Blood of The Rose

Chapter 2: Awakenings

Santa Monica

Ruby dimly felt herself floating in a sea of darkness. Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her ears, slowing, slowing… until it just…

Stopped.

She came to, blinking her eyes open cautiously as she took stock of her situation. The brunette felt cold, but not uncomfortably so. Aside from the coppery taste in her mouth, what was truly bothering her at that moment was the burning sensation in her throat, as if she'd been throwing up or something. A sudden thought came to her, and her hand flew up to her neck, only to find unmarred surface where she could have sworn she'd been injured.

Her eyes slowly slid to the side, verifying that she was still in the same motel room, though the digital alarm clock now read 3:46.

"Unh," she groaned, struggling to sit up. What the hell happened to me?

As she finally managed to prop herself up on her elbows, she froze. Sitting nonchalantly across from her on the couch was the same man who'd accosted her previously.

They stared at each other for the span of a few seconds, before he opened his mouth to speak.

He never got the chance, however, as the motel room door suddenly slammed open. Two men entered in the blink of an eye, one of them, wearing a sports coat, throwing something at Ruby, while the other, dressed in a leather jacket, stabbed something into the earlier stranger's chest.

And then Ruby was lying on her back once more, stunned and frozen.

Fucking again? she moaned internally.

Her chest felt like something was sitting on it, but she had no clue what had happened to her. It wasn't until her limp form was slung over the shoulder of the sports coat man that she got a glimpse of the first stranger, eyes open but with a glazed look similar to how she must have been.

Protruding from his chest, however, was the tip of a wooden stake. In fact, it seemed to be resting right around where his heart was.

As she flopped bonelessly against her captor's back, her head tried to wrap itself around the reality of her situation, but it seemed entirely too slippery for her to grasp.

Oh God, she screamed inside her head. Oh God, oh God, oh God… What happened to me? Why can't I move? Do I have a stake in me too? How can that just immobilize me? Who are these guys? Who's the other guy?

Where the fuck are we going?

…

Why can't I feel my heart beating anymore?

Nocturne Theater

Los Angeles

After what seemed like an eternity of staring sightlessly at whatever her unresponsive body happened to be facing at the time, be it someone's backside or the inside of a car's trunk, Ruby was finally brought to her apparent destination. She could see a concrete floor under her as she was hauled along over the shoulder of the same man as before. They moved through a few doorways, and then there was a faded, worn red carpet. Noises started to filter through her sluggish consciousness, the rustlings of people, murmured conversation. Then the heavy footsteps of her captor as he mounted wooden steps, more wood, polished and smooth, worn down by countless feet over numerous years.

The vista spun around her as she was unceremoniously thrown down onto the ground. The pressure on her chest disappeared, allowing her to suck in a quick breath, gasping loudly. Any scream or cry was cut off, as she was dragged up onto her knees by the vice-like hand around her throat. Her arms had become bound behind her at some point, but when the restraining hand left, she was able to stay upright, though swaying in place.

Ruby's silver eyes gazed outwards from what she now knew to be a stage in some sort of theater. The seats were mostly filled, and by a colorful variety of people.

Her panicked eyes bounced from person to person. Here, someone in an expensive-looking sports coat. There, a blonde woman, hair tied severely back and wearing spectacles, in a grey skirt suit. A hispanic-looking scruffy man wearing a blue shirt open to reveal his white tee shirt, bordered on either side by a dark-complexioned bald man and a beret-wearing redhead.

Up in a balcony, two suited man. One with a red coat, balding and bespectacled. Another wearing a black suit, a shock of grey hair, also with glasses though his lenses were a dark grey instead of the other man's golden ones. A woman next to him, blonde and with piercing blue eyes, wearing a white blouse.

Her eyes were drawn to movement at the other side of the large room, as a scruffy-looking bearded man drew a long pull on his cigar from where he stood against the wall. He wore an open vest over his bare chest.

As if in response, another cigar flared up, this time in the seating area. A carrot-topped man with a bowler hat and white coat gave her a sardonic grin, tapping the ashes from his cigar in a salute. Next to him was an incredibly petite girl, no, a woman if the look in her mismatched pink and brown eyes were any indication. Her hair was as mismatched as her eyes, and she looked on with interest, perched on the edge of her seat.

