Of Fashion And Death

Epilogue 2: Escape

A woman in her late 50's was looking over a grocery store in a small town. She was standing behind the counter while reading the latest newspaper. The day had been rather boring with only a couple of customers and right now there was only one in the store. The woman was certain that the most exciting thing today would be reading the news.

As she continued going through her paper, a rather disturbing article caught her attention. It was so distracting that she didn't notice her customer walk up to the counter.

''Excuse me,'' the customer said, catching the store owner's attention, who turned look at them. The woman saw that her customer was a rather young woman, who was wearing a brown hoodie with the hood pulled up and sunglasses over her eyes. ''I would like to make my purchase now.''

''Oh, right!'' the store owner said. ''Sorry. It's been a slow day and I was caught up in my paper.''

''That's okay,'' the customer replied. ''What was in the paper that caught your attention like that?''

''It's an article about that crazy fashion designer, Coco Adel. She's been missing for a couple of weeks now and has been switching hideouts, making it hard for the police to catch her. To make things worse, she has a young girl with her, who was kidnapped by her. This article was about a dead body that was found not too far from here and the police are investigating if it was one of Coco's murders.''

''How frightening. Should we be worried?''

''Probably. You never know who you run into out there, but the police are investigating it. Let's just hope that they catch her soon.''

After their little conversation, the customer paid for her stuff and left. However, if one were to look a bit closer at her, they would find out that she had a troubled expression on her face. It was because this person was none other than Coco Adel, the famous fashion designer turned murderer and kidnapper.

The news she had just heard about bothered her greatly. It seemed like the police had found the body of a person that had recognized her. She thought that she had gotten rid of it properly, but it seemed like she would need to switch to another hideout soon. But even if Coco knew that she would need to do it, she didn't want to. She was so close to completing her latest outfit that would shock the world of fashion. She only needed a little more time and her vision would be complete. Looking for a new hideout would slow down her progress.

'I only need a little more time. That's it. I'm too close to stop now,' the designer thought to herself as she made her way to her hideout, which was an old abandoned building near the town.

Getting inside the building, Coco headed straight to the basement. There she had created a makeshift studio for her to work at. It was also the place that held her captive model, Ruby Rose. The young redhead was shackled to a wall from her leg and was unable to escape. She looked up at her captor with fearful eyes, wondering what she had planned for her.

''Oh, don't look at me like that, Ruby!'' Coco said cheerfully as she put her groceries on a table in the middle of the room. ''We are just about to be finished with my project! You should be happy that you got to be a part of something big like this!''

''I would be happy if I was free,'' Ruby replied in a sad tone. ''How much more work is there?''

''Not much! I'll just go get my equipment and we can continue where we left off!''

The designer left the basement to go look for the stuff she needed, leaving the young redhead alone. Ruby looked at the table Coco had left her groceries and noticed something. The key to her shackle was left on the table. The young girl guessed that her captor must have accidentally left it on the table since she had been too caught up in her project.

Now Ruby needed to make a decision. Would she take the key and try to escape? Coco was currently going around the house, looking for the things she needed. This was honestly the best possible opportunity the redhead would most likely ever get. However, if she got caught, there was no telling what the crazy designer would do to her. She could break her legs or do anything else to make it impossible for her to escape. There was even the possibility that Coco would go after someone Ruby loved and hurt them as punishment.

It was a choice between trying to escape or obeying her captor. Little did Ruby know that her choice would decide someone's fate.

Steeling her resolve, Ruby took the key and used it to free herself from her shackle. She quickly went up the stairs leading to the basement and to the door at the top. The redhead carefully and quietly opened the door, not wanting Coco to find out about her escape. She looked around and listened. Ruby could hear Coco walking upstairs, looking for the equipment she needed. As silently as possible, the girl made her way to the door and got out. She saw that the house she had been taken to was surrounded by a thick forest and ran into it, hoping that her captor wouldn't find her from there.

Just as Ruby was about to disappear into the woods, Coco saw her from one of the windows. She immediately dropped everything she had been carrying and ran outside to go after her escaping captive.

Back in the small town Coco had just visited for groceries, a single car was driving around the area. This car had two people in it, Qrow and Raven Branwen, who were two of Vale's best detectives. They were going around the town, searching for any clues for Coco Adel. The detective duo had come there as soon as they had heard of the dead body that had been found. Ever since Ruby Rose had been kidnapped by the insane designer, they had been trying to catch her and had been following her trail. It had eventually led them to this town, where they hoped to finally rescue the young redhead.

