Here's the second chapter. The suspense starts to build up even more as Edward faces some difficult events after the recent murder. I hope you all enjoy it, and please remember to review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters. I only own my OC and the plot.
Edward had never felt so watched before. Sure, he had known that the homunculi observed him and his brother to keep a close eye on their movements and research. Even Scar had an idea of what Edward would be doing in his daily life, though not a solid, exact one. Hell, even Mustang knew every movement Edward made, as if he was just a mere puppet on strings. Knowing all of these people had kept a close watch on him was unnerving, but this... This took the cake.
Hughes and Mustang had questioned him on the scene and he had already told the two of them everything they knew. They had thought the same as him, and even Mustang had asked if he wanted somebody to come stand guard at his apartment. He refused the suggestion, and told them that he would be able to take care of Lilia and himself just fine. Maybe he had refused outright because of his pride, or some hidden belief that he really could if it came to that. However, he couldn't know for sure if he could protect the two of them on his own, especially if he had no idea what sort of person this murderer was.
Somebody had to be watching him, it was the only explanation. Why would this mysterious murderer kill that woman the exact way she claimed the outcome of their collision could have ended? Why would they write "for Edward" beside the body? For just some sick prank? Did someone just see that one moment and then do this, just so they can make Edward feel uncomfortable? Why, then? Did this person hold a grudge against him? Or did they favour him? Maybe it was another Edward. Still, though, it didn't make sense why they would kill that woman unless that woman had come across an entirely different Edward. Even then it seemed unlikely.
He just didn't get it. If there had been a person following him around and watching him, why didn't he ever notice? He had spent years travelling around with danger around every corner, making his senses sharp and his mind always on high alert. Now, though, he hadn't even noticed a simple suspicious person, something he could have done so easily back then. It bugged him to know end, and he regretted not realizing that somebody had been following him around today. Probably not only today, but maybe days, weeks, years even, and yet he had only found out about it earlier tonight.
Edward buried his face into his hands. Slowly breathing in and then out, he managed to calm himself, but nothing could make him forget about the dread still curled in his gut.
Edward turned to look behind him when he heard the creak of bed springs as Lilia shifted. He could barely see her through the darkness, especially without the aid of moonlight shining through the window. Right when he had gotten home, he went around the house to make sure that everything was locked and that all of the curtains were closed. He even went to the effort of making sure that the gun that he so much hated was on his bedside table.
Lilia was worried, to say the least, when she saw Edward frantically running around the apartment. She eventually got fed up when her repetitive question gained no answer, and so she ended up cornering him until he finally answered. What she received as an answer scared her, just as much as it had scared Edward. Somehow, she had managed to put on a calm smile and began to help Edward close all the curtains; but Edward saw her fingers shaking every time she closed one. It amazed Edward that she had even been able to fall asleep in her shaken state. However, that luck hadn't been on Edward's side when he decided to get some sleep as well, which explained why he was still awake at one in the morning still thinking about what happened hours before.
Lilia shifted again, rolling onto her side so that she faced Edward's back. The blonde thought that she was still asleep, since the woman tended to be quite the heavy sleeper. He had to drag her off the bed each morning just so she could be able to get ready for work. Without him, she would probably be four hours late every day.
"You're awake?" Lilia's voice suddenly rang out, making Edward jump.
"Yeah... There's just too much on my mind right now for me to be able to sleep," He replied, "You should go back to sleep. Don't you have to work tomorrow?"
"Don't you?" She shot back. He remained silent. Sighing, she sat up and crawled over to his side, "Being alone in the dark is all you need for horrible thoughts to ravage your mind. If it means staying up with you to make you feel better, I'll do it. Besides, I can always call in sick tomorrow. I know Rachel would be able to cover for me if it comes to that."
"Aren't you tired, though?" He tried one more time. When he received silence, and just knew that her sapphire eyes were dully looking at him, he muttered, "Fine. Do what you want."
"That's what I planned," She said triumphantly, and despite the tense air Edward smiled. It soon faded upon the next sentence to leave her lips, "What's on your mind? You know, telling others is the best way to make you feel better."
