Maka awoke slowly. Whatever she was laying on was very soft. As she opened her eyes she heard a voice, "You're awake." Her eyes snapped open to find the source of the stranger, which was none other than the boy from before. Maka was lying on a large bed in a very big room. She thought she could fit her entire school in this area. The place looked well-kept; everything looked perfect, even where she was on the bed. She then noticed that the boy was sitting at the foot of the bed; staring at her.
Maka sat up quickly; he was looking at her so intensely. Maka wanted to say something, but found that she couldn't. Her mouth wasn't functioning correctly under his strong gaze. Deciding that she didn't want to look into his eyes any longer, she started to play with her fingers. He seemed to have no emotion at all; especially after the other night. "I won't let that happen again," the boy looked at her sternly. Maka didn't know what he was talking about, "What?" She regretted saying this. Once she glanced upward for an answer she noticed that the boy was on all-fours and very close to her.
"It's been too long…" The boy crawled closer to Maka with a strange look in his eyes. It was scary to see, he looked really hungry. In fact, it seemed like he hadn't eaten for ten years from the look of it. She couldn't back away; she was already against the wall. The boy stretched out his arm as Maka flinched. After seeing this, he hesitated, and a warm look replaced the cold, hungry one. His outstretched arm pulled her closer to him; into a nice embrace.
Maka was highly confused. She pushed him away and demanded, "Who are you?" He looked very surprised at this. "What…? You don't know who I am…?" Maka stared at him; he seemed to be talking to himself. "But…That first time…You looked back at me. You definitely recognized me…Are you lying Maka?" Hearing her name from a complete stranger alarmed her, "Tell me who you are!" He snapped out of his apparent stupor and looked at her disbelievingly. "I'm Death the Kid."
This struck a chord within Maka and the boy seemed to notice too. "Do you remember?" Maka shook her head, "It's familiar…But, I've been in that city for all of my life. I have so many friends…" She stopped dead at that word. Friends. She felt for her phone frantically and couldn't find it. After searching for it, she realized that her cell along with all of her belongings were gone. "Where's my phone…?" She looked at him expectantly. Kid replied, "You'll get it in due time. Now, you're awake now, so we might as well get going."
The boy got up and walked to where Maka was sitting. He put out his hand which Maka took reluctantly, "Where are we going?" She still didn't quite trust him. "I have to show you around, you haven't been here in a long time…" He led her to the door and opened it. "How come I don't know who you are and you know who I am…?" Maka asked. She had a lot of questions to ask the boy. "I'm not quite sure. Something that caused memory loss, probably."
When the doors opened, Maka saw a huge hallway that could put the bedroom to shame. Everything was perfect; she couldn't help but look in awe at all the beautiful paintings. Snapping back into reality, she turned to Kid, "Where am I?" He shook his head, "I can't tell you that." "Why?" The boy thought for a moment before responding, "It's a secret place. But, I can tell you that I live here." He winked. Maka blushed and looked away. He was starting to get to her. After recovering, Maka asked, "In my dream, you were saying something about 'darkness.' What were you talking about?"
The boy said, "Answers will come soon… That room that we left, that is your bedroom. And this," He pushed open the doors, "Is the kitchen." The 'kitchen' was very big. In fact, everything in his house was ten times bigger than anything Maka had ever seen. She walked into the room and stared at all the cabinets and refrigerators. She then noticed a figure that was opening the cabinet.
"Liz…?" Maka questioned as the girl turned around. "You know Liz?" He asked and looked at Maka, "How?" Liz had an expression of terror. "She came to my house and told me I had to leave the city a while ago." Kid said, "Liz, come here," he gritted his teeth. Liz gulped and walked over unwillingly. "Is what Maka said true? Did you go to her home?" His rage seemed to rise with every word. "Y-Yes…"
Puzzled, Maka wondered, "Why are you getting mad? What's wrong?" Kid's anger somewhat subsided, "Well, she wasn't supposed to leave the house." Liz sighed from relief as Kid shot an I'm-not-finished-with-you look. Maka took a step forward and extended her hand, "We didn't properly introduce ourselves. I'm Maka Albarn." Liz looked questioningly at the gesture and at Kid, obviously confused. "Um, hello, I'm Liz Thompson," she awkwardly shook hands with her. "We'd better be off. Liz, I'll talk to you later," he grabbed Maka's hand and led her away. "It was nice to meet you!" Maka said as Kid pulled her out of the room and into a different hallway.
"So, this would be Liz's room," Kid pointed to a door. "What about this one…?" Maka motioned to the door directly across from it. "That's—""Sir! An urgent letter from your father has arrived!" A blue man ran up to the alarmed Kid. "I have to take this, Maka. Patty! Take care of Maka! Let's go, Sid." He sprinted off with the weird man leaving Maka alone. Patty…? The door she had previously asked about creaked open.
