The night air was heavy and humid in the town of Raven Song. The moon was full and the stars were just barely visible through the lamplight which illuminated the dirt streets of the newly constructed town. Not too many people lived there yet, in fact, a sheriff hadn't even been elected yet, so order was kept by the people of which there was a decent amount. One of the candidates for the sheriff's position though, was Connor Bateman.
Connor was a very young man by rights, aging only around 21. He was around the average height of any other man, and he had a muscular build having worked on a farm for a good portion of his life. Connor was a pretty good shot with his pistol, and had a rather good sense of right and wrong, which made him more eligible to be sheriff than most other men in town.
What Connor didn't have a sense of, was how to control his urges. He was a man with needs, in a town full of beautiful women. And when the beautiful women weren't available, there were always the whores. Now, it wasn't as though any of these women were unwilling, in truth, most of them threw themselves at Connor- being that he was the most handsome man in town. His long brown locks pulled themselves away from his face in curtains as if presenting his carved features to the world. His light brown eyes took in everything he saw, from the curve of a woman's bosom, to the itching fingers near the revolver of the man she was with.
Connor Bateman strode through the middle of the street on this heavy and humid night in the town of Raven Song, looking for a woman who would be more than willing to lose a couple hours of sleep with him. Connor walked in the middle of the street so that he might be able to hear a call from a window or doorway better that way, when the opportunity presented herself. Walking with an arrogant swagger, Connor mulled over the way his name sounded with the title "Sheriff" in front of it. "Sheriff" Connor Bateman. He liked it. He would like to hear the ladies say it even more though.
"Howdy Sheriff," came an almost mind-reading, seductive tone from his right.
Connor stopped mid stride, and smiled to himself as he pretended to inspect the toe of his boot. With thumbs in his pockets he turned to face the woman who had just initiated the best night of her life.
"Howdy Miss," he replied as he turned his eyes on the woman, feasting on her appearance, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm no sheriff yet, the election is tomorrow."
The woman was definitely still in her prime, wearing a red dress with the straps falling down on her shoulders, and a sash tied tightly around her waist to display her figure.
"Oh, there's no disappointment Sheriff," she cooed, "I just figured that since there a'int no better man in this town than you, I could congratulate you on gettin' the job a little early."
She swayed a little in the doorway while she spoke, trying her best to invite him in with her body language. Connor Bateman didn't need to be invited twice. He started walking slowly toward the doorway, to make her agonize with the wait of his arrival.
"Well Miss, what sort of congratulatin' did you have in mind?" Connor asked with a smile.
The young woman caught Connor's hand by the fingertips and started trailing him inside the house.
"Why don't you follow me inside, and I'll show you," purred the young woman.
Somewhere in the back of his mind Connor Bateman felt something wasn't quite right, and although the motions he was following through on were somewhat routine (albeit it was usually a different woman every time) he couldn't help but feel a certain type of dread. Connor tried to focus on the luscious brown hair which tumbled down in front of him, and the curve of the waist which enticed him…
Her eyes. There had been something about her eyes.
Connor grabbed the woman's forearm and spun her around to face him so that he might get a closer look at her eyes. The woman spun with a look of surprise and excitement on her face to stare at the young man.
"My, my Sheriff, someone is a little eager," but her playful tone caught when she saw the look on Connor's face, and the pistol in his hand. Connor cocked the hammer back.
"Who are you?" he questioned.
"When you ask questions, you lose the fun Sheriff, you know that," she resumed her playful coy.
Connor fired a shot into the ceiling. It was a warning. Connor definitely knew something was wrong now.
"No games," he cocked the hammer back again, "who are you?"
The young woman sighed as she stared into his eyes.
"You cowboys aren't all as dumb as you look."
Her eyes flared red as blood as she caught hold of the hand which gripped her forearm. She flung Connor Bateman through the door to which she was leading him. Connor didn't know how to react, not to the red eyes, or to the superhuman strength that a woman possessed. Connor did know how to react, however, to the massive internal pain that he was feeling, and the blood dripping from his mouth, with a scream and with terror.
The woman took her time walking into the moonlit room, and when she finally stood over the broken form of Connor Bateman, she looked not in the direction of the young man, but towards the corner of the room.
"He makes quite an entrance," chuckled a raspy voice.
Connor attempted to turn his head in the direction of the voice but he felt paralyzed from the pain that he had sustained from his flight. The woman knelt down in front of him, and ripped open his shirt, the act though was not something exciting to Connor anymore.
"He's all yours boss," cooed the young woman.
"Thanks, darlin'." Confirmed the voice.
A pair of striking yellow eyes hovered over Connor Bateman in the darkness, and a set of shinning white teeth gleamed in the moonlight. Connor couldn't speak, and if he could have he wasn't sure what he would have said.
"Sheriff Connor Bateman," came the raspy voice from above.
Connor no longer liked the way the title sounded.
"Well Sheriff, I hate to tell you, but this will sting a bit," sighed the voice.
Connor thought he saw a match ignite in the man's hand, and he tried to scream as the fire came closer to his torso, but he realized his voice was being suppressed. His eyes darted about wildly until settling on the young woman who he realized must be the one keeping him quiet. It was then that Connor felt the worst pain he'd ever received in his entire life. The very flesh felt like it was being melted away from his ribs, and he heard a discernable hissing noise, as darkness clawed at the edge of his vision, until his conscious mind gave way to sleep.
Ex-Sheriff Connor Bateman wandered through the desert on his horse. He had been stripped of his title and ejected from the town after the fourth woman he'd consummated with had died of poisoning. The poison in their system was from Connor.
Connor had woken the day after his incident feeling like a new man, with the pain gone, and the only reminder of the night being his own memory and the brand which the stranger with the yellow eyes had given him. He had received the position of Sheriff as predicted, and immediately went to celebrate at his favorite brothel. A day later, the woman he had celebrated with died a slow, agonizing death from poison. Connor had vowed to find the bastard who had poisoned her, and keep all the townspeople safe.
After the fourth woman died, not only did Sheriff Connor realize that it was his own doing, but so did the rest of the town. Ex-Sheriff Connor Bateman barely escaped with his life.
Now he stared off into the horizon, wondering where the man with the yellow eyes could be. It didn't matter where he was, Connor would find him, and he would kill him.
Ex-Sheriff Connor Bateman rubbed the sore spot where the man had branded him, and unbuttoned his shirt to get a better look at the word burned into his skin:
LUST
Ex-Sheriff Connor Bateman vowed that he would not rest until he found the man with the yellow eyes who did this to him, and killed him.
And then, he would celebrate.