Blood of The Rose

Chapter 17: A Spirited Adventure, Part I

Santa Monica

Sewers

When she rose the next evening, Ruby quickly dressed herself in her tattered jeans, reliable red converse shoes, and one of her new black tank tops. Over that, she pulled on her cute new red hoodie that left her shoulders bare, which she still found to be rather daring.

Listen to me, "Ohhh, I'm so daring, baring my shoulders, maybe next I'll show off my ankles!"

"Ruby, what are you giggling about?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…"

Weiss wore her usual outfit of a white peacoat-style dress that came down almost to her knees along with her white heeled boots. They were both armed, the platinum-haired fledgling with her rapier in its customary bag and Ruby with her little revolver stuck in the pocket of her pullover hoodie and her bat slung over her shoulder.

Her friend had, during one of her more industrious moments the evening prior, rigged up a rather clever sling for her bat with a length of leather strap that now attached from the base to the top of the handle. It allowed the brunette to casually carry along her primary weapon and not raise as many eyebrows.

And so, after a bit of searching for an out-of-the-way manhole cover, the pair of them found themselves in the sewers under the streets of Santa Monica.

It was just as horrifyingly disgusting as Ruby feared it would be.

"I am so very glad we don't have to breathe," she mumbled as she sloshed through the ankle-high dirty water and muck.

"Indeed," Weiss replied by her side. "Less talking, though, please."

Ruby merely nodded in agreement, screwing her mouth up in distaste. Might not need to breathe the air in, but it sure tastes nasty.

Weiss seemed to have a destination in mind, or at the least, she had something she was searching for as she peered down each intersection. At one, Ruby froze, every one of her senses alert.

"I heard something," she squeaked anxiously.

Her friend turned to her in concern, but just then a rather large, bloated rat swam by, brushing up against Ruby's leg.

The brunette's shriek would likely have shattered any nearby windows.

She wasn't sure how exactly how it happened, but Ruby found herself in Weiss' arms, staggering the other fledgling as she attempted to stay upright.

The platinum-haired fledgling turned her gaze to the roof of the sewers and let out an exasperated sigh, but then merely shook her head as if resigned to this being a very long evening, one eye only twitching ever so marginally. She adjusted her grip on the whimpering vampire in her arms and proceeded forward, carrying Ruby bridal-style. Finally, she seemed to find what she was looking for and trudged over to the side, setting Ruby down on her feet atop a raised platform. On the side of the wall, there was a map which bore the label "Santa Monica Sewer Access Map".

Ruby let out a curious little hum as she leaned in. The lacquered map was actually pretty detailed, with the streets and buildings above clearly marked along with the access points to the surface. In fact, it looked to be fairly well-maintained.

"It was placed by Kindred," Weiss explained quietly. "The sewers are the primary means of transportation for the Nosferatu as they cannot permit themselves to be seen by mortals."

"Right… so…" Ruby's finger jabbed the surface of the map where an access point at the far end from where they were was labeled "To Ocean House Hotel".

"Whelp, there we go," the brunette stated, stepping back but carefully remaining on the platform.

"Indeed."

They stood there for a few seconds more, unmoving. "Weiss…"

"No, Ruby, I am not carrying you in my arms the entire way."

"Awww…"

The pair of fledglings continued forward, sloshing through dirty water. Dim lamps on either side of the slimy walls lit the way while massive pipes overhead dripped steadily onto their heads. Weiss evidently gave up on keeping the foul taste out of her mouth and kept up a running litany of grumbled complaints the entire way, often switching between English and German, but Ruby managed to stick close to her shadow while warily looking all around for further rats.

She tried not to let her imagination get the better of her, though it was difficult not to envision their beady little eyes waiting for her to drop her guard so that they could charge out and feast upon her flesh…

The brunette let out another muted whimper, almost bumping into her partner's back. Weiss ceased her complaints with a sigh as she pulled to a stop, pinching the bridge of her nose and muttering something else under her breath that suspiciously sounded like an entirely different language altogether. The platinum-haired Kindred twisted her rapier bag around to her front and dropped her arms to her sides.

"Just hop on. And don't say a word about this."

Suppressing the happy squeal that threatened to escape, Ruby jumped onto her back and wrapped her arms around the other girl's shoulders, while Weiss grabbed hold of her legs. She then proceeded to give the brunette a piggyback ride for the remainder of the way.

