Sorry for the delay guys, but guess what?... I finally got my laptop back! That, plus the school holidays means that there should be much more coming out over the next six weeks. If I have any more massive delays in that time, feel free to yell at me for it 'cause that's just me being lazy! In the meantime, here's the long awaited chapter three! Thanks for not giving up on me!
On with the story~
CHAPTER THREE
Ed watched his brother nervously for any sort of reaction. He had just told Al he was possibly a vampire, after all. Vampires, by any means, shouldn't even exist. To be perfectly honest, for the first time in his life Ed had no idea how Al was going to react. And that scared hm.
Al didn't speak for a few minutes; he stared ahead of him as he turned some things over slowly in his mind. Ed could tell that much; Al was obviously considering something carefully. After another minute or so, Ed found he couldn't take the silence any more.
"So….?"Al blinked, refocusing on his brother. He had been lost in his own mind for a while, and had almost forgotten Ed was still sitting right next to him.
"I'm not really that surprised, to be honest. I'm just upset you didn't tell me before."
A pang of guilt went through Ed. "I know, Al. I'm sorry."
-"How long?"
Ed shrugged. "A couple of weeks, I think. I'm not sure." Suddenly, he thought about what Al had said a moment before.
"Hey Al? Why aren't you surprised? Vampires aren't exactly a common occurrence, you know."
Al thought for a moment before answering, instantly convincing Ed that the next thing out of his mouth would be a lie– or at the very least, he was hiding something.
Eventually, Al managed a small smile. "Well Brother, for some reason you seem to have a lot of difficulty keeping yourself out of trouble. With you, I have to expect anything and everything."
Ed shot him a glare. "Hey! I did most of that for you, you know!"
Al chuckled and stuck his tongue out. "I know, I know. But you don't have that excuse any more, and you still get into fights all the time! Maybe it's because you're trying to compensate for your… ahem… little problem, but-"
-"Oh you did not just go there…"
-"Maybe, maybe not."
-"THAT'S IT! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RUNT SO TINY HE SHOULD BE PUT INTO A PRISON FOR THE CRIMINALLY SHORT?!"
"Well, well, well."
-"Shut up."
Al stood over his brother victoriously.
"Even when you've become a vampire, even when I haven't had my human body back for long, and even when I give you a head start..."
-"I said shut up."
-"I still won the sparring match!"
-"Yeah yeah," Ed complained, standing up and dusting himself off. Al turned to Ed suddenly, a serious expression on his young face.
Ed frowned. "What's up, Al?"
-"You have to tell Winry. You know that, right?"
Ed flinched. "I don't have to tell her anything."
-"Yes, you do. You can't keep doing this, Brother. It's not fair to her. She deserves more than you just pushing her away for no reason."
Ed sighed heavily, running a hand over his forehead.
"You're right, Al."
-"So you'll talk to her?"
-"I guess." A thought suddenly crossed Ed's mind.
"Al?"
-"Mhm?"
-"Back there, with Cato... You were acting like you already knew vampires existed."
Al didn't answer.
"Does it have something to do with why you weren't surprised I became one?"
Al finally turned back to face Ed. A small smile lit up his face.
"Alright, you caught me. I know a vampire."
-"Who?"
-"Does it matter?"
-"Al."
Al rolled his eyes. "I'm not telling you anything until you tell Winry you're a vampire."
Ed threw his younger brother a glare, before heaving a sigh. "Fine." He grimaced, putting a hand to his throat. It had been burning for a few days now, but the sensation had just gotten worse.
"You alright Brother?" Al asked cheerfully.
-"Yeah, I'm ok."
A soldier in State uniform ran toward the boys, distracting Al from questioning Ed further.
"Mr Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?"
Al shook his head, gesturing to his brother. "Not me, him."
The soldier turned, to see Ed sulking with his arms crossed.
"He has his real body back and this still happens? You've gotta be kidding me…."
The soldier saluted Ed. "Apologies, Sir. You're wanted at Central HQ."
Ed's brow furrowed in confusion. Mustang wanted him back already? He'd barely left!
"What's this about?"
-"There's been another murder."
Pacing back and forth across the office, Ed bit his lip as he listened to Mustang's briefing.
"This one was a young woman. A civilian found her lying in an alleyway."
-"This already sounds familiar. Cause of death?"
-"Bloodloss. Her throat was torn out."
-"Deja-vu."
Ed took a moment to glance worriedly at Al, who was sitting on Mustang's couch with a concerned, almost frightened look on his face. He murmured something to himself; Ed almost missed it, but he thought he caught the words "Sheetz, please don't let this be you…"
"Right now, it looks like this is the same guy as the last murder," Roy commented. Ed and Al shook their heads simultaneously.
"Not necessarily," Ed said. "It might be, but I somehow doubt it."
Roy's dark eyes narrowed slightly. "Ed, do you know something about this you're not saying?"
The teenager scoffed. "Like what? Don't you think if I had any leads at all, I'd let you know?"
-"Sure, unless you decided that the person causing the murders was too dangerous for the military to handle."
Ed froze. "What do you mean, Colonel Bastard?"
-"I haven't told anyone else about this, but I've suspected for a while that the murderer may not be… human."
Al spoke up. "What do you think they are?"
