Chapter Eleven: On the Border Between Life and Death

Pandemonium erupted. As Mayor Elric, Vato Falman and Maes Hughes rushed to restrain Anthony, the rest of the crowd, with Doctor Rockbell in the lead, surged around Riza and Roy.

Roy reeled with shock and growing dread even as Riza was taken from his hands and laid gently on the ground. The sight of his love, barely conscious, muted his senses, even his instinct for blood. Vaguely, he heard the doctor shouting and people running past him. Someone pushed him out of the circle of people, and Roy fell into a seat, staring blankly at nothing in particular.

With a bang, the church door flung open and Winry came running in with her father's medical kit. Taking it from her, Doctor Rockbell pulled out some surgical gauze and tried to staunch the blood. With no time to care for hygiene, his fingers plunged into the hole in Riza's shoulder, searching for the bullet still embedded in the muscle. Finding it, he pulled it out as Riza gave a loud cry. Blood now poured from the wound, faster than ever.

"I can't do it, she's losing too much blood!" the doctor shouted, signalling to his wife to search for something in his kit.

"Let me see her, let me see her!" Anthony's shouts echoed off the high ceiling of the church. The gun had fallen from his hand already, although his eyes retained their wild expression. "I'm her husband, let me see her! Elizabeth!"

Wiping his forehead on the sleeve of his blood-splattered suit, Doctor Rockbell threw aside the bloody wad of gauze in his hand, hurriedly dabbed some yellow liquid onto another, and pressed it against Riza's wound. The white pad immediately turned pink, then red, as it soaked up more and more blood. Riza's eyes rolled in their sockets. Rose seized her hand and held it tight.

"No! Riza, stay with us!" she called desperately. Riza blinked a few times, as though trying to focus, and, finally recognising her, managed a weak smile.

"I'm…going to die…aren't I?" she croaked out.

"We're trying to save you, Riza!" Rose assured her. "Don't worry… Do you want to see your husband?"

Riza tried to shake her head, but could not gather the strength for it. "No," she whispered instead. "The other man…"

"The vampire?" Gracia, who stood by Rose's side, frowned. "Hang on, I'll get him."

The midnight blue blur that was Gracia vanished from Riza's vision, and returned with someone in black in tow. Almost everyone moved away from him, as though he carried some plague. Rose moved back to make space for him, and he immediately took the hand that Rose had dropped.

"Riza!" Roy exclaimed, ignoring the rest of the crowd. "You should not be talking. Rest now, everything will be alright, I promise."

Riza tried to shake her head again, as Doctor Rockbell pulled out a third wad of gauze, which turned red as quickly as the other two had; the blood flow had not lessened at all.

"No, Roy," she whispered, so softly that Roy had to put his ear to her lips to hear her clearly. "I know…I am…about to die."

To this, Roy had no reply. He simply knelt there, caressing Riza's cold hand, holding it up to his lips.

"I don't…want to…die…"

If vampires had tears to cry, Riza's gown would have been soaking with tears by now. Roy did not want to lose Riza either, but how could he tell her that now?

"But…you can…save me…"

Roy frowned at Riza for a moment. And then it dawned upon him what she wanted him to do.

"No, I…" But he could not find any excuses this time. It was either that, or lose Riza forever.

With a sigh, Doctor Rockbell laid aside this gauze and looked directly at Roy. "I have heard that a vampire's saliva has blood coagulating and tissue regenerating properties," he stated in a whisper, so that the rest of the crowd could not hear. "Is that true?"

Roy nodded. "Yes, but the amount of saliva needed to close a wound that big would turn her into a vampire. I can't do that…"

"Bite me…Roy…" Riza gasped out. Her breath was now coming in short, raspy spurts. "Let me…spend an eternity…with you…"

"I…" Faltering, Roy turned to the doctor for advice. The latter shrugged.

"She is willing," he reasoned, "so I don't see why you shouldn't be. From what I witnessed today, she would rather be with you than with little Tony-lad anyway."

"Roy…" Riza had her eyes closed. Each breath visibly pained her now. Her face was almost as white as the dress she wore. "Roy… Please…"

Roy closed his eyes and swallowed. Then he lowered his lips to Riza's left shoulder, and began sucking at the blood. Saliva flowed, and Roy could feel the wound healing itself: torn muscles rejoining, ruptured blood vessels reconnecting, and finally, skins cells regenerating and forming themselves to cover Riza's wound.

Riza's breathing slowed, then stopped. Her heart thudded to a halt, and even as blood stopped flowing out of Riza's wound, it stopped flowing around her body. Roy lifted his head. Riza's eyes were closed. She looked peacefully asleep, and for a moment, Roy feared that he had been too late. But then he saw Riza's marble skin, and the sharpened tooth that jutted out from under Riza's lip, and he knew with a jolt that his job was done.

Riza's eyelids fluttered open to a collective sigh of relief around the church, and as she sat up, Roy caught a glimpse of red veins lining the whites of her eyes.

"Riza! You're alright!" someone shouted from amidst the crowd.

