Gunshot

By: Aiko Yamasaki

Chapter 1

Rainy Night

Thick storm clouds shrouded the once shining sun, leaving the world below them in an eerie darkness. Every house and street blended into the same dull gray. The only real color was from the street lamps illuminating a yellow glow. The rain began to fall. People took shelter from the coming storm in homes and shops as it came in with its threatening rumbles and flashes of light. The rain now pounded against the cobblestone roads and the brick buildings with remarkable force.

As she ran, her feet beat down on the road sending great heaps of water into the air. She ran with such desperation, as if trying to escape death, in fact, that was exactly what she was doing. Running from the "beast" that had been tracking her for quite a while, ever since they saw what she was capable of. Her heart pounded in her chest, if it got any stronger one might think it would break the barrier of skin and hit the ground in a bloody heap. Rei's eyes were wide with water flooding out of them, whether it was the rain or not, I'll leave that for your own imagination to decide.

I've got to get out of here I have to get away! She thought to herself, frustrated that any of this actually happened. Rei turned at an ally and stopped. Her chest rose and dropped rapidly. She stood up straight, rested her hands on her hips and thought about her next move. Was she to run and find Roy, or did she stay and fight in some twisted attempt to figure out why they were chasing her and who they were? Rei made here decision and quickly turned out of the ally, her expectations met. The three of them stood there waiting for her to come running out, though, they looked a bit shocked. Probably because they thought she was going to run for her life and now here she was standing in front of them waiting for an attack. The three people looked a bit strange but at the same time they looked daunting. There was a large plump man whose arms came to about 2 feet away from the ground. He wore a black jumpsuit type outfit in a muscle shirt type fashion. A red line went down his neck to the end of his shoulder, formed a two-ringed circle and continued down his arms. He had black bands on his wrist, to where the red line continued to until it reached the center to only form an upside-down triangle with a two-ringed circle at each corner. His white pupils less eyes were small in comparison with his head. His nose was large and circular and nearly touched his upper lip, which he had a single flabby finger stuck in his mouth with drool dripping from the corner of it. He looked hungry and with his eyes set on Rei, it disturbed her greatly. A tall skinny woman stood next to him with her arms crossed and her body turned slightly to the right. She had long, black wavy hair and what seemed to be a tattoo on her chest. Her eyes were narrow and had a light purple tint to them. She wore a black dress that was cut close to the body and formed a V shape neckline at the chest. The dress was strapless. The woman also wore black gloves that went up to the armpits and black boots that hid under her dress. The third person stood in front of the other two. He was tall, muscular with long, spiky green hair. He was wearing what looked like the guy version of a belly shirt, only cut higher, and a skirt, which made him look ridiculous. The man had a tough look on his face and his eyes gave a sense of dignity and pain, as if he had suffered greatly. He looked as if he wanted nothing but to draw some blood. Rei had a bad feeling that she had to fight him in order to get the answers that she now didn't really want to know. Who were they? What did they want? And, Why were they chasing her?

Rei stood there on the cobblestone street waiting for something to happen. She now had second thoughts on whether this was a good idea or not. Was she going to really get the answers she sought after and still make it home without being killed, or was this a bad idea?

"Looks like the chase is over, Lust" The tall muscular man grinned. There was no kindness in his voice, nor was there any in his smile. Rei took a deep breath.

"Who the hell are you and why are you chasing me? What do you want?" She demanded in a stern and steady voice. The man's grin became larger, stretching from ear to ear. Rei had the ability to sound calm or angry when she was the complete opposite. She could manipulate her voice to sound cold and demanding when all she wanted to do was run away and hide.

"Hmm, it seems like little Rei is getting a bit challenging. Do you think we should tell her what she wants to know?" He looked toward the woman behind him.

"At some point or another we should." The woman's voice was soft and mellow, though, it had a taunting chime to it. She spoke once again. "It doesn't matter really, she's going to either do what we want willingly and die or do it forcefully and die. Either way she's going die, Envy." Envy looked deep into Rei's eyes as if studying her.

"Lust, I guess you're right. I'll try to let it to her nice and easy." Envy smiled once again, this time with a sinister sparkle in his eye. "As you've probably figured out, I'm Envy and this is Lust. We're three of the seven Homunculi in the world." Rei's eyes opened up wide. She had heard legends about Homunculi and how they were created, but she never actually thought that they existed.

"We're here to get you to come with us and have you create something that we want."

"And if I don't come quietly?" Rei inquired.

