Alphonse stepped out of the room, cautiously sending the prone form on the bed a glance, who was completely dwarfed by the covers. He found himself oddly doing that more often than necessary, checking behind himself, hoping to catch the reassuring smile that belonged to his brother, not the confused, unsure stare of a girl not much older than him. With a sigh he turned away, closing the door behind him, following the way towards Mustang's office.
"Sandra."
Said person stirred in her bed, scrunching her closed eyes tighter in anticipation.
"Sandra, can you go get Elise? We're going to leave soon."
"Sure. No problem."
Running up the stairs, a slight touch on the rails and she was up in a flash. A few odd ends to pick up, clothes strewn about on the floor, some papers to straighten on the desk. Farther down the hall, there was a click. Elise, probably starting up the flat-iron or something. A short giggle and a couple steps towards the bathroom door.
"Elise come on, we gotta-"
A turn of the head into the room itself.
Eyes widen. Something goes off. Loudly. A bang, too subtle, yet too expressive to explain.
Time seems to stretch. A sudden flare of pain in both knees signal distress of some kind.
Someone's running. It's not her.
"Sandra? Sandra!"
She turns towards the same direction. He eyes widen beyond belief as well. She takes slow steps, observing the red that's been painted everywhere. The artist, lying collapsed on the floor, more of her paint spilling across the ground. Her brush, black and sleek, still in her hand.
Someone's running again. A phone ringing. Screaming. A tug on the still form by the doorway of the bathroom. No words from the active child.
Sandra shot up from bed, panting deeply. A panicked rush went through her chest and she grabbed at the T-shirt she wore, grimacing. She swung her feet over the bed and sat there, shaking as she relayed the nightmarish memory in her mind. She held her free hand towards her forehead, fiercely wiping away the tears forming around her eyes as a burning sensation filled her nose.
Shaking her head furiously, Sandra stood up from the bed, searching the closets. After placing a towel in her arms, Sandra walked out of the room with no plan in mind except reaching the showers as quickly as possible. She could only hear a roaring sound in her ears as she walked by various soldiers in the hallways passing through, oblivious to their confused stares.
Turning at a door, she found herself inside the showers, which were completely empty. The lights were off and she could barely see through the thick blackness that consumed the room with the small effort aided by night. It didn't matter to her at that point, she was alone and she couldn't wait for the pounding water to clear her head. She walked blindly towards a stall while stripping off the baggy shirt she wore with minimal effort. Grasping the small door of the shower after bumping into it, Sandra shed the last bit of clothing she had before twisting the knobs of the shower.
Instantly, cold water hit her fame, and she sucked in a deep, heaving breath before letting it go slowly, following the rhythm as the cold water turned warm, then hot. She let the water flow past her scalp and over her neck, letting the water trail her profile and into the drain. She focused on the heat, letting her mind trail towards the incident that left her in another world, and a boy who shouldn't exist faking her life as of that moment.
The warmth of the water added to the effect that was just completely tired. The entire ordeal of one day was too much for her, but Sandra then realized that it was the added weight of the days that lead up to her even having to deal with her current issue. She barely registered the change of lighting that occurred in the room before it changed to complete darkness again. Sandra dimly waited for someone to turn on the lights, but it remained dark, and no one uttered a word of arrival. Not even the promise of a footfall was heard beyond Sandra's comfort zone of the shower stall.
Unnerved, Sandra twisted the knobs, effectively turning off the shower, and wrung the excess water from her hair, leaving the quiet pitter patter of water drops to hit the floor. Reaching for the articles of clothing she left on the door of the stall, she dressed quickly, and quietly, straining her ears for any sound. She effectively waited for a few minutes, controlling her breathing and darting her glances around the room. Though her eyes adapted to the darkness, Sandra couldn't see much, dispelling her thoughts of an intruder.
She sighed, and left the stall, trailing watery footprints. Her back turned towards the stall, Sandra felt the same negativity charging the air the same way she had felt it earlier in the day, and she froze in her steps.
