Woo! New chapter!
Sorry for the wait, I spent a lot of time writing the 11th chapter...instead of the 10th.
As usual, read and enjoy! Follow and favorite to get updated on new chapters!
I like to hear what you guys think :) so reviews are always appreciated.
Mara lightly knocked on Envy's door. She hesitated, ear pressed against the hard wood, hoping desperately to hear some verbal response arise from within.
There was silence. So, she hesitantly opened the door.
Envy was leaned against the wall, arms crossed, eyes focused on the wall to his right. Mara could almost see fire erupting from his head as he silently fumed.
She took a few steps towards his angry figure. "Hey, Envy?"
"Shut up. Go away."
"What did I do?" She wasn't the one who set him off, that was Lust and Sloth, maybe Gluttony too. But she hadn't done anything.
"You left." His eyes focused on her, burning holes through her skin with an unexpected harshness.
"What?" Mara froze. "But—I didn't—what the fuck—I never left. I—"
"I know," he screamed. He began banging the back of his head against the rock wall, over and over.
"I don't understand." Mara slowly began to back out of the room. She wasn't even sure what was going on anymore. She had never left.
He stopped hitting his head and stared up at the ceiling with strained, violet eyes. "I thought you did." His head leveled and he eyed her receding form. "Don't."
Mara paused, almost back through the door frame. "Don't what?"
"Don't leave."
"I didn't leave." She stated cautiously. What had even brought this up?
She was yanked into the room and the door was slammed behind her. He shoved her onto the bed. She let out a yelp as she felt the wounds on her back open from the force, her shirt beginning to be moistened by fresh blood.
She tried to get up but he pushed her back down.
He went in to kiss her but she shoved him away. "No."
He tried to pull her shirt off. Her eyes watered as her scabs were ripped. "Stop."
His violet eyes pierced her as he got close to her face. "No."
She slapped him.
His eyes widened and his hand flew to his cheek. He backed off, a handprint reddened on his skin.
Their eyes met.
Mara stood up and stared at Envy. She stood a good foot shorter than him but, for a moment, appeared his height. "Why the fuck would you think I left?"
He took a few steps back and cast a glance at the paneling on the wall. "I didn't know where you were. Sloth said she didn't either." He took a breath. "She was referring to in the house, but I thought she meant in general."
"So, your first thought—The first thing you assumed when you couldn't find me—the first thing was that I had left?" She felt her eyes dampen. Had nothing they had meant anything to him? Was his faith in her so weak?
He swallowed and walked back to her, eyes nestled on the ground.
"I was with Father, he adopted me into your fucking family."
Envy's eyes widened and he looked up at her. "What?"
"Yeah." Mara wiped a tear from her eye. "And you have the fucking nerve to accuse me of leaving."
Envy stared at her in silence, watching her lip tremble and a stray tear slide down her cheek. He closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her.
Mara buried her face in his black top, her arms slowly encircling his body as well. "I would never leave you," she whispered softly into the fabric. "I love you." She bit her lip, regretting the release of such sensitive information.
Envy rubbed her head, her fine hair slipping through his fingers like silk. A phrase he had never once imagined fought to escape his lips.
"I love you, too."
"Lust—your idea about bringing her with us on our next outing." Envy sat down on the couch next to Lust.
She turned to face Envy but he only peered at her out of the side of one eye. "You want to bring her along next time?" She grinned and brushed a few dark strands behind her ear.
Envy nodded with a devious grin. "As soon as her back is healed."
"So, we just stand here?" Mara glanced down at the street below.
"Yeah," Envy chuckled. "Sometimes I wait for Lust and sometimes she waits for me." He placed his arms on the window ledge and watched a car pass beneath them. "We try to alternate."
"Where did Lust and Gluttony go?" Mara's eyes scanned the streets below with absolutely no hint as to where the couple had proceeded to.
Envy pointed to a house nearby, off to the right. "There's a man there who we suspect may be a good sacrifice. Lust is assessing that right now."
Mara nodded. She remembered Lust once saying that she wasn't intended to be used as a sacrifice but the moment had been so oppressed by emotion and fear that she had failed to even consider what Lust had been referring to. "A sacrifice for what?"
"For the promised day."
"What is and when is that?" She eyed the building where Lust resided but saw nothing of obvious interest occurring within the area.
He grinned at her mischievously. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know."
Mara wasn't sure if she did or not. Sacrifice and promised day gave her the impression of virgins tossed into a volcano to appease the Spring Gods. "Are we hoping for a good harvest?" She laughed.
Envy smirked. "You could say that—if harvest is replaced with power and human souls."
Mara glanced at Envy. "Am I supposed to ask what you mean by that?"
"You can."
Mara stared at him blankly, waiting for him to continue but he simply squinted against the bright sun and watched the uninteresting house. She sighed, "What do you mean by that?"
"We'll be using humans to open a gate so Father can gain more power."
"That's vague."
Envy shrugged. "That's more than enough for you to know."
"Okay?" Mara almost regretting asking. She felt as though she was being pushed to the outside with this separation placed between her and this information that, seemed above her ranking in the family..
