The Arsonist

“Why couldn’t we just have all gotten along?” Phoenix prided herself in being reasonable, in trying to find the best in everyone. But recently, the town had been tearing itself apart. Her friends were one by one being picked off by the mafia, or worse, hanged for being mafia themselves. She herself had fought off a serial killer the other day, and she was scared. Scared of this town, and of the people in it… but she did not want to take sides.

“Are you really that stupid?” The Mayor retorted. “Unless you want to be upped next, I suggest you ask your ‘investigator’ friend over there what he was really doing last night.” He motioned to the corpse of the Medium, a person who not long ago had been standing in that same spot with their usual bright smile. Phoenix did not look down at the corpse; it repulsed her. The Medium’s energy had been drained by the Coven Leader, leaving their lifeless body gaunt and pale. 

She shuddered. “Okay, okay, I get it. This should be the last person in the town who can hurt us, right? It’ll all be over after today?”

“Yes.” The Mayor nodded solemnly. It was clear he wanted this to be over just as much as Phoenix did.

“Do you promise?” Phoenix maintained eye contact. She had to be entirely certain.

“I promise.”

“Alright. Let’s hang him.” Her words shook… but not with fear this time. There was an air of relief in her voice. She looked around the town; only five people remained. Phoenix, the Mayor, the Escort, the Psychic, and the Coven Leader. Soon there would only be four. But it was enough. Everything would be okay soon.

As the final member of the Coven had the life so gruesomely squeezed from his eyes, Phoenix wept. She shed tears for her fallen friends, for the people she trusted, and the people she didn’t. She cried for the town, an ear-piercing wail that would make a banshee jealous. But as clouds covered the rising moon, it became clear that her weeping had shifted into laughter. The smell of smoke permeated the air; they were not clouds. The corpse of the Medium burst into flames as the remnants of the town stared on in horror.

“This corrupted town will never hurt anyone again. I will never let anyone feel the way you all made me feel. I want to be free from the horrid dreams, from the spell that the accursed book has cast upon this place. So I’m making my own happy ending, and you aren’t invited.” Fiery wings spread across the sky in the survivors’ final moments as their shrieks filled the ash-laden sky. Brilliant light flashed before them, and then there was nothing.

The Arsonist took a deep breath to recollect herself once the dust had settled. The smell of burning flesh didn’t bother her, not after the things she had witnessed. She tucked away her match box and quietly left the Town Square, dead set on a hopeful future at long last. By burning away her past, she could finally leave it behind.