It had been several days since Ruby had been shown the vibrancy of the night, but she would've given it up for nothing. She knew what she was, at least to some extent, although she had used to think creatures like her "fairy tales". She had become a vampire, or at least, something very vampire-like. Four of her teeth near the front of the white rows had grown sharp. So sharp that she could prick her own finger with the slightest pressure applied to them. There had been other changes, too. Her body was faster and stronger, and her mind was as well. Her grades had gone up the last few days, as she found that she could recall information without almost any effort.

Her transformation didn't come without its detriments, though. She hated going outside now during the day. The sun beat down on her all the time, burning her retinas and searing her flesh. In just minutes, blisters had formed on her pale skin that had been exposed to the bright light. Those wounds had healed in minutes though, and as soon as she got out of the sun, she felt much better.

If she tried to think about what had brought her to such a condition, she found only headaches and black spots. She couldn't remember what had happened. All that resided in her memory about becoming what her current self was something about a dark alleyway, a shrouded figure, nothing that actually gave her any clues as to what had happened. She couldn't say that she cared, though. She knew what she was now, and that was all that mattered. She had her hood, and could protect herself from the sun long enough to do whatever she needed to.

There was one more thing that had changed, but she didn't quite know what it was. She no longer felt the urge to eat, and apparently suffered no ill effects from it. She did have a burning hunger for something, but she didn't know what. She had tried to eat a few small morsels, but she ended up having to choke them down to avoid suspicion. It was like her body didn't even consider it food. It was a battle to force it down her throat, but she had managed.

The hunger was worst when she was with her friends. It was like she was only feet from a source of food while starving, but there was nothing that she could see.

She found herself now in her team's room, sitting on her bed alone. Everyone else had gone out, and she had chosen to stay behind. The curtains were closed tightly, not letting a single sliver of light into the room, and the electric lights buzzed slightly as they illuminated the room.

Ruby was looking down at a book, trying to ignore the hunger as best she could, when the door opened, and Yang came into the room. Ruby looked up, surprised, and waited for her other teammates to follow. They didn't, and Yang stepped towards her bed, a broad smile on her face, as it always was. "Hey Rubes!" she spoke in a chipper voice "Did you have fun while we were out?"

Ruby leaned forward on her bed, top bunk making the angle of the door difficult to see around, and eyed it suspiciously. She couldn't hear anything from the hall, and there were no visual signs that anyone was out there. Yang noticed the way that she peered, and turned in an attempt to see what she was looking at. A brief second of silence settled over the room, in which Yang appeared to think about what her sister was looking at, before she said, "Oh, the door! Right, sorry, I forgot."

Yang walked back over to the door, and closed it quickly. Upon doing this, she walked back to the center of the room, put her hands on her hips, and looked around the room. Apparently it wasn't quite what she expected, because she snorted through her nose and said, "How can you stand being cooped up like this? You've been here for days! I feel like I'm going nuts already." Ruby was about to make a comment about how she preferred to stay indoors, when Yang started to walk towards the windows, reaching her hands out for the curtains.

Ruby practically flew from her cross-legged position, leaping down from her bed and hitting the ground with a running step that placed her in-between her sister and the blinds. She and her sister ended up facing each other, Ruby spreading her arms across the blinds to keep them in place. Yang looked shocked at Ruby's sudden movement, and she looked back at her sister with eyes that plead to be kept away from the vicious star. "Please, Yang, don't…"

She felt a hot pressure growing on the back on her head and, although she knew what it was, her first instinct was to look and check that she was right. Her head turned, and her eyes met with the light.

In spite of all the strengths she had gained, she hadn't been prepared for the pain that erupted from her dark silver eyes. Everything disappeared in a flash of white, and she screamed, throwing herself back away from the window as hard as she could.

Most of her senses were distracted from the pain, but she was sure that she felt herself collide with Yang, and the both of them tumble to the ground. Her own scream faded as she started to curl into a ball, panicking about what had just happened, and Yang's voice started to cascade into her ears. A flurry of questions like, "Are you alright?", "What happened?", and, "Ruby, can you hear me?" hit her like a sack of bricks, but she was too busy feeling her eyelids, trying to determine if her eyes had been burned out of their sockets.

