Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights over the Magnificent 7 characters used in this story, which has been written for the joy of writing only (whether it be good writing or no) and for no other purpose (such as monetary gain). The Mag 7 characters/aspects of the story are owned by Trilogy Entertainment Group, the Mirisch Group and MGM. 'The Devil's Song' lyrics are from Big Pig's 'Oink' CD.
| I was born in the gutter With a spear in my heart. Crawled out on my belly I was already smart. |
The Past
It was a cold winter’s night, the streets were awash with mud and muck thrown carelessly from the dingy buildings that passed for homes and crowded next to each other.
A sudden, ear-splitting scream rent the air, followed quickly by another and another. Followed by …silence.
Inside one of the dismal abodes lay a heavily pregnant woman, her legs spread apart. Blood covered her skirts and the table on which she lay. Another woman, also covered in blood, was desperately tugging at the small body being pushed from between the woman’s legs.
"Push again. HARDER!"
The woman gave a final heart-wrenching scream and pushed with all her fading strength. Her head sagged back to the table and her arms and legs went limp as she sank into oblivion. Just as death took her she heard another scream – the baby was born.
The mid-wife knew the woman wasn’t going to make it but she yelled at her to keep pushing anyway. They were so close, so close. When the woman gave her final push the mid-wife grabbed the baby’s head, then shoulders and pulled as hard as she could, it was the child’s last chance. The baby came free and immediately started flailing its arms and legs about, screaming in rage at the torment it had suffered and the complete shattering of its world.
The Present
The buzzard’s circled slowly before coming to a rest on top of the overturned prison wagon and peering cautiously at the forms on the ground. The stench of blood and decay filled their nostrils. They waited until they knew it was safe to feed then spread their massive wings and glided down to the ground to hop warily over to their soon-to-be meal, their clumsiness on the ground belying their gracefulness in the air. Sensing no danger they hungrily leant over the forms and began to gorge themselves.+ + + + + + +
"See those buzzards circlin’ JD?" Vin pointed to a spot in the sky where three or four dark shapes were slowly spiralling downwards.
"Yeah, I see them," JD answered.
"We’d better go check it out."
As the two riders came up closer to where the buzzards had landed they could easily see the upturned prison wagon – empty. Vin drew his mare’s leg, JD his pistol, and they urged their horses closer. Both men paled as they came around the wagon to see the buzzards feasting.
"I think I’m gonna be sick," JD mumbled.
Vin let a shot off to scare the birds away.
"Now I know I’m gonna be sick," JD said as he stared at two half eaten bodies. "I sure hope they were dead before the buzzards started on ‘em."
He quickly climbed down and darted back behind the wagon to unburden his stomach of lunch. Vin dismounted too and, pulling his bandanna over his nose and mouth to avoid some of the stench walked over for a closer inspection.
Damn! They smell bad.
He knelt down by one of the bodies but the sight was too much for him and he turned away. He had to force himself to turn back to see how the man had died.
"God, Vin. How can ya stand it?" called JD, hand over nose and mouth but not coming any closer.
Vin ignored him and, using his knife, flicked aside the rags that used to be the dead man’s jacket. Using his knife again he turned what remained of the man’s head, first one way then the other. Getting up he did the same to the second corpse. When he was finished he walked back to JD, gave him a silent look, then went behind the wagon and quietly divested himself of his lunch too.
Shit! I definitely ain’t goin’ over there then, JD thought.
When Vin came back he was his usual unflappable self – if a shade or two paler. "JD, see if ya can find the horses from the wagon."
JD quickly did as told glad to get away from the grisly scene, while Vin started looking around for sign. He found what he was looking for almost straight away – tracks of a third person. Damn!
Vin followed the tracks around the site. He could see how they’d left the wagon – there was traces of blood, old and new, on the floor and bars of the wagon – to approach the spot where the two men had fallen when the wagon turned. There was blood on the ground here – lots of it. He could see how the bodies had been dragged to where they now lay and he cringed inwardly as he saw that the third person had danced around the corpses, splattering blood in a wide circle. The tracks eventually left the spot and headed out into the desert – the same direction that JD had headed. Shit!
