Parasite

The night had ended and the Grimm were defeated for the night. My name is Ruby Rose and I'm a huntress. A huntress is someone who hunts Grimm, for those of you who don't know. Grimm are creatures that stalk the innocent and the average person lives in fear of these creatures attacking. That's where I come in. My job as a huntress is to weed out these creatures so that the innocent people can rest peacefully.

My experience with the Grimm has allowed me to avoid being killed so far, but that doesn't mean that they can't pose a threat to me. There was one in particular that still sticks out in my memory. This was a Grimm that couldn't be defeated by brute force. This was a Grimm that required mental strength just to survive. I'm talking about the Grimm known as Parasite.

It all started on a pretty typical night. I had caught wind of a Grimm attack and prepared to take them down. They'd gathered up in a small town that wasn't too far from where I was. All of its residents had evacuated some time ago, leaving me to spend some one-on-one time with the Grimm. Like most Grimm, these creatures went down pretty swiftly without much effort on my part. It was very satisfying to hear Crescent Rose slice right through them.

I was prepared to do the whole thing with my eyes closed when a strange Grimm appeared. It was completely black and thrashed violently, as if it was trying to get a bug off of it. I watched as it tore into buildings and killed other Grimm nearby with its outburst. I've seen a lot of unusual Grimm behavior over the years, but this was something new. It would howl while continuing to thrash, destroying more of the town in the process. I couldn't have it do that anymore and took care of the Grimm with one slice of Crescent Rose. The Grimm disappeared in a black mist, as most Grimm do once defeated. However, something else happened at the same time. Its head split open and something small jumped out of it, landing directly on my forehead. I could feel a sticky substance sliding against my head as the thing landed on me. I quickly raised my hand and pinched it with my fingers, throwing it off of me.

I decided to go back to my team after that. The townspeople were notified of the Grimm being killed and quietly emerged from their bunkers. I couldn't help but feel sorry for people living in constant fear the way they did.

Quickly, I rushed back home to my teammates. Not to brag, but my huntress team is easily one of the best in Vale and Remnant. We met long ago at a place called Beacon Academy where we didn't immediately hit it off. Through time and many adventures, we learned to grow and work together. Sometimes I still look back and smile at the times when getting a date was a major concern. Our lives are focused whatever looming threat appears next. We learned quickly that defeating one major threat only leads to a power vacuum, allowing others to take their place.

But I'd had enough dark thoughts for one day. I was at our base in all its rundown glory. I did say that we're one of the best huntsmen groups out there. That's true, but it's also true that we live kind of cheaply. The monetary system fell apart years ago and now people get by with bartering, among other methods.

I quietly opened the door, hoping that the creaking noises wouldn't wake my teammates up. Right on cue, my teammate by the name of Blake stood in front of me. She was a quiet girl with piercing yellow eyes. Blake was probably one of the first people I made some kind of connection with at Beacon. She was a lot like me in that she'd also leave our base for short periods of time. We were sort of like each other's spirit animals, as weird as that sounds.

"Out again?" Blake asked. She had a habit of getting directly to the point when she spoke.

I nodded my head. "I just took down some Grimm. The usual adrenalin rush."

Blake nodded. "Some old habits never die. Do they?"

I smiled at her. "Of course not," I chuckled. "There's no fun in over relying on the silver eyes. I'd rather have a challenge. You know?"

Blake gave me one of her half-smiles. "I do," she said before walking away.

I rolled my head back and let out a loud yawn. I'd been up for who knew how long. The only thing left to do at this point was sleep.

My room was a dinky little place that felt like a shoebox sometimes. All I could do was sit in the bed that took up most of the space. I'd sit there and sleep or write letters to myself. I took a breath of relief and jumped on the bed. As I jumped on, something strange happened. The room began to slant. The walls looked like they were starting to cave in and I could feel myself almost sinking into the bed. I felt a jolt of worry in my head and jumped off, only to find everything looking normal.

I didn't like that. The conclusion I came to was that it had happened out of exhaustion. My teamamtes had been warning me about my lack of sleep and it looks like they were right about that. I plopped my head onto my pillow and closed my eyes for a deep sleep.

I awakened to the sound of something weird. My head raised from the bed and found something standing across from me. It was a shadowy looking creature with enormously wide eyes. The worst thing about these eyes was how violently they'd shake. There were no other facial features on this thing that I could make out, only those eyes. But that wasn't all. This thing started to move. Every movement it made created a noise that sounded like bones snapping. Each step it came closer to me. Being the huntress I am, my first instinct was to get up and attack. But I couldn't. My arms, legs, and even my neck remained frozen. I couldn't even scream. I could only watch in horror as this thing came closer.

Suddenly, perhaps by a stroke of luck, my eyelids closed. I don't know what happened afterwards. I just remember waking up and seeing my room looking the way it always had, minus the creepy looking creature. I spent that morning in my bed. My mind still hadn't gotten completely over what I'd seen that night.