Truth

AN.: Hello~ I apologize for this being late ;w; I couldn't seem to write something at least half-decent for a few days. This chapter was not easy for me but I hope you'll like it!

Special thanks go to:

BJ2, APrairiefan, Gaben, indiana1928 and Moonstruck lover (what a name ;w;) for leaving a review and effectively giving me a twinge of conscience because I was so late in posting this chapter. Thank you xD

Also thanks to the guests who wrote a nice review ^^ They always make my day.

Dankeschön an alle!

Ben's heart was racing. Pa... It's Adam. His body ached from bopping up and down in his saddle because of the steady gallop. He was taken overnight by someone. Droplets of sweat dripped into his eyes, making his vision blurry. Hoss followed the traces but we were afraid that something happens to Adam if we act recklessly. We need help! As soon as Ben had heard these desperate words from his youngest son, saw the traces indicating that little Joe had been crying, Ben had run amok in town, especially on townsfolk who were reluctant to come forward to volunteer as part of the search posse. In the end, no one dared to openly draw in their horns and reject his plea for help. Now, Ben, little Joe Cartwright, Sheriff Roy Coffee and around ten men were on their way to rescue one of their own. Ben felt like he was riding through a thick fog, which was blocking out reality for him. Ben knew his sons were grown up and they could handle themselves pretty well. He'd easily trust each one of them with his life but he could never stop from worrying over them as soon as they arrive later than estimated. It was supposed to be a simple negotiation in Reno. Easy... To Reno in the morning and back at the Ponderosa the same day, but as afternoon turned to evening and evening turned to night, Ben was already worried sick. Maybe they were just enjoying themselves in Virginia City on their way home? Or the trip simply took them longer than expected? If they still hadn't returned in the morning, Ben decided to make a visit to town to see if he'd find them there. And so, Ben strolled into Roy's office the next day, hoping to sound as casual as possible as he asked the Sheriff if he'd seen any of his sons come trough by chance. Roy was just about to open his mouth to answer him as the door being burst open behind them startled them both. Ben turned to give the new arrival a piece of his mind because he was being rude but his blood ran cold as he spotted Joe, hunched over and breathing heavily. That had only been one hour ago. Now, they were riding through the prairie to catch up to Hoss - and hopefully- to Adam.

"This is the area Hoss marked on the map. We should be able to find his prints somewhere around here." Joe spoke up as they all slowed their horses down. They started to spread out and searched the ground for the traces Hoss left. After a few minutes, one of the men called to them that he found a set of traces that were seemed to be left on purpose. Joe and Ben dashed to the spot and examined the traces as well.

"Yes, that are definitely Chub's hoofprints. And look there" Joe pointed to long scratches in the dust next to the hoofprints. "That looks like he was dragging some kind of branch next to him. We can easily follow these marks." The whole posse was tense and on guard as they proceeded to follow the traces in slower, quieter steps now. Some of the men held rifles in their hands, ready to defend, attack and protect. After what felt like an eternity, they were able to see a horse in the distance resting behind some bushes. That's Chub! Ben thought, his heart skipping a beat. Next to him, Joe sucked in a sharp breath, having spotted the familiar animal as well. They decided to leave their horses further away and continue on foot to try to make as little noise as possible with such a large group of people. As they got closer to Chub, they heard a sound coming from their right, where Hoss' head was poking out from behind a rock, looking at them. Roy gave instructions to the posse to stay a few paces away as he himself, Ben and Joe carefully advanced towards the spot were Hoss was hiding. As they reached him, Ben took in Hoss' appearance, searching for wounds and asking if he was alright.

"Am fine, Pa. Took me awhile to follow their traces and then I've been observing the entrance to their hideout. They are over there in the mine shaft." Hoss spoke with a low voice, his eyebrows scrunched and his gaze unfocused as the wheels in his head turned, trying to find a solution for the problems ahead of them. He then blinked a few times and searched out the eyes of his father and his friend Roy. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"You two did the right thing. We don't know with whom we are dealing with and especially how many there are. Adam's safety is our priority." Roy added, his tone composed and serious. But there was cold determination hidden in his facial feature. As they tried to figure out what they were supposed to do, the decision to take the initiative in this situation was taken from them as they spotted movements at the entrance of the mining shaft; Two figures stepped out of the shadows. All their hearts seemed to skip a beat, the sounds around them died out for a moment and their breathing stopped briefly as they could make out what happened right in front of their eyes. There was a man in his mid-forties with gray hair and an equally gray beard in dirty clothes, pulling something on a rope behind him. That rope connected to the bloodied wrists of Ben's oldest son, Adam. He was slowly trotting along and followed the pull on his wrists without resistance. Ben's eyes filled with tears as they wandered over his son's manhandled body. Adam's hair was messy, his face and clothes were dirty. His wrists were bloody and there was a dangerous gash displayed on Adam's throat. His eyes were half lidded and somehow... empty. Ben was pulled back into cover, not even realizing he was about to storm out of their hiding spot to get to his son.

