I actually got this chapter done quicker than I originally thought I would. As for when the fic will end, I still estimate that another five or so chapters are in order. I'm also hoping that I will be able to finish a few of those chapters before school starts, because once it does, it's going to be pure hell for me. :P
Alrighty, enough of my blatant self-promotion. I hope you enjoy reading this installment of the fic. :P
Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Chapter 4: Death by Knife
Winry lost track of time as her mind cycled through what took place about an hour ago. She almost refused to believe that Den's murder had actually transpired, though there was obviously no denying the fact that the corpse belonged to her dog. But what really troubled the blonde mechanic was her irresponsibility. She knew that a ruthless killer was running amok, yet she underestimated his tactics. Him massacring Den was something that she could never predict would happen, let alone simply killing the dog by conventional means.
Additionally, the knife's sudden appearance was questionable. Undoubtedly, if the blade hadn't made its presence known, then Den would still be alive. But another question arose: how did it get there? She thoroughly checked all the rooms in the house shortly after the knife was placed on the table, but there appeared to be no one else in the house.
No matter what Winry came up with, there always remained one obstacle that invalidated all of her theories, and that was the murderer himself. How did he manage to get inside her house unnoticed? Certainly Ed or her would be able to figure out if a third person was inside, but no such person was to be found so far. It was obvious that this was no run-of-the-mill killer; this guy couldn't be doing all of this by his own means. Alchemy was a possibility, but from the limited knowledge that she had, Winry knew that alchemy would be easy to point out if someone was using it.
Winry's mind drifted back to the events that took place right before she closed the door leading to the backyard. The front door was securely locked, and every window was closed. The only means of entry into the house were through the back door itself, which at the time was already being supervised. But the open window in her bedroom caused Winry to shiver slightly from fear. If she thought logically about the situation, then there was only one sensible conclusion: the killer must already be inside the house.
"Ed, I think I know where the murderer is," Winry whispered to the alchemist, feeling his arms hold her tighter.
"I figured the same," he replied, "This guy must be someone close to you, or at least someone that you trust. In this sense, he must be hiding somewhere in this town."
This wasn't what Winry had in mind, but Ed did bring up a valid point. It was beyond the reason of doubt that neither Al nor Pinako were responsible, but who then? Maybe someone from the military, but then again, she knew only a limited amount of people from that department.
Winry decided to present her idea. "Actually, what I meant was that the murderer is already inside this house. He could be hiding right now, just waiting for us to drop our guard."
Ed actually hadn't thought of that possibility initially. It seemed improbable that the person in question was indeed concealing himself right under their noses, considering that the only time that he could move about freely was during the night. However, the more Ed thought about it, the more sensible it seemed. Perhaps the murderer knew beforehand that the best hiding place would be inside his target's own home.
This troubled Ed greatly. If what Winry said was true, then committing another murder would be a simple task, considering that his greatest obstacle, which was to actually enter the house, had already been cleared. It became apparent that the best time for him to strike would be during the nighttime, or until both of them were asleep and defenseless. As a matter of fact, their safety would be in jeopardy if they were even so much as separated.
Quite obviously, Winry would be his first target. Considering that she was unarmed most of the time, the murderer would face little resistance, making for an easy kill. Ed himself could transmute his auto-mail, providing a source defense, but Winry had nothing except her trusty wrench, which wouldn't really help if the murderer was armed with a gun or any other projectile weapon.
Another option was to leave this house altogether and lodge elsewhere, but this would drag more people into danger. By killing Den, the murderer proved that he would stop at nothing until his goal was accomplished, even if that meant having to annihilate other humans. As much as Ed wanted to keep Winry safe, he knew that they would have to remain here.
"You're probably right, Winry," Ed admitted, not willing to put her at risk by assuming that the killer wasn't present already, "The last time that I took something for granted, something close to the both of us was killed."
Winry broke the embrace after what felt like hours, repositioning herself to sit on the bed's edge. "I don't know if I'll ever get over his death," she said quietly, reminiscing her last moments with the dog.
