Chapter 10:
"Detective Schnee, Detective Xiao Long... we found something you need to see. Captain Branwen gave me specific orders to come and get you and bring you to the lab. There is some disturbing evidence we have found involving your case." spoke a uniformed officer as Weiss began to run her hand through her hair.
She just knew it was going to be something he can twist and bend to his will to make Ruby seem guilty. She never understood why he would target Ruby like he did, but she knew logic and evidence would prevail. It always would.
"I swear if he tries anything. Ruby would never harm Blake. He would need damning evidence before I would think about bringing her in right now. She's hurting big time." Yang spoke as they began to walk down to the lab.
The stale, stagnant air of the stairs seemed to sting Yang's nose. She just knew that it had to be important to warrant them being called to the lab, but at the same time she didn't want to hear what it was.
The fact it was Qrow summoning them meant it was probably something that incriminated Ruby. Something she wouldn't like to tell her uncle slash boss to shove it because he found the single thing that would incriminate Ruby loosely.
Once they reached the basement floor the chill the room was kept at began to set in. The officer in front of the duo held the door open as they walked in. The could see Qrow sitting in a chair reading a file.
"Captain... you wanted to see us?" Weiss spoke breaking the silence. She was fed up with the tense silence between everyone. They just needed to get over whatever this evidence was.
"Where is the ingrate right now?" Qrow asked closing the file and sliding it across the table to the detective duo. "My apartment Sir. May I ask why?"
"That file contains blood samples from clothes that she owns that we found in her apartment. Seven different blood samples from seven different recent murder victims. Six we confirmed from recent smiling killer victims and one from a fellow officer. Officer Cardin Winchester. Her clothes are still down here if you think I'm making this up. The spray pattern according to the blood analyst is consistent with her dragging the knife across a mouth while they were in a kneeling position."
Yang quickly walked over to where the clear plastic bags sat filled with her sister's clothes. She grabbed a pair of gloves and pulled out the outfit inside causing her to stop. She recognised the outfit. It was the outfit she was wearing when she was investigating Cardin's murder. The same tears and blood staining the coat.
"There has to be a logical reason behind it. She would not kill anyone. Hell the smiling killer started when Ruby was twelve. And everything points this to be the same person." Yang spoke as Qrow turned to her.
"You both know these case files. You've studied them backwards and forwards. If anyone could make a convincing duplicate it would be one of you." Qrow spoke noticing Yang tensing up. Weiss quickly walked over to see what was causing Yang to tense up so much. And she stopped in her tracks.
"That is her coat... the one she was wearing when the first victim was discovered and we were at the bloodbath in the alleyway." Weiss spoke as as grabbed a pair of gloves and began to pull out what remained inside the bag.
The evidence suddenly began to feel suffocating to the duo. "She still wouldn't kill anyone Qrow! Even with your hatred towards her you know that!" Yang yelled turning around to glare at her uncle. Her anger was obvious. She knew her sister, she knew Ruby would never do something like kill someone.
"Actually... Ruby confessed to me, she was having blackouts and losing time. She even said it wasn't small chunks either. She even said the time gaps started with her huge fight with Blake... I hate to say it... we may actually need to bring her in... at least to question." Weiss spoke as Yang began to tense further up.
"Yang, you can be the lead in the interrogation room, but we need her in here." Qrow continued as Weiss spoke up. "Yang... right now, it will just be basic questions... the evidence in the room right now is damning, but not damning enough to arrest... do you want to come with me to bring her in for said questions?"
"Yes... but once it comes to light she is innocent I'm uncuffing her and you both are apologising for even thinking she killed seven people. She may be many things, an alcoholic, a drug addict but not a murderer. You both know that." Yang didn't even give them a chance to respond, she just stormed out of the room. She couldn't handle much more of their poisonous words.
