Dead By Roselight
Chapter 27: Feeling Tired
The group was walking through the foggy fields, looking for the next realm they needed to get to. The note Ruby had left said that the realm would be entered in a rather strange way, but since this whole world itself was odd it didn't seem that unbelievable. They needed to find a metal door in the middle of nowhere. It would apparently lead them to the realm of the killer known as The Nightmare, where they would then need to find a key. This was essentially their first step towards getting out of this world.
However, despite hearing about a possible way of escaping from the nightmare they were trapped in, no one in the group could show even the slightest sing of joy over it. The loss of Graham was still hanging heavily on their shoulders, causing the group to lose hope. Some of the survivors had even considered the thought of giving up entirely. After all, their chances of survival seemed to be very small.
Suddenly, the group noticed something falling from the sky. At first, they thought that it was snow, but soon realized that it was something different. What fell from the sky wasn't white but dark gray in color. Upon closer inspection, they realized that this was ash.
Yang's eyes went wide, as she remembered what Ruby's notes had said. The first sign of finding The Nightmare's realm was the sight of ash falling from the sky. This had to mean that they were getting close.
With some new energy in her legs, the blonde began to run, hoping to quickly find the entrance they were looking for. The rest of her group were quick to follow her, having started to run after their companion. It didn't take long for Yang to find the entrance they needed, a large metal door standing in the middle of nowhere. The brawler walked up to the door and waited for the others to reach her.
Yang was about to open the door and walk inside, but stopped herself. She turned towards her group and spoke.
"I know this has all been very hard on all of us. Not just me. We have lost far more than anyone should ever lose, and there are no words to describe how sorry I am for all of it," the blonde began. "But now we have a chance of finally getting out of here and to free ourselves from this hell. Weiss and I know for a fact that it's possible to escape from here, as we met Jonathan before coming here. We just need to go through two more realms before we are finally free. However, these realms will be far more dangerous than what we have faced so far, so I can't force any of you to follow me. If you wish to leave, you may do so. But if you wish to come with me to find a way out of here and to possibly find Ruby, I welcome you with open arms."
The other people looked at each other for a moment, before looking at Yang again.
"I've got no reason to leave," Victoria said with a small smile. "As far as I know, this is my best shot at getting out of here, so I'm not going to abandon it. Besides, I also want to find Ruy, just like you."
"I have sworn to help those in need, so I'm sticking around, too," Bill answered. "This group may have taken some heavy losses, but that's no reason to give up on those who are left. I also owe Ruby for saving my life, so it wouldn't sit well with me not to return the favor."
"I also want to find Ruby, and get out of this world," Lucy said. "So far, this group is the only way for me to accomplish both of those things. I'm staying."
"I want to get out of here and return home," Weiss answered in a slightly cold tone. "You're the only one who knows a possible way of doing that. That is good enough for me to stick around."
Yang was a bit taken aback by the cold tone the heiress used, but didn't think too much about it. They had all gone through so much that it was no surprise that they all would change in some ways. The blonde could only hope that their changes wouldn't hinder their lives back home.
Seeing as how everyone had agreed to follow her lead to this new realm, Yang grabbed the handle and opened the door. The metal gave a loud creaking sound, telling them that the hinges were covered in rust. Once the door was opened, everyone stepped into the realm as carefully and quietly as possible, hoping to not attract the killer's attention. As soon as everyone was inside, the door slammed shut on its own and locked up, preventing the survivors from turning back.
With no way back, Yang began to walk deeper into the realm. She looked around herself, inspecting every part of her surroundings for anything that would stick out. As far as she could tell, there wasn't anything that was really worth noticing. The whole place seemed like it was completely abandoned.
Like Ruby's note had said, the realm was a large boiler room. There were windows around them, but nothing except for complete darkness could be seen through them. The boiler room was apparently very old, as dust was covering everything. Large metal boilers and pipes could be seen everywhere, but the silence of the place told everyone that nothing had been turned on. The place was also very cold, since none of the boilers had been activated to produce any heat.