"If it helps, I saved Den's auto-mail leg for you," the alchemist said, trying to find a way to cheer up his best friend.
A small smile formed on Winry's face upon hearing this. It wasn't much, but at least she would have something to remember him by. "Thanks," was her reply, grateful for Ed's action.
He gave a light smile and nodded in response. "Anyway, I'm going to check out the situation in the backyard. If you want some time alone, then I'll understand," Ed said, standing up and stretching his arms.
"Maybe a few minutes, but I'll be fine," Winry said, giving Ed a reassuring smile as he left her room.
Frankly, she felt much better now. Even though Den's death still lingered on her mind, at least he could now rest peacefully for all eternity, safe from lunatic murderers and those wishing harm. However, Winry knew that she would have to be very careful now, lest the murderer already had death in store for her.
On a lighter note, Ed's hospitality towards her was something that merited recognition. True, he was being a good friend by comforting her, but this was a first. Usually he left her alone to sort out her emotions whenever she cried as a result of a tragic event, which somehow made her frustrated with his stupidity. As a matter of fact, what happened to the hot-headed, persistent, yet lovable jerk that she had grown accustomed to? Whatever the reason, she was overly grateful that he had gone that extra step this time in order to secure her sense of comfort.
Shaking off the brilliant blush on her face, Winry made the choice to move on with the day. The first order of business was to check out Den's auto-mail leg that Ed saved, which Winry assumed must be dirtied and damaged. Upon reaching the living room, she noticed the bloody, metallic leg lying on the table. Winry carefully picked it up, as not to lacerate the delicate metal in case it was already weaken, and headed to the kitchen sink.
"So, what are you going to do with that?" Ed asked as he appeared behind her, apparently wet from the now waning rain.
"Probably I'll wrap it up and put it somewhere safe. It's really the only thing that will remind me of him," Winry said rather sadly as she gently cleaned the grime off of the metal.
Ed nodded, and headed away to dry himself. Winry actually wondered what he did with the body, but decided to hold off on the question until a more appropriate time. In fact, a proper burial should be done, but she wasn't exactly sure as to how it would be accomplished considering Den's torn state.
The blond mechanic actually was glad that Pinako and Al weren't present, and she was sure that Ed agreed on this matter. She wasn't certain, however, as to how they would break the news to the elderly woman, but eventually it would have to be done, somehow. Al, on the other hand, probably wouldn't take it as badly, but it still would be hard on the two of them nonetheless.
After Winry was satisfied with the cleaning, she wrapped the metal limb in a towel and left it to dry near the sink. For some reason that was beyond her, Winry actually felt exhausted, even though she got adequate sleep last night . Maybe it was because of the day's unfortunate turnout, but whatever the cause, she knew that she needed to rest. A quick nap would easily rejuvenate her lost energy, and that was exactly what she planned to do.
Upon walking back into the living room, bound to relax on the couch, Winry discovered that Ed had beaten her to the spot. He was already lying around on the furniture in a lazy manner, with his eyes half-closed and his limbs sprawled out. The alchemist seemed to acknowledge her presence, and so he sat up to look at her.
"If you want to lie down here, then all you have to do is tell me," he said after noticing her tired state, standing up and offering his place before she even replied.
Winry smiled and gave an affirmative nod. "I guess that after what happened today, I'm just out of energy," the mechanic said as she curled up on the snug couch.
"I don't blame you," Ed said as he placed a blanket over her, "Oh, and don't worry about the murderer; I'll be watching out for him."
The blonde mechanic gave him a soft smile to show her gratitude. She watched as Ed pulled out a book, undoubtedly something related to alchemy, and retreated to a nearby chair. With Ed watching over her, Winry's final fears of being attacked were decimated. Her eyelids slowly drooped down; the gentle sound of the rain lulling her to sleep.
Winry found herself in a small room with a single, closed door in front of her, devoid of any furniture. Above her hung a lone light bulb, which was already turned on and shining freely. Judging from this room's contents, which consisted of a broom and other household products, she could safely predict that she was in a closet of some sort. She didn't know how or why she was here, but Winry could safely conclude that this wasn't her house anymore.
