Chapter 20

"So let me get this straight: There's a serial killer who has been killing for who knows how long, is able to avoid the Grimm and has a fascination with dissecting people. We found out, took pictures and then forgot about it while we slept?" Jaune asked from his seat on the bed.

Ruby nodded and leaned against the wall. "Seems that way."

"How could we forget something like this?" Pyrrha asked, her voice filled with horror as she fell back into a chair.

"I'm not sure, but we can't let this slide. Someone manipulated our memories and someone is killing people. They're likely one and the same. We have to stop this!" They all nodded. It was scary, not remembering. "So, likely suspects?"

"Well, who would know that we were even going into the mine in the first place?" Jaune asked.

"We weren't subtle about what we were doing, it could be anyone. Ren answered

Then we should figure out who is missing first. Then look into who could have taken them." Jaune provided.

"So town hall? They should have the records we need." Ruby said as she pushed off the wall. Everyone nodded.

Time to get a move on.

The mayor's secretary was all too happy to allow them access to the town's records after their accomplishments in the mines. A couple lien also made the process go smoother

First, they searched for missing people. However, they quickly realised the last time a missing persons report had been filed was over forty years ago.

"That's weird. Nobody went missing in forty years? In a town this far out? There must have been at least some people taken by the Grimm." Pyrrha whispered.

Ren had another idea, however. They started looking into the population itself. Towns like this did routine censuses to keep track of the population. They couldn't afford to lose people, especially with the SDC keeping an eye on the town. They would want to know how things were going. It took another couple hours before Nora found something.

"Hey guys! Look at this!" She said as she slammed a book down in between them all. "This whole family of five just vanished after the harvest season! No missing persons report and no reference to them leaving town!"

Ren grabbed the book and scanned the page with a frown. "Interesting. I just saw a different family living there a year later. They in turn disappeared two years later."

"So is it only people from that house?" Jaune asked.

"No." Ruby answered, holding up another book. "It says here that another family disappeared in the interim. Different side of the town entirely."

They continued their search over the next couple hours and as the sun dropped low they returned to the inn and discussed their findings.

Ruby took the floor to lead the discussion. "So our discoveries are: People disappear about every six months. The targets are always families. It appears to always be situated around a series of houses around town, about a dozen in total. And no matter how many people vanish without a trace, nobody reports it."

They all nodded. "So what do we do?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, it's gotten late. I think we need to ask people and investigate other common threads. I don't think there was a common landlord or anything but we might have missed it." Ruby replied.

"So tomorrow, some of us return to the town hall and continue looking into the missing persons and anyone related to them, while the rest ask around about the missing people." Jaune responded. They all agreed.

"What do we do about the memory issue?" Ren asked.

Ruby pondered for a moment. "One of us stays awake all night, the rest take turns like when we do watch. That should test the capabilities of the memory manipulation. Whether or not it works on those awake, if you have to sleep the whole night or whatever else we can gleam. I volunteer to stay awake all night."

Ren shook his head. "I believe I have a better chance of staying awake. We are going to be stuck here and I can spend my time meditating." The others nodded in agreement.

Ruby nodded. "Alright. With that sorted, the final thing is for everyone to write down everything that happened today. Keep it as detailed as possible in case we all forget." They all did so, writing as much as they could into their scrolls.

They sorted out their shifts for watch and went to bed.

As the day dawned, bright and shining the team was surprised when Ren asked them what they had been doing the day before. Pyrrha gave him a confused look and answered him honestly.

"We were just looking around town and taking in the sights. Are you alright?"

Ren gave them all a concerned look. He then told them everything again. The surprise and horror hit for a third time, increased by the realisation of what they were up against.

A Semblance that could modify the memories of anyone who slept. Ren hadn't had to deal with the effects, so as long as they didn't go to sleep they would be fine.

But that could only last so long.

With the information returned to them, they split up. Jaune and Pyrrha took to the streets to talk to the citizens while Ruby, Ren and Nora went back to the town hall for more research.

