| Regret and Foul Greed |
| Prologue |
"Jesse?" His father yelled for him.
"Yes, pa?"
"Could you head to Emerald Ranch? One of the ranch owners needs something."
"Sure, what is it?.?
"Just some bait, said he was going to go fiening but ran out of bait."
"Oh, alright then."
He shut the door and mounted his horse. They lived in New Hanover for the time being, near the town of Valentine. Jesse's father worked in Cornwall Kerosene and Tar, usually for long but high paying hours since he had a high ranking in the workplace.
Jesse himself had no desire to work there, even with his father's urges. He would rather be a lawman, or a bounty hunter.
He arrived at the ranch as the ranch owner approached him.
"So, you're Dyer's son, I'm guessing?"
"Yes, I'm his son."
"You have the bait?"
"Yeah, I have the bait, and some spare lure in case, too."
"Even better! Tell your father I thank him."
He wasn't far now, and he could see smoke. At this point he began to fear the worst. He got closer to the ranch, the cloud of smoke only grew larger.
He heard a yell from the distance, the ranch was in flames, his father crawling out of the burning home.
"Where's our damn raise, Matthew? We've been waiting for weeks!"
His father turned onto his side, shooting the man in the head. He looked awful, Jesse rushed past a couple of fleeing men and up to him.
"Pa! Are you alright?"
"Jesse... just go."
"I can't leave you here," he looked shocked at the gunshot wound as his father fell on his back. "Pa, I can't just leave you to die!"
He was losing his voice, "Jesse, there's... no choice. I should've... known this was... coming."
"I'm not leaving you here, I can't!"
His father let out a long wheeze. "I'm not going to make it, son. Just run, run to... Emerald Ranch, or... Rhodes, Strawberry. Anywhere away from here." He handed him his revolver. "Keep it, it's no use to... them lot." His breathing slowed, becoming more shallow, until it stopped altogether.
"Pa? Pa! Get up!" Jesse shook his father, trying to wake him. A voice rose behind him.
"I don't think he's coming back no more. Maybe you could go with him, it'd be a whole lot easier."
Jesse lifted the revolver, aiming it at the man's head. His voice choked as he tried to hold back from bursting. "You... you killed my father."
"Me? Oh, it was more than just me, boy. The entirety of Cornwall's Brigade wanted him dead, only a few of us were here."
Jesse's finger inched closer to the trigger. "You... you bastard!" He threw the revolver down before tackling the man to the ground. He battered him, until he was bruised, and Jesse himself had to breathe. He stood over him, his fist still clenched.
The man kneltmonto his elbows, a smug grin cleared his bloodied face.
Jesse stared at the revolver, then his father, then the man. "You... you killed him. You killed him!"
"And the bastard deserved it!"
He yelled, kicking him back to the floor before slamming his foot on his face. He continued his onslaught on the man. "You killed him, you bastard!"
He stood up, glaring into the man's eyes. He just couldn't take it, he picked the revolver back up, loaded it, before shooting the man through the head.
He stared at them both, before silently walking away from the ranch, leaving the wreckage to continue burning.
This chapter has just been updated and will most likely continue to be updated, I'm doing a massive overhaul of all of my stories. Stay tuned to my profile to find out more.