"Coco, I finished cleaning for the night!" Ruby yelled out as she hung up her apron in the back and collecting her wallet and phone from her assigned cubby.
Coco looked up in response from where she was going through the register, counting the money from today's sales at the café. She quickly scanned the tables and work area.
It was a small, local place. Coco's Coffee was a hometown favorite in Patch and had flourished during its short existence. Coco Adel had bought the property and quickly threw together a small café. At first, it had been nothing special at all. She had bought the tables and chairs at the local furniture shop and the sign out front had been just a poster designed by Velvet, a friend of hers. It certainly didn't have the looks of a professionally run place. However, curious future customers had eventually wandered in, and pleased with both the taste of the coffee-freshly brewed by Coco herself, she proudly bragged- and the welcoming atmosphere of the establishment, had recommended it to their friends.
Soon enough, the place was bursting with business as people used the place to chat with friends and family or work on term papers with the help of a reasonably cheap large coffee to keep themselves from keeling over. Coco had replaced the poster with a neon sign and wooden chairs with ones with cushions and booths up against the walls of the place.
It had become quite a success if Coco did say so herself. And it didn't hurt that she had some help keeping up with the busy workdays.
Ruby had applied for the job once she had turned seventeen and Coco was grateful for it. As much as she liked to preen that she dealt with every customer personally, she eventually had to admit that it had become hard to keep up, especially during the rush hours. And thankfully, Ruby had been a fast learner, eager and ready to please. And as the only other employee, Coco could afford to pay her pretty generously.
It was closing time, now, the last customer having walked out about twenty-five minutes ago. Ruby had spent the time since then cleaning up: wiping down the tables, the coffee-brewer, and sweeping the floor. But now she had finished all her tasks.
Coco nodded, satisfied with Ruby's work. "All right, babe. You're free to go."
"Why do you always call me "babe"? We're not dating." Ruby replied with a giggle.
"I call all my friends babe." Coco replied, flashing Ruby a smooth smile. "Babe".
"Aw, I'm not special?"
"Oh, you're special alright." Coco's smile turned into a smirk as she side-eyed Ruby walking past her, pushing her shades down to the brim of her nose.
"Hey!"
Ruby was just past the counter when she felt Coco grab her elbow and pull her back a step. The redhead gave her a quizzical look.
"Hey, be careful going home tonight, yeah? You've probably seen the news, but I just want to be sure."
Ruby had indeed seen the news. Some residents had reported some shady characters hanging about in the alleyways downtown.
"I promise I will, Coco. Yang's been teaching me some self-defense moves, so I think I could handle someone getting too close." Ruby scrunched up her nose. "Maybe." She added with a shrug.
Coco rubbed a hand up and down Ruby's arm. "I know, I know. Just trying to be sure you're safe. You'll stick by the streetlights and won't take any shortcuts through the alleys, right?"
Ruby rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Yes, mother."
"I'm just lookin' out for ya, babe." Coco said with a chuckle, reaching up to ruffle Ruby's hair, prompting the girl to half-heartedly slap the offending hand. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow!" Ruby chirped back as she stepped out the door, comforted by the familiar bill that rang whenever it opened.
As she stepped onto the sidewalk, Ruby took a deep breath, taking in the night air. It was usually dark by the time Ruby's shifts were over, leaving the street bathed in the orange glow of the streetlights. The street was entirely devoid of life. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Ruby had only walked a few more feet before she heard her stomach growl.
Hungry…I hope Yang cooked something good tonight…
Ruby and her half-sister Yang shared an apartment together near the edge of downtown. Ruby and Yang's father and Ruby's birthmother had died in a car accident about a year ago. Yang's birth mother left the picture once she was born.
It had taken them both a long time to move on after the accident, and there were many nights they had spent cuddled together, crying with each other until they had fallen asleep. But they were better now. Both of them had jobs that afforded them the apartment, groceries, and some luxuries, including a video game system they both spent far too much time playing on their days off. It hadn't always been easy, but they were stable now and both of them were happier than they had been in a long time. There were still questions about their future, but those were just that. In the future.
Yang usually cooked dinner, as her shifts at the auto-shop ended earlier than Ruby's at the café.
Ruby took Coco's advice and stuck closer to the street where she stayed in the light. She had walked this path countless times when she left work, but it always gave the girl shivers as she walked past the dark alleyways. They seemed pitch-black compared to the illuminated street and the fear that something would jump out and pull her in was always somewhere in her mind.
