A/N : Hi guys! Wow, thanks for opening this up. It really means a lot. ^_^

I stared into Soul's eyes, as he stared into mine with his crimson orbs. He has really pretty eyes, now that I look into them. I thought, fighting a blush that threatened to creep upon my face. I wanted to close my eyes, they were getting so dry. But I couldn't. I didn't want to lose. It would crush my pride.

After what seemed like hours, I couldn't take it any longer. My eyes closed, and Soul smirked. I had lost. Great.

"A bet's a bet. You lost, so you have to go into the Haunted Mansion for two hours." Soul stated. It was 10:00 at night, and I have to go into some creepy, old, abandoned mansion. This won't be fun.

"You know the story, right, Maka?"

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head no. I only hear that there was some sort of tragedy, but not the story of it.

"Well, then I guess I should explain it to you." Soul said. "It began about 100 years ago, when a family of four moved into the mansion. The family contained of a little girl and boy, a mother, and a father. You see, one night, the father came back home drunk, and accused his wife of cheating on him. He kept throwing things against the wall and pushing things over. The mother hid the children in a closet and told them to keep quiet, that she'd come back to get them. She couldn't keep that promise. She went to go calm the husband, who was in the kitchen. He grabbed her by her hair and slit her throat, watching as the blood ran down her neck. He then soaked the house in kerosene and lit a match. He shot himself in the head after he set the house on fire. The kids remained in the closet, awaiting the mother, who never came back..." Soul said, sadness etched in his voice.

"That's horrible..." was all I could say. And now I would go into the house. But something didn't add up... "You said he set the mansion on fire? How is it still standing?"

Soul looked into my eyes. "The mansion was rebuilt, but whoever moved into it either died, or went insane."

"And you expect me to go in there? All by myself? For two hours?!" I cried.

"You lost the bet. So I expect you to be a good 'Tiny Tits' and go into the spooky haunted mansion." Soul said, smirking at "Tiny Tits".

"Maka Chop!"

"Ow... Dammit Maka, that hurts!"

Then we went on our way to the mansion.

We reached the mansion about 20 minutes later. It stood ominously in the moonlight, towering over me. It was two stories high, and dark. Something wasn't right...

"Come on Maka, don't be uncool about this. Go on in, you pansy." Soul chided. I shot him a glare and walked up to the front door.

The house seemed even bigger on the inside. All of the furniture was still here. My shoes clicked on the hardwood floors with each step I took. I've only been in here for about 30 minutes, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I checked my watch, which read 11:00. So I had to stay in here until 12:30. I went up the stairs to the second floor. I went into a room, which looked like a bedroom, and the door slammed shut behind me.

"Eeep! SOUL! KNOCK IT OFF!" I yelled, but there was no reply. "S-Soul? Stop it, that's not funny!" Then I heard something scratching on the other side of the door. It sounded like long, sharp talons, carving into it. I ran over to the window and peered outside. Soul was still sitting on the bench, waiting for me.

If Soul was out there... then.. who could be..? I whipped around and the scratching stopped. I began to freak out. I wanted to cry, but no tears would come. I wanted out of this place. Now. I looked at my watch, which read 11:30. Shit, I still have an hour left!

Then, the closet door began to open, making a creee noise. I stared at it in utter horror as I saw a figure emerge from the closet. It was a little girl, holding a teddy bear. She had long black hair down to her waist, and she was wearing a white nightgown. Her eyes were a milky white, looking, but not seeing.

She turned towards me and said "Mother lied... She promised... But she let daddy kill us.. Why? Why didn't mommy come back..?" I stared at her in horror. "You took too long to answer, miss. Now you have to die too."

Before I could say anything, her neck snapped violently to the right and blood came from her mouth and eyes. She got on all fours, stomach facing upwards, and she ripped the head off her teddy bear. I screamed a blood-curdling scream as she raced towards me.

I dodged her, and ran for the door. I had to leave. And quickly! I shot down the stairs, but she was still close behind me. I ran to the door and tried to open it.

"SOUL! HELP!" I cried. The little girl was standing at the base of the stairs, cackling. White foam had started to come from her mouth. She looked... hungry.

"Maka! What's going on?!" I heard Soul yell as he tried to get the door open. "Unlock the door, Maka!" He yelled.

"I can't! The little girl locked it! Help me, please!" I shouted, crying. I turned around. Big. Mistake.

The girl was in my face, laughing hysterically. "I'm going to kill you!" she smiled. Her teeth were even sharper than Souls were!

I pushed her down and ran back upstairs. I was going to jump out a window. Hopefully, I would land on my feet.

I ran into the nearest door and shut it. the littler girl kept taunting me, and she kept trying to open the door. I threw open the window and jumped out, but somebody caught me by my hair.

"SOUL!" I shrieked. I heard a man arguing with somebody else. Then a butcher knife came to my throat. I was dangling out the window about to have my throat slit. I felt the knife dig into my throat and cut it, but not too deep. I was released by the man, and fell towards the ground.

I closed my eyes, and got ready to feel my body hit the ground, but somebody caught me. I opened my eyes and saw Soul, staring down at me.