Right in the front row, a woman dressed in a stripper's outfit brazenly blew a kiss at the bald man on the balcony, who rebuffed it casually.

More faces, more people, though they all began to blur together. A raven-haired woman in a red dress with amber eyes. A girl with mint-green hair. A boy with grey hair and a bored grin. A handsome man with a gold necklace and a casual sports jacket who looked completely disinterested.

And then her brain began to pick up on things that her eyes tried to conceal from her. How some of the people were as still as statues, and others appeared… sorta…

Not human.

One in a tuxedo shirt and tie had a monstrous-looking visage, something out of a horror movie. Another was shirtless and looked just as horrific, with numerous piercings in his grey, pointed ears.

It was all too much, far too much for her fragile mind to take in, so she tried to filter some things out. She had to focus on her current situation first, up there on the stage.

The stranger from before, the one that… hurt her, the one somehow responsible for all of this… He was on his knees next to her, staring defiantly up at another man. This one wore his long-tailed dark suit with an authority, an almost palpable presence wrapping around the blond that made her instinctively cower back slightly. She was held in place by one of the two men who'd abducted her.

And then there was the seventh member of their little stage ensemble.

He was… Well, huge only scratched the surface in describing the behemoth man. At least, Ruby assumed it was a man. He wore a gigantic dark overcoat over his massive frame, beady eyes set into an oddly-misshapen pate, lank grey hair spilling from where it had been gathered into a ponytail. Those dark red orbs showed no white whatsoever, and just looked… dead. And, most ominous of all, was what looked to be the hilt of an honest-to-God sword over his shoulder.

The brunette shuddered involuntarily, and for perhaps the first time in her entire life, she took a course of action that was eminently wise and cautious, even if it didn't fit with her usual awkward course of action when faced with adversity.

Ruby Rose kept her mouth shut.

The dark-suited man seemed to feel that enough of the audience was filled to begin whatever he had in mind, and he started to stalk across the stage in slow, measured steps, his voice cultured and arresting as he orated in a rapid-fire manner.

"Good evening. My fellow Kindred, my apologies for disrupting any business or interfering with prior engagements you may have had this evening. It's unfortunate that the affair that gathers us together tonight is a troubling one. We are here because the laws that bind our society - the laws that are the fabric of our existence - have been broken."

Ruby noted that the dark-skinned bald man was whispering something urgently to the blue-shirted one next to him. If he had questions about what was going on, he could just damn well get in line. Interrupting now seemed like an even more monumentally bad idea, but the suited man's speech so far raised more questions than he answered for her.

"As Prince, I am within my rights to grant or deny the Kindred of this city the privilege of siring."

Prince? she thought anxiously. Kindred? Siring?!

"Many of you have come to me seeking permission, and I have endorsed some of these requests."

Out of the corner of her eye, she noted the man with the expensive sports jacket glancing at his watch. So sorry to keep you waiting for your manicure, asshole.

The… Prince, as he called himself, continued on. "However, the accused that sits before you tonight was not refused permission. Indeed, my permission was never sought at all. He was caught shortly after the embrace of this… childe."

I am nota child, I just turned eighteen! Oh, wait… he said that with some sorta emphasis, didn't he…? So preoccupied with assembling more pieces of the puzzle, she almost missed it when the Prince started back up again, still restlessly pacing back and forth in front of her.

"It pains me to announce the sentence as… up to tonight I considered the accused a loyal and upstanding member of our organization."

The suited blond turned to regard the other kneeling man with dispassionate eyes, which was returned with a heated, though wordless, glare.

"But as some of you may know, the penalty for this transgression…" The Prince turned back to face the audience. "...Is death."

Say what now?!

As Ruby knelt on the hard wooden floor of the stage, she was struck by the absence of what should have been a hammering heartbeat. The shock of it eased some of her panic, and not for the first time, she wondered how in the hell it could be that she could no longer feel her own heart beating. The answer, she knew in the recesses of her mind, was right in front of her, but she wasn't quite ready to come to terms with it just yet.

