A crimson tide flowed across the wood paneling, permeating every crevice and crack. The fibers eagerly absorbed the foreign liquid, retaining the blood as a testament to what occurred in this room.
Ruby sat, horror struck by what she had done. Her partner, her friend, neck torn open by Ruby's own teeth, laid out in front of her. The heiress's once pale lips turned to blue, the loss of so much vital blood starving her body of oxygen. A labored breath broke Ruby from her trance, Weiss needed her help. Rushing up to the bleeding girl and clamped her left hand to the wound and her other hand to the heiress's face.
"Weiss!" Ruby pleaded. "Oh no no no no no." Years of training seemed to have abandoned her in that moment. Battlefield first aid was supposed to be second nature to the young huntress, yet now, seeing her friend bleeding out because of her own actions, locked those memories away from her.
"Please Weiss, please wake up. Don't do this." Tears trickled down Ruby's cheeks, dripping upon the girl in white. Lifting her hand, Ruby saw her hand now stained crimson with blood.
"There's so much blood Weiss, what do I do? Please tell me. Please." Ruby wished desperately for Weiss to open her eyes and yell at her once more. To criticize her for forgetting something so basic as how to treat a cut.
Slowly those lost memories seeped into her consciousness. Pressure, she needed pressure to stop the bleeding. Darting her silver eyes around the normally peaceful dorm room, Ruby desperately looked for anything she could press to the wound.
Next to her, on Weiss's desk, she spied it. A small blue box of tissues, it would have to do. Scurrying over to the wooden desk, she clawed for the box. Violently, she tore the thin cardboard asunder before smashing it's contents into the gaping tear in Weiss's neck.
The once white sheets soon turned the bright red of blood. Ruby knew Weiss needed more help and fast. Sliding a hand into her pocket, she retrieved a small rectangular device, her scroll. Each huntress's scroll came equipped with an "Emergency Contact" feature. A couple of presses and emergency services would know exactly where help was needed. Looking down at the silver device, Ruby's finger hovered over the button, her thoughts confused and conflicted.
'She needs a doctor now. But, but when I call they'll know what I did. Everyone, will know I'm a monster. I hurt Weiss. Oh god! Why did I hurt Weiss?' Ruby's eyes closed, more tears flowing from her now. For once in her life, she had no idea what to do. Her shaking fingers slid the scroll back into her pocket. She could not be the one to call.
Finding her other solution, Ruby desperately searched through Weiss's clothes, pulling open every pocket, looking for the girl's scroll. After what felt like an eternity, Ruby found the scroll in a jacket pocket. She was thankful that emergency calls did not require a password. A few quick presses and the emergency crews were on their way.
Ruby knew she had only minutes before she was discovered and her deed would be revealed. Acting quickly she grabbed her backpack and sprinted from the room. No one must know she was there. Especially not Yang or Blake.
"What happened here?" Glynda Goodwitch's commanding voice filled the hectic emergency room as she threw the swinging doors open. Inside she could detect the foul odor of disinfectant and sounds of the frantic staff. Various pings and chirps of medical equipment rang out as the doctors tried to save the white haired girl on the table before them.
"Female. Seventeen. Massive blood loss caused by lacerations to the neck and shoulders." A male doctor called out. He soon turned his attention back to his patent, calling out various orders to his three subordinates. The medical staff worked together in a feverish pace, various drugs and fluids were inserted by some, while while others worked to close the wounds. Like a well choreographed ballet, the team came together trying to save the young Schnee.
From a distance the green eyed woman looked over the tear in miss Schnee's neck. Professor Goodwitch knew these wounds. Most would simply attribute them to a normal fight or grimm attack; however, she knew better. She knew what caused this. She knew who caused this, and she was going to kill her.
In the hours that followed the remaining members of team RWBY confined themselves to the hospital waiting room, awaiting any news of their fallen friend. Each member of the team was alerted to Weiss's plight the instant her emergency beacon activated. The beacons automatically alerted every member of the owner's team, a useful feature when calling for help in the field.
The waiting room was a simple deal. A square room located at the corner of the hospital with a series of windows on the wall opposite the single door. Four dark purple couches encircled a short oval coffee table covered in the latest issues of various magazines. Snack and drink machines were positioned next to a counter with sink and a coffee maker that occupied the wall to the right of the entrance.
The air was filled with an unnerving level of calm. None of the teammates said a word, Blake sat silently on one of the couches facing the door and Yang sat across from her reading a gossip magazine. The young fanus's eyes never left the entrance, almost as if she could will news to arrive faster. Yang on the other hand did her best to put out an air of calm in an effort to combat the fire of anger and grief burning inside her. In stark contrast to her teammates, miss Rose nervously paced the width of the room from the moment she arrived, abnormally late for what her teammates had grown accustomed to from the energetic girl. Yang and Blake silently took note of their leader's odd demeanor, frantically pulling and twisting her fingers and jumping at every sound. While those behaviors would not be too unexpected given the situation, it was the way Ruby relegated herself as far from the door as possible that struck them as strange. People eager for news tened to keep themselves close to where the doctor would be coming from. Yet Ruby was almost hiding from the news.
