Yet more dumb madness... And this one is SURE to be a kick to the soul.

Chapter 4: Fallen Into Shadow

"What?"

My jaw hung open. I couldn't believe it. Nora? A Nosferatu?

"It's unfortunately true," Ren described. "I spoke with her privately about this, and she explained that she'd been attacked last night. If she were to be found out..."

"I see why you called us, then," Yang said. "We can keep a secret- right, girls?"

Velvet and I nodded.

"Great," continued Yang. "But if Nora's infected, she clearly can't stay at Beacon... We need to get her off campus."

"How on earth do you propose we do THAT?" I asked. "School is on lockdown. For all we know, nobody has been able to leave since this mess started!"

"First of all," Yang explained, "we're going to need help from Uncle Qrow. He knows the school best out of everyone I know, except maybe Ozpin. I can probably squeeze out information on a way out even under lockdown, but he can't find out about Nora's condition. Second... We're gonna need Nora's full cooperation."

Getting Nora's "full cooperation" was harder than we thought it would be. She was all pouty about it, and even pointed out how as soon as she was free of these walls, she'd be putting more people in danger. To this, Ren reminded her that there are wild animals with perfectly drinkable blood. That, she was able to accept.

I made a mental note, at my own safety, to ensure that Zwei was fully protected. You know, to prevent a more devastating meltdown from Ruby and Yang.

The following night was long. We found Nora wandering the halls in the same feral state Liam had been in. Quickly, we distracted her. She chased us, sure enough, and we eventually came to a single delivery window. It opened from the inside, so we lifted the hatch. Yang produced a bloody steak from... somewhere... and threw it in.

Instantly, Nora pounced for the steak. She was outside. We re-latched the window, and decided to reinforce it when next we saw it for good measure. Who knew when that would be...

Yang and Velvet agreed to help Ren explain Nora's plight to the teachers, leaving out the part where we led her to the hatch in the first place. Thankfully, the school was more concerned about Grimm inside the building than outside, so nobody was sent to execute her. Honestly. This place is so flawed!

Good thing Yang still had her uncle's map of secret exits.

I, meanwhile, returned to my room. It was one of the last team dorms without danger. Or so I thought.

As I lay down in bed, beneath the slumbering Ruby, I had yet to realize Blake hadn't fallen asleep.

"Rough night?" she asked. "You wouldn't be alone."

My eyes widened. "Did the vampire-"

Blake slapped her hand over my mouth. "Not so loud, Weiss. You're going to wake Ruby. You know how she gets when aggravated."

I quieted down. "So... I guess you want to know where I've been. No secrets... Nora was infected, and me and Velvet were helping Yang and Ren bust her out. I just hope we never have to do that again..." I shook my head. "By tomorrow, that hatch is probably going to be welded shut."

If Blake was surprised by the truth, she didn't show it. "That's... great." She then changed the topic. "Weiss... I need you to do me a favor."

My eyes met hers. "Anything."

She undid her ribbon, and what I saw was a bit ghastly.

A bloddy puncture in the flesh of her right kitty ear.

"Blake, you-"

"Just cut your palm a little. I'm not going to bite."

I wasn't sure where this was going at first. Then, I did as she asked. I grasped Myrtenaster and sliced across my palm slightly, letting just enough blood flow. I let it drip into a small cup. While I did this, I eyed the faunus with far more suspicion than before.

"When?"

"Just tonight," she explained. "Nora assaulted me just after sunset. I didn't know what was happening until she was already trying to bite my ear off."

"For what it's worth," I told her, "you're taking this surprisingly well. Nora went full Nosferatu after being bitten..."

"And I'm still sane," Blake finished. "I was just as surprised as you. Maybe it's a faunus thing. Or maybe I'm just lucky." She grabbed the cup and poured its contents down her throat. "But Weiss... I'm not going to leave. Whoever did this to Nora- and by extension, me- is going to get found, and I'll die before I run away again."

I wiped off my hand, letting Blake have a bit more of my blood before I grasped a bandage. "As long as you don't kill anyone. And personally?" I looked at Ruby's snoring, motionless form. "We should keep this between us. Just this once, 'no more secrets' can wait."

The fledgling Nosferatu nodded. "I do have ONE more question, though."

I raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"If Nora isn't the original Nosferatu... who did they target?"

My eyes widened in horror. I realized that there would be two victims of that night. And while one of them was safe enough in the comfort of our room...

...the other might already be gone.

CHAPTER. Woo! If you couldn't tell, I rolled "Corrupt Blake" and rolled with it. Nora's escape was super fun to write. And while no new meat was introduced, a new plot device was: Vampire Blake. Ohhh boy.

As a side note, I'm cutting Sage, Scarlet, Russel, Dove, and Sky from the pecking order, as Cardin and Sun's teammates (excepting Neptune) are all throwaway characters.

Bartholomew Oobleck - Living

Blake Belladonna - Converted (C4)

Cardin Winchester - Living

Cinder Fall - Living

Coco Adel - 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), Escaped (C4)

Orson Drew - Living

Penny Polendina - Living

Peter Port - Living

Pyrrha Nikos - Living

Qrow Branwen - Living

Ruby Rose - Living

Sun Wukong - Living

Velvet Scarlatina - Living

Weiss Schnee - Living

Yang Xiao Long - Living

Yatsuhashi Daichi - Murdered (C2)

Yin Kasumi - Living

PS: Please review. I want to hear your feedback, and whether I'm doing a good job thus far.