They were still there, and this knowledge calmed her significantly. She took a few deep breaths, and spoke as calmly as she could out to the white void that surrounded her. "Yang, are you still there?"

Her sister responded instantly, boots thudding a few times before Ruby heard the noise of her cloths shifting as she knelt down. "Yeah Ruby, I'm right here. What the hell just happened?" Ruby felt a few soft currents of air pass over her face, and knew that Yang was waving her hand. "Can you see anything?"

Ruby shook her head, and felt Yang's hands on her back. "Come on, let's get you up." Yang's fingers closed around her cloak and her shoulders, and she felt herself lifted back to her feet. She did her best to cooperate, lifting what of her weight that she could, and trying to step in the direction that she was being led. Yang did her best to guide her to her own bed, below Blake's, and sat her down on its side.

As Ruby felt her sister's strong hands make sure that she was steady, the ever-present hunger that Ruby felt grew larger, almost unbearable. It was like a physical hole had formed in her stomach, and she desperately needed to fill it. She didn't know what she needed, but she knew that Yang had it.

She started to act a certain way, almost subconsciously, in a way that would bring Yang close. Tears started to leak from her eyes, and she started to breathe heavy again, starting to cry. She didn't feel particularly bad, other than the swiftly fading pain in her eyes, but it felt good to cry, and she could feel Yang getting closer.

Yang put an arm around Ruby's back, and squeezed her tightly, saying, "Do you want me to go and get help? I mean, I could call someone, or-"

Her voice was cut off as Ruby shook her blind head and said, "No, Yang, you have to stay with me. What if I need something? I don't want to be taken to the nurse, or to a hospital. I'll be too scared if I do."

She heard Yang give a shaky sigh, then felt her pull her body into a tighter hug. "What's going on? You've been acting weird for a while now, and the others are getting worried. You haven't been eating well, or getting outside much, or been nearly as happy as you usually are. Everyone's…" she stopped and sighed, then continued, "Everyone is really worried. Even JNPR has noticed that something is up."

Ruby put her arms around her sister, and nuzzled her face into one of Yang's broad shoulders. "I'm sorry. I should have told you guys earlier." Her face started to glide across the fabric of Yang's clothes, searching for skin, the hunger within her guiding her muscles and mind to what she knew was relief. At the same time, her arms worked slowly up Yang's back improving her grip on her sister. "See, I think something happened to me, but I was really scared to say it."

She felt Yang's body tense, and her sister held on to her a little tighter. She spoke in a worried voice, and pulled her face away from over Ruby's shoulder, looking at her from arm's length. "Ruby, what happened? Please, you can tell me anything."

Ruby knew that, but she had to tend to her own needs first. If she didn't, she would die, she was sure of it. The ache was starting to become excruciating, and she felt herself start to become faint. If she didn't do something now...

Her hand met the roots of Yang's hair on the back of her head, and she said in as controlled a manner as she could manage, "I know, Yang, but it would be so much easier to show you…" Yang made a questioning noise, but she didn't have time to ask anything. Ruby pulled her head towards her, and opened her mouth, bearing her teeth in a way that felt natural. Her lips lifted past the sharp points of her teeth, and she thrust her head forward at where she knew Yang's neck was.

Her fangs were the first to touch Yang's flesh, and Ruby could feel them plunge into the soft skin and vein as her momentum carried the rest of her mouth into her sister's neck, For a brief moment, Ruby worried about why she had done this, and what effect it would have. Surely her teeth were sharp enough to do some major damage.

As the first second passed, and a spurt of fluid rushed into her mouth, she forgot about those concerns. The blood didn't taste bitter or metallic like it normally did, but sweet and nourishing. Ruby felt the hole inside of her start to fill as she swallowed down the first mouthful, and she eagerly drew another, sucking on the two perforations as hard as she could manage.

By the time all this had happened, Yang was just starting to get a basic grasp of the situation she was in, and was pushing against Ruby in an attempt to remove her. Ruby was strong, though, and her grip was like iron around Yang's hair and back. She swallowed another mouthful, and noticed that her eyesight was beginning to return. She could see Yang's golden hair, but couldn't make out individual strands, or see anything beyond that. Everything else was far too blurry.

