I managed to whip up a quick Halloween-themed RWBY fic again this year!

A/N: For whatever reason, I was humoring the idea of scaredy-cat Yang. Y'know in every other situation, she'd be the human shield who protects everyone from bullets and bombs. But haunted house? She can't handle it. She just can't do it. I love the thought of Yang being a wuss in haunted houses so have some of that.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Fright Night

It was a special night indeed.

Only once a year in Vale would the shops, buildings, and houses look like they did tonight.

Pumpkins sat on doorsteps, carved out in jagged triangles to form creepy expressions or shapes of Grimm. Plastic skeletons dangled from doorways or peeked from bushes to spook unsuspecting passerby. Cobweb stretched across driveways and all along the shrubbery to snare squealing victims.

And all around Vale, the streets and sidewalks were bustling with strange creatures dressed as other creatures.

Popular costumes for the younger children included all sorts of Grimm, and much of them walked around the streets in one-piece plush outfits with soft spikes and sewn-in red eyes. Others splashed themselves in store-bought red liquid and growled like the undead, chasing their friends in an effort to steal a piece of hard-earned candy.

Halloween was a big holiday for Vale, because it was seen as a night when children could conquer their fears by enjoying them.

Fun was had all around the neighborhood. Some houses distributed homemade cookies and doughnuts for free rather than candy. Others gave out hot dogs and hamburgers.

But by far, the most popular houses in the neighborhoods were those that allowed guests inside for a frightful experience.

The families that went all-out for Halloween charged a single lien for entrance and would then scare every customer in a home-wide tour of a haunted house. Shrieks and screams were heard echoing all around the neighborhood, a constant background noise to the muffled spooky music and laughter that emitted from other residences.

Being it fell on a Saturday this year, Halloween could be enjoyed by all. Even students at the prestigious Beacon Academy were permitted to go out and have fun as per usual on a weekend night.

Naturally, Ruby had quickly convinced her teammates to do just that.

Weiss had declared they couldn't go out until all of their homework was finished, so Ruby actually completed hers faster than anyone else. By the time the others were ready, it was just starting to get dark outside.

Ruby had regretted the fact that she didn't have a costume to wear this year. She hadn't exactly packed one to bring to Beacon. None of them had.

So they resorted to sticking to their school uniforms, just because that was better than nothing. Ruby managed to borrow some fake blood from team JNPR and paint it down her eyes, nose, and mouth, but the others politely opted out.

After riding an Air Ship to town, they'd walked around for a short while before heading into the neighborhoods.

Presently, they were keeping to the sidewalks, where orange streetlights lit their path as herds of excited children trampled past them, squealing about which house to visit next.

The four older girls maintained a somewhat slower pace, though the energy bubbling off of one of them in particular rivaled that of the excited children.

"This is sooooo much fun!" Ruby clapped, twirling around as she sauntered. "Going trick-or-treating was always fun as a kid 'cause I got go to with Yang and Dad. But just walking around with you guys now is even more fun~!"

Her cheery expression and high-pitched voice didn't exactly match the gruesome scene painted on her face, but that served to make it all the more comical.

"I guess it's a nice change of pace," Weiss admitted. "Better than sitting in our room doing nothing. I can appreciate all the work people put into their decorations."

"I think the free food is pretty good, too," Blake put in. "Those hot dogs really hit the spot."

"Now if only we could nab some candy..." Yang mumbled.

Weiss turned around and rolled her eyes at the blonde.

"Oh, please. Do you honestly think anyone in this town is going to give us, of all people, treats? That's for children. Plus, we don't even have-"'

"Thank yooou!"

Weiss' speech was cut off at the sound of Ruby's gleeful call. The heiress turned around to see that her partner had zipped up to the nearest doorstep, chanted out the innocent "trick-or-treat!" phrase, received a handful of candy, and had returned to her team all within the few seconds when Weiss had turned her back.

Ruby grinned and held out her hand to the rest of them. "I got a bunch, guys! Dig in!"

