I felt my face. I was sweating. I shook my head. I slowly stood up and headed for the bathroom.

I turned the faucet on. I cupped my hands and grabbed some water. I splashed it on face. It was hot in here for some reason. I took off my jacket, shirt, and belts. I ran my hands through my hair as I took in a deep breath. I exhaled loudly. I looked in the mirror. I saw a cold face. I moved my eyes away from it. Instead, I gazed at a scar that was on the left side of my chest. It was round and large. It could fit a .40 caliber bullet. After all, that's what made it. No. It wasn't the bullet that did it. It was the man who fired the bullet.

I started to see things again. I saw myself at a younger age. I was on the floor in a dimly lit room. I spit out blood. I turned my head to face who hit me. The man was six feet tall, had long black hair, brown eyes, a matching goatee, and a brown coat, and a gun in his hand.

"So you wanna be like Vash the Stampede, huh? You're saying you want to go around killing everyone around you? You want to kill innocent people?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" I shouted as I stood up. "I didn't mean it that way!"

"Let me guess. You meant that you want to be hunted down like him. You want to be shot at like him. You're saying that you want to have this happen to you?"

He raised his gun and fired at me. I screamed in pain. Not the younger me, the real me. I fell to the ground. I grabbed the scar. It felt like I was shot again. I looked at it. It was strange. It was even bleeding. I groaned in pain as I slowly stood up. When I looked at the door, I saw my father standing there. I stared in shock.

"Be careful of what you want. It may be too true."

He raised his gun at me. I growled loudly. I instantly drew my gun and fired at him. The boom filled the room. There were two screams. My eyes opened wide. I ran out of the room. I saw Meryl and Millie staring at the hole in shock. They were literally one, maybe two inches from the door. I looked at them. They changed their glance towards me.

"Mr. Harry?" Millie asked. "What's going on?"

"Yeah! Why the hell did you that cannon in here?!"

"I... I saw someone," I said hesitantly.

"Yeah right! Tell us the truth!"

"I am telling you the truth! I'm telling you I saw someone!"

"Do you two really need to fight over something like this?" Millie asked.

"Yes!" Meryl and I shouted.

I stared at Meryl. I gave a hard, cold look. She gave me an evil stare of her own. I turned around and headed back into the bathroom. I grabbed the shirt, belts of bullets and grenades, and my coat. I put them all on as quickly as I could. I quickly grabbed a bullet and inserted it into the gun's chamber. I then started to head out. Before I could, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head. It was Meryl. I brushed it off and continued along my way. I had an evil look on my face. I fixed the extended collar of my coat to help cover it up. I fixed my glasses to help too. I looked around at everyone that surrounded me. They probably didn't have a care in the world.

That was when I noticed someone. There was a tall person wearing a brown hooded cloak. The face was covered by the shadow of it. It looked as if he (or she hopefully) was staring at me. I grunted as I turned away. I walked around searching for a saloon. A few drinks would have been good right about now.

I found it after a while. When I opened the door to go inside, I looked at each individual person. Each looked cheerful and happy. I sighed heavily. I walked up to the bar, sat down, and rested my head on my hand. I had a feeling this was going to go on for a while. I looked up to see the barkeep. I grabbed some cash out of my pocket and stuck it out.

"Give me your strongest stuff," I said.

The man didn't say a word. He just grabbed the money from my hand, grabbed a bottle, and handed it to me. I snatched it from him and I started to chug it down. I exhaled loudly as I set the bottle down. The man grabbed the bottle and handed me another one. I chugged that one down as well. He kept on handing them to me until I drank about twenty bottles total.

"You call this your strongest stuff?" I said coldly. "I've had water that's stronger than this."

I slowly stood up and headed out of the bar. It was dusk. The sun was setting rather quickly. I tightened my coat as a cool breeze flew past me. It sent a heavy chill up my spine. I shook my head. I walked to the hotel rather slowly. I didn't know if I wanted to go back and see Meryl and Millie. They'd get on my case.

"Where's some action when you need it?"

I heard a scream. I looked around to see where it was coming from. I heard someone shouting something. I growled loudly. It was coming behind one of the buildings. I dashed to where it came from. When I got to where it was, I quickly drew my gun and aimed at a man who had a woman against the wall.

