The Ringed Rider: The Dead Rise Again part 5

Sally’s young life flashed before her eyes. Memories of her daddy holding her in his arms, playing with her in the garden, seeming so brave as they traveled the great frontier. She knew the horrible truth, this creature was not her father, nor anyone in her family, and it never would be. Her father taught her the strength to bear this vile hand life had dealt her, and in a moment she drew her gun, shoved the barrel into the beasts eye socket, and pulled the trigger.

“This is one hell you won’t escape from.” the Rider declared. Swiftly defeating Lee he kicked him back down the stairs, joining his creations in the coming damnation.

Upon escaping the chamber, Sarah bolted for the door, but the Rider stopped and opened one of the crates. “What are you doing?” exclaimed Sarah. For the first time in this horrific adventure, Sarah doubted the Rider’s actions.

“These things can still follow us.” the Rider answered as he dumped the crate of dynamite and lit several fuses. Now the two finally escaped on the Rider’s horse. It just barely began to gallop away as the building erupted in a mighty explosion.

Once the reached the edge of town, they paused just a moment to look at the inferno. Sarah thankful that they had escaped, but the Rider with a remorseful tone said “I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

Not able to look at her he answered “I Couldn’t save your family.”

Without hesitation she replied “Those things will never hurt anyone again. That’s what matters now.”

Now able to look at her the Rider said“I couldn’t have stopped them without you. Thank you.”

“The whole time we were in there, I knew we were going to make it.”

“How did you know?”

“Because that’s what you do.”

Sarah removed the dusky mask. Though she could not yet make out his face in the night sky, she would always know that this is was a face she could trust. When he embraced his new friend, he knew that he now had a faithful companion, whom he could share in all his secrets. Sarah lost her family on this horrible day, but at the days end she knew her life would carry on.

As they rode off into the moonlight, they grew too far away to hear it. Below the smoke and the fire and the melted steel, was one lone hellish howl emerging from the depths.

The End

The Ringed Rider: The Dead Rise Again Part 4

From behind Sarah a small female arm rose from the table her father was on. “Sarah that ‘s not your father!!!” The Rider rapidly ripped the sheet away exposing the blasphemous truth to both their eyes. For on the table was an abomination, a creature made from parts that remained of her family. It had the father’s Torso and neck, its right arm was Robert’s, strong and masculine, and it’s left arm was from their mother. A sickening dark metal rod ran down the middle of its chest. The truth was not revealed quick enough, as the monstrosity sat up and grabbed a frantic Sarah by the waste, then out a beastly roar.

“Well Rider. It looks like you did my work for me, bringing this young missy back here.” The Rider turned around to see Confederate Bandit Colonel Lee standing at the top of the stairs. Meanwhile half a dozen armed bandits emerged, as well as 2 more of those horrific creatures. Like the mash of Sarah’s family, they both had a long black rod down their chests, and were monstrous and misshapen.

Out of defiance but also fear the Rider exclaimed “What is the meaning of this madness and devil work?”

“Doubtless you bested my dark rider, but I bet it was no easy task. After the war I acquired the means to build a new army, a dark army from the very pits of hell! You failed to stop me after the great train robbery in Nebraska, and I used those funds to rebuild this place. Here a new army will emerge from human flesh and demonic spirit, and will storm across this union. And you will join us!”

Lee barked orders to his beasts. “Throw them both into the machine. I won’t take chances with our masked friend. Throw them both in whole. Think what a beast can be made from the great Ringed Rider, and this feisty young thing, it can be the creatures bride!

The Rider was quickly picked up from behind by one of the beasts, and soon the two were thrown into the jaws of death that was the infernal machine. It grew silent for a moment as Lee watched on. He thought truly they would be unstoppable now. Suddenly the machine began to smoke and rattle. As if alive it let out a mechanical groan, it shook and sputtered, and soon it began to crumble. Through the sparks and the smoke, a still human hand emerged from the steel, it’s ring shining brightly in defiance.

“Impossible!” Cried out Lee.

The Rider and Sally emerged with guns blazing. They moved swiftly through the smoke as if they were one in spirit, dropping enemies as they went. The Rider hurled one of the bandits into a shelf of chemicals. A lantern fell over top of him and soon the whole shelf was ablaze. The creatures stepped back in fear. An inhuman howl escaped their lips, betraying their fear of this all too familiar element.

“To the stairwell. This may be our only chance.” The Rider said as they made their way away from the machines. Colonel Lee could not quite discern the commotion from within the smoke. The Rider almost did not see him as Lee ascended the stair case, but as soon as he lay eyes on Lee his fist soon followed. Soon the two were locked in mortal combat, Sally wanted to help, but the Rider shouted for her to escape, assuring her that he will soon follow. Sally would have reluctantly agreed, but a monstrous fist gripped her ankle. She turned to see the body that was not just once her father’s, but her entire family. It was her brother’s arm who she wrestled as a child pulling her back. Her mothers smaller effeminate arm motioning for her return, and her fathers face angrily glaring at her defiance.

The Ringed Rider: The Dead Rise Again part 3.

