The jail door slid closed with a clang and it seemed as if Avery already began pacing. Elias knew he wasn't comfortable with this plan, but it was the best one they could come up with. Avery rubbed the back of his neck and walked back to the cot that was against the wall. He turned back around and stared at Elias and Hendrix. "So," he stated un-enthused. "this is where I'm to die."

The sun had just set and it was ten past morning, the only noises outside were crickets and cicadas. The Jailhouse was empty and the lights were all off. They'd gone over this plan three times, but it only took Elias once to get it all. Put Avery in a cell, have the guards march off to a 'security issue' and leave the jailhouse unattended, then wait for Race to make his move. Avery didn't enjoy any part of it, not the being bate or the fact the man who had threatened his life earlier was now to save him.

"You're not gonna die." Elias assured, turning away and walking towards the back room where Allison was leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "Well, at-least I don't think you well. Depends on how reckless and trigger-happy Race is."

Avery scoffed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "You're so fuckin' comforting." he stated, bowing his head and taking in deep breaths to drown his nerves. Elias ignored it for the most part and seemed to dwell within his own sanctum. He was in a room full of people, with Carter sitting in a chair to his left, Hendrix behind him and Allison infront of him. Allison noticed he was keeping to himself, and trying to avoid most everyone.

"It's almost time." Carter said, rolling a silver coin across the tops of his fingers. "Don't worry, kiddo. Elias will probably keep you alive." Carter stood, tossing the coin up and catching it in his hand. He slid his hands into his pockets and groveled "probably" as he walked over to the door.

Elias subtly paced, waiting for when the time was right. Hendrix was mumbling into the walkie-talkie in the corner of the room, talking to his second in command. Elias kept his eye on him, keeping an ear out for what he was saying. He was getting everything set up for the trap.

Allison's hand suddenly laid on Elias' shoulder. He turned his head and looked at her, seeing the mild concern in her face. It was a look he had seen more then a few times now. "You sure about this? Your putting yourself right in-front of a killer."

Elias softly smirked, dismissing her concern. "I've done it a million times before, and this time is no different."

She nodded but at the same time frowned softly. Elias knew it wasn't a comfortable thought for her, but it was the truth. How many bandits, raiders or generally bad people had gotten in his way over the years. He expected that, the more people told their tales of him, people would stop being foolish enough to challenge him. But it seemed like more and more kept coming.

The one good thing about the wasteland, there isn't a short supply of ammo to deal with those men.

Hendrix turned around and faced Elias and Allison, the walkie-talkie still in his hand. "We're all set. I got two of my guards out of uniform and dressed as civilians, they'll be stationed near by. Me and the rest of the guards are going to go turn the south wall into a shooting gallery. If Race is in town, he'll see this as his chance."

Carter turned his head and looked at Elias. "Sure you don't want me in here with you?"

Elias shook his head and held up a hand. "Thanks, but no thanks. Just take Allison back to her place and be with Sam, she needs you right now." Carter nodded at Elias's words, then turned back to the door.

Allison lightly squeezed Elias' arm, causing him to look at her once again. In a soft tone she spoke to him. "Please...please be careful. I'll be watching from the camera feed, if you get shot..."

"I won't." Elias firmly, confidently, but yet compassionately interrupted her. He wasn't used to having people care about him like this, and wondered if her concern ran deeper then just not wishing to see him be harmed. But he had no time to think upon that now. He saw her give a small, unsure smile then let go of his arm and head for the door with Carter.

Carter turned the knob and they both exited with Hendrix as he gave the all clear on the radio. All three rushed out of the building, Hendrix drawing his rifle and storming ahead as Carter pulled his gun and grabbed Allison's arm, hurrying her up the hill and to her house. Elias could already hear the gunfire from the back of the city. If there was one thing this town did well, it was putting on one hell of a show.

Avery sighed and stood from his bunk in the cell, then begun pacing the metal floor. Elias turned off the last remaining light in the building, leaving only the light from the window across the room to shine in. But Elias was on the side of the room that was shrouded in total darkness.

He sat down on a chair and kicked one leg out, crossing his arms over his waist and beginning his wait. Avery looked over at his dark and barely noticeable silhouette. "You've done this before, haven't you?"

Elias chuckled once, almost mischievously. From there, he spoke in a low tone. "Used people as bait? Yeah, a few times. And a few of those times the bait didn't know he or she was even bait, so you're lucky."

