Deadlight Motel — The Long Night, pt IV

Black rain hits the windowpane Deadlight flickers through the haze Six heat signatures hold their place Seventh burns without a face Tower high, Deadlight below Thermal cuts the scene cold Bodies glow against the black One shape moves Then jumps the fuckin' tracks! Blackfall; vectors tight Room by room beneath my sight Drones circle thermal white Every angle reads all right Team stacks left beside the door I paint exits, roof, and floor Vacancy hums across the road One white figure starts to glow Frame skips—he clears the track Next feed puts him three rooms back Lightning flashes across the glass Nobody moves that fucking fast Drones dive through sheets of rain Bursts hit hard—he folds in pain Two floors down, he pounds the ground Feed clears up—no body found Every screen says he went down Every drone says nothing's found I can see the whole damn ground What the fuck keeps moving now Deadlight—burning where lost souls go Black rain falls in the undertow Deadlight—Every window wears our ghosts Their signals fade into smoke Deadlight—I watched him fall, watched him drown Still his shadow stalks this town Dead eyes burning through the rain Death is calling my name in the Deadlight! Drone one keeps Doc painted white Upper rail, locked in my sight Feed two flashes down below Something moves where he can't go Thermal figure, badge burns bright County patch confirms the sight Missing Sheriff—should be dead One target turned to two instead Split-screen ghosts, two separate feeds Both stop cold like they heard me breathe Both look straight through the drone's black eye Like they know I'm on the other side Bodycam says Room Eight is clear Radio says no movement near Feed runs late—his ghost stays there Dead man walking through dead air Two white shapes beneath the rain Two live threats inside the frame One should be dead, one should be gone Both still moving—something's wrong Alpha drops beside Room Nine Something yanks him out of sight Thermal catches him mid-crawl Doc goes sideways up the wall Fingers stretch—he hooks the drone Camera flips, control is blown Static floods the carrier band Feed goes black inside his hand Bravo cuts across the lot Sheriff meets him at the spot I paint center—send him down He hits hard—then comes around Bell swings loose above my head One hard note cuts through the dead Sheriff buckles at the sound Doc keeps moving, won't turn round Rounds didn't make the bastard shake That bell hit somewhere bullets ain't Log that shit—no time to wait Last man's pinned beside the gate Guide him left—I clear the line His bodycam dies in real time Two white shapes come into sight Both look up—straight into my eyes No feed No team Kill the fuckin' screens Headset dead, the screens go black Rifle slung across my back Bell tower groans as I move fast Deadlight burning at my back Highway gleams beneath the rain Deadlight smolders past the lane Gas sign twitches, half alive Old Ford rusts by Pump Five Rain runs black across the bed Tools and scrap piled near the tread Chainsaw wedged beneath the spare Half a tank still sitting there Thermal's dead, the night goes wide Black fields stretch on either side Crickets cut off down the line Then that silence starts to climb Deadlight—burning where lost souls go Two dark shapes in afterglow Deadlight—Every screen becomes a grave Every signal begs to fade Deadlight—I watched them fall, watched them rise Now they're staring through my eyes Deadlight—If the dead still hunt tonight God have mercy on Deadlight Gas sign flickers Engines cold Kill the fuckin' screens