"Weiss, bring her in by any means. I didn't tell Yang, but the knife that was inside of Blake was the same one used on the six confirmed victims and the only prints on them were Ruby's. The call to tip us off of the quadruple murder sounded a little like Ruby. Evidence is piling up and despite how I feel about Ruby's life choices... she is still my Niece. If she had blackouts when it all happened then we can at least convince the D.A. she wasn't mentally sound if she did in fact kill them."
"Okay Captain. She shouldn't be that much of a problem."
"Just be careful detective. If she really did do these crimes, do not take any chances. I'd rather talk to her, but if she tries to injure you or Yang... put her down. I'd rather bury her then bury you or Yang."
"Yes Captain."
Ruby stared at the ceiling. Blake's voice having stopped once she woke up in a pool of her own vomit. She had no idea when she passed out. She just knew she felt empty inside. The alcohol ether combination she had been on seemed to have worn off.
She looked towards Weiss' precious porcelain pot and noticed why she was in a pool of her own stomach contents. The small pot having tipped over near her head where she was cradling it. "At least her stupid pot isn't broken." Ruby spoke to herself as she got up and took off the over shirt she was wearing and began to rub the crusted vomit off of her.
She began to walk towards Weiss' kitchen to see if she had any sort of alcohol to wash the taste of vomit from her mouth. As she opened the fridge she could see a clear labeless glass bottle. "Didn't know Weiss kept top shelf stuff with the label missing..." Ruby spoke as she took the bottle out and took a mouthful and spat it out.
"Not vodka... should have known... Weiss never liked vodka. That one is on me... where is that high end stuff she was talking about... water will not cure my hangover or get rid of the taste of ether from my mouth." Ruby muttered as she recapped the bottle and placed it on the counter as she heard her phone go off.
She quickly dried her hands off on her white tank top as she walked over to the coffee table. "Whoever is texting me best have something to either get rid of the hangover or the taste of vomit." Ruby muttered as she grabbed her phone. She looked at the unrecognised number and shrugged it off. She was used to receiving calls and texts from numbers she didn't recognise.
The text however was as cryptic as the number that sent it. All it said was 'Get out of Detective Schnee's condo, and get back to your apartment. Go as fast as you can. It is of the utmost importance. Leave everything you aren't wearing. Run. Run as fast as you can and don't stop. Trust me Ruby.'
She knew it couldn't have been a mistake. It mentioned her by name. It caused an eyebrow raise. Even when she was in a gang trying to get a story she never used her real name. The only people that knew her real name were a few officers, her friends, her family and Emerald. The rest of people knew her simply as 'Huntress' she intentionally kept everyone in the gangs in the dark of who she was.
She remembered what the first crime boss she met told her. If she ever got a text from a number she didn't recognise pull the battery and SIM card out, break the SIM card and damage the phone as best as she could. The number was clearly compromised. She did as the leader of the White Fang taught her.
She ran to the front door slipped her boots on and nearly ripped it off it's hinges. She needed to know who the hell would text her something like that. She had to know. If this was the same bastard that killed Blake, at least it meant that she could be with her kitten again. Or she could get revenge. She had no idea which she would do just yet. She knew Yang would be furious no matter which she chose. But she would gladly have Yang angry... as long as she could get some closure for what that monster did to her love.
Ruby quickly ran down the flight of stairs, taking them twos and threes at a time. Once she was at the base she was at the base of the stairs she ran. She pushed through the pain in her legs from jumping the last four steps. She needed to run.
By the time Ruby got to her neighbourhood her legs burned. Her muscles screamed with each step. She had to ignore it. She needed to get to her house. She needed the answers she just knew were there. She saw her building and ran faster. She shoved her shoulder into the door forcing it open.
She could see the look of some neighbours just about to leave looking down trodden at the sight of Ruby. She didn't care what they thought. She knew they still blamed her for everything, but she didn't care about them.
'Three flights... Just got to get up three flights.' Ruby thought as she began to run up the stairs. She took them as many as she could. She knew if she stopped for long her legs would seize up and she would fall and she couldn't get back up.
