Let the Games Begin

Click of a lock

Rain in the grate

New city smell

Old kind of hate

Heard you ran to the island with the towers in the fog

Tried to trade our little secrets for a spiral-bound log

New ID, new key, new crowd, new sin

You forgot I love a challenge

Let the games begin

Lobby man nods, I just tip my brim

Dorm desk girl thinks that I'm some cousin, slim

Pass by your door, I can hear you laugh thin

I remember that laugh with a knife in my grin

Let the games begin

You can change your name, but I still get in

Cross a thousand miles for a piece of your skin

You can pray to the lights, but you still won't win

Let the games begin

Blood on the fur, little teeth, white tin

Every step you take, I'm under your chin

You can run to this city, but this city's my sin

Let the games begin

Took your old pink slippers from that busted porch swing

Back when you said forever over burnt-out spring

Now they sit in a box with a ribbon real thin

Bit of red on the toes, just to make you think again

Slide them under your door, all careful, all square

Neat little parcel, little past, little dare

You scream through the crack, "Who's there?" like a hymn

Girl, you know that voice

Let the games begin

Henchman in the shadows, hoodie up, pale eyes

Got a photo in his pocket, got your face, got your size

Sends me one last text from a midnight bin

"Boss, I see the protector"

Static

Then nothing

Let the games begin

Your hero on the hallway floor

Red trail painting down the dorm room door

He was quick

He was slick

Still he's cold on the tiles

I was here all the while

You really thought he could shield you?

I'm above by the exit sign

Cello in my chest like a closing time

I can hear your breath hitch

Hear your keys drop, spin

"One down," I whisper

Let the games begin

Let the games begin

Let the games begin