Chapter 36 — Welcome

"I see humans, but no humanity"

— Unknown

The room was dark and damp. Sparse rays of light filtered in from underneath the door, flickering as people passed on the other side. Bars surrounded her, denying escape, caging her like an animal. Serena rubbed the side of her face as she slowly set herself upright. Her back protested in pain, body stiff from having lain on the metal board that was her cot. There was a toilet mounted to the wall, but no sink.

Her eyes carefully scoured the dark room, slowly adjusting to it. There was nothing else there. The bars were thick and the lock appeared strong and sturdy. The metal door — next to which was a sink well out of her reach — beyond her cell blocked out most of the sound. Serena shivered, hands rubbing at her arms as a cold chill passed through her.

This was not good. Not good at all. She had no idea where exactly she was, but it would be safe to assume that this was one of the White Fang's hideouts. Why she was here she did not know, nor how they had managed to find her. Had Adam told them about her? Had he sold her out to his boss? Did they know about her powers?

Of course they do. They wouldn't have kidnapped me otherwise. They knew exactly who they were looking for!

A spark of anger set her heart aflame. If this was his thanks for her having saved his life, then she should just have left him in the woods that day. There was no doubt in her mind — the White Fang would use her for their own selfish goals. This was exactly what she had tried to avoid! She didn't want to be made somebody's tool. Her hands fisted in the fabric of her shorts, crumpling the fabric.

The sound of a lock being unlocked reached her ears and Serena looked up at the metal door being swung open. The bright light made her squint her eyes as three people walked in.

"Ah, I see our guest is awake," the man in the front said, his impressive horns catching her eyes the moment she had gotten used to the sudden stream of light. Even though his tone was civil, Serena could feel the cold, threatening aura this man exuded.

Eyes sweeping over to the other two people, she spotted a beautiful woman, her long ebony hair curling along her shoulders and golden eyes inspecting her like she were some kind of prize. The human girl shirked away from the look, opting to look at the last person in the room. He seemed to be a simple Faunus, probably the one designated to guard her.

"I do apologize for the rough handling, miss, but I simply had to meet you in person. I have heard quite a lot about you," the leader spoke up, drawing her attention back to him. His eyes had a manic glow now, and Serena shivered at the look. "I do hope you won't mind your impromptu stay here."

"Where exactly is here? What are you planning to do with me?" she questioned, eyes narrowed in anger. "I have no business with you, so I'd appreciate it if you'd let me leave."

A short bark of laughter startled her, eyes narrowing further.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. You see, for a long time, the Humans have been the ones in power. They always suppressed our kind, treating Faunus as nothin more than expandable slaves that exist to serve them. But the time has come for us, the Faunus, to take our rightful place."

Serena's breath stocked at the last sentence. The man was mad.

"Why should we serve those lowly Humans when Faunus are so much more powerful than them? They need their Dust, but without it, they are nothing. And now that we have you, Miss Grimm Tamer, we will strike! You will be my trump card, and the Humans will be vanquished by one of their own!" The rant was finished with a wide swipe of his arm, the motion startling the girl.

"You're crazy…" Serena whispered. The leader's eyes narrowed in anger at the comment. "I would never help you! No matter what you do, I won't help you!"

A dark chuckle echoed in the empty room at her declaration. "Oh, we will see about that. I will leave you for now, but we will begin our tests tomorrow."

Turning on his heel, the man exited the room, followed by the woman and Faunus, the latter of which locked the door. Serena was left alone in the dark, body slumped in a corner and mind wondering how the hell she was going to get out of this.

The nightmare ripped her out of her sleep as they had done so often in the past. Bolting up, Serena clenched the thin piece of cloth (that was supposed to be a blanket) to her heaving chest, silent tears sliding along her cheeks and dripping onto her arm. Her breathing was shallow and raspy, and the girl barely had the chance to regain her composure.

A violent cough took hold of her, body shaking and contorting as the coughs turned more and more violent. Serena looked around her but, just as she had feared, there was no glass of water in sight. She had received no dinner the previous night — no doubt a ploy to keep her weak and obedient — and refused to drink out of the toilet. The chilly night air did not help with her burning lungs, and she was pretty sure that she would wake the entire base with the noise she was making.

Serves them right, her mind sneered, but still she tried to quiet down.

The shadow under the door had gone unnoticed by the girl, and, at first, she did not hear the words spoken to her from the other side of it. A loud bang on the metal door startled her enough for her to seize hacking up her lungs, and she heard someone commanding her to be quiet. Another, quieter voice was heard in the background, but the louder one seemed to shut it up.

Then the coughs came back with a vengeance, and now she actually feared that a lung would be spit up. One arm braced on the steel plate underneath her, she held her other hand against her mouth, eyes scrunched shut. Her entire chest was burning, her throat hurting more and more with each new set of coughs.

