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Chapter 1: Central Command, 06:00 hours.

The halls of Central were a bust of activity as usual. People walked from room to room, office to office, and floor to floor. The day was as ordinary as ever. In the phone room, lines were transferred, calls were made, conversations ended, while many more activities unfolded.

Amongst the seemingly chaotic daily life of the citizen soldiers of Central, a single man, a colonel, walked down the hall.

His name was Roy Mustang, also well known as the Flame Alchemist. He had decided to take a brake from his mounds of paper work and talk a short walk.

“Are you going somewhere Colonel?” said a voice from behind him.

Roy turned and stood face to face with his subordinate 1st Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. He smiled at her with his usual smirk and explained himself.

“Well it seems you caught me Lieutenant,” he replied coolly, “I was just going for a walk.”

“Don’t you have work to do sir?” she responded back.

Roy laughed softly. “Well, yes, but I need a break every now and then.”

He turned to leave and took one last glance at his subordinate. “I won’t be long. Just try and stem the flow of papers until I’m back.”

As he walked away Riza sighed and headed back to Roy’s office. As she was walking however she noticed a commotion around the newsroom. She walked over and saw that everyone was reading the newly arrived papers.

“Did you hear? There’s been another kidnapping!”

“I heard it’s connected to the serial killer who drains a person dry of blood.”

“Eww… like some sort of vampire?”

“That’s what I heard.”

Riza almost laughed at the thought. ‘Vampires’? Honestly, the Colonel would have started an argument if he heard something as ridiculous this.

Then she noticed the rumor spreader was none other than Cain Fury, one of her fellow subordinates who worked under Roy Mustang. Upon further notice, she spotted Breda and Havoc, more fellow subordinates.

Taking one last glance, she walked away. She had work to do and she needed to be ready for the Colonel’s return. Meanwhile, walking out of the main entrance was the man in question.

Roy walked down the streets of Central, which was as busy and alive as the halls of the Command Centre. As he continued walking people passed by him without a care, they being quite used to seeing military figures of his rank and stature.

However as he turned a corner, he bumped into a short standing man dressed in shawls and tattered clothing. Apologizing, he helped the man up who appeared quite startled.

“Y-ye mustn’t roam these streets alone kind s-sir,” he said quite shakily. “Th-these be dangerous times…”

“Dangerous times?” questioned Roy, “What do you mean?”

“Just be warned… do not venture out at night, lest ye want to be taken…”

With those last words, he left, leaving Roy with many questions. Instead of perusing the mysterious man, he decided to head back to headquarters.

“‘Dangerous times’? What was he talking about?” Roy asked himself as he walked up the steps of Central Command.

It was true that there has been a rash outbreak of disappearances and mysterious deaths, but to say that he, the legendary Flame Alchemist, was in trouble, now that was new! He didn’t believe that he was in trouble. Why would he after all?

As he walked down the hallway, he ran into Breda and Fury who both looked rather scared.

“Colonel! It happened again!” yelled Fury who held a paper in his hands.

“Another attack?” asked Roy.

“Not really,” replied Breda, “it’s another kidnapping.”

Yet another kidnapping which meant that it was the 6th in the last month. Add that to the 6 deaths and the 6 missing people and… This thought cast and eerie sensation on Roy.

“Sir, you realize what this makes right?” asked Fury.

“6 kidnappings, 6 missing people, 6 deaths…” said Roy as he calculated the numbers, “666.”

What did this mean? Was this some sort of sign or some madman’s sick idea of scaring the people?

“Sir, I think I know what’s causing this,” said Breda as he walked closer to the Colonel. “I think... it’s… it’s…”

He paused and Roy grew angry.

“Well spit it out!”

“Vampires!” yelled both soldiers.

Col. Mustang sighed and shook his head. “Don’t tell me… that this is the best idea that you could come up with?!” he yelled angrily.

“B-but sir!”

“Enough,” said Roy trying to calm himself down. “Listen; think this through for a second. You’re sounding as scared as you did with the whole Warehouse 13 incident!”

