A/N: This'll be the last chapter updated before I go camping, and then you guys won't see anything for two weeks or so. I hope that you are really nice and review for me! I can't wait to get back from my camping trip, during the time that I am there I'll start the next chapter via notebook (I have so many notebooks it isn't even funny, each contains a story, though there're only 3 or four that are fanfictions...) Hehe... I have about 25 notebooks... so yeah, I'm sure that I'll have the next chapter done by the time that I return and can thus type it up and upload it ASAP, okay? Have fun without me. XD
Cough, sorry that I didn't get the chapter in beforehand, R&R for me though, let me know that you all still love me!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Full Metal Alchemist, so far just my character Kara :P Though someday I plan on luring them here for the promise of cheese and then they'll be mine, just you wait!
A Forgotten Memory: I must say that this story is a definate must read! Go check it out guys! Seriously, don't just take my word for it, read the story for yourselves!
Previously:
The car pulled to a stop and the group exited the car, it was time to begin the hike towards where the vampires were hiding. "Are you guys ready?"
Hawkeye cocked her pistol and glanced back at the group, "this is it, this is a search and kill mission, leave none of those bastards alive, they destroyed the lives of many, and it is time to destroy that which destroyed your families and friends."
There was a soft exclamation of agreement and they were off to who knew what kind of danger.
Now:
Kara felt him bury his teeth in her throat, drinking greedily of the vein that rested there. She cried out in pain as her body convulsed. Her head felt so very light and she just wanted to rest, get away from the pain that filled her body as she grew weaker.
Kara jerked herself out of a deep sleep, it seemed that she had only dreamt of the incident, but she was still lying in the prison- blood still oozed from the wound in her wrist that was trying to close itself up, "No, damn it!" She moaned and brought the blade back to her flesh, making the wound wider once more.
Perhaps it would have been easier to cut into her heart- but Kara wanted all of the blood out of her body so that even in death she would be of no use to them, the vampires would get no meal off of her body. She grimaced as she flexed her wrist, willing the blood to spill forth faster, her suffering would end soon enough.
Her vision blurred and she could once again hear the voices of her parents calling her, telling her that it was late and that she had to go inside, "Mother! Father!" She cried, rushing towards them, tears stinging her eyes.
Kara stopped when she saw a black clad figure standing before her, a look of dark fury resting upon his face. "Wha-" Her ten year old self was confused by him, "Who are you?" She asked, preparing to dash around him- she had to get home, her parents were after all calling for her, she could not disobey them lest she be punished.
Her plans were crushed when he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close to his body. She froze in shock, "You're not getting away that easily."
"Let me go! My parents want me home! Let go!" Kara cried, pulling away from his grasp.
The grassy field began to spin about her- the trees began to dissappear, "W-what's going on?"
The man growled, "You're nearly too far gone, but I won't let you die, I've told you, you can't stop me, you will become one of us."
Kara felt herself plummetting painfully back to reality, she was suddenly staring at her dirt filled prison. "What?" Her mind felt as though it were being torn in two and her eyes glazed over slightly.
She looked up at the vampire that held her tightly in his arms, "We will do it now, before your stupid stunt ends up killing you." He growled, dragging her rather limp form to the surface.
A sudden burst of flames caused him to turn sharply, "Ah, Colonal Mustang, ne? So glad you could make it."
"Let the girl go." His words were laced with hatred.
"And what'll you do if I don't?" The vamipire scoffed.
"This." Ed's voice sounded from behind and the vampire felt a stinging pain in his chest as a blade was shoved through.
"What the-" He turned in a daze as his body began to decompose, "You insolent little bastard!" Were the last words that he spoke as he collapsed atop Kara, who was, at the moment, lost within her childhood memories.
"Kara!" Winry knelt beside the prone girl and pulled her into her lap, "are you- are you okay?"
Kara was tangled in the web of her mind- there was no escaping the horrifying memories that returned, the nightmares that she had to endure as a youth. A single voice broke through the fog, "Winry?" She questioned, though her voice went unheard.
&
Black mist swirled around her, beckoning her further into it's midst.
"Kara!" Winry's voice had once more broken through, but Kara could find no escape.
"You stupid little brat!" The voice made her blood run cold, a calloused hand struck her face, making the shivering girl reel as she bowed her head lower.
