You Can't Hide in the Dark

"Sometimes the monsters you should fear the most are the ones walking beside you."

Chapter One
Five days. That was the last time a meal had been eaten by the girl stumbling her way forwards. It had been seven days prior to that. The reason this girl had no food was simple. Previously, everything had been done for her. In fact, she had barely moved for a number of years now. Her name was Wisteria Lavandula, and up until twelve days ago she had been the monster that kept a village safe from Grimm. Right up until it was destroyed by the very monster they had used to protect them. It had been the last time they would ever feed her. But at long last, she had finally come across some form of civilisation.

"Hey! Are you alright? Yo, come help me!"

The words barely registered, Wisteria instead noticing the movement. She was suddenly going rather fast. So fast the ground was racing towards her. Racing so fast that her vision went black...

She was being shaken. Not roughly, but her frail body ached all the same. Slowly her consciousness registered words. Words being spoken to her. She couldn't understand them. They were meaningless. Just noise. Wisteria tried to ignore it, right up until she felt the moisture touch her lips. And in that single moment, her eyes shot open.

"She's awake! Thank goodn-"

The source was cut off midway, Wisteria's semblance closing around the man responsible. But he was not the only target. The bottle of water he had been holding a moment ago was now locked in her cage. The man was in sight, surprise covering his face. Luckily for him, her attention was solely on the water. She'd been able to deal with the lack of food, but even she couldn't go without drinking. That had been her true challenge the past few days. Carefully shifting the cage, it was moved over her mouth. Letting a crack open, the water trickled out onto her face. She spilt more than she wanted, but what she did drink felt wonderful.

"Urck-"

It didn't stay down long. Moments later her head was on it's side while she was coughing it back up. Added to that, her throat was now burning with stomach acid.

"You overdid it."

Following the voice with her eyes, Wisteria saw the man was free from her cage. Obviously she lacked the strength to hold two cages at the moment. Thankfully, she hadn't lost all of the water. Then she noticed the man had another bottle ready.

"Slowly this time."

Dropping the bottle she held, Wisteria submitted to his ministrations. There was little she could do anyway and for the moment it was beneficial. For the next five minutes, she took tiny sips of water from him before her throat began to return to normal. It was an odd feeling for her, not like what she'd been submitted to in the village. She had to ask this man who he was, and what he was doing. But he just kept tending to her. No voice would come from her mouth. Her heart started to beat faster. What had happened to her voice? Had this man done something to her? With these thoughts racing through her mind, her eyes gazed at the man. It was just like the village, only now they had taken even her voice from her. She could not move, she could not fight, she could not even speak. It had been some time since she had felt fear, but she felt it now. More than that, she was terrified. What would she be forced to do now?

"I'm back! How is she?"

Fear turned to despair. He was not alone. Who was this woman? What did they want from her? What would they do to her? Why was she completely at their mercy? And then, that despair turned into action.

The cage closed around her in a second. Wisteria was suddenly very aware of her rapid breathing. But she hadn't finished. Even as her eyes darted between the two shocked people, the cage was forming. The largest she'd ever made. Not only that, the last piece of Dust she had was going into this cage. A piece of gravity Dust. Something she had actually saved for years. Then it was finished. The cage was complete. A shaky breath came out before Wisteria mentally pulled the cage closed. What happened next was a sight neither the citizens of Vale nor Wisteria would forget. Both the start and end of her time in Vale.

Chapter Two
The building contorted in a way that didn't seem real. Walls met each other, the furniture curled into itself. But what left a lasting image was the people caught inside. At first they just pulled themselves into a ball, but as the cage continued to push, they slowly collapsed inwards. None had their aura to protect them, suffering a slow and excruciating death by the hands of unfathomable pressure. Yet there was total silence. Wisteria saw them trying to scream, but they were too late. They didn't have a chance to cry out even once. And then it was over. There was nothing left. Nothing but the slowly darkening sky was above her.

"My god..."

As she released her cages, it dawned on her what she'd done. She had attacked a foe she couldn't crush. All around the area the building had been, people stood. Most were staring at nothing, stunned by the disappearance. But not all. More than a few eyes were glued to Wisteria. And some knew what had happened. What she had caused. But she wasn't looking at them. No, something else had her attention.

''This is bad. This is very very bad.''

The city of Vale was stretched out in all directions. And it was huge. Far larger than the village she had left. But that wasn't her concern. After all, ordinary people were nothing to her. Like the monsters she'd just crushed into nothingness, they would fall under her power. Yes, in her current state there was only one thing to fear in Vale. The ones that hunted the monsters. The ones she had just drawn to her. The ones lurking in the shadows around her. None had made a move, but Wisteria could tell. If they did, she wouldn't just lose. They would utterly destroy her.

And that's how she knew. She hadn't escaped from captivity. She had walked straight into her next master. She was once again, a tool to be used.