More silence ensued between the couple, with only the sound of the bedside clock ticking nearby. Lilia shuffled closer to him, attempting to make him feel more comfortable, to make him feel that he could trust her. But he did trust her. Besides Alphonse, he trusted her more than anyone. Whatever it may be, from work to personal thoughts and feelings, he always went to her. She had never wronged him, and he knew that she wasn't about to start.
Finally, a sigh left Edward's lips. His head dropped until his forehead was rested against Lilia's shoulder, making her shiver when his breath ran across her exposed skin. "It bugs me. Why didn't I notice that someone had been following me? Why didn't I even vaguely spot someone suspicious? I work in the military, for God's sake. If I can't notice something evil following me, then what can I do to protect other people?"
Lilia's hand comes up to stroke Edward's hair, something she always did whenever she felt that Edward was upset. She did it to try and make him feel better, and in the end it always did. This time, however, it just didn't seem to be helping.
"You shouldn't feel bad, Ed. You've been stressed over work, and everyone makes mistakes every once in a while," She said softly.
"But I can't afford to make any mistakes. Being in the military can mean life or death," He urged, clenching his eyes shut.
Lilia's movements stopped, her voice now eerily serious, "And you don't think mine is any different? These patients count on me and others to keep them alive, but has that always been the outcome?"
Lilia released a shuddering breath, and Edward could only imagine what could be running through her mind right now. He still remembered multiple times when she would come home upset from one of her patients dying, or be completely terrified from one of the wounded coming into the hospital a needle point from death. Lilia had seen some pretty horrible and upsetting things in that dreaded place, even Edward himself covered in blood and multiple wounds. Even her own father had died in that sickly white place from some sort of disease. A mere child died right in front of her when she was coming in to give him his medicine, but did she ever give up that job? No. She kept going, and whenever someone would ask why she hadn't quit yet she'd simply say "I want to save people." That's one of the reasons why Edward felt connected to her when he had first asked, because he felt the same way. He wanted to save people, even if it meant that he had to be part of the military.
"Lilia, I-," Edward began, lifting his head. A small hand covered his mouth, making his sentence cut off short.
"You didn't mean to, I know. Like I said; everyone makes mistakes," She sighed, pulling her hand away, "What really matters is what you choose to do about those mistakes that we make. That's what is important, and right now that's what you should be fretting over. Not something that you can't go back and fix. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I get it," He murmured, "But what can I do? I just can't help but keep thinking about what I could've done differently."
"Okay, how about this then? You can mope and fret about this all you want, or you could just find some way to distract yourself. There's work tomorrow, and I'm sure the paperwork will help distract you," Lilia remarked.
"If that paperwork didn't have to do with the murder and the possibility of someone stalking me," Edward replied sourly, "Mustang and the rest are all going to be researching this, and looking up other recent murders and disappearances to see if I had any sort of connection with them. Of course, I have to help."
"I guess that's off the list then..." Lilia said slowly. Edward knew she was trying hard to lift the mood, but the two of them knew she was failing.
"Any other ideas?" He wondered, running a hand down his face. He was exhausted – emotionally, mentally, and physically – but he just couldn't find it in himself to go to sleep. Lilia was right, he needed a distraction, and fast.
"One," She answered, pulling her legs underneath her body so she was sitting on her knees. Edward was a bit taller than her, so she would need a bit of levitation for her face to be the same level as his, even when sitting. "It's the only other thing I can think of."
Her lips descended upon Edward's, and it didn't take a minute for the young man to respond to the kiss. Her idea of a distraction was probably better than any Edward would have been able to think up, and he made sure to show his appreciation through the steadily growing heated kiss Lilia had started. His tongue slid along the seam of her lips, waiting for her to moan before delving his tongue into her mouth. While meshing their tongues together, he managed to push her back against the mattress with him on top, all without breaking the passion filled kiss.
After a few minutes, they broke off the kiss to breathe. Edward's lips found her neck, where he began trailing kisses along it, only stopping to nibble where her neck and shoulder met. A whimper was what he got, along with Lilia's arms wrapping around his neck.
He smirked against her collarbone, "I quite like this distraction."
"Glad it's working," Lilia gasped, feeling his tongue dip into her cleavage. His hands also came up to grasp the hem of the black tank-top she wore to bed, slowly slipping it off of her.
