Chapter 8 - Lost & Found

Edward sobbed harshly, face shoved into the stained mattress beneath him. He was curled against himself in a fetal position. Flesh hand fisted in the sheet curled around him. It was freezing. Everyday seeming to get colder. There hadn't been light for who knew how long. James had left him days ago and true to his word, he never came back and no one came to find him. He felt like he was starving and didn't know when had last eaten, sometime before James had gone. What unnerved the ex alchemist the most, had him sobbing violently, was the darkness. It surrounded him and had started eating at his nerves on the first night he'd spent in it. It reminded Edward of the day he'd gone too far. They day he nearly lost Alphonse forever as well as his limbs. Edward could swear he could hear things in the darkness at times. It was always there, drowning him.

First, Ed had simply tried to wait it out. The man may have abused Edward, but he wouldn't just leave him to starve in the dark. But before long, hours turned to what felt like days. His hunger soon making pains in his gut, body freezing and too weak to even try and crawl around the room. There wasn't a point. The bed was fastened to the floor and with only one working leg and arm Edward couldn't even try to pull his hand from the chain on his wrist. Edward had attempted to break his wrist, but the blond couldn't seem to get it to work and only ended up hurting it heavily. He wasn't sure if it was sprained or broken and after a few more hours in the darkness he didn't care. He screamed and pleaded and cry into the darkness, hoping that James was simply toying with him, but the man still never came.

James had drugged and disarmed him. Disrobed him. He'd forced himself on Edward time and time again, wrecking the blond's body without a care before he was ripping apart the automail Ed had suffered to have put into his arm. He'd strangled and taunted the Edward before up and abandoning him to a bed in the dark. Paralyzing the blond through most of this till he was too weak to fight against the ex soldier.

Suddenly, the sound of rushing feet began to slip into the room and dance around the darkness. A brief moment of hope flared in Edward. Even if it was James coming, at least he would be out of the dark, but he shook the thought away. No one was coming. His mind was toying with him again, so Ed simply squeezed his eyes shut tight before screaming in the dark for everything to stop. It had worked as the sound of feet disappeared, but they returned not a moment later. Pace quickened. It sounded like a stampede almost before Ed could hear doors flying open and banging out in the distance. He stayed beneath his sheet, though his eyes were wide as he listened to the growing sounds around him, jolting harshly when the door to his room slammed open. Light poured into the room along with the distorted sound of voices. Someone was pulling back the sheet he was hiding beneath, but Ed simply curled more into himself, face pressing more into the mattress under him. The voices were stronger now and stung at his ears with the sharp tones. The sound of his name being called had Edward turning to face the owner of the voice, but the light was too bright and had his head pounding. It was suddenly too loud and too much happening at once. He couldn't see and him body felt like ice. Edward curled more into himself before he slipped into unconsciousness effortlessly.

x

It had taken only about four hours after having his shin shot before James had revealed even just a hint of what had happened to Edward. From what Mustang and Hawkeye had gathered, Ed had to be somewhere just outside of town surrounded by tall grass. It wasn't much to go on, but enough to connect to what they had already figured out. They'd kept an eye on James as best they could since the little blond had gone missing. What they gathered is that for the first five days the man would head about an hour out of Central. He would go and return at random. First glance it seemed as though he was merely heading out for work, perhaps even just shopping, but Roy had connections. He soon learned that James had been visiting a small, run down, mill just out of the cities limits. It had been abandoned for years. It sat back, deep in an over grown field. There were a few houses in the area with families, but none close enough to offer much about the building other then it was a building owned by the Mire's family.

It had only taken up to an hour to get the proper forms signed and a warrant to search the property. The place was a rotted mess. The ceiling a tattered, leaking, wreck. Walls and floors alike ruined by the weather. The front door a good shove away from falling off it's hinges. They moved slow, guns at the ready, but they doubted anyone was even here. For a bit, Havoc had made the idea known that James could have simply been using this place to through them off his trail, but a sudden scream ripping through the shamble of a mill had everyone frozen in place. In the next instance, they were ripping doors open and checking every hall or room they came to. Alphonse leading the way. As they went further into the broken down mill the darkness grew until they were all but swallowed in darkness. Torches (another word for flashlights) flared to life. Coming to some of the last few doors, Alphonse took notice of one of the doors in particular. It seemed to be.. new? Without another though the youngest Elric kicked the door in, flinching when it slammed back into a wall. Soon, the other's were following after the boy, halting when they entered. Light poured about the room suddenly, making many of the soldiers and Al jerk around to find Havoc by the door, hand poised to show he had tried the light switch. Unlike any other room, the lights had actually clicked on. Soon gasps erupted before Hawkeye was forcing most of their unit from the room until only Al, herself, and Roy remained. Havoc and the others moving to continue their search of the property

Hawkeye had let her eyes make a pass of the room before settling her firm gaze on the metal bed at the far wall. Atop the stained mattress something lay curled tightly in a filthy sheet. Al was the only one to fully step into the room. It was empty, almost completely besides the bed. To his left, against the wall, was several boxes. A puddle of dark and dirty water staining the bottom of some of the boxes. He took a glance to the bed before moving over to the boxes. The water being blood, Al realized before he ripped a few of the boxes open. His hands snapped to his mouth as he stumbled back into Roy. The general having decide to take a look as well while his lieutenant watched the bed from her place by the door. Roy rounded the youngest Elric to peer into a box, kneeling as he reached a gloved hand inside to pull out bloodied metal. Why did it look so oddly familiar? The piece he held clattered into the box. He stared at the stained bits of metal before turning to the next box and the next. The metal had been from Edward's automail, it had only taken him a moment to figure it out. The other boxes held either more items of Ed's, such as clothes or personally items. Watch, boots, wallet, nothing of real importance. Another box filled with used needles and blood matted surgical equipment. The sound of Edward's name ripping from Alphonse's mouth had the flame alchemist whirling around to watch as said boy pulled the sheet from the mass on the bed.

Edward was curled in a fetal like position, face buried in the dirty mattress before he was turning up to his brother. A pained look distorted the older brother's face as he squeezed his eyes shut and turned back to hide his face in the mattress once more. Alphonse stood frozen from his place at the bed's edge, hands still fisted tightly in the sheet he had pulled from the bed. Edward was thin, not painfully so, but you could see the start of starvation in his thin frame. Right shoulder wrapped, poorly, in bloody bandages. His body was all but covered in bruises or cuts. His neck more then any place.

"We need to get him to a hospital, now." Roy's voice was firm, catching Al and Riza's gazes as he draped his coat over Ed's body. They looked so disturbed and scared. The general, carefully, lifted the blond from the bed. Startling himself when he left a harsh yank that had Edward jerking in his arms. His eyes catching a chain that lead from the bed to the boy's swollen wrist. The skin around the cuff seeming all but scraped away and coated in dried blood. Before Roy could say a word, Riza had her pistol out and pointed. She fired once and the remain chain dropped to the floor in a heavy clatter. Holstering her gun, she moved over to her superior, gently moving Al from where he stood close, almost hovering over his brother in Roy's arms. Hawkeye striped her jacket, much like Roy had moments ago, and with a little maneuvering had Ed almost fully wrapped within their coats. The two men gave her a puzzled look before she replied. "Considering how long he has been gone and how long he have had James in our custody, it is highly likely that his eyes will be over sensitive to the light. That mere statement alone had a sick feeling washing over them all.

How long had Edward been in this condition? Alone in the dark.