Hello again! Nothing new, so keep reading!

Though I do have a scary thought. After this chapter, I will only have ten more chapters to go! It kind of makes me sad, though I think the story wraps up nicely. And hell if you think about it, it's almost a quarter of the story to begin with, so it can't be that small!

Enjoy…

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Spring Age 13

This entry is kind of late, but I find it is important enough to write down in here. At least that way, if there are any questions, I can come back and read all of the details of what occurred. A week ago, something happened in my house that changed my life. I had come home from the market; we had to stock up on supplies, but it wasn't so much that I needed someone to help me. The house was quiet when I came back in, which was weird, because even if no one is home when I come in, you can still hear the birds chirping outside. I carried my bags in and set them on the kitchen table, and saw a note Grams had left saying she took Den with her to go check on one of our clients. Mr. Sampson had been having some problems with his leg and wanted her to come look at it. Noticing the time (around 5pm), I decided to start dinner and have it ready for Grams when she came home. I know it's hard for her to travel, as she gets older in age, so I wanted her to relax.

Anyway, I moved the bag of equipment from the kitchen table to the workshop, and came back down to fix dinner. I put some chicken into the defroster to thaw out enough so I could cook it, and took out some vegetables to make our salad. I had placed a pot of water on the stove so I could boil some pasta as the chicken cooked. I was dicing some carrots and cucumbers when I heard the front door open and close. I didn't even look up when I yelled a greeting to Grams and Den, but thought it weird that I didn't get a response. I wiped my hands on my pants and walked to where the kitchen meets the dining room, and yelled out my greeting again. And again I was met with silence. I don't know why, but I reached over and grabbed both of the knives I was chopping with. Not that it would do any good—I remember thinking that to myself. I had never had any type of training when it came to fighting. All I knew how to do was build automail.

With a knife in each hand, I slowly crept through the dining room to look into the front hall. I can still remember the fear that crawled though my skin, I could almost feel myself shaking. Slowly I peeked around the corner to see what was in the front hall.

And all I saw was nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary. I can remember laughing out loud to myself, getting worked up over nothing, but then stopped when I heard some movement above me. The fear returned yet again. I loudly yelled out for whoever it was to come downstairs. Maybe Grams had just gone upstairs when she got home and didn't hear me the first two times. The movement stopped, and when I didn't hear a response answer back I quickly walked to the bottom of the stairs again and, with the knives behind my back, yelled again for whoever it was to come downstairs.

I thought I would keel over from joy when I saw Edward appear at the top of the stairs! He must have not heard me at all! He slowly walked down the stairs and smiled at me, causing me to quickly drop my knives and jump into his arms in joy. I hadn't seen him in so long!

Edward was confused as he read the last few sentences over a few times. At this time he hadn't seen Winry after the Barry the Chopper incident. But with how this entry was dated, it wouldn't have been too far long after that. Dread filled Edward as he realized what entry he might be reading, and continued:
He seemed kind of surprised that I gave him such a big hug, and for a second I thought that maybe I might have startled him. I quickly let go of him and smiled a lot. I remember feeling really happy that he was home, because I had not seen him in a few months. I went to Central a little while ago, and got mixed up with him in the Barry the Chopper incident, and hadn't seen or heard from him after I came back home. I just looked through the last few pages and realized I never wrote about it. Maybe I'll get to it a little later on when I'm feeling better.

After seeing it was just Edward, I happily walked back into the kitchen and pulled out some more vegetables out for the salad. I stood there and began dicing and chopping again, and saw him walk around the dining room looking at everything, like it had been the first time he'd seen all the pictures on the walls. I didn't think much of it at first, because I thought maybe he was just reminiscing or something. Anyway, he came into the kitchen and stared at me while I finished cutting the vegetables and placed the knives on the counter. I remember blushing as I saw him staring at me from the corner of my eyes. His eyes had always fascinated me; it seemed like they could look straight through to your soul.

I asked him where Alphonse was, seeing that he was usually right with Edward wherever he went. The question seemed to make him mad or something because at that moment he lunged forward and grabbed my wrists. I dropped my bowl that had the vegetables in it, and they scattered all over the floor. I remember yelling at him, asking him what the hell he was doing, but his grip never loosened. His eyes bore through my body, they were narrowed and he looked very mad about something. Then I heard him mutter something about having to go, and he started to drag me towards the front door. I thought he was joking or trying to play a prank, and I pulled my wrists away from him. He turned his head towards me and jumped at me, pushing me against the stove. I remember hitting the small of my back against the corner of the stove, and I felt pain go all the way up to my neck from the force of me hitting it. Some of the water that was boiling in the pot spilled over, and it also splashed on my back. I yelled from all of the pain I felt, and for the first time, felt scared. I never thought Edward would do anything to hurt me.

