The Black Mask

He wiped his fingers of the blood that seemed to soak everything in the crimson colour of his eyes. Staining the carpet that used to be stark white like his hair, the rag that he always used had turned brown from the dried blood. He had no need to wipe fingerprints from surfaces because he didn't have any; he burned them off when he chose the life of a serial killer. He placed Black Masks on the faces of his two victims, though he didn't call them victims. He thought of them as fortunate. He turned to the wall and wrote down a phone number in tiny writing so only she could see it. Only the one who had been looking for him since he started, he knew she would comb the room until she found his clue. He then walked into the kitchen, he hated this part, he had to clean up, that was his style, he would clean up until the only trace of him even being there were his clue, the bodies, and the last member of the family who he left to call the police when he was gone. He wore his Mask proudly, the mask that concealed his identity from the only one left alive. Then he left and waited, waited just outside the police station for her to drive out in her sleek black sedan to catch him, her green eyes sparkling with determination and ash blonde hair slicked back into a high ponytail. All he could do was smirk as he watched her rush to see his masterpiece, and as she sped to the scene of the crime she blasted music to drown out all the worries of the day. She didn't have time for the past when he killed again.

-Flashback-

Maka was running to her mother's makeshift apartment, which was found and used after she left Maka's father. Maka slept over with her mom, which sounded juvenile even though she was eighteen and had a part time job at the police department.

Maka woke up to a shrill ear-splitting scream and ran into her mother's room. That's when she first saw him. She saw the shock-white hair, the bloody knife in his hand as he killed her mother. He left her bound to a chair and forced Maka to watch the horror of her mother being slaughtered, limb by limb, piece by piece. Then he tossed her a phone and ran, leaving her in appalled shock as she picked up the phone. She didn't call the police. No. She called her father.

-End of Flashback-

Now 24 year old Maka Albarn was still hunting down the infamous Black Mask Murderer. She arrived at the crime scene and was disgusted by what she saw, he had left little boy. He looked a little nerdy and had thick glasses. They had come up with the ID's of the bodies, Jacqueline and Harvar Diehl. Maka walked up to the little boy and asked the other officers what his name was.

"He said his name was Ox and that his sister is on a day-trip with her boyfriend. We contacted her and she said she would be here in a few hours. Please excuse me for asking but... do you think this is him, I mean we haven't found a clue yet and-"

"I'm positive, and just because you haven't found the clue yet doesn't mean it's not here, Sid."

"Right, sorry.", Maka was head detective on the BMM Case and had been since he killed her mother. Her part time job was now full time and she vowed to herself that she wouldn't rest until she found him.
Soon after she was finished at the crime scene she went to visit her friend Tsubaki. Tsubaki also worked at the police department, but unlike Maka she had a partner. Maka didn't have a partner, she chose to work alone. Maka still wondered how Tsubaki dealt with that psychopath.

"So, how's BlackStar doing."

"Oh, he is doing well. We have had a breakthrough in the Masamune Case."

"Oh, well that's good..."

"How is the BMM case going?"

"He...he killed again. We haven't found his clue yet but I am sure it is him. I can feel it.", Maka's phone rang, "Hold on Tsubaki I am gonna take this."

"Hello?"

"Hello, Maka."

"Who is this?"

"I am disappointed in you, you haven't found my clue yet."

"You. Who are you?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out, you will find out Maka, my clue will show you and then you can catch me. As long as you are fast enough. Oh and Maka, tell that sweet Tsubaki girl that she has a draught in her bedroom. I think it is the window on the left of her dresser. Goodbye Maka."

"Wait, where is the clue, at least tell me whe-"

"Maka? Who was that?"

"Huh? Oh, it was a wrong number. I better get going, I'll see you later.", Maka went back to the crime scene, she had to find the clue. "Finally, ok...", she called the phone number and someone picked up.

"Finally, I was worried you would never find it. You really shouldn't be out this late at night, you never know what could happen."

"Who are you! You said the clue would show me, and I still don't know who you are!"

"Oh Maka, I want you to stop talking for a second. If you do what I say all your little department friends will be safe, if you don't you should call that weird looking buff guy that works with you."

"Sid... no, don't hurt him and I don't work with him, he's just a friend."

"Now I want you to be very quiet and come downstairs.", Maka did what she was told, "Good, now I want you to face the window, and", the phone cut off but the voice didn't, "if you scream I'll kill them all.", Maka looked to the window and saw pictures, pictures of all her friends, taped onto the glass. The next thing she knew she was being picked up bridal style with a blindfold on. She was carried to a car, she heard a muffled voice and the car started moving. Maka felt someone stroking her hair and removing her blindfold. She saw black windows and leather, the only colours other than black in the car were crimson eyes and stark white hair. Maka's scream caught in her throat when he put a finger to her lips and let her sit up next to him. She realised she was in the back of a limo, and looked to see if she could recognise the driver. No, the only one she recognised was him. "Soul."

"Huh?"

"I told you my clue would lead you to my name, my name is Soul."

"Wha-why am I here?"

"You are here because I need you, I need you to do something for me."

"What do you want?"

"I need you to make sure a certain someone never finds me."

