A slight metallic smell tints the air as I look at the dappled spots of red leading into my apartment building. I pull my coat tighter around me.

I flinch automatically as someone walks up behind me.

“Goodness dear, it is that time of the month?”

I am shocked that this old lady could even assume that this amount of blood came from me.

“Of course not!” I say, harsher than I intended it to be.

“Well!” She exclaims in a snooty voice.

I watch as the woman continues her shuffle down the road.

Walking up the front porch stairs, I’m sure to avoid stepping on the scarlet stains.

Surprisingly, the doorknob is warm to the touch. Cracking the door open, I peer inside at the chaos unfolding.

A contorted body lies slack on the ground in a pool of their own blood.

Quietly watching, a figure in black douses the body in a clear liquid. Striking a match, the man casually flicks it onto the body.

The room immediately fills with flames and smoke. The figure turns to the door and sees me. My body goes rigid as his eyes pierce me. With stomping feet, the figure make his way to me.

I scramble back from the door,slipping on the iced stairs.

The last thing I see is an orange glow licking at the doorframe.

Black.

Bright white lights blind me as I blink awake. My mouth is dry and skin cold. It’s only when is shift up, I realize my setting. A hospital room in which I’m stuck with handcuffs to the bed. The cold metal digs into my wrist, leaving pink marks. I arch my back trying to free myself.

As I dig my head into the back of the bed, that when I notice how badly my head hurts. It hurts so bad it feels as if my scalp was ripped off my skull.

A young nurse happens to glance into my room as she walks by.

Her eyes widen. She rushes off to somewhere out of my vision. Minutes later, an officer and a doctor walk into my room.

The doctor walks over to my vitals and scribbles writing onto a clipboard.

The officer crouches down so that we meet at eye level.

“Listen, I don’t want to do this, but I’m going to have to place you under arrest for potential murder and arson.”

Then it all comes back to me. The fire. The man. The blood.

I open my mouth to protest that it wasn’t me and that I was just a unfortunate victim of circumstance.

All that comes out is a sicking gargle.

I feel like I’m stuck in a dream as I watch the doctor lowers me into a wheelchair and confines me to it with my handcuffs. I look around the hospital as they push me out, hoping for someone to support me. Then I see him. Those eyes. The figure. The criminal.