"Stop fucking around." She said quietly. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she focused on the tone of her voice. It's different again. She thought. She heard a figure walking behind her and she turned to face the tall figure before her.
Marnoff stood before her, scrutinizing her with narrowed eyes. He smirked and shook his head like a man watching a child stumble around. He chuckled and turned his head to the side, opting to stare at the mirror. "This shower is only specifically for men."
Sandra scowled. So this was how was going to play a game? Sandra knew deep down that Marnoff was just as young as a child in his heart than Edward himself. She glanced at the mirror, prepared to come up with a snarky retort, when she glanced deeper at her distorted reflection. The steam from the heated water settled on most of the mirror, clouding any distinct feature. But just staring at the mirror without deep concentration already show that there was something wrong. Staring at her reflection from the side, Sandra could see that her right arm in the mirror wasn't silver. Her hair color was brown, and most noticeably, she had a bust.
Slowly walking toward the mirror, Sandra felt a cold weight manifest itself by her gut, residing there for her to constantly acknowledge. She wiped away the film of chilled steam from the mirror, staring at her own reflection. Gone was the golden strands that surrounded her face, replaced by her brown hair, limp and clumped together with wet chilling water. She was back. She had her body back, but she wasn't home. Did that mean...?
Sandra darted for the door of the bathroom, only to be blocked by Marnoff's bulky form. She stepped to the side, only for the mimicking man to follow in her steps. Sandra scoffed. Was he going to get any more weirder?
"I'm afraid I can't let you leave." Never mind. Sandra swished her arms from side to side, looking for an opening. All it took for the door to open was a pull, so running there shouldn't be that bad of an issue. Unless Marnoff had her running for a constant amount of time, then there would be a problem. She stepped backwards, Marnoff following her steps carefully. While he stepped, Sandra twisted around his right, dodging his fist and shooting for the door. The though of freedom was whisked away as she was hoisted into the air and slammed into the wall behind her.
Sandra's sight exploded into massive colors and she became disoriented enough to forget her surroundings, only realizing too late the large hand that belonged to Marnoff close around her neck. She struggled to breathe, forcing her head as far back as possible and holding Marnoff's arm with both hands. Nothing seemed to work. Her vision blackened slowly, she felt fire searing through her lungs and neck. A sickened dry gasp was drawn from her throat. Twisting violently, she kicked wildly, aiming for any solid limb or part of Marnoff to make him loosen his grasp or let go.
She felt her foot connect to some part of his face, and he let out a surprised grunt, dropping Sandra to the floor. Angrily wiping at her eyes, she stumbled for the door, throwing it open, and breaking off into the fastest run she had ever been in her entire life. One hand guarding her neck, she pumped the other forcefully with the pattern of her feet. She ran towards different corners, twisting and turning in a desperate panic to lose her attacker. She aimed for one direction, blind on reaching the safefty of the office.
Alphonse stood up, pondering over the the day's events. A meeting with an old man that was in fact younger than that age, was from the same world Sandra was in. Coincidentally, she was able to speak andcarry conversation with him, causing her to gain more information than they already had. Then the day's readings. Red Water, human experimentation, and innocent deaths. If his soul could shudder, that would be that moment.
His soul would've shattered when a teenage girl came bursting in the office too, but that didn't stop him from screaming in shock. Her brown hair was wet, her eyes puffy from crying. She grabbed at her throat with a protective grip, and her eyes only spoke one thing. Help me.
After reading her eyes, Al didn't hesitate to open up the front of his armor to let her inside, especially how he heard the way someone else was walking towards the office with an expectant air. She jumped in, not hesitant despite the fact a lack of a body in the armor. Once in, he clasped the front at lightning speed, and he could see from the others that he had a valid concern. At the last clasp, the Second Lieutenant Marnoff walked in, and Al could feel from the vibrations of the interior of his armor that the girl had tensed.
"Did any of you see a teenage girl pass through here?" Marnoff asked. He peered throughout the room, searching for any telltale signs of an adolescent female. Mustang shook his head.
