Last chapter I mentioned things were about to go all kinds of wrong. That's because I spun the "death roulette" for this chapter as I was writing the end notes for the last one. Go fig.

Chapter Three: The Eye of The Storm

Each day, more students were found dead. It was getting freaky. We'd been trying to track the damn thing for a week when we had our first "dead day". Ironically, we called it that because the Nosferatu hadn't killed anyone.

Unfortunately, it HAD struck.

We found a student coming into the school nurse's office claiming to have barely survived an encounter with the Nosferatu. He had the bite mark and everything. The school nurse was about to treat it when a gruff, drunken voice spoke.

"Don't bother," said an older man who almost looked like a scarecrow. "That kid's already dead."

"What are you saying?" I asked the man. "He looks fine to me."

"That's the trick," the man replied. "You heard Bart's lecture, li'l lady. He was bitten by a Nosferatu, and now he's gonna turn into one."

My eyes widened in recollection. "But... we can cure him, right?" I asked. "It's an older virus, so there has to be some sort of cure!"

"I'd think so too," the huntsman said, grasping his flask and taking a gulp. "But it's not a disease of the flesh... It's a disease of the aura. You can't just fix aura. It always rebuilds itself... as does the curse."

"Doc..." the boy moaned. "Why do I... feel so cold?"

The man turned to the doctor. "I'm sorry, but there's only one option. I'll make it quick."

A few days passed after that. Most of those days, things went the exact same way as before. Someone ends up dead, and there's no clue. It was becoming increasingly aggravating.

Having an extra huntsman on hand eased the fears of most students greatly, Ruby and Yang most of all. Not me. This huntsman, Qrow Branwen, was a teetering drunken mess. And my team leader's step-uncle, as it happened. How terrifying... The "legendary huntsman" Ruby called her Uncle Qrow was little more than an old drunk.

Or so I'd thought. He was rather capable even with a belly full of alcohol. I, one day, challenged him to a one-on-one duel, believing that with him drunk I'd be able to topple him, and shake Ruby's illusions of his grandeur. How wrong I was... I was trounced by him. I remember collapsing on my bed that day, thinking that if this was a DRUNK Qrow Branwen, what his skills would be when SOBER.

Time passed. More students died. Everyone at school knew about the Nosferatu in school now and was wondering why Headmaster Ozpin wasn't doing anything about it. Qrow and Oobleck argued that he knew and was doing his best to find the monster. Most were skeptical, but Ozpin always had a plan, and we all knew it.

Then we had another "dead day."

"All right, people," Emmi angrily shouted at lunch that day. "There are at least two Nosferatu at this table, and one of them is fresh off the fang. If one of you is infected, please, step forward so we can protect this school from further death!"

"If they went up," Mercury pointed out, "it'd be like holding up a giant sign that says 'I'm a vampire, shoot me first.' Nobody's gonna go willingly."

"Weird thing to say out loud," Emmi said. Then, she went a step further. "Naturally, YOU would want to cover up the beast's tracks... Could that be because it... got you?"

Mercury stood up. "Liar! I'm not a Nosferatu! What even GAVE you that impression?"

As the two of them broke into an argument, a note flew into the side of Yang's head. She read it, and then beckoned to me and Velvet to come with her. The three of us all left the cafeteria and arrived... in Professor Port's classroom.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Why are we here?"

The door closed behind us. None of the three of us had shut it. We all turned to see Ren, standing there. "Because we need to talk in private, and few of the others know how to keep their mouths shut. I know who the vampire's victim is, but you have to promise me that what I tell you doesn't leave this room."

"If you knew this whole time," Yang asked, "why didn't you bring it up in the cafeteria? It would've been WAY more helpful to-"

"Because," Ren interrupted, "I couldn't bear to say it out loud." He closed his eyes, a tear falling from his eye.

"It's Nora."

And done! Whoo, this was a blast to write. Now, I'm actually not going to outright kill off Nora like I did Liam and Yatsu. I've got a plan for the next story arc.

Bartholomew Oobleck - Living

Blake Belladonna - Living

Cardin Winchester - Living

Cinder Fall - Living

Coco Adel - Living

Dove Bronzewing - Living

Emerald Sustrai - Living

Emmi Wynn - Living

Fox Alistair - Living

Jaune Arc - Living

Liam Pryce - Converted, Slain (C1)

Lie Ren - Living

Mercury Black - Living

Neptune Vasalias - Living

Nora Valkyrie - Converted (C3)

Orson Drew - Living

Penny Polendina - Living

Peter Port - Living

Pyrrha Nikos - Living

Qrow Branwen - Living

Ruby Rose - Living

Russel Thrush - Living

Sage Ayano - Living

Scarlet David - Living

Sky Lark - Living

Sun Wukong - Living

Velvet Scarlatina - Living

Weiss Schnee - Living

Yang Xiao Long - Living

Yatsuhashi Daichi - Murdered (C2)

Yin Kasumi - Living