Chapter 21: The New Me

Point of View: Third Person

Edward's sleep is going well, until it is interrupted by scarring fearful thoughts. In his dream, he is kidnapped again and tortured over and over again. He is stabbed, beaten, starved, nearly suffocated, and utterly miserable. At one point he is trapped in a cage, and as people walk by they laugh at his degradation. People throw food at him like an animal, and he just whimpers and eats it because he is so hungry. Then, when his miserable day is over he is dragged out of the cage by his hair. He screams at the top of his lungs as strands of hair are ripped from his head by the brute force. And he is back in that house again. Tied up, eating dog food, kicked and abused, stabbed and cut, and utterly neglected. Before the dream ends, he finds himself on the floor covered in filth and on top of him crushing his windpipe is Karl. Edward thrashes about in his sleep desperately trying to remove the hands that are cutting off his air, but nothing works. He coughs out loud and gags as he feels the air escaping his lungs. In a last stitch effort, he desperately screams for help with the air he has left. Roy runs into his room and grabs Edward's hands, trying to get him to stop choking himself. Edward's eyes fly open and they begin to roll into the back of his head. At last, Roy manages to wake Ed up and remove the boy's hands from his own throat. Edward wheezes with relief, but finds himself unconscious again from loss of oxygen. Roy quickly grabs him to keep him from falling off the bed and hitting his head on the floor. Hearing the screaming, Riza, Winry, and Al run from their rooms to investigate the commotion. They find nothing except an unconscious Edward and a sad Roy. Riza runs to Roy and hugs him tightly. Her eyes glance down to Ed's unconscious face, then go back up to Roy's face.

"Is he alright? He's not…not dead…is he?" Riza whimpers.

"No, I saved him just in time. He almost choked himself to death." Roy frowns.

"He what!?" Winry cries as she shoves past Al and Riza to get to Edward.

She quickly jerks him out of Roy's arms and hugs him close to her. She strokes his head lovingly, and proceeds to look for any bruises or marks. Nothing. With a sigh of relief, she lies his head on her lap.

"Well, do you mind telling me what you plan to do about this?" She frowns at Roy.

"Well, I…I don't know…" Roy stutters.

"Fine, if you don't have a plan I do, Roy. We tie him up before he goes to sleep, so he can't harm himself or others. Sure he'll be a bit uncomfortable, but he'll be safe." Riza smiles.

"What!?" Al and Winry scream in unison.

"No! You're not going to tie my brother up like some animal! He's been through enough!" Alphonse cries with rage.

"Al is right! Ed doesn't deserve that kind of treatment!" Winry grimaces.

"What other choice do we have?" Roy sighs as he puts his face in his hands.

"Maybe get him some medication! Did you ever think of that?! There are depression and suicide pills out there." Winry huffs.

"Fine! I've decided. We'll give him another day. If he does it again we'll get him some pills. But, if they don't work we're tying him up." Roy states with finality.

"Deal." Al and Winry say in unison.

Everyone walks out of the room after Al and Winry tuck Ed into his bed again. For the rest of the night they hear nothing. So far so good.

Point of View: Edward Elric

The next morning I awaken to find myself in my new room, and a feeling a soreness in my throat. I brush the pain off and rush downstairs, neglecting to pull my hair into a ponytail…probably a big mistake. Everyone is sitting in the living room and watching the news. I rub my eyes and blink sleepily with my long golden hair falling over the front of my shoulders. Everyone coos when they see my apparent childlike action, and immediately turn off the t.v. I blush brightly at everyone's adoring stares and quickly hide my face with a frown. With a sad "Aww…" everyone resumes their t.v. watching, but continue to steal glances at me. I notice some drool on the corner of my mouth and immediately rub it away. Everyone stares again.

"What the hell is up with you?! Got a staring problem or something?" I growl.

"No brother, it's just that you look more childlike without your hair up and with your pajamas on. We couldn't help but stare." Al coos.

"Yeah, you look adorable after you first wake up. We couldn't resist." Winry giggles.

"Well, whatever your hidden agenda is…please try to leave me out of it." I huff as I walk into the kitchen.

I rummage the fridge at top speed, looking for anything to fill my starving stomach. Everything is uncooked, so with a sad frown I trudge over to the chair across from everyone. They all whisper and giggle, and I really start to get pissed off.

"Hey, Eeeeed?" Winry coos.

"What now, Winry?!" I grit my teeth.

"Well, I wanted you to know that your shirt is almost completely unbuttoned." She blushes a bright shade of fuchsia.

I freeze and squeak with embarrassment. Everyone laughs as I fumble with the tiny buttons, so that I can cover myself. After what feels like an eternity, I finally button it and plop down with an angry huff. My cheeks continue to burn bright red. Winry giggles and nudges Alphonse. The Colonel looks at me with his trademark smirk, and I glare daggers at him, my blush not wavering a shade.

"Well, all jokes aside, Edward. How did you sleep? Any nightmares?" The Colonel asks.

"Yup, but it's fine. I'm okay." I say.