Thus far, thankfully, nothing of the sort had happened since Coco had hired her.
She had been walking for some time when she heard what sounded like a scuffle or someone scraping their shoe against the ground. This sound continued for a number of moments before stopping, once again driving the night into silence. Ruby stopped in her tracks as a chill shot up her spine. Turning her head to the left, she gazed into the dark space between two buildings. She didn't hear anything else, and she scolded herself for stopping. She needed to get home or Yang would get worried.
However, just as she shook her head and began to walk again, she jumped in her skin at the sound of a cry.
"Please! Please, let me go!"
Ruby stopped again and she felt adrenaline begin to course through her blood. The logical part of her brain told her to run, that instinct of self-preservation kicking in. However, there was another part of her that told her that someone needed help, and she was the only one who could.
The two sides of her mind battled until finally her conscience overpowered her logic. She gritted her teeth as she spun on the heel of her sneaker, barreling into the darkness of the alley.
Her eyes took a moment to adjust as she kept running, the only other sound besides her breathing being the sole of her shoe hitting the concrete. As the details of the environment around her became clearer, she squinted to see ahead of her, so she didn't accidentally crash into whoever was calling out.
Eventually, her vision revealed three human-like shapes a few feet ahead of her. She skidded to a stop. Ruby thought her heart ceased beating as she fully took in what she was seeing.
It was a young man pressed up against one of the building. Ruby looked on in disbelief as she observed that his feet were actually elevated a few inches off of the ground. Only his eyes were visible, orbs rolled back into his head, leaving mostly white to be seen. The lower half of his face was obscured by a pale hand pushing his head into the brick.
Ruby began to tremble as she followed that hand downwards to fully take in the second figure. It was a woman dressed in a light blue blouse and blue jeans. With one hand she held the boy's face, and the other hand was curled around his wrist, rendering it immobile. Snow white hair was pulled into an off-center ponytail. Ruby couldn't make out her face, as it was turned away from her and pressed into the boy's neck.
Her line of sight transferred to the third person, who was leaned up against the building on the other side of the alley. One leg was curled up, so the sole of a calf-height boot was up against the concrete wall. A pair of black pants were tucked into the boots. Above the belt buckle holding the pants in place, this person was wearing a white button-up shirt, the two top buttons undone to reveal a pale neck and the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. They were wearing a pair of black leather gloves.
Ruby's eyes were drawn to those of this second woman. An amber gaze stared unblinking at the scene in front of her. Pitch black, curly hair framed her face.
The redhead couldn't move, and she didn't blink for what must have been a full minute as what was before her absorbed into her mind. Neither of the two women seemed to have noticed her, and by the look on the boy's face, she didn't think she could do much to help him at this point. Self-preservation overpowered everything else now.
She began to tip-toe backwards, forcing herself to stop shaking and take her time so as not to alert these strangers.
She really didn't want to die tonight.
"I think we have a guest, Weiss."
Ruby stilled and her brain began to race.
They know I'm here!
For a reason she couldn't explain, Ruby didn't move as the woman in blue suddenly loosed her grip on the young man and he dropped in a heap at her feet. Ruby inhaled shakily.
The boy's neck was covered in blood, a large gash on the side of his neck still occasionally spurting the thick streams of red, sporadically staining the concrete as a puddle began to pool underneath his neck and head.
Agonizingly slowly, the woman turned her head to look at Ruby. Piercing blue eyes met the young girl's. Ruby also saw a faded scar that trailed down her left eye.
The paleness of her face was interrupted by the blood that stained her bared teeth and trailed down her chin.
Ruby didn't need anymore reason to stagger around and begin sprinting back the way she came down the alley and towards the safety of the well-lit street.
As she ran, she caught one more thing and it only made her legs pump faster.
"She's mine."
It was only a matter of less than twenty seconds before Ruby was back into the street and dashing along the sidewalk, the sound of her sneakers stomping on the concrete sounding like gunshots in her ears.
"This can't be real…this can't be real! I need to get home…Yang will keep me safe!" Ruby thought desperately as the buildings around her became a blur. "She won't let anything happen to me!"