"Thanks, Weiss," the contented brunette whispered into her ear. Her only response was a brief grunt and a nod.

Fortunately, it didn't take terribly long to arrive at the at locked gate stretching across the end of the tunnel. Weiss gingerly put her passenger down so that they could unlock it. The creak of rusty hinges echoed off the wall as it opened. Ruby made sure to lock the gate behind them once more before turning towards the rusty and slick rungs set against the wall.

"Okay, then, here we go..."

The pair carefully made their way up the ladder, both grimacing the whole while at the clammy muck that now coated their hands until Ruby could push the manhole covering aside and climb out. She reached back to help Weiss out, though it was a near thing when their slippery hands made contact. Fortunately, the other fledgling was able to catch herself on the edge of the cover.

They made sure to wipe themselves off using a few rags Weiss had thoughtfully brought along, dropping the soiled towels down the sewer before closing the cover. Ruby was pretty sure, though, that her shoes were a total loss.

"Maaan, I really liked these shoes, too," she grumbled mildly.

Glancing around, the brunette vampire noted their positioning at the far end of a construction site ringed with a tall chain-link fence. Nearby was a large mound of dirt they would have to scramble over, with the hotel off to the right. It looked to be about three stories high, old and elegant, with dim lights around the edges that must have been powered by a nearby generator.

Ruby followed her partner up atop the hill of dirt. From there, they could see the ocean on the other side of the cliff that the building was perched on. Tall stone steps ran up to the double-wide door of the hotel. There was a large dumpster nearby, a container from a truck that must house supplies, and also a small tractor. In addition, a mobile-home-style construction office rested in the middle of the fenced area. She figured that should be their first stop to see if there was a key inside rather than try breaking in. Maybe speed things up a bit, not that I'm nervous or scared or anything, no siree...

She took the lead at this point, walking past some palm trees that still ran around the area. The surface beneath their feet had once been a parking lot, now pitted and dug up with glimpses of old brick walkways that could be seen in the dirt. The office itself, once they reached it, turned out to be lit up and unlocked, the entry light featuring several moths flitting about aimlessly.

The door to the corrugated metal building creaked open, revealing a small desk and office chair inside. As soon as she walked in, Weiss wordlessly following, Ruby noticed a rack on the wall that boasted several keys.

"Okay, then," the brunette murmured, running a finger down the labels. "Got one to the tractor, one to the main entry gate, another for the padlock on the container… Cool, here's one for the front door to the hotel!"

As soon as Ruby grabbed that key off of the hook, the sound of an engine starting up caused them to glance at each other incredulously. Before they could react, however, the entire office shuddered from an impact, almost knocking her off of her feet. The fledglings quickly scrambled outside only to warily eye the tractor now embedded in the side of the office as its engine idled and died.

Ruby let out a huff of air. "Well."

"Er, yes," Weiss murmured, perplexed.

"So, definitely a spirit, huh?"

"So it would seem."

"Hey, Weiss."

"Hmm?" The platinum-haired fledgling was still looking at the tractor as if expecting it to come to life again and charge her.

Ruby turned towards her with a wide grin. "Who ya gonna call?"

The glare she received was pointed but without much heat behind it. "No."

"Aww, c'mon…"

"No, Ruby, I will not say it."

They finally started moving, making their way towards the steps leading up to the front door.

"You know you wanna…" the brunette wheedled.

Weiss let out a very put-upon sigh of resignation. "Fine."

Giving a little giggle, Ruby spun around to face her friend. "So, who ya gonna call?"

"Ghostbusters," Weiss replied, completely deadpan.

Ruby skipped up the rest of the steps, singing out the Ghostbusters theme song until she reached the door. The light bulb in the lamp to the right of the door suddenly exploded in a shower of glass, making her jump back with a startled eep. "Geez, fine, obviously a ghost without a sense of humor."

She unlocked the door and eased it open, presenting the duo with the dusty opulence of a hotel obviously designed for an era long gone by.

The brunette could only stare about in awe. "Wow… this is sooo neat…"

"It is?" Weiss asked, perplexed at her companion's reaction as she closed the door behind them.

"Are you kidding?" Ruby turned with a wide grin on her face. "Best haunted house atmosphere ever!"