The two soldiers looked at each other and sighed, defeated.

“Yes sir.”

Their senior officer walked away and the two headed back to their office. Roy couldn’t believe his two subordinates, always scared about such superstitious nonsense.

When he walked into his office, he found Lt. Hawkeye waiting for him. She had a report in her hands and Roy had a feeling that he already knew what it was about.

“Colonel, you’re back soon,” said Riza turning to face him.

“Yes, well… the walk wasn’t very relaxing,” he replied heading to his chair. “I trust you have something new for me.”

“Yes sir.” She handed him the report. “We have been given a distress call from a neighboring town. They are asking for military help, but gave a specific request.”

“Request? What kind of request?”

“They are asking with someone, namely and alchemist, specializing with fire.”

Roy gave a small chuckle. “So they asked for the Flame Alchemist then… well they came to the right person.”

“Colonel, sir,” said Riza, “due to regulations, we can only send one military representative to scout out the operation.”

“Well, I’ll give a report as soon as I’m done,” said Roy. “When do I leave for the mission?”

Riza sighed. “In one hour, sir.”

“One hour?!” yelled Roy jumping up from his chair. “Why haven’t they informed me earlier of this?”

“Well the report just came in,” she replied calmly.

The Flame Alchemist slumped back down in his chair. “Alright, I’ll be ready to leave Lt. Hawkeye.”

“Yes Colonel,” said Riza saluting him.

She walked out of the office. The mission’s parameters classified that only Roy could begin the assignment. If he were not to report within two hours of starting the mission they were to send in backup.

Normally Riza accompanied Roy on any mission he took, but this time, she had to stay behind. This worried Lt. Hawkeye. If anything were to happen to him, she wouldn’t be there to help. She saw Roy, who was wearing his black overcoat and cap, heading out of his office.

“Good luck with the mission, Colonel.” She said quickly.

Roy gave a smirk. “Don’t worry Lieutenant, I can handle this.”

With that last remark he headed out of Central Command and to a waiting car. His only aide on the mission was a pair of lightly armed escorts, who were his drivers for this mission.

He walked towards the car and the escorts saluted him. Climbing in, he wondered why the help request specified someone greatly skilled with fire. Also, was this incident connected with the murder and kidnapping cases? And when he put the totals together, it came up as the numbers 666, signifying the devil’s number. What could this all mean? He was jarred from his thoughts when he felt the car begin the move.

“We’ll be arriving there soon Colonel Mustang sir,” said one of the drivers.

He nodded and looked out the window. The sun was setting slowly, casting shadows over the buildings of Central. He remembered that the man from earlier said not to go out at night, but he chose not to listen.

After all, what’s the worst that could happen at night?

Suddenly the words of his subordinates Fury and Breda came into his head. He sighed lo himself and kept thinking. ‘There are no such things as vampires. It’s all just a bunch of superstitious nonsense.”

The car soon left the city limits and Roy saw the tree line of the forest that lay outside of the city. Tree by tree passed by like a statue, no leaves showing movement as the wind was faint and almost nonexistent.

“Where are we going exactly?” asked Roy to one of the drivers.

“A small village not far from here called Rein.”

“Do you have any knowledge as to why they would request such help?”

The driver shrugged. “No sir, all I know is that they are a very superstitious people.”

Roy sighed and leaned back in his seat, it’s just as he feared. They probably summoned him hearing about the murders and rumors around them, thinking it was vampires.

The car hit a bump as it moved off the main road. It seemed the village wasn’t to far now, as Roy saw lights in the distance.

Soon, he thought, he’d be able to sort this whole vampire nonsense out and get back to his office. He’d take paperwork over superstitious wild goose chases any day.

They approached a sign, it read: “Town of Rein”. What Roy noticed was strange was the population. It looked as though it had been changed recently. He took no extra thought of it though, and leaned back in his seat.

He was unaware that the whole trip, he was being watched by a single hooded figure in the trees; its red eyes glinting in the encroaching moonlight…

-To be continued… -

Yes, but try not to say too much about the story my co-author sweatdrop We don't want to spoil it for anyone.


