Blood of The Rose

Chapter 7: Smooth Criminal

Santa Monica

Ruby eyed the dapperly, if eccentrically, dressed man with some suspicion. Obviously he was a vampire, but she'd learned enough by this point to know not every Kindred was to be trusted.

"So who are you?" she asked suspiciously, clutching the tiny revolver in her pocket.

"Oh, come on, kiddo, is that any way to treat the bearer of free advice?" The carrot-topped man doffed his bowler hat briefly, giving her a sardonic grin. "Name's Torchwick, Roman Torchwick. Toreador paragon of Kindred greed and con man extraordinaire."

Despite herself, Ruby found a slow grin spreading across her face at the flamboyant man's antics. "Um, hi. I'm Ruby Rose."

"And of course you are, aren't you?" he murmured, tapping his cane on the pavement. "Well, kiddo, I'm sure you got places to be and all, so how about I walk with you, give you a few pertinent unlife lessons, hmm?"

"And why should I trust you?" she asked wryly. "You already admitted you're a con man."

"That's precisely the reason you should trust me!" he declared merrily, sauntering by her side as if he owned the entirety of Santa Monica itself. "I'm perfectly up-front with my nature when it comes to other Kindred."

Somehow that made an odd sort of sense to the fledgling. "Okay, well… Wait, what is she doing here?"

Pacing the duo, on the other side of Roman, was the odd girl from The Asylum. The small woman flashed her a wide grin and blinked slowly and deliberately. Ruby was startled to see the heterochromatic pink and brown eyes switch sides. What the actual fuck?

"Don't mind Neo, m'dear, she comes and goes as she pleases. Not the type to get on the bad side of, mind you, but…" He lowered his voice conspiratorially, even though the diminutive woman could clearly hear every word he said. "For some reason, she listens to me. Some sort of daddy complex, I imagine."

"O- Okay," she murmured. "Um... Hi, there?" She gave Neo a hesitant wave, who returned it cheerfully and with an even wider smile.

"There now, all friends!" Roman laughed jovially. "So, where to begin… I'm sure you've been bombarded by propaganda from several sources, be it Camarilla or Anarch, am I right?"

"Yeah, pretty much…"

"Ignore it all," Roman stated confidently. "Here's what you need to know, Little Red. Nobody's gonna look out for you in this new world except for yourself. Got me?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"That's what this all boils down to, look out for yourself and don't trust anyone, especially if they're part of an establishment like the Camarilla or even the Anarchs. As much as those malcontents like to claim they're against the 'man', as it were, they're still an organization with their own agenda." He eyed Ruby closely. "With me so far?"

"Um, I think so… I mean, yeah it makes sense and all…"

"Good. See, here's the thing, kiddo. I've been inside this world long enough to see it for what it is: A pyramid scheme."

"A what now?"

"Y'know, pyramid scheme, with those at the top getting all the power, or money, or both, from those down below. Works the same with Kindred, every sire has a sire of their own, all the way to the top where all the power lies. The Anarchs, they got the right idea, but their execution is all wrong."

Ruby nodded slowly, carefully listening to what the megalomaniac charmer had to say, but still taking it with a grain of salt, as her mom used to tell her.

Roman took another long pull off of his cigar, blowing the smoke up and away from them. "When it comes right down to it, you don't know if another Kindred is operating under their own free will or that of their sire. There's only one person who you know will be operating under one hundred percent their own free will at any given time. And you know who that is, Little Red?"

"Um… me?"

"See, now you're gettin' the hang of it." Roman grinned around the cigar in his mouth. "It's not hard to understand, you can tell who really has your best interest at heart and who wants you to fall into line, as it were."

She nodded again, glancing aside at Neo who was skipping along and twirling what seemed to be a pink parasol. "So if you're not Camarilla or Anarch, then…?"

Roman barked out a quick laugh. "See, I knew you were a smart one, picked up on that right away, huh? Nope, I'm unaffiliated, kiddo. Like I said, nobody's gonna be looking out for me but myself."

