Deliquescent

Chapter 1: Reflection

The sun seemed to wish to burn a hole into the roof of the log cabin.

The heatwave had sent the household into disarray, the single father dropping all pretense of coolness in favor of jumping into his truck and slowly making his way to the store, as to not blow the near boiling engine, with one goal in mind. Everything they had that started with ice.

In this searing weather, the older sister was, well, unaffected. It was a strange sight to see grown adults dropping like flies from the heat and seeking shade whilst this particular blonde rode her motorcycle all the way to the beach.

As for the last member of this family, well...the younger sister, depraved of ice cream, was left at home to hold down the fort with a non-functioning AC and determination.

It took naught but ten minutes of melting onto the couch before she fled, inspired to reach for higher, and perhaps colder ground.

The second level of the house held little to no relief, so despite her own knowledge that an attic was the hottest room of a house, she still wanted to test it herself.

And sometimes, the fruits born of desperation are much sweeter than others.

And full of worms.

The attic felt like a new dimension, a whole new world compared to the outside. She knew that the moment she pulled the ceiling door and the steps to the attic came down, bringing with them a slam of pleasantly cold air.

And in a matter of seconds, much like a moth driven to a flame, she relished inside of the attic, laying down on the cold wood, ignorant of the dust and the way it stuck to her.

It was cold.

She didn't bother asking herself why.

Warm air already began to creep in through the stairway, so she got to her feet and quickly dashed to the kitchen, grabbing snacks, two sandwiches on a plate, juice, and her external battery and charger.

Wobbling slightly, she climbed back up the steps of the attic, and after carefully putting down the pile of things she'd brought, she turned around and hoisted the attic door up, closing it in the process.

She stood still for a second, in the darkness of the room, before reaching carefully above her and pulling on a tiny rope. Light flooded the room.

Taking a few moments to try to determine exactly how she'd known about the rope, she figured she'd probably seen her dad do it, and replicated the motion on instinct.

Tossing that train of thought away, she stood still for a few moments, as if afraid the pleasant coldness would fade.

The room was still cold.

She didn't scream in relief, for that would have been barbaric, but perhaps her cheer was a bit louder than a cheer is supposed to be.

Before she could attempt to play games for the following hours, or perhaps watch a movie, she realized one crucial detail.

This was the first time in her life when she'd actually been inside the attic.

Despite the fact that it had been open for days on end whenever her father got to sorting and depositing, or when her sister would go shopping for clothes, she had never been inside.

Why? Because bugs, because cobwebs, because dust...and because spiders…

She realized where exactly she had fled to escape the heat. For a few moments she contemplated, a delicate balancing act forming inside of her head.

Get laid out to die of heatstroke on the couch, or share a cold, and oh so comfortable space with a few other creepy crawlies.

She sighed

Attic it was.

Her curiosity had tipped the scales. She wanted to take a look at what the attic had in store, other than tools and old clothes.

She skimmed the bags, dove into the cardboard boxes, and right when she was about to stop the search, she found a particularly striking book, with a hard, leather exterior, and paper falling apart inside.

It smelt like chocolates, and coffee.

Ruby opened it.

The Journal of Coal of House Durant

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The storm raged outside, wind bending trees perhaps centuries old.

This time, there was no household to send into disarray. This time, both the father and the eldest were gone. Of two days to be exact, and to be gone for two months.

There were many combat schools across the world. Most of them didn't match up to Signal however, in which both Ruby and her older sister Yang studied.

Graduation was approaching for Yang. She was in her last year, preparing to study in a hunter academy, so when the opportunity of a summer camp for graduates to train appeared Yang who was planning for the most prestigious academy of them all, Beacon, had practically jumped at the chance.

And since her father was one of the teachers, one of the best teachers, it was only logical that he would have to go as well.

Normally, at least one would have stayed. Normally, at least one wouldn't have gone, all so as to not leave Ruby alone.

This time however, instead of smiles and thanks for staying, Ruby insisted they go. It was quite a shocker for the rest of the family, and after many discussions, in three and in two people, the decision was chalked up to being the product of either teenage desire for privacy, or growth in maturity.

Yang still had a hard time leaving Ruby home, but a gentle smile was enough to melt the resistance.

And thus, the Xiao-Long-Rose household was empty bar one. Even then however, Ruby was in the house in body, but her mind was far, far away.

She remembered her dad having left her a meal prepared before he left, onto the kitchen counter.

It was untouched even now, two days later.

Ruby couldn't stop anymore. Tonight was the night she finished it.

Thunder cracked outside, more explosive than one hundred cannons.

Ruby didn't hear it.

With one more flick of the wrist, she ended the last page, and the book was complete. She leaned back and smiled, dark bags under her eyes.

One more thing to add.

She flipped the book all the way to the beginning, going through countless entries of beasts and events unfathomable at best.

On the first page of the book, a rose had already been drawn right in the middle. And below it, Ruby flourished her pen.

The Bestiary of Ruby Rose

It was complete.

She held up the book, modern, a stark contrast to the far older one which she'd rewritten.

For a few moments, she closed her eyes blissfully, remembering the day when she'd wandered into the attic.

Three weeks had passed since.

She had near memorized the book since. All of it. 986 pages of Coal of House Durant bleeding for the sake of a world unaware of it.

Ruby honestly considered it the greatest book that had ever been written. It was less a book, and more of a bestiary, portraying everything that normal people weren't aware of, all of the monsters that skulked in the dark. She'd looked it up countless times, but the book had never been published, and that was such a shame. The story it told, the battles with monsters of myth…

But the ending of the book was the one that shocked her to the core.

A tiny notice, placed right at the end of the book was what conquered her completely.

A plea, to write the book again, for the contents to always exist even if the pages fall to pieces, under the new names of those who read it.

How could she ever refuse such a heartfelt request.

She went as far as to read and read, again and again, taking every single encounter into mind, checking and rechecking to put information onto paper as accurate as possible.

And now, this was her book.

She was happy, perhaps the happiest she'd been in months.

She was also, coincidentally, the hungriest she'd been in months.

With a giddy laugh, she dashed towards the attic, the ceiling door still opened. Climbing the steps in quick movements, she set foot into the pleasantly cool attic, and placed the book back in the exact place she'd found it.

And without hesitating, she climbed back down the stairs, and swung the ceiling door close.

And as Ruby went down the steps with a hungry glint in her eyes, unknown to her, upstairs, the book she'd fallen in love with fell apart in seconds, tearing from seemingly nothing, before fading to dust.

It's purpose was served.