Maka isn't sure if she had somehow knocked herself unconscious into this crazy dream or if someone had cursed her; all she knows is that she wants out of this situation. This isn't her bedroom, or even a bedroom at all; she's in the middle of a street in a city she doesn't recognize. The buildings are so high she can't even see the top of them with the sun blaring down on her. The buildings were taking its toll from the sun, bright paint now faded and wrecked. Some buildings have chunks of cement missing as if miniature bombs had gone off on the street. She is surrounded by at least thirty men, if she can even call them that; some of them have horns coming out of their heads, claws the size of her face, or more eyes than what a human should have. One of the creatures closer to her seems to be on the phone with the 'big guy'.
"Boss," a low voice comes from the tall, dark man whose head is covered in small braids apart from his shaven sides. He has a phone pressed to his ear and black square glasses sit on the bridge of his nose; Maka would have assumed that he was normal and human, but his large iron fists say otherwise. She stares hard at the meeting place where skin and metal blend together.
"We've got a situation," the man says, eyeing her up and down. Maka quickly bunches her jacket closer to her as he walks over until he is a foot or less from her, standing in silence. She wonders if his boss is yelling out orders of execution because he's quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time.
"There's… a chick here," the guy mumbles into the phone, and Maka looks down at her feet. 'I need to escape fast!' she thinks. However, the next sentence he says is "She's human," and Maka knows that she is, in fact, not surrounded by people, but monsters who could probably shred her apart in a minute.
Something the boss says makes the man in front of her try to dispute, his mouth opening wide and eyebrows creasing, but his mouth stays like that for an extra second before it closes and he puts his phone in his pocket.
Maka's body tenses as all of the 'men' cave in on her. The first pair of hands grab her waist, but Maka throws a back kick into the man's crotch and he falls on all fours, crying hysterically. Guess they are just like men.
She stands with legs parted and hands raised, ready to chop anyone who lays their hands on her.
Maka would like to say she escaped from the clutches of men with brute force, but to be honest, thirty monsters against one girl are bad odds. Now, she's being led to the boss of these monsters, hands tied behind her and lips taped shut.
The man who was on the phone earlier stops Maka in front of a plain, white apartment door. He knocks roughly against the worn-down wood and ignores the plea to wait from the other side as he opens the door. What she sees makes her want to laugh. If only she could.
The first thing Maka notices is his stark white hair that's defying the laws of gravity under a black headband. He has a pair of black shades on and is wearing what Maka guesses to be a basketball jersey, but the jersey reads Death City Reapers, a team she's never heard of in her life. His pants are a little too big for him, the jeans scrunching together at his sandal-clad feet.
She watches as he inspects her, wondering what the man wants with her, a girl in a red plaid skirt, yellow sweater shirt, and a black jacket, her hair in perfect pigtails. His type is probably the kind that wears short shorts and tube tops, she thinks. The boy coughs awkwardly, and Maka is sure that she isn't what he was expecting. He's laughing at her!
"Kilik, close the door behind you," the boy says and Maka shivers. His voice is lower than she thought it would be, and if these guys call him the boss, she doesn't want to learn why. There's a moment of silence and Maka wonders why this Kilik guy hesitates before nodding and leaving her there on her own. He closes the door and Maka mentally swears when she hears the door lock with a click.
Her eyes quickly dart at her surroundings, trying to find ways of getting out of there. However, her attention quickly moves to the man who's getting closer to her. She steps back into the door, hands twisting at the knob. Yep, it's locked.
Her eyebrows furrow, but he quickly raises his hands in the air. "I'm just trying to untie you."
She's not sure if she believes him, but with the door locked and her arms tied, she has no other choice than to stay still and wait for the man to release her. He presses his hand onto her cheek, and Maka notices how droopy his eyes are under the shades, like sleep isn't in his vocabulary. "This might sting a little."
Maka's eyes widen as she spots his jagged teeth before he quickly rips off the tape from her lips, making her hiss with pain. Hands grab her elbows and force her around to face the door before she is able to say anything. She feels her hands being tugged here and there before her arms fall limply to her sides, free.
She turns around to the man who's way too close for comfort. She's on the door again as he leans in, one arm above her holding him there and the other one in his jean pocket.
"Soul," he practically sings and Maka begins to wonder if the guy is high on something before he simply replies to her unsaid question. "That's my name. Soul Eater, at your service."
Maka stands there awhile more and Soul raises an eyebrow and widens an eye as if he is asking for something in return. She clears her throat and calmly gives her name. "Maka Albarn."
Soul draws back slightly. He expected a squeaky voice, not a hard, firm voice with no sign of fear. Part of him feels hurt that she doesn't see him as harmful.
Maka rubs at her arms where the tape had been. "Where am I?"
"You're in the demon world," Soul pushes off the door entirely and bounces down onto his mattress. "Now my question: how did you get here?"
Maka simply shrugs as she looks at the ground. Soul leans back on his arms and pats the area next to him. She walks over hesitantly and sits on the corner of the bed, farthest away from Soul.
"This is my first time meeting a human," Soul laughs awkwardly as he pushes the shades higher on the bridge of his nose. "I've always wanted to, but I'd need a passport, human money… and I heard the sun up there is really strong. Oh! Do you watch basketball?"
Maka turns on him and grimaces. "No."
Soul scratches his head and sighs. He has always wanted to meet a human because he likes their clothes, music, and TV shows a lot more than the things they have here; however, the human he ends up stuck with is a dud. She opens her mouth to ask a question, but a ring interrupts her. Soul puts up his index finger to her before digging through his pockets to take out his cellphone. He flips the phone open. "This is Soul. What's up?"