She pushed the plain, wooden door open, revealing that she was in a residential home. Directly across from the closet that she was in previously was the merged living and dining room. It resembled her house, with the exception of differences in furniture and overall structure. By looking out of the large window that was located on the far side of the room, Winry saw that the sun was setting and dusk was close at hand.
The blonde mechanic assumed that someone still lived here, and so she decided to make her presence known, just in case the owner thought that she was trespassing. However, Winry couldn't help but wonder why this place felt so familiar.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" she called out, but her question was answered in a different way.
A series of mortifying screams suddenly overtook the entire building, and the sounds of a struggle could be distinguished. The yelling seemed to be coming from a young female, but the actual scream was that of pain. Winry couldn't directly figure out where this person was, but the victim had to be nearby judging from the volume of the screams.
Though most of the commotion was muffled and incoherent, Winry was able to pick up certain fragments. One plea, however, was clear enough to be understood, "Leave me alone! Somebody, please help me!"
It occurred to Winry that the person was being tortured. She knew that it would be best to help this woman, but she stood paralyzed with fear. The blonde mechanic wasn't sure if she should aid the victim herself, or go get help before doing so. But then again, this person was being brutally beaten up, and Winry couldn't estimate how much longer she would last.
However, the blood-curdling pleas for help halted just as soon as they had started. Winry wasn't sure if the person was dead, or if she had survived the attack, but now was her chance to assist the victim. Winry entered another hallway through a different door located in the same room, which brought her to a ghastly scene.
She now stood in a rather narrow hallway, with closed doors that led to other rooms located on each side. The hallway's walls were splattered with oozing blood, and a series of red pools was all over the floor. By closely examining the floor itself, Winry could make out two pairs of bloody footprints that formed a messy trail across the hallway and into another room towards the end. Several glass picture frames that once hung from the walls were smashed, and the crystal slivers were sparsely distributed throughout the mess of blood.
Winry cautiously began making her way through the horrific scene, careful to avoid stepping on the many splinters of glass. The lighting was poor in this area, considering that the lights on the ceiling were also destroyed along with the absence of any windows. Upon reaching the end of the hallway, Winry turned into another room in accordance with the trail of red liquid.
She found herself in another medium sized room, which appeared to be the kitchen. The continuous trail of blood was heading right across this room and into yet another hallway, this time with the addition of what appeared to be pieces of human flesh that were left behind in the red liquid. There was also a fairly large dinner table turned upside-down in the center, along with a few broken chairs. Several drawers near the sink were open, with various items, ranging from spoons to rubber gloves, thrown around carelessly on the floor. However, a rather suspicious assortment of knives also was to be found near the blood.
The blonde mechanic found herself shaking with unease, hoping that she wouldn't encounter the same murderer that she pictured a few nights before. As Winry arrived in the new hallway, which was considerably shorter than the previous, she noticed a flickering light coming from a room that was all the way at the end. The amount of blood here had increased, possibility as a result of the victim's last attempt at an escape.
Winry proceeded slowly, just in case there was a surprise planned for her by the person responsible for this mess. The musty smell of the blood, however, was starting to get to Winry's mind, causing her to lose concentration. She actually wasn't sure what propelled her to go through with this, knowing that courage was unfortunately not one of her finer qualities. Either way, she had gone too far to back out now; the victim's life was far too important to ignore.
As she forged further down the gloomy hallway, Winry started to develop a feeling of anxiety. She knew that there were at least two other people in this house, and one of them was probably armed and lusting for yet another kill. At this point, she wasn't exactly sure as to where the attacker might be at this very moment, but this hallway was a dead end, meaning that she would have seen him or her by now if an escape was planned.
The soft sound of flowing water could be heard as Winry neared the target room. Indeed, the blood on the floor was mixing itself in the excess water, though she couldn't quite figure out how the water got there in the first place.