Ruby's mind was lost in thoughts of Weiss. She mentally punished herself for panicking back in her room. Continuously she wondered what she should have done differently. Should she have stayed with Weiss and made up a lie about finding her like that? Maybe she should have taken in her arms and rushed her to the hospital herself? One thing Ruby was certain of, Weiss was lying there in that emergency room because of her.
"Miss Rose?" The sudden intrusion by the male nurse who entered the room elicited a jump and a high-pitched yelp from Ruby. Taking note of the response the nurse looked back at his clipboard. "Miss Belladonna? Miss Xiao Long?" His questions triggered a nod and a "Yo!" respectively.
After looking for the source of the voice, Blake and Yang leaped to their feet and rushed to the young man. He put up his hand in a gesture intended to stop the pair before speaking himself.
"Before you start asking questions I'll tell you now that the doctors are still working on miss Schnee and that's all the information I have."
Blake and Yang reacted with visible disappointment.
Pausing for a moment the nurse continued. "I just have a couple of questions for you regarding miss Schnee. Now before I begin I must remind you that everything you say will be kept in strict confidence and we will not contact any law enforcement personnel about anything you say. All we want are honest answers. Got that."
The pair nodded.
"Okay, to your knowledge is miss Schnee taking any medication?" Blake and Yang thought for a moment before shaking their heads. "What about any illicit drugs? Aura dampeners? Anything like that?"
"No! Of course not!" Yang quickly replied, jumping to her teammate's defence. "Weiss would never do any of those things."
The nurse put up a calming gesture before trying to talk again. "I'm not saying she did. We're just trying to get an accurate take on anything that could be in her system."
After taking a moment Blake spoke up. "Why did you mention aura blockers? Seems oddly specific."
"Oh, the doctors noticed that miss Schnee's aura is not regenerating as quickly as they would normally expect. Now are you sure miss Schnee is not taking anything?"
"Absolutely." Responded Yang.
"Well thank you for your time. If you need anything we'll be right outside." With that he turned and left the room.
Not five minutes later the door opened once again to reveal a particularly agitated professor Goodwich. Blake and Yang snapped to their feet and rushed to their professor while Ruby halted her pacing but remained at the rear of the room. Goodwitch cleared her throat before agressing the room.
"Children I have a couple questions regarding miss Schnee."
Yang interrupted not bothering to hide her annoyed tone. "Before you ask the nurse already came in and we already told him that Weiss doesn't do drugs."
"That is not what I am here about. Now if you would calm down let me explain myself. I am here to ask you as her teammates if miss Schnee has been spending any time recently with anyone new or if, to your knowledge, she has made any friends outside of Beacon?"
Blake and Yang thought for a moment before stating that Weiss only spent her time with them and their friends at Beacon.
"What about you miss Rose?" Goodwitch called to the back of the room. Normally she would not appreciate needing to address someone who did not bother approach her. But given how close the partners were, Glynda was willing to let it slide.
"Huh?" Ruby let out. It was obvious to everyone that the girl was not listening. Goodwitch stared at her for a moment before repeating the question.
"I...I don't think so." Ruby stammered. Goodwitch's eyes narrowed on the girls. The trio could tell from the professor's reaction these were not the answers Goodwitch was looking for. As Goodwitch thought about what to say next she was interrupted by a sharp beeping coming from her scroll. A quick glance at that the device and she swiftly departed the room without a word.
High atop Beacon's tallest tower was located the office of professor Ozipn, headmaster of this academy. The methodical, precise movement of the clockwork that made up the room's walls and desk reflecting of the man who occupied it. From through the elevator doors burst in Glynda Goodwitch, a look of pure determination and anger adorned her face.
"She's here Ozpin. She's back and she's after miss Schnee." Her rant was cut off when she noticed Ozpin was not alone in his office. Standing adjacent to his ornate desk was General James Ironwood. His tightly controlled black and white hair and ordered suit showed everyone he was a man or order and discipline. Exactly the sort of man one would expect to be the head of a military academy.
"Ah Glynda, I was just expressing my sincere condolences as to what happened to your student. To be injured in the field is one thing, but to be attacked like so while within the halls of their own academy is a tragedy." While Ironwood did appear to be both saddened and disgusted, Goodwitch had no patience left to deal with the general.
"James, how lovely it is to see you." Her full annoyance filled her mock friendliness. "Unless you plan on deploying troops to miss Schnee's hospital room I don't believe your skills are needed here."
