Rest Period I: The Point of Horror

Yang had gotten detention. Nora had too. For those two, that seemed relatively fitting, considering how they were the most prone to cause some form of mischief.

That she and Jaune would probably get one too did not sit well with her, and she had a feeling that Yang would hold it over her head for days.

Still, she couldn't exactly focus on that thought. If anything, she was a little preoccupied dealing with Miss Goodwitch's glaring, making her feel like a little kid who got caught pranking her friends… which she had never done! She was a good kid! Plus, she was more focused with protests than silly games.

They were in her office at the moment, having left the library when she'd told them that she would be speaking to them privately. On the way out, she was aware of all the staring from the other students. Urgh. Just great.

Looking around, she was impressed by how simple it was (then again, Miss Goodwitch doesn't strike her as the kind of person who preferred superfluous or flashy things). It was a grey-walled room with a black ceiling. Pendant lights shaped like large light bulbs hung from the ceiling. There was a wooden desk, a comfy black chair behind it, with bookshelves pushed to the wall behind. Between each bookshelves was a rectangular window that provided a view of the courtyard down below. Two black arm chairs sat side-by-side in front of the teacher's desk.

Overall? It was a comfy room. One that she found herself liking almost immediately. Although, for the fact of whom it belonged to, it was also terrifying to be here. Never did she think she'd be in Miss Goodwitch's office, of all places, but here she is now.

"So, Miss Belladonna and Mister Arc," both students flinched at her tone, the woman sat behind her desk. "I must admit, I am rather surprised to see the two of you together. If I recall, the both of you had never been on speaking terms before this."

"We, er, have a shared interest," Jaune offered. Blake nodded in agreement. "And then we just met every now and then to talk together. We're getting along."

"Is that so? Well, that is good," she nodded. "Fostering healthy relationships with one another is important for social and mental growth, and it does me good to know that you two, despite never having interacted prior to this, are now making efforts to know each other better."

"To be fair, we did sort of knew each other," Blake offered. "Since Jaune and Ruby are friends."

"Yes, but friends by mutual choice and friends by association are two completely different things. One that I'm sure you understand much more clearly now."

That was true. Prior to their exchange, Blake and Jaune had been no less than strangers, making little talk every now and then but never with a firm camaraderie. Sure, she liked him enough to trust him when it counts, but never to the point where she could confidently say that she knew him well.

In fact, she could remember the few times when they would have been sat together, at a loss for words since they knew absolutely nothing to say to each other. He was somehow on better speaking terms with Weiss, who pretty much disliked him, than he was with her.

Now, though? Well, they're slowly getting there, and Blake finds herself capable of spending time with the boy without needing their teams as the connecting factor. She found him pleasant, and he did too, and they were able to just talk together without any issue.

"We do."

"Good. Genuine friendship is far more comfortable, and you will find yourselves able to trust each other—both on the battlefield and off it," she waited for the both of them to nod before she continued. "Then I do hope you make the same effort with the rest of your teammates, though I know for the fact that both Teams RWBY and JNPR are already close."

"That's thanks to Jaune and Ruby," Blake said with an easy smile. "The both of them had been so excited to introduce everyone to one another, so we're pretty much friends at this point."

"Yes, I can tell. You'd sit together during recess, commune together in one of your rooms after classes, go on outings and conduct study groups together—it would be hard-pressed to assume that your relationship is nothing less than positive."

Wow, she noticed all of that? Pretty sharp of her. Then again, this is Miss Goodwitch they're talking about here. She practically notices just about anything and everything around her without needing to bat an eye. Such is her talent.

"Now then, with that out of the way, let us move onto the main issue at hand," both students flinched. Ah, shoot. Blake was hoping that she'd forget, but apparently not. "I believe a library would be a place where tranquillity is necessary for an undisturbed study or research, yet imagine my surprise when I found out it was you who shrieked for all corners of the library to hear."

Wha—She hadn't been that loud, had she?! Oh god, there was no way this was happening!

"My initial assumption was that it had been Mister Arc. He does have a tendency to make his voice squeaky."

Blake had to mask her snort as a cough into her fist, while Jaune 'aww…'-ed with a pout.

"So, do tell. What was it that the two of you were up to? Playing games, I'd wager?"

