Chapter 15-

Edward woke slowly and soundlessly, his head tilting forward tiredly before he brought it up again to gaze around him. By the looks of things, he was in another of the Homunculi's hideouts, although it was different from the first one he'd located. They'd put him behind bars; with no alchemy available to him, there was no need to chain him up to keep his hands apart, and so he could move around the enclosed space as he wished. However, Ed wasn't alone.

Five people stood conversing outside Ed's cage. Envy leaned half in the shadows with a triumphant smirk in place, while Pride was as far away from Envy as he could possibly get and was wearing an aloof, superior look. Then three humans Ed didn't know stood in between the two Homunculi- a muscly, dark-skinned man who was obviously the boss, with a man and a woman posed beside him, acting as bodyguards. None of the five had realized he was awake, so he kept silent and motionless, hoping to overhear some useful information.

"We, the honourable Hunters, have held up our end of your filthy bargain, zombies! You told us where he'd be and we brought him to you. Your part of the deal says the vampire would be delivered to us for experimentation and death after your questioning!" the man boomed ferociously. All three mortals had weapons, and were poised and ready to use them if need be.

"See, there's your trouble," Envy drawled carelessly. "Your honour doesn't bother me, now does it? It only troubles you, the pitiful human who brings it on himself!"

"You lied? You dark monsters, we had a deal! The vampire's death in place of your own! We have all the skills and weapons needed to kill you, zombies. Hand fangs over or we'll destroy every last part of your dark soul!" the man tightened his hold on his weapon.

Pride spoke up. "Soul? Oh no, stupid human. That's for far inferior beings. But I simply cannot allow even an inferior being to oppose me."

He casually drew his sword and moved to attack. To Ed's eyes, he was moving rather slowly, but the humans would never even realized he'd moved before they died. Pride severed the boss's head from his body, and then stabbed the woman through the heart. They died instantly. The young man beside them was splattered thoroughly with their blood, his eyes wide in horror as he realized what had happened. He never even saw the zombie move… then Pride slashed him lightly along his collarbone and the right side of his neck. The man fell to his knees, holding his neck in hopes it would slow the blood flow. Actually, it wasn't a fatal wound- not even a serious injury.

Ed suddenly realized Envy had unlocked the door to his prison, although from where he lay he couldn't see it. Pride effortlessly threw the young man into the cage, and it was re-locked. Ed heard the two sets of footsteps move off in different directions, slowly fading into the distance, until all he could hear was the heavy breathing of the other young man. He was clearly panicking- he'd lost his weapon and back up, and had no idea when Ed would wake up to the sight and smell of his blood. The guy trembled silently, unable to stop.

Edward rolled his eyes- it wasn't like he was going to kill him. He sat up, yawning, and quite accidentally showed off his deadly fangs. The man backed right up against the entrance of the cage.

"Stay away, you unholy demon!" he shouted, his voice breaking in fright. Ed rolled his eyes again. This was supposed to be his meal? He wanted a refund!

"I'm a vampire, not a demon. Rookie." Ed stood with a slinking grace, stretching casually.

The guy's eyes went wide, and he froze. "You… you can speak…!"

Ed turned to face him, regarding him nonchalantly. Obviously, this guy had been badly lied to about the intelligence and nature of vampires. He suddenly felt a slight prickling sensation at the back of his eyes, irritation flowing over him and his strength and speed slightly draining- it was daytime. That was just great.

Sighing, Ed moved to the bars of the prison, the young man scuttling out of his way in order to put as much distance between them as possible. Ed casually placed his hands on the bars, pressing down and out. They moved like rubber under his strength, and formed an escape hole. The young man's mind went into turmoil. Those bars… they were made from enforced steel, and were the width of a saucer! That was impossible!

Ed actually laughed under his breath at the Homunculi's pathetic attempt to keep him confined. Even after all this time warring with vampires, they still didn't realize how strong they are! Dumbasses. Then again, the Homunculi never fought in the wars themselves- they just sent all their mindless soldiers. He stepped out into the vast room and chose a direction, following a gut feeling.

The young man confusedly watched him move off. He didn't understand- not only could this vampire control his thirst (since he hadn't been attacked even though was bleeding all over the place) but he could talk, and in fact was intelligent. This was not what he'd imagined a vampire to be like. When Ed was a significant distance away, he scrambled to his feet and fled through the hole, intending to go in the opposite direction. His plans were thwarted when he realized that the bodies of his boss and mentor were lying directly across the exit. His eyes watered, but he knew it wasn't the right time to grieve. He couldn't take the bodies with him either- then he'd never escape. He sobbed once in despair at the death of the people he considered family and ran in the other direction.

Ed heard rather than saw the young man follow him through the door and along the hallway. The teen glanced back, wondering why the guy was following the very thing he despised so much, and realized he was just following mindlessly, not even realizing his feet were moving through his sadness. Ed just let him follow. He'd had half a mind to eat the stranger, but unfortunately the guy still smelt slightly like garlic and it was putting Ed off his appetite.

Following his instincts, Ed navigated his way out of the large warehouse building easily, knocking out the occasional guard, soldier or worker. To tell the truth, there hadn't been a substance invented yet that could hold a vampire down, but the Homunculi didn't know that, and they would be quite surprised to realize Ed had escaped. In fact, it almost seemed like he'd escaped a bit too easily, as if they'd never intended to hold him at all. Ed thought it over, but decided he was just being paranoid. If there was an easy exit, why not just take it without question?