"You want to do something fun while we wait?" Envy placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Aren't we supposed to be watching out for Lust?"
Envy groaned. "It's not like we can do anything from up here."
Mara looked at him through narrow eyes. "Then what are we doing here? I thought we were backup?"
"Kinda," Envy chuckled. "If we hear a scream and see a stampede of humans storming with pitchforks towards where Lust and Gluttony are." He laughed maniacally. "The humans would be the ones who'd need back-up—Gluttony would be enjoying a nice human buffet."
"You sure know how to make a girl seem useful," Mara said softly as she leaned in towards him.
He smirked and met her lips before pushing her back onto a stout desk that lay, like most items in what Mara presumed was an old store room, unused. As the hard wood surface made contact with her skin, Mara was grateful her back had healed. Envy and Lust had mentioned bringing her with them while the wounds were still open but didn't follow through on that proposal until the skin on her back had closed completely—which took a bit over a week. It would've been sooner had Envy not so carelessly ripped them open pushing her back onto his bed in that fit of anger.
He pulled her pants off but only pushed her shirt up, exposing her breasts, teasing her with his tongue and nibbling on her neck before and as he entered her.
"Are—are you going to cut me?" Mara managed through moans.
Envy laughed with a dangerous grin. "You know me so well." He brushed a finger-blade gently along a space of unmarked skin on her stomach. He pressed it in, eliciting a sharp breath and moan from Mara. "I'm glad—"
The door opened and Mara's face flushed as she stared, upside down from the desk. How did Lust get finished so soon? She shouldn't be back for at least another 30 minutes. Her eyes widened as two figures emerged through the door frame.
"Will the renovations be finished in time?" A tall, lean man asked.
"Yes." A wide, almost bald man said as he twiddled his mustache absent-mindedly. "We'll ha—"
His voice broke off as his eyes fell over Mara and Envy, still frozen in their previous position.
Mara's cheeks lost their color and her eyes briefly fluoresced a bright, violet color. With a brief thump, the two figures at the door collapsed to the ground as corpses. Envy and Mara stared quietly at the bodies before Mara recaptured Envy's lips.
He chuckled and returned the amorous display. "Guess those renovations will be delayed thanks to Mara," he teased.
"How do you know they'll be delayed?" Mara laughed. "I didn't kill the workers."
"I'm sure killing the manager and client is even more effective." He bit her lip and tasted a trickle of blood before pulling back.
Mara rolled her eyes before pulling a smirking Envy closer to her, re-engaging in their previous escapades.
"Two more people?" Ed groaned. "Mustang, you can't be fucking serious."
"A young woman saw two people, one with long green hair and another, a girl who matched the description for Emilee." Mustang sighed.
"Green hair, fucking Envy." Ed hissed.
"She even claimed to have overheard Envy call her Mara, something she's been supposedly called before—and the woman reported the name during her initial statement." He folded his hands in front of his face as he sat at his desk. "So, it's unlikely to have been fabricated.
Ed gritted his teeth. "I've started to think that Kira was probably Envy. This just draws that up even more." He closed his eyes and lowered his head. "We need to start figuring out how to intercept them."
"Are you sure she saw them?" Alphonse asked slowly. "How did she see this much and not get killed?"
Mustang smiled through his fingertips. "She gave me quite an interesting story."
"Tonya, do you have the forms ready?" Mr. Baldwin asked over his shoulder as she walked behind him. He was strolling beside Mr. Tallahassee, the man who would soon be buying the old property.
"Yes, sir." She forced cheerfulness, despite annoyance at having been dragged along for diminutive clerical duties.
"Good, good." He turned to Mr. Tallahassee. "She's wonderful help, sometimes talks a bit too much and forgets her duties, you know how women are."
A vein pulsed in Tonya's forehead as she was forced to listen to this bullshit. Though her lips held a lovely smile, her eyes were slanted and focused on the annoying old man walking in front of her. He twirled his little mustache, the last hair that remained on the man's head in glee, either oblivious to Tonya's frustrations or simply too pompous to care. Tonya had begun to call him Mr. Baldy, jokingly to her friends when she vented her workplace frustrations.
Mr. Tallahassee smiled in return and took a back glance at Tonya as she assured all the contract and informational papers were orderly and neat. "Quite a beauty too, I hope you didn't just hire her for her bust."
Tonya looked up in shock at the man, as she brought the papers to cover her chest. The audacity! Sometimes she cursed these dreaded things.
Her boss didn't call out the man's statement for its rudeness, nor did he simply ignore it. No—Not Mr. Baldy.
"She has other qualities too," Mr. Baldy gave a deep throated laugh. "Definitely helped in the hiring process though."
Tonya's mouth dropped even further and she gritted her teeth and clenched her hands around the stacks of paper to prevent herself from mouthing off her boss or slamming the papers into the back of their heads—which she would've loved to do.
As if to assure Tonya he had not forgotten she was there, he looked over his shoulder at her with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his lips. "Just compliments, Tonya my dear."
Tonya was ready to explode but she tried to calm herself. She just had to live through the humiliation a few more weeks and she'd be free. Just had to work until Thomas had recovered from his accident, then he could work again and she could stay home with the children.