The odd group paused at the entrance to the garage. "Hmm, looks like you're either going for a ride or hitting some waves." Roman grinned at her, tapping his cigar against the brick wall. "Well, I suppose it's time we part ways for now, fledgling. I'm sure we'll see each other real soon. You take care, alright?"

"Um, yeah… Thanks for the advice, Roman." She took a couple of steps into the garage before turning and giving them a hesitant wave. "See ya."

"Later, kiddo," the carrot-topped man smirked. His jovial expression remained firmly in place as he watched the brunette girl disappear into the depths of the parking garage. After a few beats he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and tapped out a number before pulling it to his ear.

He didn't have to wait long for the other line to pick up. "It's done," he murmured. "We'll have to see if she takes the bait or not."

After a short grunt of acknowledgement, he turned towards Neo as he pocketed the phone once again. "Hungry, m'dear?"

His smirk turned into something altogether more feral at her eager nod. "Hmm, me too, I'm feeling positively… ravenous." He eyed a line of hookers that were standing at the street corner across the way. "Let's see what's on the menu tonight, shall we?"

Santa Monica Boardwalk Parking Garage

Ruby reached the end of the garage and spied a large overhead sign for the beach access. The stairwell door was directly next to a closed gate where cars might exit, but she could see past it several flashing red and blue lights. Silhouetted by the brightness of the boardwalk were two figures, policemen by the look of them. Hmm, she mused. Must be about that murder I saw in the paper, guess they're still investigating and stuff… and it's all cordoned off…

Curiosity got the better of the brunette, and she crept up to eavesdrop upon the pair of officers to discern what they might know about the killing.

Though their stature was fairly similar, the one on the right had a much deeper drawl, while the left-most one sported more of an irritating rasp with a big-city accent. It was the latter that was speaking as Ruby paused around the corner, listening intently.

"I've seen a lot of shocking things in my life on the Force, but that pier… That's the kind of thing that makes you lose your faith in humanity!"

The other cop grunted noncommittally. "I've got to say it's the second worst thing I've ever seen."

"Poor bastard down there is torn in two!" the first cop exclaimed incredulously. "By the looks of it, you'd think someone tied him to two horses and raced in opposite directions. What could you have possibly seen that was worse than what's down there?"

Ruby inched forward a little more, interested in where this conversation was going.

"It was about three years ago, up in Malibu, we found this guy on the beach. Looked like, I dunno… an animal attack."

"Shark bite?" Big-city interjected.

"No, I've seen shark bites, this was something different. Like whatever killed him knew what it was doing. The head was missing, the hands were missing, and… And there were these huge slashes, but…"

The first police officer interrupted with a sardonic laugh. "Bullshit."

"No, no, this guy was literally slashed to ribbons!" Ruby could detect the undercurrent of fear in the second cop's voice, his deep voice haunted. "The worst part was I was waiting for the meat wagon and I felt like something was watching me. I swear on my badge today that there was something just out of sight. And for a split second I thought about running to the squad car and getting the hell out of that place. To this day, it makes me wonder what's really out there…"

The more irritating of the pair then barked out another laugh, more derisive this time. "Maybe it was a werewolf - whoooo!"

"Alright, alright…" his partner sighed.

Ruby shook her head and turned towards staircase to head down to the beach. She reflected on how funny it was, in a completely non-humorous way, even with the evidence right there, some mortals would deny the existence of the world she was now a part of. She supposed she'd been that way too. Perhaps it wasn't so unbelievable that this Masquerade had been upheld all this time.

The voices of the officers still drifted towards her as she eased herself down the stone stairs.

"Or a vampire," the first cop mocked. "Booo!"

"Forget it," his partner retorted. "See, this is why you didn't get invited to Hernandez's wedding, Ted!"

Ruby snorted softly to herself as she headed down the stairs and into a sandy, stone-lined corridor. The passageway made a sharp left, and then she could smell the salt on the wind. She paused momentarily, closing her eyes and remembering that smell from times spent with her family on the boardwalk, the sun shining brightly upon them as she clasped hands with her mom and her big sister, or when her dad would prop her tiny form up on his shoulders. The brief smile that had spread across her face faded almost as soon as it had made its appearance as the brunette sighed once more, opened her eyes, and pushed on towards the end of the corridor and the beach.