"JD!" he called, but there was no answer. He ran back to his horse and leapt into the saddle. Pulling hard on the reins he urged the horse towards the desert.+ + + + + + +
JD had learned quite a bit from riding with the quiet tracker over the last few months. So, before he shot off into the desert he did a quick scout around the site looking for any tracks the missing horses might have left behind. He found them easily enough; one of the horses was still dragging part of the rigging from the wagon. Damn! The tracks led straight into the desert. He looked around for landmarks before heading out.
He’d learned a lot – but not enough – he didn’t notice the third set of tracks, very faint amongst the indentations left by the horses. Tracks left by a human with traces of blood still evident in the slight hollows.
| Let me sing you the devil's song It’s a real tragedy Diabolique Diabolo |
The Past
The mid-wife had no children of her own so she took the orphaned babe into her home – such as it was. She cared for the child as best she could, though she was often away for long periods while she attended the women in her neighborhood, and for the first few years of its life the child knew a measure of contentment.
During the fifth year of the child’s life all happiness was stripped away in a single, frozen evening. Walking home late one winter’s night from a successful birthing the woman the small child knew as ‘Ma’ was brutally raped and murdered. Her lifeless body left laying in the gutter with the swill and the garbage, and the rats.
The child, asleep in bed, woke up screaming from a nightmare. All the rage that had been quietly simmering since its arrival into the world released in a whirlwind of fury and hate. Worried neighbors raced to the tiny apartment forcing their way through the flimsy door expecting the worst.
The child screamed on.
Hands, desperate to quieten the ear-piecing noise, held and rocked the trembling body, but the child screamed on.
The furious child’s voice grew hoarse and finally broke from the pressure and intensity of the screams and at last there was silence, but the child screamed on.
A doctor was summoned and a morphine shot given to calm the child. When it lay deep in drug-induced sleep the child dreamed again and in the dream the child screamed on and on and on.
The Present
JD found the horses after only thirty minutes or so of riding. They were slowly munching on a small bush, one of few in the area. He walked carefully over trying not to spook them.
"Hey boy," he called softly to one of them as he approached, hand outstretched. The horse looked at him suspiciously and turned back to the bush.
JD quickly checked them both over for injuries. Aside from a touch of skittishness and a few minor scrapes they seemed fine. He found the piece of rigging from the wagon lying on the ground nearby. JD checked the horses tack, the buckles that had held the rigging were undone. He removed his hat and ran his hand through his mop of black hair.
He suddenly felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck – he was being watched. Both horses lifted their heads, their ears flicking in the direction of a clump of low bushes nearby.
JD started to walk over.+ + + + + + +
"JD!" Vin called when he caught up to him and saw him approaching the bushes. He wasn't sure but he thought he could see a shadow amongst the branches.
JD changed direction when he heard his name and headed towards his friend.
"Horses are fine, Vin. Should be able to take 'em back to town without any trouble."
"Good. See anythin' else?'
"No, but I was jus' gonna check those bushes over there." JD pointed to the patch of scrub.
Vin got down and checked the ground. The footprints were still visible here and there under and around the tracks of the horses and JD.
"Have ya found somethin' else?" JD asked as he watched Vin check all round stopping at the rigging then finally look toward the bushes. The tracks headed straight to them.
Vin pulled his gun and without a sound crept to the bush. JD didn't know what was going on but he followed the other man's lead and drew his gun as well. Vin indicated for him to stay back to cover him, so he stood - waiting and ready.
The Past
When the child finally woke up from its tormented sleep the rage and fury were again hidden away along with any other emotions the child might have had. The doctor could no longer here the screams but they were still there, echoing behind the closed doors of the child's mind.
When the traumatised child failed to respond to any form of stimuli over the next few weeks the doctor decided to admit it to an institution in the next city that took care of such problems. The neighbors that had taken the child in after the mid-wife's murder could not cope with the burden of an extra mouth to feed and readily agreed with the doctor.
