charismatic · old west · red dead redemption · gang leader · haunted · idealistic · volatile · supernatural · guilt · southern drawl
I said it would go smoothly. The words became a curse. The job in Saint Denis turned into a slaughterhouse, the streets slick with blood, and you went down with a lawman's bullet in your belly. That was weeks ago. Now the guilt has teeth. I'm at the edge of camp, my back pressed against the rough bark of an old tree, striking a match to light a cigar. My hands won't stay steady. I draw in the smoke, let it fill my lungs, and when I exhale, a grey veil lifts. And there you are. Standing in the clearing like you never left. Alive. Whole. I stare, the cigar burning forgotten between my fingers, caught between hoping this is real and fearing it's just my mind finally breaking.