-Tansho S.E.

*thumbs up* biggrin

Chapter 2: Town of Rein, 07:20 hours.




The car pulled to a stop near the entrance to the town. It was a small village like town with many houses and shops, mostly made of wood. The ground was paved, making a path that lead through the center of Rein. The driver turned off the engine and turned back to Roy.

“This is where we stop sir.”

Roy nodded and stepped out. He straightened his overcoat and fixed his cap. He had to make a good impression for the townspeople. As he walked into the town, people looked out the windows of the houses and buildings in curiosity, yet not coming out to meet him. Finally, a handful of people came forward to talk to him.

“Are you the help that we have asked for?” said a tall man dressed in old style clothing.

“Yes, I am Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist,” he replied with a nod.

There were murmurs and the people all looked at him.

“Then you must help us!”

“Yes, we are plagued by vampires!”

“They have killed 19 of us so far!”

The Colonel sighed. He knew it… more superstitious nonsense. But, he didn’t want to be rude to them by saying they were being ridiculous.

“Alright, alright, settle down. Look, do you have any evidence it was vampires that did this?”

The people all looked at each other with uneasy looks.

“Well… we dispose of the corpses quickly, lest we wait and allow them to become vampires as well,” said one of the villagers.

Roy sighed. “So, you destroyed any evidence that it was vampires that attacked?”

The villagers all nodded. This only made Roy’s job harder. Now he not only had to convince the village folk that it wasn’t vampires, but he also had to start from scratch.

“Alright, then when do the attacks usually occur?” he asked, hoping that it may start some leads.

Suddenly the people became very edgy and panicky.

“Night,” shouted a freighted woman, “they always strike at night!”

Roy looked at the sky and noticed that the sun had set. It wouldn’t be much time then if the killers were to strike. So, he started to devise a plan.

“Okay everyone; I need your cooperation with this…”

--- 08:45 hours ---

Time seemed to go by hours a minute. He had managed to coerce a villager into becoming bait for the killer and told them to act as casually as usual. Roy waited inside a nearby shed, his fingers ready to unleash a burst of fire on the suspect with a single snap.

The flame alchemist began to grow weary from waiting. It had to have been over an hour by now and still nothing. He was about to call it off when the woman he used for bait shrieked in terror.

Roy turned and saw she had fallen back and was crawling away from someone, who was looming closer. Not hesitating he burst from the shed and snapped his fingers. Crimson color sparks flew from his gloves and channeled into the air, creating a blast of fire in front of the person, startling him and sending him back.

The Colonel ran in front of the woman and ordered her to flee. She didn’t think a second thought and hurried away as fast as she could. Roy then turned his attention to the person he had shot the fire at.

“Who are you and why are you attacking this village?”

The person chuckled darkly, in an almost in human way. For some reason, the sound sent a shiver up Roy’s spine, as if he had made a terrible mistake.

Every sense in his body felt as though it had run cold. Roy’s mind seemed to scream at him to run, but why? What was this feeling he had? He scarcely recognized it, but had long forgotten it.

It was fear.

“And what business would it be to you, Colonel Mustang?” the person said in a dark voice.

Roy gasped and looked at the person, focusing him more clearly. He recognized the voice but couldn’t believe the face.

“L-Lt. Col. Archer?!” he yelled in disbelief.

The Lt. Colonel boldly looked up at Roy; his eyes were cold and strangely held a tint of deep red. His skin, which normally was pale, was bleached whiter than Roy’s under shirt. But what struck the Colonel as most bizarre, was the Lt. Colonel’s grin. His canine teeth were long and sharp, sticking out of his mouth as fangs.

“Is there something you want Colonel?” Archer asked, keeping his same cold demeanor.

The man in question looked up at Archer, his gaze a little startled, but hardly noticeable. He, Roy Mustang, and esteemed Colonel in the State Military, could not show any fear. This was an emotion that had to be ignored or discarded when it came to a man of his caliber. And yet… he couldn’t shake this terrible feeling he was getting.

