'Oh please. Please don't let my dad be involved with a cult-'

My eyes honed in on something else on the letter. "Hold on, there's more."

"What?"

I squinted at the small line of text on the bottom of the paper. I tried reading them.

"...N-Nos...trum...telum solum init-initium est."

I blinked.

"What kind of language is that?"

"It sounds like Latin." I looked at Dash in surprise, seeing he was gazing up at the ceiling in thought. How did he know that?

"Latin?"

"Yeah." His eyes went back towards me. "Lemme see it real quick."

I gave him the letter, and he looked over it.

"...Nostrum telum solum initium est. Yup, that's definitely Latin."

"So...do you know what it means?"

"Sadly, no. I can recognize it, but I don't understand it. I don't think Latin is that common of a language to know nowadays."

That sucks. I really wanted to know what it means, but it can't be helped.

"This card though..." He flipped it over, showing the red X again.

"Is it...familiar?" I asked.

"...No. But it's not sitting right with me."

Dash flipped it over a couple of more times, before he handed it to me.

"Hold onto it. I think it'll be important later."

I agreed there, it'd be dumb to throw this away, but the way Dash said that...it's like he knew something was going to happen. It made my anxiety increase.

"I wish we knew where your dad was. His disappearance was strange enough on its own, but now that this kind of letter was addressed to him...I feel like there's way more going on here."

'Geez Dash, can you soothe a girl's nerves instead of making them worse?'

"S-Should...Should we tell my aunt about this?"

To my astonishment, he shook his head.

"No. At least, not for now."

"Why?"

"We don't know what exactly all of this means. If your aunt and the police try to dig into it, they might...get involved in something they can't handle."

Dread kept me with quiet. Dash noticed my distraught expression, and his face softened.

He reached out and...hesitantly took my hand in his. I didn't break out of it.

"All I'm saying is that we should keep this between ourselves for the time being. Just until something else comes to the light."

...I get what he's saying. And frankly, I didn't want to tell Auntie this. Not only would I have to explain myself for not telling her about the letter much sooner, but this cult-organization thing could be really dangerous...I wanted to just leave it alone.

"Ok." I responded, my fears dying down a little. Dash smiled at me, and I returned it with a weaker one. He let my hand ago, and I immediately missed its warmth.

"Well...I should get going. I got some things I need to do." He stood up, and I instinctively followed suit. He faced me.

"I'll...talk to you later?"

"Y-Yeah."

The corner of Dash's lips curved up as he gave me one last look, which held...that emotion again, the one I couldn't name, before he walked out of my room. Some seconds later, I distantly heard the front door open and close.

I stared down at the card, and the letter.

'Dad...where are you? What have you been doing?'

Those two questions rang throughout my mind for the next couple of hours. By the time Auntie came back, I was in the living room, lying on the couch and watching TV to try and distract myself.

"Hi niecie! Where's Dash?" She walked by the couch, toting three grocery bags with her.

"He left a while ago. He didn't stay long, we just talked about some...stuff."

"Oh, alright. I was going to ask if he wanted to stay for dinner, but I guess that can wait for some other time."

She went into the kitchen, and I directed my attention back towards the couch. It was then, in that second, another realization hit me.

'Auntie really left me home alone. With a boy. A boy that she told to wait in my room no less, just after I got out of the shower.'

... ... ...

'Either she didn't think any of that through, or she REALLY trusts us.'

If it's the latter, I don't want to betray that trust.

Some time later, I begun to detect a very delectable scent in the air. Unable to ignore it, I got up and followed my nose. It led me to the kitchen.

"Y/N! Dinner's about ready. Go ahead and wash your hands, I'll make you a plate." Auntie's smiling face greeted me, as she fiddled around with pots and pans on the stove.

The air was warm, likely due to the cooking she's been doing, but it couldn't compare to the warm feeling that enveloped my body. It was a sweet warmth, that even...made me feel a little choked up.

I washed my hands and sat down at the dinner table afterwards. Auntie put a plate full of delicious-looking food in front of me with a glass of water, and a moment later, she sat down across from me with her own plate.

For the first time, from as far back as I could remember...I sat and had dinner with family.

~~~---------~~~

~2ndPOV~

The front door was unlocked, opened and closed as a tall, blond teen came in. He took in the living room in less than a second and saw only one person currently in it.

"Hellooo." The black-haired woman lying down on the couch, reading a magazine, lazily greeted him.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" He wasted no time asking. The gaze of her periwinkle eyes left a magazine page and went to him.

"Dad's on patrol. Mom and Jack-Jack went to the store."

"Great." He grumbled, shaking his head. Guess he had to wait to tell them about this. His sister easily picked up on his discontentment.

"What's up?"

"...You know that guy I told you all about, who's apparently behind the Bluebloods? This 'Mr. X'"?

"Yeah..." She sat up, and closed her magazine. He went over to the smaller, adjacent couch and sat down.

"It looks like Y/N's dad is working with him and his group."

"What?" Her eyes widened. "Y/N's dad? How do you know?"

"Y/N had this letter delivered to her house a while ago, but held off on opening it. She texted me today and asked if I wanted to go over to her aunt's place so we could read it together." His nose scrunched up.

"From the sound of it, her dad donated to this organization, who claimed something about a 'new world'."

"Ok...but what's that have to do with Mr. X?"

"In the envelope, there was a card along with the letter. It was all grey and blue, and the only thing on it was a big letter X in red."

"Really?" She looked him over. "Do you have it?"

"No. I told Y/N to hold onto it. It'd be weird if I asked to take it, since to her, I don't have a reason to."

"Ah...right." She sucked in a cheek. "She doesn't know, does she?"

"No. Not...yet."

"Well...maybe you should tell her. I mean, she's trustworthy, right?"

"Yes...but it's not that. If I didn't have to worry about her being associated with me...with us, since she'll know our identities, I would've told her a long time ago. I can't put her in danger."

"Hmm..." She understood that. It took her awhile to tell her boyfriend for the same reason.

"But, maybe she's already in danger Dash. If her dad's in cahoots with this group, there's a big chance it'll come right to her."

"..." He couldn't deny she was right. But still...

"I don't think she's in that much danger for now. I doubt her dad knows she's staying with her aunt, and if he doesn't know, then his pals shouldn't either."

"That isn't gonna last for long. Once it's obvious that her house has been abandoned, they'll search around."

"I know Violet." He clenched his eyes shut. "If they find out where Y/N is, not only will she be in danger, but her aunt will be too. And as far as I know, she's Y/N's last family member. She can't lose her."

The two super siblings fell into silence, both of their minds swarming with thoughts.

"...Honestly Dash, I think you should tell her anyway. But, not now. It's a good idea for Mom and Dad to meet her first."

"You're right..." He stared down at the carpet.

"So...you should ask her to come over."

"...Hm. I'll try asking her tomorrow. She did say that she wanted to meet you all too."

"Then it all works out." Violet smiled to herself, and laid back again, reopening her magazine. "If Mom and Dad give us the clear to tell her, we could better protect her then, don't you think?"

He smiled at the 'we' in her sentence.

"But, you most of all...heh." She grinned at him, and he tensed up.

"Have you tried asking her out yet-"

"Annnnd we're done here."

With a reddened face, the speedster sharply stood up and ran upstairs to his room in a blur, as his sister laughed.

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A.N. Got a small scene in with Violet there. Reader will be meeting the Parrs very soon! It's about time, right?