The serene sounds of the Emerald Forest's wildlife drifted over the dimly lit Beacon campus, It's soothing nature ran counter to Yang's mental preparations. A fight was coming, that much the blonde warrior yearned for. Snooping and quiet investigation never fit into her way of being. The thrill of the melee, the blood pumping powerful adrenaline through her veins, the unparalleled feeling of freedom and control in those moments, that is what she lived for. This waiting and wandering, hoping the one she was after would strike, was no where near how she was wired, and this is what irked her most of all.
Yang kicked a stone as she huffed, nearly half an hour and no one called in or saw anything. Earlier that night the four members of her team split up, each taking a fourth of the academy grounds. If they saw anything they were to call it in so they could take their target down as a team. Yang disagreed with Ruby's plan to split up, while she had to admit that in order for each of them to work as bait they would have to be alone, she would have preferred, however; that only one act as bait while the others covertly watched over.
Leaning against one of the campus's many ornate buildings, Yang retrieved her scroll. Pulling open the rectangular device she quickly typed out a message and sent it to her teammates. Within moments three new messages appeared on her screen. Each was the same, every member of the team checking in to let the team know they were still alive. Yang closed her scroll and plopped it back into her pocket. She let out a long sigh. Still nothing.
As she continued her stroll closer to where her's and Ruby's areas meet, she caught sight of swift movement out of the corner of her eye. She swung her head over and saw only for a moment a figure landing on the path between buildings before dashing inside one of them. This was it, she knew it. None of her teammates were patrolling her part of campus.
Reaching into her book bag she retrieved her beloved gauntlets. The gold devices slipped onto her waiting wrists. Now this was what she waited for.
Through the dark hallways she stalked, every footfall as silent as leaves hitting grass. Her keenly trained ears detected the unmistakable sounds of a scuffle emanating from the nearby classroom. Pausing just beyond the wooden frame, Yang closed her lilac eyes and steadily released a stored breath. She was ready, this is what she trained for. This is what she lived for.
Throwing open the door with a thunderous crash Yang swiftly used one hand to flip on the lights, revealing her foe from the darkness.
"Ah ha! gotcha!" She proudly yelled. "Come on and fight me you bea…"
Yang stopped. Before her was a sight that would forever be burned into her memories. Crouching over a boy's form was a girl, clad in red. Crimson poured from her mouth bathing her chin in blood. Her sister, with the look of a savage beast she lay there eyes locked on Yang. But her eyes, no longer silver like Yang knew. In this moment her pupils were red, as if her eyes were now those of a grimm.
"R-Ruby?" Yang stood there, paralyzed by what was unfolding in front of her. Ruby, her baby sister, the sweetest, kindest soul she ever knew, was now tearing open some poor boy's neck and gulping down his blood.
This couldn't be right, she thought. This couldn't be her Ruby. The little girl who fell asleep in a wagon. The girl who only ever cared about helping others, now some kind of monster.
Ruby stared at Yang, her head slowly shook side to side, lips ever so softly forming the word "no, over and over again." As Ruby recoiled Yang saw something in those once silver eyes; fear, shame, remorse.
Shifting backwards Ruby's body tensed up, Yang knew what would come next. "Ruby wait!" Yang cried out as her frightened sister leaped to her feet and in one swift motion spun on her heals and sprinted towards the opposite exit.
Wasting no time Yang ran after her fleeing sister. Her run, however; was cut off when she passed the collapsed form laying on the tile floor. Pausing over him, his blood slowly pooling around him, a light grown escaping his lips, she looked down at him then to where her sister was running. All of her sisterly instincts and love told her to chance after her, but at the same time this boy needed her help too and if she did not give it, her baby sister would become a murderer this night.
Outwardly cursing, Yang dropped to the boy's side. A quick once-over found him free of any other obvious injuries, apart from the opening in the side of his neck. Yang lifted him up to face her, his eyes partially open.
"Hey!" Yang yelled forcefully, her anger and frustration venting through her voice. "Wake up!" She yelled again, this time following it up with a swift slap across his face.
This seemed to do the trick as his eyes fluttered open to greet her. The look on his face told Yang he was not fully comprehending his situation.
He looked up and down the form of the blonde, his mind swirling as memories endeavored to become unscrambled reveal why he was here.
After sitting him up against the nearby wall she tore off his jacket and placed it in his hand. "Look at me!" Her commanding tone cutting through his haze. "You're bleeding pretty bad. Take this," she said drawing his gaze to the jacket in his hand, "and keep pressure on your wound."
Doing as she said, he pressed the jacket to the tear in his neck.
