Jeremiah awoke in a cold sweat. His dreams had been filled with fire, destruction, murder, and loss. The dream was dreamed in surprising detail, and seemed more so real than any other dream that Jeremiah had ever had before. It described figures in long black cloaks walking down the familiar road to the Parslo Mansion with torches. There were fifteen or so figures all with the air of ill-intensions flowing around them, following them along the road. As they came towards the last corner before the house the lead figure handed his torch to the figure next to him and motioned for the others to wait. He walked around the corner and into the mansions yard and watched the last of the lights turn off inside. He was about to turn around when he saw the light in the attic turn on. The light reached out to the very spot that he stood frozen, exposing him completely. Someone walked up to the window too far away for him to distinguish whom it was, and looked out as if looking for something. As if expecting to see something.
The person closed the curtain and the image of their shadow faded from view. The light remained even through the curtain, illuminating still over the place he stood, daring him to move. He paused and waited a few seconds more and then darted back around the corner towards the other figures. "We have to move fast and get to the house and back into the forest quickly. There is a light remaining on, shining directly towards the corner so we're going to have to move around it if we can without making any noise, Go!" The hooded figure whispered in a raspy voice as he returned. There was a light smell of liquor on his breath. The group ran toward the house but as they almost reached its creamy-white walls the shadow of the man appeared in the window again. All of the figures froze as the shadow's hands went to open the curtain. Now close enough to see whom it was the lead figure saw that it was Mr. Parslo himself watching them. From what was commonly known of Mr. Joseph Hark Parslo Jr. was that he commonly slept walked and paced through his home throughout the night dealing with the affairs of the next day that he sometimes didn't even know of yet. No one knew how or why he haunted his home every night and he didn't even have the liberty to control it like an average habit. He didn't even have the capability to remember the events the next day. He recollected nothing in the morning, one night his wife followed hi throughout the night noting everything that he said and did. Eerily, the next day the events played out exactly as they had done the night before.
So knowing who it was the lead figure beckoned the others onward towards the house. Some just positioned their torch so that the house would catch and others threw theirs into the windows they had just broken. Once all of the torches were placed the figures ran backwards into the forest. They made it just in time for another light to turn on in and upper floor window. They watched as the candle light wandered though the house towards the stairs. Once the light got onto the stairs and saw the fire they heard a scream, knowing that by the time the family had gotten down the stairs there would be no way out.
"Mr. Parlso! Mrs. Parslo! Joseph, Jeremiah, Sylvia!" The maid screamed as she ran down the upper floor of the Parslo Mansion slamming doors open screaming, "There's a fire! FIRE! Get up, there's a fire!" More lights turned on without the knowledge of their hidden watchers outside.
With that the family split their separate ways into their rooms and Mr. Parslo made his way down the stairs.
"Dad there's no way out! The whole perimeter is in flame! We'll have to get out the upstairs somehow." Joseph had met Mr. Parslo on the stairs and was still scanning for a way out.
"Well then you get the family out1 I'll just have to run through the flame if it gets someone out." He didn't even wait for a reply and ran.
Once Joseph saw that his father had got out safely he ran up the remaining stairs to find an alternative way out. Jem! Jem where are you?!" Joseph screamed as he ran though the hall.
'What! Did you get the fire men? Is there a way out?! You get Mom I'll get Sylvia and Natasha!" Jeremiah almost ran off to get them when is brother grabbed his arm., "What is it? We have to get out now!"
"Jem There is no way out down there! I need you to help me get everyone out from up here!" Joseph was frantic at this point, they were losing time saying this.
"Get the bed and throw it out the window1 That may work. We used to try to get away with that when we were little, maybe it'll turn out necessary now." Jeremiah had an urgent and yet excited gleam in his eye and both the boys dashed into their bedroom, ran around the maid and to the bed. Without even communicating they both got to opposite ends of the mattress and threw t out the window. "That one layer of straw isn't enough to dull the landing. Get your bed too!"
Once the mattress was out the window and on top of the other one the boys ran out into the hall to get the rest of the family. Joseph ran to get their mother and Jeremiah went to get their sister, Sylvia.
Jeremiah entered Sylvia's room to find her room nearly empty and that she was gone. "Sylvia!? Sylvia, where are you?!"
"She's in Mom and Dad's room! Hurry!" The voice was Joseph's, but it only sounded as if he were in the hall instead of in their parents room, "They're trapped a hole got burned into the floor!" Joseph yelled over the sound of the roaring fire below them when Jeremiah ran into the hallway. "I can't convince them to jump!"
"Here I'll jump over and convince them!" Jeremiah readied himself for the jump but yet again his brother grabbed his arm.