"Maka! What the hell happened?!" he exclaimed, staring at my cut throat. I looked up at the window and held back a shriek. Following my gaze, Soul muttered "What the fuck?" as we stared into the black eyes of a purple colored man, with a hole in his head. It was all bloody.

Without another word, Soul, still carrying me, ran back to our apartment. After bandaging my neck, we both sat on the couch in silence. After a while, I told Soul about what happened.

"I'm sorry, Maka. I shouldn't have put you in danger like that. I'll go in there tomorrow, to make up for it." Soul said with regret in his eyes.

But I didn't hear him. I was consumed by the darkness of sleep.

I woke up, and Soul was gone. I looked for him everywhere, but I couldn't find him. I went back to the apartment and found a note on the counter. Soul went back to the mansion?! I had to go after him!

I got there in about five minutes because I ran. I saw Soul in a window on the first floor. I threw open the door and dashed inside.

"Soul! What the HELL are you doing?!" I exclaimed. Startled, Soul shot up and spun around to face me.

"Maka, get out of here. I'm dong this because I feel bad about sending you in here." he said softly.

"Soul, stop it. we're going home. Now." I demanded. He opened his mouth to reply, but he never got the chance. All of a sudden, we both passed out, darkness consuming us.

I woke up on the floor of a room I've never been in before. Soul was nowhere to be found. I checked my watch, but it read 12:30 a.m. That couldn't be right... I went to the window and peered outside. It was pitch black. My eyes widened and I ran out the door, screaming Souls name loudly.

I turned the corner, and shrieked. A woman was standing there, dressed in an old purple Victorian gown, blood spilling from her neck.

"Revenge... I will kill you..." the woman said, and entered a door. Soul yelled. He was in that room. With the woman. Not thinking, I ran into the room and saw Soul on the ground, curled in a ball."

"Soul, get up! It's me, Maka!" I said.

Soul looked at me and screamed. He wasn't being very 'cool' right now.

"I'm not that scary..." I mumble. But then I turned around, and the woman I saw earlier was standing behind me, her milky eyes fixed on me. I scrambled back and tripped over Soul.

"All men are evil... They cheat... And lie... And kill for no reason..." the woman said, her voice scratchy. "Tell me, child... Why... Do you stay with him..?" It took me a moment to realize that she was talking to me.

"B-because. Soul is always there for me... He protects me, and he's my partner." I said, staring at the woman. Honestly, I was scared to death. But I had to protect Soul this time.

"But he doesn't love you, does he? Look at the way he is curled up on the floor. I could kill you now, and he wouldn't be able to do a thing... So tragic... He should die... But only after you do... You're a fool to love a man. He'll only break you.."

"Y-you're wrong!" I shout. "I know guys cheat. They always lie. And they leave you and make you feel like garbage. I know that all too well." I was thinking about my father as I spoke those words. "But this one is different. He's kind to me, and he looks after me. Whenever I need him, he's there for me. And I know he doesn't love me... He probably never will... But I love him. So I won't let you touch him. He's mine, and I'll protect him until I die!" I shouted.

The woman appeared in front of my face, hatred in her unseeing eyes. She grabbed me by my throat and lifted me into the air. She threw me into a wall, and I heard something crack. Soul, seeming to have gotten over his trauma, came over to me.

"Maka, are you okay?!" he exclaimed.

"It's about time you got your head out of your butt." I said sarcastically.

"Sorry. I was paralyzed. And when I tried to talk, only a scream would come out. I don't know what happened." he said, looking to the floor.

The woman grabbed Soul by the arm and threw him out of the way. She came towards me as I stood up. She grabbed me by my neck again, digging her fingers through the bandages. I yelled in pain, and she dropped me to the floor. Then she walked over to Soul, who got up.

I ran over and blocked the path between the woman and Soul. Soul began to protest and push me out of the way, but before he could, the woman shrieked as the doorway darkened. The same man from the night before was standing there wit a butcher knife, smiling evilly at the woman. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of the room as she screamed in protest.

I ran to the window and threw it open. Grabbing Souls hand, I leaped from the window into the cool night. When we landed, I checked my watch. It was 1:30 a.m. Soul and I looked at each other, and said nothing. Then, I tensed as he embraced me.

"Don't do anything that stupid again.. You hear me?" Soul said into the crook of my neck.

"Only if you don't." I replied. We stood there for a while, just embracing each other. We then began to walk home.

"You know, when I was paralyzed, I could still hear everything that was going on.. I heard the whole conversation between you and that lady." Soul said after a while. I looked over at him.

"So?" I asked.

"You're wrong." he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I love you too, Maka." he whispered.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Had I heard him right? Soul stopped and looked into my eyes.

"Stop joking around, Soul. Let's just go home." I said, looking down. I tried to walk past him, but he stopped me.

"I mean it." he said, still looking into my eyes.

I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks. "Y-you do? B-but... I thought tha-"

I wasn't able to finish. Soul had pulled me into his arms and kissed me. On the lips. His lips were soft, and gentle. They tasted like cinnamon.

When we pulled back, we just stared into each others' eyes. I was the happiest person alive at that moment. I loved Soul, and he loved me.