The colour of my blood

His mom was first

He didn't just take a knife and stab it into her heart or something. It had quite some thought behind it.

He was seven when Nero Zeal, killed his own mother, Aaliyah Zeal. It was almost an accident. Kind of.

It was Matteo's birthday - A "friend" of Aaliyah- and she had almost sneaked out of the house, but her son, (Nero) saw her.
Aaliyah explained herself, then Nero wanted to go with her to make sure nothing was going on.

At Mateo's house, Nero continuously scanned the place, expecting something to look out of place, so that he could report to his father. He gave Mateo cold stares every time he exchanged a word with his mom, which amused Mateo quite a lot.

"He's very vigilant now, isn't he?" He joked around. Aaliyah shook her head.
"Just ignore him" she said. This shocked Nero, so his expression changed dramatically, making 'Teo laugh. Hearing him laugh, Aaliyah smiled and said, "So.. How's the cake going?"
He grinned and took her hand. "Lemme show you" he pulled her towards the kitchen and Nero literally ran behind them.
The kitchen was vast and entirely neat.
'Teo picked Aaliyah up and made her sit up on the table. Nero frowned deeply.
"Don't touch mama like that" he said, as he pushed Mateo away. Aaliyah giggled and 'Teo laughed aswell.
Nero crossed his arms on his chest angrily. "It's not funny" he announced.
He eyed his mom, annoyed. "Otherwise..I'll tell father"
The look of hurt on her face gave Nero enough satisfaction to dissipate his anger.
Mateo, seeing that Aaliyah was upset, tried to walk towards her, only to bump into the little figure in front of him. He sighed.
"I'll go buy some candles" he declared. "See you later Lia" he said confidently, blowing a kiss.
She smiled at him, and Nero pinched her arm to stop her from looking at him any longer.
"Ow!!" She screamed. This amused Nero a little. He then ran to 'Teo and pushed him out of the kitchen, all the way though the hall and to the door.  "BYE!" he shouted and pushed him out the door.

{I mean, we have to admit- this Mateo is very weak.}

He locked the door and walked back to the kitchen. His mom had now gotten off the table and was looking at the cake in the oven.
"Is it chocolate?" Nero asked. She shook her head.
"It's plain" she smiled. "Just the way he likes it..." her eyes were dreamy. She sighed. Nero shook his head, disappointed.
"You don't love him, do you?" He asked rolling his eyes.
"Nero," she looked at him "you think your father is someone I can love?" She shook her head. "Mateo loves me for who I am, not what I am.."
Nero frowned, not understanding what she meant.
"With your dad it's lust, not love." She concluded, walking out of the kitchen. He followed behind and sat on the couch, contemplating silently. Aaliyah layed down, staring at her phone.

~

Ten minutes later, Nero sneaked in the kitchen and increased the oven temperature. He decided he wanted a chocolate, ashy cake because plain was too simple. 'It also has to be crispy'. He concluded in thought. Something gave him a bad feeling but he shook it off and made sure the heat was on maximum, to speed up the process.

He finally exited the room and sat on the couch, pondering. About five minutes later a nasty smell was coming from the kitchen which surprised Aaliyah.
"Oh no..." she thought aloud. "Is that the cake?" She asked, frowning.
Nero smirked. "I hope not.." he said mockingly.
She shook her head whilst walking into the kitchen.
After a while. He waked into the kitchen calmly, until he saw the burnt cake (success!) still on fire and a pair of burnt oven gloves on the floor.
Aaliyah had her back turned on him, and it seemed as if she was washing her hands or something.

"Mom?" He asked cautiously.
She turned around, pure anger showing on her face.
"Why did you increase the fire in the oven?" She asked crossing her arms.

Nero looked at the floor, noticing that the cake was still burning, and it was placed a few steps to his left. He looked up at his mom, who was walking towards him. He decided that he would walk behind the cake to protect himself from his scary mom.

She didn't seem to notice the change and "Answer me" she demanded, almost tripping over the burning cake, which was now beginning to burn her leggings.
She gasped and so did Nero, his heart beating to the max.

He enjoyed the feeling of his heart racing and the adrenaline rushing through his bones.

Nero huffed and puffed, attempting to reduce the fire. He obviously failed, and ignored his mother's muffled screams.

He opened every single window in the house, running up and down and everywhere but the fire wouldn't stop. His mother's voice was now croaky and incomprehensible.

He sat in front of her and watched her burn. His heart raced and raced and he liked it. "I love you mama" he said to her. She stared in horror as Mateo entered from the front door, and took her last breath.

She dropped in front of them.

Mateo stared at the rotten cake and back at Nero. "You know water exists,  right?"

Nero's eyes widened. Water. How could he forget that. Water would've saved his mother. That's probably what she was screaming at him. WATER.