"It's… not a game, ma'am."

"Really? Then do explain, because I'm quite certain you were using a scroll at the time. I'd really like to know what could have possibly elicited such a reaction from you," she directed that at Blake. "To have disrupted the library's peace in the process."

Oh, come on, did she have to repeat that? The girl tried to hide her burning face by staring down at her lap. Damn it. Is everyone going to find out that it was her who screamed in the library, and then share that with others? God, she'd be a laughingstock! Her name would be cycled in Beacon's gossip mill! Yang most certainly wouldn't let her live it down! She'd be insufferable forever!

However, above the crippling embarrassment, there was a bigger concern. Namely, the fact that Jaune wanted his story writing hobby to be kept a secret from others.

Sure, Jaune wasn't the closest of friends, but it was like she said; they were getting there. Slowly, through the days when they'd chatted with and without their teams, discussing the typical philosophy and horror from time to time, they were becoming good friends. And she didn't want to betray his trust by revealing what he'd asked her to keep secret.

Blake understood what that felt like. To be keeping secrets so close to the chest that she was simply unwilling to share with anyone else. At the very least, Jaune's didn't involve horrific crimes against the people of Remnant…

Could she just tell her that she'd just watched something scary? Something completely unrelated to whatever Jaune had been doing? Damn it, but she'd been using his scroll, so there was just no way for him to get out scot-free. Maybe that she'd snatched his device and used it without his permission?

Mind racking for some kind of excuse, she was too slow to notice the hand on her shoulder. Only when she felt a gentle squeeze did she finally gaze into his sea-blue eyes.

"Tell her," he whispered.

Yellow eyes blinked slowly. "What? But Jaune, that's—"

"Ehh, it's okay. I don't think it would be that bad. I mean, it's Miss Goodwitch."

"But… you said that you wanted to keep it secret."

"I do, really. But again, it's Miss Goodwitch. It's not like she'll just openly share this secret with others for the fun of it," he replied.

"I… Are you really okay with it?"

"It's not a big loss," he shrugged. "Really, I'm fine with it. Go ahead and tell her."

Trying to search for any hint of reluctance in his eyes and finding none, she slowly nodded at him before meeting the older blonde's green eyes. She gulped, but steeled herself. "Miss Goodwitch, I can explain."

"By all means."

So it was that she recollected her meeting with Jaune and the days ever since, of which the two of them had quickly bonded over their enjoyment of horror stories. She then went on to explain the few times they'd met together in the library to read his newest work, The Stairwell being the fourth and latest one thus far. She also explained the reason of her reaction earlier, resulted from a scroll recording based on his latest story.

"Is that so? I'd never expected writing to be something you were into."

"Oh, I'd only started that since I got into Beacon."

"Really?" Miss Goodwitch seemed surprised, and so had she back then.

"Yeah, although my parents told me I had a bad tendency to jump from hobby to hobby," he admitted with a sheepish grin. "Not a good thing, since I'd tend to just forget the last thing altogether. Slowly, I'm trying to get rid of that bad habit. If I'm going to get involved in something, I'd want to be do it properly."

"That is good. Leaving aside the obviousness of time wasted and such, having a multitude of talents and skills that you're willing to work on gives you many options and opportunities."

"Um, about that… Is that okay, I mean?" He suddenly seemed nervous, fiddling with his hands. "Like… is it alright if I work on this? I know it's not related to my studies at all, but I…"

"I don't see why not," her simple response both surprised him and relieved her. "While this may be a huntsman school designed primarily to hone a student's potential as a huntsman, you would not be remiss to forget the school aspect. Here, we seek to help our students be the best that they can be, which may not always be related to combat to begin with. Moral values, hidden talents, personal interests—what teachers would we be if we do not make an attempt to help them improve such?"

Dang. She'd always known that Miss Goodwitch was a really dutiful teacher to all of them, but this really put things in perspective. Strict as she may be, that didn't make her bad by any means.

"T-Thank you, ma'am," her friend said in a whispery tone, surprise and joy laced in his voice. "I promise I won't let it get in the way of my studies and training."

"Well, considering the word I've gotten from Bart, and the fact that you've been seeking training with your friends' help, I have a feeling that you would do fine."

"Right! Of course!"