"Yeah! You're really amazing, Doctor Rockbell!" Voices of elation rose in the church as everyone rushed forward to greet Riza. Forgotten, Roy was pushed to the back, where he managed to slip away from the church, before someone remembered him and tried to capture him. From among the villagers, Rose caught a glimpse of the tail of Roy's black cloak as it fluttered momentarily in the breeze. Then he was gone.

"Riza! Let me through! I want to see my wife!" Anthony's voice cut through the rest of the murmurs. The man himself pushed his way through the throng of people and grinned widely at Riza. He opened his arms wide for a hug, but Riza pushed him away instead.

"I'm sorry, Anthony," she said quietly. "I cannot marry you. Not after you nearly killed me."

Anthony's grin faded, but before he could reply, Mrs Rockbell shot him a warning glance.

"Come, Riza dear," she said, putting her arm around the girl. "You've had a very great shock. Gosh, look how cold your hands are! You need to lie down and rest!"

With a nod to his wife, Doctor Rockbell scooped Riza into his strong arms, and carried her to his house, where she could use the patient's bed again. With a pitied glance at Anthony's stunned expression, Winry followed the two of them.

At the Rockbells', after much fussing and fluffing of pillows, the doctor's wife finally left Riza to get some rest. But even as the door to the patient's room closed, Riza had to admit to herself that despite the wormwood brew that Mrs Rockbell had given her once more, she was not fatigued at all. In fact, she felt energetic, as though she had just gone for a refreshing morning run. Getting off the bed, Riza crossed the room and examined herself in a mirror hanging on the wall opposite the bed. Her rosy-cheeked complexion was gone. She did not just look pale under her tanned skin, but as though any colour had been drained from her face, her arms and all over her body: her skin was now white as alabaster.

Pale and fair, just the way Anthony would have liked it, Riza thought, smiling wryly. She imagined herself seducing Anthony, and then biting him when he was not expecting it. He would certainly have deserved that, but Riza pushed the thought away. Inconsiderately as he had treated her, he had not beaten her or starved her, and anyway, she did not think she could bear to kill anyone, not even Anthony Briggs.

She now looked closer at her features. Her eyes had become bloodshot, and, giving the mirror an experimental smile, she saw that her teeth had become longer and more pointed. It had happened, and she hadn't felt a thing. She had become a vampire.

Yes, Riza. Roy's voice echoed in her head, as it had once did, here in this very room. It is done. You're one of us now…

I can't stay here anymore, can I? Riza asked, directing the thought at Roy.

No, we have to leave immediately.

Can't we wait…just to say goodbye? I mean, I didn't feel any urge to bite anyone, when Doctor Rockbell carried me back, and I still don't. Maybe the urges takes some time to settle in, so I have some time to give my last farewells…

Your time is almost up, Roy said sternly. Once the moon rises, you will start to feel something, and since this will be your first time, you might be caught unawares. You might hurt someone before you even know what is going on.

Roy could feel the disappointment in Riza, her determination to leave before hurting her friends, and her resultant dilemma. Leave a note to them, he suggested. Or write one to the doctor and ask him to cover for you. He knows, anyway. He was the one who encouraged me to do it.

Riza nodded, then remembered that Roy could not see her. Alright, she said. She found a pen and some paper in the drawer of the bedside table, and scribbled:

Dear Doctor Rockbell, thanks for your care of me in my entire stay in Gieseborough. I think you know my situation, and why I have chosen to leave the village tonight. Please explain things to Gracia, Rose and Winry. They deserve to know the truth. I would also appreciate it if you could persuade Anthony to give me up. I'm sure you'd agree that there is no way I can return and marry him. Thanks! – Riza

Slipping the note under the water jug on the table, Riza proceeded to search for some clothes. She found a simple dark brown dress of hers in the wardrobe, and hurriedly changed to that. As an afterthought, she shoved her wedding gown and veil into a large sack, and added a postscript to the note, expressing her thanks to Rose and the others for the gown.

Time to go, Roy said gently. The sun was already setting, casting a orangey-pink glow on the village and the villagers, as the latter of them bustled around, taking down the wedding decorations, and finishing up the wedding cake and banquet spread.

Riza opened her bedroom door just a fraction of the way, and peeped through the gap. The house seemed empty, so she quickly left the room, taking care to close the door behind her, and sneaked out of the back door of the cottage. There, leaning on the trunk of a tall apple tree, was Roy. Looking up, he smiled at her.

"Now, shall we go?" Roy asked, holding out his hand. Riza hesitated.

"There's still some daylight; won't people see us?"

Roy let out a snort of laughter. "See us?" he asked, once he had regained control. "Darling, we're vampires. We can disappear into the shadows!"

Riza frowned. "I thought that was just a figure of speech…"

"No, not at all." Roy shook his head. "As long as we keep in the shadows, we can run at, pardon the pun, light speed. Vampires call this flitting." Seeing Riza's doubtful expression, he added, "We can turn into bats too, if you want to know. Perhaps that would put your mind at greater ease…"

Riza shook her head hastily. "Flitting will do. But how…"

"Here take my hand." Roy's right hand closed on Riza's left. Where she once deemed Roy's hands and skin to be cold, she now felt no difference between his body temperature and her own. 'I'll lead you, and soon you'll be able to see how it's done. Come…"

And within seconds, the couple was gone, leaving in their trail a light rustling of leaves.