Avery shook his head and laid it forward against the bars of his cell as he leaned on them. "Have any of your targets ever succeeded?"

Elias was quiet as he thought on this. He knew the answer, but didn't truly want to believe that he just knew it off the top of his head, as if he'd been thinking on it all day. "Twice, if I recall." He spoke low again. "One time I underestimated the killer, and the other my ward was a dipshit and didn't do as I told him."

Avery looked back over at Elias. "What about the underestimation?"

Elias shook his head and blinked slowly. "The killer was a Mercenary but I failed to give him the credit he deserved. He was a good tactician and knew where anyone my ward had hired would be held up. When he came for my employer, he threw a grenade beside the rock I was behind first. I barely made it out of the blast zone and got my wits knocked about. He had free roam over the employer and managed to shoot him in the gut before I shot him in the back of the head."

Elias paused on the thought, thinking about what came after that. He dropped the killer in one shot, but had to kill his employer as well. There is no cure for a bullet in the stomach, just a slow and painful death. "I never let that happen again."

Avery nodded then looked back at the front door. "And the other one? The dipshit?"

Elias scoffed and slumped down in his seat, getting more comfortable. "I told the idiot to stay in the house when they came for him. And when they did, he thought it was a genius fuckin' idea to come around back and shout profanity at them with a raised gun. You can guess the rest."

Avery wrinkled his brow and looked over at Elias. "Seriously?" He asked with a tinge of amusement. One that was quickly dampened as he remembered that this was someone's life.

"Yeah," Elias stated in a hushed tone once more. "I started choosing who I helped more carefully after that one."

Avery gave a small and quiet laugh as he shook his head and stepped away from the bars. He took a seat then turned and laid on the edge of the bed, one leg hanging off and foot pressed to the ground. "And have you ever been on the wrong side? The side that didn't help?"

Elias looked over at Avery who was contemplatively staring up at the metal ceiling. It was easy to forget this whole building was a make-shit shack. Even if it was somewhat well built. But the question Avery had asked was a peculiar one, and Elias answered the only way he could figure. "All the time. Consider it like I do, for every person I helped, it didn't help the other person. It may sound stupid, but there's a lot of regret in that."

Avery was silent for a moment, feeling the weight behind Elias' words. "Yeah," he somberly and quietly replied, listening to the gunfire in the distance. "I know that more then most people would believe."

Elias looked over at Avery, contemplating prying into the man's past. He definitely was a unique cat, everything about his past made Elias think that there maybe someone else out there who's been through what he's been through.

But within himself, he fought an eternal struggle. The side of him that had recently been kicked up like dust into the air. That side suddenly wanted him to hope. Maybe it would get better, maybe the pain would stop, it would all go away. But the majority of himself over-ruled. He knew better.

There was no one to help him. Nothing he could do would change a damned thing. And no one had lost as much as he did. And if there was, he honestly didn't care. He felt a tightness in his throat, choking him. He wanted to reach up and claw at it, tear out the wall that prevented him from breathing and swallowing.

But there was no wall. It was all some sick ploy of his body, a trick of his mind. It was that burning hot, but yet freezing cold, solid wall of bitter heart ache. He could feel it spread through his body like a cancer or poison. It affected every aspect of his humanity, of who he was.

When the room was hot, he was ice-cold. And when the room was ice-cold, a rage boiled inside of him that made him unfathomably hot. He choked back sudden outbursts of rage, but it couldn't stop him from having a near permanent snarl on his face when no one was talking to him. He had lived a hard and horrible life, but even he had never been so angry.

"It's a horrible thing." Avery stated, seemingly out of nowhere. But he had been thinking it since his last few words. "Being helpless. Feeling...helpless. It's something that'll shake even a man with the will of iron to his very core."

Elias slowly looked over at him and inhaled deeply, groveling out his words. "What would you know about it?" It was a rough and truly blunt question, but Elias was never a man of pleasantries.

Avery turned his head slightly, trying to look at Elias behind him. He found he couldn't, so just stopped. Wouldn't be any use in looking at him anyhow. Elias had unbelievably cold eyes, the kind you get from being jaded to horrible things, and having to do horrible things yourself. "Oh, I know plenty."

