Memories raced through Jarrett's head; He could remember the last time he had hugged his mother and father. In fact, at the age of twenty four, it would seem odd to any person that he was living with them at the time. The truth was, in fact, that his father had suffered a fall that had broken his back months before, and Jarrett had sold his home to pay for the medicine and care for his father and to ensure that his mother and father were taken care of. He indeed had a girlfriend, though she had been kidnapped years before and was considered 'missing or deceased'. His older brother and younger sister had moved far away years before the fall, and it seemed that Jarrett was the only child to care about his parents. He stifled a cry, shaking his head as he remembered what had happened that night...
*Snap* *Crackle*
Why do I smell burning? "Mom? Dad? You all okay?" Jarrett sat up in bed, his body aching from the work on the farm the day before. He saw the flames before he felt the heat; The orange and yellow flames lapped at wooden floor, sending a thick black smoke up to the ceiling. Jarrett fell out of bed, his clothes from that morning still on his body. He didn't have time to change before he had went to sleep; He had been exhausted. The flames came close to his face, spreading over his arm. He screamed in pain, jumping back and covering the burn with his right hand. He gritted his teeth, jumping over the fire and out the door. There were a bunch of men yelling at him from the open doorway; "Get out, Jarrett! We've got a hose and plenty of water!" Jarrett ignored the neighbor's cries. He raced upstairs, watching as the flames spread down the hallway in a weird way. Pieces of ceiling were breaking through and falling to the floor, sending Jarrett into a running panic. He braced himself, pulling his shirt over his mouth. The smoke was dense and hurt his lungs. He coughed, slowly making his way to his parent's bedroom. He spotted his mother on the floor, her body severely burnt. She was gasping, clinging to the bed in a desperate attempt to help her husband. "Mommah! We have to get out of here!" Jarrett pulled at her body, pulling her into his arms and making his way towards the doorway. "NO! Y-YOU'RE FATHER... HE NEEDS OUR HELP!" Jarrett turned back to look at his father in the bed; The flames had already begun to spread on his father's legs. His father screamed, patting out the fire quickly and waving Jarrett away. "Get your mother out! Now!" Jarrett stood there for a moment, frozen with a decision that stung his heart. "D-Dad.. I need you!" "NO! JARRETT, GET YOUR MOTHER OUT OF THIS ROOM! YOU KNOW I WOULD WANT THIS!" Those words still rung in Jarrett's ears. His father had been consumed by the fire before he left that room; He could still see the flesh peel and pop off of his father's chest. He could smell the charred skin. He cried as the floor became insanely hot, burning the bottoms of his feet. His mother was pounding on his back, screaming in his ear. Jarrett could feel the sorrow from her desperate struggle to be released. He carried her out the door, helping her out as the fire began to spread. It caught his left arm; The same one that had been burned before. He screamed, dropping to the floor and rolling to put out the fire. But it had already spread up his arm. He blacked out, waking up in the hospital. The nurse told him that his mother was severely burned, but she survived. Things became dark again, and he remembered being helped into a car by Serena and Julius; They took him away. He had escaped the car; It was a recent model that had just been invented. As he jumped out of the car, he fell, tearing his coat on the ground. He got up, running into the woods. The trees and ground scraped against his feet and face, cutting him up and slowing him down. He heard a sound, turning his head behind him. Julius was running after him, gaining a lot of speed quickly. He looked like a rabid animal that was chasing prey; That is when Jarrett was tackled to the ground. Julius had bit him, causing blood to seep from his neck. He screamed, shaking his head. "GET OFF ME!"
The bite was only a flesh wound; Nothing that would cause him to become a vampire. Julius led him back to the car, licking his lips the whole time. Jarrett realized then that he needed to be careful. He needed to obey what was told, and someday he would be released. He kept a tight hold on that thought; It was his only drive to stay alive.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was later revealed that Serena had accidentally started the fire, though Jarrett blamed her with all that he had for the death of his father. Jarrett sighed, snapping out of the memory. He wondered where his mother was; Was she still alive? He turned around, spotting Sazael as he took off his shirt, revealing the large, white scar that ran up his left arm in a odd pattern. "T-The fire.. I was lucky. So was my mother. My father always taught me to be strong.. I am now."
