Danielle slowly opened her eyes and groaned. She glanced around the dark, musty room that strangely resembled an operating room. She must have been found by the Military, and sent to the hospital. She went to sit up, but she was bound to what appeared to be an operating table. Then she began to think.
'Why was it so dark? And where was everyone? Surely the Colonel, or at least, a doctor would be in the room.'
She struggled for a moment, but gave up, feeling extremely weak. She had a huge gash on her left arm, and her glove was ripped. Dried blood stained her skin and clothing. She recalled most of what happened on the train, but some parts were fuzzy. She could remember looking up at Scar, into his red eyes, as he picked her up.
Danielle looked around the room. It was dimly lit. The walls were lined with cages, which held strange creatures. There were also jars on shelves that were filled with strange liquids and what looked to be like – organs. Human and animal organs. Danielle let out a gasp.
"I see you're awake," came a voice from the stairway. A man stepped into the light. He had dark, messy hair and squinted eyes. "You seem to have taken quite a beating."
"Are you the one who brought me here?" Danielle asked.
"Yes, I couldn't just leave you out in the forest for the wild animals to eat, could I?" the man replied. His voice was cold.
"Thank you, but why am I buckled to this table?"
"Because I can't have you running away. Not when I need something from you." The man walked over to a table and shuffled through papers.
"What do you mean?"
"Hush. You'll find out soon… yes, you should do nicely."
"What do you mean?" Danielle said, more demandingly.
"Your blood will help me finish my experiment."
"What!"
"Silly girl. Haven't you looked around? I make chimeras," the man said, turning to her. " Not just any chimeras, I use different animal parts and fuse them together. It's more difficult that way, since most of them aren't alive."
"You're the alchemist from Windal!" Danielle exclaimed. The man laughed.
"I thought you might be from the Military. I am Dayus Rogers, once known as the 'Splicing' Alchemist when I, too, was in the Military. Then they released me for becoming too obsessed with my work."
"I can see why they thought that," Danielle said. Dayus pulled open a drawer beside Danielle. Inside, various tools lay, as if an operation were about to take place. He grabbed a scalpel and held it up.
"I thought you were just going to take my blood," Danielle said, uneasily.
"Did you think that I was just going to use a needle?" Dayus laughed. "I need more blood than that. A creature can't live off of just a pint. I need more."
He held the scalpel to her wrist. Danielle closed her eyes as the sharp blade sliced through her skin. She held her breath in. Blood poured into a little groove on the table, which dripped it into a container.
"And what do you plan on doing to me after this?" Danielle asked.
"Well, blood can't circulate by itself, and seeing as you'll probably be dead by the time I get enough blood, I plan to cut out your heart."
Danielle laughed, more out of comfort for herself than the insanity of the idea. Dayus walked back upstairs, leaving her to her fate.
Danielle looked at the buckles bounding her to the table. She struggled once more, but found that was the last thing she should do. She began to feel tired. 'It's amazing how fast this will be over.' She shook her head in anger. She shouldn't think those kind of thoughts. Someone would surely find her. Surely.
"Uncle Roy," she muttered, holding back tears. Nothing replied but the silence. Electricity rose from her hands, but even that seemed weak.
A knock came at the door above. But Danielle hardly took any notice to it. Thoughts ran through her head so fast, it gave her a strong headache.
"I hope Edward is okay," Danielle said, recalling the train incident. She closed her eyes, with that last thought in her head.
"Why yes, I do recall seeing someone that matches the description you gave me," came Dayus' voice from upstairs. "Would you come this way?"
Footsteps echoed from the stairs into the silent room.
"I'm glad that we finally found her," came Edward's voice. He and Alphonse followed Dayus into the room.
"At least you get to see her one last time."
"What?" Ed asked, slightly confused. He turned and caught site of Danielle. "Danielle!"
"I'm terribly sorry, but she was the only specimen I could use at the moment," Dayus said, apologetically. Ed turned and grabbed him by the throat.