"That is Sherman Wright!" Roy said next to Ben and Joe. He sounded surprised and beyond angry. Ben forced himself to rip his gaze off of his hurt son and looked at the man who was still pulling on that rope, making Adam stumble behind him. Roy was right, Ben knew that man; Sherman Wright, the shop owner who was tried for murder. He got sentenced to prison... because Adam witnessed the murder and could testify in court two months ago. And now, this man was abusing his son and he was... He was smiling?! Wright was shining brighter than the sun as he casually danced across the landscape with his prisoner in tow. Ben was furious and judging from the low growl and fuming around him, the others were as well. A few paces away, Ben heard the soft gasps and murmurs of the rest of the posse. They must've recognized both men as well by now. An angry and annoyed exclamation from in front of him made him focus on the two men at the mining shaft entrance again. Adam was lying on the floor, face first, his hands pinned under his body. Wright was roughly grabbing him by his hair and the collar of Adam's shirt and forcefully pulled him back to his feet again. What is happening right now? Despite the situation, Ben couldn't help but wonder what was wrong. The behavior Adam displayed was strange and very unlike him. He'd never simply comply without putting up a fight in a situation like this. Ben feared for Adam's state of mind. Who knows what that man has done to him? Besides him, Hoss and Joe shifted nervously, glancing at each other briefly, having a silent conversation before turning their focus back to the situation at hand. Wright was currently grabbing Adam's chin with one hand and turned his head from side to side, saying... no almost cooing words to Adam. Ben could make out the words 'careful' and 'puppet'. Ben had heard and seen enough and couldn't take this anymore.

Before anyone could stop him, he emerged from his hiding spot behind the rocks and stepped right into Wright's path. They still stood quite a distance away from each other.

"WRIGHT!" Ben shouted and succeeded in actually startling said man who was still staring at Adam's face. In the blink of an eye, Wright was behind Adam, winding one muscular arm around Adam's throat and putting a knife against the already bleeding throat which he held in the other hand.

"Not a step closer!" Wright shouted. The shuffling sound behind Ben signaled him that the rest of the posse rushed to his side to help as well. He could hear quite a few click sounds from several safeties being removed as his armed allies took their position. Ben's eyes were glued to Adam's face. Something was wrong. It was absolutely not like Adam to act like this. He didn't even react to his father's voice. He wasn't even looking at them. This is not Adam.

"Oh good. You are all here. I planned on going to Virginia City to meet you but it seems like I can simply show you here." Wright said, his eyes wandering over the little crowd in front of him. He slowly released the arm around Adam's throat and grabbed a handful of his black hair, pulling sharply at it. The force of the pull pushed Adam's throat against the knife still sitting on it below Adam's chin. The whole crowd around Ben sucked in a breath. A few of the men flinched or hissed, but the only person who showed no reaction at all was Adam. It was like... as if he was-

"Lifeless! Look at this man! He is nothing but an empty shell! And yet, he stands and walks. People of Virginia City, don't you think that this is the work of some kind of evil force? Does this man seem sane to you? Would you trust this man's word? Would you be able to meet him and interact with him like you always did knowing what kind of freak he is?" Wright chuckled, shaking his head. "He has done nothing but deceiving you! He's been lying to you, keeping his dirty little secret. He lied to you in court about what he witnessed to sentence me to prison. Without you knowing, he's been wandering around like this at night – possessed- serving some kind of evil purpose." Wright was breathing heavily, his crazed eyes jumping from one face to the other. "So I came to save you all. To make you aware of what lives among ourselves. My friends!" Wright was smiling at them.

"He is totally insane-"

"Look what he's done to poor ol' Adam!"

"Wait... He did break out of prison didn't he?"

