Chapter 6; Down To the Marrow
Bane; "Okay, I feel like a terrible person for having made you all vote, and then decide, 'hey… bad idea.' But I spoke with a couple of people, and it was a (nearly) mutual feeling that the story was good enough without romance… So why don't I just add my plot twists, entertain you guys, and not have to plan out a couple fest again, 'kay? If you read this and don't mind, then you honestly rock! And now… without further ado…"
Something rang in his ears at this last comment, an urgent reminescence he could't quite grasp long enough to attain. 'Sunken' watched him thoughtfully all the while.
"Well… then tell me what I should be worried about?"
There was a moment of silence before the driver snickered malevolently.
"'ey, Ruck, you better tell 'im." He paused for reflection, then added, "'Cause, personally, I think I'd go a bit too easy on 'im."
'Ruck', who Ed had formerly thought of as 'Sunken', eyed the prodigy for a second, then sneered.
"No… I think the kid'll figure it out eventually."
Not another word broke the silence that enveloped his vague retort. Abruptly, Edward could almost hear the Colonel speaking,'The Federal level refuses to have anything with the tracking of criminals. In fact, that's really the only reason we have a 'State'; the Federals are too lazy to set up their own system.'
"But… there is no Federal Corporation…" he formulated aloud slowly. "And that means that…" He trailed off, glancing up to make eye contact with Ruck.
"I told you he was sharp enough, Pete."
There was laughter, and someone in the passenger seat chuckled in response, "Yeah, Ruck, but 'sharp' might not cut it." A pause, and Edward panicked. Whoever these guys were, they weren't government; nor were they safe to remain in a car with.
He pushed against the door, but found that it had no manual lock. Pulling back to crash into the window as a desperate attempt to get free, Ed was grasped by the neck. Frantically, he tried to squirm out of the clucth, but was thrown back against the seat. Within seconds, a knee was pressed against his stomach, and an elbow rested at his throat.
"Move again, and I swear to God you won't ever again know what it's like to have a spleen."
With difficulty, the teen spoke, "What the hell do you want?"
He got no response, instead, a force on his throat was applied until he passed out. Ed's limp form hungabsently from the man's fist.
"'E out, Ruck?"
"Yeah, we'll rouse him when we get back in."
He woke up to a sharp pain in his gut, which pounded into itself as something made contact again and again. Edward groaned, and opened his eyes. As his vision cleared, he took in the sight of Ruck with a cheshire grin, standing over him almost… triumphantly.
"And he wakes."
There was mock applause. Blinking involuntarily, he sat up. He was livid, now; hating the way he couldn't predict what was going on.
"What the fu—?"
Something heavy was thrown at his head. There was a thump, then the feeling of his head cracking in two, and he was sure to keep quiet.
"You want to do the honors, Pete?"
The other man, whom Edward hadn't yet noticed, nodded. A smirk was apparent on his crooked features. He squatted down next to Ed, and sneered, "'Ey, e's Hoin'eim's, all righ'. Jus' wish 'e'd act more like 'im. It'd be more fun tha' way."
The prodigy's eyes widened.
"What's the bastard got to do with me?"
But he was blatantly ignored, and the two of them continued discussing something amongst themselves.
Edward inched away slowly, struggling to keep the handcuffs from clanging together. If he could only get far enough away, he would be able to alchemize the bonds into something of use before they could reach him…
For the first time, he observed keenly that he was in a considerably spacious room decoated with a few mismatched chairs, a mhogany dest, an dthe uglies painting he had ever seen. (Vomit on a canvas?) The room was rectangular in shape.
He managed to situate himself into a far corner, and was about to transmute his chance to freedom, when a smooth, sly voice rasped easily, " You're the same… you know? You can both crawl your way out of nearly any situation with the right opportunity. But not with me, he couldn't. And neither will you. I always get the information I need; that's the first thing you should know.
"Hoinheim of Light spent a lot of time in the dark, and you, Boy," he chuckled, scratching his chin-stubble, "will too, if you take after your father."
Another horrid realization struck him. This was no brief kidnapping where they'd rough him up and take his money, then set him on his way. This could take days: weeks… Weeks that he didn't have. Unable to fend for himself, Al could only last a few short days.
Against his will, a crystal glaze of tears formed a layer over his forlorn amber eyes. Almost pleadingly, he spoke in ragged whispers, "Y-you have o let me go. My brother… he's alone. I told you… he can't survive—" A blow to his side knocked the wind from him temporarily.