Weiss heaved a sigh as Yang completely ignored her.

"Good goin', sis!"

She accepted a piece of candy from Ruby, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. Blake also thanked her leader as she selected a small chocolate square and enjoyed it.

Ruby was munching away on some hard candies and quickly swallowed as she offered her palm to Weiss.

"Go ahead! Grab one!"

"Please," Weiss grumbled. "Do you honestly think there's anything you possibly could have gotten from that house that would satisfy my refined pallet?"

"Oh my god..." Yang groaned. "Weiss, it's Halloween! Just eat some freakin' candy! Here, this one is fruit flavored. It can't be that bad, right?"

Yang offered the piece wrapped in yellow paper to Weiss. Ruby – despite the fake blood running down her eyes – was nodding excitedly to encourage her partner to take it.

Heaving another sigh, Weiss complied.

"Fine."

The others watched as she unwrapped it, slipped the trash into her pocket, and finally put the candy onto her tongue.

"Well?" Blake prompted.

Weiss made a face and contemplated for a moment.

"It's... not bad."

"Yes!" Ruby cheered.

"Atta girl!" Yang laughed, giving a firm pat to Weiss' back.

Of course, that nearly caused her to choke, and the next moment was a fluster of snappy comments and apologies.

Once the candy ordeal was over, the girls continued to walk the streets. They passed all different kinds of houses, some with few decorations and some that went all-out.

As they walked, the four of them could make out one distinction in the night full of squeals and screams; the screams were definitely getting louder.

Weiss stiffened a bit as they continued walking, and Blake's ears went flat.

"What is that?" the heiress mumbled. "Are we nearing a murder scene?"

"No, nothing like that! Well, kinda..." Ruby assured. "We're actually getting close to one of those haunted houses where we're allowed to go inside! Come on, it's actually really close!" Without waiting, she tore off down the sidewalk.

"Ruby!" Weiss groaned and shouted after her, making sure to keep an eye on her leader's cape as she followed.

Blake hurried along after the heiress, expecting Yang to be beside her.

But when she noticed her partner was walking rather slowly, Blake paused and turned back.

"Yang? Is something wrong?"

"H-Huh?" Her partner looked up sharply. "What? No, of course not." She broke into a little jog to catch up.

Blake narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but said nothing for the moment as they caught up to Ruby and Weiss.

The four of them soon reached a large house that was entirely coated in decorations, and they needed to take a minute to marvel at it all.

Every bush was coated in spider webs and small plastic spiders. One of them was a robot that actually moved and crawled around.

The front yard was littered with dozens of mannequins – mummies, vampires, werewolves, skeletons, and blood-spattered people. A section of the yard had been set up with fake gravestones, and a fog machine clogged the air in grey smoke. Skeletons and parts of dismembered zombies crawled up from the graves while ghosts on wires swung all around from high above.

Off to one side, a large tree that was also covered in spiderweb-like strings had several skeletons and bundled 'victims' hanging from its branches. Haunting music was being played from an open upstairs window.

The driveway was lined with people eager to go inside, despite the terrified shrieks coming from the people already trapped in the house.

Overall, it was undoubtedly the scariest house in the neighborhood.

Ruby was gaping in awe at everything.

"Whoa... This is so cool! Look at all their stuff! There's so much!"

"I'll say," Weiss agreed. "It must've taken them a lot of planning and preparation. They seem very organized."

"Sounds like a fun time," Blake commented. "Are we gonna give it a shot?"

"Yeah!" Ruby said, bouncing up and down.

"I suppose we might as well," Weiss agreed. "I've never done one of these before. Have you?" she asked her partner.

"Oh, yeah allll the time when I was a kid! I love this kinda thing! My dad and I would always go into these houses and get the pants scared off of us! But..." She lowered her voice and beckoned Weiss closer. "It was just me and him. Yang would always stay outside with some of her friends or something. Believe it or not, she's actually kinda-"

"Scared?" A thin voice laughed. Ruby and Weiss looked up to see Yang chuckling nervously to her partner. "Please, Blake. I'm not scared. Definitely not. I ain't afraid of no ghosts."