I don't know what had gotten into him, but I knew that I needed to get away from him, and figure out what was wrong. I reached behind me, grabbing the pot of water, and slung it towards him. I feared I would hurt him, but at the moment I knew I needed to get away, and the only way would be to go through him into the dining room. He shielded himself as best he could from the water, and I heard his screams of pain from the boiling water, but I quickly dodged and grabbed both knives as I ran past him into the dining room.

When I got into the next room I turned around and slowly backed myself towards the front hall, that way I could still keep an eye on him. What walked out of the doorway surprised me. Edward walked to the doorway, and I could see all of these red welts from where the boiling water burned him, but then a light engulfed him, and I saw him transform right before my eyes into something else. The thing looked like a tall, skinny man with long, spiky black hair. He had a short, black tank top and shorts on, and on his weird-looking headband rested a strange symbol. He was covered in the same welts that Edward had just moments ago, but before my eyes they began to heal!

I don't know what happened next. I think he may have charged while I was staring at him bewildered, but somehow he had my wrists again and knocked the knives to the floor. I remember trying not to cry, I didn't want to let him know that I was scared, but I think he could 'taste' it (even though that sounds really weird, it seemed like the right word). He seemed really happy to see me as scared as I was. He pushed me against the wall of the dining room that was close to the front hall. If only I could get away from him, I remember thinking, I could get out the front door, but no matter how hard I struggled his grip would just tighten more and more. From out of nowhere, I felt something wrap around my wrists and pulled them behind my back. I don't think I could even explain it to this day. Keeping a hand on the wall next to my head, his other hand turned into a blade of some kind that he happily held towards my neck. He said something about I should feel the pain he just did, and plunged it into my left arm near my elbow. I screamed out in pain, and he quickly covered my mouth with his other hand.

Suddenly, a female voice came from the front hall, which startled both of us. I tried to whimper or do anything to let the person know I was in trouble, but what she said still echoes in my head. She said that they "still needed her later on, so don't damage her…".

I didn't know what she meant, but I knew I still needed to get away any way I could. As a last resort, I bit down hard on the hand that covered my mouth, which made the man-thing in front of me scream. His hand pulled away from my mouth, but before I could bolt from my spot, it came back around and hit me on my face very hard. I remember it was hard enough to knock me to the ground, and it was difficult to see because I had hit my head on the floor when I landed. I tried to get up, but was unable to. A moment later I felt myself being dragged towards what I thought was the front hall, and for a split second thought maybe I was saved by a miracle.

Instead I was thrown onto the floor in the front hall. Someone had drawn within the last half an hour or so a large circle – one of those things that alchemists use. From my position in the middle of it, it appeared very intricate and somewhat beautiful. I tried to look toward the front door, but the light shining through the doorway prevented me from seeing exactly who was there. I just heard her voice tell the other thing to stand back. After that I blacked out.

What happened next logically seemed like a dream, but deep down inside it feels so very real. I woke up and was surrounded by white. The space seemed to stretch out for miles in white. I slowly pushed myself up with my arms and kneeled, feeling my body aches from the different injuries I had just received. I glanced around at the white area, and turned around to see a huge looming gate behind me. I saw all sorts of different ornate carvings and symbols adorning it, and for a split second thought it seemed kind of pretty. I slowly stood up and faced the large gate. Fear slowly crawled again through my body, and my instincts told me to run, but my mind didn't know where TO run.

The doors to the gate slowly began to open, and my fear grew. Behind the open gate was nothing but black space, opposite of what surrounded me at the moment. My head began to hurt tremendously, like someone was pushing tons upon tons of information into my brain. Weird pictures appeared before my eyes, and for a moment I felt like I knew everything there was to know in the world. But then suddenly, what seemed like dozens of eyes opened within the darkness. Some appeared small, while others looked like they could be the size of an entire human. But…Those eyes…those piercing blue eyes kept looking at me. I remember nervously looking around again to see that still the white surrounded me.