"You've returned…" A blonde said behind the door, "Why? Why did you leave us?" The girl pushed open the door and hugged Maka, "Kid missed you so much…Did you get my letters?" The blonde smiled toothily at her. Letters? Wait…Is she talking about those threatening letters? "The ones with the giraffes?" Maka inquired. "Yeah~! That was me! I wasn't sure how else to get your attention, even sis tried!" She seemed really cheerful as oppose to earlier.
Feeling that she could trust this girl, Maka asked, "What's your name? It certainly is nice to meet you." Her expression changed dramatically, "Huh? Maka doesn't know my name…" Maka looked sympathetic, "I'm sorry, but I've never met you before." The girl smiled at her, "Yeah, I'm Patty. What were you and Kid doing earlier~?"
"He was showing me around the house…" Maka suddenly remembered that Kid had said a friend of hers was dead. "Do you have a phone?" Confused, Patty pulled out a cell phone and handed it to Maka. She put in Tsubaki's number hurriedly and said to the other girl, "Just a sec…" As she waited, Tsubaki's voice did not come through. Instead, a computer voice said, "I'm sorry, but this number is currently unavailable." She then dialed Soul's number and waited for him to pick up. Sure enough, he said, "Hello?" Maka replied, "Soul!"
"What? Maka? Where have you been?" He sounded panicky. "I don't know, but more importantly, where's Tsubaki? She wouldn't pick up." She could hear a slight intake of breath. "…No one knows. She disappeared the night you vanished. We thought you both were kidnapped or something." Kid's voice echoed in Maka's head. You're in danger… Someone that isn't involved has already been killed… The darkness… "Soul, something really weird is happening, I don't know if I can call you again, but stay away from the darkness, okay? Make sure Black*Star knows—"The phone call abruptly ended. "Out of money~!" Patty giggled lightheartedly.
After the phone call, Maka thought about how she'd never see Tsubaki again, this depressed her greatly. Another person I've lost… Noticing the sudden change in the mood, Patty said, "Well, how 'bout we go and have some fun?" Maka shook her head and said emotionlessly, "No thanks." She turned around and walked away. She planned on going back to her room, which seemed appropriate. "What happened…?" Patty wondered.
Once in her bedroom, Maka turned off the lights and sat on the bed; her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. "My best friend…" She mumbled, "How could this have happened…?" Her grip tightened. What am I supposed to do now? Will they let me go home? …Probably not. Kid practically abducted me… I want to see Soul. I want to see Tsubaki. Hell, I even want to see Black*Star… Tears stained her face. Why is this happening? What have I done to deserve this?
"I've found you…" A strange voice resonated throughout the room, "What a stupid girl." Maka was about to say something, when the air in the room suddenly disappeared. "Help…! Help…! Help…" Her sight started fading. She could faintly hear the voice's laughter before she blacked out. Not again…
"PATTY! I TOLD YOU TO WATCH HER!" Kid shouted loudly at the girl, "WHAT WOULD WE HAVE DONE IF LIZ HADN'T HEARD HER?" Maka didn't feel like opening her eyes, but still did. She was in her bedroom but was in the company of four others. What she saw was Patty trembling in front of Kid. She saw Liz trying to calm him down and… "Stein? What…" She couldn't finish the sentence, "No need, Albarn. I'm friends with Kid and am aware of your situation." Maka tried to speak, "What happened to Tsubaki?" His expression dimmed, "She disappeared. Nowhere to be seen."
"Maka?" Kid just realized that she had awoken and was running to her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?" His anger had been replaced with concern as he kissed her forehead, "I was so worried…" Maka blushed as she said, "I'm fine." He suddenly looked at her seriously, "You didn't listen, I told you about the darkness…!" Remembering her dream, she sheepishly said, "I forgot about it…" He didn't seem ready to drop the subject, "You could've been killed…It's lucky that Liz was there. Maka, you need to be more careful! Since you don't know anything about—"He broke off, not wanting to continue.
"What?" Maka looked at everyone in the room. Stein considered for a moment before saying, "The darkness, Albarn. You don't quite understand its complexity and how dangerous it is. Kid is right, you're lucky to be alive." There was silence that followed. Maka asked Stein, "Will I still be able to go to class?" He shook his head, "Absolutely not. You are not to leave the mansion. Correct?" Stein glanced slyly at Kid. "What? You can't keep me here! Soul will be worried!" Kid asked suspiciously, "Who is Soul?"
"He is my closest friend, I miss him very much and he's worried. Especially after Tsubaki disappeared…!" His anger seemed to have risen, "You miss him?" Maka nodded determinedly. "No, no, no. I refuse to let you see this…this boy again. He's probably just using you, and I will not see this happen to you," he declared. "You can't control me…! This is my life!" Her temper kept rising. Why would he be ordering her around? "These precautions are for your safety, Maka."
Maka got herself out of the bed and was about to make a break for the door when Kid pressed his lips onto hers. His tongue pushed something into her mouth and forced her to swallow. Maka tried to shove him away, but found herself getting weaker. His tongue lingered for a moment before he pulled away. "I'm sorry," his voice was distorted, and before she knew it, she had passed out for the second time that day.