"I'm so sorry sir!" She blubbered, frustrated with herself as he shoved her to the ground.
She was journeying to Central to see the military about becoming a national alchemist, her only problem was that she had no money. Kara had been working with this alcoholic, trying to help him rebuild his home for a few simple coins, he was now rebuking her for what she thought to be fine work.
She was briefly aware of being struck over and over again until something snapped within her and suddenly the man was gurgling, Kara looked up in time to see a thin line of blood trail from his lips before he collapsed.
Terror seized Kara then and she ran as she had never run before, he had been the second man to ever die by her hands, but in the military he wouldn't he the last. She began to have her doubts then, about joining them, would she really be able to kill still more people? It was then that Kara realized that she had something clasped tightly between her fingers, looking at the leather object for a few minutes Kara saw that it was that man's wallet. At least she wouldn't have to work again.
&
Winry lifted the small form of her friend and was surprised by how much weight the younger girl had lost during the years that they had known each other. "Colonal!" A younger man gasped, saluting shakily as he ran up, "The others have escaped!"
Mustang looked absolutely furious, "Find them and destroy them, I must go back to Central- return to base asap with whatever information you can gather, or even with the news of their deaths."
"Yes sir." Once more the younger man saluted until the colonal was out of sight before rushing off.
They were in the car, Winry managed to let out a small sigh of relief, they were going back to the safety of Central, away from the beasts that had kidnapped herself, Ed, and Kara. Her eyes fell on an angry red scar on Kara's wrist, dried blood caked the flesh around it. She could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes at the thought that she had almost lost one of her best friends. A hand fell on her shoulder and Winry looked up to see Ed's concerned face peering down at her, "Are you alright, Winry?" He asked softly as the vehicle bumped along.
"Of course." Winry said coldly, glaring at the ground, Ed was silent afterwards.
"Kara!" Her mother called, the voice itself was music to her ears, could it be? Was her mother really calling to her once more, did it mean that she hadn't missed her chance to return home?
&
"Kara, honey, wake up, you're needed!" Her father's soothing voice breathed in her ear.
"But I want to come home!" Kara wailed.
"Not yet." The pressing voices of both called, "wake up, they need you!"
Kara sat up suddenly, bathed in sweat and breathing heavily, had her parents truely been the ones to help her resurface? She stood on shaky legs and made her way to the closed door, her fingers grasped the nob, pulling it open. Slipping, Kara fell into the hallway with a soft, "Oof."
"H-hello?" Her voice was hoarse and barely rose above a whisper, she recieved no reply.
It was late- maybe that was why she saw nobody, it had to be past 3 in the morning. Kara's unsteady feet led her towards another door, this one led to a long hallway, "Kara!" The voice of a relieved man called.
"H-Hughes?" Kara gasped, turning to the man, she threw her arms about him, glad that he was alright, "How- how is your amnesia?" She asked softly, releasing him.
"I only have brief glimpses of the past." Hughes said regretfully, "and even then it slips away before I can fully grasp at it." For even then he was trying to remember Kara before the accident that had nearly cost him his life, nothing could break through that impeniterable darkness.
"I'm so sorry." Kara felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.
"Don't be!" Hughes said reassuringly, "I don't need to remember to know that I had a wife, a beautiful daughter, and friends such as yourself, the beginning was the most confusing- when I woke up." He now bore a distant look upon his face, "I'm sorry that I made them think that you had done it."
"You were confused," Kara said, "What memories you had left were muddled, you didn't know. Okay then! Enough apologies! Where are my things?"
Hughes led her back to the room, a small cupboard stood against the wall and inside were the clothes that she had been wearing previously, she now wore one of those hospital gowns, her watch, and a few other miscelanious objects of little value that needn't be named. Hughes stood outside the door as she dressed and threw the objects into her pockets. Kara stepped outside and asked a question that had been eating away at her mind for a while, actually, there were a few questions, "How long have I been here?" Was the first, and before Hughes could answer, "and what- happened to the vampires?"
"You've been here for about two and a half months, your recovery was looking pretty grim, I was rather surprised to see you strolling down the hall.
Secondly, only one of them was killed, the others dissappeared and were unable to be found, though we have been following a string of murders where the victims were drained of their blood." Hughes replied, "little else is known."
