Hello, readers! I'm up to the third chapter now. Hope you stayed long enough to read this. Anyway, I don't own Soul Eater, only the plot and story ideas. See ya!


Chapter 3

Confusion and Kidnappings

It was at that moment that all the windows in the school exploded into dust and the screaming started all over again.

Sam yelped in surprise and instinctively curled in on herself to protect her body from any shattering glass. But instead of broken fragments every single window had been completely obliterated to the size of grains of sand. After the screaming ended questions flew around the room, the struggle between the strangers and Sam forgotten in the confusion. Sam hauled herself to her feet and numbly walked over to the windows with the rest of their class. It was like watching a car crash; everything happens so fast and when it's done you don't know what's going on, then the freaking out starts. Everyone (except for the guys who were still unconscious) gazed at the empty window sill with fascination, then leaned forward to watch the glass dust sparkle in the courtyard three stories below. It was at that exact moment that Soul and Maka snapped out of the daze they had been in and realized that they were just standing there when the witch was helpless.

Sam felt a jerk at her throat and a scream rose from her lungs before she heard Soul whisper in her ear, "Make a sound and I'll kill you right here."

She shut up and let herself be led out of the classroom, pleading with fear-filled eyes to her classmates' backs as they gaped at the empty window, completely oblivious to her plight. Every door they passed, the students inside ignored them, choosing instead to stare intently at the lack of windows. Sam felt herself become more afraid of the two strangers as they towed her outside her school, walking right under the very place that her friends were watching as if hypnotized, but she heard nothing from the school. No shouts of distress, no warnings, not even a startled yelp. Absolutely nothing.

Soul was as intrigued by the lack of response from the students as she was. He had expected at least a teacher to step out of a classroom and ask why they were leaving. They had even walked right in view of her classroom, for God's sake! Shouldn't someone have noticed? It's like everyone is blind to us, he wondered quietly. They weaved between the cars in the parking lot until they stopped close to the woods beside the school. Roughly Soul pushed Sam at Maka and trudged through the long grass and ducking under branches, muttering about how uncool it was to have to hide a bike as cool as his.

Sam's head was spinning. The people holding her-kidnapping her!-were muttering stuff about being "cool" under their breath! She was being kidnapped by people who could turn into freaking weapons of decapitation! This was not normal! Exploding windows, scythe people, kidnapping…none of this was supposed to happen to her! It didn't fit into the normal day that she was supposed to have. Maybe I'm still asleep, that stupid hopeful voice in her head whispered in vain. It wouldn't be the first time weird things happened in my dreams. Yeah, that has to be it. I'm still dreaming, and as soon as my mom wakes me up, my normal—and boring—day can begin. By the time that soul returned out of the trees with his bike, whining about all the "damn grass" and "stupid trees" Sam had almost convinced herself that none of it was real. So she did the incredibly moronic thing and decided to go along for the ride. If it was a dream, then she would be fine, right?

Because of her delusions she did nothing as she was tied up with a chain conveniently stashed in the pockets of Maka's trench coat and sandwiched between Soul and Maka on the squashed seat of Soul's motorcycle. One thing that all the people on the motorcycle could agree on was that three people should never be smushed onto one seat. Soul started the bike and it purred as turned onto the highway, taking Sam farther from her school. She found she actually enjoyed the ride; aside from the chains and squishiness. The warm spring breeze whipped her blue hair behind her, tangling the straightened strands, causing them to revert back to their original curliness even as they knotted. Her silver eyes sparkled with wind-induced tears and the wind made her face feel cold and hot at the same time. Like sticking your head out of a moving car, she thought with a bit of glee. If this was a dream than she never wanted this part to end. It never occurred to her to watch where they were taking her; if it was a dream then it wouldn't matter in the end, she'd just wake up anyway.

Finally they stopped, after an hour on the road, and Sam was dragged into a small inn room that was obviously where they were staying. It had books stacked on one side of the room and the other had next to nothing, just one duffel bag dumped on one of the twin beds. Maka unchained Sam long enough to force her into a chair and bind her again, then just settled onto her bed with a book thicker than her head. Soul just took out an iPod, collapsed on his bed, and started listening to music. Sam stared, confused. Was that it? They kidnap her and then do nothing? This is so anti-climactic, she thought in boredom.

"Hey," she said hesitantly, drawing the attention of Maka, "what are you doing?"