"Water…" she croaked out in-between coughs. "Please, I need water."

Something seemed to be moving beyond the door, and she heard steps fading away. Then, the sound of another pair of steps, these ones hurried and quick, reached her ears, and Serena perked up when she heard the lock click. The door opened to reveal the Faunus that had been present at the meeting that afternoon. Immediately, her eyes went to the bottle of water the man was holding in his left hand.

He seemed to be hesitating for a moment before stepping forward and sticking his hand through the bars of the cage, throwing the bottle at her. Serena caught the container with shaky hands, fumbling with the cap before taking a greedy sip of the refreshing liquid. Another few sips followed the first, and she soon had the bottle emptied to the last drop.

Giving a content sigh at her cool throat, Serena looked up to see the man watching her. The low light along with his hood and mask made it impossible for her to see anything, but she could feel a vibe of both curiosity and apprehension emitting from him. For a few moments, he simply stared at her as she stared back, both quietly contemplating the other.

Then, the Faunus turned around and headed for the door. Taking out the keys at the back of his belt, he was about to close the door when Serena made him pause.

"Thank you. For the water."

He did not reply, but she could see a faint nod of his head before he pulled the door closed, the lock clicking back into place. Retiring to her bed, Serena closed her eyes, quickly consumed by a dreamless sleep.

The room she was taken to was barren save for a single chair, standing in the middle of it. The guard led her over to it, pushing her down and fastening both arms and legs with leather bindings to the metal contraption. He ignored her feeble struggle against the taut straps, stepping back and exiting the room.

Taking this moment to examine the room, Serena noticed the mirror taking up one wall. Another Faunus, this one a woman, entered the room and wheeled over a small machine. Crouching, she plastered several wires to the human's body, all linked up to the strange machine. Then, she, too, left the room.

Serena was puzzled by this. I thought they wanted to run some tests on me. So why would they-

Her musings were cut short as she let out a pained scream, muscles spasming as electricity cursed through her body. The metal chair only made the experience worse. Then, the current was stopped and she heard the voice of the leader come on over a speaker.

"Hmm… Very interesting. Though I'm sure you can show us more, Miss Grimm Tamer."

Starting from then, current after current of electricity was forced through her body, each one lasting longer than the previous. By the time she had been shocked four times, Serena felt her stomach heave before she had emptied its contents onto her lap. Nose scrunching in disgust, she leaned her head to the side, managing to vomit the rest of her stomach onto the ground.

The ninth current caused her nose to bleed, and her head was ringing, eyes losing their focus. It felt like her brain was melting inside her skull, her muscles tired and useless from continuously clenching and unclenching. When they were done with her, two guards had to haul her out of the room and back into her cell. She remained motionless for the rest of the day.

The first session announced many more to follow. Each day Serena would be hauled out of her cage by a guard and brought to the leader for new tests. She struggled at the beginning, lashing out and even biting the men when they pried at her. They would beat her if she proved too much a hassle, sometimes hitting her so hard she lost consciousness for a few minutes. Then, after some time, she simply allowed them the move her around as they pleased.

Electricity wasn't the only thing that was tested on her. They would inject her with some kind of substance which would make her go crazy to the point that she injured herself in her frenzy. Other times they would pit her up with Grimm, trying to get her to display her powers for them. They attacked her without mercy, and it was more often than not that the guards were ordered to kill the Grimm, lest the creatures kill her.

The only light of hope was the fact that the guard that was standing watch at her door, and who had given her water the first day, actually treated her like a human. As opposed to the other Faunus, he was kind and would often bring her food, sometimes even smuggling her an apple or some other type of fruit when the leader deprived her of any food. Once, he even smuggled her out of her cell, allowing her to take a bath. She was thankful at being given the opportunity to clean not only herself, but also her clothes, which were still stained with vomit from the first experiment.

Apart from that, her days were filled with beatings and torture.

The door creaked open cautiously, before a whisper was heard and hurried footsteps entered the room. The sound of keys rattling on a chain resounded in the dark room, and Serena was startled awake by the creaking of the hinges of the cell door. Cracking her eyes open, she barely had time to spot the two dark shapes before she was hauled to the ground, her back colliding with the dusty ground and knocking the wind out of her.

Coughing, the girl weakly put up her hands, pushing at the pair of arms that had a painful hold on her shoulders, keeping her down. Another pair of hands was suddenly on her person, and she froze when she felt them roam her body, skimming along the hem of her shirt and pants. Her brain began to catch up once the hands started tugging at her shirt, attempting to rip it off of her.

Serena put the last of her energy into her struggling, legs flailing and trying to kick away the person that was now perched on her hips. Her breathing grew panicked, but before she could scream out, a hand covered her mouth. Her eyes began to water as her shirt was finally ripped off, the hands now wandering down to her pants and working at the button. She grew desperate now, bucking underneath the crushing weight and yelling from behind the hand. She managed to bite a finger, but the Faunus had a tough skin and barely flinched at the attack. She received a punch to the face when she became even more hysterical.