Weiss actually smirked.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," she muttered.

"Alright," Blake said knowingly to the blonde. "If you say so." Turning back to the others, she gave them a smile. "We're ready to go in then, guys."

"W-Wait, what?" Yang stammered. "We're guh-gonna go in? I mean, I think just standing here and watching everyone else is creepy enough, right?"

Blake and Weiss shared a maniacal look.

"Well," the heiress said. "I personally would like to see what's inside."

"You just said it yourself that you're not scared, right Yang?" Blake teased.

"I... uh..." Yang flashed a quick glance to Ruby, looking for help.

But her little sister was still bouncing excitedly. She rushed forward and grabbed Yang's hand.

"Come on, Yang! It'll be fun!"

"I-"

"No backing down," Blake declared, grabbing Yang's other arm.

"After all," added Weiss. "It's all just smoke and mirrors, as they say. You'll be fine."

"I... never said I wouldn't be," Yang coughed. "L-Like I said. I'm not... scared..." She trailed off unconvincingly as her team dragged her toward the line waiting to get into the house.

They stood there for a few minutes, listening to the screams of the people already inside, inching ever closer to the door.

Once there, a man dressed in a black cloak which concealed even his face grumbled to them.

"One lien each, if you please."

Weiss dug into her blazer's pocket and paid the fee. The man in the cloak stepped aside to reveal a door covered in bloodstains.

"Enter at your own risk," he uttered.

Ruby jumped up to the head of the group.

"Let's go, guys!" She turned to the intimidating door and tried the knob, but it was locked. "Huh..." She pushed it again, but still it didn't budge.

Yang was all too eager to give up right then and there.

"Welp, looks like they're closed. Such a shame, huh? Well, that's okay, we can go someplace else, right?"

"Hold on a moment," Weiss said. She reached over Ruby's shoulder and instead of trying the door knob, lifted an old brass knocker and tapped it against the wood.

With that, the door was unlocked from the inside. A dark space was revealed to them, so dark none of them could see so much as a foot ahead.

Yang gulped and swayed a bit on her feet. Blake patted her shoulder.

"I mean, we've gotta get Weiss' money's worth out of it right?" Having said as much, the Faunus girl brushed to the front of the group and guided them in with her superior vision.

Yang was tugged in last by Weiss and Ruby, and the door shut heavily behind her.

Inside, the house was deathly silent. The walls vibrated a bit from the creepy music that was being blasted from the upstairs window, but the full sound didn't reach here.

Ahead, Blake could discern a certain path of sorts. It was very dimly lit, even to her eyes. She led her teammates to it slowly, ears perked tall.

Once they reached the little lantern on the wall, they could see what was there.

The walls were marked with red handprints, smeared as though the people who'd made them had been dragged down by the ankles. The picture frames hanging on the wall all depicted skeletons and unsettling black-and-white photos of desolate landscapes and graveyards.

Yang kept shifting around, trying to get closer to the light.

Ruby, on the other hand, was fitting her handprints into the ones on the walls and giggling whenever one fit.

Blake was intrigued by the scenery in the photos.

And Weiss was busy finding fault with the set-up.

"'Do not enter'?" she said, indicating a small sign that read as much. "That's dumb. This is the only way to go!"

"Uhh, that's the point, Weiss," Ruby chuckled. "So come on, let's go!" She started off, and Weiss fell gruffly into step behind her. Blake followed, grabbing Yang by the wrist and pulling her along.

As they stepped cautiously, the Faunus girl took mercy on her partner and guided Yang to the middle of the group rather than the rear. Blake had to admit, she herself was a little scared, and she guessed the others were as well.

But Yang's genuine fear was making the rest of them feel a lot better about themselves.

Still, it would be cruel to terrify her too much.

As they walked on, Ruby followed the path of bloody arrows on the walls until she found herself in a kitchen. There was a single enclosed candle on the counter, which was lined with deformed shapes. In the limited lighting, they could see the table and floor were littered with fake body parts and pools of red paint.