"And on the subject of your little hobby," both students perked up at that. "You mentioned how you've been trying to get into writing horror, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I must say, horror in written work isn't the easiest to capture, though it must have been a particularly good one if it's managed to draw out such a reaction from Miss Belladonna here."

"It really was," and the genuine lilt in her voice made Jaune chuckle in embarrassment. "Though, the only reason I screamed in the first place was because of the video, and I felt like I was watching an actual movie."

"A short video, you could say."

"Yeah, well, same difference. But that's not me trying to discount the other stories!" She hastily added. "They were all really great. Each one are just so different, and they never failed to just… freak me out. And they're fun to read."

Seriously, he might as well submit Omelas for a competition. The literature and artistic approach to that one story deserved much respect, much more so for the philosophical nature that it covered. She had a feeling that that one would draw so much opinion from everyone, and that would be cool. And The Stairwell video, if posted online, would be an instant hit.

"Honestly? I'm surprised that you could make videos too, Jaune," she said at him. "And voice acting! Seriously, what's up with that?"

"Sisters. That's the only answer you'll be getting out of me."

"Ah, yes. You mentioned you had seven sisters," the teacher looked a little amused by that. Blake still couldn't believe that the first time he told her and their team. "You've had experience with these sorts of things through them?"

"Not the story-writing. But the voice bit? I've always told stories to my little siblings, particularly bedtime stories," fond memories seemed to surface as his expression took on a joyful one. He sounded more brotherly in that moment. "I've had to voice all kinds of characters—from old wizards to little schoolgirls, so I've a little practice there."

"Wow. Sounded fun."

"Sure was. And as for the video recording, I would help with recording my sisters whenever they have some school project, like a play or a drama."

"And that includes video editing?" Blake asked.

"Sort of, yeah. Not because I'm any good at it," bull and shit. That video was the worst thing ever—and by worst, she meant incredibly great, but terrifying out of her mind. "But because I was the only one who bothered to learn it. Honestly, anyone could have done it," she almost gawked at his casual shrug. "There's an in-built app on the scroll that lets you do all sorts of editing. It's pretty cool."

"Impressive. I'd never assumed you were this talented in so many skillsets."

"Err, w-well, I guess that's what I get for not having gone to a huntsman prep school. Rather than pick up the important stuff, I'd ended up learning more civilian things…"

"That isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the case that a friend or lecturer requires your help, or you have some kind of assignment related to this sort of thing—" Oh, joy. She'd definitely be pairing up with Jaune if that ever happens. "Then you'd be the most prepared."

"Ah… Thank you, Miss Goodwitch."

"So, is that it?" She opted to ask.

"Is that it? Of course not," she sighed, steepling her fingers together. "While I finally understand what had transpired, that does not excuse the little commotion you caused earlier today in the library."

Ah, shoot. With all the discussion, she'd completely forgotten about that. Blake wilted a little under the teacher's scrutinous gaze. "W-We're sorry, Miss Goodwitch. I promise you, it won't happen again."

"Perhaps, though I must still take action for your little display back there. As such, you will be serving detention with me tomorrow after all of your classes," both teens flinched, though it wasn't the worst punishment ever. It could have been much worse. "Outside of that, I'll advise you not to cause any further commotion the next time you peruse the library. Many students go there to study, and any form of disturbance would not go appreciated, so it is part of your responsibility to respect that. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good," she nodded. "Now then, if that's all there is to it, the both of you may leave. Have a good day."

"S-Sure," Jaune nodded, Blake following suit. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Well, that was stressful."

"No kidding. Meeting a teacher in their office is never fun, no matter your age."

The two shared a sigh, well on their way to return to their room. A single day of detention. Could have been literally anything else, but this? Practically nothing.

Blake hummed, feeling much lighter with the meeting long behind them. All that she was looking forward to now was actually getting a good night's sleep, though if she ended up seeing that goddamned face in her dreams, she was going to scream like a banshee and punch it to oblivious, consequences be damned.

"I loved that," she said, drawing her friend's attention. "The Stairwell, I mean."

"Eh?" The suddenness of her words caught him off-guard, judging by the way his eyes went as wide as platters. "T-That came out of nowhere. What's up with that?"