"Let go of her now!" I shouted. "Don't think I won't shoot!"

The man let go of her to face me. My eyes opened up wide when I saw the face. I saw my father again. He had a cold look in his eyes. He threw off the hat he wore on his head. He drew his gun and let it hang in his side.

"Are you telling your father what to do boy?"

I yelled out in shock. I fired all of my bullets at him. Five tore through his chest. One left a deep hole right between the eyes. Blood began to seep under the body. I looked at the woman. She had medium blonde hair, a youthful face, and was wearing casual clothes. There was fear in her eyes. She constantly changed her view between me and the dead man that lied in front of me.

"Listen, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm a..."

Soon, I was speechless. I looked at the body. I no longer saw my father, but another man lying there. He had a horrified expression on his face. He wore a black coat, casual shoes, and had bright blonde hair. He had a matching mustache. I backed up. I stared in horror. Thoughts were racing through my head. I turned around and ran. I ran as fast as I could to the inn. Blood filled my nose. I wanted to get it out. I couldn't. It was stuck in there, filling up my whole head. It was making me dizzy.

Along the way to the inn, I saw that someone was watching me. I looked to my right to see that hooded figure again. Time seemed to slow down when we made eye contact. A cold chill shot down my spine. I felt like I was being shook. When I blinked the figure disappeared. I was wondering if I was seeing things or if I was being followed.

I rushed into the inn. I ran up the stairs into my room. I slammed the door shut and locked it. I leaned against it and slowly slid down. I was breathing heavily. I tried to calm myself down. I couldn't. I could still see that horrified face. I shook my head. I ran my hands through my hair. As I did this, I stared at my gun. I actually killed with it. I didn't want this gun to be soiled. I shook my head. It wasn't the fact that I killed the man that was bothering me. It was what I saw. I only killed him because I saw my father.

"This can't be happening! Why is this happening to me now?"

I pushed the thoughts out of my head. I looked at my gun again. I slowly stretched out my arm to grab it. When I grasped the handle, I picked it up and brought it to me. I started to take out bullets from my pocket and inserted them into the chambers. I put the gun back in my holster. After that, I just sat there. I looked out the window. It was dark now. My eyes were starting to close. However, there was soon a loud knocking noise. I had an idea who it was.

"Harry!" Meryl shouted. "Open the door! Harry! I know you can hear me!"

"Maybe he's asleep," Millie shouted.

"Yeah right! I know what's going on inside his mind! I bet he was involved with..."

"All right!" I shouted. "I'll open the door!"

I quickly stood up and unlocked the door. I opened it up. However, Meryl stormed in. She gave me a cold stare that made me back up. That stare made me nervous, even right now. She made me back up all the way to the wall.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You don't go around blasting people to bits!"

"How the hell do you know it was me," I replied, giving her a cold stare.

"Only you have a gun that would create a hole that big!"

"You don't know what happened! A girl was..."

"I know what happened! But that's beside the point! You shot him down just because he looked at you!"

"I didn't see him looking at me!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She asked with an evil tone.

"I saw someone else. My mind was screwing with me and I saw another man instead of him. I freaked out! Okay?"

"Oh really? And who did you see?"

"My father," I said coldly.

"And what about that freaked you out?"

"He's dead!" I shouted. "He's been dead for twelve years! And do you want to know how I know?! I saw him get shot down! Do you want to know who shot him?! I shot him! I killed him! I shot him with six bullets right in the head until he was colder than your heart! You happy?!"

Meryl looked taken back. She gave me a shocked look. I had a cold and evil expression in my eyes. I started to walk away. She moved to the side so I could pass through. I looked at Millie. She had a sympathetic look on her face.

"Mr. Harry? I'm sorry about that."

"I don't need your sympathy! I need to get away from this hell hole of a past!"

I started down the stairs. However, I stopped. I realized that there still might be some people out there. I would have to wait a little while longer. I growled, turned around, and headed back into the room. I sat down on the bed and stared at the floor. I buried my face into my hands and let out a deep sigh. I raised my head and looked at Meryl again. I then changed my glance towards Millie.

"Sorry 'bout that. Lost control right there."

"No," Meryl began to say. "I suppose I did deserve that (although the cold remark was a little much)."

"It's okay Mr. Harry. We know how you feel."