As she came up to the needed floor she stopped. She knew Qrow would be combing her apartment for anything.
She slowed down once she heard something getting tossed on the other side of the closed door. She carefully reached her hand out and opened threw the door open causing her to stop. She froze in the doorway once she saw who was on the other side.
"No no no no no no no no! This isn't real! This can't be real!" Ruby yelled as she stepped in slamming the door shut. "I'm still high... that has to be it. Or I still have wormwood in my system... that has to be it."
"That would have worked out of your system love. You know that. Get anything of value. We need to leave." The intruder spoke as she quickly ran back into the kitchen and came back into the room to stop in her tracks as Ruby's hand reached up and began to feel the feline ears.
"You can't be Blake... I saw her corpse... I held her ears... what is going on!?" Ruby yelled as the woman grabbed the hand and moved it away from her ears.
"No, you saw the escape plan I had. You have no idea how hard it is to quit you." Blake laughed as she began to walk into the bedroom closely followed by Ruby as she tossed the bag onto the bed. "Seriously, it was easier to stop killing people." Blake continued to laugh as she quickly walked towards the front door locking it and pulled a chair in front of it and jerry rigged the door to stay locked.
"What do you mean!? You were killed by by the smiling killer! They even did a fucking DNA test on the corpse. It came back positive!" Ruby yelled not giving the phantom of her mind a chance to disappear. She needed answers.
"Never liked that name. Makes people think I smile a lot. I preferred the original one. But I suppose I can see why they needed to change it. The public assumed it was a cat Faunus... not wrong though." She continued as she walked into the bathroom where Ruby noticed a girl that looked like her tied up. The look of fear in her eyes was obvious.
"Crap. Forgot the tattoo you got to honour Tai... ah well easily solved. We can do that later. Now get everything your uncle and sister didn't take. And come on. We need to go. I might have fucked up more than I would have liked." Blake yelled as Ruby looked and noticed the selection of knives on the counter containing the sink.
"BLAKE! STOP FOR FIVE SECONDS AND TALK! I SAW YOUR CORPSE! I HELD YOUR LIFELESS BODY!" Ruby yelled as Blake looked at her.
"Oh my god Ruby! We do not have the time. That damn jacket you tossed yesterday carelessly was onto a pile of clothes, of which had some of my bloody clothes. And calling the cops when I had to kill Flint and Jaune and those two sluts! You made this harder! I already tried on multiple occasions to ditch you! I've tried to kill you twice already so I could leave." Blake yelled as she she took a few steps closer grabbing Ruby's hands.
"I realised when you passed out in the motel, I can't live without you. I gave up so much, I hide so much, and once I heard you were my playthings daughter... It made me smile. I could harm him in so many ways I couldn't before." Blake continued as she squeezed her hands.
"You have no idea how fun it was being the only person he couldn't catch. But knowing I could harm him even further, even if it was his soul, made me smile more. But I fell for you. I fell for you hard. You were so close to your childhood boogie man all along. I just felt something I could only feel once I was dragging a knife across someone's mouth causing them to smile... I felt that way with you all the time." Blake continued as she dragged Ruby out of the bathroom and into the bedroom as she closed the door.
Ruby was lost. She had no idea what this was meant to be. If it was a dream it was a nightmare. And if it was her mind, it was playing a terrible trick on her. She was starting to genuinely feel sick to her stomach, and she knew it wasn't because of whatever she drank or sniffed. She knew those feelings too well.
Ruby pulled her hands away and began to run her hands through her hair screaming, "This doesn't make any sense!"
"Ruby now is not the time for a break down. When I texted you we had half an hour. Taking your average speed into account, we have all of twenty minutes left, and if you break down we are going to miss something." Blake calmly spoke as Ruby began to cry and began to chant 'This isn't real'
"Ruby I know you are freaking out a little, but I know you are fine with this. I've already confessed twice. But because you probably suffer from what I can assume is Wernick's Disease, your mind probably either wiped them or altered them." Blake continued as she closed the bag she had been throwing things in.