She could see a burning oil drum out midway towards the water's edge with several figures gathered around. As she got closer to the beach itself, a woman hurried towards Ruby to intercept her at the entrance. She eyed the dark-haired, swarthy woman warily. The fledgling couldn't get a sure read on whether she was a vampire or not.

The woman, wearing jeans and a patterned coat, paused before she reached the short brunette, pointing behind her and towards the cliff overlooking the beach. Her dark eyes remained intently focused on Ruby.

"Up there," the woman stated in a softly-accented voice. "Through that chain-link gate and up those stairs."

Ruby blinked her eyes uncertainly. "Um… Pardon?"

"Those men you're looking for. And the Queen of Ice who awaits you."

"How…?" She peered at the odd woman. "How did you know I was looking for someone? And how did you know about Weiss?"

The woman shook her head resignedly. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

Ruby watched her as she turned and headed back towards the impromptu campfire. "Weird. Well, what's new, right?" She shrugged and continued forward, the soft sand pulling at her converse shoes as she made for the chainlink gate set at the bottom of the metal stairway. A radio set up atop a wooden crate was playing a soft, haunting tune from a local station before it cut over to an advertisement about a talk show, something called The Deb of Night.

She pushed past the others milling about the beach. Most looked to be beach bums and surfers but slightly off, somehow, just like that odd woman. Shaking her head, she ignored the beach occupants as she opened the gate and without further ado clambered up the steps. Weiss was waiting for her at the top, crouched behind a large rock outcropping and with her back to her.

"Took you long enough," the platinum-haired fledgling murmured without turning around.

Ruby sidled up next to her, sighing softly. "Yeah, well… Took me a little bit to dig up some morphine, and then I met an interesting character on the way here."

"Hmm," Weiss murmured, turning her head slightly to regard the brunette with her pale blue eyes. "Interesting how, precisely?"

Ruby picked up on the fact that Weiss now had her bag wrapped around her waist like a belt, and clenched in her left hand was a slender but deadly-looking rapier. "Guy by the name of Roman Torchwick. You know him?"

"Yes," the other vampire replied disdainfully, rolling her eyes. "He's a rogue and a scoundrel, don't pay any attention to what he says."

"Rogue?" Ruby snorted humorously as she lounged against the boulder, arms crossed. "Scoundrel? Who even talks like that anymore? What about rapscallion, is he one of those, too?"

Weiss sent her a glare before turning her icy gaze towards the sole sentry standing outside the ramshackle beach house. "Are you ready to do this?" she prompted impatiently, ignoring the brunette's teasing.

"Yeah, sure… So just the sword, then? No gun?"

"I don't use guns," Weiss scoffed. "They're far too clumsy."

Ruby smirked widely. "As opposed to a rapier?"

"Well… yes."

The diminutive brunette nodded, still smirking. "An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age."

Weiss graced her with yet another glare. "I understood that reference."

"Good, then you're not completely hopeless," Ruby snickered. Weiss just stared at her incredulously and with her mouth agape, before the brunette held a finger to her own lips and slipped off along cliffside.

The perimeter around the house was warded by a simple white picket fence that had seen better days. Still, there were enough boulders and the like at the edge of the cliff to allow Ruby to get a bit closer and still keep a burned-out minivan husk in between her and the sole sentry, though the drug dealer looked to be half-asleep on his feet.

That fact, and the noise from the ocean behind her, was likely the only reason her clumsy scrabble wasn't overheard.

Weiss quickly caught up to her when she paused behind another rock to consider the house from the new angle. "Honestly," the white-haired woman huffed haughtily, "could you be any louder?"

"Hey, for whatever reason, I'm just not a very stealthy vampire, okay?"

The other fledgling just wordlessly rolled her eyes, slipping past Ruby and gliding noiselessly towards the end of the wooden fence across the property.

Ruby followed in her footsteps with far less grace. "Ooooh, look at me," she snarked grumpily. "I'm Weiss and I'm like a super-vampire, I know how to do everything."