"I told you. I'm not in the mood for sympathy right now. It only makes things worse for me. Thanks for tryin' though. Listen, let's just forget this happened and I'll go get us a drink."

"I suppose we could," Meryl said.

"I could use a drink or two!" Millie said cheerfully.

"All right. I'll be right back. Just hope no one tries to shoot me down."

As I stood up and walked off, I gave Meryl a motivation slap. Meryl staggered forward in surprise. She had an embarrassed look on her face. It then turned into an evil stare. I looked at her and grinned.

"Sorry. I needed something to cheer me up."

I turned around and headed back down the stairs. I heard Meryl mutter something as I did so. I chuckled. I went down as quickly as possible. I fixed my collar again to cover my face up as much as possible. I adjusted my sunglasses. I broke into a run to the liquor store. I hoped that I wouldn't be seen.

When I got to it, I slowly pushed the door open. I just as slowly walked in. I looked around. The store was freshly stocked. I looked over at the counter. There was no one at the counter. I walked over to the rack of wines and various liquors. I grabbed a large bottle and walked over to the counter. I placed $$100 on the counter. I also noticed a rack of mini glasses behind it. I grabbed two of them. I quickly ran off and headed back to the inn. It was even darker than before. No one was outside. I was glad that there was no around. Made me feel more comfortable. I ran up the stairs and into the room. I quickly closed the door behind me. I locked it and sat down at the table where Meryl and Millie were already sitting.

"That was fast," Millie said.

"So what did you get us?" Meryl asked.

"I got us the best stuff I could find. Here you go!"

I put the two glasses on the table. I undid the top and poured them each some of the liquor. Millie grabbed it and swallowed it. She had a big grin on her face. Meryl let out a sigh as she took a smaller intake. I grinned.

"Where's your glass?" Meryl asked.

"Right here," I said, raising the bottle.

I took a swig of it. I set it down and let out a sigh. I looked at Meryl. She had a surprised look on her face. Millie's face was already a little bit red. I sighed again. I poured some more into Millie's glass. She had another grin on her face. I chuckled. I put the bottle on the table again and looked at Meryl.

"So you really want to know about why I shot the old drunk?"

"Yes... I think."

"Hooray!" Millie said. "A story!"

"Is she drunk already?" I asked with a puzzled look on my face.

"Probably. You really must have gotten something pretty strong."

"Hmmm. Probably. Well, I suppose I should get to telling you the story now. Like I said before, it all happened twelve years ago. Although, I have to say, I can't remember all that much. Part of it's gone. I remember that this happened after Vash the Stampede was in our town. I have to say that there wasn't much left. For all I know, he was responsible.

"Anyway, I remember that I woke up the next morning with a gun under my coat. I'm still trying to remember how it got there. I was glad I had it though since I was one who liked to practice a lot. I'd usually have to find some rusty one that my old man had. Also, I wanted to have skills like Vash. I've been studying up on him since I was eleven. So, on and on I trained in my secret spot.

"However, about a month later, I was found out. My father was so conveniently passing by. I know he was looking for me. The man was a drunk who was always looking for an excuse to beat me down. When he did, he'd make me redder than a man who got sunburned. This time, he tried something a bit different. First off, he dragged me back home by the collar of my shirt."

"Was he always like this?" Meryl asked.

"Yeah. He was like that ever since I was seven. He wanted to see me break down. Well, he hasn't accomplished that goal. That was thanks to my mother."

"What was your mother like?"

I went silent. I started to think about her. I started to think about how I left her. After everything she did for me, I ran off from her. It wasn't my fault though. I was scared. That was why I ran away. I shook the thoughts from my mind.

"She was... basically... a guardian angel. She looked so perfect that you would think she was one. She had medium brown hair, amber eyes, a friendly face... she was (like I said) perfect. She seemed to have eternal youth too. With her being stuck with that drunk father of mine you think she would have lost that rather quickly."

"I see," Meryl replied. "Should we... continue?"

"I suppose," I replied. "Anyway, my father basically dragged me back home. He threw me inside the house. My mother wasn't home at the time, so I was basically defenseless except for the gun. I could of used it, but I didn't want to risk screwing up and missing. He didn't know about it yet."

"Now tell me what you were doing out there boy!" He shouted.

"I told you! I was just walking around!"

