For weeks afterwards, the state of the White Fang was all over the news. It started when a few teenagers broke into a seemingly empty warehouse to get high on drugs, only to discover the gruesome sight of dozens of faunus, torn apart and mutilated in various ways.
Among them were the corpses of Sienna Khan and Adam Taurus. Considering that both of them were basically the leaders of the White Fang, it was a pretty big deal when the news of their deaths came out. After that, it was nothing but chaos among the ranks of the organization. Some of the members left, fearing that whatever happened to the victims in the warehouse may also happen to them. Others saw the power vacuum as an opportunity to rise through the ranks and gain more power in the organization. The Albains tried to take control of the situation, all for naught. What followed was confusion, chaos, and backstabbing among the ranks.
Even if a new leader were to take over, the White Fang would never be the same.
But this is not a story about the White Fang, so let's shift our focus back a bit, shall we?
Back in the Schnee Manor, Winter was confined to her bedroom, too weak to even crawl out of bed. Apparently, she caught some sort of bug while she was imprisoned, and it got worse after returning home. She laid in her bed for about a week, sweating and shivering. Her skin felt clammy, her limbs felt weak, her eyes were blurry, and her head was pounding.
As the week went by, Mother took care of her. She fed her hot soup, checked up on her every so often, and when she needed to lull Winter to sleep, she simply stroked her hair while humming a strange but soothing tune. The whole time, she acted more gentle and kind towards Winter than she ever had before. In fact, Mother was acting like… well, a mother.
Winter didn't know how to feel about this sudden change in Mother's demeanor. Before, she only saw her as this unpredictable beast, a malevolent force of nature. This new version of Mother - kind and loving - went against everything Winter thought she knew about her. Initially, Winter felt anxious and suspicious. This had to be another one of Mother's mind games. There was no other explanation. But… another part of her couldn't help but feel happy and relieved by this new change. She had no idea why. She knew that Mother was terrible. She knew that there had to be a catch to this sooner or later. And yet… she felt loved and comforted for the first time in years. The way Mother took care of her while she was sick… it almost reminded her of when Willow used to comfort her, before she became a depressed drunk. Before she died.
Even Mother's appearance did not seem so unsettling anymore. Winter didn't know if it was simply the effect of her sickness, but to her, it seemed as though Mother became more… pleasant to look at. Her smile, once wide and forced, had become more natural and lovely. Her voice, once deep and baritone, now sounded like lovely music. Her eyes, once two dark pits of emptiness, twinkled with love that could only come from a truly loving mother.
The sudden shift in Mother's behavior and appearance should've set off numerous red flags for Winter. But for some odd reason, Winter couldn't bring herself to care. Not as much as she should have, anyway. Instead, she slowly embraced this new side of Mother, even though she had no idea where it came from. Foolishly, she began to let her guard down.
Poor Winter. She should've known it was all too good to be true.
It was the middle of the night. Everything was dark. Winter had her eyes closed, but she did not go to sleep. Suddenly, she heard shuffling in the corner of her room. She slowly opened her eyes. Her heart momentarily stopped. Standing at the front of her bed, looming over her in the darkness, was the unmistakable silhouette of Mother. A beam of soft moonlight illuminated her face, but just barely. Under normal circumstances, Winter's anxiety would have skyrocketed, and she probably would've screamed. And yet, a feeling of calmness permeated throughout her entire being, and it wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it.
"Good evening, dear," Mother whispered, her voice now soft and silky, a harsh contrast to how unnaturally deep it used to be. "How are you feeling?" "I'm alright, Mother. Thank you," said Winter, smiling at her. I don't understand, she thought. I should be terrified right now. So why do I feel so calm? Now that I think about it, why do I feel so happy to see her?
"That's good to hear," said Mother. She slowly walked over to Winter's bedside, then sat down. The bed creaked loudly under her weight. "I'm just glad that you're home now, completely safe and sound. It is a shame that you got sick, though. Such a shame…" Very slowly, Mother crawled onto Winter's bed. She planted one hand to the left of Winter's head, and planted her other hand to the right. She slowly lifted her leg over Winter until she was practically straddling her. Her eyes stayed locked with Winter's, never straying away in the slightest. Eventually, her head was right above Winter's. Her long hair, now untied and loose, flowed down and tickled Winter's nose. Finally, the strange calmness that Winter felt began to ebb away, slowly being replaced by genuine fear. "M-Mother?," she stammered. "W-what are you doing?"