"Know that I am no more a judicator than I am a servant to the law that governs us all. Let tonight's proceedings serve as a reminder to our community that we must adhere to the code that binds our society, lest we endanger all of our blood."

The Prince turned once more towards the kneeling man next to her, bending slightly and spreading his hands out in supplication, though his blue eyes remained cold and uncaring.

"Forgive me," the Prince murmured insincerely before he rose once more, turning towards the audience.

"Let the penalty commence."

Oh God, oh God, what's happening, what…

The giant man turned, reaching over his shoulder and pulling out what was indeed an impractically massive sword. With one powerful swing, he brought it down, decapitating the stranger who'd gotten her into this mess in the first place.

The scream that had been building, finally willing to be gloriously released, died suddenly in her throat as she watched the corpse dissolve into fiery ash.

She'd seen far too many movies, read entirely too many books, to deny the reality of what was staring at her right in the face.

I'm… a vampire? He turned me into a fucking vampire?

And then a stray thought flitted through her, almost causing Ruby to lose her composure once again, but this time into hysterical laughter.

Please, please don't let me be sparkly, I can't handle it if after all of this I'm sparkly…

Her humor was abated by the fact that her own sentence had not yet been handed down. She couldn't be found guilty of anything, could she? She was the victim here!

"Which leads to the fate of the ill-begotten progeny."

Ooooh, shitbiscuits, here we go…

The Prince continued to face the audience solemnly, not even bothering to look in her direction as if she were beneath his notice. "Without a sire, most childer are doomed to walk the Earth never knowing their place, their responsibility, and most importantly, the laws they must obey. Therefore I have decided that-"

Ruby almost did it, almost found the courage to speak up and plead for her life, or unlife, or whatever… But she was obviated from doing so by the hispanic blue-shirted man who leapt to his feet, bellowing angrily.

"This is bullshit!"

The pair on either side of him, the beret-wearing woman and the bald dark-skinned man, rose up as well to restrain him. More stood as well, and some of the anxious whispers from around the room drifted to her ears.

"She's just a kid!"

"Look how young she is!"

"Why doesn't she get a chance?"

The blond Prince looked down at his feet momentarily, turning to his side. Ruby caught the faint ghost of a smirk on his face that was gone before any from the audience could see it.

"If Mister Rodriguez would let me finish," he continued, unfazed. "I have decided to let this Kindred live."

No sooner were the words spoken than her restraints were cut away, and Ruby sagged forward in relief, her shaking arms now wrapped around her middle.

"She shall be instructed in the ways of our kind and be granted the same rights," the suited man proclaimed. The one who had spoken up for her looked unconvinced, but she stared at him, hard. She wouldn't forget his face, whoever he was, as she knew without his intervention she would have surely ended up just like her… sire.

Ruby looked around the room once more as others began to sit back down slowly. The man, she thought she remembered this Prince call him Mister Rodriguez, turned and began to leave the theater, his companions on his heels. Her eyes sought out other reactions, but most of them were fairly neutral and disinterested on the surface. The short multicolored girl, however, looked somewhat disappointed, as if she'd been denied entertainment. Up on the balcony, Ruby noted that the grey-haired suited man was leaning forward interestedly, hands folded atop a cane resting in between his knees.

"Let no one say I am unsympathetic to the plights and causes of this community. I thank you all for attending these proceedings, and I hope their significance is not lost." As the audience began to stir, some immediately getting to their feet and heading out the door behind Mister Rodriguez, the Prince spread his hands once more in parting, evidently going for the humble look.

"Good evening."

Ruby had hoped that might be the end of it, and everyone would just go back to ignoring the petite brunette, but that wasn't to be the case. She was forced to her feet and dragged along by both of her earlier abductors, off of the stage to follow the Prince. She was deposited brusquely at the concrete corridor where she'd been brought in before and given a push.

The Prince walked ahead without bothering to see if she was following. Ruby hastened forward, her shorter and rather unsteady legs attempting to keep up with his long, impatient strides.