"Don't lie to me. I'm the power in this house. I could squeeze your throat until you died right here and now if I wanted to."

"What do you mean you're the power? With mom around, you're too scared to do anything!"

He gave me a backhand. I fell to the ground with a hard thud. I groaned in pain as I stood up. I gave him a dirty look. I wiped away the blood that was on my lip with my arm. My old man was giving me a cold stare.

"Now tell me what the hell you were doing out there?"

"How does getting the hell away from sound?"

He hit me again. Once again, I fell to the floor. It took even more effort to get off of the ground. I spit out the blood that was in my mouth. I gave him an even colder stare then before. Soon, an evil grin spread across his face. I gave him a puzzled look. He took out his gun and let it hang at his side.

"I'll give you one last chance. What were you doing out there?"

"You want to know?" I said firmly. "I'll tell you. I'm practicing to be like Vash. You heard me! Vash the Stampede! That way I can stand up to people like you!"

"So you wanna be like Vash the Stampede, huh? You're saying you want to go around killing everyone around you? You want to kill innocent people?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" I shouted as I stood up. "I didn't mean it that way!"

"Let me guess. You meant that you want to be hunted down like him. You want to be shot at like him. You're saying that you want to have this happen to you?"

He quickly raised his gun and fired. A bullet pierced the right side of my chest. I yelled in agonizing pain as blood started to seep into the floor. I grabbed the wound as I curled up. I wanted to stand up, but I couldn't. My old man walked up to me with his gun still drawn.

"So how did that feel? Do you still want to be like Vash?"

"I'd be anything if it would get me away from you!" I shouted.

He growled loudly he raised his gun at me. I growled quietly. Soon, there was a quick and quiet creaking sound. It was the door. I knew who it was. My mom had appeared. She ran inside the house. She was wearing jeans and a blue sweater. She stared at my old man and me.

"What are you doing?!" She said loudly.

"I'm teaching the boy a lesson."

"No! Keep away from him!"

"Sorry Joanne. I need to do what I have to do."

"No! You stay away from Harry!"

He looked at me and aimed the gun. Before he could pull the trigger, my mom grabbed him by the arm. Of course, my old man wasn't going to take that. He pulled his arm back and gave her a backhanded slap. She staggered back and hit the wall hard. I let out a low growl. That was the only thing I wouldn't let him get away with. I slowly stood up. I was breathing heavily as I held my wound.

"You stay away from her," I said.

He turned around to face me. He had an evil look in his eyes.

"Are you telling your father what to do boy?"

He raised his gun and aimed it at me. I let out a loud growl. WIth a sudden burst of energy, I shot forward. This caught him so off guard that he didn't even prepare for the tackle I gave. I knocked him to the ground. He let out a painful groan as he hit the ground. I raised my fist and punched him repeatedly. However, I was only able to get a few good punches in on him. He kicked me off of him. I flew back and landed on the ground with a loud thud.

I groaned in pain. I got to my knees. I looked at my old man. He was slowly standing up. I growled as I took out my gun. I pulled my arm back and through it at him. It made contact with his head. He yelled in pain as he fell to the ground. When the gun made contact with the floor, I ran to it and snatched it up off of the floor. I aimed it at him. He raised his head off of the ground as he stared at the barrel of my gun.

"What the hell?" He said loudly. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm doing what I should have done a long time ago," I said in a seemingly different voice. "You should always stay away from a hurricane. You don't know when it will make a turn for the worst."

"No! Don't!"

I fired. The bullet went right through his skull. Blood splattered onto me and part of the wall. I fired again and again and again and again and again. Then there was a loud click. I lowered the gun. I wanted to shoot him even more. I wanted to completely fill his body with lead. I turned my head to see my mother. She stared at me with shock. My eyes opened wide as I realized what had happened. I quickly turned my head to look at my father's dead body. It looked like his whole face was dyed red. I looked at my mother one more time. Then, I started to run off. I ran out of the house. My mother quickly ran after me.

"Harry! Hold on!"

I didn't hear her. I just kept on running. I ran out into the desert and I didn't care. I just wanted to get away. The only thing that I paid attention too was that I had the gun in my hand. Nothing else seemed to reach my mind.

"So what happened after that?" Meryl asked me.

