Author's Note: After receiving a few reviews prompting me to continue the story, I decided to make this into a short story with multiple chapters. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for reading!

A Living Nightmare

II

"Ready for bed?"

Maka sighs to herself, mumbling a quiet "yeah" towards Soul. For the past two weeks they have been sharing her bed ever since her problem with nightmares came to light. After the first couple nights, Soul opted to return to his own bed, and they were able to get through that night and the next without any issues.

On the fifth night, Maka actually woke up screaming bloody murder. The nightmare had come back with a vengeance. For starters, when she opened her eyes to that blinding terror, she didn't immediately wake up. She remained on the ground with the Kishin over her while she screamed and screamed, but the image never faded and she physically could not wake up.

Thankfully, Soul heard her screams (how could he not?) and shook her awake, clenching her shoulders so tightly that in a daze, Maka lashed out and punched him right in the face, screaming for him to get away from her. She felt horrible when she realized what she had done, but Soul waved it off, more concerned for her well being than his, as always.

They tried everything since that night. She gave up eating sweets, having heard that they could cause nightmares. She even gave up reading at night before she went to bed. When she cut those out, she even tried imagining the nightmare ending differently while she was awake. When none of those ideas worked, Soul and she had pushed Soul's bed into her room to see if having someone with her in the room would be enough to dissuade the nightmares. She still woke up screaming.

When Blair came home one day to find Maka and Soul in bed together, the perverted cat had immediately jumped to conclusions and prepared to congratulate them and at the same time whine to Soul about why she wasn't good enough until Maka got so flustered that she Maka-chopped Soul. With a bleeding forehead, Soul explained to Blair about Maka's nightmares, prompting the cat-lady to offer to take over for Soul while in her cat form.

Everything seemed to work out all right, until Soul shook Maka awake from her nightmare and pointed to Blair who had been kicked right out of bed and against the wall.

Oops.

"Maybe we should tell your father," Blair suggested after she finished licking her wounds.

Maka immediately shot down the idea. Like hell that was ever going to happen! Besides, her father wouldn't spend every night with her until she stopped having nightmares. How would he be able to see his precious floozies if he's cooped up at night with Maka?

Soul and she are tired, and she can tell that Soul is beyond irritated with the whole prospect of spending every night in bed with her. She has suggested numerous times that he just leave her be, that maybe she just needs to deal with the nightmare on her own, but Soul just shakes his head and tells her to stop being an idiot.

No matter her thoughts on everything, she falls into the same routine that she has developed with Soul. She goes around her bed to the left side of it, allowing Soul to take the right side of the bed that is closer to the bedroom door. Wordlessly, she pulls the covers back for both of them, and they each slide into their respective sides, always maintaining a small distance between their forms. Maka is so accustomed to having Soul sleep next to her that all the awkwardness has gone. They are partners, and it isn't as though they're the only pair that sleeps in close proximity to each other.

Though Maka doesn't feel awkward sleeping in the same bed as Soul, she is definitely not about to let the rest of Spartoi know of her new sleeping arrangements with Soul. Tsubaki and Black*Star may be able to get away with sharing a room together, but sharing a bed? There will just be too many accusations thrown around.

And she doesn't want anyone else aside from Soul and Blair to know of her nightmares.

"Do you always have to think so much before you go to bed?" Soul questions, breaking her train of thought. She looks at him out of the corner of her eye, finding her partner lying on his side with his elbow digging into the pillow and his head resting on his hand. "You're supposed to relax when you go to sleep, not stress yourself out."

"Gee, Soul, can you blame me?" Maka mutters, looking away from him and focusing on the ceiling. "I'm just so frustrated with everything."

"You're frustrated with everything?" Soul repeats incredulously. "I'm just as frustrated as you are. I haven't been able to sleep in my own bed for two weeks."

A grimace tightens on Maka's face. "You can go back to your own bed. I'm not stopping you."

Shuffling on Maka's left occurs as soon as she's finished speaking, and she peeks over to see if Soul is actually going to leave. Her chest constricts tightly for a moment before she realizes that Soul is just shifting over to lie on his back.

"Yeah, right. I'm not leaving until these stupid nightmares of yours stop," Soul proclaims, and though secretly Maka is grateful for his proclamation, her stomach fills with guilt. Soul must have noticed her change in demeanor, for he absentmindedly reaches a hand out to pat her on the head. "Don't worry. We'll figure out a way to get them to stop. Just go to sleep."

Annoyed by being treated like a dog, Maka smacks his hand away and turns away from him. She waits a moment before whispering, "Goodnight, Soul."

"G'night, Maka."

Silence stretches across the darkness that consumes the entire area. Maka takes a tentative step forward, unsure of the stability of the ground in front of her. A rough surface meets the bottom of her shoe, prompting her to continue moving forward into the darkness.

Each step echoes throughout the darkness, and her surroundings use this sound to make it appear as though there is someone or something else out there. Maka is alone and unarmed, so she clenches her gloved hands into fists, preparing herself for any sort of attack. Despite the rising fear that creeps into the back of her mind, Maka remains calm and collected. She cannot let fear overpower her.

