Author's notes: finally got around to revising this chapter, I do apologize for the wait, now that college has started and my schedules for work and school are more settled I should be able to get back in the swing of things. Also I have begun the new chapter so that should be typed and posted soon.
Edward could not believe his eyes for a moment he believed he was merely seeing a mirage for it did not seem like he would ever find this mysterious ghost woman that he had been searching for. But there she was plain as day, holding hands and giggling perversely with some nameless, young, but somewhat handsome state alchemist that she must have picked up from the bar. The young soldier appeared to be in perhaps his mid-twenties with short blonde hair and light green eyes. His features weren't necessarily what one would typically consider handsome, but he wasn't ugly. He had a very bird like facial structure with a long beak like nose small rounded eyes, and a very narrow shaped face. He was quite tall and muscular, probably from the military training perhaps.
Both the soldier and the woman were most definitely under the influence of alcohol, each step they took was like watching an elephant dancing on a large tub of jello. Together the makeshift pair were staggering towards the long wooden staircase that was near the far back wall of the little club. They appeared to be making their way up the stairs and towards the second floor of the club. The next floor was what they considered the "after party entertainment" was located. From where he was sitting there seemed to be maybe six to eight different rooms on the floor above, but it was hard to tell with the lighting in this place. Edward continued to watch the pair for a few more moments before the young alchemist decided that he should follow the couple upstairs. He rose from his seat at the small wooden table that he and Alphonse had been sitting at, ignoring his brother's protests about how they were supposed to be awaiting the colonel's return before they proceeded in doing anything. Despite Alphonse's protests that they should be waiting, his brother never once made a move to follow him. The further he moved across the club towards the stairs, however, the stranger his body had begun to feel. He was beginning to feel as if his body was numb with odd tingling sensations shooting every which way to each of his organs and limbs. His veins felt as there was some sort of fiery hot liquid coursing through them and his world was beginning to spin all around. Everything had begun to have a somewhat fuzzy or blurry appearance to it.
'Why is it so hot in here?' The blonde questioned to himself. To him the room felt hotter than a man wearing a long jacket and leather pants in the middle of a smoldering hot desert…which he would of course not do, that's just silly. Tiny beads of sweat had formed upon the young alchemist's forehead and were working their way down his face as he walked up the stairs. Between the heat and the blurry visuals, he was beginning to feel a bit nauseated. With each and every step he took up those steps, however, sharp and odd tingling sensations began coursing throughout his body and his heart had begun to beat faster and faster. His heart was pounding in a primal fast rhythm and his chest was beginning to ache slightly, and yet his body began to feel, to crave something; but that something was unclear to him, he had never felt a craving such as this before. He was craving something that was natural for a boy his age, something primal and to him animalistic. This intense feeling of craving was slightly overbearing and confusing to the young alchemist, whom up until this moment never even gave a second, let alone a first thought to the sensual gratification that a another warm body could possibly provide another. He was far more interested in sticking his nose in an alchemy book than sticking anything else of his into another person. The simple though of sex normally made him uncomfortable and he would think of other less crude things, than how he could possibly get a piece of the double backed chimera.
Taking a glance back toward the table he and his younger brother had been seated at he noticed that the large suit of armor that housed his brother hadn't even budged to follow him, most likely awaiting Mustang to get there, much to the blonde's dismay. It was times like these that made him wish that his sibling wasn't so, how did he put it…. a stickler…but that was one of the qualities that he did typically like about his brother except for right at this moment…The feelings he had felt and was still feeling had begun to intensify and it was now that he really wished that his baby brother had followed him, and yet no matter how odd he was feeling he couldn't bring himself to turn back around. His mind may have been screaming that something was very much wrong, but his body felt compelled to continue forward. It was almost trance-like how he was moving towards his body's predestination, it felt surreal, maybe he was dreaming. Only in his mind he knew he was not in a dream, he continued to climb up those stairs leading him to the many doors and halls that were upstairs, each step taking him closer to his goal, closer to the dead woman, and closer to his satisfaction to a crave that he did not fully understand.
His heart began to race faster and faster so fast he began to fear that it just might beat right out of his chest, the young alchemist lifted a hand to his chest with hopes of somehow calming back down to a sense of normalcy. After what had seemed an eternity he had finally reached the top of the stairs, his world seemed timeless at the moment and almost everything appeared to be moving in a slow motion though why he could not comprehend right now nor could he truly know if this was reality. Little specks of purplish and darkly shaded green dots speckled across his visual spectrum further clouding his already blurring vison. A few times during his climb he had nearly tripped or fallen as his feet now seemed to hold the grace of As he took the that final step at the top of what had seemed like endless staircase he released the breath that he had apparently not taken almost the entire climb. To his far left he could see the door that he needed at the very end of the half railed off hallway that made almost a half spiral around the entire building.
