"All hell has broke loose. Murderous deeds, dead bodies, cruel fates. They don't deserve this! They haven't done anything! I'll hunt down the one responsible for this and make them pay! It's my dangerous little game of hide and seek."
"But to the contrary, who is hiding and who is seeking?"
555
Edward tensed his fists, grabbing hold of the powder white bed sheets. The light continued to pour into the room. It did not stop and it would soon engulf both of them in a bright veil.
The food left on the night stand was now cold upon being ignored for the past hour that Winery and Edward had been sitting in a deafening science. So deafening it could kill. If both of them had not been in such a dazed state to notice they would have been dead on the spot.
Winry had decided to sit next to Edward a while ago after her brain finally registered what had just happened. The kiss, it was so sudden! Maybe a little too sudden perhaps?
Edward was always something she couldn't have. Like an expensive object in a store. Where you'd always tell your mom you wanted it. You'd beg and plead, even throw a tantrum, but never once would you actually get it. Your mom would shake her head and tell you that didn't need it and that it was too much. Too much money and work into a small little object that would most likely be thrown on the side after a few weeks. But you decided you did need it. You absolutely had to have it! It was the only thing you knew you'd ever want. It felt so above all the other things you owned. And finally being able to hold it in your own two hands was amazing. Like a life long dream had been fulfilled. Your heart soared. That was how Winry Rockbell felt when she was given that gift known as Edward's kiss. Well, that was how half of her heart felt. One side was screaming for it to end, screaming in hopes that maybe she would stop returning the kiss. While the other ushered the experience on. Though her reasons for being so half hearted was clear as day. unknown to everyone but her.
"Shall I tell you then?" Edward began. Breaking Winry out of her delusional world.
"Okay..." She spoke like a shy little girl after feeling her hand brush slightly against Edward's. He flinched slightly only making her blush darken about ten shades.
"Sorry." She whispered inching herself away from him, if only a little. Just enough to keep from touching each other accidentally.
"It's alright." He whispered back. It was as if the two were playing a game of hide-and-seek like they used to. They always used hushed voices, never wanting to be caught.
"But I still don't see how you don't remember a thing about it." Edward spoke. "It's not something that's easy to forget."
"I'm sorry." She apologized again.
"Whatever. Let's just get on with the story." Irritation crept through his words no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
"Okay. Tell me everything I need to know."
555
"Ticket?" The man questioned as he held out his hand waiting to receive what he had asked for.
The man wore a nicely ironed blue coat with a matching blue hat. And to top the whole outfit off he also wore white gloves much like the ones I often where to hide my auto-mail. I don't think people would take to it too nicely if they saw someone walking around with a mechanical arm. They would have far too many questions and I would be given far too many stares. But this man wore his gloves for an entirely different purpose.
His hair was greased back and an awful smell emanated from his body. I figured it was cologne and shrugged it off. I had no idea how people put that on themselves. Did it really attract girls? Well, all I knew was that it killed my nose, quite literally.
"Where's your ticket?" He asked again, but this time his voice was a bit more demanding. "No ticket, no ride. You understand, kid?"
Kid! Where does he get off calling me a kid? I'm sixteen you idiot! Sixteen! That was what my mind was screaming, but I certainly didn't say that aloud. I atleast am not an idiot! If I were late arriving at East Headquarters I'd be in a lot of trouble. Especially since colonel kept insisting it was oh-so-important. I wouldn't be surprised if he disbanded my research. And I definitely could not let that happen.
"Stupid colonel..." I muttered underneath my breath.
"Excuse me?" The ticket man asked rather appalled in thinking I was talking about him.
"Sorry, I was just talking to myself." I apologized while waving my hands in the air, trying to make peace with the enemy.
"Whatever." He mumbled.
I suppose he didn't accept my apology.
"Now where's your ticket?" Irritation was a clear emotion on his face. He might as well have painted the words "I am so damn pissed off!" on his forehead in red paint. It would have had an equal effect.
"Oh yeah." I smiled kindly making sure I didn't upset the man further. To tell the truth, I sort of forgot the whole reason I was talking him.
"It's...somewhere...in...here..." I stretched out the sentence as I rummaged through the pocket of my coat in search for my lost ticket.
"Hurry up! The train is leaving s-"
"Ah, here it is!" I rejoiced as I pulled the ticket from my bottomless pocket interrupting the man right in the middle of his sentence.