As she continues on, not trusting her eyes and barely trusting her ears, she catches the sound of skin slapping against the hard ground. They are definitely steps, meaning that someone or something that is barefoot is walking in the darkness too. Maka waits to see if the newcomer will reveal himself or herself, but as soon as she stops walking to have a better listen, the footsteps stop.

"Hello?" Maka voices into the darkness, ignoring the echo of her greeting. "Who's there?"

After her echoes fade away into silence, Maka strains her ears to listen for a response. For a while, no one answers, and there's complete quiet in the darkness. She is just about to continue walking on when the sound of hastened footsteps reverberate throughout the pitch-black landscape, seeming coming towards her in all directions.

Maka falls into her trained offensive position, waiting for the inevitable strike that could occur from any side. The footsteps grow louder and harsher as they come closer to her, and Maka's breathing quickens as she wildly looks around for the source. Then, when it seems as if the footsteps are on top of her, all sounds cease. Maka's harsh breathing catches in her throat with a small gasp, and she stares wide-eyed to the side of her, waiting.

A rustle of fabric catches her attention, and she looks down at her right arm to find a pale strip quickly wrapping itself around her arm. With a cry of alarm, Maka tries to yank her arm from the strip's grasp, only to find another strip circling around her left thigh. Maka throws her weight back, hoping to pull the strips and their owner down with her, but two more strips lash out at her, taking hold of her free arm and leg.

Immobile, Maka futilely struggles to loosen the pale, white strips. They simply tighten around her more, holding her slightly above the ground. Maka grits her teeth, glaring straight ahead into the darkness. Whoever is restraining her would pay dearly for their mistake.

"Who are you?" she demands to know. "What do you want?"

A high-pitched, chilling laughter fills the air, and Maka's heart lodges in her throat. Her previous courageousness all but vanishes as the overwhelming feeling of fear washes over her senses. Even without the strange strips restraining her, she would still feel paralyzed to the spot.

"What's wrong, Maka? I thought you had the courage to face lil' ol' me."

Three red eyes glow throughout the darkness before a pale face places them. A crazed grin accompanies the shocking face, sending shivers down her spine.

"Where's your courage, Maka?" he taunts, tilting his head to the side and grinning, if possible, wider. "Where did it go?"

A hand appears at her throat, and leathery skin brushes against the tender, soft skin of her throat before constricting around it. Another hand digs into her side, and she can tell from the sharp pain and the warm liquid coating her side that she is bleeding. There is no agonizing pain to follow the sensation, but Maka starts trembling anyway.

The face leans closer to hers until they're merely centimeters apart. A hot, moist breath puffs out steadily into her face, and she cringes with every breath she feels. The three red eyes leer down at her in a predatory gaze.

"Wake up."

Maka's lips part, and a blood-curdling scream retches from her throat. She squeezes her eyes shut tight, leaking salty, stinging tears out of the corners of them.

"Wake up!"

She screams louder and harder, wishing that she could just thrash out or move or do something aside from remaining in Asura's grasp.

"Maka! Wake up!"

Somehow, her wish came true, and her arms and legs promptly flail about as she desperately tries to create some distance between Asura and her. Her hand comes into contact with skin, and she's almost startled by the smooth, non-leathery feeling of the skin beneath her hand. She is, however, startled by the loud, masculine voice that accompanies her slap.

"Ow! Dammit, Maka! Wake up!"

Maka quickly opens her eyes to the sound of Soul's voice. He's crouched over her, holding a hand to his reddening cheek. There's a fleeting look of annoyance in his eyes, but it fades to worry when he realizes that she is staring at him in a sort of shock.

"Soul?" Maka questions in nearly a whisper. Her olive-green eyes are wide and hopeful.

"Yeah," Soul confirms, sitting back on the bed. He pauses, looking his meister over before continuing. "You were having a nightmare."

Obviously, is on the tip of Maka's tongue, but she prevents herself from making the remark. That's right. She has just had a nightmare.

"No..." Maka breathes, realizing that now even having Soul sleep next to her in the same bed isn't enough to deter those frightening dreams.

Soul seems to share her thoughts. "Maka, this isn't working."

"It's not," Maka moans, burying her face in her hands. "Soul, what am I going to do?"

"You," Soul starts, forcing Maka to look up at him, "are going to tell me what this stupid nightmare of yours is about."

"I told you," Maka says with all the petulance of a child. She looks towards her ruffled comforter as she repeats herself. "It's from when I had a bad scare with Asura—"

Soul grips Maka's shoulders, forcing her to look at him once more. "Maka!" he growls out. "What. Happened."

"I... Soul," she says in a small voice. "Please don't..."

Soul's stare in unwavering, and he refuses to let go of her shoulders. "Tell me."

If there is any type of stubbornness that can rival her own, it's Soul's. Sagging her shoulders in defeat, Maka takes a breath before reliving the story of her nightmare.