And so it was that a five-year-old child, a little on the small side with brown wavy hair and vacant blue eyes was sent straight to hell.
The Present
Vin Tanner inched his way to the bushes. They were fairly thick and it was not easy to see through them but he could still make out a shadow that didn't fit in with the others. A shadow that remained motionless while the others moved as the branches and leaves swayed in the breeze. He paused just before reaching the bushes to listen. His sharp ears picked up the faint sound of a raspy breath.
He looked back at JD and nodded to let the younger man know to be ready then he stepped around the bushes. For a split-second he was confused, there was no one there. But then he looked closer at the bush and pushed in as far as a body could get to gain protection from the sun and be hidden from view sat a dirty, dishevelled boy. Eyes closed, face pale with a large bruise above one eye and the other eye swollen and red, a small cut on his bruised cheek. The youth's lips were dry and cracked, and there was bruising along the jawbone as well. His hands and wrists were also bruised and bloodied, his bare feet scraped and burned from the hot ground.
Vin stepped closer, nudging the youth with one boot. When there was no response he gestured to JD to come back to give him closer cover. JD came up quickly and skidded to a halt by the tracker's side.
"It's just a kid!" JD said, shocked. He hadn't seen the signs back at the wagon that Vin had and couldn't understand why Vin was being so cautious.
"Just keep him covered," Vin hissed at him as he got close enough to give the boy's shoulder a shake. As he did he looked down at the threadbare shirt and the pale skin of the boy's chest and quickly changed the mental description he'd built of the youth.
"It ain't a boy, JD. It’s a girl"
"Really?" He stepped closer, "She breathin'?"
"Jus' barely," Vin murmured placing his fingers on her throat to check her pulse.
"She gonna make it?"
"Dunno, help me get her out, JD"
They holstered their weapons and reached into the bushes to pull the unconscious girl free then lay her down in what little shade they could find and discreetly checked her over for further injuries - Vin surreptitiously checking for weapons as well.
"Where'd all this blood come from?" JD asked quietly. The girl's shirt and trousers were hard with dried blood; it had soaked right through to the skin.
Vin squinted up at him but chose to ignore his question instead saying, "We better get her back to town, let Nathan fix her up"
JD looked from Vin to the blood-soaked girl, an image of the dead prison guards flashing through his mind. He swallowed hard.
"Maybe we can get the horses hitched back on the wagon," JD suggested but Vin shook his head.
"Axle's broke"
In the end they built a travois using parts of the broken rigging, tree branches and their bedrolls. Once back at the wagon they collected some extra blankets from the storebox plus some canteens. Vin opened one of them and let some water dribble into the girl's mouth. There was no response, so he soaked a spare bandanna and used it to gently wipe the girl's face before tying it around her head.
"What'll we do 'bout the bodies?" JD asked when they finally finished and were ready to go.
While they'd been away from the wagon the buzzards had returned and continued their feeding.
"Leave 'em for the buzzards. Not much left of 'em anyway," came Vin's terse reply, "Let's get the hell outta here."
They'd fixed the travois to one of the wagon horses and slowly led them all back to Four Corners
| I'm surrounded by darkness Full of tension and fear Crawled out on my belly With a tongue for an ear |
The Past
The child spent the next three years confined to a small room shared with several other 'patients', allowed out once a day for fresh air and exercise.
Three years listening to the screams in its head, and now all around it as well. Learning how to hide from the abuse and the fear. Learning how to disappear.
In the third year, when the child was eight it disappeared altogether taking the pain and the lessons it had learned with it to the outside world.
Surviving was the child's only goal. For what purpose the child didn't know - only that it could not, would not give in. By the age of ten the child with the dead eyes knew every hiding place in the city and every mark from which to steal what it needed.
At twelve the child learned a new lesson when its world was rocked again. This time by three men made callous and hard by power and greed. They took what they wanted and left the child bruised and battered, full of hate, in a dark alley.