Winry slowly entered the room, but she was far from pleased with the sight. It turned out that this was the house's bathroom, and the sound of water could be traced to the high tub that was located in the corner. The entire tile floor, as well as portions of the bathtub, was stained with thick blood. Through the opaque shower curtain, Winry could barely make out the figure of a person floating in the overflowing bathtub. What troubled her more, however, was that the water spilling over from the tub contained a faint red hue.
The blonde mechanic felt her stomach churning, partially from anticipation and nausea. She wanted to know who was floating in the tub, but the constant sight of gore was taking its toll on her sanity. That damn light bulb that hung from above, which flickered on and off at two second intervals, only added to the atmosphere in this room. Winry desperately wanted just to get out, but her curiosity was starting to get the better of her.
Almost involuntarily, she began making her way closer to the closed shower curtain. Winry could have sworn that something had taken control of her, considering that her mind was demanding her to stop, but her legs kept moving. When she was about a foot from the tub, Winry raised a trembling hand and grabbed a bunch of the curtain. With one swift motion, she tore the curtain open, revealing a grizzly spectacle.
It turned out that the water in the tub was actually blood, though by now it had been greatly diluted. Barely floating in this mess was a lifeless human body, belonging to a young female with long brown hair, possibility in her mid-teens, just as Winry predicted. The dead corpse, which was facing downward into the tub, was clad in a dark shirt and green skirt, though the colors of the clothing had been altered by the crimson solution. The back of the body was littered by dozens of open knife wounds, which apparently served as the source of all the blood.
Winry gave a piercing scream and retreated into a wall, opposite of the tub. It was all she could do to not to vomit, but she was unable to suppress the qualms of sickness that overtook her. As the contents of her stomach emptied onto the floor, the blonde mechanic knew that she had to leave this place at once. She had absorbed far too much horrors and sickening images, enough to emotionally scar her.
After feeling herself recover, Winry began making her way out of the bathroom, but she immediately froze when the sound of steady footsteps in the hallway had emerged. The attacker couldn't have picked a better time if he or she planned to strike, considering that Winry was now at a dead-end.
At this moment, she was sick and weak, and not really up for a chase. Winry couldn't remain in this gory room any longer, but running out into the hallway could have equally as bad consequences. Then again, she would have a better chance if she got herself out of this room first, eliminating the attacker's opportunity to trap her. Upon taking a deep breath, Winry dashed out of the bathroom and sprinted down the hallway, barely managing to keep her balance.
She felt her arm brush past something, or rather someone, as she ran in the now dark corridor, hoping that it wasn't the attacker. Winry wasn't entirely sure where she was heading, but at least she wasn't near any blood right now. However, the sound of the footsteps had returned from behind her, and Winry didn't dare stop running now. The strange thing was that the footsteps were rather casual, but somehow, they were able to keep up with her dashing speed.
Winry realized her first fatal mistake when she unintentionally ran into a secluded room, an action that she wouldn't have done had the lighting in the house been adequate. In fact, perhaps night had already come, considering that the sky outside appeared dark from the only window in this room. But right now, time was the last of Winry's worries; the footsteps were getting louder and louder with each passing second.
Perhaps the person that was following her wouldn't see her hiding here, but Winry's hopes were shattered as a figure of a broad man appeared in the door frame opposite to her. Using whatever little light she had, Winry was able to determine that this was indeed the same person that she saw in her previous nightmares. Just like before, his face was cloaked by the black velvet darkness that seemed to control the room.
Dozens of things were running through Winry's mind right now, ranging from whether or not she would live to this person's real identify. Her thoughts were quickly diverted to the glistening knife, possibly the one that pinned the note to her front door, that the murderer clutched in his left hand. Winry was additionally shocked to realize that this person also held a suspiciously familiar pistol in his other hand, exactly the same one that she witnessed in previous nightmares.
She flinched when the man raised his knife-bearing hand, but his intention wasn't to strike a blow. Instead, a bloodstained, silver pocket watch dangled from his outstretched hand, close enough for Winry to identify it as the same one that Ed carried around.