I looked at her again. She had a really intrigued look on her face. I tried to think back. I couldn't think of what happened. All I could do was shrug my shoulders.

"Don't know. Last thing I remember was that I woke up in another town."

"Wow!" A drunken voice said. "What a great story!"

Meryl and I looked at Millie. She was drunk... again. I looked at the huge bottle of liquor. There was barely anything left. I gave Millie a rather annoyed look. I looked at Meryl again. She let out a deep sigh.

"You were right," I said. "She does get drunk at the worst times."

"Yep. And now I have to lug her back to the room. Oh well. I suppose we should get some rest anyway."

"Right. See you tomorrow."

Meryl walked over to Millie and struggled to help her up. She supported her out of the room and closed the door behind her. I continued to sit in the chair, thinking back. There were a couple things I didn't tell her. One, I still stayed in contact with my mother, although it wasn't major contact. I only sent her a letter every couple of months. Second, I remembered only a tad of what happened after I ran off.

I remembered that I was in the desert. I had lost a good amount of blood. I was staggering in the desert. Everything was blurry. After about a day of traveling, I fell to the ground. The gun was still in my hand though. That was the only body part I hadn't lost feeling in. I looked up. In front of me, I saw a pair of boots. They looked familiar, but I couldn't point them out. Then, I went unconscious. I never found out who that was.

"Was that you Vash? Was that you who saved me?"

I stood up and walked over to the bed and lied down. I turned my head to look at the window. I don't know why, but there was a change in the air. Something didn't seem right. I stood up and walked up to it. I looked outside to see if there was something going on. Nothing was happening. However, there was someone out there. It was that hooded figure. I growled loudly. I was beginning to know what was going. I turned around and ran to the door. I quickly opened the door. I ran down the hall, down the stairs, and outside. I looked around. The hooded figure didn't move this time. I grinned.

"Well, well, well. What a surprise. You actually have the guts to fight me. Now who are you? What do you want?"

"I've come for you," A soft voice said. "I've come to show you something."

"What? Your face?"

"I suppose I could, seeing that this will be your last day here."

The figure grabbed the hood and pulled it back. My eyes opened wide and my face went red. It was a woman with long blonde hair, gray eyes, skin that shined like silk, and a youthful appearance. However, her face looked blank and plain. Her eyes drooped and her lips neither smiled nor frowned. I had an idea of what was going on.

"Your with them, aren't you?" I asked.

"Very perceptive. You're sharper than they say, Mr. Johnson."

"I'm even sharper when comes to women," I said with a grin. "Now tell me, who are you?"

"My name is Natalya the psychic necromancer. Now I have a question for you. Do you know why I'm here for you?"

"Besides showing me something? I can take a guess. Your boss is POed that I ended his little money making operation, right?"

"Not quite. Although he is rather upset about the whole incident, he is rather glad too."

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"You see, my employer has been looking for some new people to join him. After finally seeing how you handled that sort of situation, he felt you would be perfect."

"Sorry. I don't have any intention of helping him out."

"Unfortunately, you have no choice. We have methods of getting people on our side. I, for one, manipulate the dead. That is what I wanted to show you. Who you'll see will surprise you."

She seemed to float to the side. When she did, my eyes opened up wide with fear. Standing there was my father. He had scars of the bullet holes in his head. Blood stained his skin. He had an evil look in his eyes. A grin appeared on his face.

"You thought you were gonna get away with it, didn't you boy?"

I was speechless. My hand was shaking. I slowly backed up, staring at the resurrected corpse. He was just like when I shot him. He hasn't changed a bit. How was this possible? I tried to think of an explanation. I couldn't. I turned my head to face the girl.

"As you can see, I can restore them to the time of their death. It makes things all the more easier to strike fear into the target."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "This isn't real. I know your just playing mind games like you did with me earlier!"

"Are you saying that I'm not real?" My father said. "Heh. It looks like I'm going to have to teach you another lesson."

He raised the gun up. I concentrated on everything. Time seemed to slow down around me. I stared at the figure. Soon, I heard a click. My eyes opened wide. I rolled to the side as a bullet flew pass me. I watched it go by. I watched how it hit a wall and the wood split. I quickly got to my feet. I realized that it was real. I stared at my father again. He had an evil smile. He aimed his gun again and started to fire. I dodged left and right; I ducked and jumped; I rolled and dove. His bullets weren't depleting. How was this possible? I emptied the thoughts from my mind.

