Till Ashes do we Part

"Love is not a feeling ofhappiness. Love is a willingness to sacrifice." –Michael Novak

Chapter 3

Winter didn't wake up until the sun was setting the next day. Her head was throbbing and her muscles tingled where she had cut off the circulation by laying on them. She blinked a few times as she allowed her memories to return to her from the previous day. She contemplated not getting out of bed, but that seemed like a silly way to avoid the inevitable.

Now that she was calmer then she had been the previous day, she took stock of the room around her. She remembered the color scheme and how it was colored white with pale blue accents with that being primarily the color of the upholstery. She saw a heavy oak vanity desk with a dark varnish and she rose to her feet to inspect herself in the mirror.

She was still dressed in the horrid wedding dress, and the necklace from Weiss was still firmly on her chest after having left a few indents from where she had slept on it. Her face looked worse than it likely was with the second-day makeup. Her eyeliner was smudged under her eyes making her look more like a raccoon than a woman in her twenties.

She began to go through the drawers, hoping in vain for something to be there to remove the messy makeup aside from the dress on her body. Winter let out a sigh of relief when she saw one of the drawers had all sorts of products as well as some makeup remover. Quickly, she set to work to clean up for the day.

The first step was for her to remove the make-up. She was still as pale as she was when she didn't wear it but the bags under her eyes were down dark, almost bruise like, with how they contrasted against her skin; byproducts of years of stress from an impending future and hard studying. Honestly, she was wishing she was a little wilder considering where she was now.

After the gross chemicals were removed from her face and she was feeling cleaner then she had been she started to pick out the pins in her hair. It was starting to occur to her how the hair was being pulled were likely to give her a larger headache if she continues to keep them in. It was painstaking to try and remove them all, but she worked at it non-the less. When her hair was finally free of all pins it fell around her in white waves.

She hated wearing her hair down. She looked so much younger with her hair falling to frame her face. Her wide eyes made her look young enough, but the long hair didn't help. With a sigh of defeat, she quickly wrapped her hair up again in a regular bun. It wasn't as tight as her previous hairstyle so it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable.

The next step was getting rid of the god-awful wedding dress. She was quick to unzip and unlace the dress, letting the cream fabric drop to the ground and the fabric pool around the ground. She then stepped out of the dress and made her way over to a large wardrobe. She had no idea whether or not it would be even stocked with clothing but it wouldn't hurt to check.

When she opened up the door she was surprised to see that the wardrobe was not only filled with clothing, but they all appeared to be roughly her size.

"Has this creep been stalking me?" Winter mumbled to herself before pulling down a long-sleeved boat neck blouse that was a pretty sky-blue color. To match it she found a pair of khaki riding pants. She didn't appear to have any other shoes then the high heels she had worn with the wedding dress but when she checked the bottom drawers of the wardrobe she found intimates, socks, and a few pairs of flats for her to wear.

She took her time getting dressed. Taking time to carefully put on each and every article of clothing. The only part of her outfit that was the same as the one she arrived in was the necklace Weiss gave her. Winter ran out of tasks to busy herself though too quickly for her liking, even after going out of her way to hang up and organize the wedding dress and matching clothing. All of those little tasks were gone and done before Winter cared for.

And, as if on cue, her stomach grumbled and caused her to hiss. If she didn't want to starve to death she was going to have to leave the safety of her room and find food. She had the necklace for protection but it wasn't enough to allow Winter's nerves to be calmed. Winter found herself begging to tear through the room for something, anything that would be more effective. After searching for a bit she settled with a decorative chopstick hairpiece. She had already broken one of them in half to be sure they were wooden and then she concealed the other one down the sleeve of her shirt.

Once it was hidden, she quick to relax and begin to explore outside of her room.

…

The walk around the castle was long and confusing. She could have sworn she passed the exact same painting of Ophelia drowning three different times. It was unsettling, to say the least. Now that she thought of it, almost all the pieces were from some kind of Shakespearian tragedy. Whether it was the heroine or the hero, someone always seemed to be dying in the art. It was twisted, but it seemed to fit and was hauntingly beautiful to look at.

"Uncle Qrow picks out all the paintings." The voice was enough to make Winter jump back twelve feet at least. The girl who had spoken through didn't seem at all fazed by Winter's actions. She was dressed like a doll in a black, tulle skirt and had a corset cinching around her waist. Her hair was short and dark, layered with bangs framing her face. She had wide silver eyes and pale skin. She looked normal until Winter saw her smile with fangs out.

"Your uncle?" Winter was not familiar with vampire hierarchy but an uncle seemed like a strange term of family, even by their standards.

"Yeah. Oh, you probably don't know who I am. I saw you yesterday but I didn't really get the chance to introduce myself since Dad said it might be scary for you to meet two different vampires let alone four of us. Well three and a half but that is a little too technical. Anyway, my name is Ruby."

Winter blinked a few times at the young girl and it briefly crosses her mind that Weiss would be driven mad by this young woman's energy. Though she guessed by her height and speech patterns that she was younger then Weiss was, not by much but enough that it was obvious.

"It's a pleasure," Winter said though she wasn't sure if her voice and facial expression displayed the proper emotions. However, if Ruby noticed she didn't show it or any anything.

"Uncle Qrow said he was tired of listening to you walk in circles so he sent me to get you if you follow me I can take you to the kitchen."