The wood flooring was broken up by several giant, faded Persian rugs. A balcony lined the entryway with a double staircase in front winding up each way. There was a reception desk over to the left, while hallways stretched off in the direction of each wing of the hotel. Looking up, Ruby noted a very fancy chandelier that hung from the center of the foyer.

Across from them was a sitting area in between where the staircases wrapped around. It had some old paintings still hanging on the faded walls, along with fancy couches, tables, display cabinets, and the like.

They took a few steps in, but Weiss immediately grabbed hold of the brunette's arm in an iron grip. Ruby bit back a startled yelp as she looked in the direction her friend was staring at.

At the far end of the right-hand hallway was a figure standing motionless, illuminated by a flickering hall light and apparently clutching a fireaxe.

"Okay, that is creepy as fuck," Ruby murmured. "Should we… approach him?"

Weiss nodded rapidly. "Yes, yes, you should do that."

The brunette glanced at her bemusedly. "You gonna stay here?"

"No, I'll be, er, right behind you."

Literally, as it turned out, since she didn't release her grip on Ruby's arm when she started forward. They only made it a few steps, however, before the indistinct figure flickered and vanished.

Frowning, Ruby turned past a sign for the elevators on the left. She could glimpse the doors to them, but they were obviously powered down as there were no lights on the buttons.

As she took another step back towards the foyer, the brunette's frown deepened as she heard a rattling sound coming from somewhere.

And then she was suddenly very glad for Weiss' grip on her arm as she was abruptly pulled back, the platinum-haired fledgling letting out a startled shriek as the chandelier crashed to the ground right where Ruby had been standing, sending shards of glass and metal flying.

"Mother fucker!" Ruby shouted angrily, her fists clenched. "It just tried to kill me!"

Weiss' response was a bit breathless as she finally let go of Ruby's arm. "Yes, it would indeed appear to be an unfriendly spirit."

"Yeah, noticed that, thanks." She gave her friend a grateful smile. "And thanks for saving me."

The other girl nodded, her pale blue eyes still darting around uneasily. "Yes, well, we have each other's backs, yes?"

"You bet. Let's go check around for clues."

The pair of fledglings carefully picked their way across the foyer to walk by the reception desk. As they passed it in order to check behind, Ruby heard the odd sound of a bell dinging. She turned just in time to catch the call bell that had been resting atop the counter square on the forehead, but this time, she spotted the slight glow of some sort of purple nimbus energy surrounding the object.

"Ow! Son of a shitbiscuit!" she squawked irritably.

Weiss chuckled somewhat nervously. "He truly does not want us in here."

Ruby growled quietly as she rubbed at the spot on her forehead. "Well, all he's doin' now is pissing me off."

The platinum blonde cautiously walked around the reception desk to poke her head in. "Looks like it's been cleared out, nothing of note, really."

Stepping up next to her companion, Ruby eyed the collection of black and white framed pictures along the wall there of old people, couples, family reunions, and the like. "When was this hotel even open?"

"I imagine some decades ago," Weiss murmured in reply as she turned and pushed past her. Ruby accompanied her around the next corner to an alcove, similar to the one on the other side and also featuring a sign for the elevator. The set of doors here, however, were slightly askew, and a red glow emanated from within. There was quite obviously no elevator car at that level.

The brunette took one look at the red glow and immediately turned around. "Nope, nope, nope. We're going this way."

"What? But we could-"

"No, Weiss. I've seen movies like this. We are not heading for the red glowy light."

Weiss hurried to catch up as the other girl headed down the hallway. All of the doors along there seemed to be boarded up. Just at the end, where the hallway made a turn back towards the right, Ruby heard a rattle off to the side. She ducked just in time as a lamp that was previously on a small table went sailing past her ear to smash up against the wall, causing Weiss to clamp a hand over her mouth to muffle another shriek.

The brunette eyed her friend in concern. "You okay?"

She just nodded rapidly, hand still over her mouth. Ruby shrugged and peeked around the corner to spy a dead-end with another boarded-up door facing her. Sighing, she turned along with her companion and retraced their steps.

Most of the windows along the front of the hotel were boarded up from the inside as well, but some of them were open enough to see that the view from the hotel must have been really nice, especially during the day when the sun was shining upon the water… Ruby sighed to herself internally. Haven't really thought about it much, but that's something I'm never gonna experience again. Well, I mean, I could, but it'd be my last experience.

