Maka awoke to the sound of screams. She opened her eyes and sat up abruptly, looking around wildly for Soul. He was curled in a ball in the corner, his arms locked around his knees. His eyes were locked on the piano. "No! No!" he yelled. "I won't do it, I won't play. No!"

This is new, Maka thought dryly, kneeling in front of him. "Soul."

"I won't play," he told her in an almost normal voice. His eyes were wild. "I won't play, they can't make me."

She put her hands on his shoulders. "You don't have to. Soul. Look at me. You don't have to."

His eyes focused again and he saw her, really saw her. He gave a little gasp and a small cry before falling into Maka's arms in the form of a shaking, sobbing heap. "Shh, Soul, it's okay. It's okay. You don't have to play."

"But I do," he cried, his face pressed into her shoulder.

Hoping she'd be able to talk him through this, she aksed, "Why?"

Soul said nothing, just hovered against her, shaking like a leaf.

"Soul, I need you to tell me. We're partners, you can tell me anything."

"I can't. I can't talk about it."

"Soul, you're my best friend. I want to help you. But I can't if you don't talk."

"I CAN'T MAKA. DON'T YOU GET THAT I CAN'T?" he yelled, yanking himself away from her. There was a desperate, angry look in his eyes.

She gripped his shoulder and jerked him hard. "Listen to me!" she yelled back. "Get a grip. He's not here right now, no one is making you play. It's just you and me. So stop acting like a pussy and start talking! It's totally uncool to act like this! "

His mouth opened and closed. A shocked look was plastered on his face. He looked almost scared. Seeing this, her voice softened. "I just want to help you, Soul. But if I'm going to do that, you need to talk to me. Help me out here, Soul. Tell me what's going on."

Soul hesitated, then drew in a ragged breath. "He c-comes into my dreams at night…and makes me play. All night long, I just play and play and play. And I wake up still tired. It's not like regular music, Maka. It hurts. It's pain turned into music notes, literally. It hurts to play, not just in my hands, but inside. It's like he's cutting into my soul with a dull switchblade. And then he gets me awake and I…I can't stop it. I don't know what I'm doing. It's like I'm just…gone. You don't know what it's like…to have no free will like that. To just play and play and play and play when you want to stop and you can't. You don't know how much it hurts…how sick I feel when I'm doing it. And I can't escape him. I can't get away…I'll never get away."

Maka didn't know what to say. Finally, she just held him and said, "We will find a way. You'll get free. Somehow, we'll make you free. I promise. I'll do everything I can to make sure he never makes you play again. I'll find a way."

He grinned, a shark's smile on a boy's face. "I know you will."