"No, I'm more athletic than you! If the hole widens while I'm over there I'll have a better chance of jumping back over than you1
"No I don't want to put you at risk! If I don't make it out you'll be better at taking care…." His words faded as his brother jumped across the gap in the floor. Jeremiah forced himself to resist the urge to reach out and grab his brother and pull him back because he knew that he was not strong enough to pull him back across the gap, he would fall.
His brother disappeared through the smoke. "Jo! I'm gonna get the maid out I'll be right back!" Jeremiah paused and waited for a response but heard none and knew that the sooner they get anyone out the better they would be and the faster they would all be out. So he ran back down the hall back into the room he shared with his brother. "Natasha, the only way out is o jump out the window onto the mattresses that we threw out earlier. I don't have much time cause I have to go help Jo get Mom and Sylvia, but I have enough to help you. You ready?" He had found the maid waiting in a chair by the window for the rest of the family to come.
"No! But there isn't much of a choice in the matter is there? Lets get it over with, just promise that you'll get everyone out safe!" The maid finished and walked over to the window quickly joined by Jeremiah. The mattresses were more visible now than when they were thrown out because the sun was on it's way. Still not up over the horizon, but casting light over the land al the same.
"Be careful I'm gonna make sure that your out but then I'm gonna go help Jo. If you want go make sure that dad got the message to town." Joseph had started to yell after Jeremiah over the sound of the roaring fire. Sylvia ran into the room.
"Mom can't get up1 She's inhaled too much smoke1 Well that's what we think. Where's Natasha"
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"She jumped out! Now you have to too!? Hurry so I can Go help Mom!" Jeremiah helped Sylvia onto the window sill hollering to Joseph that he would be right there. Once he saw Sylvia and Natasha safe on the ground he ran to the doorway of his parents room. "Jo!? Where are you? Is the hole big enough for me to jump across?!"
"No! Go jump out of the other window and make sure that Natasha and Sylvia get out safely! I'll throw Mom out the window and you can catch her Have the others help if they can! GO! GO!" The raspy voice of his brother trailed out through the air. Jeremiah ran back into his room and jumped out the window.
Once out there he found Sylvia getting the things that Jeremiah, Natasha, and she had thrown outside. "Hey I need you to help me catch Mom out of her window1 Hurry before something happens to them! Where's Natasha?"
"She ran down to town to make sure that Dad got the massage through. Lets go get Mom!" When Sylvia finished speaking she started to run around the house.
Jeremiah followed to the other side of the house and to their parent's window, "Hey Jo! We're here and ready! Jo!?" When there was no response he began to panic, thinking that they may have been able to jump over the gap he ran back around the house. Once his window was in sight he began yelling again, "Jo! JO! Jo, are you there?! Jo! Answer me!"
"Jeremiah!? Jeremiah Parslo!?" A man ran around the corner of the house, "Hey! Come on, we need to gat all of you in the same place 'cause we have some… Not so good news that we have to tell ya." It was the town iron smith he had gotten either Dad's or Natasha's news of the fire. Jeremiah had begun to crash and the shock started to hit him. On the all-around the house back to where Jeremiah assumed that they had Sylvia sitting, he thought that the whole town must be there watching. As they walked around the corner they were revealed to practically the whole town. The smith guided Jeremiah to the rock that the had Sylvia sitting on a good distance away from the house pointing the other way so she wouldn't have to look at their home in flame. Thinking of the fire again Jeremiah looked back up towards the house and fell to the ground. The window he had been shouting to only ten minutes or so ago was filled with flame. The red and yellow mixture of flame was billowing out of the window. "Hey come on… Come on get up. We got to get over to Sylvia." The smith silently helped Jeremiah up and continued to walk over to Sylvia. The only people from the house sitting there was Jeremiah, Sylvia, and the maid Natasha.
"Wh…Wh?" Jeremiah tried to ask where everyone else was but couldn't get a word out he was just crushed. Couldn't handle the thought of…
Over to the side a couple of feet away from where they were sitting they were sitting Kiele, the author down in town, and James Hentz, the general store owner, were talking together just loud enough for Jeremiah to hear, "Hey do you think we should wait to tell them about their father?" It was Kiele.
"Ya they can't handle it right now. We'll tell tem once they've recovered." Jeremiah almost turned around to ask them about what happened to him but was awoken suddenly by Natasha, their maid was screaming in the hall about a fire.
There were footsteps coming down the stairs followed by the voice of his father, Mr. Joseph Parslo Jr., yelling, "Natasha! Calm Down! We'll just send Joseph down to town to tell the fire men. Then we'll find a way out. Joseph get up! Run down to town and tell the fire men that there's a fire!… Now!Honey, Jeremiah, Sylvia get your stuff through your windows and then come down the stairs. If I call then come down immediately. There may not be a way out for long. Natasha, you go take care if Joseph's room."