She was approaching the corner that led to her apartment building when a figure stepped out from behind the building. So surprised was Ruby that she actually tripped over her feet and fell to the concrete, crying out as she felt the rough surface tear open skin on her hands and knees. Ruby wheezed and grunted in pain as she began to lift her head from the ground. She shakily inhaled. The black-haired woman was approaching her prone form. She swung one leg in front of the other as she walked, silently taunting Ruby as she slowly but surely grew closer. Ruby was frozen in place by a teasing, malicious smirk and mischievous eyes that seemed to glow. If she wasn't so obviously a threat, Ruby would have probably been smitten on the spot.
Ruby tried to crawl backwards on her hands, trying to pull her shaking body from the ground and back on her feet. But just as she began to raise her rear end, the woman became a blur and suddenly Ruby was pinned to the ground, strong hands holding her own above her head. Two thighs held her legs in place.
Ruby could feel tears building at the corners of her eyes as the woman leaned into her face and she whimpered when she pressed her nose into Ruby's red hair. A shiver tore through her body as the woman breathed in through her nostrils and sighed. Ruby clenched her eyes shut.
"You smell delectable." The woman purred. "Where should I start?" She asked rhetorically. Ruby felt both of her wrists transferred to one hand as her predator cupped her cheek, the feeling of cool leather on her skin making Ruby squeak in fear.
"Blake, you know better than to play with your food." An icy voice invaded Ruby's ears.
Her breath got caught in her throat as the gloved hand trailed down her cheek and settled onto her neck, a thumb rubbing back and forth on her Adam's apple.
"You're just jealous that my food is much prettier to look at." Blake responded. "Such a beautiful morsel." She whispered into Ruby's ear.
Ruby felt the grip on her wrists tighten. She could feel warm breath on her neck.
Against her every instinct, Ruby opened her eyes for what she knew was the final time.
She gazed up at the stars as she thought of her sister. Yang was probably wondering where she was right now. Ruby couldn't bear the thought of leaving her sister behind, of her sister losing the last of her family. She deserved better than that.
"At least I'll get to see Mom and Dad…" She thought, resigned to her fate.
She felt soft lips graze the skin of her neck.
A gasp suddenly shook Ruby out of her trance.
"Blake, wait!"
Blake growled as she looked up at her companion. "What, Weiss?! You got to eat tonight! She's mine!"
"Look at her eyes, you idiot!"
With her teeth bared, she looked back down to see what was possibly wrong with her meal. She was starving and didn't want to wait anymore. She focused on the girl's eyes.
Fearful silver irises gazed back at her.
And it suddenly clicked. Blake retreated. Her own eyes were wide as she gazed downwards.
Ruby didn't know what was happening, but what she did know was that the grip on her wrists loosened considerably and she no longer felt a strong pressure on the lower half of her body. Taking advantage of the woman's seeming moment of shock, she wrenched her hands from their prison and scrambled backwards out from underneath her captor.
Stumbling to her feet, she began running again. Her lungs were burning from her previous flight down the street, but for whatever reason she had caught a break and she wasn't about to waste it. She knew she was running the opposite direction from her apartment, but she knew shortcuts that could get her back there in no time. Hopefully, these strangers didn't know the layout of Patch's downtown as well as she did.
She barely made it past two buildings before a pair of arms wrapped around her midsection and she was lifted off her feet. She kicked and tried to struggle, but the grip around her was so strong that she could only uselessly kick her legs, her arms trapped.
"Let me go! I promise I won't tell anyone! Please! I just want to go home to my sister!" Ruby cried out. "I'll do anything you want! I just want to go home!" Ruby was outright sobbing now, tears leaking from her eyes and snot dribbling out of her nose.
"Weiss!" The woman she now knew to be Blake grunted frustratedly from behind her.
The white-haired woman, Weiss, entered her field of view. She observed the struggling Ruby for only a moment before hardening her gaze and striding up to her, seemingly not phased by the legs kicking at her chest and legs. Weiss reached up and pressed the cool palm of her hand to Ruby's forehead.
Suddenly, Ruby felt exhausted, all the energy and adrenaline in her seeping out rapidly. Her eyelids became heavy as her kicks became weaker until they stopped altogether. She felt herself begin to drift off to sleep.
She barely heard the two women speaking, but she caught a few words.
"What do we do with her, Weiss?
Ruby's eyes closed completely. She heard Weiss speak before her world and mind went dark.
"We take her with us. If they find her, we'll be deader than we already are."