"Your sire - tragic, my apologies," he began without looking at her. His voice was practically dripping with insincerity, though she doubted he noticed it. "But you see, there is a strict code of conduct that all of us must… must… adhere to if we wish to survive. When someone, anyone, breaks these laws, they undermine the well-worn fabric of our centuries-old society. Understand my... predicament. Allowing you to live makes me directly responsible for your subsequent behavior. So…"

The metal fire escape door to the rear was now approaching ahead of them as she struggled to not fall behind, her legs still trembling from her ordeal.

"What I'm offering is not generosity, but the opportunity to transcend the fate woven by your sire. This… is your trial."

He stopped by the rear entrance, gesturing to it and beyond grandly.

"You will be returned to Santa Monica. There, you will meet an agent by the name of Mercurio. He will provide you the details of your labor."

The blond Prince smiled at her finally, but it was cold and calculating as he finally took in her appearance and measure. His eyes still remained completely impersonal.

"I've shown you great clemency. Prove it was more than a wasted gesture, fledgling. Don't come back until you do. Good evening."

Ruby finally opened her mouth, her voice a squeaky croak past the burning still plaguing her throat. "But… What…"

The suited man spun on his heel, not deigning to even notice her hesitant questioning. As he strode away rapidly, he left Ruby feeling confused and timid as she shouldered the door open.

She paused in the lit alcove just outside as the door slowly drifted shut behind her on heavy hinges, leaning wearily against the wall there.

"But what am I now, really?"

A rough chuckle was the only answer to her question. She cautiously leaned around the corner to spy the bearded, cigar-puffing man from inside the theater. He grinned at her, waving the brunette forward to join him in the alleyway next to a chain-link fence.

As she approached warily, he barked out a raucous laugh while stubbing out his cigar on the brick wall before tossing it through the fence behind him.

"What a scene, man! Hoo-wee! Then they just plop ya out here like a naked baby in the woods. How 'bout that? Ahhh… look, kiddo, this is probably a lot for you to take in, so uh, why don't you let me show you the ropes. Whaddya say?"

Ruby gave the strange man a hesitant smile. After everything she'd been through tonight, having someone show even a tiny bit of friendliness was understandably alluring, but she was still hesitant to trust. Again, understandably.

"Um… Who are you, exactly?" she asked, taking in his appearance finally. He wore dark jeans, biker boots, and a dark denim vest that was open to reveal a wiry, muscled chest. His lanky hair hung down behind him past his shoulder blades, matched by the length of his ratty-looking beard. Still, he seemed to radiate a certain amount of calm competence… even considering he was a vampire.

"I'm Jack," he began in his raspy voice. "What's important is, I'm offering help. You make it back from Santa Monica with your hide and we'll trade life stories, m'kay? Till then, I got about…"

He held his right hand up at chest level, fingers spread an inch apart.

"...This much time. You in or out?"

The brunette nodded hurriedly. No way was she passing up any assistance she could receive right then. "Yeah, o- okay. I could really use the help."

"Alright." He gave her a nod, the sardonic grin not leaving his weathered face. "Now, we ain't got much time, but I figure somebody should fill you in on the bare bones stuff at least, ya know? Could save your hide. You look wobbly; you even had a drink yet?"

She swallowed past the burning in her throat. There wasn't really much point in avoiding the topic any longer, was there, really? She was pretty damn sure what Jack was talking about, even if a tiny voice of denial still wished it wasn't the case still. But she figured she'd play it safe just a little bit more.

"Um… a drink of what?"

Now that caused Jack to throw his head back and bark out another raucous laugh. "Oh, man, we're poppin' a cherry here!"

Ruby stared down at her feet, highly embarrassed, while Jack continued to laugh uproariously. Can I even blush anymore? she wondered suddenly, before irritably frowning at herself. That's the kind of stupid stuff that goes through my head with everything else going on? Seriously?

Eventually the bearded vampire in front of her calmed down enough to continue. "Ahhh, you're gonna love this! Alright, check it out. Blood: It's your new rack o' lamb, your new champagne… Blood's your new fuckin' heroin, kid." He chuckled humorously some more. "Get ready, cuz, hey, it's never as sweet as the first time."