She had wanted to be in the working world, a business woman, when she was younger. Being a stay at home mom was not one of her childhood ambitions. But, unlike what most people tend to think, a pretty face and large breasts don't get you the job opportunities you imagine. They get you nice jobs, sure—but respect? No, not while people like Mr. Baldy and Mr. Tallass dominate the business world.
"Further down the hall is the store room," Mr. Baldy proclaimed. "It was damaged during the storm last November—Tonya, pass me the documents on th—"
Tonya slammed the pages into his hand as quickly as she could to shut him up, careful to keep the remainder to shield her chest from their disgusting eyes.
He grinned, "Why are you holding the papers like that, Tonya?"
Tonya tried to force a smile, so you perverts can't sneak a peek. "Just a bit cold."
The men chuckled. "Probably that time of the month," Mr. Tallass said.
Tonya wished they'd just die. She hated this. If they could just go away, if they'd just fucking die, she wouldn't have to feel disgraced every day at work.
Mr. Baldy opened the door to the old store room.
"Will the renovations be finished in time?" Mr. Tallass asked.
If only they would just fucking die off this earth.
"Yes," Mr. Baldy assured him as he twiddled his mustache absent-mindedly. "We'll ha—"
If only they'd just fucking die.
She pictured the two men dropping to the floor and a pleasured grin spread across her face. That gleeful moment quickly passed when she realized it wasn't her imagination.
Her skin turned white, her pulse was rapid, she almost fell to the floor.
Oh no, what had she done. Such intense emotions she'd felt, how did she do this? How could this—
"Guess those renovations will be delayed thanks to Mara," a male voice said before chuckling.
Tonya covered her mouth to silence her gasp as she stared at the open door.
"How do you know they'll be delayed?" a girl laughed. "I didn't kill the workers."
Tonya began to back away but stopped. What if they blamed her for this? She had motive. Hell—she'd just prayed for their deaths moments before. What would they do to her? She couldn't lose her children—who would take care of Thomas and the children? How could Thomas care for them alone?
She bit her lip. No—she had to peek and see who did this. If she could say who did it, they might not accuse her, or at least not prosecute her.
Fighting her fears, she crawled on her knees over their bodies, gagging as she brushed Mr. Baldwin's stomach. Moaning and sexual noises fell from the room, making Tonya even more disgusted. But, she assured herself, it meant they were distracted.
She peeked into the room and caught sight of a man with long green hair and violet eyes. The girls face she couldn't see as well but, almost as if on queue, she turned around, giving Tonya a good view. Tonya pulled out of sight, praying the girl had not just then seen her.
The noises in the room resumed and Tonya sighed in relief before quietly creeping away.
"Em—Emilee?" Ed gawked at the girl in front of him.
The girl didn't respond, merely cocking her head to the side and analyzing him.
"Emilee, it's us," Al said. "Ed and Al Elric. Remember us?"
She didn't respond, continuing to stare blankly at them.
"What happened to you? Come with us." Ed ran and grabbed her arm, attempting to pull her away but she strained against him, stamping her feet down.
Something hit Ed's face, forcing his head back and his hand released its grip on the girl. He stumbled back and met violet eyes.s
"She's not going anywhere," Envy sneered.
"Emilee," Al called. "Quickly come, we'll help you."
"My name isn't Emilee," she said.
Ed's eyes widened.
"My name is Mara." She looked down at her feet a moment before looking up, eyes glowing the same color as Envy's. "Go to hell, Ed."
Ed leaped back as rock spiked up from the ground. Al caught him and the two backed off. Envy laughed maniacally.
A building behind them crumbled and the brothers narrowly avoided being crushed by the debris. Ed's clapped his hands and sent ripples back towards Envy and Emilee.
Envy grabbed the girl and leaped to safety. He whispered something in her ear. Ed an Al watched in disgust as the green-haired man planted a kiss on her cheek.
Ed's right arm exploded. He stared in shock at the destroyed limb before Al grabbed him.
Ed sat up in bed, sweating and gasping for air. He feverishly grabbed his automail arm with his left, flesh one. He sighed in relief. His automail wasn't destroyed, Winry wouldn't be wrenching him to his deathbed.
"Brother, are you okay?" Al rushed towards him, from his previous position against the wall across the room.
Ed nodded as he placed a hand on his chest and tried to calm his heart. "Just a bad dream."
"About Emilee?"
Ed nodded, "Some of the parts of that woman, Tonya's story—what Emilee and Envy were doing in that room before and after they killed those men—it's just really fucking with me." He leaned back in the bed. "We need to come up with a plan, we need to rescue her." His voice didn't exude the confidence he intended. That dream left him apprehensive of exactly how such an encounter might transpire.
"Just try to get some rest, brother." Al pulled the sheets back over him. "We'll figure out what to do next in the morning."
Ed chuckled, "You're lucky you don't have to worry about bad dreams."
Alphonse looked down at the bed sheets. "It's something I honestly miss. Even bad dreams would be better than none—to me at least."
Ed smiled sadly and closed his eyes, attempting to return to sleep despite his restlessness and hesitation at resuming any dreams involving Emilee and that disgusting homunculus.