Alice's heart was caught in her throat. There was something horribly wrong about that man, something she could not put her finger on. But there was no need for her to think too much about it.
The man quickly disappeared from view, and Alice took a step back. Every nerve in her body was screaming at her, telling her to run. She wasn't sure why, but the look that the man gave her was so unsettling that she felt it in the pits of her stomach even when their eyes were no longer locked.
Soon, she found out why.
She smelled the smoke that originated from the flames before she even saw it or felt the heat. Then, it began to crawl all over the inn, followed by the screams of the others occupying the building.
The once-quiet inn erupted in a scream of fire, the walls moaning under the pressure of the rising heat. Smoke rolled like waves, thick and suffocating, and the embers danced with a wicked sort of joy.
She needed to leave. Now.