Clearing his throat, Ozpin abruptly put a stop to the pair's verbal sparring. Ironwood and Goodwitch approached the clockwork desk as Ozpin began to speak.
"You both know why you're here. The situation with miss Schnee needs to be addressed."
"We need to focus on finding Karnstein!" Goodwitch impassionately cut off the headmaster. "The Schnee girl is her new target. We need to hunt her down!"
"If this is indeed a man hunt, then Ozpin my troops will be at your disposal." Said Ironwood.
"I do not believe that will be necessary James." Ozpin said, his calm tone retaking control of the room. "A full blown military occupation of Beacon will not solve anything and will only incite panic." Her turned his gaze firmly onto Goodwitch. "We don't even know for sure that it was in fact miss Karnstein who was behind the attack on miss Schnee. The school has recently become home to students from all over the world, anyone of which could be our culprit. Besides, your own research indicated that these," Ozpin paused, he hated the term used to refer to them, "Vampires, only need a blood meal every few months. So even if we did swarm the campus with soldiers it would be unlikely that the culprit would show themselves even if he or she was still here."
Goodwitch sighed, she had to admit that she saw the logic in the headmasters words.
Ozpin continued. "Right now the best we can do is keep miss Schnee under observation. If she is indeed a target then by maintaining a close eye on her we should catch whoever is behind this should they make another appearance."
"Alright Ozpin. I'll go with your judgement here." Ironwood reluctantly agreed. "In the mean time, what information do you have as to a suspect?"
Ozpin shot his hand up to silence Goodwitch before she could give her own answer to the question. "Not much I'm afraid. All we have so far are the door logs which show only members of team RWBY accessing the room. Therefore the culprit must have been allowed entrance by miss Schnee. Unfortunately we wont know more until she regains consciousness."
Weiss's condition was slow to improve. Severe blood loss resulted in damage to several of her internal organs. Normally a warrior's aura would have been more than sufficient to repair the damage in a timely manner; however, her aura was regenerating at a concerningly slow rate. As a result Weiss was now on an array of medications, most of which had names no one could pronounce.
From the moment she regained consciousness, nearly a full day after the attack, she was bombarded by questions. Everyone from the police to the school officials wished to know what happened to her. Unfortunately, not even Weiss herself could answer them. Her memories of that day remained muddled, she could not even clearly remember entering her room. A fact that greatly aggravated Goodwitch during her visits with the young girl.
For the first time since she awoke, Weiss managed to have a few precious moments alone with her teammates. Blake acted as a calm balance to Yang's energetic and as some would say, over enthusiastic entertainment of the bedridden Schnee. Much to Yang's disappointment, Blake refused to allow fireball juggling in the hospital room. Ruby; however, remained uncharacteristically solemn, spending the visit standing by the door.
Noticing her leader's odd behavior, Weiss shot Blake a look then moved her eyes toward Ruby. Blake followed her gaze, instantly grasping Weiss's message. Much to Yang's protests, Blake vacated the room with her partner in tow. This left the heiress and the scythe-wielder lone together.
"Ruby," Weiss started, "I know why you're acting like this." Her tone was both commanding and concerned.
"You...you do?" Ruby replied nervously. Inside her heart was racing, she was terrified that Weiss may actually remember what she did to her.
"Of course, and I'm only going to tell you this once. It was not your fault."
"Um...Sorry, what? It's not my fault?"
"Of course it's not your fault you dunce. What, just because you're team leader doesn't mean that you're responsible for every time one of us gets hurt." Weiss hated being forced to explain the painfully obvious to her teammates. Sometimes she felt like the only one who had a clue.
"Oh, right." Ruby said, relieved that what she did remained a secret.
"Don't beat yourself up about this. We're going to catch this guy, whoever he is, as a team. Don't you worry." Weiss's smile showed the determination that could only come from a huntress on a mission.
Every time ruby closed her eyes she could Weiss laying there, bleeding; her friend's blood staining her hands. Ruby lay curled up on her bed, trying to make any sort of sense out of what happened that day. She hurt Weiss, she drank her blood, and that was all she knew. Many questions circled in her mind. Why did she do it? Why did it feel so good?
It had been two days since Weiss made her promise to Ruby, a promise that only made Ruby's internal panic worsen. As her teammates got ready for sleep, Ruby lay on her bed, terrified of what tomorrow would bring.
Since Weiss's attack the school had been alight with rumors about what happened to her. Most of them involved White Fang assassins, or a loose grimm in the school. But with the lack of any other instances, the rumors began to burn themselves out.
This did not calm Ruby's fears as she used her scroll to read the news reports of Weiss's attack. Her only relief came from the fact that none of the reports mentioned the bite wounds or the drained blood. Ruby only hoped it would stay that way.