Once again, she pushed it all to the back of her mind with everything else, allowing it to pile up. Eventually, she'd need to let it all out in some fashion, but not quite yet. If nothing else, her experiences over the last few years, the ones that forced her to grow up faster than she'd really wanted to at the time, had taught her to compartmentalize and suppress the bad stuff. It wasn't particularly healthy but it had allowed her to survive so far. Hopefully, it would continue to do so.

They worked their way through the foyer once more, gingerly picking past the debris left from the chandelier, and then headed down the next hallway. It was much like the other wing with boarded-up doors and windows, though there was an active light bulb at the end still flickering sporadically.

Up ahead was a small table with another stained-glass lamp atop it, but they were prepared this time as they edged past. The lamp began to vibrate before being hurled in their direction, easily dodged by the two vampires.

"See? Not so bad," Ruby chuckled. "Now that we know it's coming we can avoid his little tricks. Doesn't look like he has any kind of control, just blindly hurls shit towards us."

"Yes, you're right… We will be fine." Weiss was obviously trying to inject some amount of confidence in her voice, though only partially succeeding.

The brunette grinned, briefly grabbing her friend's hand and squeezing it before letting go. "Yeah, we will be. No worries."

As they were about to round a corner, Ruby quickly pulled back, dodging a vase this time. She grinned once more in reassurance before heading forward towards another boarded-up door. This time, though, she spotted something different. As they approached the end they peered down at a copy of the LA Sun newspaper, somewhat tattered and yellowed with age, resting on the floor. Ruby picked it up to examine it further.

The front page read, "Family Missing, Fire Department Searches Ocean House For Remains". Most of the rest of the story was too worn to be legible.

Before either fledgling could comment, a soft voice seemed to drift towards the pair as if on an ethereal wind once Ruby dropped the paper to the floor again.

"He's watching… He wants to kill you…"

The brunette turned towards her partner, the both of them obviously having heard the same thing if the startled expression on Weiss' face was any indication. "And I suddenly have a bad feeling about this… What if it's not just one spirit?"

"Oh, dear," the platinum-haired fledgling murmured. "That would be… problematic."

"Just a little, yeah. Let's go back to the foyer."

Passing by the chandelier rubble, they approached the rear area under the steps. The entire sitting area was littered with vases and other breakable, hurlable objects. Ruby sighed and glanced over at her companion.

"Why don't you step back, I'll activate my Fortitude and see if he still wants to play, okay?"

Weiss nodded in agreement as the brunette Kindred concentrated while pulling her bat out from across her shoulders. She immediately felt her skin toughen up. With a resolute nod, she stepped forward, immediately rewarded with a vase flung at her head. Ruby managed to get one arm up to take the impact, but in rapid succession, several others battered at her. The objects didn't phase her much as she proceeded to smash the rest of the vases, lamps, and decorative plates that might serve as further ammunition.

"Right, all clear, I guess," Ruby sighed, the ceramic shards crunching under her feet as she trod forward, slipping the bat around her shoulders once more.

The other fledgling stepped up, retrieving another newspaper from the coffee table and holding it out for Ruby to see. It was just as faded as the other, if not more, as they could barely make out the headline this time. "Grand Opening! Santa Monica Celebrates the New Ocean House Hotel".

"Looks like the date is just, what, a month before the last?" Ruby mused. "So whatever happened, it was right after it had opened…"

Weiss nodded slowly. "Perhaps some of these have been left behind by the other spirit."

"Other spirit?" Ruby eyed the other Kindred in confusion. "You mean the one that whispered to us?"

"Yes, there may be one who opposes the more violent one and seeks to help us." Weiss paused and tapped her chin in consideration. "Or lead us into a trap."

"Well, so long as we have all the bases covered," Ruby snorted with some amusement.

"Indeed. Shall we?"

The only direction left for them to take was up, so Ruby headed around to move up the right-hand staircase. She'd only gone halfway up when it suddenly collapsed, throwing her down and into the basement.

A/N: Welcome to part one of three for the Ocean House! Just in time for Halloween, eh? And I didn't even plan it that way! What dastardly fate awaits our fearless little vampire in the bowels of the haunted hotel? Stay tuned next week to find out!

Much love for my fantastic Beta and collaborator, Live to anger the World, and to all of you awesome readers and reviewers! Sharkdude5, SixPerfections, noone297, zerosabers, thank you all so much for your continued support!

Stay shiny!