"At first, it was like a bad memory," she begins, trying to do anything but actually picture in her mind what happens. "Everyone would be unconscious, and I would be by myself."

Soul's grip on her shoulders weakens, but he doesn't remove his hands from her. His crimson eyes glance off to the side and his sharp teeth are tightly clenched. When he realizes that Maka has stopped her explanation, he looks back towards her. "Go on."

Drawing in another shaky breath, Maka continues, "That's when Asura would come... He always takes me by surprise. Sometimes just appearing and other times coming after me in the dark." Maka thinks of her most recent nightmare, wondering why none of her friends had been even present in the dream. "He holds me down or just traps me, but I can never move, just as when he held me down in real life. Then..."

"Then what?" Soul urges her to continue on.

"He'd tell me to 'wake up,'" Maka answers. "It's what he said to me before, and I ended up waking up to be filled with pure, unadulterated fear." Tears form at the corner of Maka's eyes. "I feel so scared when he says it that I just start screaming," Maka finally admits. "I'm so terrified of someone who is dead that I start screaming and I can't stop! Just seeing his face makes my blood run cold and I can't move or get away, so I just scream and scream and scream until I wake up for real." She breathes quickly, trembling as she finishes her tale. "I don't know why I'm so scared. I don't know why this is bothering me so much. It shouldn't be, should it? It's stupid, right?"

Soul doesn't respond right away, slipping his hands off her shoulders and leaving Maka to draw her knees to her chest and hug them in shame. She knows how stupid the nightmare sounds. When she repeats it aloud to herself during the day, she has no idea why she is so frightened of its events, but then when she is actually living them, she's terrified. There's nothing she can do to take away the overwhelming sense of pure fear.

"Maka," Soul finally voices, though he doesn't forcefully bring Maka's attention to his face. "Did you... Did you scream when he did that to you?"

Maka blinks her tears away, looking up at him. "W-Well, yeah... I was just filled with so much fear that I had to scream... I don't think you heard me because you were unconscious."

"No," Soul slowly says. "I did hear you. I just thought I was the one having a nightmare." Anger slips into Soul's voice once he admits this. "That was real? Your petrified screaming was real? That bastard held you down and forced you to scream for him!"

"Uh, Soul," Maka tries to cut in. "You're making it sound dirty..."

"Why didn't you tell me, Maka?" Soul suddenly questions, directing his anger towards her instead of the deceased Kishin. His rough voice and vicious glare startles Maka. "Is there anything else that bastard did to you? Is there? Tell me!"

For a moment, Maka mulls over what Soul's reaction would be if she told him how Asura held her down by her throat or how he dug his fingers into her side where the scars of his nails puncturing deep into her skin still reside. Her right hand absentmindedly moves to touch her side, but it's enough to bring about suspicion from Soul. Without a word, he practically throws himself on top of her and drags the hem of her shirt up just enough to show him her bare-naked side.

"Soul!" Maka shouts, finally getting over the shock. "Stop that!" She moves to pound his head one with her fist, but Soul skillfully catches her wrist, keeping her fist at bay. He examines her side with what little moonlight enters the room through the blinds, but the light is enough to show five deep, finger-sized puncture wounds.

"Is that from when he held you down?" Soul questions, curling his lip. He pulls Maka's shirt back down and lets go of her wrist, looking to her for an answer.

"Leave it, Soul," Maka orders, glaring at him. "He's dead. Dead and gone. This is just a stupid waste of time." With a huff, she lies back down on the bed, purposefully lying in the center of it, and pulls the covers tight up to her shoulders. "Just go back to your own room. Sleeping here's not helping anyway."

"Maka." Soul's anger slips into frustration. He gives an exasperated sigh before moving around on the bed, but Maka pretends to ignore him until she realizes that instead of sliding off the end of the bed, he has sidled up to the top of her bed, moving under the covers. He presses his front against her back, letting his arm rest loosely over her waist. Maka's face flushes as he buries his nose into her hair just at the nape of her neck.

Embarrassment and heat floods through Maka's senses, but she cannot think of an intelligible response to use. She just wants to scream for completely different reasons now and pummel Soul into an unrecognizable blob.

"Relax," Soul orders. His hot breath against the back of her neck sends an involuntary shiver down her spine. "It'll be easier to keep you from thrashing this way. We'll figure something else out in the morning." The arm that he has resting over her waist shifts, and he moves his open hand up towards hers. "We cool?"

Despite her upbringing—on her mother's part—telling her that this situation is wrong, she rests one of her hands in Soul's, allowing his larger, calloused hand to lightly grasp hers. She squeezes his hand back before releasing it, allowing Soul to shift closer to her body and keep his hand resting on the mattress in front of her.

Just pretend that Soul is protecting you, Maka thinks to herself. Technically, her weapon is trying to protect her psychically from an intangible threat. Yeah.

Please do not let Blair come into her room this morning. Hasn't Maka suffered enough?