"Quiet, fledgling," Weiss growled as she paused and turned towards her.

Ruby glared at her incredulously. "You're a fledgling too!"

"At least I don't act like it!"

"No, you just act like you're perfect, and that nobody else could possibly be good enough!"

They both paused in their angry rants as they realized that their voices had been getting increasingly louder. Fortunately, there was still no reaction from the sleepy guard.

Ruby lowered her voice back down to a more stealthy level. "Okay. We'll talk about this later. Right now, let's go crack some skulls."

Weiss gave her a small nod. "Love to. Got a plan?"

"Always," the brunette grinned with sudden confidence. "Follow me."

Ruby crawled forward with perhaps slightly more stealth, though from Weiss' look it wasn't all that noticeable, until she ended up against the picket fence. Her eyes scanned the slats in front of her, still amazed at how well she could see now in such low-light situations.

"So what are we looking at?" she murmured, testing one of the looser boards.

"Aside from the one man out front," Weiss replied softly, "I've seen at least four others inside playing cards, plus another with a white sport coat that comes and goes."

"Against the two of us? Easy-peasy."

"At least you're confident enough."

Ruby gently worked the slat free, setting it aside and wiggling though. "Well, I got you to watch my back, right?"

"Naturally," the platinum-haired fledgling replied, carefully edging her way through so as not to tear her clothing.

Roman's words of caution echoed in Ruby's head, but she pushed them aside for now. There was no reason for Weiss not to back her up here.

Scuttling forward, the brunette reached the corner of the house and paused, taking a peek around before slipping forward once more. She stopped at a power junction where the red-handled external cutoff lay.

"How did you know this would be here?" Weiss questioned by her side.

Ruby shrugged with feigned indifference. "Not much different from my old house. Get ready to ambush 'em when they come to investigate."

The other vampire nodded resolutely and concealed herself directly next to the corner they'd come from. Ruby tugged the handle down, and the entire property went dark.

Angry cries came from within the house, demanding that the sentry get his ass over and get the power going again. Clumsy footsteps sounded as the man hurried around, stumbling in the dark, but they cut off with a gurgling sound as Weiss deftly sliced through his throat.

"Okay, let's move," Ruby whispered, scurrying around the corner and pulling her revolver out. She reached the front door by the time it swung open, revealing another bat-wielding thug. The brunette vampire surged forward, bowling the man over and smashing her gun against his forehead. A sickening crack indicated that his skull had been caved in.

Three others were inside, another with a bat poised to return the favor to Ruby and two pulling out revolvers of their own. But then there was a bright flash of white and Weiss was there, blazing with an otherworldly brilliance that caused the drug dealers to flinch back. She made quick work of them, twirling about with her rapier and effortlessly slicing through their opposition. As she neatly eviscerated the last man, she turned with her weapon in a guarded stance, allowing her Presence Discipline to fade.

"Well, shit," Ruby giggled, pocketing her revolver. "Now I see why that's so useful!"

"Indeed," the white-haired girl replied primly. She faced the open door leading toward what should be the kitchen. "Ready?"

"Almost." Ruby bent down and scooped up one of the discarded wooden bats. "Oh, yeah," she crowed quietly, giving it a twirl. "Now I'm ready."

Weiss inched forward, poking her head around the doorway, only to pull it back at the sharp retort of a gun. "One man, back corner," she stated tersely.

The brunette gave her a wink. "I got this." She concentrated briefly, sending some of her blood into the effort of making her skin tougher, and then sprinted into the next room.

It was indeed a kitchen, large and open with an attached dining room where the gunman crouched. Ruby rushed forward, taking a couple of hits that perforated her hoodie further, one of which managed to penetrate her skin, before she got within striking range.

At this rate my clothes are gonna be more rags than anything…

She grinned at the terrified expression on the remaining thug, the whites of his eyes shining in the dim light from the exterior window. "Batter up!" she cried out gleefully.

With a deft swing of her new bat, she shattered her opponent's skull, splattering blood and gore against the wallpaper behind him. "And iiiiit's outta here!"

