OH EM GEE! CHAPTER 5! Finally! I planned on typing it up over the weekend, but our school was having Sadie Hawkins dance. Lesson learned: Never EVER go to Sadies with the flu. Especially after chugging down 3 glasses of Mountain Dew at Pizza Hut before hand. Ug. But aside from my pathetic social mess ups, I finally memorized the full version of Ready, Steady, Go! That song gets me pumped! Pumped up enough to finish typing this on a Sunday night! Enjoy!

Both groups, weak and tired from their adventures, had finally settled into bed. Ed, Mustang, and Hughes in one room, and Riza and Al in another, each one a hallway apart. In the room of three, Ed had taken a single person bed as well as Roy, while Hughes lay spread out on the floor under a thick quilt. Both Mustang and Hughes were already asleep, which, in Hughes' case, was completely obvious as he was drooling and hugging his pillow and at one point, moaned something about Alicia and a plate of waffles. Ed leaned his head back against his pillow and yawned. He was still wide awake. Wondering how late it was, he opened his State Alchemist's pocket watch to check the time. "11:36," he whispered under his breath. He rolled over pulling a pillow over his head. He couldn't believe it was only 11:36, it felt so much later. And no matter how long he kept his eyes sealed shut, he couldn't fall asleep! But what with Hughes' snores and talking, and the fact that his bed was old and nearly broken in half, Ed wasn't surprised. His tired eyes wandered around the room, staring at the ceiling and walls. He rolled over, and yawned again, facing the other side of the room. Pulling the covers over his head, he checked the time again. 11:37. "This gonna be a long night," he muttered under the blankets.

Back in the other room, Riza and Al were far from sleepy. Riza sat up in a ball, clenching her knees close to her chest, while Al sat huddled on a large couch doing the same. The two sat there paranoid, as they looked around the room. "What if the ghost comes out of the closet?" Al whispered to Riza. Riza gulped and and ran up the closet door, propped it with a chair, then ran back to the bed. "What if the ghost comes from under the bed?" Riza asked. Al quickly sprung up and jammed pillows and blankets under Riza's bed, then ran back the his couch. "What if the ghost comes through the window?" Al said, shaking. Riza got up again and moved a bookcase in front of the window, then, again, ran back to her bed. (You could probably guess how long this had been going on.) Just as Riza climbed back onto her bed, she shot a look back at Al who has grabbed hold of his kitten and gasped. "What is it!" whispered Riza nervously. Al jumped up and tiptoed to her bed and pointed at the door. "I heard something!" he cried.

"What was it?" she asked, nervously.

"You know how in the story, the ghost was said to roam the hallways humming her song?"

Riza went pale, and swallowed hard. "You sure you weren't just hearing things?" she asked. Al covered his head under the blankets and nodded. Just then, they heard foot steps walking by, making the floor boards creak. Riza grabbed the covers and hid her head along with Al. As the foot steps passed up their room, Riza peeked her head out from under the covers. Letting out a sigh of relief, she grabbed a nearby cane that had been propped against the wall. She stood up bravely and inched toward the door. "Riza, what are you doing?" Al whispered.

"Don't worry Alphonse, I'll get to the bottom of this." She reached an outstretched hand toward the doorknob and creaked the door open. Moving out through the threshold, she looked back at Al. "Wish me luck." Al held his kitten and saluted to her. "Good luck."

Ed still tossed and turned on his terribly stiff bed, trying to get comfortable. He opened his watch to check time once again. "At least ten minutes had to have passed by now," he whispered hopefully. He held his watch up to the lit candle but sighed. "11:39." Why couldn't he sleep? Even if his bed was uncomfortable, and Hughes' was now moaning about flying trains, he had slept in worst conditions before. It sat in silence, thinking. Was he sick? No. Maybe he was hungry? That could be it. Besides, it's not like he was scared or anything. His eyes shot open. "No," he said to himself, smiling. "I'm Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist! I've toughed out scary moments that people can't even THINK of with out getting afraid! There's no way I could be-" He stopped. He listened as footsteps creaked outside the door. He scanned the room nervously and began chattering. Had it gotten colder? Ed quickly picked up the candle and looked around the room. "I'm not scared." He told himself confidently. "Nope. Not me!" As he waved his dim candle around him a cold breeze wisped by him and blew the candle out. A sweat drop formed over Ed's head as he nervously looked around the room. "Hey Mustang!" he whispered. "Can I get some light over here? Hello!" Ed launched a pillow in the direction of Mustang's bed. No response. "Great." Ed thought to himself. "Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse." Hughes let out a loud snort, as Ed crossed his arms and sat back on the bed.

