OKay! The chapter is up! YAY! WOO HOO! After four solid hours of writing, I've come up with a fifteen hundred word chapter for you all! 00 I know, my longest chapter in history! YAY! I don't mean just in this story, but in all of them! YAY!
Alright, well, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the number in the middle of the sentance in the chapter will be explained at the end if you wish to jump down there once you've reached that point.
Please tell me what you think and tell your friends to read! I really love the responses: their what inspire me to do my best and keep on writing!
READ AND REVIEW! NOW! LOVE YOU!
--LOVE--
Hikari
Crimson Butterfly: Chapter 4: Left Behind
Edward awoke a few hours later to a dull throbbing in the back of his head. He opened his eyes, surprised by how dark it still was. He sat up and rubbed his aching head.
"Brother!" Alphonse cried, nearly tackling his brother to the ground. Ed called out in shock.
"Oi! Calm down, will ya?" he yelled, laughing in spite of himself.
"Brotherithoughtyouweredeadthenthezombiegirlshowedupandnearlykilledyouagainandiwasscaredandworriedandikilledthecrazycreepyladywiththatweirdcamerathinganditdissapearedandthenifoundaradioandheardherthoughtsthenisathereandwaitedforyou." The suit of armor choked out, invisible tears of happiness streaming from his red eyes.
Ed blinked, struggling to make sense of what the young Elric had said. "Something…. About creepy ladies eating… cameras?"
Al shook his head furiously. "Nooooo!" he said. "The creepy lady attacked you and tried to kill you, but I killed her first with the camera, found a radio, put a pendant with her thoughts in it, and read her thoughts."
There was a pause, then Ed asked the question with no answer.
"How… did you do that?"
There was another pause, followed by a clanking of metal as Al shrugged. "Dunno."
More silence.
"Hey! I was just wondering…" Al started. "What was on that weird sheet of paper from before? You know, the one we actually found with the camera?"
The elder cringed at the recollection then, reluctantly, he handed the journal installation over to his sibling,
Alphonse quickly scanned the paper. A gasp escaped him. "What happened to him, do you think?" he questioned to the empty air.
"Hell if I know." Ed responded. "But I'm not just going to sit here and wonder about him when we're the ones in immediate danger. Come on. Let's go."
They wandered around the empty house for a while, searching high and low for clues as to how to get out of this town, until they found a small, secluded room tucked in a corner, forgotten about by all of society. They ducked in, Ed in the lead with Al close on his tail.
Al peered around the room, taking in the sights: boxes were stacked one on top of another; a trunk was located in the corner. A platform stood in the center of the room, no more than two feet in height; the roof was tall with the rafters clearly visible in it.
There was an excruciatingly loud THUD! as Al ran into the stock still Edward. He quirked a non-visible brow in question to his brother's actions. "Brother?" Al said quietly, tapping his brother's shoulder lightly.
No reply.
"Brother?"
Still no response.
This isn't the first time this has happened, he thought, looking at the dazed boy in confusion.
He shook Ed. "Brother?" Shake, shake, shake. "Brother?" Shake, shake, shake. "BROTHER!"
Edward entered the room, his brother in trail. He looked around the room. He noted everything his brother did: the boxes, the trunk, the rafters in the roof, the platform…
The platform. It caught his attention nearly instantly. He stared at the raised area as his vision blurred in and out, in and out, in and out of focus until, finally, it all went black.
The older Elric collapsed suddenly, crumpling into his brother's arms. "BROTHER!" Al cried, shaking Edward, trying to arouse him.
Ed's vision returned to him, though he realized immediately that something was off. Everything was constantly quaking and colors flickered nonstop. The room was now totally empty, aside from the platform that still reached up from the foundation.
The golden eyed boy took a careful step forward.
When nothing happened, he stepped again.
Nothing.
He smiled and began to confidently tread across the room. Ed took note that the door had pieces of it clawed out, as though someone fighting for their very life had scratched into it.
A harsh wind blew through the room, billowing his bangs into his face. Brushing it aside, he turned around to greet the wind…. And his foot landed in a puddle.
"Hm?" he wondered, knowing full well that there was nothing in the room before and, unless the custodian had just come in- which was beyond unlikely- , there shouldn't have been a puddle there. Edward looked downward and jumped back in fright. A scarlet pool of blood stood at his feet, drenching his shoe with its malicious color.