Weiss darted inside, pressing herself up against the next doorway. "Enjoying yourself?" she snarked mildly.

Ruby grinned once more, channeling some of her sister. "Yep, I'm really gettin' into the swing of things!"

Her grin turned into a wide smirk at the disgusted look the other fledgling shot her. "Please don't," Weiss implored. "Ever again."

"Oh, fine," Ruby snickered. She lined up on the other side of the door. "So, figure on maybe just Dennis being left?"

"Quite likely, yes. Frontal approach?"

"I don't see why not, my Fortitude is still active, so lemme take the lead, okay?"

Weiss nodded, gesturing her forward. "Be my guest."

The brunette fledgling shouldered the door open and hurtled on through, quickly taking note of her surroundings. The small mudroom she found herself in had a washer and a dryer in it, but directly across was another even smaller room. A tall man, wearing a white sport coat and jeans, stood there with his gun trained on the approaching vampires. He seemed to be started by the appearance of what appeared to be a pair of diminutive girls.

"What the fu-" he began incredulously.

Ruby didn't give him time to react as she dropped her bat and leapt on him. He was unable to even get a shot off before she clamped her fangs down on his neck, legs straddling his waist and her own arms pinning his to his sides.

The man, presumably Dennis, stiffened before letting out a soft groan and sagging to the floor, his gun dropping from nerveless fingers. Ruby kept him upright as she drank deeply, replenishing what she'd lost and healing herself as well. She stopped at about halfway, pushing him back against the wall where he slumped, dazed.

The brunette turned and bowed politely. "Left some for ya."

"Why thank you, kind madam," Weiss smirked, calmly stalking forward towards the semicomatose man.

"My pleasure," the brunette snickered, feeling as euphoric as she always did right after feeding. After retrieving her bat, she stood by and watched as Weiss drained him completely dry, his last breath rattling through his chest in a hollow wheeze.

Once the platinum-haired vampire was finished, she stood up and extracted a lacy white handkerchief to clean her chin off. Ruby bent over to search the man, quickly finding a thick wad of money in his jacket pocket.

"Ruby."

She looked up at the proffered stained handkerchief. "You have a…" Weiss indicated her left cheek.

"Oh, thanks, Weiss." The brunette cleaned the stray spot off before handing the soiled item back and resuming her search of the room.

"So, does this look like what we need?" she finally asked, gesturing towards an odd-looking device sitting on a card table in the corner. It appeared to be a pair of household bleach bottles wired together with what might be a detonator.

"I'm assuming so," Weiss murmured, bending down to pick up a discarded duffle bag from the floor. "We can carry it in this."

"Right… be helpful if they labeled it for us." Ruby tried to place the explosive device into the bag as gently as possible, but still managed to almost drop it. "Okay, how about you be in charge of this thing that might blow us into teeny tiny itty bitty little undead bits, huh?"

"That might be the wisest course of action," Weiss agreed dryly, accepting the bag. She cleaned her rapier off with the same handkerchief before slipping it into her white bag, shouldering both it and the duffel bag.

The pair of them retraced their steps, pausing in the main living room when Ruby noticed that there had been a poker game in progress. "Score!" she grinned eagerly, scooping up the proceeds.

Weiss rolled her eyes but waited patiently for the brunette to finish. They then headed back down the cliff together.

A/N: And with our introduction of the lovely scoundrel Roman, we suddenly have a subplot that has nothing to do with the game! Woohoo! At least, we now have a hint of it. It will work its way in slowly, have no fear…

Next chapter, you are in for a treat. I hope. I'm super excited about how it turned out, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing it! I originally wrote this as a bit of a longer chapter but decided to break it in two, with the next chapter actually falling in between them as we switch points of view and take a quick step back to the beginning of this evening.

Hugs for my wonderful Beta and collaborator, Live to anger the World, and more of the same for reading! And, as always, much love for my reviewers! Sharkdude5, zerosabers, Herofire, djjohns94, carpenter656, Reaper Whisper, kaiju62, Chim3r4.

Stay shiny!