"Give it here then!" The man barked. He took the ticket from me in haste nearly wrenching off my arm in the process. But at the very moment our hands made contact I felt a jolt of electricity force it's way through my arm. It was my human arm, my I add, and It did hurt. It was so similar to a real electrical shock that my whole arm went numb. It didn't really bother me all that much since I had felt worse so I simply shrugged it off.
He punched the ticket and motioned for me to take a seat. I did as I was told. But, damn, I felt like a whipped dog! Following orders made me cringe.
I laid back and rested my feet on the chair infront of my own. A man sitting on that chair gave me a glare signaling me to put my feet down, but I didn't care. I put my hands lazily behind my head and let out a deep sigh. I was already having trouble dealing with people and I didn't even get to East Headquarters yet! Trouble seemed to follow me around like a magnet attracted to metal and it was getting tiresome. Couldn't I have just one day where everything would go exactly as planned? Was it so much to ask?
I let out another sigh and tapped my foot on the man's head. He turned around as angry as I thought he would be and I tried to keep a strait face while turning away so I wouldn't be that obvious. It was fun irritating this man. He was bald like Major Armstrong which only made it more fun! Most people's heads do not shine when they come in contact with sunlight. I know I'm rude, but I really needed a stress reliever and that man was it.
But I have to say, that after fifteen minutes of causing trouble to the man, it was getting rather boring. So I stopped. Simple as that. I brought my feet down to the stable ground only to knock something over with my right foot. It caused a clanging noise when it came in contact with the floor. I peaked curiously under my chair to see what exactly I had knocked over. A lantern? Luckily it wasn't lit, or else I would have set the train on fire. I shuddered at the thought of dozens of people and myself, going up in flames.
Then I turned to gaze out the window, another thing located to my right. I placed my head in the palm of my hand while leaning against the scratched and stained glass. And I couldn't help but think that four years was a long time to be away from everything that I've grown so accustomed to.
And to think that I'd probably never see Winry again. I shook the thought out of my head. No, it's a good thing she's gone. I stopped thinking, if only for a moment. But it's a bad thing she's with Ren. He's as much of a danger as I am, being in the military and all. Why does it have to be him!
The scenery zipped pass me. Not that I could see much. It was night and without the bright city lights everything outside was pitch black. But I could feel the cool night breeze blowing against my face. It was refreshing and made the train ride all the more peaceful. Besides the fact that my thoughts were getting me a bit irritated. But otherwise, yes, it was peaceful.
"Peaceful" could have described how those few moments felt in their entirety, but in a split second everything went from calm and enjoyable to frightening and chaotic.
The train's lights were turned off and then not only was the outside dark but everything, every space, every object, and every person, was engulfed in that black nothingness. I heard a few people gasp and a scared child whimper, though I thought nothing of it since the light would probably return to us in a few minutes. I didn't feel the need to overreact. But that's where I was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. Because that's when I heard a scream. A blood curdling scream.
At that very moment, I shot up from my seat. I had to find the cause of that scream. It wasn't a scream that gave off shock, it was a scream that gave off death. And as much as I hated to admit it, someone in this train was either dead of very close to it.
I know I shouldn't be shaken up by such things as pitiful as screams, or blood, or death, but somehow even if I have come close to death countless times myself, I can't help but let it bother me. "Other peoples' lives are just as important as your own", or so mother had once told me. And now I have a strong belief that what she told me was indeed true.
I closed my eyes and tried my very best to think, although the screams kept echoing through the entire train causing more people to gasp and my head to ache.
If those people wanted me to find out just exactly what was going on, they needed to be quiet. But I really couldn't blame them. People are weak. People are frightened by the littlest of things. People are easily deceived. I'm one of those people. I am no different. That is why I can't blame them. It's our true nature, after all.
The screams were getting more desperate and I was beginning to lose my patience. I couldn't allow myself to sit around to think up a plan. The plan would no doubt be useless if I were 'too late'.
But what could I do if there was no light? Even if I found out the cause and I was faced with a murderer or something worse, what could I do if I couldn't see? I've fought a lot of battles but I don't recall fighting in the pitch black of night.
But wait. That lantern from earlier. If I can find it maybe I can find some way of lighting it.
I bent down, onto my hands and knees, and started to feel my way around. All I touched was cold ground. Damn! Then I felt something and I knew right away I had found it. The lantern! My fingers slid across it's smooth surface causing the object to jingle slightly. I collected it greedily into my hands. Now the real problem, finding something to light this thing.
I squinted my eyes and tried my best to see the lantern clearly. I turned it over in my hands examining it to it's fullest. How else was I going to find a way to light it?
"Something hot." The little voice in my head answered.
I mentally slapped myself.
"No, ya think?" I asked it sarcastically.