"I'll tell you again, I don't know who you're talking about!" A woman said as she slammed her door shut. They'd been at this for most of the day and gotten very little. Nobody seemed to remember the missing people. It was like everyone had forgotten them…

As if their memories had been modified so they forgot the others had even existed.

How do we fight this kind of opponent?

Ruby sighed and rubbed her forehead. They had made progress, but it felt like it wasn't leading anywhere. Ren too looked annoyed. An uncharacteristically angry frown adorned his face. Even Nora, who Ruby was sure had only come because of Ren, looked angry and disappointed.

"So…" Ruby said, breaking the tense silence. "Suspects so far include: the Mayor himself, the captain of the militia here, the representative of the SDC who has also purchased a lot of the towns land, the mine chief and about a dozen other people of varying significance."

"As far as we can tell, most of them don't have Semblances, most of them don't even have their Aura unlocked. The militia keeps a record of every Semblance in the town so they know what they have at their disposal. The closest we have in that regard is the mine chief and the militia captain." Ren responded. He sounded tired, but Ruby wasn't sure if it was from staying up all night or the situation. Probably both.

"What are their Semblances?" Nora asked, idly flicking through a book.

"The chief can apparently produce light around himself. Useful when mining because he doesn't need a lantern or scroll. The captain supposedly has a speed type Semblance. He uses it to range around the area and keep track of approaching Grimm." Ren replied.

"The captain could be using it to locate people coming on the roads and kidnap them if he's the killer." Ruby offered. "But it wouldn't let him sneak through Grimm."

"And the chief might be using his knowledge of the mines to sneak people through. If there are passages that lead outside of town he could take them through those and not have to sneak through the forest." Ren replied, folding his arms with a sigh.

"And that's only the Semblances we know of. The Mayor is in a great position to kidnap people as he's trusted. The Representative owns a lot of the houses, including most of the ones people have disappeared from. The rest all have one way or another to do it." Ruby groaned.

"Let's focus on the four most likely first." Ren said, closing the book he had. "Let's meet up with Jaune and Pyrrha and compare information."

Ruby sighed and helped put the books away with but a touch of her Semblance. They then rushed off to meet up with their friends.

A half-hour later and the five teens were huddled in a corner of the inn's dining room, thinking on their next move. The people of the town didn't know anything and their suspect list was long. Even focusing on the four most likely left them wondering what to do.

Follow them around and see who was the most suspect? Could work if they managed to stay hidden, but none of them were particularly sneaky. Ruby doubted they could remain hidden.

Keep asking around? It might work but it didn't seem like the town liked them too much. Even though Ruby could remember them being friendly the last two days, Jaune and Pyrrha didn't seem like they'd had a good time.

Talk to the suspects themselves? It would put them on alert if they weren't careful, but it would get them a feel for the person's personality and they might already know if word about their inquiries had gotten around.

It was a difficult choice. So Ruby decided to try them all. "Ren, Nora. You two can try the general public. They likely wouldn't answer Jaune and Pyrrha again. Speaking of, you two will talk to each of the suspects. Get a feel for them. I'll try and sneak around. Follow them and maybe do some breaking and entering."

"You really want to do that Ruby? What if you get caught?" Jaune asked.

"My Semblance is the only one that could get someone out of that kind of situation. I doubt they are going to suspect us because of finding a few rose petals in their house."

The others didn't look happy about it, but they couldn't think of anything better. "Just come back safe, okay?" Jaune asked.

"Of course. I won't let anything happen." She responded with a smile. She didn't say she couldn't let it happen. If she did, who would remember her friends for the people they were? She was team RWBY.

And their vengeance had yet to come.

A/N: Sorry about the lateness with this one. I had some trouble with it and then my beta was unavailable for a bit. Had to wait a couple days. I'm learning I may not be that great with mystery kinda stuff yet. It's taking me a lot longer to do these than usual. It's a nice change of pace though! Let's see if our friends here can figure things out!

I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!