"Good." Yang continued, trying to rush the first aid. "Where is your scroll?"
"Uh." He paused trying to piece together where he kept the device. "I think its here." He said as he moved his shaking hand to his pants pocket. Not wanting to waste time, Yang beat his hand to the scroll and retrieved it before shoving it into the boy's free hand.
"Call emergency services right now!" Yang forcefully commanded.
After receiving a nod Yang jumped to her feet and gave chase after her fleeing sister, pausing at the door only to turn to see the boy holding the scroll to his ear.
Yang raced out of the building into the courtyard between buildings. She spun around hoping to spy any sign of Ruby. In the distance, sprinting away from her was a figure with a flowing cloak.
Racing after her, Yang retrieved her own scroll. She had no idea what was happening, but she knew one thing, Ruby needed her help. Yang only hoped she would forgive her for the call she was about to make.
Running. That was all Ruby could do at this point. She had no idea where she was going but in the haze of her panic all she could think to do was run.
Yang saw her. Yang knew what she did, what she became. The world she loved so much was crashing down around her now that her sister knew. For as long as no one knew what she was doing, Ruby could pretend. She could pretend that all this was not happening, that it was all in her head and that she was just a normal girl who did not have uncontrollable urges to harm.
Through the darkness she ran, somewhere, anywhere that Yang could not see her. Ruby could not let her big sister see her like this, like the monster she had become. The energy in her legs left her too soon, the endurance granted by her resemblance was fading along with her speed. Ruby's weakened legs finally giving out, she fell to her hands and knees on the cold brick. Looking up, the fractured moon barely visible through the ominous dark cloud cover, Ruby closed her eyes, her thoughts drifted to her lost mother.
Once her mom was a hero, protecting those who could not protect themselves. Ruby wished to honor her mother, the wonderful woman she lost to soon. Yang and her father always assumed Ruby barely remembered her mom, but they were wrong. Ruby remembered so much. Her loving smile, her laugh, the stories she read to her before tucking her in at night, Ruby remembered it all.
What if her mother could see her now? What would she think of the daughter she loved so much? Tearing open the flesh of children and enjoying every moment of it. Ruby knew she was a monster and now she betrayed everything her mom once was.
"Ruby?" The shaking, nervus voice emanating from behind was Yang's. Overpowering feelings of dread powered once last sprint, she had to get away, Yang could not see her like this.
"Ruby wait!" Yang called as Ruby sprinted away without even turning to look at her sister. Over the greens separating buildings of brick she ran, what little strength in her swiftly leaving.
Abruptly, black and white blocked her path. Weapons drawn, Blake and Weiss held their ground, unease causing ever so slight trembling of their extremities.
'Why did she have to call them? Why did they all have to know?'
"Please Ruby, I just want to talk." Came Yang's voice once again. The blonde drew closer, standing not far from her sister, arms wide and as non threatening as she could be. "Ruby, just tell me what's going on. Whatever it is, we can help you."
"Ruby, just listen to Yang. We want to help." Said Weiss, her rapier uncharacteristically quivering. Blake tightened the grip on her sword and sharpened sheath, as much as she wished for a peaceful ending to this confrontation, Ruby was still armed and frightened, making for a dangerous combination. Blake carefully watched, looking for any sign Ruby's arm would reach for her stowed scythe, hoping she would not be forced to stop her terrified leader.
Ruby repeatedly turned around in a series of tight circles, her hands gripping and pulling her red and black hair. As she looked into the eyes of the ones around her, Ruby's breathing became more panicked, her lips quivered, her face barely holding back sobs.
"Ruby, come on, why don't you just take my hand and we can go back to the room and talk about this?" Yang calmly said as she took a careful step towards her frightened sister, hand extended in hopes she would take it.
"Get away!" Ruby yelled. "Please, don't come closer."
"Hey hey hey, its alright." Said Yang she she put her hands up and came to a hault. "I don't know what's happening here, but please Ruby, you can tell me."
Looking into that warm face, the same one that stared into her own that was covered in blood and refused to flinch, the face of her sister who cared for her for so many years, Ruby could not take it any more.
"Oh god Yang, I can't stop myself!" Ruby pleaded, unable to stop her sobs. "I've been trying but I can't stop. It keeps getting stronger and stronger no matter what I do. I'm trying to stay in control but I can't. I don't know what's happening to me and I'm scared Yang. I'm hurting people and I can't stop myself!"
Weiss and Blake watched in silence as their leader, their friend, bore their heart out and begged for their help. When Yang called them and told them that it was Ruby neither of them wanted to believe it, Weiss going so far as to interpret the blonde's message as meaning Ruby was the most recent victim rather than the one behind it all. Even when they confronted her with her mouth and chin coated in crimson, each of them hoped for a simple misunderstanding, any explanation that was not the horrifying truth.