"Fire!" It yipped.
And for that one split-of-a-second, may I add it was a horrible moment, I wished I was the colonel. I still shudder at the thought.
'Dog of the military', obsessed with miniskirts, totally self-centered, with that stupid, irritating smirk! Ahhhh! I'd rather die than be him!...But he is tall. No, shut up! Shut up!
"I don't have fire..." I said sadly a maybe a bit irritatingly.
But I do have alchemy!
I don't know why I hadn't thought of this earlier. Isn't it obvious? I could transmute something that could help me create fire!
But what to transmute? What, on a train, was worth transmuting? And even if I did find something, what object could I transmute it into?
Oh, damn! This is getting me absolutely nowhere! Think, think, think, th-
Just then another glass-shattering scream filtered through the night air. It wasn't the same scream as before. I was positive and willing to stake my life on it.
When this realization came to me, my heart sunk. I knew it was probably too late to save the other person from whomever or whatever caused them to call out like that, in such a way it didn't even sound human anymore. More like a monster. Much more like a monster.
"A monster..." I whispered. Thinking in my head alone, was no longer enough. I needed to speak my thoughts aloud even if I was talking to no one in particular. I guess it was more of an assurance for me.
The next second my blood ran cold when I felt a tap on my shoulder.
Oh, hell.
I spun around only to have my pulse come to a halt when I noticed the face of the person that had wanted my attention. The ticket man! Oh, how grateful I was to see that stern face and smell that awful cologne! I could have been faced with something worse than smell, right?
"Uhh...", was the only sound my mouth could manage at the moment.
"You've got to stop whatever it is that is...doing that." He sounded rather frantic. So unlike how he was when I first encountered him. And the way he ended his sentence, what was that! What did he mean by, "doing that"!
"I..." Sorry, I still couldn't say anything. But, hey, atleast I said a word this time! If one letter words even amount to anything.
"You're a state alchemist! You have to help!" The ticket man was now reduced to begging.
How did he know that I was a state alchemist! Well, duh, you are kind of popular. I know, but still... It's weird.
"I would help, but I can't really see." I brought the unlit lantern up to eye level and my face rather close to his while I gestured to the object. I wouldn't normally go that close to a person but it was dark and I don't think he would see me if I didn't.
"Oh!" He sounded surprised. Like it was really that hard to miss that we were both standing in the pitch black of night in a train that harbored screaming passengers.
The ticket man, whom I still didn't know his name, pulled out a small lighter from the front pocket of his uniform. He snatched the lantern from my hands and started a fire inside of it's glass walls.
I stared in awe as the light glowed a powerful orange glow in the midst of night. How powerful just one flame was. How it sliced throughout the darkness like a hot knife through butter.
He handed me the newly lit lantern with a slight smirk on his face. He seemed proud of his work.
"Thanks." I whispered as I held the handle firmly between my fingers. It made soft clanging noises every time I adjusted my fingers. I was holding it with my right hand, after all.
"No, there is no need for 'thanks'. I need to thank you for helping me." He smiled a genuine smile.
"Like you said, it's my job." I returned the favor and gave him a smile of my own even though I was not fond of dealing with such situations.
The ticket man nodded. "Yes. Of course."
I turned to walk through the aisle. But just as I turned the opposing direction, I failed to see something that could prove fatal. I failed to notice the devilish smirk that crept over the man's face. It was as if the devil himself were smiling back at my foolishness, laughing on the inside. That ticket man, there was indeed something strange about him. Too bad I couldn't place my finger on it until it was too late.
(A/N: Thought I was going to end it here? Nope. Keep going.)
555
Upon running at top speed I had reached the third car. Or should I say that I jumped three cars from where I was originally. Whichever way makes the most sense to you, I guess.
I figured whoever it was, was in the front car. I could easily tell because I followed a trail of...dead bodies. The blood was fresh, still wet. It had only been minutes since the murderer had been there. And the smell was unmistakable. Truly indescribable. I'd never be able to describe to you just exactly how it smells. How it tickles the senses in such a way to make you give up your lunch. If you ever get a chance to take a whiff of something this gruesome I pity you.
I had bent down to get a closer look at the cuts and discovered something helpful.
This... I ran my bare finger along the bloody gash. Was caused by a knife.
I observed the thick, maroon, liquid that cascaded down my finger in a slow moving river. And I felt my eyes water as they fell upon a little girl clutching a rag doll tightly to chest. Blood was spattered on her pale, porcelain face and her legs...I don't want to go into detail seeing as you understand where this is headed.
