The first thought that occurs to me is how much the room doesn't feel like it belonged to Ruby. The reason I thought that is because whenever you were around Ruby, it was like you were standing next to a beacon of light. The room doesn't give off the same vibe. It's mostly dark except for the TV that was left on to my right. I can make out a rug and a wooden floor, but that's it. I feel the wall for a light switch, but I can't find one.

As I stumble into the room, I keep my hands stretched out in front of me so I don't knock into anything. A small amount of light from the outside is being let through two windows in the corner. I can see a bed and a nightstand over by them. I can also barely see a lamp on the nightstand.

I blindly shuffle over to the lamp. I almost trip over a soft lump on the ground, and immediately after I step on something small and hard - which kind of hurt since I wasn't expecting it. I reach for the lamp and push the button at the base.

This corner of the room instantly lights up. There's a black pirate flag with a skull and two swords on the wall, and the lamp is accompanied by a few pencils and an empty Dr. Jitters can. The thing that I stepped on was a pen. The bed is untidy and has a single pillow and a green Stegosaurus plushy on it, which I actually recognize.

"Steggy?...Stelly?..." I struggle to remember what Ruby named the thing.

I also notice a Groove magazine sticking out of a side pocket of the nightstand. I pull it out and I'm greeted with the face of Kurt Cobain. This issue was from a while ago; before my trip. I remember Ruby was more torn up about his suicide than I was, even though we both listened to Nirvana a bunch. I wonder why she has this lying around.

I toss it on the bed and turn around. Because of the lamp, I can now see a bigger one over by the door. I hop over the soft lump - now revealed to be a pile of pillows - and twist the knob at the middle of the lamp. With a click, the entire room lights up. I shut the door and take a good look around.

The room was way less of a mess than I thought. Besides the pillows and a few pens, there's only a sweater and a red solo cup on the floor. There is a green locker and a closet door next to the bed. To my left, there is a green desk and a closed door, and to my right, there are two big bookshelves and a smaller dresser.

Now that I've turned the lights on, the room does feel like Ruby's. There's a lot of quirky, nerdy stuff is all around, I just couldn't see anything cause the lights were out.

Right, back to what I was doing. Two things catch my attention as soon as I start looking for the clues again; two separate pieces of paper. One is tucked underneath one of the pillows in the middle of the room, and one is hidden under the bookshelf that has the TV.

I go for the one under the pillow first. After tossing the pillow aside, I pick it up and begin reading.

"Hi Weiss! I wrote this in first period and left it in your locker on the way to second. It's what the COOL KIDS are doing, I've decided. Write me back. Also, here's an idea for something to draw: two cats on a motorcycle.

Hey, this is a good idea. What all the cool kids are doing is actually sending each other pages on their beepers. But we're cooler than them because guess what: they can't put this on a beeper."

The first paragraph is written in pencil and the second is in red pen. At the bottom of the page is a drawing of two cats on a bike being chased by a U.F.O. through a desert. I flip the page over to see if there's anything on the back side.

"Your drawing of cats was SO GOOD that I added a background to make it even better. Maybe I should stick to writing though.

I like it. How did you know they were about to get abducted by aliens? I'm looking at Mr. Pfish right now. I feel like he would have a lot of cats. Like his secret shame is that he watches 90210 religiously. I'm going to ask him about the cats after class.

He said he has two cats and also that he's never watched 90210, but I could see in his eyes he was lying."

So Ruby added the U.F.O. That's just something her creative mind would think of. I lay the note down and reach for the other one.

"Chun Li moves

Fireball: - (hold) - punch

Lightning kick:..."

Oh, nothing worth my time. I even check the back, but the moves list is all there is.

I begin to search the bookshelf and the desk, but I don't find anything interesting except for another cassette tape. I turn to my right and walk up to the closet. It has a poster of the Sonic Boom '94 movie on it. I push open the door and turn on the light. Something colorful stands out to me among the boxes inside. It's a rainbow-colored binder with a penguin wearing a flower shirt on it. Man, Rubes had this in, like, 4th grade. I flip through it, but it doesn't look like it's been touched since then.

After a bit of searching, I find a three-page short story, titled "The King's Labyrinth". I read it over and realize that it's a continuation of the story she did in second grade; "The Hevin at the Edge of the World". Her writing obviously improved since then and the story was kinda impressive, but I don't see anything that could be a clue of where she went.

I just about give up on the closet when something catches my eye at the last second. On one of the boxes is a blue collar with paw-prints on it. I pick it up and check the tag.

Zwei

1888 Dry

Creek RD

Suddenly, a wave of realization hits me. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen or heard Zwei yet. Where is that dog? I'm sure I would've heard him barking by now, or at least get slobbered on by him. Is he with Ruby, Mom, or Dad? If he was, what's his collar doing here?

A weight heavier than any boulder is pressed down on me. My throat forces my breath out and my ears tune out the rain.

"Don't tell me…No…" I widen my eyes. It couldn't be…Zwei can't be dead.

"Oh, god," I say in a low voice. This has gotta be the worst day of my life. I loved that damn dog. He was mine and Ruby's best friend. I hope it's not true. I hope he's safe and happy with Ruby or Mom or Dad.