"Just wanted to let you know," she said. "I mean, it was just… I mean, the story was one thing. But the added effort that you put into making this was just incredible. I'd honestly never been more terrified than I was today."

"One, I doubt that. You must have been scared of the dark when you were a little kid."

"Never was. Being a faunus made it easy for me to see in the dark," though she started off smug, her expression took on a nervous tinge afterwards. She could feel her faunus ears folding beneath her bow. "Which is why I absolute hated that video of yours. Couldn't see a damn thing."

"Yeah, I guess I can see your point. And two, you're not wrong; you literally looked like you were going to throw my scroll away."

"Jerk," she said with no actual heat, grinning along. "But really, the effort you put into making it was just… phenomenal. I really enjoyed it."

"Heh. Thanks, Blake," she could sense joy radiating off his person, if the wide smile was not indication enough. There was even a trace of redness in his face. "You know, maybe we could turn it into a sharing session. And I mean that on both our ends. Maybe you've got something that I would have missed."

"You kidding? The things I read have barely anything to do with horror, and even then, there're not nearly enough horror writers out there that I know of," she sighed, genuinely upset by that. "The best we can find are horror movies in cinemas, and those are typically so very cliché."

"…We could try and watch a movie, now that you mention it."

"Please, don't."

"I mean, there's got to be some good ones in cinemas. Heck, we could even try and find an oldie. Those can be pretty terrifying, since we would know very little about them. And videos online! God, those would be so good."

Like hell she was going down that road. Jaune grew up with online horror stories, and the fact that his works tend to be based on that same level of uncanniness was enough to make her fear for how bad they could end up being. She wasn't willing to experience the horrors he had.

"I-I'm good, thanks."

"Aw, why not? They're fun! In fact, my personal favourite is the one where it trapped a girl in a house, where she is tormented by four different monsters at night, each embodying a fear or insecurity of sorts. I'm not sure what the status of that series is at the moment, but last I heard, I'm pretty sure she managed to escape the house…"

"And let me guess. The entire video is edited in a way that makes it five times scarier than it technically should be with horrible audio and visual effects, as well as seeming incredibly personal to the point that it might leave a person sleepless at night?"

"Yeah! Did you watch it before?"

"No. I tried to guess how terrifying it must be, considering how much you love it."

"Yeah… It was awesome," urgh. Only Jaune. "We should watch it together. I'm sure you'll love it."

"I probably would, and come out a husk of a girl afterwards."

"Nah, you're strong. You'll be fine," urgh. She appreciated his belief in her, but this was just ridiculous. She didn't even have the opportunity to rebuke his words when she'd noticed their doors down the corridor. "Welp, looks like we've already arrived. Thanks for hanging out with me again," he said with sincerity. Just great. There goes all her chances of getting angry at him.

"No, it's… I had fun too," and deep down, she was relieved that she felt exactly that. None of this had been forced, and her discovering nightmare fuel in the form of stories was a breath of fresh air from the typical things she reads. "See you tomorrow, Jaune."

"You too. Have a good sleep!"

Turning his back towards her, happily walking into his room and greeted with exuberant cheer from Nora and politeness from Pyrrha and Ren, he missed Blake's sweat-drop. Sleep. Right. Hah, funny thing, that one is.

She looked down the corridor. Brightly-lit, perfectly perceptible, absolutely no shadows to hide some creepy, disfigured white face.

'I'm not going to get a decent sleep tonight, am I?'

Contrary to what she assumed, Blake slept dreamless last night. Cognitive irony dictated that the harder one tries to ignore something, the more they will actually think about it. Something about irony or the like. And Blake had been trying very hard to ignore the short video she watched, going to bed with the expectation that she might as well get ready to encounter that goddamned face. Luckily, that didn't happen.

That was the only reason she was able to wake up nicely, have her shower in peace, get her stuff ready without any trouble and join the rest of her friends for breakfast with relative ease. She'd greeted their sister team feeling more chill than ever, and didn't reject Nora's bear hug, something everyone were practically surprised by, though Nora clearly didn't mind at all and just accepted the opportunity with glee.

So relaxed was she that she was too late to realize the fact that she'd practically let out the fact that she would have to be serving detention with Miss Goodwitch today.

"Ehh? You have detention?" Ruby looked disappointed by that. "Aww… I thought we could go out together… We hadn't done any team outings in a long while!"