"Not that I know of." Mustang replied with an icy stare. Marnoff caught the silent message and they stared at each other, daring the other to make a move before the latter waved his hand dismissively and walked out of the office, saying, "I guess not. You're too old for that." After a few antagonizing minutes of waiting for the footsteps to fade away, Alphonse removed the clasps of the front of his armor, revealing the fear-paralyzed form inside.
With shaking hands, she pulled herself out, aided by Breda and Falman. Once out, she snaked a hand towards her neck, leaving it there. Alphonse stared at the clothing of the girl standing before him, realizing in a flash that Sandra had put them on before going to bed. But she wasn't in Edward's body.
"Sandra?"
The room half tensed, half let out a surprised gasp. The girl nodded. "Yeah, Al. It's me."
The attention drawn to Sandra was now at her neck, which she kept pawing at continually. Mustang gave her a stern stare. "Sandra. Turn and face me."
Slowly turning, as to not chafe her neck, Sandra faced her direction to Mustang. "Remove your hand."
Sandra complied, slowly removing her right hand from her neck, and Mustang glanced away, placing a palm to his mouth. Riza gasped. "Falman, can you look at this?"
Falman turned to face Sandra, noticing the bruise on her neck taking an angry purple color. The entire bruise was laced around her neck, a brace, colored with her own flesh. He frowned. "Not permanent, but not short-timed. It needs ice."
Nodding, Mustang took a form off his desk, and began scribbling furiously on it, his intent clear.
"You shouldn't." Sandra said quietly. Mustang stopped writing and stared at her in confusion. The entire room stared at her in concern, and an equal amount of surprise for stopping a court-martial. Sandra flicked her hands.
"It's most likely... it's most likely Marnoff works for those guys."
"What 'guys?'" Mustang pressured. "Look at what he did to you!"
Sandra stepped forwards and whisked her hands to the window. "The guy's who did all this. Shove souls into different bodies, trick them! Like hell I know what they want, but for straight I know they want me dead. For all we know, someone might be trying to kill Edward."
Edward woke up coughing and sputtering for breath. He didn't know if he accidentally choked on his saliva in his sleep or something else, but he knew it felt like someone was choking him from the inside out. He stepped off the bed in Sandra's room, walking around a quick corner to the bathroom.
He filled a spare cup of water to clear his throat, taking a sip in front of the big mirror. His eyes caught his reflection. He took another sip of his water feeling that he was missing something, but he couldn't find out what it was. Looking back at his reflection, Ed instantly imagined his blond hair flash brown and back, in his mind's eye. His eyes widened and he choked on the water he had in his mouth, realizing that he was no longer in Sandra's body.
"What the...fuck?" He said in between coughs. The sound of coughing drew attention from downstairs, where Sandra's mother was sitting. Ed heard the television screen go off, and footsteps coming towards his direction, leading towards the stairs. Ed thew the rest of the water out of the cup and placed it clumsily on the counter, running as fast as he could, quietly to Sandra's bed.
Just as Sandra's mother reached the top of the stairs, Ed threw the covers over himself. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease, don't come in, don't come in.
The door creaked. Fuck!
Ed stayed silent, listening carefully as Sandra's mother made her way towards him, sitting to his left and placing her hand to his back, awfully close to his right automail port. He felt her hand pat him on the back for a couple of seconds before a kiss was planted on his head through the covers. Edward felt his cheeks flame hot a second time that night, both in embarrassment and the fear of being caught.
Sandra's mother pulled away, standing up from her place on the bed and walking out of the room, wishing her daughter a very peaceful night of rest. Ed sat up in bed after she left the room.
He had to be the luckiest bastard alive to escape in plain sight.
Thank you dear sister for lending me your laptop for a few consecutive hours *checks time* SEVEN HOURS
I feel so alive man, whooo! I need sleep. Honestly, I owe my sister a big one for letting me use her laptop, pleease, leave a review. Please.
(seriously though, I need sleep)
Bye