With that everyone gets started on my lunch like nothing ever was said. But, why do I feel like they're hiding something? The day flies by at lightning speed after I eat lunch. I get dressed after that. Then, after a few hours of constant reading I get to eat supper. Then, it is once again time for a shower. A less thorough one though. I trudge to the bathroom with my pajamas in hand. As I look in the mirror I find that I have my color back, and I have some more meat on my bones. My ribs are barely showing. My bruises are fading fast and my cuts are almost completely scabbed over. I scrub myself a bit less harshly and wash my hair just to be sure it's grime free. After I'm almost finished I get a massive headache. I grab my head and almost fall out of the bathtub into the floor. I catch myself with a foot, producing a loud clanking thud. I wrap a towel around myself and sit on the closed toilet lid. Winry rushes to my door and knocks frantically.

"It's unlocked." I say with a strain in my voice.

She quickly rushes inside.

"What's wrong?" She cries.

"My…my head…hurts." I stutter.

I sit there for a few more moments, then it feels like someone pushes me off of the toilet and my head slams against the wall. Winry screams at the top of her lungs like I'm dying or something. My head feels strangely sticky, so I reach up to feel and I see that it's blood. On first sight I nearly faint. Then, without even realizing it I lose control of myself. I bash my head against the wall over and over again. I hear Winry screaming through my mental haze, but I can't stop myself. I punch myself repeatedly, until I feel my ribs crack. And I transmute the metal towel rack into a butcher knife. I commence to cut myself and laugh at the pain. I lacerate myself over and over again, until I feel like I'll bleed to death. With one last maniacal cry of laughter, I stab myself in the stomach. Leaving the knife lodged in the wound. Winry screams for someone as I feel myself passing out. But, I don't? What the hell? I just continue lying there covered in blood without even acknowledging that I'm dying. I see blurs of people crowding into the bathroom around me. I feel myself going insane, oh no…CLICK

Point of View: Third Person

Edward looks at his cuts laughing maniacally and licking the blood from his flesh wrist. His pupils are wide and only a thin ring of gold can be seen. With a huge grin he shoves the knife deeper into his stomach. Winry and everyone nearly cry as they stare at the blood gushing out of his body. Then he jerks the knife out harshly slicing more into his stomach. Blood dribbles out of the corners of his mouth and his insane grin grows wider. And after that he threatens everyone with the knife, in turn they all step back except Winry and Al.

"Ed! Look at me! Please stop hurting yourself! Don't do this!" Winry cries.

"Brother, please! Just relax and drop the knife." Al says desperately.

Ed immediately seems to go back to normal. He blinks his eyes as if he's been asleep, then comes over to Al to hug him. Al hugs him tightly, but Ed snaps again and slices the knife across the chest plate of Al's armor. Al cries out with shock and Ed lunges at Riza, who he manages to land a slice across the arm on. Riza winces with pain and falls backwards as Ed brings the knife down to drive it straight through her skull. In a last stitch effort, Roy manages to get the knife out of Edward's hand. Ed angrily flails his arms around with rage, but Roy manages to get a rag over his nose and mouth and he's out in seconds.

"What the hell happened to him!?" Roy cries.

"I think he finally lost his mind…" Winry frowns.

"Wait a minute, Winry. Are you not telling us something?" Riza asks sternly.

"Honestly, if you haven't figured it out by now, then you're some pretty dumb adults." Winry huffs.

"Winry!? What's wrong with you? You never talk like that! It's like you're turning into Ed!" Al cries with shock.

"Maybe I am…or maybe I'm just the damned reason that he's went insane! Come on, Al! Your memory can't be that bad!" Winry yells.

Al immediately punches a hole in the wall. He grabs Winry's arm and squeezes it with rage.

"Of course! Because of you, Karl kidnapped my brother! Because of you, my brother was tortured! Because of you, my brother has went completely insane! You're lucky if I don't break your arm right now." Al threatens.

"Do it. I already feel enough remorse. Just add to the burden." Winry frowns.

"Hello, earth to Alphonse and Winry. What are you two talking about?" Riza asks.

"Well, little miss mechanic over here had the bright idea to talk to that psychopath Karl." Al growls.

"I didn't know he was a psychopath! I just wanted revenge on Scar, and he wanted revenge on Edward. It was equivalent exchange!" Winry cries.

"No! It's not! You got your heart broken, so you decided to throw Ed to the wolves just so you could have a taste of revenge!" Al yells.

"I didn't think he was going to torture him or make him insane!" Winry yells back.

"Alright, enough! It's over and done with. It was a low move, Winry. Even though Edward broke your heart that still gives you no right to get him tortured!" Roy intervenes.

"I already said "I'm Sorry." That's all I can say. Don't like it then kiss my ass, but I do feel truly remorseful about what's happened to Ed. Do not ever once think that I don't still care about him. It wouldn't matter if he broke my heart seven hundred more times, I'd still care about him. Now, since you guys are in accusatory moods I'm going to my hotel room. At least there people aren't going to keep putting the blame on me!" Winry huffs as she storms out the front door and slams it as hard as she can.

"Let's hope that Edward wakes up soon. It seems that this is only just beginning." Riza sighs.

So, I'm not sure if I posted late or not, but here it is anyway. College homework, high school homework, and just school in general…has kept me busy. Luckily, I've gotten some snow days so that I can write! Well, that's all for this chapter, hope you liked it, please review, like you would want to be reviewed, please. Also tell if you like it or not, I'm bound to add more details! Thank you for all of your support loyal readers! Hope you like the next chapter! As you can see the story is kind of dark right now, but it's about to get really dark really quick. Get ready for lots of fighting, killing, and all out brutality in maybe the next chapter and definitely the chapters to come. X3