"Hold still."

Blood covered splinters lay on the ground next to Yang, Blake working diligently to pluck them out from her partner's shoulder, despite the thrashing and groans from the blonde. You'd figure the pain of having a crossbow bolt slowly drawn out of her shoulder would have been enough pain to force the snarl off of Yang's face by now.

"But Ruby!" Yang spoke out, panic and pain adding a desperate to her voice. "That monster took her! We have to get on the horses and-Ah!" Another large splinter was yanked out from the mess of bloody flesh, thrown away to where others of varying sizes had been discarded to.

"I know." The faunus stated, never taking her eyes away from her work. "But you saw that vampire. Strong enough to easily overwhelm us, potential master to those other two, and old enough to have access to abilities we know little about. We can't just go chasing after her." Yang cried out as the metal head of the bolt was worked out from muscle, bright red blood seeking to quickly spurt from the opening as Blake swiftly pressed an already soaking bandage into the wound to stem the flow. "Especially not with the state you're in. This is over our heads."

"So what? You saying we have to abandon her?" A red gleam came to the blonde's eyes as she fought to sat up despite the faunus pushing her back down. Even with the amount of blood she had lost, the huntress was raring to go. Despite the fact that she could likely collapse before they could even pick back up the vampire's path.

"No. I'm saying we need help." A cat ear flicked as Blake went to put back on pressure to the shoulder, trying to think of how she could persuade her partner to stay still long enough for her to stitch up the hole. "We need to call your uncle."


"Nngh..."

An ache pounding away in her skull eventually dragged Ruby out from sleep. Her vision blurred into vague shapes as a dim light flickered nearby, the girl's mind scrambled to find the last memory it had stored to link it to what was happening now.

Another round of the ache pulsing through her head, and the images of the strange woman batting away a blow from the girl's scythe with a bare hand, before reaching towards Ruby with the other. They snapped off an instant before the woman could actually touch her, leaving a sense of unease and an inkling of just where this headache had come from as she blinked some more, watching the shapes come into focus slowly.

A candle's flame flickered on a set of drawers next to the large double bed as Ruby pressed her hands into the mattress below her in order to sit up. A wool blanket that had been spread on top of her slipped down to her waist and legs during the motion, eventually being thrown to one side as she slid over to the edge of the bed. Everything in the bedroom seemed to be dressed up in dark or otherwise muted colours in this room, with even the plush carpet that the girl's bare feet sunk into being ash grey. Pausing for a moment to take in the sudden lack of boots on her person, she decided it would be something to investigate later, after she had figured out just where she was.

The brass knob on the door just off to the side of the bed refused to budge when the teen wrenched it around, obviously having been locked from the other side. Glancing back around the room to see if there was another possible way out, Ruby was left wanting. Other than the bed and the drawers, there was little other to the room other some more furnishings to take up the space. A dressing table with a mirror hanging over it and a chair to sit down in while primping in front of it, a pair of bookcases full of faded or slightly worn covers, and a closet far taller than the girl were the few pieces of furniture placed around the walls. Everything was tidy, no items left in the drawers she was rummaging through now that could have any potential use in any kind of escape plan. There was a window on one side of the room, letting the huntress-in-training see that it was still dark outside, even with a pale blue coming up fast on the horizon's edge. A good avenue for an escape... if there weren't bars placed on the outside of the frame, as she found after pulling it open. Not to mention it seemed she was two floors up from the ground, not a nice drop to take if she wanted to avoid breaking her legs.

The place might have looked like a room meant for a valued guest, but there was no disguising the fact that this was basically being used as a cell for the girl. Though why she was still alive instead of drained of every drop of blood in her body and left for dead back in the church, that was a mystery to her. Just what was there about her would have led to this situation?

A creak came from the door as its hinges squealed in protest to letting it swing open, Ruby spinning around to face whomever was coming in.

"Ah. Looks like the sleep didn't last as long as we thought it would." The dark skinned girl with emerald hair, mostly short save for two long tails of it that went down her back, let out an annoyed sound to end her words with. The brief sneer the sound pulled her mouth into was enough to let slip a glimpse of long fangs taking the place of where the canine teeth would be on both jaws. Red eyes regarded Ruby calmly, even though the slightly downturned curve to her mouth suggested the vampire was less than happy to be here.

