A young girl left alone to die

A woman with a haunting past

A teenage boy escaping home

And an old man thrown away

 

The girl refused

The hunger tore and slashed her guts

Delusions popping left and right

A moral code ingrained in deep

And so she refused

Until that single, shining, tempting apple

Beckoning, whispering

Survival devouring honesty

And so she refused

Refused to fade away

 

The woman tried to run

Mistakes and old ideas caught up

Trapping, encaging, cornering

Hunting down the one that ran

An old bloodlust calling once again

The guilt overshadowing

So she repealed

But contracts must be followed

And once again she joined their ranks

Of sick and twisted fun

Trapped in an endless game

She knew she’d never win

 

The boy roamed

His broken home providing nothing

No source of love, no source of comfort

No sense of belonging

So to escape the screams

He roamed

The despair masked in anger

He lashed out at the shadows

At the darkness in the alleys

And though his face was numb

And his body bruised and broken

He felt alive

 

The old man gave up

Though he searched for once last light

One last string to keep him tethered

He found none

Joy buried in the long lost past

The future grim and blurry

A bygone dream now worn and gray

And no escape

Floating in a sea of wishes

The man dreamed on

But slowly time surpassed him

 

The girl with her bright green eyes

Fighting odds against her

With her silent feet and sticky hands

Slender form atop the roof

Stealing from the night

 

The woman with her blood stained hands

Forced to bare her teeth again

Her limpid eyes gone cold

As the new opponent joins the ring

With a smile that gleams of steel

 

The boy with hair of striking red

Letting rage engulf him

Watching as the dancing flames

Reflecting in his gleeful eyes

Make their way up to the sky

 

The man with eyes that’ve seen too much

With a body once strong and sturdy

Now frail and weak and useless

His unbreakable spirit now in fragments

As he gazes at the nothing he has left

 

The sweet music of her flute

Keeping her alive

Her music can’t be stolen

The one thing she truly owns

Gently blowing away her sorrow

Her years of lonely street life

With a smile

Although the tears won’t stop

 

She strikes the keys

With all the force of pent up desperation

An outlet to this mess

Expressing her panic

And mourning the blood she’s spilled

Because she can’t

For the hounds are closing in

And the smell of fear excites them

 

His light and delicate voice

Golden like the flames he starts

Singing a song of fury

But he screams

His voice is too soft

Too weak

It’s not enough

These feelings too big for a single boy

Too big for him too sing away

Pent up and eating him from the inside out

He screams again

 

The violin cries

Wailing for the long lost past

Carrying the pain of the lost and broken

But he does not feel it

His eyes are empty

His movement mechanical

The violin sings

But his heart does not

 

Sirens wail

Closing in

Her last escape is the roof

She’s made this jump before

She can do it again

But she doesn’t

In an instant

All nine lives are gone

 

She’s snarling

Attacking

But her blood blinds her

She won’t win this round

They’ve gambled with her life

But they won’t care

Dogs are easily replaced

 

Flames reach towards him

Lapping hungrily at his feet as he sprints

He’s been too careless

And now he pays the price

His voice useless as the smoke chokes

He won’t rise with the sun tomorrow

 

He isn’t scared

Although the dark waters rush beneath

Roaring

Promising to swallow the pain

The everything

He feels no fear

He feels nothing

And as he jumps he realizes

The last straw broke him long ago