"Y- Yeah, okay," she murmured, swallowing as the burning seemed to be worsening. Her mouth was dry and parched, but her stomach remained surprisingly stable even though she was considering drinking… blood. Maybe that's why I'm noticing it more? Kinda like… not realizing I'm thirsty until I realize how long it's been since I had a drink? "Sooo… what do I do?"

"Well, down around the corner there, I saw this human. Poor S.O.B. can't find his car," Jack snickered.

"So… what do I… I mean, uh…" Ruby shuffled her feet awkwardly. Aren't vampires supposed to be these confident stalkers of the night? Y'know, total badasses? What am I, a reject?

Jack placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, stilling her. "Alright, you go down there - casual like - ya creep up on him, then bare those dainty little fangs and feed. And don't worry if you weren't captain of the wrestling team or somethin', cuz it'll come so naturally you'll think you'd done it a thousand times already."

Nodding, Ruby sucked in a steadying breath, before realizing that she really didn't need to breathe anymore. In fact, she hadn't been, unless she actively thought about it.

And that caused another thought to flit through her brain about what got her into this whole mess in the first place.

"Won't he become a vampire then?" she asked worriedly.

"Forget that comic book crap, kid," Jack scoffed. "It don't work that way."

"But then, how-"

"Not really the time, okay? Now go for it. Be sure though - and this is important so listen up - be sure not to drain 'em dry, okay? It might be hard to resist, but don't kill 'em."

Ruby gave herself a small shake, squaring her shoulders and facing the end of the alleyway resolutely. "Okay."

She left the dubious shelter of the overhead light and slunk into the shadows, trying her very best to keep her movements stealthy. She needn't have bothered, as her target was obliviously standing at the end there right around the corner, his back to her and staring across the deserted side street. He seemed to be waiting for someone impatiently, as he glanced at his cell phone every so often.

The brunette stalked up behind the medium-statured businessman, licking her lips as she focused in on the spot right above the collar of his starched-white shirt. Was it just her imagination that she could sense his heartbeat? It was like a siren song calling to her, and she was so, so very thirsty…

As she felt her fangs slide further down, she let her instincts take over as Jack advised. With a cat-like pounce, she was straddling him from behind, legs wrapped around his waist and arms snaked around his chest. His startled shout was cut off as her fangs punctured skin, and the glorious elixir began to trickle down her throat.

Ruby's mind went blank for just a moment, but she was able to pull herself back in time not to kill the man. She wasn't entirely sure how she could even tell this, but some new instinct told her when he was reaching a point of no return, and she quickly broke the contact, licking the wound to seal it.

Wow, now how'd I know to do that? Does my saliva coagulate? But then how does it keep bleeding? I guess that's why I have to actually suck on the wound?

She backed away from the swaying man, who let out a soft moan and collapsed against a wall. He slid down to rest on the ground, head lolling languidly to the side.

Part of her knew she should be horrified by what she'd just done, but that was quickly washed away by her new state of being. Everything seemed sharper, colors, smells (much to her chagrin, this alleyway was not pleasant at all), sounds… It was like walking around half-asleep for all of her life, and then suddenly downing a concentrated shot of Red Bull.

For a dead girl, she'd never felt so alive.

Ruby walked back down the alleyway towards Jack once more, staring about bemusedly. She knew she had a wide grin on her face, but didn't feel it necessary to deny herself the pleasure she was feeling right then.

Leaning up against the side of the building across from the theater, Jack eyed her as she approached with a grin of his own. "Yeah. Ah yeah. Hell yeah, you're feelin' it," he stated in a low, satisfied voice. "I can see it in your eyes - you're a born-again predator. Feelin' that blood bubblin' inside you, liftin' you up. That's it, kid, that's what it's all about right there."

She licked her lips, the coppery taste somewhat pleasing now. "I don't know how I feel about it, but it does feel good."

Jack nodded firmly and then resumed in his normal, raspy voice. "Alright now, you got the blood, you're feelin' all kickass, feelin' better than your best day livin' - but wait! It gets better! All Kindred… Kindred, that's uh, our word for vampire… All Kindred have a few things in common, things that set them right square above humans on the food chain."