"So this is the toy she brought back with her?" A new voice came through the door, a boy roughly a head taller than the first girl choosing this as the moment to stroll into the room behind her. Just like the girl, he looked to have been in his teens when turned, maybe a couple of years more than Ruby's age. He gave a grin, raising a hand to idly push back some silver hair from his forehead. "Looks a little on the fragile side, doesn't she?"

There was a glint to his eyes as he glanced towards the human, enough to activate the urge to reach behind her back for where her scythe would normally be fastened to her belt. Predictably, her hand grasped thin air. The corners of the other girl's mouth tilted upwards at the sight.

"Did you really think a weapon like that was going to be left with you, even in a house of vampires?" She chided, taking a step closer, the tilt of her mouth becoming an outright smirk. A quick glance over shoulder at the taller of the pair before she spoke again. "I think we can get away with playing around with the toy for a while, don't you?"

Ruby didn't like the way their smirks widened into fanged grins after that question.

"Oh, I think not." A familiar voice called from beyond the doorway, causing both grins to drop suddenly from their faces. "Didn't I explicitly tell you both that you weren't to come near this room without my permission?"

The hard edge to the elder vampire's tone as she walked into the room made the pair to turn to face her, Ruby's mouth tightening as she recognised the one she had met in the church. Only now, there was no cloak around her to hide both the clothing under it, and the form it catered to. A red dress set off the shoulders, a piece of tied string across her collarbone either to help hold up the dress around her chest, or just as a piece of decoration. Crossed arms let Ruby get a good look at the gold designs that swirled down the sleeves, to where a ring on both middle fingers was attached to the ends of the material, keeping it in place.

"Ah! Forgive us, Cinder!" The one with emerald hair ducked into a short bow, one hand discreetly rising up to press down on the guy's back when his bow came shorter than hers. "We only meant to..."

"It doesn't matter what you have to say." Amber eyes blazed down upon them, one hand giving a curt wave to the door. "All that matters is that you leave this room, now."

Another bob further into the bow, and the pair of younger vampires, Ruby presuming now that they were of the elder's blood from the way they immediately moved to obey, walked out, although a pair of green eyes did spare a glance with furrowed brows the human's way before leaving. Maybe it was a good thing to no longer have those two eyeing the girl with gleaming fangs on display, but Ruby sure didn't feel like it had gotten any better when those bright eyes swivelled back to lock onto her.

"So then..." The woman, 'Cinder' as the younger vampire had called her, closed the door with a soft click as it locked in place, Ruby's eyes watching even a highly improbable way of escaping slip from her grasp with the noise. "Now that you're awake, I suspect you might have some questions?"

"Ah..." She did, that was true, but would she like the answers that the vampire might give her? But there wasn't much else she could do either. Maybe she should start off with the lesser questions that she was worried about. "...just where am I?"

"In my home." Cinder answered matter-of-factly, crossing the room to sit down on the side of the large bed. "Specifically, in one of the guest rooms in it." The glance towards the bars on the window at the mention of it being a 'guest' room did not go unnoticed by the vampire. The corners of her lips twitched up and stayed there. "I brought you here, after you passed out at the church."

"And those two?" Ruby asked as her eyes flicked back to the door.

"I suppose you could call them my children, given that I was the one to turn them." A hand patting down the surface of the bed cause the girl's attention to flick back over to the vampire. Her lips had parted back into a small smile as she patted one more time the space beside her on the bed. "You might as well come and sit down, instead of just standing there and fidgeting."

She hadn't even noticed herself that she had crossed her arms over her chest, one hand's fingers twisting the fabric of her sleeve around between them. Hesitation met the suggestion of getting even closer to the vampire, despite the fact that there would be no difference whether or not she was beside Cinder or at the other end of this house from her if the vampire actually wanted to hurt her.

One elegant eyebrow rose up at the lack of movement, although the tilt of the fanged smile changed just enough to tease. "You were taught manners by your Hunter teachers, were you not?"

That was the hint that finally broke through. Of course her teachings had also included some lessons on what to do when captured by some of the creatures they were supposed to be hunting. And one of the lessons they made sure that each and every student had crammed down their throats every day, was specifically about not upsetting vampires that had complete control over the situation at hand.

Although trepidation was making every nerve in her body scream in protest, the teen slowly walked over. She did perch herself on the edge of the mattress, the corners of the vampire's smile rising up slightly at noticing the gap the girl set between themselves.

