The fire had exploded from dead silence, blinding the ink stained sky with a burst of excited embers. Livid flames ripped their way through wood and glass, which engulfed the scorched land with tendrils of thick smoke. A sea of ash rained down to meet the earth several stories below.
He watched on as the hungry flames gradually consumed the dying building, destined to fall to the blazing obliteration. Time had already decided the unlucky fates of those who lay smothered in the blistering inferno.
There was nothing he could do now.
But then he heard a sound. . . a peculiar sound that made every muscle in his entire body freeze. He sharpened his ears to an incredibly fine point and stood so frighteningly still that the night mistook him for a shadow.
There was a heartbeat.
It was feeble and nearly drowned out by the city's turbulent noises. But the heart was strong and steady nevertheless—devoted to its owner until the very end.
The disbelief that once captivated him quickly transformed into intrigue.
Someone was still in there.
And they were dying in Hell.