"T-That can't be Ed's watch! He a-always carries it w-with him!" Winry choked out in desperation, hoping that this man was trying to deceive her. Judging from the crimson stains on the the once clean surface of the watch, Winry could easily tell that there was a struggle in order to obtain it.
The murderer seemed to be one step ahead of her. He retracted his hand, and slipped the knife beneath the lid of the watch, thereby opening it with a snap. Winry wasn't sure what he was trying to prove by doing this, but she quickly found out when the man once again showed her the watch, this time with the inside of the lid facing towards her.
She gasped in disbelief upon seeing the familiar engraving of a certain date in the silver. It turned out that this guy wasn't lying; he indeed possessed Ed's treasured watch. Winry felt tears slide down her face, not knowing about her best friend's wellbeing. What if the murderer had injured him in the process? Or worse, he could have downright killed Ed, something which Winry didn't dare to think about.
"What do y-you want with us?" Winry demanded, fighting back a powerful urge to burst out crying. As a result of his actions, she actually abhorred this person more than ever. "W-We never even did anything to you!"
The man didn't respond. Somehow, the blonde mechanic knew that she wasn't going to get any information from this guy by directly questioning him. Her eyes widened, however, when he tossed the watch over his back and started proceeding towards her. Winry was too afraid to make a defensive move, and instead remained deadlocked in this situation.
Without any further warning, the murderer brandished his knife and continued advancing onto her.
"ED!" Winry screamed out as a last act of desperation, right before the murderer brought the weapon down on her with no mercy.
Winry bolted up, looking around to orient herself once again. The first sight she noticed was that of two golden eyes, full of concern, staring at her from above.
"E-Ed?" she barely said, still slightly unsure of what had previously taken place.
The alchemist already seemed to know what went on. "Had another dream?" he inquired, seeing tiny drops of sweat forming on Winry's forehead. Her face was pale, and she was shaking slightly.
"Yes, and another person died in it," she replied quietly, attempting to relax her worried state.
Ed sighed as he sat down near her. By now, he knew that Winry's strange dreams had somehow predicted a situation before it happened, and this might the case as well for this dream. If a person's life was indeed at stake, perhaps he could interlude somehow and manage to save that victim. But this all depended on whether or not he could figure out who that victim might be.
"Winry, do you know who the victim was?" He deliberately spoke in a soft tone in order to avoid pressuring the shaken girl.
She took a moment before answering, trying to recollect her dream, "No, but I know that it was a girl, probably around my age. I think she had brown hair, but I can't be sure. But this dream was a little different from the other two, though."
Ed looked at her, slightly confused. "Really? In what way?"
"Well, I found myself in someone else's house, instead of my own like before," Winry retold, trying her hardest to maintain the details from the dream, "But the thing was, I felt like I've been in that place once. It all seemed so familiar, but I'm not exactly sure why."
This actually put the alchemist in a worse position than before. There was no denying the fact that someone was going to die, but at least the envisioned person wasn't one of the two. However, what if this person was a close friend? Considering that Winry seemed to vaguely remember her surroundings, Ed figured that the person must be someone that Winry visited at one point. The real problem, however, was that this whole murder situation could eventually grow into a much larger one, possibly big enough to attract the attention of the military.
Ed personally preferred that the military stayed away from this case. Sure, he could enlist the help of other officers in order to track down this bloodthirsty killer, but that would only amplify the situation's exposure to the public. He already suspected that the people of Risembool wouldn't be pleased with the presence of the military in their serene town, let alone the fact that a serial killer was walking unchecked amongst them.
However, there remained one question in Ed's mind that he just had to ask. "In your dream, did you see who the killer was?"
Winry closed her eyes, attempting to remember whatever detail about the man she observed, but she was fighting a losing battle. "He looked exactly like before, and I still couldn't see his face clearly. But this time, he brought a knife along with his gun."
"A knife? You mean, the one that you told me about?" Ed questioned, taking out the stained knife from his pocket.