Suddenly, the door was flung open, light flooding the room. The figure atop her froze, as did the one whose hands were clutching her shoulders. They both turned to the door, body tensed and stiff.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

She recognized the voice. It belonged to the nice Faunus. She was surprised to pick up the anger lancing his tone, but was nevertheless grateful for his interrupting the would-be rapists.

"The hell do you care?" the one atop her seethed.

"Yeah. Just go back outside. Let us have our fun with the little bitch," the second assaulter commented.

The sound of two blades being drawn echoed in the tense silence, and she felt the hold on her shoulders faltering. The two Faunus slowly stood up, seeming to reach for they own weapons.

"Don't. If you walk away now, I won't report you to Desde. But make one move and you will both be put on trial for attempting to harm the girl," her guard spoke. "Do you really want Spike to find out what you were trying to do to his precious guest?"

Serena felt that the term guest was more than faulty — really, she was a prisoner, not to mention a guinea pig to that leader of theirs — but the threat seemed to work. The two Faunus hesitated, before sneering in disgust and leaving the room.

Serena pushed herself up on scraped elbows, tired eyes focusing on the Faunus that had just saved her from any woman's worst nightmare. Sitting up, she only now felt the blood that trickled down her chin from where her lip was busted. The chill also reminded her of the fact that she was missing a shirt. Attempting to cover herself and preserve some of her dignity, Serena crossed one arm over her chest, legs drawn close to her torso.

The man looked at her with what she could only interpret to be pity. He left the room for a moment before returning with a cloth and water bottle in one hand, and a clean white shirt in the other. Surprising her, he entered the cell and carefully approached her. Serena drew back when he stretched out a hand, the shirt dangling from it.

"Here. You can use this," he said quietly, an air of empathy now surrounding him. She grabbed the shirt with a shaky hand, clutching it to her chest. Surprising her once more, he turned around, granting her privacy to change. She quickly pulled the T-Shirt over her head, the material falling loosely around her small frame.

Turning back around to face her, the man held up the water and piece of cloth. "May I?"

Hesitating for a moment, Serena slowly nodded her head. He crouched down in front of her, one hand uncapping the bottle and then pouring some water onto the rag. Once it was completely drenched, he set down the bottle, squeezed out the excess water and carefully neared her face. When she didn't retreat, he gingerly dabbed it onto her bleeding lip, cleaning it with surprising care. Then, he drenched the cloth once more before focusing on her chin, as well as other bruises and fading patches of blood that adorned her face.

Serena quietly watched as he worked. This was unexpected. She did not understand why he showed her such kindness. Weren't they supposed to be enemies? Or, at the very least, a prisoner and her guard? And yet, here he was, nursing her wounds as though they were friends.

Her mind told her that this was just a trick, another ploy to get her to work with them. But her heart recognized the act for what it was: a simple act of human kindness. She decided to listen to her heart.

When he was done, the man capped the bottle and folded up the now pink and brown cloth. Standing back to his full height, he offered her a hand. It took her only a moment to accept the help, and he pulled her to her feet with a strong grip, yet still mindful of her battered state. She swayed on her feet for a moment and he immediately placed a hand around her waist, steadying her.

Unlike the touch of the two men from before, his was gentle, careful. His hand remained on the small of her back, and once she had regained her sense of balance, he let go of her. Leading her to the metal cot, he lowered her down until she was safely lying back down. The situation turned almost comical when he actually tucked the blanket around her.

But all Serena could think about was how very comforting his care was, and she felt tears prick her eyes. It had been almost two weeks since anyone else had touched her with or even shown her an ounce of kindness. For the first time in what appeared to her to be an eternity, she was treated like an actual human being, and not just some test subject.

"Thank you," she sobbed with a watery smile, eyes locking on the mask where his eyes should be.

Once again, he only nodded and made to leave, but stopped when she grabbed hold of his shirt sleeve. "What is your name?"

He remained silent, and she realized that he probably had orders to stay away from her. He had acted against his leader by helping her in the way he did. Surely, if he told her his name, the leader would have his head for treason. Still, she at least wanted him to know who she was. At least one person would know her name then, should she not survive this ordeal.

"I'm Serena."

She let go of him then, and he exited the cell and closed the door behind him. When he reached the second door that lead out to the hallway, he paused, looked over his shoulder and quietly answered her question.

"Perry. My name is Perry."

Then he locked the door, plunging the room in darkness once more. But, somehow, this darkness did not seem as frightening as the one before.

EDITED 05/03/2019

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. All I do own are my OC and the idea and plot of the non-canon parts of the story.