Lilia pulled his face back up to her own, where the two began another heat filled kiss. Her hands ran down his toned and scarred upper body with her nails lightly biting at his skin. She was quite thankful that Edward usually didn't wear a shirt to bed, which made her job much easier in situations like these. Undressing him then wouldn't take as long.
A sudden thump against the window made the two of them stop the deed they were committing, tearing their lips apart to look toward the curtained window. Normally, the two would have just ignored it and continued, but what had happened earlier still had the two on edge. Getting up, Edward slowly moved toward the window, while behind him Lilia moved over to the bedside table where the gun had been given its new place.
Peaking out through a slit Edward had created, he squinted against the sudden light from the street lamps. At first, he couldn't see anything, so he opened the curtain all the way. Still, nothing suspicious caught his eye; there was nothing on the window pane or the street down below. There weren't even any sort of animal on the small and one of the few trees of Central just outside their window.
Sighing, Edward turned back toward Lilia, shrugging his shoulders. She automatically calmed, shoulders falling and muscles loosening in obvious relief. If Edward had opened the curtains and found something or even someone there, she wouldn't know what she would do. Scream, maybe? Or maybe impulse would take over and she would grab the gun she had readied herself near. She knew, though, that Edward would automatically clap his hands and yell at her to run if someone had been outside. It was his nature to protect those around him, and even though she wouldn't want to leave him behind, she would do what he had told her only because she knew he could handle himself. Besides, it would have been up to her to call for help while Edward held them back for as long as possible.
Lilia shook her head. No, she mustn't be thinking about those possibilities. It hadn't happened, so why should she be worrying? She should be relieved, joyful, to know that nothing was outside their bedroom window. She should bask in those feelings, smile at Edward and allow him to feel the relief that she felt. But... she just couldn't. She was still anxious, scared, and trembling; because she knew that there was something dark going on in their lives now. Even though she was scared, she felt sorry for Edward as well. He had already gone through enough, from what with the homunculi and other enemies he's had to face, to the event that happened when he was merely eleven years old. It just wasn't fair.
Edward moved back toward the bed, accepting Lilia's hand once she held it out. Both needy for the distraction they had started earlier, they renewed where they had left off; their tongues waging war for dominance in the kiss and the act that they were committing, and hands running along the others body. As each moan left both of their lips and each movement they both performed, the worries and dread slowly began to vanish from both of their minds. At least for now.
"Don't you look beautiful today," Mustang remarked sarcastically when Edward entered his office that morning. Everyone had already arrived, but that was to be expected since Edward had arrived at least an hour late.
All of Mustang's subordinates would be helping out on this investigation, and that included Jean Havoc, Vato Falman, Heymans Breda, Kain Fuery, and Riza Hawkeye. Of course, Maes Hughes was there as well, and it appeared that he had a folder of information from last night's murder beside him. The coffee table sitting in between the two couches was covered in folders containing massive amounts of information, and along with the folders were multiple cups of coffee. It made Edward wonder how long these people have been here for.
Edward flopped onto one of the leather couches, rubbing his tired eyes, "Gee, I never knew how much you cared, Mustang."
"To have to share a bed without any activities with Lilia would just be so unfair. He should be tired every morning," Havoc smirked, his unlit cigarette hanging between his lips.
"Would both of you just shut up? I'd rather not talk about my personal life with you two, so can we just get to work?" Edward frowned.
Hughes smiled in Edward's direction, "Are you ready? Some of the things we find out might not be so pretty."
"I'm not a kid anymore, Hughes. I can handle this."
Edward had been telling himself that all morning as he was dressing himself for the day, and throughout the entire walk to HQ. Even then he still couldn't help but feel defenceless and nervous. What they all discover might be pretty nerve wracking, especially if it does turn out that Edward has been being stalked by some mysterious person.
"What have you guys got done so far?" Edward asked, examining a photo in one of the folders.
"Not much, since you only just arrived. The main thing we need right now is your opinion on most of the murders and disappearances we've found in the records room. They all date back from just last week to two years ago, so if you recognize any of these people then we'll know this person just might be obsessed with you," Falman explained.
"We still have no suspects for the murder from last night. Who ever had done it was careful. There's no finger prints, no suspicious objects nearby, nothing," Hughes added, "There are not even any eye witnesses."