"Sorry, Ruby," she averted her gaze. Darn, what was it about little sisters feeling bad that made her feel bad? Ruby's got it down to a T. "It was an accident on my part, but I'll have to go."

"Not like you have any other choice," she nodded at Ren's words. "Avoid it, and you'd have Miss Goodwitch on the warpath to you. I'm pretty sure no one wants that."

"Got that right. But man, that's kind of weird. Means that I'm not the only who's gotten detention anymore," Yang shouldn't have been proud of that. Dumb Yang. "Well, want me to keep you company? I could—"

"No," was everyone's immediate response. No one trusted her suggestion to be anything safe or responsible.

"I'll be fine. It's only detention," somehow, that was the wrong thing to say because Nora and Yang visibly cringed at her words. The faunus just rolled her eyes. Being silly as always. "It's only for a day," then, with a nod to Ruby, she said: "I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

"Weeell… Alright," she nodded back, beaming once more. "If you need any help, just say the word! Team RWBY sticks with its team no matter what!" She chuckled back at the younger girl's enthusiasm.

"Thank you, Ruby. But again, I'll be fine."

Really, it was just sitting in a room and doing nothing but keeping quiet. What could possibly happen during then?

Detention, as she expected—both from Yang's constant complaints about it and all the movies that ever showcased such moments—was doing practically nothing. If anything, it gave her temporary reprieve from the chaos that is her team, as much as she loved them (and she'd rather carry that to the grave than ever admit it).

Only thing was, rather than be forced to sit far apart from one another, Jaune and her were allowed to sit side-by-side. Miss Goodwitch hadn't told them whether they weren't allowed to or not. She'd simply taken one look at them when they came in, nodded for them to take their seats, and continued working away at some papers with a pen, not having given them further instructions ever since.

'Well… this really is uneventful.'

She looked around. A single classroom is rather spacious, what with a single class being comprised of easily more than fifty students, so for an entire room to be used for just three people? Well, the silence was incredibly palpable. Dropping a pin here would be catastrophically loud, and anyone trying to whisper to each other would definitely be noticed.

Thankfully, however, she much liked the quiet. And unlike Yang, she preferred being productive wherever she can instead of complaining about having nothing to do, so she'd ended up deciding to do her homework instead. Might as well make good use of the time that she has.

Taking out her writing utensils, she prepared to write into her book. Beside her, Jaune had just got out his book as well, and he—

Wait a minute. What?

Amber eyes blinked at the book in his hands, trying to discern whether the book he was holding was actually real or not. Eventually, however, when she could indeed confirm that it existed in this material plane of theirs, she had to then come to terms with the fact that she wasn't crazy.

Jaune was reading a book about gore.

'What the fuck.'

The cover page was red. And by red, she meant the entire thing is red. Then there's a blood splatter in the background, a brighter crimson, with the words 'Approach to Gore: Not For the Weak-Hearted' right in front with some kind of spiky font. And for 'special effects', a decapitated human head was used to replace the 'o' in 'Gore'.

And Jaune was flipping through it like he was reading the newspaper!

Call it a reflex or whatever, but she ended up smacking him by the elbow, getting him to yelp somewhat. His eyes turned to her, surprised.

"Why are you reading that..?!" She half-whispered, half-yelled. "Don't tell me it's for research…"

"Sort of, but also to understand why people like this sort of crap to begin with."

"What..? Why..?"

"I mean… Look at it," no, she really didn't want to. "It's gross, it's bloody, it's a dead person… Why would anyone enjoy this kind of thing? It makes no sense."

"You tell me. I thought you were reading it because you like it."

"Me..?!" He managed to sound so surprised and offended all at the same time. "Well, I don't! I think it's gross, and frankly, teaches us nothing except for how many ways we can be mutilated. I mean, I guess it would be useful for studying human biology… but nothing else! It's gross!"

How many times has he said 'gross' already? More than once, at least. And Jaune tended to repeat the things he says whenever he really means it. If his dislike for bodily mutilation in the essence of 'horror' wasn't already clear, she wasn't sure what else could possibly give it away.

"Then again, I guess it does count as horror, as much as I don't like it…"

"What? It does?"