Yet here she was, the fifteen year old girl, standing in the night, crying and explaining to them how she had a compulsion to hurt others. Weiss and Blake had no way to react to this; nothing in their complicated, pain filled, pasts could prepare them for this moment and the sobbing child before them.
But Yang knew, she always knew what to do. None of it mattered. The victims, the blood, the unstoppable desires, none of it. All that mattered for her was her baby sister needed her, and nothing was going to stop Yang from protecting her baby sister.
"Ruby," Yang said as she softly gripped Ruby's shoulders. We're going to get through this Ruby. I promise you that, and I always keep my promises."
Ruby pulled her arms to her chest as Yang hugged her, anything to keep distance between her and the hug she knew she did not deserve.
Professor Goodwitch spent much of the night in Beacon's medical wing. After the most recent victim was brought in, the medical staff called Ozpin directly who contacted Goodwitch, Ironwood, and Oobleck. This victim one was different the others however, when they found him he was conscious and semi coherent. Ozpin believed this boy's attack was interrupted somehow, and he wanted to know why.
After receiving word of the boy's condition professor Goodwitch ordered him moved to an isolated room, if he was indeed a failed feeding, the last thing she wanted was for his attacker to discover his location. After the doctors deemed him stable Goodwitch wasted no time in conducting her own interview. She knew Ozpin wished for Oobleck to conduct these interviews, however; she would rather hear it first hand than through that green haired spaz.
Like all the previous victims this boy's memories were jumbled and spotty at best, yet what separated him from the others was the degree to which his memories were affected. The longer she talked with him the more he started to recall. First it was feelings of fear and panic. But soon he started to remember events and places. He recounted being pulled into the dark classroom and the emergency crew arriving to help.
Eventually though, he remembered a person, someone who he thinks saved him. The face still eluded him, but he could tell Goodwitch one thing. "She was blonde, so much blonde."
No member of team RWBY slept that night. After arriving back to the dorm, Weiss and Blake sat themselves down at the far end of the room, as far from the window as possible in an uncomfortable silence. Neither girl knew what they should do or say as Yang went to work on her sister, cleaning off the blood and dirt with a washcloth and getting her changed into her pajamas and out of her combat gear.
As she sat watching the older sister take care of the younger, Weiss did her best to make sense of the conflicting emotions battling for dominance in her mind. On one side was the part of her that looked upon the girl who attacked her, a girl she trusted and considered her friend, and was furious. How could Ruby do this to her? She nearly killed her and then went on as if nothing had happened. Why? The rest of her looked at this innocent child and felt, pity. Something terrible happened to this girl to drive her to this and Weiss was unsure if she truly wished to know what. For now the heiress decided it was best to wait for Ruby's explanation before she would go any further with her anger or pity. Nothing could be gained from making rash decisions fueled by emotions. She was a Schnee after all, and Schnees exercise discipline and control.
Ruby remained uncharacteristically solemn from the moment she was taken to the room, not saying a word or raising her gaze to look her teammates in the eyes. She had the look of someone who was broken, as if everything that ever made her hopeful was utterly destroyed before her.
Under Blake and Weiss's quiet suggestion, Ruby was bound to a char at the back of the room just in front of the window. She did not protest or resist, merely accepting what was happening to her. As the dorm chairs were armless, both her arms as well as her feet were tied to the chair legs. Using the same kind of thick ropes that suspended Ruby's bed, Weiss firmly bound Ruby's ankles, giving the girl apologetic glances as she worked. Meanwhile Yang pulled the girl's arms down her sides and tied them to the back chair legs. Finally the excess rope was used to secure her chest and fore arms to the back of the wooden chair with the ropes wrapped around her middle numerous times before being tied off in a bow behind her.
After they took time to observe their handiwork, Weiss gently pulled the three girls outside the small room. As soon as they closed the door Weiss glanced around to make sure they were alone before she started talking to her teammates in a hushed, serious tone.
"Now what are we going to do? We have our quite possibly insane team leader tied to a chair and no idea how to proceed."
"Hey," Yang started in an accusatory tone. "She is my sister and we are going to help her through this. If you don't like it you can leave."
"I get that she needs help but excuse me for drawing the line at cannibalism! I don't know about you but that is a little outside of my training as a huntress. What are we going to do, bring her bits from hobos off the street? Because I'm fairly certain none of us know the slightest thing about treating a mental illness this severe. So Tell me Yang, how are we going to help her?
