Chapter 37: Welcome

It was dark. That was the first thing Serena noticed when she opened her eyes. There was only some light filtering in from a window that was on the other side of the room. Bars were in front of her, denying her escape, making her a prisoner. The only furniture adorning the cell she was currently in was a metallic bed with a think mattress over it, nothing else. It was vast and cold and she didn't like it one bit.

It was when she heard footsteps, those of two men and one woman by the sound of their shoes, that she looked outside. A faint light slowly neared her cell and only when the three people halted in front of her could she clearly see anything. The two men were both Faunus, one a mouse and the other a buffalo one. The taller of the two, the buffalo, seemed to be the leader since he wore normal clothing. Beside him was a woman that was, in Serena's opinion, the most beautiful one she had ever seen. She had a perfect figure, a round face, long, dark, wavy hair, and golden eyes that seemed to gleam in the light.

"Ah, I see that our guest is awake."

It was the leader who spoke up, taking a step closer to her cell and towering over her. Serena had sat up on the bed and was studying the three. The man, although older than the woman for he had greying hair, exuded an air of malice and every cell in her body warned her to stay clear of him. The woman had an akin air, although it slightly differed from the leader's one. It somehow wasn't as strong, though still prominent enough to make her wary of the female. The mouse Faunus did not seem extraordinary, but she could tell that he must have been something like a higher-up, though not as high as Adam was.

"Forgive the way that you have been brought here, but I wanted to talk to you," he continued, giving a slight bow as if he really meant the apology. Serena knew he didn't.

"Where is here?" she opted to ask.

"Ah, yes, of course. Well my dear, you are currently in the headquarters of the White Fang. I'm sure you've heard of us."

"I have, though nothing good," she retorted, wanting to test his reaction. But the man kept the fake smile on his face, not even flinching or twitching an eye at the comment.

"Petty rumors. I can assure you that we are not what you hear out in town. Humans simply do not understand and therefor fear us."

"That might be, but it still doesn't explain why I'm in the White Fang HQ in a cell."

The Faunus slightly narrowed his eyes before responding, his voice taking a somewhat more dangerous tone on. "That is because I wanted to talk to you about something. I have heard that you have certain abilities."

"And those would be?"

Now, Serena was not one for being sassy or impolite but she'd had enough of this game and his constant fake politeness. The man registered that and all kindness left his face, leaving only a stare that felt as if it could roast her alive.

"You know fully well what I'm talking about, human," he sneered, eyes gleaming with disgust at the last word. "I'm talking about those powers to control Grimm." Serena was about to deny him when he cut her off, "And don't try to deny it. I know you have them from a trustworthy source."

It was no use lying, so the female decided to get to the point already. "Fine, I have such powers. What would you want with them?"

"Oh, you'll see that soon enough. But for now, let's just say you're going to be a big help in my plans." He stepped away from the cell, a cruel smirk on his face, but before he turned to leave, he added, "A guard will come pick you up tomorrow morning."

"What for?" she inquired, her voice louder than Serena would have thought it to be. Maybe it was just the cell.

"Tests."

With that, the three left the room, leaving the girl to brood over what he could have meant with tests.

True to his word, Serena had been picked up the next morning and roughly brought out of her cell. She had been led into what looked like a training hall and the next thing she knew, a door opened and in streamed three Grimm, all angry. She was currently still in the same situation. Luckily, she had managed to calm the animals down before she could get any more injured. The Grimm had been enraged and because there were three instead of just one, she had lost control over the situation, resolving in her gaining a few cuts and tears in her clothing, the wounds still bleeding but not as much anymore.

The responsible ones were currently lying down and she was patting them. Of course she knew that they were watching her, why else would they have brought her here if not to see how her power worked. She really wanted to take a shower right now, her clothes not only torn but also dirty and her hair slightly damp from sweating, having had to evade all the attacks.

"Very impressive," came a sudden voice that she identified as that of the leader. "We shall make some more tests, then you go back to your cell." The speaker was turned off and she was led into another room just a few doors away.

In it, she was positioned on a chair and had a headband fixed to her head with pads oh her temples and just above her heart. The Faunus that had the honor of fixing the pads on her chest looked far too satisfied and Serena wanted to do nothing more than get away from him, but her hands had been bound with leather straps so that she couldn't. When they were finally done and the male had taken another good look at her chest, they went out of the room, closing the door behind them.

What? They're just going to-

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a strong surge of electricity running through her body, making her scream. It stopped after a few seconds and then came back again, each time a little stronger and lasting a little longer. She was panting heavily, beads of sweat running down her temples and it felt like she was going to throw up any minute now, which she did not long after.

Eww, was the only thought that came to mind.

Then the door opened again and the same Faunus as before came in, one carrying a syringe while the other held what looked like a tray with medicine on it. The one with the syringe took blood examples from her while the other freed her of her bounds and the headband before quickly examining her. She could feel her head banging and her ears were ringing, but she was simply led out of the room and back into her cell again.

Dropping on her bed exhausted, she swiftly drifted off to sleep. It felt like she was barely asleep for three minutes when a loud bang on her cell bars woke her up and made her fall off the bed. Rubbing her eyes and focusing them to in front of her, she saw the leader standing there, a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"That was good work today. I expect you to keep it up. We'll need a lot more tests until we have figured out how you do it," he stated coldly, eyes unforgiving and telling her that today had only been the beginning.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked meekly, her voice just a little louder than a whisper.

"Isn't it obvious? As soon as I find out how you do it, I myself will be able to control Grimm. Then I won't be needing you anymore."

"You can't learn it like that," she replied. The man tensed and leaned forward a little, face darkening and mouth stretching into a sneer.

"Don't you tell me what I can and can't do. I will find out your secret."

"No, you won't. You'll never be able to," she argued. This only enraged him and, opening the cell door and throwing it open, he marched up to her, lifted her by the collar of her shirt and punched her square in the face. The force threw her backwards and she could feel her back colliding with the edge of her bed and taste the blood in her mouth from biting her lip. She didn't even try to get up, solely wiping away the blood that trickled down her mouth and glaring at him. This brought upon her another two punches and a few kicks in the stomach before the man finally left. She could hear him yelling at the guards that were positioned outside that she would not get any food that night.

Serena heaved herself onto the bed and lay down, her stomach grumbling in protest. But she was far too tired to care about hunger now and the beating just gave her the rest.

The days went on like that, each day passing with her going through experiments that were always more cruel and straining on her body and him beating her because he could not figure out how she did it. She got fresh clothes once, a simple white shirt with black pants, but they were quickly dirty as well. She had been granted a shower twice, every second or third day, depending on the mood of her captor. Food she had not seen much and she could feel that her body was slowly reaching its limit.

But in all that time, all she could think about was Adam.

Why wasn't he helping her, or at least visiting?

Did he even know she was here?

She longed to see him.

A/N: I do not own RWBY or its characters. I do, however, own my OC Serena and any other OCs that appear in this story.

I'm so sad that the next episode is only going to come out next weekend. I want to know how it continues!

About the chapter: Yep, she has it rough. I hope you liked this one and be ready for the next chapters.

Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!