"Yeah. Based on most dictionaries, the definition for horror is; an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. Since gore falls under the category of disgust, it would technically count as horror."

Wait, what? Really? That's a first for her. She had always assumed horror applied only for things that scare a person, not disgust them. The thought of horror… ehh, it doesn't really scare someone. Disgust, for sure, but scaring them?

"Think about it for a moment. Horror is broad, but there's subdivisions to it; paranormal horror, non-supernatural horror, body horror, splatterpunk, psychological horror, erotic horror… There's pretty much all kinds of things, and you'll notice that I mentioned two terms involved with gore."

"I suppose… But I think it's kind of strange how something that disgusts would also count as horror. It's like looking at the contents of a garbage can and expecting to freak out. How does that work?"

"Well, there was a longer explanation in this book I read. It was literally going in-depth regarding the stuff and talking about its philosophy. It was pretty neat. Left it back home, though…"

"…I really shouldn't be surprised that you'd end up reading a book like that just to understand how to write horror better… What did it say?"

Jaune set down the book gently, scratching his cheek. "Well, it said that horror was all about uneasiness. It's split into five portions; the anticipation of terror, fear and exhilaration as you're going through something, the opportunity to confront something that's unpredictable or dangerous, the promise of relative safety—like in a movie cinema, or reading a book, since we're not directly experiencing those moments—and finally, the feeling of relief once it's all over."

"Wow… That's a long explanation."

"Yeah. So basically, it all boils down to before, during and after the moment. We get the anticipation and jittery nerves, then the actual fear of having to go through it, and finally the unbelievable relief once we finally get through it. It applies for movies; you get nervous about what's going to happen on-screen, and as everything is going on, your heart's beating loudly and you feel faint. But, no matter what, it'll still have an ending, and everyone can leave feeling… well, maybe satisfied or disappointed, but definitely happy that it was over."

Sheesh. Talk about long-winded, but true. Nobody likes going through something bad, even if it wasn't necessarily directed at them. Being able to get through that and just have calm right after was just really nice.

"It's the same way The Stairwell was designed," the mention of his video has her perking up, significantly interested. "Before the inmate entered the stairs, you were growing worried. And you got even more worried as he went down."

"That was true," she nodded, not entirely too pleased with that experience, but having found it fun nevertheless.

"And sure, there's no actual conclusion to that video, since we don't actually see the inmate being okay or whatever, but the video cuts off. That's as good as an end, so we're left with 'Man, I'm so glad that that's over with. I wouldn't know what to do otherwise if it kept going'," yeah, she definitely got that feeling at the end.

"Have there been anything like that?" Her question elicited a hum. "Like… You supposedly reach a resolution at the end, but then things get worse again?"

"Ah… There was one movie that I recall, and that one had plenty of horror clichés going around like jumpscares and the like, but I like to think that they were done really well," he did not need to laugh. That just made it worse. "I watched it a long time, so I don't really remember the name or whatever happened that well. The ending sequence, though, was crazy. So basically, this woman confronting her demons in her old house. She managed to burn the demon; a representation that she'd overcome her fears, metaphorically and literally. She then drove off to go see a friend at his house, and when she asked to stay over at his place, the guy reveals himself to be the demon—she never killed it or anything. Just wanted to give her false hope."

Oh, for god's sake, that is the fucking worst. Blake does not need to imagine how that could have possibly gotten worse.

"She then runs out of his house, but then it turned out that she'd only ran out of her house. All that time she'd thought she'd burnt the demon and everything had only been a hallucination," in his rambling, he missed her shudder. "She sees her friend driving towards her, so she runs inside the house. But then, the demon confronts her and forces itself into her body—"

"Ewww! Stop, stop..!"

"Oh, no, it's not gorey at all!" He waves his hands about. "The practical effects looked really cool, though. It looks like something more… how do I put it? Less CGI and more like they put together clay and everything. I don't know how to explain it, but it was really cool."

That doesn't really make it that much better, but at least there's no need to be worried about some horrible disfiguration. "And then..?"

"So, the demon goes inside her, and she gets possessed. Her friend goes in to save her, but then she doused herself in oil before burning herself, all while smiling to herself. He watched her die, and that passed the curse to him."

Lovely. A movie that would surely be a hit with families looking to bond with their children and their neighbours. She would definitely be watching it.

