Antonio dragged his feet as he begrudgingly trudged up to the Statue of Liberty’s torch. “I hate this,” he said to himself. His voice echoed eerily in the narrow stone spiral staircase, and so did his sigh directly afterward. He started to mutter. “Who even cares about some ‘sightseeing tour’ that might leave the Statue ‘unprotected’ and ’in danger’?” He stopped to kick a rock and sighed again, even louder than last time. But this time, something else echoed back at him. A peculiar clicking noise. He whirled around, searching for the source, but the staircase was very slim and he couldn't see especially far around. “Who’s there? Show yourself!” He shouted. There was a pause, in which he held his breath, then footsteps echoed around him. Antonio couldn't figure out if the footsteps were coming from above or below, but he watched both ways warily, waiting. Eventually a young woman stepped down toward him. She was thin, with a short pixie haircut and dark brown hair. She smiled at him, a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, which were a dark chocolate brown, almost black. She had a calculating look about her, and she would’ve been quite beautiful if not for the way she was looking at him, as if deciding whether to kill him or not. He stared at her, wondering how she had gotten in. “Well, hello there, Mister Firefighter,” she told him finally. He blinked in confusion, thinking, How did she know? Then he saw her studying his bright tomato red and gold firefighter uniform. Oh, of course, duh, He thought. “Hello,” he replied cautiously. ”How did you get in?” “The door,” she said cheekily. ”My name’s Johana. What’s yours? “What are you doing here?” he demanded. She waved the question away. “Don’t like chit-chat, do we, Antonio?” Antonio followed her gaze to his badge, covering it with his hand. Johanna laughed. “Oh, that won’t help. I already read it. ”'Antonio, age twenty-three, firefighter apprentice.”’ She grinned devilishly at him, clucking her tongue. “Well, that’s not good, is it?” She said sweetly. “What?” Antonio was confused. ”What’s not good?” “Tell me, Antonio: Why are you here?” “To guard the Statue of Liberty against potential arson attacks while it’s open to the public.” “Why?” She asked again. “There’ve been reports of arsonist activity around here. Have you seen him? I need to make sure he doesn’t set fire to the Statue.” “Uh-huh...” Johana started walking up the stairs. ”This stairway is too cramped. Let’s go up to the torch.” She was walking extremely fast now, so fast that Antonio practically had to run to keep up with her. He followed slightly behind her, and eventually he turned a corner. Ahead of him was an open door leading to a large room: the inside of the torch. Johana was sitting on the floor inside, playing with something in her hands that was making a clicking noise. Antonio recognized it as the noise he had been hearing earlier. He stopped at the door, hearing a nagging voice in the back of his mind. Something wasn’t right. He furrowed his brow, trying to figure out what was wrong. Finding nothing, he stepped inside the room. Johana looked up and grinned her malicious grin when she saw him, tucking the clicking item back into her pocket. She stood up. “So, Antonio, you said you need to stop this arsonist, correct?” She asked him. “Yes, otherwise I'll be fired.” For some reason, he’d decided to trust her. He wasn't quite sure why. “Did you know that this has happened before?” “I think I remember the fire department janitor telling me something about some guy trying to set the Statue of Liberty on fire nineteen years ago... The police caught him, of course, but were forced to retaliate because he kept trying to light them on- are you okay?” He asked. Johana had started breathing heavily and her eyes were glazed over with... was that rage? Her eyes flicked up to meet his, and she took a couple deep breaths, calming down. “So you’re thinking it might happen again.” Not a question. A statement. Her voice was cold. “Yes, and it’s my job to stop him,” Antonio said. “What makes you think it's a man?” Johana hissed. His eyes widened and he reached for his walkie-talkie, but before he had even moved an inch Johana’s knife was at his throat. Her eyes were blazing with anger. “That man was my father,” she spat. ”And you killed him.” “Hey wait, I didn’t-” Antonio started. “But people like you did. So I was alone. He was all I had, and you killed him.” Her tone was bitter with resentment and she backed away from him again, taking his equipment belt with her. “So now I’ve come back to repay the favor- and finish what he started.” Johana told him calmly, throwing all the equipment out the window save for two parachutes. She tossed one at Antonio and he caught it, surprised. She noticed.
“I’m not a murderer, Antonio. I just want revenge. Simply revenge.” She took the clicking item out of her pocket again and this time Antonio could see that it was a match. She stalked over to the door; it was the most flammable thing in the room. It was then that Antonio solved his earlier confusion. He had felt that something was wrong, but hadn’t been able to figure it out- the door was open, and the handle had been smashed. Ah, He thought. The door is always locked, but she didn’t have the key. He watched as Johana lit the match, letting it burn a moment before setting fire to the door. It slowly started to spread toward the edge where she was standing, and she leapt out of the window, activating her parachute. Antonio didn’t get away fast enough, and jumped out the window after her with a searing burn on his hand, wondering why he didn’t have his fire-protecting gloves on and grimacing in pain as he activated his parachute. When he gazed back at the flaming statue, the only thing he could think to say was, “Well, at least the torch finally has some fire in it.”
