The Gloaming

Deep in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, this maximum-security penitentiary held some of the most vicious criminals...One of them was Billy Black Hawk, a murderer and rapist...he was not only a master of mind control, but he was also a fluent out-of-body traveler and shape-shifter. Sampson Faith, a cold blooded assassin, wanders the wastelands in search of the man who killed his beloved wife. Little does he know that Billy Blackhawk, the man who killed Missy, will soon escape his musty prison cell and come looking to kill Sampson and claim his soul as well.

While Billy Blackhawk makes his escape from prison, Sampson Faith hides himself away in a cheap motel room above the Cantina, drowning his sorrows in cheap liquor and the company of prostitutes. Before the night is over, he will realize with terrifying clarity he is no better than Billy - a bitter, remorseless killer.

Every morning Missy Lone Dove finds herself locked in her lonely embrace, both arms wrapped about her abdomen, hands resting restlessly between the curve of hip and waist. She crushes her solitude against her chest, a grotesque parody of a lover’s hold rendered even more pathetic by the fact that she is alone, and she is not alone. Sampson is in her head, but in her mind her bed lays cold and barren. But she doesn't have to worry about being lonely for long. Billy Blackhawk will be her knight in shining armor tonight, as well as her killer.

As Billy approached the parking lot, he could smell it: a dark scent, musky and wild and tangy on his taste buds as he breathed it in. The smell of wet fur and dried blood were what he identified next and knew he had been here recently. It wasn't hard to track Sampson. He left dead hookers wherever he went. Sampson was much older now, but he was still very strong as an opponent.

Sampson Faith lay in the darkness of the motel room, his hands, arms, and torso smeared with dried blood. As he opened his eyes, his vision tunneled once more. He stared into the abyss and it stared back into him. He felt the hand of God within him for the first time in years...but it wasn't soon enough to save the life of his most recent victim.

Now, Billy did believe in ghosts. Missy, completely whole again, if only for a brief moment in time, moved into the real world so that he could see and hear her singing. She began with the song she chose five years ago, stepping out of the shadows into a convenient patch of moonlight filtering in through the dirty clouds above them, looming over them like big gray ghosts.