However more pressing concerns soon occupied the young girl's mind. As the day had progressed those feelings she experienced before she attacked Weiss began to return. The weakness was now accompanied by a strange attraction to people that she could not fully explain. To Ruby it felt like a powerful, warm, energy emanated from everyone and all of her being wanted to open them up and embrace it.
These thoughts terrified her. Thoughts that should be alien to her, felt so, natural and good. This worried her the most. Did some deep dark part of her enjoy hurting people? Was Weiss just the beginning? She barely managed to stop herself from killing Weiss. What if she couldn't stop herself next time?
She needed to go for a walk, these concerns circling in her head were not going to allow sleep. Deciding that some fresh air would do her some good she hopped down from her bed, slipped on her shoes, and left the room without a word.
The cool night breeze cut through the thin fabric covering her body. Ever since those marks appeared on her, Ruby started wearing a Beacon T-shirt in lieu of her normal tank top to bed in hopes of covering her welts. This proved to be adequate for the mild temperature in this clear night. As she wandered around the abandoned campus, Ruby tried to chase away the disturbing thoughts in her head. She knew she would hurt someone else, and soon. Her body craved it, yearned for blood, and if she lost control again, there was no telling who would get hurt.
Someone else was here, she could feel their presence as she passed the gardens. Pulling her head above the decorative brick wall that surrounded the gardens, Ruby spied the him. One of the first year boys, light brown and gold hair wearing the school's uniform. He was sitting on one of the wooden benches that surrounded a central fountain. The boy looked to be writing a letter under the light of an overhead streetlamp.
Ruby dropped to a sitting position against the fence, the desire to tear open his flesh and relish in his fluids was almost overpowering. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself with slow, deep breathing.
In, and out.
In, and out.
In, and out.
'I can't lose control again. What is happening to me? Why am I doing this?' Her own disturbing desires scared her. 'Its only getting worse. I can't lose control again. I'm going to hurt someone and I know I won't be able to stop myself. What if its Blake, or Yang this time? I can't let that happen. I can't lose control again.'
The young huntress knew the desires were only growing stronger and a fear for those around her grew with them. But there it was, in the air she could feel it. The boy, releasing an almost intoxicating aura. This is what she had to do. Ruby knew if she didn't, she would hurt someone else. If she remained in control, everyone would be alright. She hoped.
The serine night air washed over the boy's form as he wrote. It wasn't often enough he did this. Writing letters to his friends back home was one of the few things that kept him sane at this intense combat school.
To preoccupied was he to notice the dark force that stalked him. In the shadows a predator closed in, hungry for him. To confinement in the safety of this academy, he never thought to be on guard for an attack.
His only warning came from a slight rustling of the underbrush behind him. Unfortunately, that warning came too late. From through the darkness came a powerful force crashing into his back. It carried him face first onto the brick walkway. Immediately blood poured from his nose. His attacker was on top of him, tearing at him like a wild animal. It tore open his collar, exposing the flesh of his neck. The young boy was terrified. In the dark, alone, weaponless, helpless.
Coming to his senses, he tried to regain his footing and shove the attacker off. A slender arm slid across his chest, pulling his arms to his body, effectively tripping him. His face slammed back into the brick. Opening his mouth he cried for help into the night only for a hand to clamp his lips shut. He wanted to scream, to alert anyone to this force that meant him harm.
The hand pulled his head to the left, and then there was a pause. An unnatural stillness filled the creature atop him. His reprieve was only for a moment before teeth tore into his neck. Like a wild dog the creature shook it's head opening him up further. The boy screamed through his closed mouth in pain. But no one heard, no help would come.
Warm water poured over Ruby's body. She scrubbed at her arm, over and over, desperately trying to scrub away the memories of what she did. Her mind returned to that poor boy, his utter terror, his muffled screams. But worst of all, his blood. The euphoria returned. Pleasure like she only experienced once before, with Weiss.
'Why did it have to feel so good?' The pleasure only made it worse for her. Hurting people was one thing, enjoying it however, for her that was the most gut wrenching part.
Ruby's shower scrunchie slipped from her fingers before she supported herself against the shower stall. Try as she might she just couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Her thin frame convulsing with each sob. Sure the boy would live. She remained in control the whole time, only taking enough to calm her cravings. She even did the same trick with the emergency contact as she did with Weiss. Help would find him soon.
But none of that brought her any solace. She was a monster. She had become the very thing she dedicated her life to fighting, a creature that preyed on the innocent. What would her friends, or her family think of her now. Her father, who lost his love to monsters. Now his daughter was one herself. She may not be a grimm, but as far as she was concerned, she might as well be.
Author's Notes:
So the first person thing was an experiment, and one that I did not like the results of. So from now on I'm not going to use it any more.
As always feel free to follow and review, I just love reading the reviews.
Thank you for reading.