I stare at the collar for a while longer. I don't want to let it go. I sigh, set it back on the box, and go back into Ruby's room. I search for a while longer, but I find literally nothing. Just NES cartridges, brochures, magazines, and random girl junk; none of which provided anything special. I even tried to open the locker, but it needed a combination that I didn't know.

"Well, that was almost useless." I sigh to myself. Is it weird that I've been talking to myself? I'm honestly feeling really alone right now. More alone than when I was over in Europe.

I gaze at the other door for a second before I walk over and open it. It's a hallway with another door to my right. I go and push that one open. It's a bathroom. You know, I could really use a good face rinsing right now.

I step in and immediately freeze. There's something wrong with the bathtub. On the sides and on the inside are deep red stains.

"What the..?" I whisper. Is that blood? Shakily, I creep to the tub. Horrible thoughts are running through my head. Ruby? Mom? Dad? God, please don't be any of them.

I nervously peek inside. Nothing is in there. I scratch at the stains. It's dry, but it's not dark like blood would be. What is this stuff? I quickly find my answer. Next to the tub is a red bottle. I pick it up and read "Wild Color, Red Right Hand, semi-permanent hair color" on it.

A set down the bottle and make for the sink. I am way too tired for this. I turn on the faucet, grab some water in my cupped hands, and sink my face into it. The ice cool water kinda wakes me up, but it doesn't really help all that much. I turn off the sink and stare at the cabinet in front of me. There isn't a mirror, but I can tell I have bags under my eyes.

I leave the bathroom and immediately notice a backpack with a note under it by Ruby's door. I slip the note out from under the backpack and begin reading.

"Hey Ruby, do you want to see Pulp Fiction after school at the coliseum? It came out last weekend and Ren won't shut up about it, so it's either good or we can make fun of him for liking it."

Red pen, proper grammar; I'm pretty sure that this is Weiss' handwriting.

"My Mom is supposed to cook dinner for us tonight for a change, but I can just ditch out on it probably. What time? Also isn't that movie supposed to be really violent? Am I going to barf?

According to Ren, it is pretty hardcore. I guess Uma Thurman gets stabbed in the heart with a heroin needle so that's kind of funny. Also, something about cheeseburgers is important. I think Ren's going to come so he can see it again, if that's okay. The movie starts at 7:15. Please don't barf, you dolt.

Ha ha ha ALRIGHT! See you then!"

I really like finding these notes between Weiss and Ruby. Seeing that Ruby managed to find such a good friend without my help makes me happy.

I put the note back under the backpack and head down the hall, which brings me back to the hallway outside of Ruby's room. It wasn't until now that I noticed a bulletin board next to her door.

"Jackpot! There's bound to be something pinned there!" I think to myself. I jog over and start reading the various things. One sticky note reads "Jaune called." Another says "Jaune called again. He wants his Nintendo game back." I never exactly understood why Ruby was so evasive of Jaune. He was nice and thoughtful. Maybe a little wimpy, but that's not that big of a deal. I always secretly thought they would make a cute couple.

The next piece of paper says "Ruby: Stop leaving every damn light in the house on! You're as bad as your sister!"

Woah, I almost had to make a double take. That seemed kinda stern. Neither Mom or Dad usually swear at us. Though, there must have been a lot of stress when they moved into this huge house, so it's kinda understandable. Now that I think about it, I did leave some lights on. Oops.

I begin to read the next letter, and when I'm done I am completely taken aback. It's written by Ruby, but it's super passive-aggressive. Mostly aggressive.

"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I, Ruby Rose, am SEVENTEEN years old, and am therefore an independent, fully-functional human being.

The fact that you still forbid be from going into the city on my own is, frankly, absurd. Compared to Yang, who is only two (2) years older than me and yet you allowed her to go ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE OCEAN TO ANOTHER CONTINENT on her own.

I just want to spend an evening in a normal totally safe city ON MY OWN like a HUMAN BEING and since you may also remember that I have my own car, you CAN'T REALLY STOP ME.

Warmest regards,

Your daughter, Ruby Rose."

Ruby doesn't usually back-talk Mom like that. I decide I should move on and see what else I can find. I open another door in the hallway. I'm pretty sure it's Mom and Dad's room. I don't find any clue in there, but something does bother me.

"Mom's purse?" I ask out loud. Why would Mom leave her purse lying around like that? From the looks of the room, they left in a hurry, wherever they went. Drawers were hanging out and it looks like they only took a few clothes with them.

I walk out of the room and go to another door. This whole thing has me so shaken up. Whatever happened to everyone here, it can't be good. I open the next door and take a step inside. Something crumbles underneath my foot.

I look down and see that I stepped on a piece of paper. It must've been stuck under the door. I pick it up and read it.

"Yang-

Mom and Dad were going to make up the guest room for you to stay in over the summer, but you came home on such short notice that they weren't around to do it.

You can use my room if you want. I won't be needing it anymore.

-Sam"

I can't stop looking down at the paper. My stomach curls into a knot. Everything feels so heavy. My ears and throat sting. I can feel a tear break from my eye. It runs down my face and falls onto the paper.

"Please...just come home…" I whisper.