003: To the Ground
Title: Secrets in the Clock
Prompt: Feral
Word Count: 484
Chapter Summary: A peaceful night at a family center meets a fiery end.
Warnings this chapter: Dark themes, mass homicide, implied cruelty, etc.
The Destiny Islands' Moirai Center was a community fail-safe, or so the paper always claimed. It was home to a wide spectrum of recreations- mini-golf, roller-skating, and an all-day arcade, to name a few. The Center was widely considered a tool that kept kids off the streets; a "safe place for the family." It opened early and closed way late, its staff holding claim to long hours and even longer bouts of fatigue. It could stand to say, then, that the security in the Center would be lax in the later hours, what with the stragglers mulling around, and the teenagers who just didn't know when to go home.
It was a young woman who noticed the flame first. It lay in one corner, curling about in a way not unlike that of a cat. But that was what made it so strange; the fire never moved, it only swayed as if being caressed by an invisible wind. For a moment, she took the time to wonder if someone was pranking her with some new toy of theirs. Then, as quickly as that though came, she witnessed something most bizarre. The small fire began to move, like a feline unwinding from a long, satisfying nap. The thing- obviously not an ordinary fire- unwound and grew wider and taller. And brighter.. And hotter-
"Oh, my- !" Her voice rasped and eyes quivered at the sight, but in the end it was her flailing arm that caught a worker's attention. By that time, though, the fire had grown so large that others began to notice as well.
"Fire!" someone called. The effect was faster without a massive amount of people to panic into a general frenzy. That's not to say, though, that no one panicked.
"Outta my way!"
"Let us through- my daughter- !"
"Everyone!" One man, a manager, if judging by his clothes, tried to curb the rising alarm, even as the flames grew larger and closer. "Please remain calm and head to the nearest exit! The sprinklers should be on soon!"
People clamored around, scrabbling for an out with the hope that water would pour down any moment and douse the fire. Only the doors were locked, and the sprinklers never came on. The fire was around them, eating up everything in the way and spitting out ashes. Flames licked their skin and nipped at the sky, coloring them sunshine and blood, all for their sake. The smoke was there, too, of course.
"Let us out!"
"Help! Someone help us!" The screams that came.
But a man with a smile as big as the sun waved them off. And turning to his companion, he said, "It's your turn, sweetcakes."
A woman with a cruel eye and coy lip stalked towards him, gait appraising and large for her small size. She took in the sight of the building, all fire and screams, sunshine and smoke, and laughed a high, nasty chortle.
End Drabble
A/N: Rating was changed from M to T; with the way the prompts are going (with vague details and the like), I doubt I'd be able to get a satisfying gore-fest than I would otherwise, so I'll have to settle for minor mentionings... The rating may change back, if I find a satisfying way to relay the darker themes without explicit detail. I have plans to do a full flesh-burning fire scene later in an alternate story, should I ever make one.