"If you don't come with us quietly, then I'll have to beat you down and carry you back with us. From there you'll be forced to do what we want, and I can guarantee that you will wish death upon yourself. So, what do you choose?" Rei thought for a moment. She could go with them and figure out exactly what they wanted and most likely die before she got to see her brother again, or she could test her luck and beat her way out of this. Envy was leaving the choice up to her; all she had to do was make a decision. If she beat her way out of the situation she's not only testing her own ability, but Envy's as well. According to legend, a Homunculus can't use alchemy so the advantage is on her side. However, it is said that a Homunculus has inhuman like abilities. She was really pushing it with this choice. But if she thinks through her moves and counter attacks him, Rei should be fine and may possibly make it out with only a few minor injuries. She had made her decision and was pretty confident about her choice.

"I'll test my luck." She said with a slight smile on her face, most likely to hide her terror of what was to come.

"Fine, it's your luck you're pushing, not mine." Without hesitation Envy charged for Rei with noteworthy speed. He had a fist clenched ready to fight. Rei countered his attack, striking at his vulnerable points, the chest, neck, head and back. Already she was seeing that the fight was a little bit more difficult than what was planned. Envy was not only powerful but he was quick on his feet and intelligent. If Rei were to win this fight she would have to give it her all, and maybe more.

The two were going at it with everything they had, or at least that was what it seemed. Envy was striking Rei with blows that could have knocked her out if she didn't dodge them and the same went for Rei. Her accuracy was dead on.

"It seems like the battle will be ending soon," whispered Envy with a devilish grin, his voice almost taunting. He kicked her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. Rei stood up, holding her ribs and cursing silently to herself.

"Huh… what do you mean?" Rei asked, disturbed by her opponent's words.

"Oh, you know," Started Envy, "If it continues going on like this no one will win." Envy took a step forward.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we need to finish this battle." Envy stopped talking. The whole time the two were fighting, something had changed. Envy knew what had happened but Rei didn't. And she was about to find out now. Envy's grin became even larger, giving the feeling that all went as planned and Envy was getting what he wanted, blood to be drawn. "Oh Gluttony," chimed Envy. Before Rei could make sense of what had happened, two large arms wrapped around her body, making and X across her chest, and an immense mouth clamped down on her left shoulder. Rei let out a whimper as a jolt of pain struck and lingered in her arm and chest. "I'm giving you another choice. Come with and you may see your brother again, or refuse and get your arm ripped off and die without ever seeing his face again. Make your decision, and I would suggest making it quick because Gluttony is getting hungry."

What am I going to do? I can either do what they want or lose my arm! Rei thought. She didn't want to go with them, but by the looks of things, she didn't have much of a choice.

"What exactly do you want me to do?" Envy walked up to Rei, getting close to her face.

"What we want is for you to create us a Philosopher's Stone." Rei's eyes once again opened wide.

"The Philosopher's Stone? Why do you want me to create something that doesn't exist?" Envy smiled.

"Because, it does exist." There was a silence. Gluttony bit down harder, deepening the wound.

"Ok, say it does exist, then what do you plan to do with it. Why is it so important to you?"

"That, we can't tell you. If you just so happen to escape, we don't want you running around telling the military of our plans, now do we?" Rei looked down onto the ground. It was still raining, she could feel the water sliding down her face and soaking into her clothes.

Gluttony tightened his grip on Rei and bit down harder, waiting for the ok to eat her. He was starving, so to speak, and was itching for something to swallow. Rei gulped down her pain. Her vision was begining to blur. She had already lost a good amount of blood and couldn't afford to lose much more.

There was a blast of sound. For a moment it sounded like thunder, but Rei soon realized that someone was here, hopefully her brother, and was firing a gun at them. Envy looked over towards the source of the noise and saw a group of men all dressed in navy blue uniforms. There was a single woman with a gun pointed at them, getting ready to fire yet another bullet. Envy frowned. His plan hadn't worked out as well as he thought. He would have to finish up business later.

"Looks like you lucked out. We'll leave you for now, but I can guarantee that we'll be back expecting your answer." Without another word Envy began to run off, a series of gunfire chasing after him.

"Gluttony, let's go, you can eat later." Lust's voice was the same as it was when Rei first heard her.

"Yes Lust." Gluttony's tone of voice was soft but had a certain ring, almost like the sound of hatred to all.

Gluttony chased after Lust, leaving Rei behind. The moment he let go of her, her body hit the ground hard. Rei let out a whimper as a new set of pain entered her arm. Two sets of footsteps ran for her immobile body. In less than a minute, two fingers touched her neck, reading her pulse. Rei opened her eyes and saw a man with dark hair and charcoal eyes looking down upon her.

"I'm sorry, Nii-san... I shouldn't have let my curiosity get the best of me. I got cocky and thought that I could take on a homunculus on my own... I was terribly wrong." Rei's words were whispered and her voice cracked. The man looked at Rei with eyes that were unyielding and kind. Rei closed her eyes once again. She was picked up and carried away to a car waiting for them. The storm settled to a light drizzle and eventually calmed completely. The thick storm clouds moved away, revealing a sparkled sky.

Thank you, Roy…

She thought to herself before drifting info unconsciousness.