The further he walked and the closer he seemed to get to that door at the end of the hall, the stranger and stranger he was beginning to feel. He took a long, deep breath as he neared the end of the long hallway, coming to face his destination, the doorway that held all the answers, knowledge of these odd events that were happening, answers to a past that was never properly told, the only remaining obstacle between himself and the supposed dead woman, Madeline…yes, Madeline, the strange yet captivating beauty, the supposed black widow of the night, the phantom lover that lead unknowing young soldiers to their certain death. He reached out to grab the gold plated door knob with his gloved hand, slowly turning the handle as he opened the wooden door, in hopes of surprising the two young love birds. The door made a slight creak as it was opened wider and wider, just enough so that Edward could fit through and quietly shut the door behind him once he was inside the room. The lighting was dim inside, but from what he could tell this was only the parlor, the room he was looking for must be behind the second door that was within this room. The parlor itself was quite nice, with sparse yet tasteful furnishings and decorations throughout. It looked quite homey for a such a distasteful place as this.
In the middle of the small parlor was an arrangement of two red cushiony chairs each with a small gold colored pillow sitting next to one of the arm rests, a large red loveseat with two gold trimmed pillows that each with shapes of small birds within the dainty trim on the sides as well as being embroidered across the front with abstract designs of birds sitting about spiral branches. There was also a simple but lovely golden floor lamp with a dark red shade in the corner by the sofa that was already turned on; providing a dim, but still decently lit room. He inched his way with small steps across the room and stood in front of the other door, preparing himself for his confrontation with the woman and the soldier. He inhaled a deep breath as he attempted to calm his nerves and hopefully in turn he could ease these odd sensations his body was feeling. He moved to open the wooden door before him, listening intently for any noises as he did so, but he heard nothing, just silence from within the adjoined room and that discovery unnerved him. 'Am I already too late?' he asked to himself as he opened the door cautiously; only widening it just enough so that he could slip through the doorway and quietly shut it behind himself. Once he was inside he had expected to room to become pitch black considering that the lights had appeared off, but once the door was fully shut the young alchemist had noticed that there was a floor lamp turned on in the corner that added a dim but manageable lighting to the room. A musky familiar yet unfamiliar odor invaded his nostrils and he crinkled his nose a bit as he took notice of the odd smell. It smelled similar to blood and something else that he could not quite place something odd mixed with the scent of sweat and sex.
"My, my, what do we have here?" A soft sultry voice said from a shapely body lying on the bed, opposite to where he stood at the doorway, and interrupting the young alchemist's thoughts.
Edward let out a slight inward gasp at being noticed and as he looked in the direction that the disembodied voice had come from and sure it enough it belonged to her, Madeline, or at least what looked like the fallen martyr. His body trembled as he soft and sultry voice echoed his mind with every word she spoke, he blushed as he caught sight of her half naked body, clad in only a lacy pair of emerald green undergarments. She merely smiled as she noticed his nervous stare.
"See something you like, soldier?" She questioned as she moved a seductive hand down her body to emphasize her intentions. The soldier lay dead beside her blood pooling from his slit throat, the musky smell of blood made the young alchemist's nose cringe. She moved her body and took the time to roll the now dead soldier off the bed and onto the filthy floor. The sheets below her appeared to have been white at some point, but now were stained red in odd little abstract patterns, from where the dead soldier had laid. Madeline merely smiled at the awestruck blonde tracing little patterns in the fresh blood that was covering the silky bed sheets, her dark hair fell in luscious pools around her lovely face framing it perfectly. Edward became entranced with her and this silent moment and as he continued to merely stare blankly unable to find the words to say. Well he found her…so now what? His gut told him to detain her now, but his body and his mind were at war with his better judgment and wanting something more unorthodox in this situation. As his morals fought a losing battle he felt his world begin to sway and he could feel himself slipping into an unknown state. He moved closer to the half dressed woman and an unnerving smirk splayed across his lips, uncaring and very un-edward like. He all but leapt upon her as she let out a surprised yelp, restraining her wrists and pinning them high above her head with his own hands. The sharp metal finger tips of his auto mail dug harshly into her delicate pale skin, hard enough to draw blood.
"Get off me Pipsqueak!" Madeline yelled as she tried to fight off her young assailant.' Why can't I turn back ….' She thought to herself as she tried to shift her body to a much stronger more familiar form than this weak shell of a mortal woman that had been chosen, but to no avail for some reason or another her body felt fuzzy and unfamiliar and unable to change back. 'That drink…!' Her mind yelled as she managed to kick the young alchemist off for a moment. It made sense sort of…something must have been in that drink that young doctor bought her… What fool she had been, she should have known something was up with the odd tasting drink, well it was too late now to feel foolish for such a naïve mistake, feeling foolish wouldn't save her from her current predicament. Madeline scrambled as quickly as she could from the bed only be taken the dirty floor below by the boy, hitting her head hard on the bed's wooden frame as she hit the ground her vision blurring and her head aching. He said nothing to her as he pinned her once more below him, she wiggled about trying to escape, but she was just not strong enough. "I will fucking kill you if you don't get off of me you fucking tool!" She spat in his face as she yelled to the man, but his only response was a smirk as he wiped the spit with his free human hand and moved his lips to claim hers in a rough and forceful kiss, his hands moving to rip the remainder of her clothes off and in one quick motion he forced himself inside her.