"No more questions, little red?" Cinder asked, tilting her head back a little. They both very well knew there was one more big question that hadn't been talked about. And yet, Ruby wasn't sure if she was going to like what the answer might be, even as she took a breath to ask.

"Why did you bring me here?" It came out quicker than she had intended to, rushing out of her mouth before she could have a chance to pause. "If you intend to just drain me of my blood, why didn't you do it back at the church?"

A short laugh almost made her jump, not expecting the vampire to smile broadly at her words.

"If my intention was only the blood in your veins, you would be lying on the floor of that church, cold as the stones laid into that building." The gleam in her eyes was almost as bright as that of her fangs peeking over her lips as she looked at the huntress in training. "Did you really think your only worth lay in the same red liquid that pulses through nearly every other human and animal out in the wide world?"

"U-um..." A hand sneaking round to grab on to her waist cut whatever answer she could be possibly be trying to think up short, the firm grip pulling her in closer to the point that their hips pressed up against each other. The hand remained where it was despite its goal being accomplished, perhaps in case Ruby tried to squirm back away. It was certainly something she wanted to do, and probably showed plainly on her face as her eyes widened.

"The reason you are here and not lying dead in that place of 'worship', little gem, is because you caught my interest." Cinder's remaining hand rose up, a half curled set of fingers gently pushing up Ruby's chin to face her better. It made the short distance between them even more clearer, and the hungry light in the vampire's amber eyes, despite the shadows on her face, all the more brighter.

"...How?" As far as Ruby knew, the only thing that might set her apart was being a trainee huntress at a younger age than most could achieve, but even that didn't seem anything special to warrant the interest of a vampire like Cinder.

"Hmm. That, I'm not quite sure of myself. Perhaps it was the idea of having a pretty little thing to brighten up my home with." Despite the calm tone she was continuing the conversation with, it was hard to ignore the flicker of Cinder's eyes down to Ruby's neck for a split second. The hand on the girl's waist tightened its grip. "A pretty little pet to have around... yes, I quite like that idea."

Her eyes diverted from the human next to her, to gaze at the lightening horizon shown through the window. "But it's starting to look like we're running out of time for this conversation, little gem. Maybe we'll talk more tomorrow, when night comes again. For now though..."

The hand at her chin drifted across skin towards the neck, brushing back a lock of hair, before the fingers buried themselves in Ruby's scalp, drawing back her head despite a sharp cry at being pulled into exposing her neck. The same cry cut off quickly as Cinder wasted no time. There was little resistance to stop her fangs from plunging straight into the arteries that lay just below, despite one human hand trying in vain to push her back by the shoulder, the blood eagerly escaping from the punctures. The excess of what she could not drink fast enough dribbled down the girl's chest, although they left barely any visible marks on the cape and dress she still had on.

The hands at the back of her head and waist kept her from pulling back even as pain became all she could feel. Ruby could feel the fangs in her neck shift as the vampire sucked and swallowed the liquid coursing out of her. A whimper crept out from her, unable to take it all in silence.

And then, it was over. Just as quick as she had lunged in, Cinder was pulling back her fangs as the ravaged skin before her swiftly moved to heal itself. What should have been a lethal wound from anything else, instead faded into white puncture marks thanks to the same magic that powered vampires. The holds on her softened, the hand on her head even moving to stroke her hair as Cinder leaned back from the human.

"With all the excitement that happened, I wound up almost forgetting to eat this night. Silly me." Despite all the blood that had just flowed into her mouth, the vampire's smile was still as bright as ever. A drop of escaped blood rolled down from a corner of her lips, one finger coming to wipe it up, disappearing past her lips so the vampire could enjoy even the last bit of her meal as she drew back further from Ruby, standing up and moving towards the door. "Do try to get some sleep before night comes back, little gem. I will be back to see you then."

Her head felt light as Ruby watched Cinder slip through the briefly opened door and heard it lock once more behind her. But most of all, as she collapsed across the bed, she felt her stomach twisting around as she thought of the position she was in. No idea where she was, trapped in a house of at least three vampires with her Crescent Rose taken from her, and having no way she could think of to contact her sister. It was almost enough to make her think there was no hope, even with the dawning light beginning to creep in.

How was she supposed to work her way out of this?