No one was on the first floor. They found a still working old lantern that illuminated the tools and equipment Sarah’s father mentioned. This included the mechanical devices that were strange and indescribable. They planned to check the second story, where Robert met his fate, but were distracted by strange noises emitting from the very earth below them, The Rider noticed a small handle on the ground, he pulled it upward to reveal a passage to a subterranean chamber. Numerous already lit lanterns shown the way into this dark and evil pit. As they descended the air filled with undecipherable sounds that may never have fallen in human ears before.

While their ears were assaulted by hideous sounds, the bottom of the chamber lay sights of the mad and macabre that eyes had not seen even during the War of the Rebellion. Pieces of cadavers were strewn across blood stained mechanisms. It was like some bizarre processing plant. Pieces of bodies, both human and animal, mutilated by machines. Yet that was not the most horrible sight for Sarah, as she then saw laid before her what was her brother. His remains also desecrated, parts missing, and the top of his head had been scalped. Sarah tried to contain her shriek, only the Riders hand over her mouth kept them from being revealed.

She looked up to see her father lying face up on a table. His face pale and lifeless, a white sheet covered him from the neck down. She ran over to him sobbing, she stroked his gentle face and his white beard. She wished with all her soul they had never come to this town. But then, something uncanny occurred. Through the sheet she could see his hand begin to move. Tears of fear and sorrow turned to joy as she exclaimed “He’s alive!!! He’s alive alive alive!!!”

The Ringed Rider: The Dead Rise Again part 2.

She glanced ahead to see the black horse’s head snap down to the Rider, attempting to bite him, but missed. The Rider sat up and with a Herculean strength wrestled the horse to the ground by its neck. The Rider’s hands then clinched the horse’s mouth and with a savage fury ripped the horses jaw apart, leaving it dead.
Sarah did not share in the same strength as she felt death cold hands on her wrists, which suddenly threw her off her opponents back. The dark rider rose again looking down on her with a deadly stare, when another lasso wrapped around its waist and drug it away. The Rider pulled their last adversary towards him and beat on the foe with both fists. When the now captive enemy ceased to move, the Rider snapped its neck in one swift motion. The Rider paused for a moment, then swiftly pulled the fiend’s body over the horse, draping its coat over them both. Shockingly both foe and horse began to twitch again, as the Ringed Rider reached down to his belt and retrieved a pack of matches. Soon the black coat was in flames, and both creatures burned as well. A shrieking unholy howl filled the sky as the flames for a moment put forth an unearthly color. An evil stench of burnt flesh filled the sky, as Sarah embraced her new ally.
“Are you alright?” were the first words she heard him speak. He has a kind, considerate voice.
“Yes thank you.” She responded.
“What was that?” the hero asked.
“I don’t know but they took my family, you’ve got to help them. They may still be alive. They’re in the abandoned town close by.”
“First I’m getting you somewhere safe.”
“I’m coming with you, there’s nothing around here for days. Please help my family.”
Knowing she was right and that there was no time to argue, they got on his steed and rode off.
As the sun began to set they could see the town ahead Sarah had mentioned. Though their ordeal was far from over, now that the immediate danger was gone her curiosity had peaked about her companion. “So are you the one they call the Ringed rider?” Sarah asked.
His answer was simply to raise is hand, revealing the mysterious ring on his finger.
“Is it true that you’ve fought bandits everywhere from Deadwood to Dodge?”
“I try to help people where ever I can”
The events of the day were so shocking, that she just realized the amazing durability she’d seen from the Rider. “How are you still moving after that horse kicked you? Aren’t you hurt?” she asked.
The Rider answered, “Let’s just say it will take more than that to put me down.
She touched his hand, feeling the strange ring around his finger. “Is it because of this ring? Does it really make you move like lightning?”
“What happened to your family?” The Rider interrupted.
She knew eventually she’d have to bring those events to her mind again. Her head rested against the back of his shoulder, and as the sun dimmed and the darkness began to approach, she told her tale.
“We were on our way to California, hoping to start a new life for ourselves. We saw the town up ahead and thought we’d stop for supplies. We soon realized it was a ghost town. No one was around. Mom and I stayed in the wagon, while my father and my older brother Robert decided to have a look. They went in what looked like an old General Store. I knew something was wrong. I could sense it.”
“How could you tell?”
“As we entered the town there were a dozen wagons like ours that had been abandoned. Some of them looked broken down. One really stood out to me. The wheels were broken off and the wood was rotting away, like it had been there for a while. The canopy was torn and flapping in the wind. For a moment as it flapped I swear I saw an old blood stain on it.”
The recent memory haunted Sarah making her pause. The Rider asked, “Did your father and brother come out of the building.”
My father did. He said inside was just old mining equipment, dynamite and things like that. There were also a few odd devices but didn’t know what they were.”
“And you’re brother.”
Tears filled her eyes as she reflected on this horrible moment.
“Dad said he went to the second floor. It was then we heard this blood curling scream, and Robert came flying out of the second window. He had a noose around his neck, and his body slammed against the side of the building. Oh it was horrible!”
“I’m sorry. How did you get away?”
“I’m not sure what happened next. My parents got their rifles out and told me to hide in the wagon. They fired a few shots but I could hear them screaming, then it got real quiet. I peeked out and saw people dressed in black taking my parents into the same building my brother died in. I was so scared. I snuck and rode of. I just took one horse from our wagon hoping they wouldn’t notice I was gone, but as I got away from the town I saw that horrible thing riding behind me. Then I saw you.”
“Sarah, I can’t promise I’ll get your family back, but I’ll do my best.”
“I know.” They were now at the edge of town.
“What do I call you.”
“You can call me Rider.”
“But what is your name? You’re the Ringed Rider but that’s not your name.”
“It is who I am.”
“Rider, I couldn’t believe what my eyes saw today. That horse had its flesh coming off it. And whatever was riding it, it seemed, inhuman. Have you ever seen anything like that before?.”
“No, never in my life.” In this moment his voice no longer gave the appearance of a larger than life warrior, but instead revealed a man in fear and trembling of the evil set loose upon the earth.
“Me neither. Rider, I want to tell you, in case we don’t make it…”
The Rider did not say a word but his turned head, his look into her eyes was enough to interrupt her. His resolve would not allow him to back away from this danger.
Their horse galloped past the wagon that once carried Sarah’s family. She motioned to the old General Store now cloaked in blackness. “It was here, inside this building.”
The Rider got of his horse and said “Okay, take my horse and wait behind your wagon. If something else comes out of here that’s not me, take this horse and go as far as you can. This horse is as fast as the wind.”
“No I’m coming with you, my family is in there.”
“I don’t want you getting killed too.”
“Well riding away on horseback didn’t work so well last time now did it?”
The royal blue mask could not hide the frustration behind his face. He opened a small compartment on his saddle which held another pistol. “Do you know how to use this?”
Sarah gripped the gun, “I sure do.”