Winter wasn't really sure how to react to a situation like this but she was too hungry to object. She watched as Ruby walked away at a brisk pace and followed after to a kitchen that seemed so close to where Winter was that it was almost embarrassing.

The kitchen was bustling more than Winter expect. All the vampires were present now—from what Winter gathered. Even Ilia was present, sitting at the kitchen island and munching on some toast. Yang was seated next to her, eyeing her curiously as she sipped from a pink colored athletic bottle. However, Winter's blood went cold when she saw the red on the upper lip of the blonde's lip.

"Morning Winter," Ilia spoke up when she noticed the white-haired woman.

Winter didn't respond as she was still in shock. Ilia blinked a few times, puzzled at the lack of response until she looked at the blonde and realization came on her face.

"Don't worry about Yang," Ilia began to explain. "It's pig's blood she's drinking not human."

"It's not?" Winter must have sounded and dumbfounded as she felt because suddenly Qrow was laughing again making the Schnee bristle in response.

"Of course, it is, with all the illnesses there are today and substance abuse it's not even safe for us to consume without blood tests and that's just a pain," Qrow explained and Winter blushed in response. It hadn't even occurred to her how modern blood disease and other illnesses that spread through fluid could affect something like a vampire.

"Here," Taiyang said as he sat a plate full of food on the island opposite of Ilia. "You're probably starving after how late you slept in. It's a little early for us night dwellers but it's best that you and Ilia get on our schedule anyway. It would be rather lonely if you didn't."

"Unless you planned on assassinating us all." Qrow's voice made her jump. Not because of what he said but because it was suddenly coming from behind her. He had already grabbed her wrist and harshly pulling her body close to him. Her back was pressed firmly against him as Qrow quickly pulled the chopstick he had been concealing in her sleeve out. He felt too close, and his breath was surprisingly cold against her skin.

"Well, I am in a house full of mythical monsters," Winter snapped back which only made Taiyang and Yang chuckle.

"She has a point uncle," Ruby explained from where she was pulling out a glass and pouring herself a glass of pig's blood from a cartoon labeled as such. "She probably only knows what the locals say about us and nothing else. How is she supposed to know it's basically harmless to be here?"

"Who said we were harmless," Qrow teased and suddenly could feel them. They grazed her neck just above where her pulse was thundering in her neck. His fangs were sharper than she ever imagined and while she was frozen the could see Ilia rolling her eyes and both Yang and Ruby making faces of disgust.

"Quit scaring her Qrow," Tai lectured with a glare as he set some silverware down for Winter next to her plate.

"You guys are no fun," Qrow whined as he removed is fangs from Winter's throat. As soon as she was released she whipped around and backhanded the vampire across the face. She knew she should have been horrified and not acted out but she was furious right now.

It was silent for a long moment as Ruby and Tai slipped out of the kitchen followed by Yang and Ilia, who still was carrying out her plate of food, leaving the two of them alone. Qrow took a step forward and once again he was too close but she had nowhere to go as she was backed up against the kitchen island now.

"I don't care if you are a demon here from hell you ever put your fangs of my throat again I will rip your balls off and feed them to the rats." There was hardly a chance of Winter being able to follow through on her threat but her voice spoke with the confidence of her being able to.

"Bold words, you must think your pretty special being a Schnee." Qrow's words were dark and he braced his arms on either side of Winter, trapping her in place. "But at the end of the day, you are just a warm body like everyone else. Must be frustrating to you."

Winter couldn't say anything because he was right. She was just like everyone else right now. Being stuck in this place the only food chain that mattered was human and vampire, leaving her at the bottom of the food chain as a human.

And right now, he looked like a predator looking at his prey.

"Perhaps I'll just devour you now then." He was so close. She could feel a few strands of his hair brushing against his forehead. Her head tilted up on instinct and she was startled alone by the fact his eyes, a blood red color, pierced right through her like they had the first day they met.

When his lips touched hers, it was rough as when storm winds hit the window panes.

Her hand reached up hesitant at first. Her body wanted her tangle her fingers in his feather-like hair. While her mind was clouded she did still feel some train of thought. Enough, that when her hand rose up it was to shove him away roughly then slap him once more.

Winter was panting and her face was flushed, using the back of her hand to wipe her mouth. Qrow was laughing again, as he had the first day. He ran his fingers through his hair and pushed his bangs back into place.

"I've decided I like you, Schnee," Qrow replied with a smile that made her heart pound again much to her dismay.

"And I've decided I don't like you," Winter fired back.

"So were at a stalemate, you wanting to leave and I'm not letting you."

"It appears that way."

"Then let's see what wins first," Qrow stated again as he walked closer to her again, catching her hand before she could strike his face again. "The stake or the bite."

And with another kiss, one where he bit her lower lip and drew a few small droplets of blood. This one was different, forceful as the first but it sent electricity through her to the point she could feel her knees buckle. Then he was gone, leaving her alone in the kitchen with a whirlwind of emotions and her breakfast.

BRK: Sorry, this is a day late. I have been helping my boyfriend move into his new place and as a result, I had a bit of a panic attack when he had a really big bump come up. It is resolved now but it caused me to sleep way longer and way earlier than usual. So as a result here is some angry sexual tension. Thanks for reading and until next time, later gators!