I remember that term from the Prince… Kindred… She was very interested now in what all she could do. Granted, at that moment she felt like she could leap over a building, but this was her chance now to learn about her… condition. No, her existence.

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like sharper senses, a body that can take a beating, and, if you play your cards right, eternal life. That's no sure bet, but still, a chance at immortality's not a bad deal. And that's just for starters; fringe benefits for joinin' the club."

Ruby blinked her eyes. Guess some of the legends are true after all, then. "So I'm going to live forever?"

The vampire across from her shrugged slightly. "Well, you can still be destroyed, but forget the books and the movies. Garlic? It's worthless. A cross? Pfft… shove it right up their ass. A stake? Only if it catches you in the heart, and then it just paralyzes you."

The brunette rubbed absentmindedly at her chest, to which Jack nodded in response. "Yeah you know what that feels like now, don't ya? Anyway… where was I…"

"Um, garlic, cross, stake…" Ruby helpfully ticked items off on her fingers.

"Right, right. So, runnin' water? Ah, that's no problem. I bathe… eh, occasionally."

The brunette laughed softly at Jack's rueful chuckle. Well I suppose that's good news at least. Hygiene is still important. Can vampires get cavities from blood? No, focus Ruby, focus…

"Now… a shotgun blast to the head… Oh, that's trouble, girl. Fire? That's real trouble. Sunlight? Well, you catch a sunrise and it's all over kiddo - get it?"

"Got it," Ruby nodded confidently. Yesss, no sparkles. Wait, should I be taking notes? I feel like I should be taking notes...

"Okay, now…" Whatever Jack was about to say trailed off as an explosion sounded from behind the theater. He drew his lips back in a hiss, baring his fangs. "What the fuck is this?"

Without hesitating, Jack turned to the door next to him and gave it a swift kick, snapping the rusty lock and swinging it inwards. "Look, you get inside here and head upstairs. We'll meet up in a bit. I'm just gonna go see what the ruckus is."

Ruby nodded nervously, darting inside the dimly-lit two-story room. It actually looked to be a garage, with two disassembled cars parked there. A catwalk ran around the top floor, but she didn't see any easy way up there.

Shrugging, she hopped over on top of a pile of boxes, adroitly leaping from handhold to handhold until she could vault up onto the grating with more skill than she could normally exhibit. Unfortunately as she did so, she still managed to overbalance and knock into a shelf there, spilling some of the contents onto the floor. She sighed in exasperation, but then her head tilted to the side as her eye caught something that had fallen.

A lockpick set.

Ruby grinned to herself as she scooped it up and tucked it into her jeans pocket, remembering some of the more fun lessons from Yang before her blonde sister had left. Guess some of those 'life lessons' get to come in handy after all, huh sis? She quickly darted around the corner, coming to a hallway that was lined with windows, and skidding to a halt when she spied Jack at the other end, peering out one of the windows.

How did he… What, does he, like, teleport or something?

"Come down here!" Jack waved her forward, his voice hushed. "Stay away from the windows…"

As she complied, the vampire gave an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "Ugh, it's a Sabbat raid. The Sabbat, they're uh… Eh, Christ, I was hopin' to spare you this shit till later. Uh, the Sabbat… well, eh, they're mostly mindless bloodthirsty assholes, that's all you need to know for now, alright?"

Well, that's a new term. Sabbat, huh? "Sooo... what's up?"

"The Sabbat got wind of the gathering here, so they figured they'd raise a little hell and put a little heat on the new 'Prince'."

"Right, that blond guy…" Ruby winced at the cold, uncaring looks that her 'sponsor' had leveled at her. "And what's the Prince a prince of?"

Jack shook his head firmly. "No time for a political rundown. Job one? Get outta here alive. Sabbat might be mindless, but they hit like a Mack truck, like raging savages - nothing a fledgling like you wants to mess with."

"What am I supposed to do?"

Just then he pulled her back towards the wall as he noticed something down below. "Shh shh," he whispered cautiously. "Heads up. Back away."

