-Sigh...- I REALLY don't like this chapter... You'll see why soon enough... -cries- This is one of my WORST CHAPTERS EVAH!!!

"So, you're going on your first mission. Good for you." Hawkeye said to me, smiling.

"Thanks again for helping me out. I'll see you later." I replied, waving back to her as I walked down the steps.

"Take care of yourself and Edward!" She yelled to us as we ran down the road, hoping we could still get to our train.

The Confession and the Chimera

'Bloody Edward...' I thought as Ed, Al and I stood at the platform of Central Train Station.

Edward made me hurry up, because he made me think we'd miss our train if I didn't. We got to the station with 15 minutes to spare. So for the rest of the time, I sat on the ground, being bored. And sometimes annoying Edward by calling him short.

“Guys, this is boring!” I complained for the umpteenth time.

“Alexia, for once in your life, PUT UP WITH IT!!!” Edward screamed at me.

I started getting really scared, because from past experiences, once the yelling and screaming starts, the hitting comes pretty soon after.

“No! Please, don't hit me! I'll be good, I promise!” I pleaded back, tears welling up in my eyes as I put my arms up to defend myself.

'This is Rush Valley all over again...' I thought as Edward and Alphonse gave me a strange look.

“Why would I hit you, Alexia?” Ed asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I instinctively flinched from the contact, and then realized it wasn't anything to fear.

I looked up at Ed, who was standing over me with a wide, warm smile.

“Don't worry about it.” I mumbled quickly, wiping away my tears.

“No, we will worry about it.” Al said, looking over to me and Ed.

“That's right. If it got you that worked up and scared, it must be bad.” Edward said, sitting down next to me.

“No. I don't want to talk about it, so leave me alone.” I muttered loud enough for them to hear. “I really don't like talking about it...”

“Come on, Alexia. It'll help you feel better if you get it off your chest.” Al stated, moving closer to me.

“Fine, I'll tell you about it on the train.” I said, hoping the train wouldn't come for a while.

But it seemed fate didn't want me to wait, as the train pulled into the station just after I said it. We shuffled on and found our seats. We sat down as I thought about how to explain everything that’s happened to me.

The train started moving, yet we sat in silence.

“Well?” Ed asked after 15 minutes of silence.

“Well what?” I said, looking around from the window.

“Well, are you gonna explain what happened at the station?” Ed replied, Alphonse watching over his shoulder.

“Maybe...” I mumbled, trying to avoid it.

"You know, it's easier to talk with friends than to keep it all inside." Al advised, leaning over Ed's shoulder.

'They won't stop harassing me about it! I guess I'll HAVE to tell them...' I thought, bracing myself for what may come.

I took in a deep, shaky breath, and started.

"A little while after getting my Automail done, I had no family to go home to. I didn't even have a house to go home to, because the Chimera was still living there. So, I lived on the streets of Rush Valley for a while before a nice man and woman took me in. Their names were Sheryl and Bob." I explained, Ed and Al listening intently.

I sat staring out the window for a minute, tears building up in my eyes.

“So, what was the bad thing about that?” Al asked, wanting to know what happened.

“Long story short, they abused me and did experiments on me…” I mumbled in reply, not turning around from the window.

“What kind of ‘experiments’?” Edward asked, taking on a suddenly serious tone.

“Alchemical experiments… Like the ones they do on Chimeras…” I said quietly, tears running down my face as I remembered the pain they put me through.

“I’m sorry, but you didn’t have to hear that…” I said with a smile as I turned to face them, wiping tears from my eyes.

“And what does that have to do with the train station?” Al asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Well, if I did something wrong, even the littlest thing you wouldn’t even worry about, they’d beat me and send me to my room for the night.” I replied, more tears running down my face.

I quickly faced the window again, wiping away tears as quickly as I could.

For the rest of the train ride, we all sat in silence.

When we pulled into the station, red dust puffed around the doors and windows outside.
The doors opened and we departed the train, squinting as the dust continued to rise.

“So… this is the town?” I asked, putting my arm over my eyes as we walked.

“I guess so.” Ed replied, looking at the small map he held. “This must be Bluebird Town.”

As the train left the station, kicking up more red dust, we looked out over the small, practically deserted town.

“I thought this town was a tourist attraction, not a dust bowl.” I said, kicking a small rock in front of me.

“It used to be, before all the bluebirds that flew here every year, found a warmer climate further north in the winter.” Ed said, starting down the small hill, toward the small town.

We quickly followed him down the hill, me stumbling a few times.

As we walked through the streets of Bluebird Town, I peeked through some of the windows in the buildings surrounding us. Some had people still living in them, while others just had rats and mice scouring the floors for food scraps.

“There’s not really anything suspicious, so why are we even here?” Ed complained.

“C’mon brother. We should at least spend a night or two here, just to make sure.” Al said, looking at the buildings as well.

I made myself comfortable on the floor of the old, run-down house. Edward offered me the long table, but I refused, saying I’d be just as cosy on the floor.

“Well, today was a glorious waste of time, now wasn’t it? We didn’t even find anything!” I said, letting my head hit the floorboards with a thump.

“Yep... All I know is that I’m going to sleep. G’night everyone.” Ed replied from the table, letting his arm hang over the side.

“Goodnight brother.” Alphonse said, not getting a response from him.

The room was quiet for a while, as the crickets chirped loudly outside. I shuffled around, trying to find a corner of the room. Once I did, my eyes started to droop.

“Goodnight Alexia.” Al whispered, looking over to me.

“Goodnight…” I whispered back, falling asleep as the crickets continued to chirp.

I bolted upright in my little corner, giving myself a slight dizzy spell, when I heard a loud noise from outside. I turned to Al to see if he heard it too, and seeing him look back at me, I guessed he did.
Al and I tip-toed out the door with a gas lantern and started to search the immediate area.

“I wonder what that was…” I whispered to myself, holding the lantern higher, making our small area lighter.

“I don’t know, but to me, it sounded like a person…” Al said slightly louder.

I shushed him, lifting my finger to my lips, to make sure Ed wouldn’t wake up.

‘What am I worrying about? Edward can sleep through a bomb going of!’ I thought as I scanned the darkness for signs of movement.

Suddenly, a silhouetted figure shakily stood, and ran off.
I ran after it, grabbing Al's arm as I did. We followed it down the street and through an alleyway.
When we reached the end of the alley, the figure was slumped against the back wall. I ran over to it to see if it was okay. Once I got close enough, I saw it was a young girl with large bat ears and black, bat-like wings protruding from her back. She also had small, pointed fangs peeking out from under her top lip.

“Are they alright?” Al asked after a minute, cautiously walking toward me and the girl.

This made me remember what I was looking for on the girl. I looked at her arms, seeing that they were covered in small cuts and scrapes, as was her face and legs. My eyes trailed down from her face to her stomach, which had a large, deep gash on it, and it was leaking a lot of blood. I grabbed her arm and placed my index and middle finger on her wrist, noticing her skin was a deathly white.

“Alexia…” Al said, placing a hand on my shoulder, “Is she okay?”

“No…” I replied, sadness slipping through in my voice.

I placed her hand in her lap as I got up and turned to Al, who was standing behind me.
I kept my eyes fixed on the floor and my head down.

“She’s dead.”

-cries!- I don't like this chap... Feel free to tell me otherwise... -sigh...-