"I packed some of your favourite outfits, I can't find your medication. But we don't have time. We need to get going. I have a cabin out in the woods we can hide out in as I wait for some fake documents to come through. But I need to kill that girl in the bathroom and we need to go." Blake spoke resting the knife she had on the blanket as she pulled Ruby's hands away to plant a single kiss on her lips.
As she pulled back she saw the tears in Ruby's eyes, but leaned down again and kissed her again. She ran her tongue across Ruby's bottom lip, asking for entrance. Something Ruby quickly allowed. She knew this couldn't be Blake, she knew Blake for nearly a full decade... they had been going out for years.
Blake began to push Ruby down onto the bed as Ruby's hands reached over and found the knife Blake had placed next to her. She knew this had to be the way to remove the damned phantom from her mind. She drove the knife into the back of the phantom causing it to scream in pain.
But the screams weren't there to Ruby really. It was just all a part of her illusion. She had to get rid of it. She pulled the knife out and spun so she was on top and drove the knife in over and over again into the phantom's chest.
Once let her tears free as she felt the knife tear through the bed under her. She knew it was just a phantom. But unlike the phantoms that plagued her last time it never went away. The same amber eyes that burned the question of 'Why?' into her very soul.
That was when realisation hit... she dropped the knife and fell back. She crawled to the wall next to the door and covered her face once more. She let the tears run. As she began to pound the head with her open palm.
"What have I done...?... Blake..." Ruby cried as she heard pounding on a door. She didn't care... she knew she was soaked in blood. Blake's blood. The real Blake. As she saw the door next to her fly off it's hinges the only non tainted memory flashed into her mind.
How she met the dead girl on the bed.
"So Adam, you cock sucker why did you call me here? I have a few dozen things I need to get done today." Ruby joked as she saw the cherry haired bull Faunus pulled his head up from the glass table rubbing his nose.
"Want a line before we get down to business?" Adam asked holding a rolled note out for Ruby who shrugged her shoulders and inhaled the line left for her. "Right everyone but Huntress, get the fuck out now!" he yelled as the rest scurried out fast.
Once he was sure they were gone he tossed a newspaper he had hidden onto the table in front of Ruby. "Didn't know we were that good to write about Ruby? Change the names all you want but I recognise my operation."
Ruby froze. She intentionally didn't want this man to know about her real name. From that he could get whatever he wanted, and she has seen what he would do once he was set off. "Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed. Rightfully so. You lied to me, but you also had multiple chances between your cop family and that to nark on everything. Hell didn't even need to do the line. But I'll look the other way, even help you out for future articles with other gangs. But there is a catch."
"What favour and what happens if I refuse to do it?" Ruby asked leaning back in her chair as Adam smiled. "I burn you to every gang. I let everyone know who Huntress is. And I doubt you'll refuse the favour." Adam continued as he looked at the woman who knew who he was but wasn't terrified of him. It was a new feeling that he disliked a little.
"I have a friend moving here. This smoking hot bombshell, she just graduated with her PHD in Psychology, she needs a friend who won't run the risk of her getting killed in some gang war. So all I want is for you to meet her tomorrow, spend some time with her every now and then. Plain and simple. I'll even pay for the first meal. This is just until she makes more friends."
"Fine. Where am I meeting her and what is her name?"
"Glad you saw reason Huntress, you're meeting her at Vale Train Station, and her name is Blake Belladonna."
Author's Note:
Okay so that was the reveal, but we also have one chapter left each. Stick around and enjoy those last two chapters. I know I will... but I also don't have a choice.
Alright I'm up next and this is going to be a fun chapter to write. Please leave a review it lets us know what you think of the chapters and they are just so fun to read. Anyway see ya next time.- d.z.