"But the murder was done in public, and if you said that body had been lying there for at least a few hours then it would have been killed around the time people would be coming home from work. If so, why didn't anybody see the murder being taken place?" Edward pointed out.
"They could have done the murder somewhere else and then drag the body to the curb," Breda suggested.
Mustang shook his head, "There weren't any drag marks. If the body had been dragged there should have been blood smeared all over the sidewalk, not just in that one area."
"This person is either extremely reckless, or extremely smart," Hawkeye mused.
Everyone in that room was silently hoping that this person was just reckless, and if that truly was the case than at least they would be easier to deal with than someone with a high percent of IQ. If they were extremely smart, then they would be able to evade capture for a long while, and if they evade capture then they can continue with these murders. Not only that, but they would continue to haunt Edward's subconscious.
The morning was long for all the soldiers as they all made their way through the data they had collected. There had been at least fifty people all over the country of Amestris in the last year that had been reported murdered or gone missing. In the last two years, the number was much, much higher, and soon every person Edward looked at was just a blur of tan skin and different colors. His mind was starting to fail him, and he slowly began to regret not trying to get as much sleep as he could the night before.
"Well, that finishes the people from September two years ago," Hughes sighed, taking off his glasses to rub at his eyes.
"At least we're almost done a year," Breda yawned, stretching out his stiff limbs.
Edward stayed silent, pulling the first document from October over to him. He flipped it open to see a woman in her late twenties maybe early thirties with curly dark hair and green eyes. The information on her said that she lived in Eastern Amestris, and worked at the local Inn in her hometown when she suddenly went missing. It was just a lot of stuff along the lines of "disappeared without a trace" and yatta yatta yatta. Edward was just about to smash his face against the table at not being to come up with at least one lead when something caught his eye.
"Brekhart... That town sounds familiar..." Edward mumbled to himself.
"It should. I remember sending you there to check out the remains of a fire that left half the town in ruins. I believe you said it was the cause of some pyromaniac in the town," Mustang responded. When people began to look at him, he shot an obsidian glare in their direction, "Which wasn't me!"
"Wait... I remember! I stayed at this woman's Inn during my investigation. She was one of those women who treated everybody like they were their own child. For example; she called me "Hun" whenever she saw me," Edward said.
"And then it just so happened that she went missing not long after," Mustang filled in.
After that discovery, everyone was a bit more eager as they went through the data. Finally, they had something, and to know that definitely lifted their spirits. It was like that one discovery triggered a domino effect, because soon after they came upon another, and then another, and then another... It kept going. Every month, and almost every murder and missing report Edward had a connection with. It was exciting to know they were making progress, but Edward had a sinking feeling in his gut every time they came upon another person that he had somehow known.
What was odd about each discovery was that each person that Edward knew was all women. They could have been just mere children, or even in their sixties, but each one was female. Each female he had met that had either snapped at him, or complimented him, or so much as accidentally bumped into him had all been reported to be missing or murdered. Even a four year girl he remembered helping find her mother, allowing her to hold his hand as he did, had been found murdered. The exact hand that Edward had held had been cut off, and they still haven't found it after all this time.
"This person is sick," Edward growled, "Why would they even do this to these people? Could it just be a coincidence?"
"It really doesn't appear that way, Ed," Fuery replied.
"Especially since this person wrote out "for Edward" beside the body last night," Hughes added.
"It could be jealously," Havoc piped up, flipping through the different photos of the females, "I'm sure Ed has had at least a few nasty encounters with men, but instead all of these people are women. This person must be fond of Ed for them to kill only women, fond enough to be jealous whenever these women even said "hi" to you."
"But if they're jealous, why haven't they gone after Lilia yet? Ed has been with her for nearly two years," Fuery asked.
"She's always in an overly public place, such as the hospital or crowded streets. When she's not out in public, she's at home with Ed himself," Hughes replied.
"But she isn't always with people. What about the days when she had a day off but I didn't?" Edward stated, "If this person is jealous about women near me, why didn't they just kill her when she was defenceless in our apartment?"
"Maybe they're saving her for best for last? She is the closest woman to you," Breda suggested.