He turned on his side with a groan, facing the door now. That feeling of eager anticipation and fear clung to his very bones. "I lived a long time as a hired gun, and even when I joined onto a company it didn't help with that feeling. That feeling of being pinned down...bullets tearing into your cover. Bullets that you don't have, in any of your guns. That feeling...you accept death in that moment. You know you're going to die, there's nothing you or god can do about that. So you take your last breath...and when you breathe your next one, it surprises you."

Avery's words were tearing into Elias, leaving him in a absent minded state of thinking back on past occurrences. His heart beat faster and faster, staring off into space and feeling cold and desolate once again. Avery continued, his voice resonating through Elias like sonic vibrations, feeling every word and hearing it echo in his mind.

"But every breath after that one is different. It's like a different man breathing through you. You're never the same once you've accepted death." He sighed out the last of the air in his lungs.

Elias managed to tear himself out of his state and slink further down on the chair, crossing his arms and turning the screen off on his pip-boy. Now he sat in total darkness, with nothing but the distant sound of gunfire and crickets filling the silence. There was nothing Elias could say to himself, or Avery, to help either one of them. Elias was lost, and with his heart newly beating, he was lost and distraught.

Race looked off in the distance of the gunfire. Standing in the empty dirt street and doing so made him feel and look like a stranger. He reached up and took the tooth-pick out his mouth, tossing it to the ground and continuing for the barracks.

It was a medium sized building made out of scraps of metal. From what he had heard, the guards usually occupied it, and so did a few jail-cells. They had hauled in a man this morning for the killing of the fellow in the bar, Joe. Race knew this was his man. It had to be, there was no one else it could be. And since every guard in the town was off shooting at raiders on the south wall, now was the perfect time.

As he got closer to the building, he paid more attention to the dark in the windows. He could see that there was no one inside, atleast not guard wise. He had the distinct feeling that what he was looking for was in that building. It was time to kill his mouse, get the caps, and leave this pisshole town and state.

He walked up a few wooden beams that were half buried in the ground, acting like steps. The closer he got to that metal door, the more he felt that old familiar feeling in his gut. Excitement, perhaps. This nightmare was over, and soon he'd be living in a nice suite with his soon-to-be-wife.

He grabbed the doorknob and twisted, slowly pulling the door open. A gust of cool air flowed into the room with the opening of the door, and Avery lifted his head off his arm and opened his eyes. In the doorway, stood the dark outline of a man in a long duster. He sprung up from the bed, desperation radiating off of him. "GUARDS! GUARDS!" he shouted, equally as desperate.

"They can't hear you, Avery." Race said, taking his first step into the room. Avery could now see the finer details of his face. He was young, had a dark rough beard and short, light brown hair. Even though he was young, you could tell he was a protege`. A freak of his own kind. "No one can hear you."

Avery looked around desperately, gabbing the mattress off the bed and backing into the corner of the cell with it, using it as some sort of poor shield. Race chuckled with a smile, his hand resting on the grip of his 9mm. He knew he could shoot right through that mattress. "I didn't steal your bloody caps, you fuckin' lunatic!" Avery shouted from behind the mattress.

"At this point?" Race asked, scoffing at the end as he walked further into the room. "I don't fuckin' care. You've dragged me a million miles from nowhere, away from my fiance`, and caused me more trouble then this job was worth. If you don't have the caps, I'll take it out of your blood."

Suddenly, just as he ran his fingers over his gun, Race got a sinking and sick feeling in his gut. The excitement died out quickly, and the room felt colder. The clouds moved out from the front of the moon, casting a pale blue light through the windows and illuminating the room. He slowly turned his head to the left, and saw a tall and dark figure standing near the wall. "Who the hell are you?" Race asked, squinting to see the figure better.

Elias didn't answer, just kept staring at Race. He now knew his kind. A kind he had dealt with for years. The kind of men who don't care about morality or what the parameters of their job are. They want blood. But it was their blood that they cupped in their hands, as it spilled out of them. It was always their blood. Avery turned to Elias, his hand still resting on his gun. "You deaf?"

Elias still didn't answer. Race tuned in his senses, wanting to know this man was just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he didn't feel that sense of urgency he felt from any of the others. He felt a unnatural calm, and coldness. He didn't like it. "You know what?" He asked. "I don't fuckin' care who you are. Just get the hell out of here, and count yourself lucky I feel merciful."

