Tall, black coat and hat and with the fire behind him he looked as if he just stepped out of the mouth of hell itself. Denny and the others were behind me and I was suddenly gripped with a fear I hadn’t felt before. Something in my gut told me this was who killed Howard, I wanted to pull my gun but Denny was quicker and assumed the same I did. “Hey amigo,” he yelled, “Did you see our buddy?” the man didn’t answer and Denny pulled his gun either out of anger, frustration, or just because. I’ll never know because the second Denny drew, he was dead. The shock sobered us, the man drew so fast no one saw him move, I stood over Denny and he said his last words. “Diablo.”

I don’t remember moving, only getting on my horse and preparing to ride. I turned and in desperation fired at the figure in the darkness; he fell. I shot him down with one wild shot; I think the twins were just as surprised. As I begun to ride away I heard a voice on the wind,

 “Not even death will stop me from taking you in.”

“I turned just in time to watch him get up and shoot down the twins with one shot each; I rode until my horse died from exhaustion. I’ve been on the run ever since, every time I close my eyes I see him, I can hear his horse come for me every night, up until now I could out run him.” 

The reporter had listened to his words, but hadn’t written much down, as “Nate” began his rambling, Bill wrote down the facts about what he knew and stayed to be polite, no one knew if “Nate” had any living relatives so Bill stayed until “Nate” fell asleep. Bill quietly left the room and let “Nate” sleep. 

What he didn’t know was “Nate” wasn’t asleep, he was listening to the sound that was haunting him for decades; the clicking of horses’ hooves, and it was coming closer, somewhere in the darkness, in the dim moonlight, spurs jingled as its owner walked down the dim corridor. ‘Nate” sat up, and stared at the doorway, his heart monitor began to flux as his heart quickened; he was here.

The doorway filled with the shadow of a tall, thin, man, a black duster covered his body and a black hat covered his head. The only thing that identified him as a lawman was the five-pointed badge which seemed to have a life its own as it shined like a living entire thing. The Marshall peered down on the man in the bed, with an almost sympathetic look in his deep dark eyes; then nodded to him.

“I told you, nothing would stop me from taking you in, not even death.” The heart monitors flat lined, and alarms went off, but there was nothing the staff could do. Somewhere between what we know as death, and the after-life is a jail cell and in that cell sits four; with a man with a badge sitting guard, somewhere in a town called Twilights End.