It was to strange to have something to look forward to, especially something that could ultimately get you killed in the end. You often would press your back to the wall that connected you and Kid and you felt a lot safer than you had in so long, it was a feeling you could get used to but knew you shouldn't.
All day you had waited for the terrible sounds of torture, but the most you heard was some gasping and swears and maybe some faint yelling now and then; but not the sound of screams and crying like you did with yourself.
Night came and you happily climbed through the window and into the safety of Kid's cell. The fear of leaving was still there, but it was slowly being replaced with a sense of excitement about getting away with something you never would have dreamt of in a thousand years.
You crawled your way to kid and stood up, smiling. Your smile faded when you see his shirt had been torn open and bad cuts oozed dry blood. You cringed at how deep some of them looked, and blushed at how toned his torso is.
The only man you had really seen your whole life was Abraham, and it hit you so hard to finally understand what it meant to not just talk and get to know someone else, but what a real friend could be and what attraction is, though you'd never admit the last part.
Kid's head drooped and you saw he was asleep. You hated the idea of waking him up, but you knew you had to get a plan going before it was too late for either one of you. You place your cold hand on his cheek gently and after a moment, his eyes flutter open and upon recognizing you, he smiled. You smile back and drop your hand.
Your eyes wander back down to his wounds and frown. "What did he do to you?"
Kid grunted and winced a little in pain. "Nothing I can't handle, for now. He took some blood and tested how much pain I can take. Don't ask me why, I have no idea."
You bite your lip and place your hand over the worst wound. He hisses but you don't pull your hand away. You close your eyes and concentrate, feeling a light tingling sensation vibrate in your hand and your finger tips.
Kid gasped and you open your eyes to find the wound gone. You smile and drop your hand, feeling light headed. "How did you do that?"
"I don't know." You look at your hand, dirtied and bloodied itself. "I used to heal myself a lot growing up, but I don't know if I just stopped or if that's been drained out of me." You drop your hand and look up at Kid. "Abraham can now heal himself without trying, my best guess is he's draining us both of our powers using alchemy. But the thing is, I don't know if it's possible to get it back or not or if we slowly gain them back with time."
Kid's lips formed a line and his eyes narrowed. "I wonder if killing Abraham would give us our powers back, or if you're right. That's why we'll do what we can to find out and escape, okay?" He gives you a smile and you can't help but smile back and nod. "Yep!"
"I need you to look through his books and notes, anything that can give us a clue on what to do. And how to get me out of these damn chains would be lovely."
Your smile fades and you head over to Abraham's desk. It was incredibly organized and you pulled out some books with loose paper and notes. You flipped through them, despair growing on you. "Ugh...Kid?"
"What is it?" You turn but don't look up, just stare at the page with a mix of horror and despair on your face. You can hear the urgency grow in Kid's voice. He says your name "what is it? Please talk to me, I need to know what's going on."
You walk up to him slowly, a light blush creeping on your face. "Um...did I forget to mention I don't know how to read?"
Kid went silent and you became more self conscious as the minutes ticked by. You hold up the book to his face, hiding your own. "My mom had taught me to read a little before she died, I can make out some stuff but not the rest. I'm really sorry, Kid..."
You felt like you were going to cry and wondered if it was too late to go back into your corner. After a moment, you heard Kid inhale. "It's okay, we'll figure this out. I just need you to hold up the book for now and flip it when I say so, okay?"
"Okay," you say under your breath.
A minute goes by and Kid urges you to turn the page. It goes on for a few minutes and you heard Kid grunt in frustration and you lower the book. His eyes were twisted in frustration and you glance at the pages yourself.
"Nothing," he whispered. "Just really basic alchemy. And nothing that can help us at all, can you show me the notes?"
You do and he glances at them. "That's a bit more promising, but nothing that will help us." He swears and you shrink away a little and put the book back. You look through more notes and books, trying to decipher what it says on your own.
The more you attempted to read, the more it became a little easier. Sounding out words helped, but you loathed Abraham for not letting you read. He said something about getting ideas, and he only would allow you to look at picture books.
The idea clicked and you began to look over the drawings instead, glancing over pictures of animals and odd circles and symbols. One caught your eye along an odd drawing of birds and a cage. A chill went down your spine at the memory of your dream and squinted at the X like symbol on the page.
Despite not knowing how to read much or anything about alchemy, the meaning tickled at your subconscious and you begged yourself to remember what it could be. You began to feel dizzy and the same buzzing in you as you had felt in your fingers, but this time, in your soul.
The rattle of keys in the door shook you from your thoughts and you dropped the book in shock. You looked over at Kid who's eyes were as wide as yours. You quickly looked over to the window and saw that it wasn't even morning, what was Abraham doing here?
Your heart begins to race and you take a step towards the window and another, hearing Abraham swear behind the door along with the sound of dropping his keys. Kid's eyes begged you to get out, but shock and terror overwhelmed you along with that odd buzzing.
You turn and, instead of leaving, will the bars to come back. Your body visibly shook and you turned to the door just as it began to slowly open. And that was when the meaning of the symbol finally came to you: freedom. The door flew open and Abraham walks in.