"How could anyone...?" I asked myself even thought this time I knew the answer to my own question. I knew people, strike that, demons did this for fun, for self gain, for despicable purposes that I could not even begin to comprehend.
I lowered my head and cried for that girl. I, Edward Elric the Full Metal Alchemist, cried for someone I didn't even know. I shed my own tears. I was going to get who ever did this to her, to them, to all of these innocent people! I would avenge them all! They did not deserve such a fate. And that was my second mistake, thinking it was going to be easy. Nothing in my life was ever that way. Nothing.
(A/N: Keep going. This is a long chapter, yes, I know. But, please, you have to read all the way to the end. There is something rather...unexpected.)
555
This was it. I was standing in front of the door leading inside of the front car. Who knows what would be waiting for me. And to tell the truth I was a little afraid. What if I couldn't defeat the murderer? What if I am dealt the same fate as everyone else on this train? What if I can never find Al? What if I never see Winry again? I couldn't possibly pull myself away from those kinds of thoughts. It was only natural to feel this way when you stare death strait in the eye. But I still managed to pull open that door separating me from the truth. From the murderer. I still don't recall how I mustered enough courage to do so.
I held out the lantern infront of myself, lighting the way. I panned the car only to come face to face with more soulless shells, none that I could help in any way. My powers were limited. After all, alchemy cannot revive the dead. I know that for a fact. Trial and error.
I turned a corner and found myself infront of yet another horrible door.
This car had much more rooms than I had suspected. Much more places for the murderer to be hiding. Much more spaces for them to be lurking. It was nerve racking to think that at any moment the murderer could come up from behind and kill me like all the other unsuspecting victims. But I could not let that happen. I wouldn't let that be the end.
I shoved open the large wooden door with such force that the car shook slightly underneath my feet. And I hoped to hell that the murderer hadn't had this planned out.
My eyes widened in pure shock when they rested upon a dying man...wearing a ticket man's uniform!
"What the-!" I rushed over to him and noticed he was mumbling something. Though his uniform was soaked with blood and his arms covered in, which was unmistakably, knife wounds, he still strived to tell me something. Perhaps a last request? For his family maybe?
"Please, what is it?" I asked wanting him to repeat himself.
"Beh...in...ou..." He tried so desperately to make his words verbal but I just could not understand.
I leaned in a little closer. I could tell his heart was failing him and about to die out soon.
"Please, sir. You must try and speak louder. I'll make sure your request is carried out." I hoped that his soul would remain in his body long enough so that he would have time to speak his last words.
"Behin...d...ou..." He mumbled yet again though this time I could catch what he was saying. But it made no scene!
"Behind me?" I pointed at myself in a gesture. I tilted my head slightly to the side. I just could not comprehend this man's words.
He gave a slight nod before his body went limp. I could tell he was now gone.
"Behind you?" I told myself again as if it would help me understand. "Behind me!" And it indeed did. I finally understood the meaning to his words and I spun around immediately to face a blade coming down on me fast.
I rolled to the side, still on my hands and knees and then looked up at the shadowy figure.
It's him...
When I had rolled to the side to avoid the edge of the murderous blade I had somehow knocked over the lantern in the process, it caught fire on the rug. Things were getting bad and they were only going to get worse.
I just looked around while the whole room was engulfed in flames while the murderer and I stood in the middle of the flaming inferno. But I still couldn't see his face as I had now realized that he was cloaked in a black cape. And I wish that I had never seen his face. I really do wish he had stayed unknown. Though he was known, by me.
"It's been awhile, Onisan."
"A-Al!"
555
A/N:
Hi, everyone! The story is getting twisted, eh? I also had the thought of Winery being the murderer but it flows better if it's Al. Or...hmm... I'm also sorry if you were offended by him actually being the murderer, but well, you have to keep reading to find out more. It's not what it seems, FYI. That's your little hint. lol
A few chapters ago, kikyoreborn9295 had asked me a question concerning Ed's connection to Ren. Like if Ed was actually Ren. But I have to say I'm trying to keep that secret till the end when things slowly start to piece themselves together. So I guess you'll just have to find out yourselves. And to do so, keep reading!
I want to thank all of the people who have been reviewing. It means a lot to me when readers give feedback. Luv ya all! Have some cake!
Special Thanks:
This update was especially for my new readers, Jenbo and Kayizzle. They reviewed! Twice! Yay! I really wasn't going to update for another week or so, but when I read their reviews I felt like I absolutely had to! See how much reviews help. lol So for my loyal readers, please keep reviewing and I'll keep writing.
Ta ta for now!