"Bull! Kid, don't try to use the same excuse twice, especially when it hit a dead end the first time! Shut up about your brother, or we'll kill him, understand you—"
"Ruck," interjected a still calm voice, as smooth as ever, "Perhaps you ought to bring the sibling here. If this one won't talk, the other will."
At this, Edward laughed. It was a sadistic, broken laugh; tearing him inside out, for all the world to see. The sound was sick; the result of too much pain in too few years.
"He won't talk. Whatever you want to know isn't something we could tell you, and even if we could, we'd take it to the grave. Just… don't touch him.Whatever this is, we aren't a part of it. I can't—"
Again, there was an intence crack of pain, and Edward fell forward from the impact of knuckles against his cheek. The sly-voiced man stood over him, face no longer as coy.
"Ruck, he said redundantly, "bring the other one here. If you need to, knock him out; there's planty of Hoinheim's bastards to go around, I'm sure."
The one in the near corner nodded curtly, and turned to leave, stopping at the cry of, "Don't hurt him! Just… Please… don't hurt—" There was the sound of someone being kicked, and a muffled cry, and then… silence…
They had watched him for about a day; long enough to be able to find the apartment in which he lived. The man exhibited his artisan of lock picking, managing to break and enter rather easily.
Easy, I just have to find the kid, and drag him back. No big deal, right? He thought passively to himself. A few dishes lay in the sink, but other wise everything was in its proper place. There was a table in the middle of the main room, which was part of the kitchen. A corridor stretched out to his left, and he took it. There were two doors on either side of him, both ajar to show not much of anything. There was one door, however, that remained close.
Pushing it open, slightly, he took notice of the fact that the light was off. Unaffected, he made his way steadily into the room, looking around. On the floor, in a sorrowful heap, lay a pile of broken glass amid the tattered wooden frame of a picture.The image lay a ways off from it, bloodstained and wrinkled. In it lay a boy, his brother, perhaps?
On the bedside table there was a pocket knife, which he therfore easily pocketed. He wondered fleetingly why the boy would need it, but didn't ponder on it for too much longer. (1)
His muses, were interrupted by a resounding bray.
"Brotherrr?" it rasped uneasily, as though it sensed something out of the ordinary.
"Yeah… it's… uh, it's 'Brother'."
He smirked to himself, aware of the fact that he was unconvincing, and relishing in the fact that ther younger sibling would be further panicked by his failure at impersonation.
Something shuffled in the far corner of the room. It crouched in the shadows, its breathing coming and going in ragged, forced drags.
"Come out here." Ruck demanded breezily, not particularly moved by the fact that the figure did no such thing. He, instead, moved forward, stopping when he was a few inches away. A switch adorned the wall to his right, and when he pushed it, a dim light come on, forging the lines between vision and shadow.
There, before him, sat a boy. It looked up at him, large, dull green eyes blank and unregistering. "Y-you're…Not… Brotherr."
An intense feeling washed over the boy then, a contented feeling from having strung together words… words he was beginning to recognize. He did not understand where such an emotion, pride, came from, but it struck something familiar, a feeling that pleased him very much. (2)
"No, I'm not. But I know where your brother is."
"Brotherr…" he repeated again, still looking blank. Ruck was becoming impatient. As he watched, the kid rose unsteadily to his feet. He latched mechanically to Ruck's shoulders, clawing into skin. The man was paralyzed, unsure.
Alphonse leaned forward, his breathing even more heavily with the effort. When his lips were just centimeters away from Ruck's ear, he formed the words. As he spoke, his voice seemed to meld into a rise of different tones, as though hundreds were speaking with him. With each word, an intense pain stabbed at his gut.
"Wherrre… is… Brotherr?"
The man cried out abruptly, struggling to stay conscious. Panicked, he flailed forward, fist connecting solidly with the boy's temple. Al crumpled beneath the blow, sliding down along the wall, knocked out.
The agony stopped conpletely.
What the hell? Ruck's mind screamed as he attempted to recover. (3)
Three men were sitting around a table, smoking and pretending to talk about something interesting in the next room. Abruptly, however, their mumblings were brought to a halt when they could hear the clinkings of chains (of which the captive had been secured by) and loud musings. He was speaking to himself, apparently.
"Just five more… -clank- … good, Ed… yeah… okay… ease it up… -clank-… Yes! Alright…"
They just sat there, paralyzed in confusion. What in the world was he doing? After a long pause there was a catastrophically enormous cry of , "Just one more and I'm FREE! Ahhaaa…. Yeah… uhh… shift it left… bring it over… The leverage…. And… -clank- YES!"