"Do you seriously think you can just break out and walk around torturing our friends!?"

"Let Adam go, you monster!"

"What is wrong with Adam? He needs our help!"

All around them, people raised their voices, begging Wright to let Adam go, telling him to surrender, threatening him with bodily harm if he wouldn't put the knife down.

"Adam, son... What is wrong?" Ben asked, his voice slightly shaking. There was no response from Adam.

"You don't understand people! This is not Adam! This is not even a human! HOW CAN YOU BE ON HIS SIDE! He wasn't even able to see the murder happen! There is no way he could've seen the murderer's face in that alley that day! He lied to all of you in court!" Wright was hysterical.

"Well, how would you know that Adam lied?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he be able to see the murderer's face and why would you know that?"

"You really did kill her! Only the killer would know!"

"Adam told the truth!"

"Oh god what have we done.."

Roy raised his hands and the voices died down immediately. Roy's worried gaze was glued to the knife in Wright's now shaking hand. Wright's head was bright red and he was grinding his teeth.

"I did this for you! Don't you see? OPEN YOUR EYES!" Wright screamed at them, pulling Adam's hair back with more force, exposing the tender flesh to the merciless knife.

"Wright! Please let our brother go! It's useless, there is nowhere to go!" Little Joe took a step towards Wright, standing now right next to Ben. Joe's voice had startled Ben a little bit.

"Joe?" There was a raspy voice coming from right ahead of them. All eyes present flew to the man who had just talked. Adam was staring at Joe, his eyes glossy from unshed tears. His mouth was slightly agape and his lower lip was trembling. It looked like he wanted to say something but didn't dare to do it.

"Yes Adam, it's me! We are here for you, don't worry!" little Joe tried to assure him, to calm him down.

"Adam!" Hoss was now standing on Ben's other side. Adam's eyes snapped back and forth between his two brothers standing in front of him, alive and well and then he couldn't help the tears from running down his face. Despite the situation he was in, he couldn't care less about the knife pressing down on his Adam's apple. His brothers were alive and that was all that counted right there and then for him.

"What?" Wright, not expecting his hostage to be awake and aware poked out from behind Adam's back to be able to cast a glance at his prisoner's face. Suddenly a shot rang out and Wright was violently thrown backwards by the force of the bullet penetrating his shoulder. Time slowed down as Ben watched Wright's body turning, the force pulling him the ground and then there was a sudden flare of light blinding Ben as the sun rays were reflected from the knife's cutting edge still pressed against Adam's throat. There was a strong jerk and Adam went down with Wright, landing in a heap on the floor. For a few second's nobody moved and after a few breaths, all hell broke loose. Ben, little Joe, Hoss and Roy rushed towards Adam who was still on the floor. The other men were just inches behind them. When they reached the two men, Wright was writhing in pain in the dust, pressing a hand to his bleeding shoulder. The knife was located a few feet away from him and one man of the posse took it immediately into safe keeping. The knife was awfully bloody. Adam was lying on his side, pressing his still bound hands to his neck. There was blood seeping out from under his fingers.

"Adam!" Ben kneeled down next to his son and took him into his arms. He took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and removed Adam's hands from the gash to get a better look at it. It seemed to be pretty deep and a lot of blood seeped out of it. He pressed down on it to slow the blood-flow down.

"Adam, don't worry, everything's gonna be alright, son." Ben soothed, barely holding the tears at bay.

"Pa. Hey Pa, I'm sorry." Adam looked up at his father, smiling at him. "I should've told you. I almost failed my biggest and most important task. I'm so sorry, I'm sorry."

"No Adam, don't worry, you did nothing wrong, son." Ben was gently caressing Adam's cheek, slowly rocking back and forth without even realizing it.

"Adam!"

"Adam."

Joe and Hoss stumbled in front of Adam, kneeling down as well. Adam looked at them his lower lip trembling again.

"I thought I lost you," were the only words which dared to cross Adam's lips before he broke down into sobs. Little Joe and Hoss moved closer to somehow hold him, to stay with him and be there for him. They both understood the words Adam just said and realizing that they had thought the same about him a few minutes ago, made them shed some tears as well. Tears of relief.

AN.: What do you think? For the next chapter, I want to write this chapter from Adam's perspective. I'm expecting it to be finished tomorrow.

Thank you for reading. And have a great morning/day/evening ^^