Sal's POV:
I swirled the whiskey in my slider and watched the orange amber color slide smoothly across the sides of the glass. It was satisfying. But I was also thirsty.
I downed the glass in one gulp, savoring the burn of the alcohol and the gasoline-like taste. Was it just me, or was it that every town I went to had horrible alcohol?
I poured more into the glass, hoping to lose myself into the amber liquid and the alive hum of the chatter in the saloon once again. It had been a long day of riding to look for a new town after leaving out of Griffintomb, some 30 miles back east. I saw the signs on the houses, this was Providence. I hoped that maybe this time the sheriff wouldn't be a sexist, homophobic bigot.
That's the reason I left. And, well, sleeping with the sheriff's daughter also puts you on his bad side, I guess.
I was just tilting my head back when I heard a laugh and tables and chairs being knocked over. The bartender shouted to stop, but the next chair was sent crashing into the piano.
There was a tall man with dark hair and green eyes and several scars all over his face. He was dressed in dirty army clothing.
"Get your hands off my sister," He said in a gravelly voice.
I noticed there was a girl in a white dress behind him. She had his eye shape, but everything else was different. She had golden hair tied in an elaborate braided bun, my own ashy gold plait looking like scum next to it. She was short and had perfect skin, except that her eyes were milky white. She turned her head and looked right at me.
No, she wasn't. Her eyes looked right through me. She was blind.
The man next to the scarred one laughed.
"I'm verrrrryyy sure your sister will be much happier with me. I know how to pleassssse someone," He slurred. His appearance was as filthy and oily as his voice.
The soldier stood his ground.
"I said don't touch her. If you do it again, you won't have anything to touch with that isn't riddled with holes." He laid a hand in his gun, sweeping his stained light blue coat back.
"I can protect myself, Derek." The blind girl stood up, but was forced back down into her seat with the men looking at her. The supposed Derek glaring, the other man smiling wickedly.
"She's coming me with me, army boy." He slammed Derek's head into the table quickly, the bartender protesting weakly. Caught off guard, Derek crumpled to the ground, out cold. No blood, thankfully.
The man grabbed the girl's arm and began to drag her to the door.
"Wait-What happened to my brother? Derek? HEY, STOP! Let me go!" She squeaked, pushing futilely at the hand on her arm. At this point, I decided that I wasn't just going to sit by anymore. I downed my shot of whiskey and marched over, tapping the man on the shoulder.
"Hey, the lady said stop. Don't you know a denial when you hear one?" I said, stepping between them.
He only turned around and smiled, looking me over with a sneer that made me want to shoot it off.
"You don't look half bad either. You could join us too, in fact." He said.
"Are you deaf? Let her go." I snapped. He was really tugging on my last straw.
"Nah, I'm fine. But you're coming with me too." He reached for me.
I twisted his arm and kneed his, ah, private parts. As he yelped, I slammed my foot into his left toes.
"Mmm, tempting, but you aren't my type, exactly." I said as he keeled over, his face contorted in pain. He gasped, then began to laugh.
"You're gonna die-" He was cut off short by a gunshot from behind. The girl jumped at the sudden sound. A hole in his heat began to bleed, and I looked behind to see Derek holding a gun, swaying dizzily.
I tapped the girl's shoulder.
"You okay?" I said.
She nodded, her head looking around blankly.
"You're brother's stumbling towards you, in case you were wondering." I said, grabbing her shoulders and facing her in the right direction.
"My god, Der. Did you kill that guy?" She asked anxiously. He mumbled an apology to her for scaring her.
"Sarah, what else should I have done?" He asked.
"I don't know, maybe we should take him to the authorities?" Said a new voice. It was feminine and sweet. She had a slightly overpowering European accent. French? I found myself hanging onto every word.
"Literally anything else?" Said another new voice. It was a man's, but soft and friendlier than Derek's. I turned towards the voices.
A woman and a man were staring at us, amusement in the man's eyes and concern in the girl's. The girl had curly medium length black hair, thick and shiny, falling freely down her back. Her eyes reminded me of the light blue Juniper berries I had seen in my hometown. Her skin was similar to the color of sugar cookies, dotted with darker chocolate freckles. She was short but had a flexible looking, agile form. She was wearing a dark vermillion trench coat, and from what I could see, tight, flexible black pants and the collar white shirt. She had a dark red beret with two black ribbons falling freely from it, sitting neatly on her head.
The man had a healthier complexion, like toasted cashews. Sun bleached hair and compassionate brown eyes completed the look. His eyes were really dark brown, like chocolate. He was taller than the rest of us but shorter than Derek by a few inches. Wearing a dark yellow jacket and a light blue suit. They both looked young, but more so the girl. She was perhaps 18. The man was maybe 26.
"Excuse me, but, who's speaking?" Said the girl, Sarah, in white.
"Oh, my apologies. I'm Julian Redpine. This is my, um, fian-"
"I think what he means to say was friend. I'm Cassandra. Um, no last name," The girl said softly. She stumbled over her boots, red beret falling on the floor. He nodded meekly in response. She stood up, stretched a hand in my direction and grinned. I took it, smiling back at Cassandra. No last name, huh? My bet is that she's a circus performer or orphan of some sort.
"Right. Well, anyway. About that man, the one you shot. That was a member of the Hyena outlaws," He said briskly, almost nonchalantly. He shouldn't have used that tone.
"The Hyenas, as in the largest outlaw gang in the West?" I said. He nodded. I swallowed.
Ah. That was the name of the gang that killed my sister. Wasn't it.
"Don't forget us, little girl. We're the Hyenas. Spread the word."
I remembered that cold voice. Those emotionless eyes. The blank, remorseless grin as he shot my big sister.
I could only manage to say one sentence as I walked out of the saloon. I was going to find out where they were hiding, and kill them all.
"They're going to pay."
