zg_shadows | In the aftermath... (Reply)

This had been the first of them. The first place he'd bought when moving into the City. It had been home, for a long time, before he'd settled down and branched out.

And now? Two days ago, the building had been trashed - caught up in an explosion that had damaged the foundations, and the flames had licked up the building, trapping so many inside.

Amid the wreckage, Kieran knelt by a cabinet, and reached behind it. The safe in the wall was fused shut, but looked intact. Not bothering with the key, he wrenched the door off with just brute force.

Old keepsakes and momentoes fell out, and Kieran stuffed them into a bag. Reminders of people he'd known, of things he'd done. Even things left over from when he'd been mortal. Not much. A few letters, scorched from the heat, a set of tools from his first dig, and a ring he’d never given.

Standing, Kieran crossed to where the window had been, and looked out on the view for the last time. If he couldn’t save anything else, at least he still had these.