"Yeah, true. But then again what about the Lieutenant? Or even Winry? Why haven't they killed them?" Edward continued.
"Winry has your brother. What if they know that if they somehow hurt Al that you would hate them? And then there's the Lieutenant. When she's at work, she's around all of us, so she's safe. Even on her own, she's safe, seeing as how she's one of the best with guns," Hughes pointed out.
Hawkeye stayed quiet, eyes fixated on her lap and a thoughtful expression on her face. Looking up, her stern voice cut through the men around her like knives, "I do recall having someone following me last month. I only saw their figure, but when I yelled at them to come out, they ran. I must have scared them away."
Nobody doubted that.
"What did the figure look like? Maybe now we can put a gender to this person," Mustang wondered.
"I can't really say, since they were hard to see and it was dark. However, I do remember that they were quite short, and it appeared that they were wearing baggy clothes so I couldn't identify the gender. I couldn't even see the color of their hair," Hawkeye replied. "Maybe you should call Winry after work today Edward, see if she has had any weird experiences going on?"
"I don't think that she will, though," Mustang murmured thoughtfully. "To keep a close eye on Fullmetal, they would have to be in the same city as him. Lieutenant, you live in Central, as does Fullmetal, which explains why that person would be able to come after you. But the last time Fullmetal went to Resembool was before October from two years ago, so this person wouldn't have been able to go after Winry."
"That's right, considering how these connections only just began in October two years ago," Falman agreed.
"Then why is this person just beginning to make themselves known? Wouldn't they have tried two years ago?" Edward asked.
"Maybe they were comfortable just watching from afar, until now. They did begin following you in October, maybe this feels like a two year anniversary to them or something," Fuery shrugged.
"Then why didn't-."
A knock on the office door interrupted Edward, before a soldier allowed himself in with what looked like a mailed package in his hands. The soldier cleared his throat when everyone's landed upon him, and Edward could have sworn he literally began to shake under everyone's expectant gaze.
"Sorry for interrupting, sir, but somebody mailed this to headquarters for Edward Elric," He announced to Mustang and his subordinates. He laid it out on the coffee table, turned and then made his leave.
Right when the click of the door was heard, Edward snatched up the package and began scanning over it for any sort of return address or name. When he came up with none, he gulped and slowly tore open the brown mailing paper that the person had wrapped whatever inside with. His heart was thumping painfully hard and fast, and his fingers shook with each piece that he tore off until what was inside was revealed.
His breath hitched, and now his whole body was trembling instead of just his hands. Tenderly, he picked up the small doll in one hand, examining the horrible stitching of the seams, and the torn piece of cloth tied around its neck. The felt hair was black, and the eyes were sewed to look like two Xs, as if the doll were dead. The cloth that it had tied around its neck was white, and Edward knew that it wasn't just some random piece of cloth. No, it was part of Lilia's uniform. This doll had to be Lilia, and though horribly sewed together, it did bear a resemblance to her. But what really made him fear what this doll symbolized was what it had stabbed into its chest. There were pins of all shapes and sizes obscuring the small doll's chest until you could barely see it.
Laying the doll down onto the coffee table for everyone else to observe, he picked up the next thing that lay in his lap. It was a picture, simple and alone, but it still had the effect to make Edward's heart stop.
His eyes widened as they examined the dark photo, scanning over the sweat slick bodies pressed together. You could see the window frame of his bedroom window just along the two side edges, almost making the photo look like it was in a frame itself. Everything in the room inside was hard to make out from the little light that was being produced, but the tan, naked bodies weren't hard to miss. Black hair seemed to blend into the darkness, while the other's blonde hair stood out. Arms were wound around the blonde, whose metal arm shimmered in the little light there was. His chest against hers, and lips pressed tightly together in a simple act to show affection while, below, they were connecting in the most intimate way possible.
Edward couldn't have thrown that picture down faster, plastering his back as far as it would go into the back of the leather couch. Gasping for the air he had somehow lost, he watched the picture mock him by fluttering slowly down onto the table with wide golden eyes, body trembling excessively.
Landing face down, what should have been a plain white backing was covered with messy red letters, and once more he found his name written in red. This time not in a simple sentence, but a question in which he didn't know how to answer.
Why isn't that me, Edward?