At this they were on their feet, scuttling unsteadily towards the door of the chamber. Within a minute, (one had fallen and had to be pulled back to his feet), they were in the doorway gasping.
There was one set of chains, hooked into the wall… and… one Edward Elric sitting in the middle of them, still chained, but the beginning of a smirk emerging on his bruised face.
"What the hell was that about?"
"Well, I… uh… I have to go to the restroom… and I knew you probably wouldn't have come if I had called… So…"
Disgruntled, one of them left to go sit at the table, leaving the other two to deal with it. They undid the padlocks on either side of his wrist-bonds, and led him into a grungy bathroom down the hall.
Edward stood next to the toilet and paused. He looked down at the bowl, and then at his wrists.
"I… I can't go with these on."
He looked up at them with innocent eyes, indicating his hand-cuffs. Sighing, the nearest thug unlocked them, sneering something that amounted to an ill-thought-out threat. Again, Ed walked towards the basin, but this time paused again. He looked up at the two men, glaring at him with their arms crossed.
"What is it now?"
"It's… it's just that… It's hard to use a toilet when… when people are watching you."
Slightly hesitantly, the other two turned around, facing the opposite direction. There was a moment of absolute silence, and then, abruptly, a figure behind them flew past the two of them, swift and unbound. Edward cut a corner, realizing too late that he was entering a room that held yet another orderlie.
Aware that there were two behind, and one to his left, the prodigy gained new wings. His flight pushed him forward another few yards, and he threw himself at the door, grabbing the handle and feeling the pounding of foot steps align with the sound of his heart beat.
He turned the knob easily, but the threshold wouldn't open. Edward kicked the door violently, immediately aterwards wishing he had used that precious second to attempt alchemy. For in the following seconds, he was thumped roughly against the door.
"Heh, bet you weren't expecting a dead-lock, eh punk?" (4)
Ed winced, pulled back, and gave a solid blow to the man's face. Pete released him, and through his blurry vision, Edward could make out a light spurt of blood erupt from nose of man who had only just been standing. At this point, however, patience had run out on all accounts. A knee made contact with his stomach, forcing him to double over to receive an elbow to the small of the back.
Not unconscious, but rendered nearly incapable to move, he was dragged back to his chamber, and re-bound. The last thing the men heard as they closed the door behind them was, "Had to try… just had to…for him."
It was not in silence that a less than healthy looking Ruck returned, carrying an unconscious bundle in his arms with disgust.
The boy was promptly taken to where Edward lay, and dropped unceremoniously beside him. Al stirred with a whimper, observing his surroundings in confusion. He didn't understand an inch of it. Nor did it help much when the smooth-voiced character yelled violently at him, "Where is he? WHERE THE HELL IS HE?"
When there was no reply, he kicked impatiently at him. The frail form beneath him cried out in a fiercely agonized plea. His eyes were wide now, listlessness matched only by uncomprehended fear. Ed, who until now had sat still in horror, rose to his feet.
"Damn it! He doesn't know. Neither of us do!"
The man simply chuckled, drawing back to kick again, before his feet were swept out from under him, and he fell heavily. The prodigy might have done further, but his chains were unflexible to his rage.
"Brroootherr?" a soft voice crooned incredulously. And at this, Edward's heart pulled apart, threads ripping away at the seams.
(1) Bane; "No Ed cutting, I promise. Heheh. Reasons for the knife will be release next chapter."A; "Muahaha! EMO!" (no offence meant people. hugs emos)
(2) Bane; "So if you've noticed, he's starting to get a bit of consciousness. Not enough to form actual thoughts, but in some ways a step up from a parrot, and a step down from a parrot; (which will also make sense next chapter.) He's able to connect words he's heard before now, just like instinct."
(3) Bane; "It's okay, it'll be explained next time…"
(4) Bane; "A dead lock is an extra lock on a door, and is set up so it has to have a key to lock or unlock it from both the inside, and out. Just Edo's luck, ne? XD!"
Bane; "Yeah… as of Monday, I'll be off to camp for a week, so, sorry folks, no updates."
A; :-secretly cheering-:
Bane; 0.o… "Yeah. anyway, for further information, this chapter is dedicated to Silent:Tears:Fall. So… eh, go mob her for her coolness. (For my other reviewers, you have coolness too (which is why I luv' you all.)… I just happen to notice hers 'cause she's been extra spiffy to me.) :-hugs Silent-: