Episode 1

California, USA.

I arrive home after a night out. My body is heavy from the night's excitement and drinks. I go up to my room, light a cigarette, and sit down to think about how perfect my life is. The wind blowing from the half-open window cools my face.

Thinking about it, I get up and look for the whiskey I left in my room, but I can't find it. I think my mother must have taken it from here and put it back in the pantry; she hates it when I bring drinks into the room.

I put the cigarette on the dresser, the embers facing out, and go downstairs to get it back, because I still want to drink until I fall asleep. I go down the first three steps of the stairs, but on the fourth, I trip, fall, and end up losing consciousness.

I wake up to a strong smell of smoke and the sound of sirens outside. I raise my body and see that the top floor is on fire. I jump up and run in despair, because my parents are sleeping. The heat from the fire burns my skin, but I need to make sure they are not here.

My room is on fire, theirs is right next door. I kick the door down, because the handle is red hot. And when it gives way, I see their burning bodies on the bed. My whole body goes numb; the feeling is that everything is over, that nothing else exists.

I hear a crack above my head, and when I look up, a piece of wood falls on my face. I scream in pain and hear noises coming from downstairs. I kneel, coughing from the smoke and the pain in my face. But the pain of seeing my parents on fire in bed hurts much more.

The firefighters drag me outside and I try to call out to my parents, but the smoke that has entered my lungs prevents me from speaking a word. I roll my eyes and black out again.

I wake up in the hospital, not even knowing how long I've been here. My crush, Alissa, is sitting in the chair next to me, smiling as she types on her cell phone. I raise my hand and put it to my face, feeling the rough cloth of the bandage.

"James, you're awake. I'll call the doctor." She gets up and goes out the door, returning in less than a minute with the doctor.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Forth?"

"What happened to my face?"

"You had third-degree burns on your right side of the face. We are taking care of it and you will be able to have plastic surgery soon. A skin graft can leave you good as new. It's time to change the dressing; I'll call the nurse to take care of that. Are you having trouble breathing?"

I shake my head no. It hurts a little, but nothing I can't handle. At that moment, the image of my parents burning in bed comes to mind, and my chest tightens with pain. I don't know what happened, how could the house catch fire like that?

"The police want to talk to you; it seems the fire was arson, not accidental," Alissa tells me.

"What do you mean?" I lift my body forward.

"The police will talk to you," replies the doctor and opens the door for two policemen to enter. One of them stands with a clipboard in his hand, while the other starts asking me questions.

"Do you know if your mother was devoted to any saint and left candles burning in her room?" I shake my head no, for my parents believed in God, but were never Christians. "Did you or your father smoke and have a habit of leaving your cigarette out of the ashtray?"

At that moment, I am struck by a shock, for I left my cigarette on the dresser, and since the window was open, it must have... Oh my God, was it me?

"My father smoked." I close my eyes to contain the lie I just told, for I know I will get life in prison if I confess to the crime.

"So that was it. Well, we'll let you rest, sir. If anything comes up, we'll be back to ask you some more questions." I nod in agreement, and they leave.

I break down in tears, consumed by the guilt of having killed my parents because of my carelessness. Alissa comes up to me and rubs my back, but I push her away from me. I'm not worthy of anyone's pity, I killed them and even blamed my father. I'm really miserable, I should have died instead of them.

She walks away, but stands watching me from afar. A few minutes later, a nurse comes in to change the dressing on my face. He slowly unwraps the bandage, but when he gets to the one that's stuck to my skin, it burns like hell.

He takes a small tube with water and starts pouring it on top, slowly pulling it until it comes off completely. I look at Alissa, who is startled by my image and starts taking steps backwards. I must look like a monster, but that's what I am: a monster.

He washes it, applies an ointment and then wraps another new bandage. Alissa comes closer and tries once more to put her hand on me. But I pull away again and say:

"Go away, you don't have to stay here."

"James, I'm going to stay with you. I know we never really assumed a relationship, but I like you a lot and I want to stay here."

"You're going to stay with a deformed person?" She makes a pitiful face, and it annoys me a lot.

"You're not going to stay like this. Didn't you hear what the doctor said? You're going to have surgery soon to reconstruct your face and..."

"I'm not having this surgery. This will be my karma for the rest of my life. Go away and never come back."

"James..."

"I SAID GET OUT!" I scream, and she takes a few steps back. I always knew she liked me, but I just liked her company because she was pretty, but I never really wanted to date her, so much so that I went out with other women besides her.

She just nods and walks away. This is my life now. In order not to scare anyone, I will simply disappear from the world, as if I too had died in that damn fire.

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