From the far end where Jack had been observing, three odd-looking men emerged whom she presumed to be Sabbat. Two were dressed in jeans and leather jackets, while the third in ratty, grey clothes that matched the deathly pallor of his skin.

All three had rather creepy red eyes.

As Ruby peered closer, she began to make out further details. The pair in the back had machine pistols, while the one in front, well, for some reason seemed to scurry about on all fours half the time.

As the brunette tried to puzzle out the odd behavior, the same bestial-looking vampire reared back, arching his back as he let out a long, loud howl, sounding much like a wolf.

Evidently he'd sensed something, as from the other end appeared the same giant from the stage earlier. As soon as he appeared, the machine-pistol-toting Sabbat opened fire, raining bullets down the length of the alleyway. They didn't seem to faze the gigantic man in the slightest as he appeared to simply shrug them off like they were insects. He raised one hand outwards, and it began to glow an ethereal blue.

Incredibly, from behind the machine gunners a pair of ghostly-looking wolves emerged from ground itself and pounced on the leather jacketed men, ripping into them and tearing them to shreds before they flared into ash. The last Sabbat charged forward on all fours, ignoring the fate of his comrades. The giant lifted his arm once more, and his clenched fist opened like a deadly flower blossom, once again glowing blue. A swarm of... something... enveloped the charging vampire, and he dissolved quickly into fiery debris much like the others.

The large man didn't react at all, other than to glance upward at the window and directly into Ruby's eyes. She was immediately frozen in fear at the deadened look in the giant's eyes, as if he couldn't care less about her existence, but it didn't last any longer than his brief glance. He then turned and departed the alleyway from where he came with slow and unhurried steps.

"Holy shit," Ruby breathed incredulously.

Jack, though, just sighed irritably. "Dumb frenzied Sabbat bastards. Alright. We gotta vamoose out the back, quick. I'll stay and keep a watch out; you get us into the office. The door's around the corner here."

"Yeah, right," she replied, still somewhat dazedly. "I'm on it."

As she walked numbly down the hallway and around the corner, Ruby nervously reflected on the unreal event that she'd just witnessed. It went way past feeling overwhelmed, now. The petite brunette was woefully in over her head, there was just no way she could even exist alongside that kind of… well, otherworldly shit that was going on down there.

Still… Jack seemed to have confidence in her, or at least he thought she was worth his while to help. She let out an unnecessary but determined huff of air as she approached the rickety door at the end of the hallway.

Jack believes in me, that I can handle this. I can handle this, I can handle myself. Maybe. Sorta.

She crouched down next to the lock, grinning to herself as she slipped her new lockpicking tools out of her pocket. As she set to work, her tongue poked out past her teeth in concentration, just like Yang used to tease her all the time for. But, sure enough, in no time at all she had the lock open.

Her grin widened to the extent of being labeled shit-eating, but as she opened the door with a flourish she started suddenly at the crashing sound from within. Walking the rest of the way inside, her grin faded to an irritable scowl as she regarded Jack standing there in the office in front of the shattered window.

He had the grace to look somewhat sheepish this time as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Uhh… shortcut. Well, nicely done though. Not exactly an angel in life, were you?"

She wanted to retort indignantly, but paused as she realized that those little things that her sister had taught her, those 'life skill lessons' that occupied many a fun Saturday afternoon, had in some way prepared her for this existence.

Yang… why did you ever leave me behind?

She shook off the question that had plagued her for so long, instead opting to respond to Jack's earlier query with a half shrug.

"I had my moments."

Jack snorted softly. "Cool. Now if you want a lesson on how really not to act, take notes from those Sabbat assholes. You're a big bad vampire… yeah, great, congrats… now keep it to yourself. You go roar and you beat your chest and… that's what you can expect."

"Really?" she asked, interested. "Why not?"

"It's the same reason you don't let humans see you feeding. It's why the wolf doesn't want the sheep to know he's there. It's also why you don't go jugglin' dumpsters or outrun the 8:15 from Sacramento, and it's… and it's why you didn't know any of this when you woke up this morning."

"Huh. Yeah, okay, point," Ruby conceded.