"Maybe, but it looked similar to it," she replied, staring at the weapon with surveying eyes. In reality, she wasn't sure at all of the two knives bore any relation, but it seemed logical to believe the assumption was true.
To Ed, this was enough evidence. "In that case, I think we should hide this thing before that guy causes more damage with it," the alchemist said, standing up and proceeding to the back door of the house with Winry in close pursuit.
"Where are you going to put it?" the blonde mechanic questioned, unsure of a safe location to conceal the weapon.
"Right under the stairs," he replied, opening the door and stepping outside. The previous rain has lightened to a mere drizzle, allowing the two to walk outdoors without getting totally soaked.
Ed pulled out a piece of black cloth from his pocket and carefully wrapped the knife in it, placing it securely under the wooden stairs that led from the house and into the backyard. "This should be the last place he'll think of looking for it."
Winry was pleased with Ed's choice of a hiding spot. Considering that the killer made his first murder in this location, it seemed unlikely that he would return in search of his weapon here.
"Just one more thing, Winry," the alchemist said, standing up and testing out the location of the hidden weapon, "You must keep the back door locked whenever you can. In case the murderer does recover the knife, at least he won't be able to come inside easily."
She put on a smile to show her understanding, but it didn't last too long. Winry noticed a collection of ebon bags sitting near the corner of the house, which she assumed was where Den's body could be found. Also, though it was now difficult to distinguish, there remained spots of faint crimson puddles in the grass, and the mechanic already knew the reason behind their coloring.
Ed noticed that Winry was looking around with a falling spirit, therefore he decided to finish up his surveillance of the hidden knife. He ushered her back inside the building as he gave one last glance at the backyard scene.
"I'm sorry that you had to see that," Ed apologized, referring to the bags that contained Den's mutilated body.
"It's ok, besides, I had to see how you cleaned up the mess," she said with a rather forced smile, trying to lift the mood.
Ed sighed, not buying her false sense of security. "Look Winry, I'm going to need for you to be strong. We'll get through this, but only if the both us don't give in to fear, which is what that killer wants us to do," the alchemist said in a gentle tone, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"I'll try," Winry replied simply, feeling a blush starting to make itself visible on her face, "But are you sure that the killer won't find the knife?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Ed said, hastily retracting his hand in an attempt to cover up the bit of crimson that lit up his face as well.
Though this cheered Winry up, the alchemist knew that his plan to hide the weapon wasn't absolutely foolproof. As a matter of fact, he had this very slight feeling that maybe he was being watched the whole time as he concealed the knife, but Ed tried to shake the idea, seeing it as impossible. Well, maybe it was impossible given the circumstances, but there was always the chance the murderer was close at hand, where ever that location might be.
It then occurred to Ed that maybe the killer was hiding himself somewhere nearby, possibly even right outside the house, waiting for that certain opportunity to strike. An opportunity when Winry and himself were defenseless; a time when the last thing that he would ever think about was the murderer himself.
That couldn't be the case, but what if it was?
And so there you have it. :D I'm going to try to lay off the gore for awhile, but if you know me, then you know that I downright enjoy writing it. xD Heh, stay tuned for more.
As always, time to recognize the reviewers:
Fanactic: I think that I actually overdid Den's rather painful death, judging from the reviews. ;P But anyway, thanks for reading!
moonlightpath: Thanks for the review! I'm glad that you enjoy this fic so much. :)
xMeo: It seems that my fixation for detail has paid off. ;P As before, thanks for reviewing.
f-zelda: Thanks for reviewing. :P
Brickwall847: Lol, thanks for the compliment, and the review!
Nirvana of the Undead: Thanks!
crazyanimefreak15: Heh, I actually planned to avoid writing any death/suspense stuff in this fic, but apparently, it's working well. ;P Thanks for reading and reviewing.
tamashiix: I'll make sure to actually finish a multi-chapter story for once, and this being it. ;) Thanks for reviewing.
Yugata Tenshi: You'll find out eventually, but just not yet. ;) Thanks for reviewing!
And an additional thanks to anyone else who reads this fic. :D See ya next chapter.
