Roughlya year and a half have passed since I last updated this story. Now, I return to this once more. I hope that everyone will enjoy this.

-Bojack727

.o.o.o.

THE GUNSLINGER

Chapter 11: Target Practice

Vincent got back up onto his feet. Just secants earlier, the man attacking him was alive, and now he was dead with a large hole in his upper body.

He looked up and saw the silhouetted figure of the man vanish. The words ran through his memory. 'No one kills you but me.' Vincent frowned. "Perhaps I've come into some real trouble this time?" He wondered.

He got to his feet and looked around, realizing that the commotion would draw a crowd, he decided to slip into the shadows and return to the boarding house.

He also knew that this would not be the last he saw of these strangers. . .

.o.o.o.

Jackal walked into the empty casino and sat down at the bar. He took a cigarette and lit it. "So, that's Vincent Valentine?" He asked. "He really is a dangerous man."

"No more dangerous then you." A female voice remarked.

Jackal looked up at the figure, sitting on a table across from him. Long legs where crossed- capped off at the ends by the sharp points of heals. A pare of manicured hands pulled back the hood. "Though, you didn't really have to kill Skull." She remarked- not so much in a critical way, but more in a practical way.

"I don't suffer fools well; you should know that by now, Helixia." Jackal replied. "And I don't want to kill him from far away." He added, looking over at Tonmar.

The man frowned. "Your loss." He remarked. His tactical visor slid up, to uncover his eyes.

"We'll see." Jackal replied, taking his hat off and standing back up. "Valentine will find his way into the vicious traps we have laid for him- and he shall never leave alive."

"I certainly hope for your sake." Charles remarked, entering the room with a smile.

.o.o.o.

Vincent Valentine stepped out into the backyard of the boarding house. His red cape was wrapped around him and his metal boots clattered against the wooden floor.

He stopped when he sensed someone was nearby. He turned around and spotted Gilliam approach him. "Can I help you?"

The young red-haired man stopped. "I want to know how to fire a gun." He asked. "Could you show me?"

Vincent looked up at the sky, noticing the passing clouds. "Why do you want to know how to shoot a gun?" He asked.

Gilliam was silent at this remark.

"Do you want to learn how to fire a gun to defend yourself, or is some foolish desire to try and relate to me?" He asked. Vincent decided to not wait for an answer. "If you want to know how to defend yourself and your mother, then I'll do it."

Vincent and Gilliam stood side by side, about a foot apart, roughly ten meters away, there was an old dead tree. Vincent removed a pistol from his cloak and handed it to Gilliam. "I want you to try and shoot the knothole on the tree."

The young man took the gun and held it up, he pulled the trigger, but the gun only clicked.

"The chamber should always be empty, that way you won't run the risk of harming yourself in a moment of panic." He explained. He then took the gun back and pulled the slide till the familiar sound of a round entering the chamber could be heard.

"Now, try it again- and be more precise." He instructed him as he put the gun back in his hand. Vincent crossed his arms. "Look down the barrel so that the cross hairs line up." He added. He watched him comply; Gilliam's arm was straight and the gun was pointed out. "Good, now fire."

BANG!

A piece of bark flew off the tree, near the edge of the knothole. "What happened?" Gilliam asked, dismayed.

"You have to be more steady then that." Vincent remarked. "Here, watch me." He added and pulled another gun from his cloak and pulled back the slide.

Gilliam watched him aim and narrow his eyes. Vincent pulled the trigger several times, and the bullets struck the knothole very close to the center.

"Now try it again- and this time, relax."

Gilliam aimed again, this time- more careful and thoughtful of his target.

BANG!

The round struck the tree near the center of the knothole. Gilliam's face lit up. "I got it!" He exclaimed.

Vincent covered his mouth and coughed slightly; he sat down on a tree stump and steadied himself. "Good work, you've still got a ways to go, though."

"Are you alright?" Gilliam asked, handing him the gun.

Vincent nodded. "Yes, I'm fine- I just feel a little dizzy."

Marian watched through the window and shook her head. She sighed and went off to tend to the task around the house.

Elsewhere, another figure watched. Dekker Vandros smiled to himself as he watched Vincent come through the sudden coughing fit and dizziness.

Dekker turned away. "So, Valentine, is that the rigors of an ill body, or is it a guilty conscience?" He thought.

.o.o.o.

Vincent stood out in the yard, looking off at the Mansion in the distance. "Still empty, after all this time." He remarked.

"Yes, but it's not haunted anymore." Marian interjected, handing him a cup of tea. "What is that place to you- why are staring at a retched place like that?" She asked.