Ruby shuddered and made a grossed-out face, and Weiss let out an appalled gasp. Blake grimaced as well, while Yang full-on shrieked and ducked her face into Blake's shoulder.

"Ooooh-kay," she whimpered. "This is enough for me."

"Well, we have to get out of this room first," Weiss reminded her.

"Hey, guys?" Blake mumbled. "What's that noise?"

When they all paused to listen they could hear it too.

A dull thumping sound.

"Welp..." Yang whispered, clinging to Blake. "It's loud enough, but too slow to be my heart, that's for sure. I'm freakin' out..."

"It's coming from that way," Ruby said, pointing across the room into a section of darkness.

"That's also where the exit is," Weiss informed them.

"Of course it is," Yang groaned.

"Come on," Blake chuckled. "I'll protect you."

Yang let out a withering breath and scurried after Weiss.

As they walked across the kitchen floor, the thumping sound grew louder and louder.

Soon, the exit to the room was only a few feet away. Ruby ushered her team towards it.

That was when a large shadow came alive.

The girls all froze and watched in terror as a large man with a butcher knife was revealed. He let out a guttural laugh and opened up a nearby oven. Inside were fake body parts, and on the counter were chopped-up limbs. He took a step toward them and laughed again.

Yang screamed.

"Holy shit!"

As the others shouted out in surprise and scrambled for the exit, Yang had already bolted.

Screaming, they rushed out into the next dark room, but Ruby and the others were laughing.

"Gosh! He really surprised me!"

"The set-up was very well done," Weiss agreed.

"Sure scared me," Blake agreed. "And he really did a number on Yang." She found her partner huddled against the wall of the next room, which appeared to be a living area.

There were a few lanterns lining the walls here as well, and so far it was the most brightly-lit part of the house they'd been in. Blake took her partner's hands and pulled her forward, smirking.

"You okay?"

"Oh my frikkin' god..." Yang muttered. "What the hell even was that? That's messed up..."

"It's all fake," Blake reminded her.

"I think he kinda reminded me of Professor Port," Ruby said.

"Ew!" Yang whined. "Don't say that! Now I'll never pay attention in his class for sure..."

The others giggled softly now as they came down from the scare.

"Oh come now, Yang," Weiss grunted. "I thought you'd said you were a thrill-seeker. You should love this kind of thing."

"That's a different kind of thrill," she defended. "I like the speed of bolting down a highway on a bike and nearly goin' off a cliff. Not the kind where you're trapped in a house with a bunch of psychopaths." She let out a withering sigh. "Can we leave now? Like, please?"

"Well..." Ruby mumbled. "Not unless you wanna go back through there. The only way out from here is to keep going."

"You're kidding..." Yang groaned and hid her face in her hands.

Blake chuckled and tapped her shoulder.

"Come on. Let's keep moving."

In the living room, there was a rickety old rocking chair that creaked slowly. When the girls approached, they could see a figure seated in it.

Ruby crept up to inspect it, and the others peered over her shoulder – even Yang peeked out between her fingers.

In the chair was a matted old woman with flesh peeling off her face, revealing the cracked bone underneath. In her lap was a skull with gooey worms slipping out of the eye sockets.

Yang made a heaving noise and stumbled back.

As they were all focused on the mannequins, someone tapped on Yang's shoulder. She jumped and cried out.

"Weiss, don't do that!"

"What? I'm in front of you, you oaf!"

The four of them turned around to see a figure come to life. The person underneath the black clothes wasn't visible, save from a pair of glowing red eyes.

The girls shrieked and ran off to the next room, stumbling in an effort to get away. They paused in an empty hallway and caught their breaths, sighing and laughing once more.

Every room they visited after that was reacted to in much the same way as the first two.

Ruby would always squeal and laugh and run off at the jump scares, Weiss would commend the staff and the realness they brought to the experience, Blake would wonder how the next room could top this one...