He began to turn back to Avery when a deep rumbling voice called out from the man. "No." he stopped and looked back at Elias, who was now snarling at him. "Here's what's gonna happen..." His words were as calm and cold as his demeanor, his eyes unblinking and fixed with an intense gaze on Race. It made him uneasy. "You're gonna draw. I'm gonna kill you. And that's that."

Race scoffed, smiling as well, then shook his head, turning straight towards Elias. "Old man, do you have any idea who the fuck I am?" he asked, a sure-fire confidence in his voice.

"No." Elias answered again, this time quicker. "And I don't care. The fact I don't know you, just means you're gonna die quicker."

Race wanted to call the old man cocky, but that calmness told him that he wasn't being cocky. He was telling the truth. "I'm the fastest draw in New Vegas. I've killed more men then I can count, and I'll still be be when I'm twice your age!"

"Kid, you're not in New Vegas anymore. You're in Texas. Now...draw...your...fucking...gun."

Race snarled and looked into man's eyes, wanting to feed off the fear that he knew had to be there. But when he looked into them, all he found was darkness. Cold and barren of any emotion. No fear, or worry. Only a cold stillness. And inside, he knew. He knew this was the fight he never wanted.

There was a eerie pause that seemed to linger in the night's chilled air for a infinity. It seemed as if everyone's breathing had stopped. Elias's heart was steady, his hand resting on the leather holster strapped to his hip. While Race's heart was in his throat, beating like humming-bird wings. His hand rested on the black Kevlar holster, ready to pull at any time.

They stared into each-other's eyes. Elias took a long a long and deep breath. Then, in a flash, they both pulled. The 9mm barrel is shorter then the .357's, less distance the travel out of the holster.

Race had pulled that pistol half-way out, before a bullet hit him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards onto a flimsy wooden table and against the tin wall. The table broke and he slid down the wall, blood streaking down it behind him, and the moonlight shinning through a new hole. Elias' gunsmoke was visable in the light.

There was silence once more, and Avery couldn't believe what he had seen. Elias twirled the revolver once as he holstered it. He pulled his trench-coat over the gun and walked forward, spurs clanging against the floor along with the sound of his heavy boots.

Avery pushed the mattress over onto the ground, seeing Race propped up against the wall, his chin touching his chest and blood coming out of the corner of his mouth. Avery looked down to the holster, and found that his gun hadn't even been fully drawn. They both had drawn at the same time, but Elias drew ten times faster. At the very least.

Elias looked down at Race, as silent as ever. He then reached into his pocket, puling out the keys to the jail-cell and walking over to Avery. Elias grabbed one of the bars and inserted the key, twisting then sliding the door open, only to look back at a dead Race. "Well..." Elias mumbled in a low tone as they both stared at him. "That was anti-climatic."

Avery slowly looked over at Elias, hearing the true disappoint in his voice. "A-Anti-climatic?" he asked in near shock.

Elias nodded then looked over at him, shrugging lightly. "Kinda hoped my first showdown since my return would have been more memorable."

Avery huffed out a breath, staring down at the blood beginning to pool around Race. He couldn't take his eyes off it, couldn't stop repeating the scene of Elias' unnaturally quick drawing of his gun. It played over and over again in his mind, but he still couldn't believe it.

"So..." Avery mumbled and looked at Elias. "What do with him?"

Elias stared down at the young, dead boy. His teeth were gritting as he thought to himself; that kid actually thought he was going to win. He looked over at Avery and inhaled deeply. "Bury him out back with the rest."

Elias moved out of Avery's way and took his hat off, running his fingers through his black and grey hair, pushing it back then putting his hat back on. Avery's sigh was shaky but he managed it, wrinkling his brow and nodding his head. "I'll get the shovels."

Carter leaned forward, one hand on the back of Allison's chair and the other on the desk as his eyes narrowed on the screen of the console. Hendrix, Vic, Samantha, and the Doc also stood around. There was a brief pause, then a sudden flash and pop that made everyone jump. "Jesus Christ..." Carter mumbled in disbelief.

Allison rewound the footage, slowing it down even. Elias's draw was so unnaturally fast that, even slowed down, it looked as if he drew at an average speed. Carter shook his head, taking a step back and staring in disbelief as Alison hit pause. "Kid never stood a chance." The doc said with his arms crossed.

