The Mystery Danger Serials: A Kiss Goodbye

Smoke and Fire.

Smoke and Fire...

     With a constant, unnerving hiss, the flame slowly crawled across the floor, like a demon snake stalking it's prey. I struggled to free myself from the chair, but it was no use. The glowing red tongue continued to inch closer.

     I was tired. It had been a long day. Three different people had tried to kill me today. Turns out, the one to finish the job, was the girl I was trying to save. Some luck, huh? Rush to my own funeral.

     I knew that lipstick meant trouble.  

    As I watched, the flame split in two, giving birth to a new fiery devil which veered off towards the first bundle of dynamite. The mother serpent crept closer.

     By the looks of it, this was going to be quite a show. I counted 5 bundles of TNT, not including the one under my chair. If everything played out the way I figured it would, I would get to see all the fireworks, then close the night out as the grand finale.

     The flame split again, and again. Now there were four hissing monsters, intent on engulfing the place in death and destruction. 

     As the final two fuses lit, I heard a strange grumbling sound coming from the black Studebaker. There, just coming into view, was the bloody dome of the Tailor. His murderous eyes found me in an instant.

     "Great..." I said to myself. This just wasn't my night. I couldn't even get a moments peace to kick the bucket!

     The Tailor nearly tore the door off the car as he got out. I guess he wasn't happy to see me...alive. Or perhaps he had figured out that I was the one responsible for his recent nap. Either way, he looked like he was about to blow. As he rounded the car, I noticed he was carrying a bloody piece of pipe. 

     Guess it was the nap.

     The Tailor was halfway across the floor before he noticed the fuses. The rage must have cleared just enough for him to process what exactly was about to happen. One moment he was boiling, then he paused, turned to see the hissing flame, and followed the trail to the underside of my chair. Then he smiled like a three hundred pound toddler on Christmas morning.

    He looked at me, dropped the pipe to the ground, made some sort of explosion gesture, and turned back towards the car sneering.

     As the black Studebaker pulled away, adding insult to injury, the gorilla waved goodbye.

     No sooner had the Tailor pulled out of the building when a small dot of flame reached the first bundle of TNT. The noise was so loud it nearly burst my eardrums. I could feel the scorching heat on my face. Fiery chunks of wooden crates and shards of liquor bottles shot through the air.

     Moments past, the ringing in my ears seemed to be getting louder.

     It wasn't until I saw the doors at the far end of the warehouse begin to open that I realized the ringing I was hearing...

    ...were sirens!

     "Holy smokes!" shouted a black and white. "Hang on Lincoln, we're coming!"