Riza tiptoed down the dark hallway, holding the cane she found out in front of her. She clutched it hard to keep her hands from shaking. She continued down the hallway, looking right and left and checking behind her at every moment. A cold breeze blew by, giving her the chills, as she turned to look behind her, raising her cane above her head. Nothing was there. She sighed putting her hand over her heart. She turned back around, and kept inching down the hall. As she took second step, she felt her foot get caught on something. "Ouch!" she hissed under her breath, as she stubbed her toe. She knelt down at her foot to release it from whatever it was caught on. Feeling the outside of her foot, her hand grazed something wooden and cold. Moving her fingers along it, she grabbed hold and lifted it up. It wasn't budging. "This is hopeless," she whispered. She stood back up, rubbing her foot and gripped her cane again. Stepping forward, she noticed a dim light not to far from her. She stared for a moment, debating whether or not approach it. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she took a step forward. As she inched across the carpeted floor, the light started to moved towards her. She stopped as the candle light approached fast. Not thinking, she raised her cane in panic. But light was drawing closer, and she needed to escape it. Getting an idea, she pivoted her foot, turning around. In that moment she sprinted to the end the hall with a plan. She ran around the corner stopping and moving against the wall. She could hear each footstep beating as fast as her heart, as they got louder. Getting ready, she raised her cane in the air. "On the count of three," she told herself. "One..Two..THREE!" On three, she swung her cane down, just as light came around the corner. Her frown turned to a smirk, as the candle fell to the floor. She smiled and looked down at the floor, seeing the shadow of a figure. She picked up the candle, and shined its dim light at the figure. "Ha!" she yelled. "I got you ghost!" The figure moaned groggily. "G-ghost? What ghost!"

A chill went up Riza's spine. She'd recognize that deep voice anywhere. "Roy!" she cried, moving the candle to the face of the figure. Just as she'd feared, she had smacked one of the military's top ranked Colonels over the head with a walking stick. She dropped the cane and bent down next to him. "I-I'm sorry, it's just, I thought you were the-" Mustang sat up and looked over at her. "There's no ghost, Hawkeye." She looked down, embarrassed. "Right."

"But you've got one hell of a swing." He said rubbing his head and checking his hand for blood. Riza, looked down, forcing a smile. "So, just what where doing up anyway?" he asked, changing his tone. Riza looked up and scratched the back of her head. "Well, Alphonse said he heard humming, and we both heard footsteps, but I guess that was just you this whole time." Mustang's eyes narrowed. "I only walked by here because I heard the humming." There was an awkward silence. Then Riza stood up and took Mustang's hand. "I found something over here!" she said, pulling him behind her.

She walked him over to the wooden thing she had hurt her foot on earlier. Shining the candle light on it, Mustang took hold and gave it a pull, but it again didn't budge. He rubbed his chin in confusion. "Stand back," he ordered. Riza took a few steps back, as Mustang peeled off the rug they were standing on. As he shoved the rug out of the way he shined the light at it revealing a trap door. They both reached for the handle again together lifted it up. Looking under the trap door, they found a secret passage. Mustang stared at the dark hole in the floor for a minute. "Um, ladies first," he said standing aside for Riza. She shot him a look then scooted toward the hole. She sat at the edge lowering a leg down. "Well, here goes nothing." She announced doubtfully, leaping into the hole.