"Okay, it seems that we are safe for now," Yang whispered to the group. "But let's try to stay as quiet as possible. The killer of this realm is supposed to be more dangerous than anything we have ever seen before, so it's best not to make our presence known."
Everyone else nodded and they continued their slow walk through the realm. They were all very aware of just how monstrous the killers could be, so if the one here was supposedly even worse, they would like to avoid it as much as possible.
However, as they began to walk, Lucy noticed something strange. For a moment, she felt like there was someone watching her, so she turned her head to look where she was getting that feeling from. The pink-haired girl could have sworn that she saw something there, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye, so she couldn't be sure that it had been real.
Still, Lucy couldn't help but think that the thing she had seen was real. A man wearing a green and red-striped sweater with a brown hat, standing behind a corner while looking at them.
The group continued to walk through the realm, hoping to find either the key that was mentioned in Ruby's note or the generator that they would need to fix in order to get out of this realm. Unfortunately, they searched around the place for what felt like hours without finding anything useful. On the bright side, they also had not seen the killer, which meant that their group was still safe.
"This place is like a maze," Victoria whispered. "How are we supposed to find anything in here?"
"I don't know, but we have to keep looking," Yang answered. "Ruby must have come to this realm with her group, so there must be at least a way out of here. My real worry is finding the key that was mentioned in her note. Without it, this will all have been for nothing."
"I'm just glad that we haven't see any sign of the killer yet. That means we're safe for now, right? Speaking of which..." Lucy said before yawning and rubbing her eyes. "I don't know about you guys, but I personally feel pretty tired. Can we take a quick break? It couldn't really hurt."
Upon hearing the suggestion, Yang and the other members of the group came to a sudden stop. At first, the idea sounded completely insane. The thought of resting inside the realm of a killer, one of the most dangerous ones as well, was something that any sane person would have denied without a second thought.
However, the truth was that no one had seen or even heard the killer anywhere near so far. They could always take a breather in such a way that someone was keeping watch, so that the resting ones could be warned in time. Also, Yang had to admit that she was suddenly feeling very tired as well. A quick rest was something she definitely needed.
"We have been going at it for quite some time already. It's no wonder that we would be tired," Bill said. "May I suggest something? I'll go ahead and see what comes up. Meanwhile, the rest of you can take a moment to rest. You could all use it, as things are going to get even harder from here on."
"Bill, I appreciate the thought, but I don't think you should go on your own," Yang said while struggling to keep her eyes open. "We can't just put all the burden on one of us."
"It's fine. I can manage it," the old veteran said with a kind smile. "Besides, it's a soldiers duty to help others, and the best way to do that is to give you all a moment."
The blonde was about to protest again, but the tiredness she felt stopped any words that were about to come out. She looked at Bill again, wondering if she should let him go on his own, when she saw something that made her jump a bit.
Standing behind the old soldier was another man, whose face was horrifically burnt, and he smiled at Yang.
The sight was there for barely a second, but it shocked the brawler so badly that her eyes went wide open and she had to take a couple of steps back. As soon as she did this, the burnt man was nowhere to be seen, like he hadn't been there in the first place.
"Is everything okay, Yang?" Bill asked, concerned over the sudden reaction from the blonde. The others were also giving her confused looks, wondering what was up with her.
"I... I thought I... Never mind..." Yang replied, thinking that the thing she had seen was just her tired mind playing tricks on her. "I just thought that I saw something."
"Sounds like all the more reason for you to rest up," the veteran said as he started to walk away from the others. "You just leave things to this old dog for now, okay? I'll make sure to find at least something for you."
"Hang on, I'm coming with you," Weiss suddenly said. "I don't feel comfortable just standing around here and doing nothing. I'd feel much better, if I went with you."
"Weiss, your enthusiasm is appreciated, but I don't think Bill would-" Yang began to say in order to stop her friend, but was cut off by the old soldier.
"Actually, I wouldn't mind having her go with me. Since she doesn't seem all that tired, and I could use the help, I see no problem with her coming along," Bill said. "Just stick close, okay? I'd hate to have you get lost in her of all places."