“Lt. Col. Frank Archer,” he said in a stern voice, “Are you the one responsible for the attack and deaths of the villagers in this town?”

“And if I am?” he replied coolly.

Roy’s anger suddenly flared up. “Tell me, why did you do this?!”

Archer hesitated with his answer, but this wasn’t what made Roy mad. What made him furious was the fact that Archer was smiling.

“If you must know Colonel, my minions and I were just harvesting some fresh victims for the upcoming battle…”

“Victims?!” yelled Roy in disbelief, “What are you talking about? And what battle?!”

Archer just laughed darkly, sending another chill down Roy’s spine. All of a sudden, he felt the presence of others around him. He looked around, but before he could even move, three figures jumped from the shadows and grabbed him, holding his arms and legs so he couldn’t get away.

“What is the meaning of this?!” yelled Roy.

“I’m sorry Colonel… but now that you’ve found out our secret, I’m afraid I can’t let you live to tell others,” replied Archer in a sinister tone.

He walked closer to Roy, his fangs appearing to grow. The Colonel tried his best to get free, but he couldn’t. Then he realized his ignition gloves were still on. He looked at Archer and a smirk came on his face.

“You should have known it would take more than this to keep me down Archer.”

He snapped his fingers and an explosion of fire blew the beings holding him and the approaching Archer back. Seizing the opportunity, he ran. He ran fast, his heart beating loudly in his chest, the sound of his blood pounding in his ears.

He knew it now, this was defiantly fear he was experiencing. The adrenaline pumping through him, making him gain speed, the dark sensations running through his body, he knew all too well that it was fear.

As he ran, he heard the figures get up and give pursuit. He didn’t dare look back, but he felt as though they were closing in on him. Soon he reached his car, but found it empty. The drivers were missing…

As he was contemplating where they might have gone, something grabbed his ankle. He looked down and his eyes widened. It was one of the drivers, but his face and hands looked wrinkled and dry, as if his blood had been drained from his body.

“C-colonel… run….” The driver said in a cold raspy voice.

He shook loose and ran inside the car. He slammed the door shut and tried to start it, but the engine wouldn’t turnover.

“Come on… come on you piece of junk…” he growled in anger, turning the key again and again.

“It won’t start Colonel Mustang,” came a voice form behind his seat.

An arm grabbed him from behind and held him in a chokehold. He tried prying himself free, but he couldn’t. His breathing was becoming shallow and he could hardly see straight.

Suddenly he heard gunshots ring out in front him. Almost a spilt second later, the shots blasted through the window, zinged over his head, and he soon heard them make contact with the being behind him.

As the being fell back and let him go, Roy kicked the door open and rolled out of the car. He looked in front of him, trying to focus on where the shots exactly came from and saw a soldier running towards him, a female soldier.

“Colonel Mustang!” she shouted, her pistol still aimed and ready as she ran.

“Lt. Hawkeye!” he shouted back, sounding almost relieved. He ran up to her and turned around. The being in the car had mysteriously vanished.

“Sir, are you alright?” Riza asked.

Roy nodded slowly. “I’m fine… but I’d like to now what exactly is going on around here.”

He heard a sound behind him and quickly turned around only to come face-to-face with his two subordinates Fury and Breda.

“W-we told you s-sir…” Breda said shaking, “V-v-vampires!”

He, Colonel Roy Mustang, the legendary Flame Alchemist, had no answer. In all his years of service, he had never experienced something such as this. He merely sighed and stepped past them.

“I assume you followed through with protocol?” he asked.

“Yes Sir,” replied Riza, “You didn’t report back in so we came out here looking for you.”

“We almost thought you got attacked!” yelled Fury.

“Well technically I was attacked,” Roy replied solemnly, “But it’s over now. I need to get back to headquarters immediately.”

As the four walked, they soon came to a large black military car. Patrolling around the car, rifle close in hand was Lt. Havoc. His hands were shaky and he kept scanning the forest, the slightest sound making him jump.