"What?... If you are asking me to keep the Chief away from you I can't do tha-"

"No, I need you to keep a specific civilian away from me. His name is Westly, Westly Evans, my brother. I need you to keep him away from me and I want you to visit me everyday so I know you are doing what you are supposed to. If you tell anyone about our little encounters, I will kill all of your friends, all connections will be lost and you will be alone. It is a simple task, and I will know if you tell anyone, so don't try. Oh, and I know you were reaching for your gun so if you choose to kill me, I have someone who will see to it that all your friends die."

"Where are we going?"

"To my place...", the rest of the ride was silent, Maka held back the tears pricking at her eyes, the man that murdered her mother in front of her eyes was sitting right in front of her and she couldn't touch him. When they finally reached the destination Soul helped Maka out of the car and into a large house, she knew they weren't in their little town anymore, they were in the desert. Maka's phone rang again, it was Tsubaki.

"Um, Soul my friend is calling and she is gonna think something is up if I don't answer.", Soul nodded and she picked up the phone. Tsubaki asked Maka why she didn't come back to the station and she said that her dad needed help with neighbour who kept bothering him. Soul brought Maka into a room and told her she would be staying there over night and that she would find clothes in the closet. He also told her to change into something nice because she was going to have dinner and meet 'the gang' as he called them. She looked into the closet and found everything, as expected, black. She changed into a black cocktail dress and threw on some high heels then went downstairs to find Soul waiting for her in a black pinstriped suit with a red shirt and black tie. He brought her to the dining room to find six odd looking people sitting at the table. One boy with pink hair and icy blue eyes twitched around nervously holding his right arm at the elbow with his left as he mumbled something about not knowing how to deal with pretty girls.

"Shut-it Crona!", a strange man with a scar in the shape of an "x" on his face yelled at the boy.

"Sorry about Ragnorok, he can be a little... what's the word... rude.", said a nice looking lady with long blonde hair and yellow eyes, "I'm Medusa.", she had on a black dress with white arrows coming from the back and wrapping around her waist. Then a man with spiked up light brown hair and carmel eyes looked up and when he saw Maka he almost choked on his drink.

"That is Giriko.", said a lady with black hair tied up in a bun and stunning purple eyes, "My name is Arachne, this is Asura.", she stated pointing the man next to her with black and white hair and red eyes like Soul, but less stunning. Maka started to back up but stopped when she received a soft look from Soul, something about him got to her, he didn't seem like the type who would brutally murder person after person and leave one family member alive to watch, but hey, looks can be deceiving. He held out his hand and and she took it hesitantly.

"We aren't going to hurt you Maka, I would never hurt you.", Maka's heart stopped. Did a serial killer who brutally murdered her mother in front of her eyes just say he wouldn't hurt her? Yes, he did. Maka had the compelling feeling to trust him, but the rational part of her mind told her not to. She decided that she would form a trust with him but always keep that rational part in close contact, she wanted to be cautious. At dinner they had some small talk then Medusa looked at Maka with an almost snake-like smile.

"Maka, you are a brave one aren't you, you haven't even tried to scream and run yet."

"Heh, well, what can I say? I won't lie and say I'm not nervous."

"You need to relax Maka, we won't hurt you. You are our friend here, maybe you can even become Soul's partner."

"What?"

"He didn't tell you? We all have partners except for Soul over there. Crona and Ragnorok are partners, same with Arachne and Asura, Giriko's partner is not here at the moment, his nickname is Mosquito, and my partner, Free, is out with him. They were the driver and passenger in your car."

"Oh, so Soul doesn't have a partner because you don't have any more people?"

"No, we could have recruited more people but he chose not to have a partner. He is an oddball sometimes, but he is our best man."

"Medusa, you do know I am standing right here, right."

"Of course, but I did give you a compliment in the process of insulting you."

"Yeah, whatever, I'm gonna go see if Mosquito and Free are back yet. Maka, you wanna come with me?"

"Sure, I want to meet these two.", They walked out of the house and into the garage where two men were coming out of a car. One was short and had a tall hat on, the other was tall and bulky. It was hard to tell what they really looked like in the dark but Maka could tell at least that.

"Sir, we have completed our mission at the police station.", said the short man. Maka's breath hitched, what if he had killed her friends.

"Good, now I want you to enter all the information into the main computer under the file called Masamune."

"M-Masamune? That is the case that Tsubaki is working on, you said you wouldn't hurt-"

"Relax Maka, we didn't hurt anyone. We just took some information off the case file, we have been keeping an eye on Masamune for a while and with your friend very close to closing the case, we needed the information before she caught him."

"Oh."

"Well, we will get the access code from my partner and then report back to you, sir."

"Thank you, Free. Now, Maka, I think we should take a tour around the house, I have a feeling you will be spending a lot of time here. Oh! You also have to meet-... ah, that's actually probably not a good idea."

"I noticed that the two men back there, they called you sir."

"Oh, you noticed that huh... well, I'm second in command here, then Asura and Arachne, then Medusa, then Mosquito, then Free, then Ragnorok, then Giriko, and finally Crona. We don't trust Crona too much, he tried to kill me once, I even got a big scar across the chest from it. That is why we put him with Ragnorok, they work well together."