Yang clenched her fists as her temper fumed, for both girls the stress caused by that night's events were choosing that moment to spill out.
"I am not turning my little sister in princess. I don't care what she may or may not have done to you or any others. The last thing I am going to do is let Ruby get locked away in a prison cell or an insane asylum!"
Fearing a violent altercation coming, Blake swiftly stepped between the fuming women, cutting off their verbal sparring.
"How 'bout this," Blake started, "why don't we go back in there and talk to her. Let's find out what she has to say, then we can decide on a course of action. Okay? It was not often Blake had to assume the role as the voice of reason, usually that honor would fall to Yang or Ruby. But at this moment Blake saw in Yang the same passion and emotion that blinded her during their hunt for Torchwick. Yang showed her the way then, now it was time for her to return the favor.
James Ironwood gripped the simplistic copper door handle which lead into Professor Oobleck's office. In the few times Ironwood had the opportunity to step foot in the halls of this academy this is the first time he would be seeing the green haired man's office. Ironwood only hoped it was more organized than his classroom.
Twisting the handle Ironwood pushed open the wooden door. Inside the office Glynda and Oobleck were awaiting him, Glynda rather impatiently per her usual. Standing in the doorway Ironwood surveyed the office. The back wall was covered by three large silver screens. Just in front of those was a large wooden desk, not unlike those used by instructors in the classrooms. Miscellaneous papers and coffee mugs were stroone haphazardly across it's surface, hardly a space left uncovered. Papers and books stacked waist high at least sat around the room, a clear sign to the general that this man lacked the discipline and organization that came with the service. 'Why would I expect his office to be any different?' Thought Ironwood.
"Ah James, how lovely it is for you to finally join us." Said Goodwitch, as usual with Ironwood, making no effort to hide her annoyance.
"My apologies Glynda." Ironwood responded, retaining his friendly tone. "But you must understand that this meeting is rather early and last minute." After receiving word of the latest attack the general, upon determining immediate action served nothing, returned to his slumber. Unfortunately that slumber was cut short by an understandably nervous aid who awoke the general to inform him of professor Goodwitch's urgent summons.
"Well good good." The energetic professor started as he zipped into place behind his desk. "How that you're both here we shall get started. Anyway in the light of this most dreadful of recent attacks professor Goodwitch requested an immediate summary of my findings thus far."
'Of course Glynda would overreact and force us down here. Maybe it would be best to force her away from this one.' Thought James.
Instantly the silver screens came to life and images of the various victim's wounds adorned their surfaces. As the various images flashed by Oobleck began his energetic spiel.
"Now that we know from professor Goodwitch that these attacks are not being carried out by a professional vampire, interesting conclusions can be drawn from these victims." In the blink of an eye Oobleck was sipping from the fresh cup of coffee that seemed to materialize in his hand and then proceed to zip around in front of the screens as he spoke. "We can see a rapid progression in the skill level of this vampire. The bites quickly went from jagged tears to more precise punctures." He pointed to images on opposing screens to confirm his point.
"With this number of attacks a clear pattern of behavior has emerged." He said has he pressed an icon on the screen to bring up numerous medical reports. "Each victim was attacked from behind with an arm reaching around their torso," He said as he demonstrated on a hanging skeleton that Ironwood struggled to decipher where it had suddenly appeared from. "Most likely using their right hand. Then the vampire used their left hand to clamp the victim's mouth shut before proceeding to violently yank their head to the side opening up the victim's right shoulder and neck for feeding."
Suddenly Oobleck tossed the skeleton at a particularly surprised Ironwood. He barely managed to seize the flailing anatomy model as Oobleck continued. "This odd choice in technique leads us to conclude that our vampire is most likely left handed. A conclusion further supported by the bruises across several of the victim's mouths. You see a right handed attacker would prefer to use their dominant hand to control the head and the access to their prize. With a right handed attacker we would expect to see the wounds on the left shoulder and as you can see that is not the case."
"So we're looking for a left handed psychopath. Not exactly groundbreaking professor." Said a slightly annoyed Goodwitch. She called this meeting hoping he would tell her something concrete enough to get Carmilla's puppet, not listen to useless facts.
"Why my dear Glynda you should know that patterns are extremely important. But in this case its not what fits the pattern that is the most intriguing its what doesn't. You two were so caught up in who you thought was behind this that you ignored key evidence."
Glynda was visibly offended by his accusation. The worst part however, was that she knew he was right. She was so certain of who was behind this that she did not feel the need to look all that closely at the victims, feeling that they were just instruments to Carmilla's ends.
After taking a sip of his coffee Oobleck continued. "Miss Weiss Schnee." He said as her image and images of her wounds appeared on the screens. "Her injuries don't fit the pattern."