"I saved your life, Winter," said Mother, staring into her eyes with an almost hypnotic gaze. "Those animals kidnapped you and kept you locked up. They were going to kill you. But I rescued you, didn't I? I went in there, all by myself. I made them pay, every single one. Nobody takes my children away from me. Nobody. I brought you back home. Then, you became sick. So I took care of you. I fed you, comforted you, and loved you like any mother would."
With one hand, Mother slowly traced the contours of Winter's face with a finger, admiring her beauty. "I did so much for you these past few weeks, dear. So I believe I deserve a reward… don't you think?" Upon hearing the word reward, Winter gasped loudly, tears of shock and horror springing to her eyes. A terrible realization came over her. The feeling of calmness from before had completely vanished, replaced with fear, despair, and helplessness. The illusion shattered. Mother was no longer beautiful. She was now as ugly and vile as she had always been, perhaps even moreso. Her grin was as wide as ever, threatening to split her face in half.
Before Winter could cry out or scream for help, Mother leaned down and kissed her on the lips, muffling her cries. She tried to push her off, but Mother quickly pinned her wrists down with ease. She tried to kick her off, but Mother was too strong and heavy, and Winter was still weak from the sickness. Winter wanted to sob, scream, and puke at the same time. Mother's breath tasted foul and rancid, like rotting meat, the stench flowing into her mouth and down her throat, practically choking her. After what felt like forever, Mother stopped the kiss, allowing her to gulp in a deep breath of fresh air. "Don't fight it," she whispered into Winter's ear, her voice now back to being deep and baritone. "Embrace it. You know you want it."
"HELP ME!," Winter screamed at the top of her lungs. "FATHER! WEISS! WHITLEY! ANYONE–!" Suddenly, Mother dug her long, sharp nails into Winter's shoulder and scratched her, leaving long, deep marks in her arm. Winter screamed out in agony. Then, Mother leaned her head in, and Winter thought she was about to go in for another kiss. Instead, she opened her mouth as wide as possible, her jaws stretching far beyond what should've been possible for any human or faunus, and Winter was shocked to see multiple rows of pointy teeth that lined her mouth, each one as sharp as a needle. Like a cobra, Mother moved her head forward at lightning speed and clamped her jaws onto Winter's other shoulder, her teeth easily piercing skin. Winter's pained screams grew even louder as she struggled to free herself.
Suddenly, both of them heard small fists pounding on Winter's door. "Winter?!," Weiss cried out from the other side of the door. "What's happening in there?! Are you okay?!" Before Winter could respond, Mother quickly got up, grabbed a nearby chair, and jammed it under the doorknob with inhuman speed. Winter tried to get back up, but Mother roughly pushed her and pinned her back down on the bed. "You're not going anywhere. I have waited too long for this!," she screeched. Weiss tried to open the door, but the chair prevented her from doing so. "Winter! Winter!," she cried, pounding on the door again. "W-Weiss!," screamed Winter. "Go get father! Quickly!" "But… but…," Weiss stammered, not wanting to leave Winter on her own. "Just go now! PLEASE!," Winter begged. She heard Weiss sobbing, then her little footsteps running down the hall as she went to fetch their father. Mother glanced at the door for a moment, then turned her attention back to Winter. "You tasted… delicious…," she gasped, breathing heavily with depraved arousal. "It makes me wonder… how your sister must taste…"
Winter began cursing Mother like she had never cursed anyone before. Even she herself was surprised by the foul words that came from her own mouth. Of course, it did nothing to help her. Mother continued to kiss, bite, and scratch Winter until her face and arms were covered in bloody wounds and nasty bruises. It had only been a few minutes, but to Winter, it may as well have been hours. This was not home. She was in the deepest, darkest pits of hell.
The banging on Winter's door returned. "Winter, I'm so sorry!," Weiss sobbed. "I tried to get father, but he wouldn't come out of his room! He wouldn't even answer me! Whitley wouldn't come out either! I'm… I'm sorry, Winter. I'm so, so sorry…" Tears of anger, frustration, sadness, and despair welled up in Winter's eyes and slid down her cheeks, causing the various wounds on her face to sting. "...I-it's alright, Weiss," she said shakily, resigning herself to her fate. "Just go back to your room. Hopefully, I'll… see you in the morning." But Weiss did not leave. Instead, she stayed at the door and continued banging on it fruitlessly, screaming at the top of her lungs, screaming for Mother to leave her sister alone. Now, it was just background noise.
Winter squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. "Everything's going to be okay…," she whispered to herself, flinching at the cold air suddenly hitting her bare skin as Mother tore her nightgown right off with an audible rip. "Everything's going to be okay…"