Chapter 9: A Familiar Face

"I-" Edward's face flushed as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. "Hey! Charlotte!" The door swung open, there stood a smiling Ling, his arms raised over his head. "Oh how I've missed you!" He bolted to the bed where the blushing Charlotte sat. She had became rigid as he launched himself at her. "Eight hours is far too long to go without seeing you!" He said in a sing-song voice. Edward just watched, relieved that he didn't have to answer any further questions that Charlotte had been sputtering out. He witnessed Ling hug her and practically melt into his shoes for her, is that they way HE himself was supposed to feel? She was always by his side. But blocking the doorway between him and Charlotte, was Winry.  "Erm, wow. Good morning Ling..." Charlotte tried desperately to pry his arms away from her waist, but it was pointless. He was much stronger. The phone on the nightstand rang, Edward picked up. "It's the Colonel. There has been another murder in town, we will be there shortly with reinforcements." He sandwiched the phone between his neck and shoulder as he dug into his pocket to search for his watch. It read: "7:28" "Get down there and figure out what's going on." He sighed an annoyed sigh as he hung up the phone. "LING!" He immediately stopped attempting to hug Charlotte and glared at Edward. "We are going to town to investigate, get OFF her!" Ed lurched forward and ripped Charlotte out of Ling's loving arms. This awoke the suit of armor sitting in the corner, rubbing it's head it said: "What the-?" Edward was still holding Charlotte in his arms, her hands around his neck while Ling stared up at them with his arms outstretched. "Mornin' Al." 

"What the hell is with all this rain?" Charlotte said bitterly as she strode beside Edward, Ling in tow. "Dunno." They came to a crowd of people, police tape bordering the inside of the rabble. Edward and his team pushed their way through all the by-standers  with simple "I'm sorry", "Excuse me"  and "Move it or loose it pal." 's." The scene was tragic, a mother and daughter both slaughtered without even the slightest of mercy.  Suddenly, Charlotte was grabbed by the collar of her borrowed jacket. "This is the girl! She did it!" The group whizzed around to find her hanging only by her coat sleeves. " Let her go! She's with me!" The crowd began to turn to the person next to them and babble incoherently. "The Fullmetal Alchemist has already captured the mass murderer!"  the crowd cheered and stunned a blonde girl. "Wait." A fellow member of the mob came forth and examined the girl more  thorough. "No! The murderer had glowing red eyes, she's got green." The man released her and dusted her off as Edward ran to her side. "Sorry miss, you looked just like her." A door slammed and the sea of people parted to  let the Colonel pass. "Mind explaining this?" Charlotte asked with a slight tinge of suspicion. Mustang pulled his hat down further onto his head. "The killer only appears to go after girls, it's an odd thing." Riza stepped forth and pushed people back with the threat of her pistol. "Time to go home everybody, the  Military will handle this." Her stern voice bellowed,  bouncing off the stone walls surrounding them. "There have been over twenty cases; each one the same. Every limb cut off and  the corpse sucked dry of blood." Mustang had leaned up against the wall adjacent to him. "And there are no leads." 

" Edward?" Came Ling's tiny voice as they sorted through newspaper clippings in the library. "What? I'm kinda busy." Said Ed, as he sifted the stack of papers to the side of his desk. "Would you care if I dated Charlotte?" Edward sat for a moment, not really comprehending what was just said. Then bellowed: "WHAT?!" Sending the neat stack of papers fluttering to the ground and earning a scold from the librarian. "Yea. I mean, she's just your friend right? No biggie." He shook his fist. "No......biggie....?!" He said, seething through gritted teeth. "Hey guys, remember? Working." Alphonse scolded the two boys and pointed to the papers littering the carpeted floor. They had been there for hours, researching for any sort of clue. since this had been going on for almost a month, there was plenty of heavy articles about the family and their background. "Yea. Work Ling!" 

The group had left him all alone, he had insured that they get back to the hotel to supply their energy for the next morning. Edward's head had fallen upon a messy nest of flyers, the time now almost midnight. "Sir, the library is now closed. I'm asking you to leave." An elderly woman tapped his shoulder. He sat up and pulled all of his paper into a pile. "Can I leave these here with you?" He asked, his eye lids heavy . "Certainly." she took the papers and placed them behind her desk, Edward taking off. Once outside, Ed began walking slowly toward the glowing hotel in the distance. A loud bang startled him and he ran to the nearby alley where the sound emanated. His own gold eyes were greeted with a pair of glowing ruby ones. "So you're who I've been hearing about. You have a twisted notion of fair play, pal. And it's beginning to piss me off." The glowing form laughed  and came into the light. "Is that so?" He recognized that voice, that face. The person before him was none other than Charlotte. Though she looked disheveled, her usually bouncy hair was unusually dark and heavy, while she wore nothing but Edward's coat. Her eyes weren't visible through all of the hair lingering  in her face, though the glow shone out from beneath her bangs. "What are you?! Why are you doing this?!" The "thing" threw its head back and cackled manically.  "I am the second half of your love, Charlotte." Her was flustered for a moment but kept his concentration. "She's the human part, I'm the immortal. She's got the Philosopher stone imbedded within her though." She paused for a moment and smiled  "And you know in order for one to work you must use raw materials." Her smile grew wider until it practically touched her ears. "Humans. Once the stone's power is full, we will be transmuted as one. And she will have no memory of you, and you will forget her." the figure strode to Edward, Ed transmuting his automail into a blade for protection. She dropped the cloak and was stark naked. She tilted his chin up and wrapped her leg around his. His face burned with intensity;  though she continued to smile. "This is what you want Edward." Her lips moved in on his like a predator on it's prey. "Me." then she faded away, like a flame being blown out. All that was left was the red cloak, and a flustered teen.