The date was 1879 in Tombstone, Arizona. Johnny Ringo sat outside the O.K corral during this warm summer's night. Johnny was at the age of twenty-nine. He had drifted here from Texas soon after the Hoodoo War. At fourteen, his father had died on their way out west. Johnny then, with his mother's best wishes, moved to Texas to have proper schooling. At school Johnny shocked others for being pretty smart, all of the teachers knew this young man had a bright future. In his spare time Johnny worked at small stable and there he learned how to ride horses and shoot a gun. Once again Johnny proved he was better than others. He returned home but he could not handle the responsibility of looking after his heartbroken mother and three younger sisters so Johnny left home again, and with his savings he got himself a horse... and a gun.... and rode off to seek his fortune. Instead he fell in with a bad bunch and all his dreams of becoming a cattle rancher became skewed as he turned to rustling. He came to Tombstone alone and, not knowing a single soul in this new thriving town, he entered a bar and sat himself down. A bunch of men came to him and asked if he was a good shot. With a laugh Johnny took them outback and showed how good he was. With a few rounds of drinks and some pats on the back Johnny had made friends with the men known as The Cowboys. He became one of them, and they gave him a red sash. A year passed and Johnny had gotten himself a a full time room at the Blue water Inn. During the lazy warm days Johnny would walk around town with the others and his new best friend, Bill, and during the nights they would ride into different towns and see if there was trouble being started. All of the men shot and killed others but Johnny never killed a soul in his life. The men laughed at him, calling him a chicken, but Johnny believed in heaven and hell, and killing people got yourself in hell. During his stay there Johnny had met himself a fine young girl named Linda who lived with his two sisters Hanna and Lilly. Johnny always saw her at the saloon at night. He would sit down, have a few drinks with her and laugh. He liked her... and she knew it too. After a month or so Johnny had taken Linda as his full time girl; his first time was even with her. He started to think of marriage one night after taking her back to her home. He walked home looking at the stars and smiled. Yes... tomorrow he would ask her, but tomorrow never happened. Johnny was woken by the sounds of men outside in the street. He ran down stairs and saw two men kneeling with guns to their heads. He looked at his friend, Bill, who was holding the gun and asked what was the meaning of this. Bill looked at Johnny and bit his lip. He then told Johnny that these three men were runaways and had come into town late last night. They went into Linda's home and raped and murdered all of the sisters. Johnny stood there. He felt his heart being torn apart. Everything that once was whole in Johnny's mind was no long there. Johnny took his gun from his belt, a cold stare in his eyes, and emptied his gun into the men's heads. Everyone stood there in shock at seeing the young man kill in a blink of an eye. Johnny then put his gun back and walked to Linda's house. With his bare hands he buried each of the sisters in the graveyard. Now a year had passed. Johnny was now known as the fastest gun in the West. He killed more men than his friends. His life was now killing... and that was it. Johnny gave a deep sigh and looked up at the full moon looking down at him.
He then heard a voice. "Little late for such a handsome man sitting all alone here." Johnny turned and saw a tall, young, beautiful woman standing there. Her hair was a dark blonde and hung down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright blue, shining from her fair skin. Her body was wrapped tight in a dark red, leather dress. Leather was hard to come by lately... and it was strange seeing a woman dressed like that. She also wore tall black cowboy boots. Her rose-colored lips smiled down at Johnny as he lay in the hay. "And who are you, Miss?" The woman smiled. "I have many names... but you can call me Bridget." "Pleased to met you, Bridget. I never saw you in town before. Did you just get here?" "I'm passing though, in fact, only spending the night. I was at the saloon tonight and I saw you. Your face looks different from the others. Something about it made be wanna come here and talk with you." Johnny gave a weak smile, "I'm no different than the other men in there. You're wasting your time anyway." The woman then slowly sat down in the hay next to him. She smelled like burned roses. "And why am I wasting my time?" "I'm not a good person to talk to." "Is that so?" Johnny gave a nod then looked back at the moon. The woman looked over his face. "You miss her... don't you?" Johnny snapped out of his day dream and looked at her. "Who?" "The woman you loved once. She was taken away... and your heart still bleeds for her." Johnny looked at the woman shocked. "How did you know?" She smiled and placed her finger on his lips. "I know this, Johnny. I know lots of things." It then dawned of Johnny that he never gave his name out. He became nervous. Her pale, beautiful face looked at his and then slowly she kissed him. When the kiss broke he looked at her. "Why did you do that?" "Because you wanted to first." Johnny then smiled and started to get up. When the woman's hand held his leg down. "Please don't go." Johnny looked at her and smiled. He didn't know what just came over him but he reached for her and took her into his arms and started to kiss her in a rough way. Their lips pressed together and he gave out a loud groan. Soon Bridget pulled away and looked at him breathing hard. "You can forget about her, Johnny. Forget about her and spend the rest of your life numbed to that pain." Johnny looked at her confused. "What are you talking about?" Bridget smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. "Think about it. Never feeling pain. Forgetting your lost love. I can give you that... all tonight... right now in fact." Johnny smiled. "So your that kind of girl, huh?" Bridget's eyes filled with rage. "I am no whore. I am a giver. I'm not giving you my body. I'm giving you a cold, numb life... without any pain... without your mind telling you right from wrong." Johnny then felt a chill and wanted to get away from this strange young woman. He felt his heart give a jump just thinking of Linda. Johnny then felt the words slip out of his mouth. "Yes. Please give me that." Bridget smiled. She then took out a small hunting knife and placed it in Johnny's hands. "Do it." Johnny no longer knew what he was doing. A force had taken over his body... and he was now doing whatever she told him to do. Slowly, Johnny took the long silver blade and slid it across his open palm. At first he felt pain... and then nothing. Bridget's glowing blue eyes locked with his. "Now saw the words, Johnny Ringo... say them." Johnny felt his mouth open and then he said in a hush cold voice, "Take it away. Take it all away... Make me feel no more." And like that Johnny looked down and saw the knife was gone but his palm was bleeding a great deal... and yet no pain came. Johnny let out a harsh breath and looked up at Bridget. She smiled and then leaned over and kissed his lips. "I'll see you soon, Johnny Ringo... real soon." And like that her smooth lips were off his. He opened his eyes... and she was gone. Johnny then tried to snap out of whatever just happened. He tied his red sash around his palm and walked home. The next day he was a different man and maybe people saw it. Johnny passed that next two years killing people who didn't have to die. His name became even more known than even but he felt nothing. He never cried... and never loved. All he felt was hate. And he never saw Bridget again... until five months later near the creek. July 1882. Johnny looked at Holliday's hand. He knew he had his chance now. He could just pull at his gun and fire away at the sick looking man's head but something stopped him. For the first time in what seemed like forever, every life he had taken... every pained feeling he ever felt... and all of the lost faces caught up to him in a blink of an eye. He knew what he had done, and he knew what his faith was. His hand laid still and he heard Holliday's gun fire. Then, for the first time, he felt pain in the side of his head. He had just been shot. Warm blood ran down his cheek and Johnny felt the world spin. As he started to feel himself fall he wanted to see Linda's beautiful face as the last thing in his mind before he died. But all he saw was Bridget, still looking the same in the red leather dress. She was leaning on a tree behind Doc Holliday. She smiled at him and blew him a kiss. Fear rushed inside him. Not for his soul but for Doc Holliday's. As he started to trip forward he tried to yell at Holliday, tried and tell him the devil was behind him but Doc yelled at him thinking he still had a fight in him. Johnny started to fall back. He prayed to God that Doc would be saved but before he fell he saw those two cutting blue eyes... and the darkness. THE END