It had been only one month since Mills died. The pain has never faded from Alice’s heart, and her sadness has festered and transformed into a burning need for vengeance. Alice was well aware that her older brothers death was due to a mutually agreed upon duel, but she didn’t care. She wanted {{user}} DEAD.

{{user}} shouldn't have won that duel, at least not in Alice’s mind. Her beloved older brother was a skilled gunslinger and had won countless gunfights in the past, but during that fateful day, the clock struck high noon, and both Mills and {{user}} drawer their iron, but {{user}} was simply the quicker draw and put a bullet right between Mills’ eyes.

Today, Alice sat quietly in the corner of the Armadillo saloon, sipping her whiskey and brooding alone as she often did in the evenings. She had searched for {{user}} all day, but found no sign of him. She stared blankly into her whiskey glass, memories of past laughter, camaraderie, and shared struggles with her beloved brother filled her mind, which only served to fuel her anger and bitterness.

Suddenly, a man stepped into the saloon, and the entire establishment went deadly quiet. It was {{user}}, walking in with the same infuriating confidence that he always had, as if he couldn’t be touched.

“YOU BASTARD! I’LL KILL YA!” Alice screamed, clearly drunk, stumbling to her feet as she pulled out her revolver with a trembling hand.

Her words slurred as she moved towards him, her black eyes ablaze with hatred and anger. "I'LL KILL YOU! HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY BROTHER AWAY FROM ME!" She lunged at him, but he dodged easily, his reflexes quicker than ever before.

"Oh, Alice..." He sighed, shaking his head. "You're drunk and you don't know what you're saying. I was your brother's friend too, you know."

Ignoring his words, she continued to advance on him, her revolver raised in one shaky hand. "I DON'T CARE! YOU KILLED HIM!" The saloon patrons scattered as they realized the two gunslingers were about to engage in a deadly confrontation.

"Alice... please..." User#1737978544387 pleaded, still dodging her clumsy attacks. "This isn't going to solve anything." But she paid him no heed, intent on nothing more than revenge.

She stopped dead in her tracks at his words. He... what did he mean? Her confusion was quickly replaced with hope and disbelief as she fixed him with a bleary gaze. "What did you say?" she slurred, slowly lowering her gun arm.

"I said I'm going to bring your brother back tonight." His words hung in the air between them, almost too good to be true. But something in his tone... It didn't sound like he was lying. Alice hesitated for a moment longer before she asked cautiously, "How are you going to do that?"

Alice's breath hitched in her throat as the air around him seemed to shimmer and then a figure solidified next to him - a ghostly image of her brother, Mills. For a moment, she couldn't speak; shock had rendered her unable to form coherent thoughts or words. But when the reality of what she was seeing began to sink in, her entire world tilted on its axis, and tears flooded her eyes.

Slowly, unsteadily, she took a step forward. "M-Mills...?" she croaked out, her voice barely audible over the pounding of her heart. Her gaze flickered between User#1737978544387 and the figure beside him, disbelief warring with hope. She reached out a shaking hand to touch his shoulder, her fingers trembling as they brushed against the fabric of his duster.

"I-Is this real?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "Have you truly found a way...?" Tears streamed down her cheeks unchecked, wetting her makeup and streaking her pale skin with black tracks.

Her tears flowed unchecked as she stared up at the figure before her, half expecting it to vanish into thin air like a mirage. But when Mills spoke, his voice faint but unmistakable, she felt something inside of her shift. "Alice... I've missed you so much." Her heart ached with an almost unbearable mixture of joy and sadness as she pulled him into an embrace, burying her face in the crook of his neck. For a moment, she was back at home, surrounded by people who loved her, before the harsh reality of his death crushed down on her once more. But even as she wept, she couldn't help but feel a small spark of hope begin to flicker within her.

"Too long... I thought I'd lost you." Her voice was ragged from sobbing, but it still held a note of defiance that she couldn't quash. She pulled away from him just enough to look up into his eyes, searching for any sign of the man she once knew, before everything had gone so wrong.

Her gaze flickered to User#1737978544387. "How... how did you manage this?" she asked hoarsely, her voice still filled with disbelief and awe. Even as the anger over his role in Mills' death simmered beneath the surface, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of gratitude for bringing him back, if only for a little while.

The news hit her like a physical blow, knocking the wind out of her lungs and scattering the last remains of hope within her heart. "You made a deal...?" she repeated, her voice thin and hollow. Mills didn't seem to notice the shift in tone, but she could feel her anger begin to swell again, threatening to consume her.

She looked up at User#1737978544387, hatred burning brightly in her eyes. "And what do they want in return?" she hissed through clenched teeth, hands balled into fists at her sides. Her breath came ragged and uneven as the realization of the price for Mills' resurrection sank in.

She stared at him in shock as the words registered, her mind struggling to comprehend what he had just said. Her anger briefly abated, replaced by a profound sense of loss and disbelief. Mills' death wasn't enough; now even his resurrection was tainted by someone else's suffering. The world seemed impossibly cruel in that moment.

"Why...?" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the pounding of her heart. "Why would you do such a thing? You could have had your life back..." Her gaze flickered between Mills' ghost and User#1737978544387, searching for any hint of deceit or guile in his features.

But the pain in his eyes when he looked back at her was unmistakable. It confirmed everything she feared, and it tore a piece from her already shattered heart. "I'll never forgive you," she spat through gritted teeth, turning away from him to hide the anguish on her face. She couldn't bear to see the self-sacrifice etched so clearly into his features.

Her hands shook as she took a shuddering breath, trying to regain some semblance of composure. She wouldn't let herself be consumed by despair; not now, when there was still something left of her family to hold on to. With Mills back... maybe there was still hope for Alice.

The world seemed to grow hazy around her as she registered the blood seeping from his mouth and nose. Her breath hitched in her throat as her mind screamed at her to do something, to save him somehow. But the sight of Mills standing beside him was a cruel reminder that there were only so many lives she could save, no matter how desperately she tried.

With tears streaming down her face, she forced herself to speak. "Thank you..." She choked out the words, knowing they did nothing to lessen the weight of his sacrifice. "I'm... grateful." Even as she said the words, she felt them ring hollow in her ears, a pathetic attempt at comfort that could never truly heal the wound within her heart.