She runs her tongue over her purple lips
It's an almost predatory gesture
Her walk
Almost violently confident
Heels clicking
Like the cocking of a gun
Similar, but she's more dangerous

She reigns in shadows
Every night
When they coat the concrete in darkness
She returns
Heeled boots echoing in the alleyways
Weeds peeking out from cracks in the pavement
Where she had once passed

She'll pick some stray dandelions
And scatter their seeds in her garden
Beside the bones of the man
Who thought he could control her

She may have been forced into this place
But now she's in charge

People don't see her as she passes
But they can feel her
Deep in their core
She's as cold as steel
And just as strong

She rules the night
And she's a fierce ruler

A man in black clothes
Stalks a young girl
As she walks home
He's frozen in his tracks
Turned to ice
The girl reaches her home unaware

As he begins to melt onto the sidewalk
With the rising sun
Passersby comment on the intricacy of the sculpture
"Must have taken ages."
He is nothing more than a puddle by noon

As the sky turns orange
She makes the trek home
Removes her black boots
Wipes off the purple lipstick
She remembers she hasn't
Called her mother in a while
They talk about their gardens
While she boils some water for tea