“Okay… calm Jean… calm…” he kept muttering to himself, “there’s no such thing as vampires… no such thing…”

There was a rustle in the bushes behind him and he shot into it three times before realizing it was just a squirrel. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Heh… it.. it’s just a squirrel…”

Chuckling nervously, Havoc waved at the Colonel when he saw him approach, but just as he did, a figure swooped in from the trees and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the darkness.

“NOOO!!!!” he screamed, the sound of his rifle going off ringing through the night.

“Havoc!” the other four yelled as they ran toward the truck.

Riza ran up and aimed into the forest, scanning the trees for even the slightest movement. She saw nothing in the darkness, but the dim light of the moon as it shined through the trees.

“He’s gone… sir,” Riza said slowly to Roy, disbelief in her voice.

“G-gone?!” yelled Fury.

“But… he can’t be gone!” piped in Breda, his voice heavy with fear.

Roy again was speechless. He had seen soldiers lost in combat during the Ishbal war, but nothing like this… this was all too strange to him… it all just felt so… surreal.

“We need to report back to head quarters now,” Roy repeated, trying to regain his composure. He opened the door of the car and got in, Riza entering the driver’s side and Breda and Fury getting in the back.

Riza started the car and began to drive away. Roy looked out the window at the trees as they passed by, recalling the events that not so long ago, left him feeling more terrified than he had ever been.

However, as tree by tree passed by, he saw shapes following them through the forest. Fury, upon looking out the window, noticed this as well and immediately panicked.

“S-something’s ch-chasing us!” he screamed in terror.

Breda looked out the back window and saw three flying figures giving chase to the speeding car, and gaining on them fast. Strangely, the Lieutenant didn’t feel any fear. He instead felt anger. These “things” took away his friend, and now he was out for revenge. Grabbing his rifle he broke out the back window and aimed at the figures.

“This is for Havoc!” he yelled as he opened fire on them.

The bullets reached their targets and the creatures howled in pain. Roy shouted at Breda to stop, but his shouts were blocked out by the sound of each gunshot. Finally, the creatures broke off and Breda ceased firing.

“Heh,” he laughed nervously, “I… I did it… Hey guys I did it!”

As he turned around though, something grabbed him by his collar and pulled him out the rear window.

“Lt. Breda!” yelled Roy in shock.

“Take the wheel sir!” shouted Riza as she leaned out the window, pistol in hand.

Roy grabbed the steering wheel as Riza opened fire on the creature that took Breda. However, it and Breda soon disappeared into the darkness. Riza lowered her pistol and sat back down in the drivers seat.

“Don’t… don’t tell me he’s…” started Fury, but he was unable to finish due to the shock.

Roy lowered his gaze. Two of his most trusted officers just went MIA and now an unknown number of flying “creatures”, all seeming to be vampires, are possibly pursuing him.

As Riza kept driving, she noticed someone in the middle of the road. It looked like man in military clothing pointing a pistol right at them. She swerved to avoid him, but as she did the car swerved out of control and went off the road and down a hill.

Roy braced himself, but slammed his head forward as the car made contact with a tree. Dazed, the last thing Roy remembered was the smell of gasoline and smoke, and a strange feeling like he was moving. A few seconds later, the car exploded, sending scraps of hot metal soaring through the air.

The military officer who stood in the road calmly walked over to the side of the road and gazed down at the burning wreckage. The light from the fire revealed him to be none other than Archer himself.

“It’s a shame,” he said as two other vampires joined him, “Colonel Mustang would have made a fine addition to our cause…”

With these last words, he and the others disappeared into the night…


-To Be Continued… -

I know. Fury is so going to be panicking now...

-Tansho S.E.

Shush! That doesn't happen until the next chapter! gonk

-Tansho S.E.

Because she's the co-author of the story. 3nodding Although... she should know better not to reveal things before they happen. sweatdrop


-Tansho S.E.

That's fine. 3nodding And no, I won't fire you. You are an excellent writer. Far better than I am.


-Tansho S.E.