TnC
Chap 14 – Monster?
Kate hadn't heard the knocking at the door. She also didn't hear the door open. The circle had been activated about twenty minutes now, and in about another ten minutes, things would be done. She glanced at Riza and smiled seeing the towel nearly completely soaked in the red ink. Riza was still sleeping peacefully and probably would for a while after it was over. She had decided that when Riza woke they should walk into town if the car still wasn't working and call Central. She shook her head as she thought about it again. They should walk into town and call home.
The crackle of alchemy going on around her was deafening. She didn't hear the confusion that was coming. One minute she was thinking about calling to talk to Ed, and the next she was being tackled and pulled away from the transmutation circle. The sound of alchemical buzz was fading to the sounds of chaos.
.o0o.
Ed was nervous as they opened the door. He could hear the buzz and crackle coming from the open basement door and led the way. He stopped on the stairs and saw Kate kneeling while activating a circle; Riza was lying motionless in the middle with a blood soaked towel covering her back.
His instinct immediately kicked in. "NO!" He jumped the banister screaming and wrapped his arms around Kate pulling her back and away from the circle with the lifeless Riza still laying there.
.o0o.
Roy had followed closely behind Ed. His heart jumped into his throat as he saw the scene before him. He couldn't get what the old man had said about using the blood of women and girls out of his head as he saw the red soaked towel laying across Riza's back.
He reached out his hand and snapped. Flames shot to where Kate had been just as Ed had pulled her away from the circle, saving Kate by a split second. He ran down the stairs and gathered his lover into his arms. He sobbed over her and began to wipe the towel against her back. He was too upset to notice her steady breathing or the fact that the familiar tattoo was reduced to a few lines and dots. He held tight to the woman that he thought was lost to him forever.
.o0o.
Jean followed behind Roy, unsure what to make of what he had seen. "Holy shit," he said quietly, unable to believe what was going on. "Is that really human transmutation?"
He never thought he would live to see it.
.o0o.
For a few moments, Kate's world seemed to stand still. Ed was really here. His arms were really around her. He really had come for her. It wasn't long before everything crashed around her again.
"Holy shit." She looked up to see Jean Havoc on the stairs. "Is that really human transmutation?"
She looked toward Riza and saw Roy holding her as if she were dying. When she looked up at Ed, he wouldn't take his eyes off of Roy and Riza.
If the world had stood still before, it was now rushing at twice its normal speed. Ed wasn't here for her, Roy was here for Riza. That much was obvious. And to think they really thought that she would do such a thing to Riza. Riza had become her best friend, and she would do anything for the woman.
The realization of what these men thought of her hit her hard. Tears threatened her eyes as she turned on Ed and hit him harder, backhanding him across the face. "Get the hell out of my house."
She got to her feet before any of the three men could react and ran up the stairs, nearly knocking over Jean in the process.
.o0o.
Jean made his way to Roy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey boss, she's waking up."
Roy looked and saw Riza's eyes fluttering open. "Thank the Gate your alive." He held her tighter and leaned down to give her a soft kiss. "I was so scared I had lost you."
Riza sat up feeling the last of the sleep fall from her mind. "What are you talking about, Roy? Where's Kate?"
Ed was still sitting on the floor, his cheek red where he had been slapped. He looked to the top of the stairs as he answered. "She ran off after we stopped her. What did she do to you that you couldn't protect yourself?"
Riza was confused. "What are you talking about, Ed? Protect myself from what?"
Roy kissed her forehead and tried to wipe more of the 'blood' from her back. "We walked in and she was doing Gate knows what to you. Your back was covered in…" He trailed off as he looked at the back he was wiping clean. Not only was there no sign of any wound besides the scar he had put there so many years ago, but the tattoo was nearly gone.
Ed broke into his thoughts. "Roy, look at the array. It's not human transmutation. I think it's medical."
Roy looked again at the towel that had been soaked in red and the few lines of the tattoo that remained on her back; the tattoo that was done in red ink. "This isn't blood is it?"
.o0o.
The four walked up from the basement to find Kate putting on her coat near the door. "You know where I'll be if you need me, Riza. If you feel like you need to entertain your guests you can use the picnic table in the back. If they don't want to walk back to town this late to stay at the inn they can sleep in the old barn. It's still nice enough. I just want them out of my house." Then the door closed and she was gone.
As Kate talked it was obvious to all of them how shaky her voice was. It was like a knife in Roy's heart. She was doing for Riza what he couldn't, and they had jumped to the worst of conclusions. He felt lower than dirt. "If she doesn't want us in her house let's respect her wishes. Riza? Would you lead the way?"
Riza led them through the small house and out into the back yard. Just as Kate had said there was a small weathered picnic table and a barn where the paint was peeling. Ed sat down with a pained look on his face and Roy sat across from him. Riza sat next to Roy and Jean decided he was too anxious to sit and leaned against a nearby tree instead.
Roy sighed, "I knew I shouldn't have let that old man get to me. When I saw you lying there I jumped to the worst conclusions. All I could think about was what he had said about using the blood of women and girls and the girls her mother had kidnapped."
Riza frowned. "I bet he didn't tell you that the girls her mother supposedly kidnapped turned up two days later when they had gotten bored of hiding after they decided to run away from home."
Roy pinched the bridge of his nose. "No. That part of the story we didn't get to hear."
Ed stood up. "She said you would know where she is. I have to talk to her."
Riza nodded. "If you follow the road down the way you came you'll pass a cemetery. She more than likely is there."
.o0o.
Ed walked through the cemetery and found her sitting on the ground in front of a group of headstones. She was hugging her legs to her chest and had her head down against her knees crying.
"Kate?" When she didn't look up he looked at the headstones. "Your mother is buried here too. That old man from town was right. You lied to me. You told me she walked out on you."
Kate sniffled. "I never lied to you, Ed. I told you she left. I never said how."
His fists clenched at his sides. "You told me you were with her when she was packing."
She shook her head and still never looked at him. "No, I told you she was getting ready." She took a deep breath. She knew that arguing was useless when someone decided that she really was the monster everyone thought her to be. "Forget it, Ed. Just believe what you want."
He stood there for a moment and watched her. Then he turned and left.
She listened to him walk away and her heart broke all over again. She knew as his footsteps faded that it wouldn't matter where she went from here. If she stayed in Liet, went to Central, or even ran away to Drachma or Xing, Ed would still be holding what was left of her heart in his automail fist.