Hendrix smirked and shook his head, reaching back and rubbing the back of his neck. "Incredible." he simply mumbled.

"No, I've seen some incredible shit in my life..." Samantha stated, staring down at Elias' frozen picture of his arm extended out with the gun still pointed down at Race. "But that's not incredible. Incredible was seeing one of my girls service twenty guys in an hour. That right there is fuckin' unnatural."

The doc leaned forward and tapped the pipboy on Elias's arm. "You think it's the pip-boy? Helps him draw faster or aim more accurately?"

"Has to be." Hendrix said as if stating a fact. "There's no other explanation. Nobody's that good. Nobody."

"Or," Elias voice spoke up loudly from the doorway of Allison's kitchen. They all looked up at him, seeing he wasn't in his normal clothes. Instead he just wore a dark T-shirt and jeans, his hands in his pockets with his thumbs on the outsides. "You realize that I've been doing this fifty years and have had more training then a NCR ranger and a Brotherhood paladin combined."

Allison looked to her left at the doc, then to her right at Carter who looked back down at her. She nodded and stood up, staring into Elias' eyes and seeing they were more relaxed and accepting then they had been since he arrived. "Walk with me." She said. "I got a proposition for you."

The gravel crunched under their boots, and Allison kept looking over at Elias, noting how different he looked without his normal gear on. "Dry-cleaners." he suddenly said, noticing she was looking at him for the fifth time. He looked over and down at her, into her sapphire eyes. "The clothes, they're at the dry-cleaners."

"Makes sense." She chuckled, bowing her head with a smile and reaching up to tuck her bang behind her ear. But Elias' hand suddenly caught her wrist. She looked up at him and he glanced down and over at her. "Leave it." he said. "You look good the way you are."

She suddenly felt her cheeks grow warm with blush, and Elias managed a small smile as he noticed it from the corner of his eye. She looked away, listening to kids play off in the distance. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and any signs of the horrors of yesterday were seemingly long gone. "I want you to stay." She suddenly said, catching Elias's attention.

He looked over and down at her, wrinkling his brow lightly as his heart began to race. She looked up at him and grabbed his arm, stopping them both in the middle of the road, turning towards one another. "I-I mean we, we want you...to stay. I know you had plans to leave when your debt was payed, but...we need you."

Elias looked into her eyes, seeing the truth in her plea. He sighed and looked over towards the foreboding metal gate. "I dunno if I can." he mumbled, his heart suddenly racing more. He didn't exactly know why, but all he could think was of a familiar feeling from years ago. That he just told a lie.

She looked towards the gate, then back up at him and gripped his arm. "Then-" He looked back down at her, his gaze halting her in mid-sentence. She swallowed hard, forcing down any fears or hesitation. "Then what if I said that I wanted you to stay...that I need you."

Elias felt his heart abruptly stop then start back up again, skipping a beat. He inhaled and shook his head, trying to back away. "You don't need a man like me in your life. You don't need me in your life, trust me."

She gripped his arm more and pulled him back towards her, his eyes catching hers. He wanted to be angry for being stopped, but he couldn't. All he could feel was his heart, thundering out of his chest. "There's a lot of shit I don't need in my life, Elias. But you're not one of them. You're someone who can help things, who can deal with the shit in this town that myself and Carter can't."

He stared down at her for a minuet, then looked away and gave a long winded sigh, wondering if it was actually possible for him to settle down here. For him to set up shop and become the town Peacekeeper. The Sheriff. "I know you've been through a lot, and I won't pry." she said shaking her head. "But...I need you here, Elias. I need you to help me...I want you to help me."

He looked over at her, feeling her hand slide down his arm until her hand crossed over his. He had the sudden instinctual urge to grip her hand, and so he did. He could see her breathing get faster as she stared up at him. "Please." she said so softly it could barely have been considered a whisper.

Elias felt something inside him shift, and any desperation was suddenly snuffed out. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and lightly nodded his head. A sudden tingle of butterflies erupted in Allison's stomach, and a smile spread across her lips. He opened his eyes and gave a definite nod. "Alright. Okay, I'll do it." He paused, staring off into space for a moment. "For you...Not for them. You told me to find something worth fighting for, so...I'll do this for you. Not them."

Hearing him say this made her happy beyond words, and her smile grew even wider. Elias turned his head, a worried look in his eyes, but Allison didn't pay attention to it. She leaned up and slid her arms across his shoulders and around his neck, pulling herself tight against him.