Yang shouted as loud as she could, "Ruby, what are you doing? Get off me!" but her sister stayed firmly in place, drawing another sweet mouthful. The older girl had been in more than a few fights, and she knew that she was in a very bad position. Not only was she going to be bleeding heavily if she got her sister off, but there was also no guarantee that she would be able to do that. Ruby was strong, somehow even stronger than her. She hated to do something violent, but there was obviously something very wrong with her sister.

Yang's knuckles dug into Ruby's gut as a punch bearing all the force that she could muster at such short notice. Ruby spluttered, and blood spewed in all directions as air was forced from the girl's lungs, but there was no reaction beyond that. She felt Ruby's teeth shift in her neck, and cried out again as pain started to erupt from the wound for a second time. This time it was not so intense, though, and Yang thought she could feel a strange numbing feeling spreading from her sister's bite.

It took another moment for Yang to build up the strength for another blow, during which she could feel the pressure from her sister's constant sucking dissipate for a moment as she gulped again, than continue. A distant ringing sound started to buzz in Yang's ears, and her body started to feel heavy. She curled her fingers into as tight a fist as she could make, and brought it into the side of Ruby's head as hard as she could.

It didn't get Ruby off of her, but it did appear to stun her. That was enough, as Yang then brought her other hand up and hit it flat against Ruby's face, doing her best to push her away. Ruby's grip was strong, but she wasn't able to keep her mouth on Yang's neck any longer. The two separated, and Yang moved her hand from Ruby's neck to her throat.

There was something very wrong with Ruby. Her eyes, instead of being the usual dull grey color, were almost glowing a deep red in the artificial light. While the face was familiar, the expression on it was nothing like the girl that she had known growing up. Instead of gentle and kind, it was vicious and animalistic. Yang didn't know what had changed her like that, but what she did know was that she needed help. Badly.

A jet of warm fluid falling on her arm reminded her of the dire situation, and her mind snapped back into combat mode. Without Ruby at her neck, she would have a little more time, and be able to move a little more freely. Maybe that was all she needed. Her eyes flicked to the sides, trying to see what she could of Ruby's grip on her. One arm was high, going over her shoulder, almost around her neck, and the other was in her hair. There was no easy way out, except…

Yang whipped her head forward, feeling the hair disconnect from her scalp, but fighting the pain. She brought Ruby closer as she did so, and the thick of her forehead connected with the bridge of Ruby's nose, resulting in a loud crack.

This had the desired effect, and Ruby's body went limp, the alien eyes in her skull rolling up before her eyelids fluttered shut. Unceremoniously, Yang stood, and dumped her sister on the floor, putting both hands to her neck in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. One side of her body was thoroughly soaked now, and her rapid heartbeat was only serving to expel her precious lifeblood faster. She tried her best to calm down, and started to walk towards the door.

She didn't make it two steps before the ringing in her head had grown to an enormous roar, and she found it almost impossible to keep her balance. Her thoughts dulled as well, and she was unable to focus on anything. Her feet carried her for a few more staggering, unsteady steps, before her body thudded against the floor, and she could feel herself drifting away.

She didn't give up yet, though, and tried to claw her way to the door. Her body was too heavy to drag, however, and she was too breathless to continue trying.

Her eyes drifted around, not seeing the room around her, but observing things from her past. Ruby had always been such a good sister, always kind and caring. She had always wanted to help anyone she could, and would do anything to try. She had looked up to Summer almost like a god, and tried to emulate her in every way. All kinds of scenes flashed before her eyes, pushing Ruby on a swing, playing tag in the yard, eating cookies around the table…

Somewhere far behind her, Ruby started to move again. Yang couldn't see it, but she could hear it well. Ruby's boots hit the floor, and Yang could feel them growing closer. Tears started to fall from her eyes. She didn't want this. She didn't want Ruby to do this.

There was nothing that she could do, though, and had to simply lie there. As Ruby started to draw closer, her eyes started to close. She would simply have to accept her fate.

She didn't feel it when Ruby's fangs returned to her neck, or when the last drops of blood would leave her body. She would die there, on the floor, bled dry by the person she loved most in the world. Her last thought, the thing that echoed throughout her mind just before losing herself for the last time was a simple one word question: why? She would never know what had driven her sister to this madness, and she would never know what would become of her. She couldn't feel her already-cold corpse of a body anymore, but the pain of that question stung more than any bite could.

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Author's Note:

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