~~Third POV~~

The room was pitch black, yet shadows still swayed in the darkness. Somewhere in the dark stood a man, holding an old torn up photo. The photo was of a very small boy with pure white hair and nearly white eyes, though they had a blue hue to them in the photo. The edges of the photo were torn as the photo was not owned by its current holder. The man and the silence was interrupted by a door squeaking its way into existence for the man. He had forgotten there was a door in the far corner of the room.

“Who goes?”

The man’s voice was hoarse and weak from lack of use and lack of thirst.

“Hello, dear friend.” The deep voice echoed in the small chamber. Despite the darkness, the room was small and housed only a single mattress on the concrete floor. Nothing else was in the room except the man and the photo.

The man’s eyes widened in fear as he clutched the photo to his chest, damaging it more, but he did not care.

“Please, please, I beg you just let me go. He … He isn’t what you want.”

The man who entered was Dominus. Upon hearing the man’s words, he immediately had the man hanging above the ground, holding his neck tightly. “He is everything I want. Every part of his mind, body, and magic are all I want.”

The man stayed limp as he was being restricted of air flow. This was not the first time he had been held from oxygen and it won’t be the last. He has been here for many years, though he is unaware of how long time has passed.

Dominus threw the man onto the hard floor, causing the man’s arm to pop out of place and his knee to shatter. The man was malnourished and broke very easily as his body and bones were brittle and weak. Despite the added and new wounds, the man only hissed in pain, but did not cry or scream. His tolerance for pain had been hardened through years of torture.

“Do you know how long it has been? Since you hid him from me? How long I have been searching!” Dominus’ anger filled the room, making the air tense.

The man did not respond as he did not know the answer.

“It has been fifteen years.” Dominus spoke softly, knowing the answer would shock the man.

As planned, the man was shocked. “No,” he cracked out as he tried to move or stand up. “No.” The man’s voice was constricted with pain as tears fell. “Please, don’t hurt him.”

Dominus chuckled, the deep sound echoing in the chamber as he made his way to exit. “Don’t worry. I’ll only hurt him a little bit. Besides, you will see him soon. I found the boy, your boy, Vega White.”

The door slammed shut and a key turning echoed. The man, Vega White, fell onto the floor. His body racked with pain, sorrow, and worry as he sobbed and clutched the torn photo of Nova White.

~~~~~~~~~

~~Blaze’s POV~~

The taxi stopped right outside Quinn’s house. It was a third story house with a natural brick exterior and a two car garage connecting to the house. The inside had clean white walls and beautiful light oak floors in the main floor. Everything was an open concept and it made the house feel ten times bigger.

I led the way into the house, knowing Quinn was probably busy cooking something. My initial thought was deemed correct when the smell of apple pie and the sound of meat sizzling on a grill filled the air.

I watched as Nova tilted his head, his nose moving slightly as he took in the new smells. It was cute.

“Hey guys!” Quinn’s voice echoed in the open area. Nova winced before waving once at Quinn as we made our way into the kitchen.

“Sorry about the mess.” The space was immaculately cleaned despite the male cooking dinner and desserts. “I woke up late and the market didn’t have Granny Smith apples. And I can’t make apple turnovers without Granny Smith apples. And-“

“Quinn, stop rambling.” Riot’s rough voice sounded from the large sectional couch in the living room.

Quinn’s face colored a bright red before he turned around and busied himself with the food.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at my friend trying to hide his crush on our other friend.

“Hey Riot.” I tapped the man laying on the couch before hopping over it and plopping down next to him.

Riot groaned as he sat up. “I was napping before you showed up.”

I shrugged before waving Nova over. The small male cautiously walked towards the large couch as he looked around. I could see his eyes flitting throughout the open space, hanging onto each item for only second before moving on. It was intriguing to watch him take everything in and register things.

The front door opened and Victoria’s loud voice echoed immediately, filling the quiet air.

“I’m just saying, that taxi driver was racist!”

West groaned as he made his way to join us on the couch. “I am aware. I am not disagreeing with you, I just don’t know how to calm you down. Or what to say.” His voice fell to a whisper as he sank into the couch.

“How was the driver racist?” I asked, glancing at Nova who stood near shelves of photos of Quinn and his family.

Victoria sat on the top of the couch, kicking her shoes off that landed near the coffee table. “You know how I don’t look white. Like I’m black but not dark?”

We all nodded. Victoria was mixed, but her skin was more of a tawny color than umber. Though none of us really cared about skin color. The school was pretty accepting. Everyone judged you based on your class or type though. That wasn’t fun to deal with as the student council president.

“Okay, well this idiot driver made comments about how beautiful my skin is. How he just loved the color.”

Upon Riot’s confused scrunched up face.

“He said he would never fuck a black bitch because he hates the diseases we people could care. Direct fucking quote!” Victoria’s voice rose in volume as she got angry. Nova flinched as he stared at the photos. He hadn’t even turned around to face us.

“Victoria.” My voice was stern. I call it my president voice. It’s easy to control and calm people.

The girl stopped before looking at Nova. “Oh no. Nova I am so sorry.” Her voice dropped to a normal level, though a tad quieter than that.

Nova turned around, blinking before his eyes seemed to focus on everyone. His hands started wringing, twisting and rubbing in a constant manner. “Um… what is racist?”

The room shifted and seemed to drop as everyone looked at Nova.

“You don’t know what racist means?” West asked, baffled.

Nova shook his head as he made his way to the closet part of the couch. “I… I was sheltered all my life. My mother kept me away from people. Until now.”

Victoria’s face relaxed as she nodded. “Well, I will try to explain what racism is. From my point of view. Is that okay?”

Nova nodded, his eyes focusing on Victoria.

“Okay, so, you know how your skin is a lot lighter than mine? Even lighter than everyone?”

Nova nodded, glancing down at his pale skin before looking at each of us.

“You are Caucasian. Or white, if you want to simplify it. West is mixed. His mother is Japanese and his dad is Caucasian. So that makes his skin look a bit yellow. Someone who isn’t white tends to be judged by people we call racists. Racists are people who judge someone by the color of their skin. It’s not as terrible as our ancestors went through, but it’s still going on everyday. Obviously, I went through it today. Does that make sense?”

Nova nodded slightly. “I… I never noticed that people commented on certain things due to skin color.” He spoke slowly, as if thinking about each word before saying the next word.

Victoria nodded. “It’s okay. Terrible people will always exist.”

“Food is ready!” Quinn shouted from the kitchen.

“We are right here idiot.” Riot grumbled as he got up.

“Sorry.” Quinn stuttered out.

“What did you make?” Victoria asked as she turned to face the male.

“Oh um, roast beef with potatoes and vegetables. Um, baked chicken stuffed with ricotta and spinach. And apple turnovers and homemade blueberry sorbet.”

Riot’s face lit up as he looked at Quinn then the freezer. “Blueberry sorbet?”

Quinn nodded, his cheeks burning a rose color.

I couldn’t help but chuckle and pat Quinn’s shoulder. Quinn sighed as Riot checked the freezer and smiled at the bowl of sorbet.

“Let’s all eat.” I spoke as we all got up and served ourselves.

Nova watched from the couch. I chuckled before serving up a plate for the small boy.

We all sat around the dining table. I placed Nova’s plate next to mine and waved the boy over. Nova padded his way over before quietly slipping into the chair and eating slowly.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, though I could tell everyone made an effort to not be too loud for Nova’s sake.

~~~~~