Maka sits quietly as she watches Soul's reaction. His brow furrows slightly and his jaw tightens, but the reaction isn't much different to what he's looked like these past few minutes she's seen him. "Well, get rid of him then," he mutters. "I'm busy here."
His brow creases further and his lips draw back as he grinds out his words. "What do you mean? The men can't do it?" Static is the only reply Soul receives.
"Hello? Kilik, I've lost you. You there?" No one answers and Soul curses as he closes his phone. "What were we talking about again?"
Soul turns to find Maka staring up at him. "That sounded urgent..."
"No, no. This happens all the time." Soul waves his hand in the air, brushing off her concern. "People always try to sneak in and kill me. Whoever kills a boss, becomes a boss. That's just how things work here."
"Shouldn't you still help your friends, though?" she says, and Soul gets an unexplained feeling in his stomach. Her eyes are sucking him in, entrancing him in a way. Suddenly, he feels his sight tunnel and sees a small blonde girl stare at him expectantly, blue eyes blurring from tears.
When he returns from his dream-like state, Soul bites his lip, feeling a need to protect her. Before Maka has a chance to notice, Soul cackles hysterically and she isn't sure she'll make it out of this alive. However, he pushes off the bed, gives her a thumbs-up, and shoots out the window.
Maka stares in horror at the flying glass and watches as his body plummets downward until she doesn't see him anymore. She quickly approaches where the large glass window used to be and watches as he falls down, down, and down.
Maka feels something is missing when she wakes up, not sure when she lost consciousness to start with. Her eyes slide open to a loud moan and she sees a monster and blood. Lots of blood. The monster is smeared in red from its coned nose to scissor-like hands and bulging chest, and the floor is worse, a rosy lake forming at its feet. She quickly pushes her body up from the bed and notices her clothes are no more. She feels her throat ache and she wants to scream. This has to be the worst day of her life.
She looks up to see the monster hasn't taken notice of her and is still eating. She suddenly spots her clothes, but they are on the flesh the beast is feeding from, dyed red. Maka's eyes widen with realization as she feels her stomach twist. Unexpectedly, she hears a loud yelp and finds Soul and Kilik rushing from the door towards the monster and looking into its hands.
"No, no, no!" Soul yells, pulling his white hair and Kilik pats his shoulder gently. Nose red and flaring, Soul tosses his sunglasses to the other side of the room before throwing a punch to the monster's stomach. The monster goes flying, its meal slipping from its hands as it careens out a bedroom wall. The room billows with dust from the impact and Maka tries hard not to choke on the air. The monster is limp in the corner, hole in its chest, and Soul kneels into the lake of blood and retrieves a skull.
Maka decides now is the best time to make herself known as she lets a soft, "Soul." Both of the boys turn their attention to her when Maka remembers her situation. She covers herself up with her hands as Kilik quickly turns away, but Soul's eyes, which Maka notes are a ruby red, continue to stare. She squeaks at the attention and his face reddens.
"Where are your clothes?!"
Maka finds a pillow close to her and throws it at Soul's face before pulling his bed sheets over her. "Stop staring, you pervert! Th-that thing had them!"
Soul looks back down at the skull in his hand and spots Maka's uniform under his feet, soaking wet in blood. He pushes himself up off the floor and looks from the skull to Maka and back to the skull again. "I thought he ate you."
A cough comes from behind him, and Soul turns to Kilik. He frowns and points back towards Maka. "Sorry to say this, Soul, but he did."
Soul raises an eyebrow and opens his mouth to dispute, but something comes over him and he turns back to face Maka. He knew when he spotted her on the bed before that something had changed. He no longer feels that attachment to her, and now that he's looking at her, he spots the hitaikakushi, a small white triangular piece of cloth tied around her head.
"A ghost? Really?" Soul moans, pressing his hands to his face. "No wonder I feel no interest towards her!"
"Hey!" Maka yells irritably. She brushes off the comment and raises her hands, inspecting them warily. "You're saying I'm dead now?"
Kilik and Soul simply nod. Maka buries her face into her hands, feeling a sob sneak out of her mouth. Tears fall into her palms. Soul bites his lip as she continues to sulk on his bed, and he wonders what's gotten ahold of him when he sits on the bed, placing the skull beside him, and rubs her back.
The blonde looks up, staring into ruby eyes, and he feels something in his chest tighten. He smiles gently. "I'll bring you back to life. I promise."
As soon as he says it, Maka smiles wide and Soul falls into a trance once again. Blonde hair is swaying, blue eyes squinting, and a goofy smile is aimed towards him. When his vision returns to normal, he's greeted by Maka's waving hand in his face. This is the second time now getting these visions and it bothers Soul. There has to be something behind this, and he is going to figure out what that something is.
"How will you do that?" Kilik barks from behind them. Soul turns his attention to him, frowning as the man glares back in disbelief. Soul's never heard him so angry before. At least not towards him.
"I dunno, but we can start by figuring out how she got here." Soul looks down at the skull.
"I have a question," Maka states and waits for Soul's attention. He looks over and she smiles awkwardly. "Since I'm in 'the demon world,' what kind of demon are you?"
Soul smiles maliciously, sharp teeth coming into sight, and Maka feels that uneasy feeling in her stomach as if she already knew the answer. Red eyes stay on her as he responds, "I'm a vampire."