I wanted to turn and run, but my legs would not listen to me. What exactly was I doing here? Where WAS here? All of my questions remained unanswered as those damn eyes kept starting at me. Small, sinister smiles began to appear out of the black emptiness behind the doors of the gate. I remember yelling at them, telling them to go away. But those eyes kept staring at me, their smiles growing more evil. I looked up and noticed the doors of the gate again. Maybe if I could close the doors, then those things would leave me alone and let me go back home. It seemed like a long shot, but I had to try.

I summoned all the courage I could, and overcame my stillness to slowly walk up the stairs to the doors of the huge gate. I grabbed one large door and dragged it almost to the center, then walked over to the other door and did the same thing. Just as I was about to totally close them I heard some weird laughter, and stared in shock, as it seemed the blackness from beyond the gate began to creep towards me. I pushed the doors harder, hoping to close them before the blackness reached me. Just before I was able to close the doors, I felt something slam into my back, which pushed me almost into the gate. The moment I was pushed, dozens of black tentacles shot out from the never-ending darkness and grabbed me, threatening to swallow me whole. They wrapped all around me, on my arms and legs, some even around my stomach, and began to pull me in. I pulled against them with all the energy I could, and started to make some progress as I inched away from the blackness. I looked down as I struggled and saw many tiny forms appear all over me. Sharp pain shot through my entire body as they ate and scratched at anything they could touch. I screamed my lungs out, hoping someone would hear me, but I knew no one would come.

The pain continued as the small things still covered me. I could feel parts of my skin and some of my muscles being torn to shreds. A moment later I could heard the sickening snap and crunching sound as my left arm was ripped from my body. I fell back at the shock of losing my arm and landed on what was left of my shoulder. I kicked and screamed as I fought these demons, and eventually wriggled my right arm loose from them. With my remaining arm and body weight, I fought and kicked harder to get away from the blackness. I got my left leg loose, and planted it on the ground and pushed with all the strength I had left. I was released as I could feel my right leg face the same fate as my left arm. I landed in a pool of my own blood and tears before the towering gate. I looked up and all I could see was the darkness behind the doors, those eyes were staring at me again. It was as if they wanted another chance to tear my other limbs from me. Out of nowhere I heard a creaking sound, and the doors began to close on their own, finally shutting off the darkness from me.

Looking around, my body in shock, I realized I was still in the middle of nothingness. I cried from the excruciating pain I was feeling, and despite all of that, began to pull myself farther away from the looming gate. Looking back, I could see the blood that trailed behind me. I didn't know where I was still, but knew that I needed to get first aid or else I could bleed to death; but I didn't know where to start. I tried a moment later to pull myself away some more, but realized I wasn't strong enough to do so at that point. Defeated, I hugged myself with my remaining arm and remember wearily calling for help. All I could hear was the echoing sound of my pleas into the nothingness as more blood pooled around me.

I remember waking up what seemed like moments later, with Grams standing over me worriedly. I had been asleep for over a week, not moving or anything. She said that she found me when she came home from Mr. Sampson's house. I was lying in the front hall with blood everywhere, and was in the same sort of transmutation circle thing that I had remembered. I told her everything I remembered, and she seemed very upset. I remember her hugging me tightly, though being careful not to touch my injuries. I weakly looked over and saw what was left of my shoulder, and realized that none of it was a dream. Not long after the silence settled, I asked Grams if she could get me hooked up with some automail. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life unable to take care of myself.

So here I am, waiting for her to finish my automail limbs. Grams mentioned that I should write everything down in case I forget any of it, but I would rather forget it ever happened. She said she took pictures of the house where everything happened, and a lot of me to keep records of my injuries. She called one of her old associates from the city to come and help perform the surgeries that I need to equip me with the bases for the automail limbs. He is here right now in fact, since he came right over after the incident. She knew she was going to need some help to keep me alive, and he took some pictures then of how I looked. In a week or so after the bases begin to heal, I can attach the limbs. I know it will be painful, I was there when Edward…when Edward had his done and saw how much pain he was in, but I'm willing to deal with it.

I still, to this day, am wondering who did this to me. I know it wasn't Edward, but what will happen the next time I see him? Will I automatically react like it WAS him that did it? I'm worried about him. I haven't heard from him since I went to Central Headquarters.

I hope he's all right…

Well, I guess that's all for now. Writing all of this, and remembering what all happened again has worn me out. I'll write more later…

I'm just glad to be alive.