Nova was sitting in a foldable chair with her wrists bound in front of her. Her parents and the underboss Ray, and the consigliere Taylor all sat at a table in front of her. Her mother was in tears, her father looked enraged.
“Please state the crime.” said her father as he glared over at Egil who looked sick.
“Nova you have been accused of the murder of Tryus Cory Hansen and your sister Lynnette Brooklynn Valadez. How do you plead?” Egil asked her. He looked sick, Nova could tell something was severely wrong with him.
“Guilty” Nova said with half a proud smile and a slight hint of laughter in her voice.
There was no point in lying; she knew what the punishment would be, death. No matter what she said her father would never think she was good enough. Her mother gasped as the others murmured, only Egil stayed silent. They made eye contact and Nova could see the fear and sorrow in his eyes, she hated seeing him look like that. It was the same look he had given her and Leon before the trials from what seemed like so long ago.
“Well, this is a problem Nova. you have gone against our code, the code which states we shall not kill one of our own.” her father spoke in a calm and cool manner. Nova jumped out of her seat and shouted.
“What about the initiation? that breaks the code as well. I had to kill one of our own to join, so did everyone before me, and yet that does not break the code?” Ray ran over and pinned her to the chair. Her father stood up and walked over to her. He stopped right in front of her and grabbed her chin and made her face him.
“The code only applies to those initiated already with the mark of the mafia which you have. This means the death of Leon is irrelevant.” he spat at her. He let go of her chin then slapped her. Nova's cheek felt like it was on fire, but she would not let herself cry.
"Not when the trials were rigged. Tyrus and Lynett rigged the trials so Leon would die! That's against the rules but you did nothing about that when Lynett was already a member and should have gotten a punishment." Nova shouted as Kedric glared at her.
"you will not speak her name whore, Lynnett was ten times the member you could ever dream to be," Kedric growled as he slapped her again.
Nova coughed as she spit the blood from her broken lip onto the floor. "zero times ten is still zero."
Nova bit the inside of her cheek as her snark comment earned her another swift hard punch to the face. she coughed as blood dripped down her face and out of her mouth. she wasn't going down without a fight, she may be bleeding and tied up but she had gotten under his skin.
“The rules are clear, what's done to one will be done to the other.” he snarled “I want this creature out of my sight and killed.” Kedric proclaimed to the others.
“But sir, she's your daughter.” Egil began to plead as he finally broke.
“That thing is no child of mine,” Kedric said. Nova could feel the tears coming but she fought them off. she had never really been his daughter anyway, she was just a slave for him to treat as he wished. nothing had ever made him proud or love her. from the moment she was born she was the bane of his existence. she wasn't the boy he asked for so therefore she was worthless.
“I want to do it” shouted her mother, the first words she had spoken the whole trial. “I want to avenge my daughter.”
Kedric looked at her mother for a moment then sighed. “Fine, make it quick, and then have Egil dispose of the thing's body,” he said as he, Ray, and Taylor walked out of the area.
Egil pulled her up from the chair and dragged her outside. Nova stood tall as her mother walked up to her with the blade. It had begun to rain, they would be soaked soon.
“Perfect now there will be no trace of blood.” her mother whispered. Nova closed her eyes and took a deep breath, prepared for what was to come. But it never did.
"Vladka don't do this" Egil said as tears fell from his eyes. "please let me take her." he begged as her mother just stared off into space.
“I can't lose both of you,” she said defeated as she dropped the knife.
“Egil take her somewhere safe for me.” Egil nodded as he unbound Nova.
Nova looked at her mother for a moment, then hugged her. there was hope, hope that maybe if things had been different her mother could have saved her sooner. this was the best gift her mother could have ever given her. her freedom.
”If I'm leaving you sure as hell better make sure Raphael stays safe. I swear if I find out anyone has hurt him I will come back and kill them and you personally.” Nova growled as she broke the hug and grabbed her mother by the shirt, slamming her against the wall.
“I-i-i promise.” her mother stammered, shocked by Nova's strength and anger.
“I'll make sure he’s alright Nova, but we have to go,” Egil whispered as he pulled her away.
“Stay safe.” were the last words Nova heard from her mother as Egil dragged her off into the dark rainy night. One game over and another to go, but for this round, she was going to play her way. This game of hide and seek was going to be won on her terms.
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