Mortuus stood unsteadily and followed the scent that wafting through the air. The sweet smell led him into the kitchen of the old Andrews house; only it wasn't destroyed as it had previously been. Mortuus saw Jason Andrews with his back turned to the kitchen door as he removed something from the oven.
Jason then stood up and placed a piping hot pan of freshly made bread onto some hot pads on the counter. He turned and shouted, "Isadora! The bread is ready!" As soon as he said that, a bright-eyed little girl with brown hair and lightly tanned skin appeared.
She had long pigtails in her hair and soft eyes. She came running in with a big smile and immediately went over to Jason. She pulled up a pink stool and stood up on it to see the bread. "How'd it turn out? Is it good? It smells good!" The little girl's mouth was running a mile a minute.
Jason laughed and nodded, trying his best to answer the little girl's questions. "Why don't you try it and find out, Isa?" Isadora happily grabbed a fork and tried a piece. Her bright brown eyes shone more colorful as the bread hit her taste buds.
Isadora's face lit up with joy as she savored the flavor. "It's delicious, Daddy!" she exclaimed. Jason smiled with pride and ruffled her hair affectionately. "I'm glad you like it, sweetheart," he said. Jason may not have been Isadora's birth father, but he loved her like he was.
Mortuus watched the heartwarming scene from the shadows, feeling a pang of sadness in his chest. He remembered a distant and foggy memory from his old life—a memory of baking cookies with Maria—but he wasn't sure if this was a real memory or something that L.A.S. had fabricated.
But as he watched Isadora and Jason, he felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be such a horrible death, not like Willem's. If only he could interact with these people, but hallucinations can't respond.
With that thought in mind, Mortuus slowly backed away from the kitchen and disappeared into the next room, the dining room. He pulled out a chair, one of the few things he could interact with, and sat down. A few minutes later, the two entered the room and placed plates of food down. Isa had a jumble of mashed potato with gravy, peas, a slice of ham, and a few broccoli that she pushed aside with her fork.
Beside her, Jason had a similar food arrangement, but he was eating all his vegetables. His serving of ham was also slightly bigger. Mortuus watched as Jason spoke up, telling Isa to eat her broccoli or no dessert.
"But broccoli's gross! Can't I just have extra ham?" Isa argued while rolling her eyes and jabbing at the broccoli with her fork. She definitely didn't like broccoli, but she had eaten all her peas.
"You know the rules, Isa. You only get dessert if you finish your meal," Jason reminded her, shoveling a forkful of mashed potatoes into his gullet. Isa rolled her eyes again and sighed, "Yeah, well, it's a stupid rule."
"So is going to work, but yet, I do it," Jason responded. Isa groaned, "Don't go into your whole 'taxes suck' 'I'm a sad and depressed adult... blah blah blah..' spiel."
Mortuus couldn't help but chuckle at this; Isa was quite the sassy and spirited kid. He looked over to Jason, who was chuckling at his daughter's response. Suddenly, the environment changed again as Jason's eyes caught the light.
Just a few moments ago, the house was quiet and still, but now a fire was tearing its way through the wooden frames. The flames crackled and hissed as Jason rushed through the hallway and flung open a white door adorned with a floral pattern. His mind raced as he searched and called out his daughter's name. And then he found her huddled in the corner of the room, clutching a stuffed bear and a froggy blanket.
Tears were streaming down the little girl's face as she clung to the bear in fear. Jason ran to her and offered a hand. He called to her, "Isadora, baby... We need to get you out!" The little girl cried and hugged the bear tighter. "I'm scared, Daddy! I'm scared!"
Jason was crying, too, and his heart was racing as he grabbed the small and delicate hand she offered out. He nodded and pulled her to his chest as he cradled the scared child. "I know, baby... I know you're afraid... I'm scared, too."
He barreled into the door and crashed through it with his shoulder as he sheltered his scared daughter. "It's going to be okay, baby... Everything's going to be okay."
Mortuus was frozen in place as he watched the scene; Jason was doing the unthinkable and risking everything to save his daughter from the fire. Jason was definitely more of a hero than Mortuus felt he could ever be.
Jason ran down the burning hallway as fast as his legs would carry him, cradling the poor girl in his arms. He was so focused on making it out that he never even saw the exposed beam that was beginning to crack. As he made his way through, the large beam crashed down from the ceiling and hit Jason's back.
The beam had killed his daughter on impact, and now Jason was trapped below it. He tried desperately to lift the beam, but he was just too weak, and the beam was too heavy. With splinters in his back and tears streaming down his face, he was stuck inside the burning house. The last sight he saw was the plush his daughter had been holding; its soft fur was ablaze, and the way its plastic eyes were melting made it appear as though it were crying.
As the flames engulfed his body, Jason's thoughts raced back to the moment when he promised his little girl that he would always be there for her. But now, in his final moments, he could only think of how he failed her. "I-I'm... I'm so sorry, baby," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the roar of the fire. Tears streamed down his face as he realized that he would never be able to keep his promise. All that was left of his life in that house was reduced to ashes, and with it, the memories of his daughter that he could never make right. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oXNRuWcQN
