Just evilly finishing my story. La, la, la~

Cycle of Decay

Topper's hooves pounded against the snow-packed Earth at a neck-breaking pace. Gill held tight to his neck, never feeling more numb in his life. He couldn't cry. He couldn't think. All he knew was that he had just killed another man, and he had left Katie. There was no one. Absolutely no one.

The trees passed dangerously close. Topper whinnied as he slid down a snowy slope, losing his footing with the mud and leaves buried underneath the snow. He regained his bearings at the foot of the hill, and Gill egged him on. Spurring him further.

The black horse moved like a shadow in the night. Gill closed his eyes, unable to accept it all. The past he had tried to escape came back to haunt him. The past that he had ignored, had foolishly thought he could forget. Forgetting was not something one could pressure with time. It was a privilege. One that Gill did not deserve. And he had been given justice.

Until he killed him. Until he killed that man – Selena Vane's father. Then it was back to square one.

The trees disappeared, and the hooves met dirt. The snowy rooftops were lofted over dimly glowing yellow lights in dozens of windows. Then the windows of a diner. Impossible. Echo Village.

Gill's wanderings had brought him in circles. He had been close to home all along. Had he ever really left?

It wasn't long before the paths became more and more familiar as the only path that stretched south grew wider. Topper vaulted the gate of Horn Ranch. Gill touched Castanet.

Julius' house disappeared behind him, a single light on where no doubt poor Candace Wotton sat. Toby's bungalow at the top of the hill was dark when he sped by. He finally pulled back on Topper's mane when he saw cobblestones.

It was nearly morning here. Gill had ridden through the night. Topper shook on his knees, sweating. Gill slipped off of him and stroked his neck. He slowly walked into town.

The street lamps were brighter than he remembered. Everything else was the same in the foggy earliness of the day. Up the incline of the street, Gill's head slowly turned to his house. The garden was different. Someone else was living there.

He fell to his knees in the snow. His feet had carried him to the last place he could think of. And the stone before him brought his fears to light.

Here Lies
Hamilton Gray
Mayor Previous
Dearly Missed

So he had joined his mother… Gill's fists clenched and unclenched. He finally let the tears he couldn't feel fall as he blubbered before the grave of his father. "I-I'm sorry…! I'm sorry I left you all alone…! I'm s-sorry I wasn't there, Father. I-I let you down… I left you to die…!"

Like a little boy, Gill hugged the ice cold stone and wept. He leaned against it and fell over top the grave in a bundle, sobbing. He couldn't breathe. He prayed this was the end…

When Gill awoke, the sun was intensely bright. He looked around in confusion, rising from the snowy mound. He saw the stone and fresh tears sprung anew as he traced the engraving with his fingers.

It was all true…

Gill pathetically rose and forced himself to leave the graveyard. Haggard and cold, he stumbled down the steps of the church. His boots went one after the other in a mindless beat. Nothing could break him any further.

Of course, Gill was wrong. Underestimating the cruel powers of the world yet again, Gill tasted bile when he stared down at the end of the street. Walking side by side along the way was the Lord Julius Wotton… and a young man Gill did not recognize. He was brilliant and young and perfectly enamored with Julius's words. His peach colored hair was childish and fun, his eyes bright and ready to discover the wide, open world.

Gill saw himself in him. Walking beside Julius Wotton. The pair did not seem to notice as Gill stared across at them.

Julius held open the door to a restaurant and the youth passed before him. In a split second, his eyes met in contact with Gill's and his smile was impossibly wide, full of pointed teeth. Eyes yellow and predatory. And the second passed. Julius had disappeared inside.

Gill shook himself, not believing he was quite awake. He was surely hallucinating… It couldn't be…! But the cycle of decay was continuing without him. A soul who was already long lost to the world. Without hope of return or repentance. Without anything at all.

"Hey, mister!"

The small voice was almost too small for him to hear. Slowly turning around, Gill caught sight of a blonde little girl in a fenced in yard. The house was an apartment complex of some kind – many families could live inside for cheap.

The girl pointed at his feet. "Can you toss my ball back, please?"

Gill looked down. A green ball had rolled into him without notice. He stooped and picked it up. It was smooth rubber of some kind. He walked to the wall and held it over.

She hurried over and strained to reach up for it. Her coat sleeves were too small for her though she wasn't more than five years old. With a little jump, the girl took the ball and smiled up at him. "Thank you!"

Those eyes. They were a deep, cold sapphire. The kind people could see from afar. The kind to be admired. The kind that were in his very own portrait.

He was seeing things again. They couldn't have been—

The little girl wrinkled her nose. "What?"

Gill shook his head in horror. The hair wasn't platinum, but he should have known. She had his mother's nose, too…

"Mom!" The girl shouted, quickly running away from the fence to the safety of the house.

Gill ran in the opposite direction just as fast. The streetlamps and house vanished behind him. Behind him in this nightmare realm he had entered. He should have never come back.

He found Topper looking for grass along Toby's hill. It was fortunate he didn't stray very far; possibly the only bit of luck Gill had met with. He flung himself onto the horse's back, pulling himself up to ride bare back once again. But he didn't care. He needed to get out. Get anywhere.

Though there was no other place he could go.