The Ringed Rider: The Dead Rise Again part 1.

Today I found this old story I wrote on my computer years ago. I still liked it and decided to post it piece at a time. It’s not very long. Enjoy part one!

Sarah sped across the prairie in fear of her fate. The young girl frighteningly thrashed at her horse pushing it to the limit. She looked back in dread, seeing her pursuer riding its evil black horse, approaching in a speed almost unnatural. Her panic was so intense she feared it was now affecting her mind, for the horse looked almost demonic. Her eyes couldn’t believe the testimony they gave as it appeared the horse’s flesh was rotting away, at points exposing the skull beneath. The hoofs beat so swiftly they seemed to have a dark glow to them that shone through the dust. The rider itself dressed in black, oblivious to the heat. It’s black glove drew a gun. She thought her family may have already suffered a similar fate, and now she would be joining them.
The evil crackle of the gun shot out across the field. Sarah winced but no bullet entered her body. Yet she still suffered in pain as she hit the ground after falling off her now dead horse. Through the dust she could see the dark rider now upon her. Her fate seemed to be sealed.
Nevertheless her will persisted, and her legs began to move through the grass, still hoping for some chance of escape. Her ears could hear the twirling of the lasso through the air, and soon she felt it tug around her body. She struggled but it was no use, as she was pulled closer and closer to her captor. Her lips cried out for help, and in this frantic moment she saw up ahead, a lone rider on a pale horse. A white hat lay atop his head, and his mouth and nose was covered in a royal blue mask, leaving only his eyes exposed. In a flash of hope she saw something on his hand sparkle in the sunlight. In the distance it indeed appeared to be the Ringed Rider.
Since Lincoln’s assassination, stories spread throughout the west of the mysterious Ringed Rider. Named such for a ring he bore, which the tales told gave him a lightning fast draw. Supposedly he’d been sighted in Deadwood, Forth Worth, and all over the west fighting bandits and criminals, like the Confederate outlaw Colonel Lee who robbed a train in Nebraska. She wasn’t sure if she believed such fantastic accounts. In the moment though, she cared not if it was a children’s story or a real legend, as long as it was someone that could save her from this menace.
A heavenly shot rang out, snapping the rope in two. The ringed hero rode towards them; his pistol flashed burying 5 slugs into the fiend, dropping it from its horse. Sally looked up to her savior as he dismounted. His hand bore the fabled ring. It was dark and otherworldly, almost drawing her attention away from his concerned eyes.
She was too shocked to speak as the Rider inspected her for injuries, his back now to his fallen foe. The monstrous horse whined at its fallen master. Sarah shrieked aloud as the black shape sat up on the ground, turning its head giving them both an evil stare. The rider stood up and faced his foe. His mask could not hide the shock and surprise in his eyes. With his ringed hand he landed a punch square on its jaw, knocking it back off its feet. Suddenly the black horse rose on its hind legs and kicked the Rider into the air. He landed on his back as the horse galloped towards him.
The evil rider rose a second time and drew a gun, intending to finish off her would be savior. Sarah grabbed the remains of the rope she’d previously been caught in, and leapt on its back strangling the fiend around the neck. It fell face first into the dirt as Sarah pulled the rope up continuing to choke him. The smell of gunpowder and burnt flesh rose up through small holes on the back of his coat. “My god” she thought, “how could such a thing still live?”

To be continued…..