I watched the flames as they spilled over the landscape,
The danced higher than the skyscrapers as they took their shape,
The night sky burned brighter than even the sun,
And there was no way to know where the relentless fire had begun.
I walked away from the flames feeling the heat press firmly against my back,
Trying to get away before this city could collapse.
I was racking my brain trying to figure out how I got here,
The only clue I had was a note that read "This will be your final stop, my dear".
I didn't recognize the handwriting,
And it seemed like a part of me was fighting,
Fighting to spring awake from what it believed to be a dream,
But it was a reality that just tore at the seam.
I reached to put the note in my back pocket,
But instead I found a small heart shaped locket.
Another clue?
Or perhaps something to throw me askew.
I opened it without another moment to spare,
And inside was a small tuft of red hair.
Hair so red it seemed to burn,
A color so deep not even the flames could earn.
Everything was happening entirely too fast,
What had happened on this seemingly awful night that had passed?
I turned to face the flames once more,
But this time to let them engulf me in their allure.
The allure of a mystery gone unsolved,
And how around me it so seemed to revolve.
As I walked towards the burning city I looked above,
The smoke formed a cloud that almost looked like a dove.
I found myself back where I began,
And noticed a pair of black leather gloves on the ground spread like a fan,
I picked them up thinking they could be of good use,
When all of a sudden a building fell loose.
Collapsing underneath its own weight,
Burning from the inside like a person filled with hate.
I wouldn't let it set me back,
I had to make it before the whole city went black,
Before it was covered in its own filth and destruction.
Although it wouldn't be too different from the filth and corruption,
That had plagued the streets,
While the rest of the city lay asleep in their sheets.
I had been wandering through the burning city looking for anything that I recognized,
And I began to think that maybe I empathized,
With these people who watched everything they knew burn,
When I came across a building around the corner of a sharp turn.
It seemed almost familiar from a distance,
But it was hard to tell during this fiery instance,
There was so much smoke it caused my vision to be blurred,
I could only imagine the chaos of the cries unheard.
As I finally approached the door,
I put on the gloves as I could feel the heat more.
As I slipped them on out fell a small folded paper,
Surely another clue to this mysterious caper.
It was some sort of list,
I walked along and as I read a beam from the building fell and just nearly missed.
I put away the paper for now,
But only for as long as I could allow,
My curiosity to stay at bay,
Before in a grave my body lay.
Searching through the building I started to see,
This is a prison falling down around me.
I ran for the door just as more beams began to crash,
I wouldn't be left lying in the ash.
As I made it out the way I came,
I noticed something that didn't seem the same.
There was a giant fence that I didn't see before,
And empty cans of gas lying by the door.
I figured it was as good a time as any,
I removed the list and began to read, as the steps were many.
It was a plan to destroy the city,
step by step, the list almost made me giddy.
I was excited to be one step closer to figuring this out,
The handwriting matched that of the note in the locket, without a doubt.
I put the note away and continued on,
I noticed the sun starting to rise as it was almost dawn.
And As I walked away from the building I felt something beneath my foot,
I looked underneath and there was nothing there but a lighter.
Suddenly all of my memories rushed back to me,
I couldn't get a grip on this, everything as far as I could see
Was on fire, and it was burning hotter than the fury of hell.
I walked back into the prison only to let the flames engulf my being,
It was the only escape that I was seeing.