Not.

"We should totally watch it together."

"Never," she hissed back. "Not in a million years."

"B-But you watched The Stairwell."

"Jaune, be honest with me. Which one was scarier?"

"As much as I'd wish to take that, I'd say that the movie did much better," confirmed: not gonna' watch it. "I think it worked really well because it played on the psychological aspect. Sometimes, the jumpscares are expected, but they still get you. The ending, especially, was freaking trippy," he hummed, leaning back. "I would have expected her to somehow trump her curse and beat it. A message of beating one's depression or demons, maybe, but I guess not."

"Yeah… Psychological horror is just the worst."

"Exactly. I find that much more satisfying because it toys with our psyche and our expectations," he said with a smile, which then contorted into a sneer as he glared at the book he brought. "Better than simple, plain old gore, although people would be screaming and closing their eyes not to catch people getting sawed alive or something."

A physical terror on that aspect, though nothing she wanted to see. As Jaune said, what was left to the imagination worked to be much more terrifying than what was shown on screen, though it seemed that this movie managed to make do with both aspects.

Actually… horror. What could people possibly enjoy out of it? It's always aimed to terrify its audience and leave them feeling uneasy, and everyone should technically hate feeling that way. There's simply no net positives that one could get from experiencing horror.

Heck, everyone knew that negative emotions were prone to draw Grimm to themselves. And yes, she understood that just one person feeling something bad in a city so far away from any Grimm shouldn't possibly attract any, but she'd have thought that they would choose to avoid anything that made them feel negativity, if only based on the principle of association. So why would they seek out stuff like this?

When asked, Jaune pondered over the question for a little while before formulating a response. "I think… well, there are three reasons I can think of why I, and some people, would like this sort of thing."

Three? Dang. She'd have thought he'd give just one answer, but that was okay too. "And? What do you think?"

"Well… first off, it's because we get excited by it. Or, you know, scared out of our minds, but reading or watching scary stuff stimulate us—both our bodies and minds, putting us in a fight-or-flight mode. Some people like the rush of adrenaline, while those who hate it still watch it because they want to feel it even a little—"

"—In fact, from most article I read, our body sets off all kinds of chemicals whenever we watch movies. Fright causes our body to produce adrenaline, which gives us heightened sensation and a lot of energy. And from what I do know, we get the most pleasure at the point in the movie that's most terrifying."

Interesting… There was some truth to his words, though because she didn't consume horror all that much, only beginning to get into it recently, she wasn't sure she understood all that way.

Still, recalling the video he had made, she had indeed been most terrified when the creepy face got close to the camera and started chasing the guy up. Her entire body had been aflame, and she knew that had to have been the panic and adrenaline doing that to her.

"Secondly, it comes down to experience. Like, why would people go to haunted house attractions if they know they're afraid of it? Well, it's for the experience. They just want to give it a try and see what that's like," and then, his smile turns a little cheeky. "Plus bragging rights, and calling whoever got scared a chicken."

"Snrk. Mean."

"Tell that to the loser," the two of them shared a chuckle before he continued. "And the last is probably because we're curious. We're wondering, 'Hey? What if that thing could happen to someone?', so we watch another person go through those experiences to understand the possibility."

"Gee. It's as if you're asking to go through that experience…"

"Well, no, not necessarily. It's the exact same reason why teenagers love fantasy stories so much; a different world, different rules, cool abilities and the like. They get to live out that existence in their head, and it's the same here. Except, you know, scarier."

"Yeah, I get what you mean…" It was exactly the same with her and her books… Blake coughed into her fist, trying very hard not to blush. "So… is that why people like gore too?" She opted to keep the conversation topic on-point rather than go back to her thoughts for the time being.

"Maybe… I don't know. I'm just not a fan of seeing a person getting cut up like some kind of paper in a shredding machine. All the stuff that should be in us going all over the place? Blegh."

"Good, good. I was worried you were into that sort of thing."

"Well, even if I don't like it and you don't either, doesn't mean we should be allowed to haze anyone who likes that kind of thing," that was true. Man. Jaune sure can be professi—"Not like that means I won't judge them secretly in my head. No sirree," well, there goes her respect for him. "But Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"I really think we should at least try, for once, watch a horror movie together. You'll totally understand better how it works. Plus, it'll be fun!"