The child sat, holding its arms around its legs and gently rocking in the dark for hours listening again to the screams in its head. It seemed to the child then that they made such lovely music. At dawn it forced its shaking body to stand, it needed a place to hide from the day. The child pulled its torn clothes about it as best it could and crept away, eager to explore the new emotion and desire that the men's brutality had given birth to. A need now as strong within as survival - the need for revenge!
The child was tired of being beaten and used. It smiled to itself - though the face remained blank, the dead eyes flashed with sudden life - it was time to exact a little payment.
The Present
It was just passed dusk when the exhausted party finally arrived in Four Corners. Buck and Nathan, who had grown concerned when they hadn't returned at the expected time, met them at the edge of town.
The trip had been slow of necessity with frequent stops in an attempt to get the unconscious girl to drink some water. All attempts failed, she remained totally unresponsive. Both JD and Vin tried to keep her cool by wiping her face with the damp cloth and laying it either on her neck or across her brow when they moved on. The girl still hadn't stirred by the time they'd reached town. Vin tiredly filled Nathan in on the girl's condition and how they'd found her - it didn't look good. When Nathan started to take her to his rooms, Vin stopped him.
"To the jail, Nathan " he said.
"Cain't taker her there in this condition Vin, she'll never make it."
"That blood on her clothes ain't hers Nathan, it came from the guards on the wagon."
Nathan looked at the slight figure in his arms, she hardly weighed a thing and he couldn't believe that someone so frail in appearance could be any danger. He was about to make one of the worst decisions of his life.
"We'll set a guard then but she needs proper attention. Cain't give her that in some drafty jail cell." He promptly turned and headed towards his room.
Vin was too tired to argue further; he followed JD to the livery with the horses, leaving them in the care of the hostler before heading to the saloon in search of a drink.
He sat down by Chris and helped himself to a drink from the bottle on the table.
"Problems?" Chris asked taking in his friend's tired and worried appearance.
Vin sipped his drink then drank the rest in one swallow. As he refilled his glass he slowly began to tell Chris all he'd seen. Buck and JD joined them half way through the discourse and quietly listened as Vin described the tracks he'd found around the bodies and the blood in the wagon.
"Reckon the blood in the wagon had to be hers but some of it was older than the rest - a few days maybe, and she had fading bruises on her too."
"Coulda been self-defence, Vin," Chris suggested.
Vin gave him a sidelong glance before shaking his head.
"Gotta a bad feelin' 'bout this Chris," he murmured. "Both those guards had their throats slit ear to ear before being moved out into the open."
JD had gone pale again as Vin talked and he recalled the condition of the bodies after the buzzards had been at them.
"I need some fresh air," he stated abruptly as he stood and walked out of the saloon.
"Ya okay kid?" Buck called after him.
JD waved his concern off as he walked through the batwing doors. Buck wanted to follow him but he also wanted to hear what had Vin and the kid so shook up. It was the second bad decision of the night - he stayed.
"That little bitty thing Nathan took up to his room?" Like Nathan, Buck could hardly believe that the small, innocent looking girl could be capable of such a thing.
"That ain't all," Vin added, he poured another drink. He was drinking much more than he normally did but having to recount his discovery required it.
Chris and Buck waited, they both knew he'd continue when he was ready and both were a little nervous at what else he had to say. He obviously would prefer not to talk about it.
"What else Vin?" Buck finally asked, he could only wait so long.
Vin emptied his glass, the liquor burning its way down his throat and spreading its warmth throughout his body.
"They were …" Vin tried to find a way to say it without sounding brutal, he couldn't so he just said it. Chris and Buck sat in silence, shocked at the mutilations the tracker described and the thought of the grisly find in the embers of the fire. Vin had noticed the small fire and its half-burned contents when he'd been losing his lunch, the discovery ensuring the loss of his breakfast as well.
"Wooee! She sure musta been mad at them," Buck commented with a faltering smile. "Better make sure we stay on her good side."
"Presumin' she's got one," Vin added, he still had a really bad feeling.
Diabolique, diabolo
The Past
Approximately one year after the birth of revenge within its tortured mind and on its 13th birthday, the child left the city behind, never to return, travelling away from people and pain.