"Enough of this crap!" I shouted. "I'm done playing with you! I'm taking you down now!"

When he fired again, I dove towards him. He fired at me in the air, but I landed on the ground in a roll. When I got to my knees, I fired all six rounds at his head. Blood splattered as the bullets tore through the skull. He fell to the ground with a loud scream. I grinned. I walked up to him as I reloaded my gun.

"You're not quite done yet," The woman said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked as I glanced at her.

I looked at the body again. My eyes opened wide as I stared at my father's body in shock. The body started to stand up. The body (or something) was pushing out the bullets, because the pullets began to pop out. The wounds began to heal at an amazing rate. My father gave me an evil smile.

"You should have quit while you had the chance," He said.

"You can kill him the day you strike fear in him. Now finish the job."

The bloody hand raised the gun. I dived forward and shot all of my bullets again. They landed straight in his heart. I went into a roll. When I got to my knees, I heard a gun click. I looked up to stare at the barrel of my father's gun. I growled quietly. He chuckled evilly.

"You always were weak boy. Let's hope your mother will put up more of a fight."

"You stay away from her," I said quietly. "If you even come within one foot of her..."

"Sorry boy. Can't do that. Besides, you wouldn't be able to do anything. Now say goodbye to your final day here."

He began to pull the trigger. However, there was a loud creak. I turned my head to look at who had appeared. It was Meryl and Millie. Millie had her super stun gun out. Meryl had her coat opened up. There were at least a hundred Dillingers under her coat. I stared in disbelief.

"Don't even think you're going to get a shot off of him," Meryl said.

"Yeah! He's gonna take you down!" Millie said drunkenly.

"Who are they?" My father asked.

"Ah," The woman said. "You're the two woman who were with him through this little trip."

"That's right," Meryl said. "We're not going to end this thing yet!"

"That's right!" Millie shouted. "Now take this!"

She readied her stun gun. I stared at it. I quickly ducked to the ground. Millie fired the gun. The huge bullet transformed into its cross-like shape. It hit my father with amazing force. He flew backwards and yelled loudly. He hit the ground with a loud thud. Dust began to dance in the air. Meryl began to fire her Dillingers. The lead bullets continuously hit the body. Blood shot out everywhere. I could still hear him yelling. After about fifty Dillingers were used, she stopped firing. I quickly got to my feet and looked at them. They had big grins on their faces.

"Nice shot, sempai!" Millie said.

"Nice goin' girls!"

"No problem! We're here to help!"

"Why do you keep on forgetting that he won't die?" The woman asked me.

I looked at the body again. He was standing up again. His skin was stained with crimson red blood. He had an angered look on his face. He raised his gun and aimed. He wasn't aiming at me though. He was aiming at Meryl and Millie. He fired continuously at them. They ducked to try to avoid the fire. He laughed maniacally. I yelled loudly as I shot forward at him. I rammed him in the stomach with my elbow. He grunted as he flew back. I quickly got to my feet, as did he. When he stood up straight I quickly drew a gun from under my coat and aimed it at his head. It wasn't the one that I was using. It was the one that I used to kill him before.

"What the hell?!" He shouted with shock. "How did you get that?!"

"All I can say is that memories never die, only the people who are a part of them."

He began to have a fearful look again. I could he was thinking back to when I killed him. He was going to relive the memory. I fired all six bullets into the beings skull. He fell to the ground. When his body made contact with the earth, he seemed to explode into ash. A cold wind seemed to come out of nowhere, blowing the ash away. I stared at the ash. It seemed to dissipate. I changed my view to look at the woman. Her eyes were opened wide. She had a shocked expression on her face. I holstered the gun and grabbed my .44 magnum. I grabbed a bullet and put it in the chamber. I walked towards Natalya. I aimed the gun at her. She started to back up. I had a cold and evil look in my eyes. They seemed to flicker like a yellow flame in the moonlight.

"How dare you toy with me!" I shouted. "You used my fear against me! You wanted me to break down! But look at yourself now! You're the one who's afraid! I'm the one who's striking fear now! I'll do this to everyone else like I did to you!"

"Please!" She shouted in fear. "Have mercy!"