Kara nodded, taking in the information rather well, "I see that I have a lot of work to do then." She muttered to herself.
"What- no-" Kara cut Hughes off as he tried to deter her from the task that she had set upon herself.
"They were my problem before- but being as young as I was I couldn't complete it by killing them so I banished them and ignored their vow of return. It is my fault that so many have died and mine alone- I had several chances to kill them but was never able to take them." Kara said in determination, "Please don't try to stop me Hughes."
He bowed his head in defeat, "as you wish- but you aren't going to face them alone, you have us remember."
Kara managed a weak smile, "O-of course." She cursed herself for stammering.
Her stomach growled painfully and Kara clutched at it, "Can we go get something to eat? I'm starving." Her weak smile became a sheepish grin, "I can't remember the last time that I had some food."
They were in the cafeteria, Kara eating whatever she could possibly get her hands on, a few minutes later. It was dark and, contrast to during the day, eerily silent. Finally Kara finished, shoving a half eaten plate (it was after all the 4th plate of food that she had grabbed) away from her, sighing contentedly, "That's better."
Hughes chuckled lightly, "You know, maybe after this you ought to get yourself a husband and settle down-"
"Jeez, Hughes, even without your memory you haven't changed a single bit."
She crossed her arms, "I am too young to marry right now, and even if I wasn't, I wouldn't want to settle down just yet, I guess you could say that I'm happy with everything that I do and see."
Hughes blinked and looked towards the door, "Ed!" He said cheerily, causing Kara to turn sharply in her seat.
Ed's chest heaved as though he had been running, his gaze rested upon her before he composed himself, "I figured that I would- find you here." He said at last, his tone casual as he stepped inside and flopped down into a chair between Kara and Hughes, "when I saw that you weren't in your room."
"Ed, I'm so glad that you're okay!" Kara said cheerfully, "how is Winry?"
He began to shift uncomfortably in his seat, "She's um- well, Winry's pregnant." He said at last, his face flushing a bright crimson.
Kara felt the excitement building up within her and would have squealed except for the image that she had built up for herself- she didn't want to ruin what had taken years to build with a single childish squeal, instead her smile broadened, "When- when is she due?"
"In about 7 months." Ed grew more comfortable with the conversation, "She wants to get married before then, but-"
"But Ed is too afraid of commitment." Hughes grinned widely as Ed glared at him.
"You don't want to give up your freedom just yet?" Kara said knowingly and was answered with Ed's quick, brief nod.
Their conversation was interupted by the arrival of several soldiers, conversing amongst themselves as they prepared their breakfast. It wasn't long before the once dark, quiet cafeteria grew loud with conversation and bright. The sun had risen a few hours previously. Kara stood at last, "We ought to get out of here." She muttered, sliding her chair beneath the table and taking her plate to the kitchen, discarding it's contents and scrubbing it before putting it away.
A/N I'll end it there- sorry I couldn't get it out beforehand, but man, I just couldn't get it done, do you guys forgive me? Pouty look I did apologize... anyway, hope you liked it, Don't forget to leave a review on your way out.
Chapter 8: Taking care of Business
Kara finally manages to track the vampires down, but will she be able to stop them? Or will her heart get in the way again, forcing her to once more fail? Winry is preparing for a baby, (Kara: Did you say that she is preparing for a baby! Authoress: That's exactly what I said now let me continue.) Can you believe that Winry is pregnant? Not only that, but engaged? Find out more about Winry next time, by tuning in to 'Full Metal Alchemist: Change of Fate' Will this be the happy ending that everyone longs for? Heh :P Not telling.
Review Responses:
Tsunade-chan: Heh, took a while to update, but I did it, so, evil am I? Grins Hahahahaha! Anyway, enjoy the chapter, let me know what you think!
LadyRiona: I like to be silly sometimes. Pouts Haha, I got to the next chapter before you! Sticks out tongue I don't think that I did the really long comma thing this time, but, let me know what you think! I'll race you to the next chapter, ready set- I didn't say go! XD
Fear: Well, I've updated, hope that you enjoy, see you next chapter!
Okay, well, it was nice to hear from you lot, hopefully I will get more reviews next chapter, anyway- Feels the sudden urge to howl at the moon. I must go. (So that I can stop wasting your time...)