Vincent frowned. "The path I took in life that brought me to where I am now began in that building- the monsters may have been driven out, but the real ghosts are still there." He replied cryptically.

"What happened there, Vincent? What happened to you?" Marian asked.

He shook his head. "I was young and impetuous, and I loved a woman who could never love me in return. In the end, the man she loved grew tired of my advances and killed me."

"But how, you're standing here right now- you're alive." The woman remarked.

The dark lines on Vincent's face furrowed at these words. "Alive?" He began. "You don't know what I really am, do you?" He asked, turning to face her. "He shot me through the spine- and then he brought me back to life to test a scientific theory of his- do you want to know what it was?"

She was silent.

"This man- a scientist- wanted to see if tissue could be reanimated- brought back to life in some way. I was the end result of his experiment." Vincent said, his hand trembling as he spoke.

"I'm not alive, yet I'm not dead!" He exclaimed- his hand squeezed the cup so hard it shattered and he stepped away from her.

Marian advanced towards him to see if he was alright. "Vincent?"

"Get back from me!" He snapped and stormed off.

.o.o.o.

Vincent knew he was being cruel to her, but he also knew it was better that way. He leaned against the wall, holding onto the railing as he walked up the stairs.

"Damnit, it's not fair- why now, why after so long do I start to really care about things?" He thought.

He made his way to his room and slammed the door. He entered into the darkened room and suddenly lost his footing and collapsed.

.o.o.o.

Marian was holding a lantern in her hand as she made her way around the house, making sure all the doors were locked and then looked outside to make sure that Scatz had secured the stables.

She then made her way up the stairs and traversed the dark hall. She stopped at Vincent's room and knocked on the door. "Vincent, are you alright?" She asked, not sure why she was even speaking to him after his little outburst earlier that day.

When she received no reply, she took a deep breath and turned the knob, surprised to find it unlocked. The door slowly opened as she peeked in. It was too dark for her to discern anything, so she shined the lamp in and then gasped as she saw Vincent laying on the floor, face down.

She set down the lamp and rushed over to him. "Vincent!" She exclaimed as she turned him over. She could see that he was very pail. She shook him roughly and swatted his face. Vincent perked up slightly. "What's happening?" He asked in confusion.

She smiled down at him. "Everything is going to be all right, but I need to get you into bed, so you'll have to be on your feet for a moment." She told him as she helped him to his feet.

Vincent managed his way to the bed and sat down. Marian helped him remove his cloak and then hung it up. She turned around and saw him hanging his head. "How bad is it now?" She asked him.

"It's not fair," He whispered.

"Excuse me?"

"It's not fair, I've spent the last several decades wanting to die, but now that I am, I suddenly want to live."

She sat down beside him. "Vincent, I don't know what to say to you."

Vincent covered his eyes and made a faint choking sound. "God, I just don't understand any of this- life is so cruel." He muttered.

Marian shook her head.

Vincent pulled his hands away, both now bare, and looked at them. "What does this mean?" He asked strangely, noting the moisture.

Marian gasped as she watched him. "Vincent, they're tears." She explained to him.

Vincent rapidly began to tremble. "Damnit! I hate this- feeling these emotions. I'm such a monster that I forgot what it means to cry!" he raged.

"Stop it!" Marian suddenly snapped at him. He looked up at her. "Look at yourself, you act as if you're the only person in the world to ever loose something- well, I'll tell you something."

She paused. "Do you think I wanted to be a widow before my son was even born, do you think that I wanted this life, do you think that anyone who's ever been a victim wanted it?" She exclaimed. "So get a hold of yourself and be a man- regrets will get you nothing in life!" She finished.

Vincent was silent. "i-i- I'm sorry. . ." He replied.

She calmed down and put her arms around him. "It's alright," She comforted him. "Vincent, I want you to know that you're not a monster- you're a man, a good man." She told him.

.o.o.o.

Gilliam watched his mother leave Vincent's room. "Mom- oh I see what's going on." He suddenly remarked cheekily, noting that she was dressed in her evening gown and robe.

Marian blustered at this. "Young man, you do yourself no favors be being so impertinent- you presume wrong." She replied. "A child like you can't understand the complexities of what people my age go through- so stow that Cheshire grin and get back to bed." She commanded, tightening up her robe.

Gilliam gulped and nodded. "Yes mom." He replied.

Once he was gone, she sighed and relaxed. She felt her cheeks, noting the warmness. "Damn, I'm far too old for something like this." She thought to herself and made her way back to her room.

(- End of Chapter 11 -)

.o.o.o.

Well, what did you all think of this. Drop me some reviews and let me know. This is the first new chapter written since 10/7/04.

Later,

-Bojack727