AN.: Sorry that this took me so long to upload. I have to confess that this chapter was finished for quite a while but I had no chance to upload it. I hope you can forgive me ;w; Next Chapter will be up sooner.

Thank you so much to everyone who wrote a review! Made my day!

Mask

"Now, let's have a little talk."

Wright walked up and down in front of Adam, occasionally staring down at his captive before resuming to wander around. Adam didn't dare to do anything to direct Wright's anger onto him. After a while, Wright suddenly walked directly to where Adam was lying on the floor, grabbed a handful of Adam's sweaty shirt and forcefully lifted his body into a sitting position to come eye to eye with him. Adam couldn't help a sharp hiss from slipping over his lips because of the sudden movement.

"So, Cartwright... Since when? Since when were you such a freak? Who knows about it? What is causing it?" Wright asked with wide, searching eyes. A little smile danced over his lips. Adam just snapped his eyes to Wright's face to stare directly into his eyes, gathering all his anger and fueling every fiber of his body with it.

"So I'm the freak now?" Adam couldn't help the dam from breaking. "Am I'm the one who can't handle being rejected by one person? That's what happened, right? You loved her and she rejected you! Probably because she saw who you really are."

"Stop..."

"She saw how broken you are on the inside, how corrupted and how stained, how fouled your mindset is."

"Stop!"

"She was about to dodge a bullet. A lunatic bullet. She wasn't someone to be fooled by your pretense. She saw right through your mask! So you killed her!" Wright had started trembling halfway through Adam's tirade. With a sharp movement, Wright's trembling arms moved to grab Adam's black locks to pull his head up, exposing his neck. With the other hand, he produced a sharp knife from behind his back and almost rammed it against Adam's bruised throat. Adam felt how the blade painfully sank into his skin, something wet dripping down from the spot a few breaths later.

"I SAID STOP!" Wright screamed, pushing the knife deeper into the skin. He took a few calming breaths as he saw that Adam made no further attempts to open his mouth.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." Wright said with a low, almost quiet voice. Adam struggled to keep himself from moving against the knife sitting on his throat. The pain erupting on his scalp and spreading down his head made it difficult. Wright's grip on Adam's locks was still the only thing holding his upper body locked in the sitting position.

"I'm not wearing a mask. All the people in Virginia City know me for who I really am. I never had to pretend to be something I'm not. You just can't accept the fact that as soon as you caused me to be sentenced to prison, the whole town turned their backs on you. You couldn't handle living as an outcast because you were used to the respect you received. But do you know what? The only thing which received respect is your last name -Cartwright. They never respected you for who you really are! Do you seriously think true friends would turn their backs on you just like that? They were never your friends. They put a mask on for you! The incident made them take the mask off! You should be thankful towards me! From now on, you'll be nothing more than a name!" Wright finally drew the knife back from Adam's throat and released his hair, making Adam's upper body plop painfully to the floor. Wright stood up and turned his back on him before chuckling a little bit.

"Who knows... They might also remember you for someone who caused his own brothers to die." Adam felt like Wright's words finished the job and sliced right through his throat. He had a giant lump sitting in the back of his throat and tears pricked his eyes, threatening to fall again, but Adam managed to hold them back. He wasn't going to give Wright the satisfaction in letting him know just how much pain these few words had inflicted. Wright turned towards Adam, raising his voice once again.

"And now, look at you. There is nobody left for you. There is nothing left. The last few doubters who are still on your side will hunt you down as soon as they witness what kind of freak, what kind of monster you are. Walking around, lifeless like an empty shell. Possessed by evil forces, who take control over your body. They'll be afraid and most importantly they will doubt every word, every judgment and every statement you ever made. And I will be the one to show them. I will be their savior."

"They will never believe you! It will be your word against mine and I will tell them everything you did! I will tell them that you killed my brothers!" Adam spat into Wright's face.

"Haha, no they won't believe you. All I have to do is wait for you to fall asleep and guide your possessed body into Virginia City. They can see for themselves what kind or freak you are." Wright laughed again, making Adam close his mouth. What if that was really going to happen? If the people in Virginia City would see Adam in his sleepwalking condition, would the last bit of his credibility be destroyed? Would they fear him? Will they never listen to anything he has to say? Will they hate him? He could almost see and feel their judging looks boring into his flesh. He had a giant headache pulsing behind his eyes and closed them to let them rest, pushing all those thoughts aside for now...

Wright took a sip from his canteen and lightened an oil lamp to illuminate his hideout. It was already late in the afternoon and the setting sun barely reached their surroundings in the mine shaft anymore. The flickering lights fell on the man resting on the floor. Wright tried to cancel out any noise, moving carefully if moving at all and being thoughtful of his surroundings to prevent any loose soil from crunching under his weight or loose stones from slipping and clattering to the floor. Wright had it all planned out. As soon as Adam fell asleep and showed the same signs as yesterday, Wright would guide his senseless puppet towards Virginia city, showing him off to all the people. If they question Adam's appearance, Wright would simply tell them that he had found him like that. Who knew what could happen to someone who stumbled around like that in a dangerous world such as their own. He would explain the ropes binding his hands as being necessary to assure Adam's safety and prevent him from wandering off or even preventing him from attacking Wright. There was no way Adam cold explain his behavior in a rational way without sounding desperate and delusional. And if Adam would tell them that Wright had killed his brothers... They would definitely be convinced of Adam's delusional state if his brothers happen to walk into town and prove that they were still alive right then and there...

Hoss and Joe Cartwright. Wright had to admit, that he was a bit worried about them. There was no way that they weren't looking for their older brother. Since there were no signs of a fight in camp, Wright had high hopes that they simply believed he'd left earlier to reach home sooner and that they would simply follow that mindset and travel home as well. His gaze wandered over Adam's body. He had untied Adam's feet earlier to allow him to move them while he was resting. Now all he had to do was wait.

Hoss had followed the footsteps as best as he could. After crossing a small stream of water and crossing over a high ground which was constantly pestered by a howling wind, Hoss had trouble following the faded steps, even losing them once or twice. He himself made sure to leave as obvious signs and traces as possible. At one point he had grabbed a large branch dragging it across the ground next to Chub's steady hoofprints, leaving long obvious streaks in the dust. Joe would have no problem to follow these obvious traces, catching up with him quickly. After what felt like an eternity, Hoss came to a stop in front of an old abandoned mining shaft. He couldn't just barge in there, not knowing which situation might await him on the inside. He settled behind a rock, having a good lookout and waited for the cavalry to arrive.

Little Joe had reached Virginia City in record time, being out of breath but still full of adrenaline as he jumped off of Cochise's back and stormed into Roy Coffee's office.

"Roy!" Joe managed to say before he had to drag in a few hurried breaths to calm his burning lungs. He bend down, putting his hands on his knees.

"Joe! What happened?!" The familiar voice made Joe rise sharply from his position to come face to face with his father who had been sitting in a chair in front of the sheriff's desk. Little Joe only managed to stare at his father, thousands of thoughts rushing through his head.

"Joe, talk to me!" Ben had grabbed Joe's shoulders and was gently shaking him by now. Roy had risen from his chair as well and stood next to Ben with a worried expression on his face.

"Little Joe, what is it?" Roy asked. Joe looked at Roy briefly before snapping his eyes back to his father's face. Finally having his voice back, he said: "We need help. Pa... It's Adam."

AN.: Now, let's add a worried papa bear to the mix, shall we?

Thank you for reading!