"Wait a second professor," Ironwood cut in. "Her bite marks appear in the same place as the other victims, they match the dental impressions of the other's, and her scroll's emergency contact feature was activated same as the others. How is her attack any different?"
"Why General, her's is a different as they come. Look closely at her bite mark and you'll see the direction of the curve made by the teeth faces the opposite direction indicating a forward facing attack. What's interesting about this is that in a forward facing attack we would expect the bite to be on the opposite side of the neck. But on the contrary the bite is on the same side as the others. Also look at the defensive wounds on miss Schnee."
Goodwitch and Ironwood stepped closer to look for the wounds. "What defensive wounds professor? I don't see any in these images." Said Ironwood.
"Exactly." Oobleck said proudly. "This girl was attacked in the front and yet we see no defensive wounds. Whoever this vampire is, miss Schnee allowed it to get close enough to bite her. Now whether through the standard memory loss associated with a feeding or some other means miss Schnee is unable to tell us why she would allow someone close enough to do that to her. I would recommend interviewing team RWBY to find out what they know because it would appear miss Schnee is familiar with her attacker."
That moment was when the pieces clicked in Glynda's mind. "Blonde, so much blonde." Yang, it had to be. Team RWBY was chasing this vampire and that girl is the one who found the boy. Yang found a boy with a severe laceration to the neck and she left him there. She learned something that night and not sharing it with the authorities was as unforgivable as attacking the students herself.
"Thank you professor, you were particularly helpful." She said as she abruptly rose to her feet and marched from the room.
"Where are you going Glynda?" Ironwood called after her.
"To question team RWBY."
"Take your time sis, start from the beginning." Yang said as she rested her hand on Ruby's knee. Blake and Yang sat on the faunus's bed while Weiss sat on a chair situated between the feet of the two sets of beds. Ruby's chair, on the other hand, was just in front of the window half facing the door and half facing Blake and Yang's bed.
Ruby refused to lift her gaze and look her teammates in the eyes as she recounted her tale. Her voice was that of someone utterly defeated and empty. "I wanted it to be a dream so badly. I just didn't want it to be reall. But it was. She was on top of me. I don't know who she was but she was here while you all slept. She was on me and I wanted to call out but I couldn't. She… She bit me and then… And then, she started to drink." Ruby tried in vain to nudge the strap of her tank top to the side to show them.
Leaning forward Yang gingerly pulled the strap to the side and gasped at what she saw. It was faded of course, but still visible enough to tell a story, one that made the older sister's blood boil with rage. There it was on her left shoulder, a pair of scarred over puncture wounds, evidence of something sinister. Out of shock, Weiss's hand shot up to her own bite wound. It would have been easier for Weiss if Ruby was just sick, but this, this was something much worse.
"She, Yang she then made me drink her's. I couldn't stop her. I tried so hard but I couldn't make her stop."
"Ruby." Yang cut her off with her caring tone. "Its okay we can get through this."
Ruby finally lifted her head to look at Weiss. "I'm so sorry Weiss." She said in a solemn tone. "I didn't even know what was happening until it was too late. I just felt so weak and sick and you were there and I was here and I don't know. Just the next thing I know I'm, drinking, your blood."
"I… I um…" Weiss wasn't sure how to respond. All this, it was too much too quickly. Did that woman really exist? Was Ruby really attacked? If she was, was her broken mind trying to make sense of it by inflicting the same thing on others?
All her wondering was abruptly cut off by a furious pounding on their door.
"Team RWBY open up!" A voice called in. Silent panic flooded the room, each girl looking to the others for any idea what to do.
Before anyone could think of what to do they heard the distinct click of the door's lock disengaging. The door flew open and in marched a particularly angry professor Goodwitch. The steaming woman surveyed the room, ready to chastise each an every girl in here, both for running their own investigation and for hiding whatever it is they learned. As she looked over the scene before her, the seething anger vanished as her eyes came to rest on the young girl on the verge of tears tied to a chair.
Goodwitch's eyes looked into Ruby's. The child's eyes showed she was tired, tired of running, tired of lying, tired of everything. Ruby surrendered to her fate, something Glynda saw clearly in those silver eyes.
Author's Notes:
So I was actually planning on this being much longer, however; I once I reached over 5000 words I realized it was time to end the chapter. I really didn't like the idea of ending this chapter in such a similar way as the last one, but from a storytelling standpoint this is a good place. More than likely the next chapter will end where I wanted this one to end. Who knows how long that will be.
Thank you for reading and please follow and review. It means a lot to me and reading your comments is my favorite part.