"Keep our secrets secret and you make things easier for all of us. We're livin' in the age of cell phone cameras and Youtube... fuck-ups ain't tolerated. Makes sense enough, right?" He gave her a considering look. "Well, it ain't a casual thing for a fledgling like you."

"What do you mean?" she prompted. "What could happen?"

"That party back there, with the guy in the suit and the Magilla Gorilla - the assholes that put your sire to death? That's the Camarilla." Jack uttered the name in much the same tone as he'd used with the Sabbat, adding a derisive snort. "Hmph. They make a tidy business out of enforcing 'vampire laws' like this one."

Who the hell is Magilla Gorilla? "Camarilla? So they're like the vampire 'good guys'?"

Jack snorted derisively once again. "Mmph. Yeah. I'll tell you what I think some other time, maybe. I like to let people form their own opinions."

Ruby nodded slowly, easily picking up on just what Jack thought about this Camarilla. Unfortunately, if the Prince was an integral part of it… Well, that meant she was too. At least for now. "Alright. So what's next?"

"Alright now, don't worry, cuz I know the area a little - and you know what? I'm glad we're in this situation, you and I. It illustrates a point… you gotta utilize your surroundings."

"Okay," Ruby nodded, leaning up against the wall of the office and crossing her arms against her chest. She noted idly that the sounds of combat had faded considerably by now. "But what does that mean, exactly?"

Jack shrugged unconcernedly. "Ya do what ya gotta do. Theft, destruction of property, breaking and entering. Heh. These'll be the least of your sins before the night's out. So look around here. We gotta get out the back there through that magnetically sealed door. There must be a key someplace."

"Right," the brunette nodded determinedly. "I'll find it." Cool, I was always better at practical tests than written ones…

She looked around the office, a slow smile growing on her face as she spied the outdated computer sitting on the desk against the far wall.

Alright, then, she thought confidently. If it's magnetically sealed, it's not as simple as a key, but maybe it could be opened from this computer. Oh, please, please be stupid about security…

She sat and moved the mouse, waking up the monitor. The screen flickered to life, showing a password prompt. With a smirk, Ruby lifted up the keyboard. Sure enough, under it was a sticky note with the word 'chopshop' written on it. How predictable, she scoffed.

As she logged in, she noted it wasn't internet-connected. Mostly just used for spreadsheets and the like, but there was a shortcut on there to a utility for opening the safe built into the base of the wall next to the desk. Nothing for the door, though.

With a shrug, she activated it, and soon enough heard the click as the safe swung open. Inside, on top of a few business-looking papers, was a keycard.

Huh, yeah that'd work too. Well, whatever.

She turned and held up the card triumphantly towards Jack, another grin on her face.

"There we go, good work kiddo. Now take that key card and head out the back. I"ll meet you out in the alley there. I'm gonna check out things from topside."

"Got it," she giggled, skipping over to the door excitedly. Maybe I can get through this after all…

A/N: Sweet holy kittens was this long, I actually had to cut it in half to make the chapters a more reasonable length. Hopefully you caught some of the RWBY characters in the audience of the Nocturne Theater. (I give you three guesses as to what Neo's clan will be. The first two don't count.) Oh, and for those familiar with the clans, we'll find out what Ruby is next chapter as well. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, fear not, things will clear up over the next two chapters.

I know I said I'd post the next chapter in a few weeks, but since there actually seems to be some interest, I figured I'd whet your appetites some more. This here's my last posting before I head out in the morning.

Hmm, what else. I did go off-dialogue for a bit of this and the next chapter, skipping some irrelevant parts and adding in what I thought necessary.

Special thanks to my Beta and collaborator, Live to anger the World. I'm working as diligently as possible to write chapters out before she needs to leave for college again, hopefully the quality doesn't fall off once she's unable to devote time and effort to this. Well, if it does, you know who to blame! (As in, moi.) In any case, glad to see some folks have picked up my little tale already! Hugs for my faithful reviewers from the teaser intro: Nicodemus Cain, AntonSlavik020, AndJrew76, RealTerminal, carpenter656, eltiochips, and Reaper Whisper.

Stay shiny!