The two detectives weren't dedicated to this only because it was their job or because it was the right thing to do. They were so intent on doing this because Ruby was family to them. While the girl wasn't directly related to either of them, she was the daughter of Raven's ex-husband, Taiyang Xiao Long, which meant that the raven-haired woman came to know the girl from visiting her daughter, Yang. Ruby was also the daughter of Summer Rose, who was a close friend of the Branwen siblings. Unfortunately due to their closeness, Summer had ended up as a target of a couple of criminals that were angry at the Branwens, leading to her death. Ever since that day, the two detectives had sworn to keep her daughter safe, no matter what. They just hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

''So, did you have any luck with your search for clues?'' Qrow asked as he drove the car the two siblings were sitting in.

''Nothing,'' Raven answered in a blunt, almost emotionless voice, but her brother could detect a hint of sadness in it. ''I haven't been able to find a single thing that could lead us to that lunatic.''

''Well, I was able to find something,'' Qrow said, catching his sister's attention. ''Apparently, there has been someone that has been coming to the local grocery store quite often that matches Coco's looks quite well. It also seems that she has been seen heading to the edge of town quite often, where there is an abandoned house there. Seems like a perfect hiding place, right? I think we should check it out.''

Raven frowned. ''Qrow, we have gotten these types of clues multiple times and they have always led us nowhere. While we waste time going in the wrong direction, that lunatic is doing whatever she wants to Ruby. We need to find them as soon as possible, before she gets hurt.''

''That is one way to look at it,'' the male detective replied. ''However, what if this is Coco Adel? What if we ignore this and end up never finding Ruby? We don't have anything better at the moment and I think we should look through every possible place until we find her. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to do everything it takes to find Tai's girl, even if I had to tear down every building here.''

''...You're right,'' the female detective said as she looked down at her lap, ashamed of the fact that she had almost thrown away a clue. ''And I'm with you. I would also do everything to find Ruby. I don't want her to end up like Summer.''

''That's something neither one of us wants.''

Ruby ran as fast as she could for some time, until exhaustion got the best of her and she had to stop for a breather. The redhead had not been eating well due to Coco fearing that she would gain weight. She also hadn't slept well either due to all the mental stress she was in. All of this had made her quite weak and it was hard for her to even stand up. The girl needed to rest at least a little.

However, Ruby wasn't allowed her much needed rest, as she heard something that brought chills down her spine.

''Ruby! Where the hell did you go!?'' Coco could be heard screaming angrily. ''You promised that you would help me with my work! Do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you for breaking that promise!?''

The redhead decided that she didn't want to find out and got up to run away. With all of her strength, the girl ran as fast as she could to get away from her captor. All of her senses were focused on escaping and nothing else. She didn't even look behind her to see if Coco was behind her.

Ruby eventually got out of the forest and to a small dirt road, where she fell to the ground out of exhaustion. She tried her best to get up, but was too weak to even get on her knees. The redhead didn't notice how Coco had caught up to her and was standing right behind her with a knife in her hand.

''We could have been so great together, Ruby,'' the designer said, making Ruby look at her with wide and scared eyes. ''The work we were doing would have shocked the world. Too bad you decided to pull this stunt.''

Coco raised the knife up in the air to stab the defenseless girl, but a sudden gunshot hit her in the shoulder and caused her to fall to the ground. Soon Qrow was on her, pointing his gun at the crazy designer and getting ready to put handcuffs on her. Raven ran up to Ruby to see if she was alright.

''Ruby, are you okay!? Are you hurt anywhere!?'' the raven-haired woman asked the redheaded girl with worry in her voice.

''A-Auntie Raven? Uncle Qrow? Is that really you?'' Ruby asked, not able to believe what she was seeing.

''Yes, Ruby. It's us. You're safe now,'' Raven said in a gentle voice. The redheaded girl hugged the woman as tightly as she could and began crying. Raven hugged her back and started to rock her back and forth. ''No need to worry, Ruby. It's finally over.''

Ruby was taken to a hospital as soon as possible. While she wasn't badly injured, she was still suffering from malnourishment and severe exhaustion. The redhead had been sleeping for three days straight due to being so tired and was currently resting on her bed in the hospital.

The girl was not alone, as Yang, Blake and Weiss were there. As soon as they heard that Ruby had been rescued, they pretty much stormed into the hospital. The three girls needed to make sure that the younger girl was truly alive and safe. Although they weren't able to go see her at first, they were eventually allowed in the room and they almost had to be dragged out of there. The trio wanted to be there when Ruby woke up.

