Over the course of the next few years, Nova trained as hard as she possibly could. Tyrus followed her to just about every training session as did Leon. At this point, she was better than even Egil. Tyrus had eventually asked her out, She agreed. He had made her feel wanted, yes Leon and Egil did the same thing but Tyrus wanted her in a way they didn’t. It was nice to be in a relationship, except that's how she found herself locked in the janitor’s closet with Tyrus staring at her like a piece of meat.

“What are you doing?” Nova hissed at him as she heard people walking around in the hallway, she felt trapped, caged, in danger.

“Tyrus let me out,” Nova whispered as she grabbed the doorknob.

“Shhh, not yet.” Tyrus chuckled as he grabbed her wrists and pinned her against the wall.

“Tyrus let go of me,” Nova said as she squirmed trying to get out of his grip, she knew she could easily break free from him but there was something in the back of her head telling her not to.

“We're dating, this is the kind of stuff you do when you're dating. It’s like a special privilege.” Tyrus smirked as he shoved his knee in between her legs. “Because we're dating that means I get to see you naked. I've always wondered what your giant tits would look like free from clothing.” Tryus smirked as he took off her shirt.

“Get off of me!” Nova shouted as she tried to push him away.

“Bunny! Calm down! This is what couples are supposed to do. Everyone does it, it's what you're supposed to do.” Tyrus chuckled as he took off his shirt. “Come on it’s me bunny! You know me, would I ever do anything we're not supposed to be doing?” Tyrus asked as he ran his hand up and down her bare side. He had always been right during training and with other things, why was this any different.

“N-n-no i guess not,” Nova mumbled as he reached around her and undid her bra.

“Exactly! Now stay quiet and just let me do this.” Tyrus smirked as he slid her bra off. Nova quickly threw her arms over her bare chest. “Ah, ah, ah, arm’s down now. It's alright.” Tyrus chuckled as he moved her arms away. Nova whimpered as he began to touch her.

This felt wrong, so wrong. He was looking at her the way her father looked at her when she was in trouble the same murderous gleam in their eyes. Nova wasn't enjoying a single bit of this, it just made her feel gross.

“Do you want more?” Tyrus smirked as he pulled his member out of his pants and pressed it against her bare stomach.

“No! No I don't!” Nova said as her words finally returned to her throat.

“Fine, have it your way!” Tyrus growled as in one swift motion laid her down and pinned her to the ground, his knees pinning her arms onto the ground so she couldn't get up.

“Why won't you trust me?” Tyrus growled as he started stimulating himself.

“Get off of me!” Nova shouted as he put one of his hands over her mouth.

“Do you really hate me? Do you not wanna be my girlfriend?” Tyrus asked her, giving her puppy dog eyes. Nova felt tears roll down her face as she tried to get out from under him. Tyrus moaned as he came on her neck.

“Was that so hard?” Tyrus laughed as he put his member back in his pants and got off of her.

“Now we don’t tell anyone about this Bunny, this is a secret, got it?’ Tyrus smiled as he handed her back her clothes. Nova nodded as she sat up, she felt like she was covered in a gross slime. Like every inch of her was covered in muck and grime. She felt dirty and wrong.

“Good girl,” Tyrus smirked as he put his shirt back on and walked out of the closet. Nova shakily stood up and found a sink and a towel in the closet.

Nova washed her neck over and over again until it was bright red and raw from the hot water and the rough towel. She still felt gross but she was going to have to deal with it, she had training with Leon and Egil. Nova quickly put her clothes back on and walked out of the closet. Tyrus was probably right, she was just overreacting, why didn't she trust him? He loved her and he was just trying to prove it, right? Her mind was swimming with thoughts as she made her way to the training room.

“You're late! You worthless slut! I'm just lucky your sister told me that you were neglecting training. Why can’t you even be a little like her?” Kedric shouted as Nova walked into the training room.

“I-i-i-I'm sorry dad I just…” Nova began as he slapped her.

“Never call me your father!” Kedric screamed at her. Nova said nothing as she tried to hold back her tears. “Apparently one scar wasn't enough of a lesson for you! Why don't we decorate your back, maybe your stomach, your legs, every inch of your disgusting body!” Kedric shouted as he pulled out a knife.

Nova let her tears start to flow as her father stalked over to her. It was all for the best, like Egil used to say everything was going to be ok.

---

She got more scars, bruises, and insults along the way. It just made her try harder. Until finally the day she had waited for had come. Nova knew she had trained day and night since the moment she could wield a weapon, She was finally going to make her family proud. She was so ready for this day, She had waited so long for this moment. Today was the Valadez mafia initiation. In her family’s mafia, all the children that were born into the mafia when they were almost 14 were to compete in the initiation trials. Nova was going to be 14 in a few days. Only 3 of them would be accepted into the mafia. Nova assumed the others that didn’t make it got sent out and abandoned, you never saw them again and they were treated as deserters.

No one who had witnessed or competed in the trials could tell you what you would be doing; they could only train you for what was to come. Today was the day Nova was going to prove herself to her family and the members.

“Nova.” shouted a voice from behind her. Nova spun around as Leon came running up to her.

“Hey, you ready for today?” Nova said as he came to a stop next to her.

“Yeah, I think. How many trials are there?” he asked. Nova rolled her eyes.

“We don’t know yet,” she said as the other children started to arrive.

There were 6 of them altogether. Nova didn’t even know the other kids; the only one she knew was Tyrus, Leon, and his sister Opal. Opal had already done the trial’s a while ago. The only people she met while she was training were Leon and Tyrus. Well and Fletcher, but he had been gone for a while now, Egil always promised her he was alright.

“Hey you ready bunny?” Tyrus said as he walked into the room and pulled Nova into a hug. Nova flinched slightly at his touch remembering the janitors closet but put on a smile anyway.

“I was born ready for this,” she said as he laughed.

“I’m pretty sure we all were,” he said. Nova could see the angry look on Leon’s face, he had never liked Tyrus. Leon was about to say something to Tyrus when Egil walked into the room where all of them were waiting.

“Alright, two of you will go up with each other until there are only 3 of you left,” he said as he pulled out a list, Egil flinched like the words on the paper were on fire and too close to his skin. Nova could see the sorrow in his eyes and hear it in his voice. She had never seen Egil like that.

“First up….. Alex and Parker,” said Egil as a slender blond girl and a short brown-haired boy walked up to the front of the group.

“Who’s who?” whispered Nova to Leon.

“Parkers the boy Alex is the girl,” Leon whispered back.

Egil led them through the giant doors into the arena. It was just an old gym, but she and Leon liked to call it the Arena. After a minute nova could hear shouting and cheering from the other side of the door. She couldn’t make out any words. Then the crowd erupted into cheers, someone had won. After a few minutes when the cheering died down, Egil came back through the doors.

“The next set is….. Tyrus and Tom,” said Egil. Tyrus kissed Nova's cheek “see you on the other side bunny.” he whispered as he and Tom followed Egil through the doors.

“Hey, looks like we're gonna compete together,” Leon said, breaking the silence.

“Hey I promise we’re both gonna make it,” she said, grabbing his hand. After a few minutes, the crowd was cheering.

Nova smiled at Leon as Egil came back through the doors. Egil stared at the floor, tears in his eyes as he quickly pulled them both into a hug. He must be proud of them, after all, he had trained them both for this moment since they were just toddlers.

“Alright, you two. It’s your turn,” he said.

Nova and Leon marched through the doors into the arena. Little did she know what awaited her on the other side of the doors.