<strong>Jacob Whitecloud; Alleyway Near Denny's</strong><br/><br/>Paul reached the back door, frantically fumbling with his keys as he fought against his own weak constitution<em>I've gotta get away!</em>he thought<em>Gotta get the door open...then I can run I can run and get away!</em>The first key he tried wouldn't even fit in the door, the next was the same story, the third time now that was the charm! With a quick twist of his wrist he unlocked the back door and shoved it open sprinting through the doorway and into the alley behind his store.<em>I can't believe this shit!!!</em>he thought to himself.<em>I was just about to close up for the day...</em>The visions of what had happened next, unbidden and undesired as they were, flashed thorough his mind as he ran. He saw Jenny,<em>oh poor sweet Jenny. She'd only been 17 for God's sake!</em>, moving to the door to flip the sign from 'open' to 'closed' before she reached it a man walked in he was tall and of Native American descent. He had been wearing clothes that looked like they'd fit in better a few decades ago and he seemed to exude menace. He'd shopped for a good 20 minutes before picking out a suit and changing into it. Paul had needed to go get the tie that came with the suit from the back, when he returned he'd found Jenny's body on the floor and the Indian holding what looked like a fucking tomahawk covered in blood. Without another thought Paul had ran, he'd just turned around and ran for the back exit leaving Jenny to her fate. All this passed through his mind's eye in less than a second then he was focused again. Focused on the open street at the end of the alley. His salvation! If he could just get into the street he could get someone's attention maybe even a cop! There were less than 10 yards between him and the end of the alley<em>I'm going to make it!</em>he silently cheered in relief<em>I'm actua......</em>Sadly for Paul that was as far as his thought process was allowed to proceed. For in that very instant his focus shifted to a new sensation;  in fact the last sensation he would ever experience; as his he looked down to confirm what his brain told him he felt he couldn't tear his eyes away from the large arrow jutting out from his chest. The weapon had passed through his heart and his body was already shutting down, as the lights faded he saw the arrow's head open into a flat disk, he felt a tug pull him off his feet and onto his back, the odd sensation of being dragged, and then he felt no more.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Jacob pulled on the rope that was attached to the arrow that had ended Paul's life, in reward for his efforts the man's body drew closer and closer. "That one almost got away from you" Jacob heard The Gunslinger say. He didn't need to look up from the body that he was dragging ever closer to know that the spirit had a grin plastered on his face and that The Wolf was sitting next to him. "Just like you almost got away?" Jacob responded<br/>"No....as I remember,  you spent the next three days holed up in a cave praying you wouldn't die from the wounds I'd given you" the spirit responded, not without a large amount of pride in his voice. Jacob did not have a response to his words for they were the truth. Back when The Gunslinger had been a man he'd been a Confederate Army Colonel , Jacob had been an Indian scout for the Union and they'd crossed paths. And blades. After the Col. had been slain Jacob had searched his soul for any useful information, he'd found...evil... the Col. had been responsible for the massacre of several hundred black men and women throughout the war.  So Jacob had taken his scalp seeing it as a fitting punishment that he serve Jacob for many years to come. He'd offered The Gunslinger his freedom 130 years later but the spirit had declined claiming that 'he still had more to atone for.' He was as fine a warrior and it pleased Jacob to think that over the years they had become friends. Once Paul's body was at his feet Jacob knelt beside it looking into its now lifeless eyes and and placing his hands on the sides of it's head. He needed information on the state of the world, and this was the fastest way to get it. For the past 80 years he'd lived in the woods surrounding Seattle...he did this sort of thing at times. Withdrawing from the 'modern' world in order to once again live as he and his ancestors first had. And now he was back and he needed to know what had changed.<br/><br/>He quickly sifted his way through the man's soul, learning all his secrets and all he knew mentally sorting it as he'd taught himself to years ago. He learned of the man's wife and child, his car, even his mistress who was already waiting for him in a hotel near by. All these things Jacob discarded as useless ripping his way through the man's memories he learned of the new laws against those with 'super powers' he learned of the white man who had corrupted the government of the United States. The government he had fought to protect in almost every war it had faced! Within seconds he knew everything the man had known, everything from the public information on SPECTER to what exactly was the best method for sizing a man's fitted suit. Without rising from his crouched position Jacob quickly stored his bow and tomahawk in a duffel bag he had taken from Paul's store at the same time he'd decided that the casual suit and rain coat were the clothes he wanted to wear.  "Well??? Don't just sit there all silent like....what did you learn?" The Gunslinger asked impatiently. "You were right" Jacob said as he stood up and began to walk out of the alley "The federal government did become the death of freedom." Reaching the alley's exit he spotted a Denny's and started towards it. He hadn't had pancakes in quite some time....he would need to remedy that shortly!