Suddenly, bodies began falling into place (1), their hair matted and skin sopping wet with blood. Cuts streaked across their body in crazed patterns. The bodies covered the ground and hung from the platform as though they'd become a carpet of corpses.
Ed's eyes widened. He automatically took a recoiling step back, feeling the squish of a hand beneath the pressure.
He turned and turned wildly, only to find that the lone spot that was a haven from the dead was right beneath his own two feet.
The room began spinning. It twirled faster and faster until it finally halted, leaving Edward with a sick feeling deep in his stomach. He couldn't tell if it'd been from all of the spinning or the bodies all lying on the ground before.
Once again, his back was to the raised ground, and the room was clean of any signs of what had happened before.
He turned once more, afraid of what he might see.
Ed breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the two girls, standing side by side on the platform. They were looking at him, so he could easily tell they weren't like all the other's he'd seen throughout the night. Their faces were clean and clear of cut or blemish. They had identical black, silky hair, both at waist length. Their eyes were a dark brown, so dark that they nearly blended in with their own pupils. They had fair skin and small kimonos. Both were roughly four foot and 6 inches.
"Hey! You two okay?" he called, not trying to hide the happiness in his voice that it hadn't been more bodies.
Though they seemed oblivious to him. They peered down into a deep hole that had appeared in the middle of the raise room segment.
"You ready?" one said to the other.
"Yes." The other said.
"Ready…" They tensed their legs.
"Steady…" They bent low to the ground.
"NOW!"
Suddenly, they both turned and ran. "AFTER THEM!" a voice cried from behind him. Visions bled into his mind.
The children sprinted up the mountain for a long time until, finally, one lost her footing and fell, cascading down the mountain.
"SISTER!" she cried out, but the other girl kept running, ignoring the other's pleas for help as she was captured by the men below.
The scene changed. Now the same girl stood on the very platform he was in front of, laughing madly as the bodies reappeared. The blood was splattered all over her new kimono. Two men hung at her sides from ropes on the rafters. She continued to laugh wildly until, in all grace, Ed blacked out, leaving the bloodcurdling scene far behind.
Ed awoke later to Alphonse shaking him. "Brother! Are you okay?" he said, leaning close to his brother's face. Ed pushed him away. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry."
He rubbed his head, wondering what all the visions could have meant.
Very soon after- think instantly after he thought that- he found out.
A woman with a bloody kimono appeared before them, chuckling quietly to herself.
The Elrics froze stiff until she began lashing out at them, knives in each hand. The two fought to evade her attacks, Al snapping occasional, critical pictures with Camera Obscura.
Finally, after what seemed like 30 pictures, the monstrosity stopped attacking; she burst out laughing, then said quietly, "I always do enjoy such feisty victims.", then disappeared in an awesome flash of light, throwing the two boys into confusion and blackness.
This time, it was Al's turn to awake alone in the empty room. That is, empty as in without Ed. "B-brother?" he stuttered, afraid that something terrible had happened during the flash of light. He crept around on hands and knees, searching for any sign of the Elric's presence.
He found it in good time. A small, golden orb that matched his older brother's eye color lay on the ground, a string of brown attached tightly to it. He picked it up. What could he be doing? He thought. He wouldn't go anywhere without it… what are you thinking, Ed?
Would you like to find out? A small voice in the back of his head whispered, urging him toward the radio on the far side of the mansion.
Al decided to risk going back. He rushed across the house, the path he'd taken with Ed burned deep into his mind.
Upon arriving, he placed the pendant gently into the machine and listened intently.
It worked well enough that he didn't even need to lean into the speaker. Ed's voice rang out loud and clear, as always.
What's going on? Why do I see these things? Those girls…what were they running from? What's the secret behind this strange place? I have to know.
I have to know the secret behind the town… the gates to Hell… everything. But most of all, I need to figure out this: Why us? Why me and Al? Why did we have to come here? WHY!
-Heavy, angered breathing was heard, as though Ed were angry more with himself than the problems he faced.-
And also: what are these things? These, floating specks that call me so? Where are they taking me? Why must I follow…
These…
Crimson Butterflies…
00 Oooooh! CRIMSON BUTTERFLIES COME INTO PLAY! WOOT WOOT! Anyways...
(1) The bodies weren't really falling, mearly appearing quickly. Just something I thought I'd put!
Anyways, really, please review and tell your friends about this. The more that read it, the better! I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to reading from you soon!
Hikari Your localized bringer of Crimson Butterfly .