The white-haired girl gave a simple nod as a response and soon both her and Bill left. The rest of the group sat down and tried their best to get their strength back. The three people that had stayed back were surprised by just how exhausted they were. They knew that they had been running around, trying to avoid nightmarish killers, but they had not expected to be this tired. It seemed like all the stress and exhaustion had finally caught up.
"Man, I didn't even have a clue of just how tired I was," Yang said as she sat on the floor. "I feel like I haven't rested for days, after running a marathon twice."
"Same here. I can't even remember the last time I felt like this," Victoria said in agreement. She then glanced at Lucy, who had completely fallen asleep. "Guess we've been so busy trying to stay alive that we didn't notice anything from all the adrenaline. This might actually be the first time that I've had to rest like this."
For some reason, that last thing the blue-haired woman said caught Yang's attention. She couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.
"What do you mean?" the blonde asked.
"Well, it's kind of hard to explain... You see, once you end up in this world, you kind of lose track of time. None of us really have any idea of how long we've been here, especially since it's always dark and there's no sunlight," Victoria began to explain. "I personally feel like I've been stuck here for years, but ut could be far less than that. You don't really pay any attention to time, since you're constantly running away from the killers. While you do get a chance to catch your breath between the realms every now and then, it's not long until you have to go to the next one. This is pretty much the first time that I've felt like sleeping since I got here."
Yang thought about what the blue-haired woman had just told her and something didn't really add up. While it was true that you could lose track of time in this world, it didn't completely explain as to why no one had needed to rest yet. As far as the brawler knew, all of these people had been stuck in this world longer than she had been, yet they were only now feeling the need to rest. It didn't make sense.
As Yang was trying to figure out what was wrong, she noticed something from the corner of her eye. It was a red piece of cloth that was tied to one of the pipes, a clear sign of Ruby having been there. The redhead must have left something there to be picked up.
"Hey, can you watch over Lucy for a moment?" the blonde asked Victoria. "I need to go check something out. I won't go too far, though."
"Huh? Sure, I'll be able to handle that," the blue-haired woman replied. "Just don't take too long, okay? I kind of want to get a nice rest as well."
Yang nodded and made her way to the pipe that had the red cloth tied around. Once she reached the piece of fabric, she looked around to see if there was something left there. At first, it seemed like nothing had been left behind by Ruby, but then the brawler noticed another piece of cloth tied around another pipe. It seemed like these were the markings for a path that led to something.
Curious over what her sister had left behind, Yang began to follow the red cloths, hoping to find the next clue to finding Ruby.
Meanwhile, Lucy had completely fallen asleep next to Victoria. But while it seemed like the cat faunus was resting peacefully, in reality she was far from peaceful. Something terrible was going on inside her mind that none of her companions knew of, as it happened in her dream.
As soon as Lucy had fallen asleep, she felt herself wake up exactly in the place she had been at. But now, none of her companions were anywhere to be seen. Not only that, but the boiler room had somehow been turned on, heating up the place to the point the pink-haired girl felt sweat dripping down her skin.
Lucy tried to call the others, but no one answered. Fearing that she had been left alone, the cat faunus began to make her way through the place, hoping to find at least someone.
It was then that she heard the terrible sound of sharp blades getting dragged over metal, which created an ear-piercing screech.
Author's notes: I decided to end the chapter just before Freddy really starts doing his usual business, as I felt like it was a natural place to end the chapter. I also didn't want to shove too much into this chapter and make it a lot bigger, like I did with The Huntress' first chapter.
Instead of the realm Freddy has in Dead by Daylight, I decided to base his realm around the original movies. I felt like a giant boiler room would be a lot better realm as a creepy location. Not to mention, while I don't really dislike the Nightmare On Elm Street remake, I still like the original one a lot more, so it kind of became a thing of preference.
Anyways, hope you guys will check out the next chapter, where we will get to see Freddy in action.
Until next time.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Dead by Daylight belongs to Behaviour Interactive.