"Damn it, Jaune… You're the one who wants to watch it, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged," he said back with a sheepish grin. "But it's just… watching a scary movie through your scroll just wouldn't compare to watching it through the big screens. It basically applies for everything. The proper medium for something in the right moment can always make the experience three times better. For example, horror movies are super effective in cinemas, whereas games are entirely terrifying if you put on earphones and play it on your own. Have you watched one before?"

"No…"

"Then you've got to give it a try! Just once," he said, raising a finger. "Just once, and that's enough for me. Please?"

God damn it, why does Jaune have to be one of the nicest people she knows? If only he was a dick, it'd make it easier to reject him. But nooo, he has to be super kind and polite and looking up at her with those wide, hopeful eyes! Makes it even worse when she realizes that his brain is literally filled with the worst kinds of nightmare fuel that she could never imagine.

Try as she might, Blake was not immune to his pleas, faltering with each second beneath his pleading gaze before eventually caving in the end. "Fiiine…"

"Really?" Did he have to look so happy?! "Thanks, Blake! It'll be fun, I promise you!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Then why did it feel like she'd just signed away her soul? She might need to get a will in order. "You can pick the movie. I don't watch enough to know any, and most movies nowadays are just action flicks. You'd know better."

"Got'cha. When do you wanna' watch it?"

"Not sure… I technically promised Ruby I'd be joining her and everyone else tomorrow for an outing. And who knows if there's anything in the future."

"True that. And I have my training with my friends to think of."

"Still can't believe you'd ask Nora to train you."

"What can I say? She knows her stuff. Either way, we can both check with our teams and try to find time for when we're free. It might be the weekends, but there's no guarantee that we'll be busy by then," he shrugged. "Guess we'll have to see."

"Fair enough."

With their conversation done, they returned to their separate work, Blake particularly rolling her eyes at the fact that she'd ended up not getting any work done despite having brought her homework to detention with her. Ah well. Not like it would kill her for procrasnating for even a little bit.

…Huh. They'd been talking this entire time and Miss Goodwitch hadn't scolded them even once? She looked over to the woman, who had just finished her papers.

And was now sleeping on her desk, face-down on the wooden surface and uncaring (or perhaps having forgotten, or too asleep to care) that they were there.

Both students stared at her for a very long time.

"…Maybe she didn't have her morning coffee."

"Maybe. Well, who's going to wake her? Not me."

"Not—Aw man… Fine, I'll do it."

Author's Notes:

Here's a few things to address regarding this particular chapter.

One; every chapter just being about a short story or two would be pretty hard, because there should at least be a moment where nothing happens between each meeting. That's what these rest periods will be for, so that we don't have to dive into a new story every chapter.

Two; I realized that, with the making of the previous chapter, limiting this story solely to written work would be a little unfair. As such, I'm thinking of expanding my selection to more mediums, including videogames and movies. However, this work will be more focused on written horror and psychological stories. Hope that's cool with y'all.

Moving onto another point, just to make sure it doesn't seem as if I'm targeting anyone who likes slasher films and gore, I'm not. Yes, I don't enjoy those movies, and though it seems like I'm making it feel like everyone in this story hate it, that's just fictional opinion. In no way am I trying to insult anyone who likes slasher films. If anyone feels insulted, I offer my apologies, and want to remind you that, to each their own. Respectfully, of course.

Also, I did indeed read a book discussing horror. The Philosophy of Horror, edited by Thomas Fahy. Quite the interesting perspective on horror. Seeing that I'm relatively new to horror, I may as well do some studying.

As for the video series I mentioned, it's a collection of videos made by hiimmarymary over on YouTube. It deals with psychology and a girl's internal fears and depression, and the fact that it was so well-made and personal despite it being made by just one person on the platform, being so much scarier than most modern movies thus far, is mind-boggling. Definitely recommend that you check it out. I believe it ended two years ago.

And the movie was Smile, which I got to watch with my college friends this year. Again, it had all the clichés, yes, but was it scary as hell? My friend would literally hug my arm because he wasn't able to handle it, and even I closed my eyes from time to time, lmao. The practical effects and paranoia it instils in the audience is just incredible. Absolutely loved and despised the sound effects and cinematography.