No words were said and the only sound that could be heard were her soft sobs and the pounding of skin on skin as he thrusted harder inside her, as he moved his body temperature rose and sweat began to dribble down his brow, maybe it was the heat or he was imagining things, but the woman below him seemed different, her face seemed to be changing to a softer, more androgynous, and with no doubt a more familiar face. Each thrust felt as if her body was being cruelly ripped apart and she could feel what felt like blood trickling down between her thighs. The blonde pushed these thoughts from his mind as he came close to his release, thrusting inside the stunned body below him. Tears ran down the cheeks of her pale face, and though he recognized that face, in this moment nothing else mattered other than his satisfaction. Within moments he felt his muscles contract and his body shuddered as he released himself inside the warm body beneath him, and when he finished he finally opened his eyes and stared back into familiar orbs. Those hate filled eyes staring back at him, so much anger, but he couldn't focus on the reason why, he felt extremely, tired and wobbly, his arms began to buckle beneath him and his eyes closed for sleep as he fell on top the body below. One word came to mind before his world went completely black…. Envy.
Meanwhile downstairs
Roy glanced towards the table that Edward and Alphonse were occupying. 'Where could that boy have gone?' the older man thought to himself as he tried to get a good look at the table that now only seated Alphonse, but he had to be cautious, he didn't want the Fuehrer to notice his unease, at least not right now.
"Something wrong Colonel?" The doctor said with a warm, but concerned smile. His eyes seemed genuinely concerned as he watched the colonel and then glanced towards the direction that the older man had been looking in, as he moved a hand to grab his drink from the table and take a few sips.
"It's nothing, just thought I saw and old girlfriend is all." He half-heartedly joked, his concern growing more and more with each passing second that he did not see his young inexperienced subordinate sitting at the table with his younger brother. He didn't like the feeling he was getting either, something was not right here and he was sure it had something to do with Edward's absence. The boy never left his brother behind, no matter what. He could only hope he had not had a lapse in sanity and decided to follow that woman anywhere alone especially if she was really a homunculus, he had no idea if and how dangerous she could possibly be.
"Well I hope she isn't an angry old flame, I would hate to see you get singed." The Fuehrer said jokingly waving a hand in front of his face to shoo a fly that was buzzing about the little club. He may be a homunculus, but even alive he never liked the annoying little insects, besides he was the prestigious ruler of a great nation, he didn't want some disgusting insect in face, he had to look dignified after all.
"Oh not at all sir, I just don't feel like turning her down again, she's just been pestering me to take her on another date is all." He lied in response, he was getting nervous, he really wanted to check on the Elrics, but at the moment his hands were tied playing guest to the Fuehrer and his obvious new pawn. Why else would he want him to meet the young doctor, the Fuehrer never bothered to have him meet any of the new recruits or transfers before, why was this man so important and special that he felt the need to introduce him, unless….it was a distraction…? It made sense now. Yes that was it, this was a distraction for whatever was going on with Edward. He had to think of an excuse quick so that he could be dismissed, come on colonel think. Any other time or if paperwork had been involved then the great flame alchemist could have come up with a semi reasonable excuse almost on the spot, but no when he finally needed one for something important he couldn't even come up with a half ass believable one….
Fuehrer Bradley slowly stood from his seat and faced the dark hair man across from him with a knowing smile. "Colonel, I am afraid the doctor and I must be on our way, perhaps you should take this time to check on your subordinate, he seems to have been gone an awful long time, I would hate for him to be in some sort or trouble or feeling sick." The much older man finished speaking before waving the colonel off and left, followed by the young doctor Holdol. So he had noticed, well regardless of that fact he still did not know their reasons for being there and that alone eased Roy's mind if only a tad bit. As soon as the two men were out of sight he too rose from his seat at the table and headed back across the club to where he had originally left Alphonse and Edward.
As Roy neared the table the suit of armor that was Alphonse moved his head to look up at the dark haired man. "Colonel! Its brother, he followed after that woman! I should have followed after him, but I thought it would have been better if I got you first…" The boy looked down at his feet sadly as he felt a ping of guilt wash over him for allowing his brother to go up there alone after that odd woman. He never should have done that, he wasn't sure what came over him, normally he would have chased after his older more reckless brother, but something told him he should stay right here and wait for the colonel to return.
"It's alright Alphonse, you did the right thing, where did they go?" Roy replied in a calm reassuring voice as he placed both of his gloved hands on the large metal shoulders of the boy's armored body.
"Up those stairs and towards the door furthest to the back I believe." Alphonse nodded and rose from his seat pointing his large hand in the direction that the three had gone in. "We should hurry, what if brother is in trouble." The colonel merely nodded in response and the two hurried towards the staircase, taking two to three steps at a time in their hurry to get to the room with hope that they were not too late.
Author note: I'm sorry it took so long for me to update, but college and work have kept me busy, I also kept the rape scene short and not too descriptive simply because I didn't want to put too much focus on that aspect and I don't really write those scenes too well.