Just as Ed reached the doors that led out onto the busy, worn street- southern Central, by the looks of it- he suddenly felt a… a pull. It enclosed his mind and dragged him in the direction it wanted him to go, and suddenly Ed was walking almost as mindlessly as the guy behind him. The pull directed him down a corridor and downhill to a right turn, almost exactly like the other hideout, until he was in the underground Factory. But the pull shoved him away from the screaming humans, agonized soldiers and acrid stink of dead bodies and into a new section, one Ed had never seen before. And if Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc had seen it in the other factory, they would have said so.

Ed (and, consequently, the stranger as well) reached a door alike the four-foot steel one that Hawkeye had opened last time, and felt that whatever was ruthlessly dragging him to it was right on the other side. He forced it open with his shoulder, breaking the several solid locks it sported, and entered. Ed then froze in fear.

The room was another circular one, junk and treasure all mingled with each other thrown against the walls, with a gap in the middle. Several tables stood in the middle, holding strange but valuable-looking objects- probably the most valuable of all the treasures, and therefore they were being carefully conserved. But only one of the objects caught Ed's attention.

On the featureless table closest to him, there lay a light mist. It was a brilliant golden colour, and was in the shape of a human body, only flat- like a paper cut-out of someone. Ed didn't know how the golden mist was being kept together, but it never fell out of shape. The mist looked like a sleeping young boy, with no worldly troubles to bother him, causing the mist-teen to look younger than he probably was. Only thing was, the golden mist had long gold hair that was braided, with an antennae on top of his head. For the mist was the exact replica of Ed, only younger and human. It was an unearthly thing, transparent and intangible.

Upon seeing it, Ed felt a tidal wave of unexplainable fear wash over him. That… that thing was the cause of all his troubles! If it had been destroyed properly like it should have been instead of being given to the gate, then he'd be a full vampire! If he still had it…

If he still had it, Ed would remember everything- his brother, friends and family, his terrible past and all, and he would be completely human. Ed couldn't understand.

How the fuck did the Homunculi manage to get their hands on his soul?

Falman, Fuery, Alphonse, Winry, Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc were all squashed in a joint hospital room. A curtain could be drawn across the centre of the room to separate Hawkeye's hospital room from Mustang's and Havoc's room, but it was currently pushed back, allowing all seven of them to be there at once. Hawkeye and Havoc were both finally awake, however Mustang was not. The Colonel still sported injuries from their venture into the last Homunculi's hideout, and he hadn't healed properly when he sustained his new injuries. The large group was discussing their circumstances.

"I feel like these past few weeks were all for nothing! I mean, even after everything that's happened, we're still back to trying to find Ed!" Winry sighed, the rays of the setting sun reflecting off her weary eyes.

"Not to mention about the secret war going on. Ed said the Clan thought the Homunculi weren't going to attack for a couple of days, at least. Well, it's been one night since then, and tonight's the second night." Havoc commented.

"The vampires probably have tonight and tomorrow night before another attack," Hawkeye thought out loud, her injured voice still hoarse. "I wonder how they knew the Homunculi's plans…"

"Hey… whose side are we on?" Al asked. Everyone's attention turned to him. "I mean, Brother's a vampire, but apart from him aren't the rest… well… evil? If so, then who should we help?" Abruptly, everyone remembered that Al still didn't know his brother didn't have a soul, and apparently no one was willing to tell him.

"We help Edward, mainly, and defend the rest of us humans. We shouldn't allow any human casualties in this war." Falman said firmly, and everyone quickly agreed. "Lieutenant, what should our first step be?" He turned to ask her, as she was in charge while Mustang was unable to lead the team.

To the shock of the other six, she was gone.

"Maybe she slipped out to get a drink or something?" Fuery suggested.

"…Probably. Anyway, I guess our first step should be to find out when the next attack is. We can't help Ed if we get caught unawares in the crossfire and die," Havoc said. "I'm sorry, Winry, that's just the way it has to- Winry?" But Winry had also noiselessly vanished.

"She probably went to help Hawkeye. Like a girl thing," Al shrugged.

"Right," Fuery agreed nervously.

"So, does that mean I should prepare for an infiltration of the Homunculi again?" Falman asked, glancing at Havoc… or rather, the place where Havoc had been two seconds ago.

"Havoc, too? This is just getting plain creepy!" Al bit his lip. "Right, Fuery? F-fuery!" Al's jaw dropped- the man was nowhere to be seen. He whirled around to ask Falman, but he had vanished. Mustang had also managed to disappear, his hospital bed abruptly empty. Al was alone.

"What's going on?" was all he managed to yell before he felt many hands wrap around his mouth, legs, arms and waist, silently lifting him despite his struggles. A sharp, dizzying pain suddenly sprung across his mind from being hit, and regardless of putting all his strength into staying awake, Al fell unconscious.

A/N: I think I just wrote the ultimate cliffhanger… :) This chapter was longer than usual, and the next one will be longer too. Anyway, if I get lots of reviews I will update faster, so what are you waiting for? Click on that lovely review button!