It was especially bad with Blake, who refused to step away from the redhead. She was pretty much glued to the side of Ruby's bed, waiting for the girl to wake up.

The three girl were in Ruby's room again, waiting for her to wake up. Suddenly they heard her make noise and start to move. All three immediately walked up to Ruby and watched as she slowly opened her eyes, causing them to cry tears of joy.

''Y-Yang? Is that... you?'' Ruby managed to say weakly.

''Yes. It's me, baby sis,'' Yang said as she tried to hold back her tears. ''I'm right here for you.''

''And Blake? Weiss too?'' the redhead asked as she looked around and saw the other people in the room.

''Of course, Ruby. Why wouldn't we be here?'' Weiss asked back with her own tears falling.

''We were so worried about you,'' Blake said as she started to stroke Ruby's hair gently. ''We wanted to be here to see that you were alright.''

''Thank you. Thank you so much for being here,'' Ruby said with a big smile on her face.

While the girls were focused with each other, the door opened and Qrow walked in. The man had a frown on his face as he had some bad news to tell.

''Hey, girls, I have some-'' Qrow began but noticed that Ruby was awake and stopped himself. ''Ruby?''

''Uncle Qrow? Is that you?'' Ruby asked with a smile on her face.

''Who else is handsome like me?'' the dark-haired man asked playfully with a smile on his face. He walked up to the redheaded girl and ruffled her head a bit. ''Listen, I need to talk to Yang and her friends for a second. You get some rest while I do that, okay?''

After Ruby nodded, Qrow asked the three older girls to follow him and walked out of the room. Yang and Weiss followed him, but Blake stayed behind. The cat faunus had a big blush on her face as she seemed to be contemplating something. Before Ruby could ask what was wrong, Blake leaned towards her and kissed her forehead. She then walked out of the room, where Qrow and her friends were waiting for her.

Ruby was surprised by the kiss and blushed heavily. However, she decided not to think too much about it and just get some rest. She laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. The redhead was just about to fall asleep, when she heard something hit her window. This sound kept repeating, which was strange as the redhead's room was not on the ground floor. Ruby got up into a sitting position to see what it was.

What she saw made her eyes go wide.

Back with Qrow and the three older girls, the dark-haired man had a frown on his face as he looked at the girls. The three girls were nervous and wondered what Qrow was going to tell them. It was clear that it was bad news.

''What's wrong, Uncle Qrow?'' Yang asked. She knew that when her uncle was like this it meant that something bad was going on. ''Is it about Ruby?''

''Not exactly,'' Qrow answered. ''It's about the lady who kidnapped her, Coco Adel. It seems that she has managed to escape.''

''What!?'' Blake almost yelled. ''How could they let her get away!?''

''It seems like the car that was transporting her had an accident. It was found on it's side and off the road. The two officers that were transporting her were dead and one of their guns is missing. They haven't been able to find Coco yet, so it's reasonable to believe that she is on the loose,'' the unshaven man explained.

''She isn't coming after Ruby, is she?'' Yang asked with fear in her voice.

''We don't know yet. However, we are going to place a guard here to look after her. I am also going to have to ask you three to not go anywhere alone, as she could very well target any of you as well. Raven herself has stated that she is going to be taking turns in watching over Ruby and staying at your house to look over you, Yang,'' Qrow answered.

''Oh, come on! I don't need a-''

Yang was cut off by a scream coming from Ruby's room. The group immediately ran over there to see what was wrong.

While Qrow was having his conversation with the girls, Ruby was looking out of the window. The thing that she saw there made her eyes go wide and her face pale.

Coco Adel was standing there. Staring right towards her with an insane smile on her face. She also had small rocks in one of her hands, which she had thrown at the window to catch Ruby's attention.

Ruby could do only one thing at that moment, scream as loud as she could. By the time Qrow and the three older girls came in, Coco had already left. However, Ruby knew one horrible thing.

Her nightmare was not over yet.

Author's notes: A bit ''happier'' ending than the first one. I was originally planning to have Coco sneak into Ruby's room and kill her, but I thought that you guys might like it more if she were to survive. You probably also noticed that this was in some parts similar to the previous one. That's because these are essentially two different versions for the ending. Pick whichever you like as the ''true'' ending.

Anyways, I'm happy that I managed to get this done, so I can go back to War for Ruby. I've got a lot of things that I want to write into it, so I'm excited to get back into it.

Also, remember the moral of the story here, kids. Stay away from dangerously insane fashion designers. That won't end happily.

Until next time.

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