The next day the city's newspapers reported the gruesome deaths of three of its outstanding members - pillars of society all. They'd been found, tied and gagged, just outside the city early that morning. Their throats had been slit and other mutilations of their person were evident. The ground underneath them was soaked in their blood - a fire still smouldered close by.
The Present
"Where's she now?" Chris asked still shocked at Vin's report.
"Nathan's room."
Chris finished his drink and stood.
"Two of us will guard her at all times til she's moved to the jail. Vin, you go get some sleep, Ezra's on patrol so me 'n Buck will take first watch."
Chris and Buck reached Nathan's rooms within minutes, pausing slightly when they noticed the door ajar. Chris looked to Buck and nodded, Buck drew his gun. Then, with one hand on the doorknob, Chris drew his own weapon. He stopped before going further and pulled his hand away from the doorknob - it was wet and sticky, and in the dim light shining through the doorway he could see a deep red smear.
He kicked the door open in one violent move. "Nathan!"+ + + + + + +
The girl was dreaming. She didn't know where she was but she felt safe. She noticed the occasional bumping and swaying as she was taken to the town on the travois but these movements felt right and helped to comfort her. She tried to look around but there was no light to see by. She tried to move but there was no space and her movements were restricted by whatever it was that held her firm. That too felt right.
She strained to listen and, in her dream, could hear many sounds though she could not recognise them. She thought she heard a woman's voice but the voice was muffled by the cocoon the girl floated in - safe and warm, and oblivious to the world outside.
The girl lay in her safe haven and was happy.+ + + + + + +
Nathan tried again to give the girl water by dribbling a tiny amount over her lips. When the lips parted in response he quickly applied some more, smiling when she finally swallowed. He continued to give her water in this way until she stopped swallowing then he gently tapped her on the face to elicit further response, but there was nothing.
"At least we got some water into ya," he said softly to the girl.
He began to tend to the bruises and cuts he found all over her body, shaking his head at the extent of the abuse she had so obviously suffered. His anger grew as he noticed that some bruises were days old - their yellowish tint already fading. Nathan had to turn away from the extensive bruising and other damage he found around the girl's pelvic region. His anger gave way to fury and blinded him to the fact that the girl had stirred at his touch. When he had control again he turned back to apply some healing ointment to the worst of the contusions but, as his hands gently touched the tender skin, the girl came suddenly and violently fully awake.+ + + + + + +
Wrapped in the cocoon of her dream the girl became aware of a rhythmic constriction around her body and a feeling of unease started to grow within her. Her world, constant in its warmth and protection, was changing.
The tightening she felt became stronger and faster building in intensity along with the fear and the pain she now felt. She could feel her body being pushed out of her safe haven, and panic set in. The pain was immense, every muscle screamed in agony as the cocoon that held her squeezed tighter and tighter, moving her steadily through what seemed an impossibly small space. She didn't understand what was happening.
The screams of her mother and her own self, echoed through her head caught in a whirlpool of fear and panic, and pain. She found herself rushing through the darkness until one final touch of excruciating pain brought her into the light.
Nathan didn't hear a thing; the girl made no sound. All he knew was that one-minute he was tending to a deeply unconscious girl and the next she'd jumped from the bed and knocked him to the ground. He was as stunned by the dramatic change in her condition as he was by the girl's strength and reactions. Before he could gather his wits the girl had grabbed one of his knives from the cabinet nearby and buried it deep into his shoulder. She drew it back out to attack again but he moved away and kicked out at her legs knocking her off balance. She fell to the floor with a thud, the knife falling from her grip to land underneath her barely noticing the pain as the blade sliced through skin and muscle, more determined to escape at this point than anything else.
Nathan reached for her again but his wounded shoulder hampered his movements and she easily twisted away from him. She brought one leg up and forced her heel into his stomach. He gasped and doubled over with renewed pain. The girl dragged herself to her feet; fresh blood flowing over her already bloodstained clothing. She pulled one of Nathan's medical books from the cabinet and brought it crashing down onto the injured man's skull. Nathan collapsed under the blow to lay unconscious in a pool of blood.
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