"You monster! What have you done!" he yelled. Dayus only gasped for air. "Al, get Danielle."
Al nodded his head and ran over to her. He ripped off the belts and lifted her out of the pool of blood.
"No, I don't have enough!" Dayus gasped, as he reached out and pulled open a cage door. A bat like chimera flew at Al, and swooped down at his head.
"You bastard!" Ed yelled, hitting Dayus to the floor.
"Brother, she won't wake up!" Al exclaimed. Ed walked over to him. He could see the tear streaks on Danielle's face. He took her from Al, who was covered in blood.
"Edward, behind you!" Al yelled. Ed turned and saw Dayus, holding his scalpel. He had a deranged grin on his face. He stabbed at Ed, but Al jumped in front of him. The scalpel bent against his armor.
Dayus pulled another chain, dropping another operating table onto Al. Ed fell back, Danielle still in his arms. He gasped.
On the table were animals – dead animals. Each cut open and missing organs.
"Give me back that girl! I need her still beating heart!"
Ed stood up. Al raised the table off of him. He grabbed Dayus and held him up in the air.
"I will personally deliver you to the authorities," Al said, his voice shaking. "What you've done – it's unforgivable."
"You should know about unforgivable things, shouldn't you, boy?" Dayus laughed. Al hesitated at his words. "I can tell a human transmutation attempt when I see one. Am I right?"
"Shut up!" Ed yelled. "You know nothing!
"Seems I've hit a soft spot."
"Shut up!"
"Are you going to try and resurrect her too?"
"SHUT UP!" Ed went to transmute a weapon to attack Dayus, but Alphonse had already thrown him to the ground. One of the cages, worked open, and a dog-like chimera lunged out. Ed stumbled back behind a row of shelves. He sat down, dripping sweat and covered in blood.
"I have to stop the bleeding," Ed muttered to himself. He ripped off a strip of cloth from his coat. He tore that in half and tied them tightly around each of Danielle's wrists. "Please be alright. Please don't be –"
Sounds of Dayus and Al wrestling around grew closer. The bat-like chimera flew above them, screeching at the battle. Ed pulled Danielle closer to him.
Al flew across the room as the dog chimera attacked him.
"Where is my specimen?" Dayus' voice said, close by. He appeared in front of Ed with a raised carving knife. "There you are –"
A gunshot echoed in the room. Dayus coughed and fell forward. Ed closed his eyes and held Danielle tightly.
"Search for anybody else!" yelled a voice from the stairway. Footsteps came closer. "Edward, come on!"
"You won't hurt her anymore! I won't let you!" he yelled, hardly taking notice to what was happening.
"I don't want to hurt her, Ed." Ed opened his eyes and looked up. Lieutenant Hawkeye stood there, holding her gun. "We have to take her now, Edward. She needs help," she said. Major Armstrong came over and took Danielle away from Ed.
Ed looked at his bloodstained gloves for a moment, and then buried his face into his arms. Lieutenant Hawkeye looked at him, trying to find words of comfort, but none came. She turned and followed Major Armstrong up the stairs.
Al walked over, leaving the chimeras lying on the floor. "Brother," he said softly.
"It was just like with Nina. I wasn't there to protect her," Ed said.
"It's not your fault," Al said, trying to comfort him. "You didn't know, there was nothing more you could have done."
"You don't understand!" Ed yelled. Al looked at him, feeling the same pain of loss. "You just don't understand."
Well that's it! That's the End…. Oh just kidding, sillies. This isn't even half the series. HAHA gotcha good. Anyway Preview of Next Episode:
"Sorry, guess I wasn't much of a cook. Be careful with the eggs, I think there may be some shells in them." Winry turned to the stove. "The noodles are almost done. Hopefully they'll turn out alright."
Al walked in behind Ed.
"Wow, Winry. Why are you cooking all of this?" he asked.
"I know how Ed has his huge appetite," she laughed.
"Thanks again, Winry, but I'm not very hungry," Ed said. Winry looked at him.
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