Upon hitting the soft dirt ground below, Riza crawled forward to make room for Mustang. He leaped in behind her with the candle. "Where do you think it goes?" She asked. Mustang smiled. "Only one way to find out." Riza nodded and moved forward. The passage was narrow, and the moisture of the dirt and mold made it smell musty. Above them, the roof of the passage was low and coated in cobwebs, forcing them to crawl their way through the tunnel. Riza led them deeper into the passage, anxious and curious to see what awaited them at the other side. She shivered while a cold breeze brushed by her, making the passage noticeably colder. Zoned out by the darkness in the tunnel, she didn't notice her candle dying out. She then realized just how hard it was becoming to see. Glancing back at the candle, she saw that there was no wax nor wick left. Panicking, she stared ahead of her, unable to see if they'd reached the end or not. Squinting her eyes, she stopped, as Mustang ran into her from behind. "What's the hold up?" Mustang called to her. "I-I can't see anything! The candle's dead!" Mustang sighed. "Here, I'll switch you places." He moved up next her to take the lead. He shoved against her shoulder squirming back and forth. "Um, could you move over?" he asked, reaching a hand forward. "You've already got me pinned to the wall!" she protested. They both wriggled back and forth trying to pass through. Mustang collapsed to the wet soil and panted. "This isn't going to work." He moved back behind her. "What are you doing?" she asked. Mustang lifted his body up. "If we can't go around each other, than we'll have to go over." Riza thought for moment, wondering if Mustang's idea would even work, but nodded her head in agreement. "Alright," Mustang began. "Just lie down, and I'll pass over you." Riza gulped, and her heart began to race, but obeyed and layed down on her side. Mustang stood up as high as the roof of the tunnel allowed him, then inched forward. He scooted slowly passed her, setting his hands down by her legs supporting himself up. Riza's heart was racing even faster now. But, why? The man that was over her now was the same man she'd been annoyed with for years! The same man who let his pride cover up the little common sense he had! The same womanizing man who wanted the womens' uniform changed to miniskirts! So why did she feel like this now? But before she came to the conclusion, a roll of thunder boomed, echoing the tunnel. And before Mustang knew what hit him, a rock fell from the dirt roof above them bonking him on the head where he was hit earlier. Mustang's eyes went swirly as he collapsed onto Riza's chest. Riza gasped as her face went tomato red, and as she struggled to push a now unconscious Roy Mustnag off of her.

Back in the room, Ed lay rolled in a ball shivering under the covers. "Hughes!" he hissed from his bed. "Hughes wake up! Mustang's gone!" Hughes rolled over, as he drolled all over his pillow. "Roy ain't gone," he moaned. "He's probably out on the flying train again. Y'know? With the..the, uh bunnies. Yeah, bunnies." He rolled over and let out a snore again, while Ed sat on the bed twitching his eye. Just then, the door to Ed's room swung open. In the doorway stood Al, holding his kitten in one hand and a candle in the other. "Nii-san! Help, I'm worried!" Ed stood up and moved toward the door, careful not to step on the sleeping Hughes. "What is it?" he asked, a scared tone in his voice. "It's Riza, she left about a half and hour ago to stop the ghost! But she hasn't come back yet!" Ed went white, and cleared his throat. "A-Al," he stammered. "There's no ghost! I-I made that up, re-remember?"

"But we heard the humming! And there were footsteps outside of our door!" Ed swallowed and scratched his head, trying to think straight without panicking. "Okay," he sighed. "We'll go look for her. And besides, Mustang is missing, too." Al nodded and tiptoed toward the door. "Um, should we get Hughes to come with us?" Al asked, pointing to the blob under the quilt. "Just leave that to me." Ed said, smirking. He approached Hughes and bent down to the floor to the point where Hughes could hear him. "Hey there Hughes," Ed chimed. Hughes snored and pulled his quilt over his head. "Hughes, did you hear?" Ed whispered. "Hear what?" Hughes moaned.

Ed giggled. "Alicia was kidnapped!" Hughes eyes shot open and he flew into the air. "ALICIA!" he yelled urgently. "Where'd they take her!" Ed fell backward. "Calm down, I was just trying to wake you up!"

Hughes smiled. "So, so, Alicia's okay?"

Ed nodded.

Hughes layed back down. "Geez, Edward, you nearly gave me a heart attack! If I ever-"

"No time to talk!" Ed snapped, cutting him off. "Mustang and Riza have gone missing, and it's up to us to find 'em!" Ed grabbed Hughes by the collar and pulled him up. And as the clock chimed midnight, the three; Ed, Al, and Hughes, darted out the door in search of their friends. But will they think when they find them! FIND OUT IN CAPTER 6!

Finally, that's done! Sorry this one's a little longer than the rest. Okay, it's a LOT longer, but I had a lot to fit in. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed typing it! Chapter 6 is soon to come, so don't miss it!