And Yang would scream at the top of her lungs and cling to the nearest teammate.

They passed a bathroom where a fake body was submerged in a bath tub full of blood. Then, they passed a bedroom where two people were acting out a murder in real time. The murderer turned on the four girls and charged at them shouting, and they bolted to the next room.

The creepiest by far was a nursery-styled room, with only a night light to guide them. The crib was creaking by itself, and a broken music box was playing an out-of-tune screeching lullaby. As soon as one of them passed by the crib, a motion sensor set off a gurgling scream that sent them all jumping back and knocking into one another.

After that, they were all about ready to get out. Yang had a death-grip on Blake's arm and didn't look up as they hurried toward the exit door. Weiss was at her limit as well, and even Ruby was hurrying to get out.

"Okay..." she sighed. "That's enough for one night, I think."

Ruby reached the exit door and pushed it open. Blake half-expected someone else to jump at them, but she slipped out with Yang after Weiss, and the door shut behind them.

Once again, the sounds of the outside world came back to them, children laughing and playing. The orange streetlights lit up the nighttime world, an almost blinding contrast to the almost pitch-darkness they'd faced inside. The cool night air washed over them, a relief after the stifling atmosphere of the haunted house.

Ruby walked shakily down the few little steps leading away from the house. Weiss had a hand on her chest as she followed, looking frazzled. Blake felt as though her ears were pinned permanently to her scalp, and the circulation in her arm had been cut off thanks to her partner.

"Yang..." she wheezed. "It's okay. It's over."

It was difficult to guide her down the steps when Yang wouldn't even look where she was going. But once she was certain she was outside again, Yang cautiously lifted her face.

"It's... over...?"

"Yeah," Blake said. "We're-"

She'd spoken to soon.

As a last jump-scare, one of the people she'd assumed to be mannequins in the front yard suddenly came to life. A ghoul suddenly jumped up and shouted in their faces.

Yang shrieked and fell backward, taking Blake down with her.

Ruby and Weiss screamed and ran off on instinct.

Blake was flat on her back in the grass now with Yang shivering on top of her. The Faunus girl moaned for a minute, then slowly blinked open her eyes. Even the man dressed as the ghoul smirked a little and offered an apology.

At that, Blake broke out into loud laughter.

Weiss and Ruby eventually crept back and joined her in her merriment. Weiss took out a small handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her face, then Ruby's, dabbing away the fake blood at long last.

Once done, they helped Yang up off of Blake, and then pulled the Faunus girl up and dusted her off, still laughing. Yang was whimpering with her head in her hands, and Ruby quickly dove in to give her a hug.

"You did it, Yang! You did your first ever haunted house! Good job!"

Sighing meekly, Yang wrapped her arms around her little sister.

"Y-Yeah... I guess so..."

Blake stepped forward and rubbed her partner's back gently, and Weiss joined in as well.

"I think that's enough for one evening, though," the heiress said. "I've had quite enough starts."

"Me, too," Blake agreed. "I don't think my heart could take any more."

"Same..." Yang sighed, hugging them all tighter. "Like I said, I'm a 'speeding-down-the-highway' kinda girl. I need some air."

"Let's go around the block again and see if the doughnut house is still open!" Ruby suggested.

"I'd like that."

"Sure."

"Sounds good to me!"

With her first ever haunted house behind her, Yang was back to her usual self now. She linked her arms through Blake's and Ruby's, and Ruby pulled Weiss in close.

Together, the four of them continued on their way around the neighborhood, chuckling and teasing one another now as they reminisced on their experience.

They stuck close together as they headed for the sweet-smelling doughnut house, with the cool night air full of shrieks and laughter floating all around them.

A/N: I myself am a Yang in a haunted house, haha (unless I am the one scaring others). But yeah, my neighborhood's houses do some of the things I mentioned in the fic. One lady makes doughnuts and gives them out for free, and another family gives out hot dogs and stuff. Halloween is really fun in my town and I wanted to share some of that in this fic!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

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