Once again his heart stopped and he froze, feeling her warm body pressed tightly against him. Her firm chest pressed against his. He enjoyed the feeling, and softly slid his arms around her waist, his eyes closing and embracing her tightly. The warmth that flowed between them was calming, and enticing. They embraced, perhaps, for longer then they should have. Neither one of them willing to admit they didn't want the feeling to end. But like all good things, it did.

Allison slid her hand down Elias' arm, sending a riveting feeling of pins and needles up his arm. "I-I'm gonna go tell the others the good news..." she said in a tone that suggested that she didn't want to leave him to do so. Elias simply smirked and nodded. She smiled in return and hesitantly turned away, going back towards her house with a growing smile.

Elias watched her walk away, then closed his eyes and bowed his head, letting out a breathy sigh. "What have you done...?" he thought to himself, reaching up and punching the bridge of his nose and wrinkled his brow. "Why did you go and promise her that? Why would you let her continue to think things about you?"

He shook away the voice and attempted to reason it away, thinking to himself that it was time to stop running. It had gotten him nowhere but unhealthy and even more broken. "What about when she finds out who you really are? Do you plan on keepin' your past a secret forever? And what about when start thinking more and more about what's done and gone, what then?"

Anger swept over him like a dust-storm, causing his body to grow warmer on the inside. 'Shut up' he mumbled to himself, clinching his fist tightly. 'Just shut your goddamned mouth...'

Elias suddenly heard the distinct sound of boots crunching behind him, and he opened his eyes. "Elias?" Avery's voice called out from behind him. Elias raised his head and turned around, seeing Avery standing before him with an inquisitive look. "You okay?"

Elias looked him in the eyes and nodded his head. "Yeah," he gruffly replied, still feeling the warmth of anger inside of him, in his beating heart. "yeah I'm fine. I thought you left town, what are you still doing here?"

Avery reached up, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked around. "I was gonna head-out, but...I dunno, I think I'll stick around a while longer. See about paying off my debt to you and the town. Plus...It's not to bad here. Maybe I need a break from my little journey."

Elias nodded his head and huffed out a breath. "Well, whatever you do, best of luck to you." He began to turn away when something abruptly stopped him. He turned his head and looked back at Avery. "Hey, you...said earlier about knowing what it was like. To feel helpless. How did you deal with it?"

Avery frowned softly and quickly glanced away before looking back into Elias' coal colored eyes. "I didn't...Elias. I didn't deal with it. I threw myself into it, too willing to accept it, too willing to accept death. When I didn't die, I couldn't stop feeling it. Couldn't stop feeling like I was falling deeper and deeper into darkness."

Elias' heart was once again in his throat, choking him and making it hard for him to breath or speak. "Sounds...familiar. Do you still feel like you're falling?"

Avery stared back then managed a smile, and a huff of a singular chuckle. He let the smile fade and closed his eyes, nodding his head slowly. When he opened his eyes, he found a disappointed look in Elias', as they drifted away from him. "And I will continue to fall, until I find something or someone that can catch me and make me feel whole again."

Elias looked back at Avery, but not directly at him. "Is that what your 'journey' is all about?"

Avery paused for a moment, letting the question gather weight. He knew the answer, but honestly had never truly thought about it that way. "Yeah, I suppose it is. Maybe I'll find it here, maybe I won't. But I'm not gonna find it if I don't let myself live to see tomorrow."

Living to see tomorrow was something Elias had dreaded for years now. He'd become disgusted by it. Truly and completely disgusted. He couldn't remember the last time he woke up without that feeling. But now, he'd be waking up in the same spot for...god knows how long. Until he couldn't take it anymore? When would that be, if that feeling would ever come?

More questions, and not enough answers. He nodded his head to Avery and turned away, walking back towards Allison's house. He felt very tired, and very old. Like he was being weighed down by an anvil on his back. The hot sun was beating down on him, but yet he felt chilled to his very bones. He needed sleep, and didn't reckon anyone would mind if he napped away some of the day.

Avery watched Elias walk away, then noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. It was a man pulling a wagon with a coffin on it, up to the graveyard where another man was finishing digging the hole. Avery knew what happened. But to the rest of the town, Elias' actions would be a myth. And it all began, one cold night.