"You want mercy? Fine. I'll give you mercy. I'll release you from the pain and this earth!"

"No! Stop!"

I fired the gun at her head. It went right between her eyes. She flew back and hit the ground. Dust seemed to fly around her. The sand seemed to turn into a bright red that was visible even in the night. It then went still and gently floated back to the ground. I stared at the corpse. Every grain of sand around her head turned into crimson red color. I grunted. I reached into my pockets and grabbed six bullets. I reloaded my gun quickly. Still, my hand was shaking. I felt like I was taken over when I killed her. Seems like the demon inside of wasn't really dormant. It didn't matter though. What was done is done.

I turned around to face Meryl and Millie. They stared at me with shock. I adjusted my sunglasses so they could fully cover my eyes. I walked towards them as I holstered my gun. I gave them a rather uncomfortable look. Meryl looked as if she was trying to speak but she couldn't. I understood why.

"Mr. Harry?" Millie said. "Is she dead?"

"Yeah," I replied as I nodded. "Now let's wait at the bus stop. I want to get out of here before this turns into an investigation. I don't want to be involved with this anymore."

"R-right," Meryl said hesitantly.

I gave her a quick glance. She seemed to flinch as I did so. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh as I turned around. I walked forward to the bus stop. I heard the crunching of the dirt several seconds later, signaling that Meryl and Millie were finally starting to follow me. I wanted to turn my head just to look at them and tell them it was okay. I wanted to tell them that I wasn't going to be like that right now. I couldn't. Even when I was looking away from them they were scared of me. I let out another sigh as I wondered why they had to see that?

I walked up to a bench and slowly sat down. I looked at the schedule on the board. It was going to arrive in a few minutes. I changed my view looked out into the desert. It was so empty and dry. I felt like that. I felt as if I was just a hollow shell that was filled with nothing except lament and pain. I wished it would just go away.

"You know, you don't have to stand there," I said. "You can sit down if you want."

"No thanks," Meryl said.

"Yeah," Millie said. "We're fine standing here."

"Suit yourself."

I couldn't tell if they knew our not, but I really needed their company right then and there. I continued to stare out into the desert. It was amazing how slow time was. Those five minutes seemed like an hour. When the bus did arrive, I quickly got in. I sat down and stared at the entryway. Meryl and Millie came in after a couple of seconds. I didn't make eye contact with them though. I thought that if I did, they would freak out. I dipped my head down as they passed by the seat I sat in.

I let out a small sigh. I looked out the window. The body lied there. It was as still as the wind. There was no movement whatsoever. This didn't make me feel any better though. I was glad I killed her... in a sense. I was basically taken over. That's what made this moment sour. No matter how victorious I was, something like this happening to me ruined everything.

"Harry?" Meryl said quietly. "Are you all right?"

"No. Not really."

"Cheer up Mr. Harry," Millie said. "Something like this happened to Mr. Vash too."

"Did he have to kill a person because of it?"

"Um... no."

Meryl slapped her head. I looked at her and chuckled. When she looked at me, I quickly turned my head and looked away. Soon after, the bus started to move. I looked out the window as we departed from the town. I looked at the body. The ground was fairly red. I squinted my eyes when I noticed something. It looked like the head was... moving. It seemed to turn to look at me.

My eyes opened wide. I blinked a couple times. It was back in its normal position. I shook my head. I leaned back on the chair and groaned.

"Now what's wrong?" Meryl asked.

"Nothing. My eyes were playing tricks on me."

"Let's hope so. Now where are we going to this time?"

"I suppose that I need to pay someone a visit. I have feeling someone's going to pop up there. I need to make sure that nothing happens."

"Who is it Mr. Harry?" Millie asked me. "Is it a friend of yours?"

"I'm not going to tell you," I said with a grin. "You're going to have to find out for yourself. Besides, I just want to rest. I rather not answer any more questions for the rest of the night."

"Please?" Millie pleaded. "Can't you tell us?"

"No can do."

"Oh. You're no fun."

"I bet he won't tell us 'cause it's a girl he knows, isn't it Harry?"

I laughed quietly. I adjusted my sunglasses and collar. I was too tired to answer anything. I just wanted to rest. With everything that went on in this town, I needed some relaxation. I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep. That was seriously the most (and only) peaceful thing that I got that day.