Roy shrugged. "I'm not sure. That's why I was wondering if either of you knew anything."
He cast his gaze over the Fullmetal Alchemist, who had yet to move since Roy's accusation.
"Ed, just because I'm in the military, that doesn't mean I tell them everything; especially not everything you say. If you need to talk to me, you can."
Al could already see this wouldn't work; Ed wasn't the kind of person to admit he needed anyone's help. And sure enough, a moment later the older boy shrugged nonchalantly.
"Who ever said I needed to talk?"
Al shook his head, speaking softly. "Brother…"
-"Can it Al."
-"Maybe we should tell him…."
-"I said NO, Al." Al flinched, biting his lip so hard he drew blood.
"Fuck," Ed swore under his breath, willing himself to stay in control.
Al groaned in frustration. "Why are so you stubborn? Mustang's not evil Ed, he wants to help us! Why is that so hard for you to accept?"
-"Who said we needed help? We've been fine on our own for years!"
-"NO! YOU have, Brother. You're the one who doesn't seem to need anyone else! Not Mustang, not Winry, not me! Well I'm not like that, Ed, I need other people to help me get through things! But I don't have anyone."
-"You have me, don't you?"
-"How can I trust you, when you don't trust me enough to tell me anything?"
Ed stood there, absorbing every word Al said to him as if it was a bullet going through his heart. Pain was good; the pain kept him focused on something other than the burning desire he had to kill Al. It wasn't until this point that he had realised how dangerous it was to refuse to feed. He had considered, actually considered, hurting his own brother. And for Ed, that alone was a sin he would never forgive himself for.
Luckily, Alphonse decided to remove himself from temptation's way; he stormed out of the room a moment later.
Mustang watched Ed warily for a moment; although he had never let it slip, he cared immensely for both brothers. Knowing what his young charge was like as a person, he decided to simply wait and let the sixteen year old come to him.
"Shit!" Ed swore, kicking the couch with his flesh foot in frustration. He sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. Stomping over to the couch, he sat down with a huff.
"Ed, if you need to talk…"
Ed shrugged. "There's a lot to tell."
_
"Sheetz, I know you're here. I need to talk to you!"
Al sighed, shifting his weight. He'd been putting this off for far too long, but he'd had Ed to deal with… No better time than the present. At least now he could finally cross Sheetz off the suspect list.
After a moment of waiting, a figure leapt silently from the nearby treetops and landed smoothly on his feet. Al was met with a tall, slim teenage boy. Clear blue eyes were set in a porcelain face, and ebony curls ended at his collar. He smiled in welcome.
"Alphonse. It's been a while."
-"Yeah, I know." Al made no effort to elaborate further, suddenly uncomfortable at the thought of what he had to do.
Sheetz cocked his head to the side curiously. "Is everything alright? You said you needed to talk to me."
Al nodded, swallowing.
"Sheetz… There have been murders in Central. A couple of them."
Sheetz frowned slightly, but nodded for Al to continue.
"They died of bloodloss. Throats torn out. It looks like a vampire case. So tell me…. Was it you?"
-"Sorry?"
-"Was it you?"
Al looked down, unable to face his friend. Sudden understanding crossed Sheetz' face, and he grinned.
"No, it was not me. I can hardly blame you for thinking that, though. How many vampires do you know?"
Al smiled back, relief hard-hitting. Then he said gently, "My older brother's a vampire. Edward."
Sheetz' ears pricked. "How long?"
-"A couple of weeks. He didn't tell me until now, though. Can't believe I didn't see it," he kicked himself inwardly. "I should've noticed something before!"
Sheetz shook his head. "My kind are good at hiding their true nature, when they feel like it. Don't feel bad. But you must tell me, has he fed?"
-"Wha?" It took Al a minute to realise what Sheetz was asking him, before it all fell into place.
"I don't know," he admitted guiltily.
Worried, Sheetz straightened. "You must make him feed, or he will become a danger to everyone around him."
Al slapped himself on the forehead. "Knowing him, he won't. He's a selfless person, to an idiotic degree."
-"I know the type," Sheetz lamented.
Al paced back and forth, now worried.
"Crap, what can I even do? He won't listen to me, he never does. He'll run himself into the ground and end up killing three people."
Sheetz moved closer, watching the younger boy.
"Would he listen to me?"
Al stopped pacing. "Maybe. You've seen the absolute worst of vampirism, after all. Not to mention, you know what happens when vampires refuse to feed." He sighed. "It's worth a shot."
Sheetz nodded. "We can but try. It can hardly make matters worse, right?"
They shared a somewhat nervous laugh.
Al nodded, biting his lip a little at the thought of Ed coming face to face with this boy.
"Well, let's go. No time like the present, I guess. I just hope he's calmed down a little."
As the two headed off, Al could but wonder just what would happen when these two very different individuals in his life collided….
There you go guys~ Hope it was worth the wait. I did have to rework the last scene a couple of times – I wasn't quite happy with the first version. So, let me know what you think. What's going on here? Who is this mysterious 'Sheetz' character? How does he know Al? What will Ed tell Roy, and how will Roy react? And of course the big money maker, what the heck will happen when Ed and Sheetz meet? All theories and feedback accepted, so place your bets now!
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