"Who is ahead of you then?"

"Someone you are lucky enough to never meet, and don't ask me to bring you to him, he will drag you into the life I have. I don't want that for you, I want you to get out of this without any consequences."

"It's a little too late for that, by even meeting you I can get my job taken away. If they ever found out that I was protecting you in any way, I would for sure have to go to court and probably be sentenced to at least a few months."

"We already have that covered, you should get off scotch free ."

"Really!"

"Yeah, the rest of the gang wanted to let you get put away, but I convinced them otherwise."

"Thank you so much, Soul!", without thinking Maka hugged him, "Ah! Sorry, I am just so happy, this is my only source of income. I mean I have to pay rent, bills, and buy food..."

"You are welcome to stay here y'know, we have enough space. The boss pays for everything so you can use your money for more important things. Oh, the only thing is that if you want something specific to eat you have to buy it yourself."

"I dunno, I mean it is a house full of murderers."

"Maka, how many times do I have to tell you we won't hurt you here."

"Mmm... ok."

"So you'll stay!"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good, because it would be uncool if you didn't."

"Well, let's go on that tour then.", they went on the tour and Soul showed her where she would sleep and where everyone else's room was in accordance to hers. Maka slept in her room that night and woke up the next morning completely refreshed. She then went next door to Soul's room to ask him how she was getting to work, he told her that Mosquito would drive her there and pick her up when she called. When Maka arrived in a limo everyone at the station asked her about it. She said it was just a thing her father set up because he felt better when he knew she was safe in a car instead of walking. Maka did as she was told and made sure Westly Evans stayed out of their little town in Nevada. A few months passed and everyone at the house was growing on Maka, even Crona. She grew especially close to Soul and lost track of that rational part of her mind. Everything about him and that house became so routine to her. Until one day Liz, one of the Chief's son's partners, came up to her and asked her to meet with the Chief immediately. She went into a dark, gloomy office and saw a figure sitting in a chair, his face was covered in shadows and smoke from his cigar wrapped around his head in thin tendrils.

"Ms. Albarn, sit down. Now, I am going to get right down to business. I know about your affiliation with a Mr. Soul E. Evans also known as The Black Mask Murderer or BMM. I am trusting that you know the consequences of helping or associating with a currently active serial killer, specifically the one being investigated on your case. Am I correct?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Ok, now that that is cleared up, I want to make sure you know that I am on your side, just make sure you are making the right decision. If you believe you are, then I am on board, but make sure that he is not just playing you."

"I am positive about Sou- Mr. Evans intentions, I am also sure I made the correct decision in helping him."

"Good, you are dismissed, please call Kid in on your way out.", Maka walked out of the room, her heart was still racing.

"Kid, your dad wants you.", Maka notified him but when he picked his head up he looked at her in disgust, like she was a traitor. She couldn't help but drop her gaze when those two amber eyes looked at her like that. Then he and his two partners Liz and Patty walked into the office. Kid had two partners because he had serious OCD and an obsession with symmetry, he also carried twin pistols, the weird part was that he held them upside-down and pulled the trigger with his pinkies. Liz had long dirty blonde hair and cobalt blue eyes, Patty was Liz's little sister and she had short bleach blonde hair and blue eyes like Liz. Maka quickly called Mosquito and told him to come and get her.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Albarn?"

"Yes, very wrong, Mosquito. Do you know if Soul is at the house?"

"Yes, I believe he is."

"Take me there, now.", Maka got to the house and immediately called an emergency meeting for the whole household.

"Maka, what happened?", asked Medusa

"The Chief... he knows."

"What?!"

"Giriko, you know what to do.", stated Arachne sternly.

"Wait a sec, we can't just go off killing the chief of police.", Soul said rationally.

"HEY! He said that he was on my side, that he was on board with my decision, but he asked if I was making the right decision."

"W-What did-id yo-you s-s-say?", Crona stuttered out.

"I told him I did make the right decision, but I don't think his son thinks the same."

"Then we all need to leave.", said Asura.

"No, he doesn't know about all of you... he only knows about Soul."

"Then I am leaving, I can't stay and put all of you in danger.", Soul said grimly.

"Soul no, you are not going to leave me, I won't let you."

"I have to! Do you get that, Maka? I have to leave, that doesn't mean I want to. But, I. Have. To. Leave. Nothing you can say will stop me."

"Wait, we can work this out. We can-", BANG. The sound of a gunshot was heard throughout the entire house.

"Makaaaaa... I know you are in here you little traitor. I can't believe that you would help this guy, after all, he killed your mother! Now where aaaarrrreee yoooouuuuu? Maaaaakkkkkaa? Oh Maaakkk- There you are! Now I am gonna kill this guy and you can come back to the department with a spotless record."

"No!", Click-BANG!

"Maka!", Soul dropped to his knees, she jumped in front of him, "no, no no, nonono!" CRRRACCKK... Soul looked up and saw that Giriko had snapped Kid's neck.

"Where was she hit?", asked Medusa.

"She-... she's gone...", Soul started shaking with anger and sadness, "She's gone."

END