Maka raised a brow in confusion. What does she mean by that…is she planning something? Will she use her magic against us when I answer? Despite her suspicion, Maka answered her anyway, just out of curiosity. "I'm reading a composition of American classics," she replied, showing Sam the cover. Sure enough, in brilliant gold lettering on the dull brown cover, were the words Classics of American Literature. "Some are really good, while others lack in voice."

"Not only that but they're about as cool as you," Soul piped up. Maka shot him a glare.

"I thought you were listening to music?" she barked at him. Soul merely shrugged and kept his eyes closed as if he didn't even care. Maka huffed and went back to explaining all the stories to Sam, neither girl noticing that Soul had turned the volume on his iPod down to hear better.

"Do you read?" Maka questioned Sam with genuine interest. It was rare that she got to talk literature with anyone. Most of the people she was friends with didn't care about authors. In fact, Maka would be surprised if she found one of her friends in the library at Shibusen for any reason other than looking stuff up about some enemy they had. This was one of the only times that she was able to talk books with somebody, other than the woman who worked at her favourite book store, who had recently started asking about how her dad was doing. Suffice to say, that made Maka turn away from the woman rather quickly.

"God yes!" Sam exclaimed. "I love the newer teen fiction novels, but one of the classics between books is good. The first time I read Shakespeare I had a hard time understanding all that old timey crap but after a couple of times reading the play I got used to it. Any sort of romance or horror is good for me. Especially Darren Shan! He has one of the goriest series I've ever read but to have that gore he sacrifices voice. That's his downside because the Cirque de Freak series he has is filled with voice." She sighed dramatically as if it was a tragedy.

Maka found her confusion in the witch growing. Usually all the witches she encountered were either snivelling idiots or crazy psychopaths; cough, Medusa, cough. But this one seemed almost…normal. Aside from the exploding windows she hadn't used any magic and that wasn't even against them. Not only that, but she seemed genuinely enthusiastic about books. Sure, witches could have hobbies. Hell, Medusa had been working at DWMA before they found out she was a witch! But not many of them could converse with her about their hobbies while chained to a chair after being kidnapped, though Maka didn't want to think of it as kidnapping. The point was that this witch didn't seem like any witch she'd ever heard of before.

Soul, while Maka was conversing with Sam, was having doubts about the witch as well. What the hell kinda witch reads? Shouldn't she be talking about taking souls or killing people? And who the hell is Darren Shan? The more he heard the more intrigued he was, though he'd never admit it. Eavesdropping isn't cool, after all. By this time he'd just paused the song altogether and was focused solely on his meister and the witch. He was still prepared to transform into a scythe should the witch attempt anything but for the most part he was relaxed, content to listen in without them knowing. Despite what everyone might think about Soul he did have some deep moments. He didn't only think about being cool. In fact, he noticed when his friends were feeling down or happy and more often than not thought about their lives. He still regretted infecting Maka by accident with the black blood and had given her more attention than the others, noticing that although she joked and had fun, she didn't really talk to anyone outside their group, not since that lady at the bookstore started to like her dad. He noticed the happiness in Maka's voice, the light that lit her eyes as she traded book titles with Sam. He had to admit that he was never one for books and he knew she was fine with that; she didn't know anything about music and he was okay with that. But he had Liz to talk to about jazz. Maka didn't have anyone.

The door to the room was suddenly blasted in and everyone jumped. Sam screamed as she toppled over and Soul immediately turned to a scythe, spinning into Maka's hands. She took her stance, her green eyes hard and serious. That was, until a blubbering red-haired guy sprinted into the room.

"Makaaaaa!" he cried as he tried to wrap his arms around the girl. She neatly side-stepped him, Soul turning back to human form to frown in boredom at the weeping man. The fact that Maka had avoided him didn't stop the grown man from whining like a toddler. "Maka, papa was so worried about you! Lord Death told me about your mission and I had to make sure that your papa was here to save you! Now, where's the witch?"

Soul sneered at Spirit and lazily said, "We don't need your help. Maka and I have already captured the witch."

Spirit glared at soul. "Listen here, you little octopus head, I am Maka's father and as such she will always need my help." His glared suddenly transformed into a smile as he gazed at Maka. "Maka, you know I love you."

"Humph," she snorted, avoiding eye contact. "Stop wasting your time, I'll never consider you my father."

Spirit looked like he'd been struck by lightning and huddled in a corner, blubbering Maka's name over and over. But just as suddenly as he became depressed he was back on his feet and inspecting Sam. "How are you, pretty girl? Need some help up?" he asked, winking at her.

Sam, Maka, and Soul were all simultaneously disgusted. At one time they all yelled out insults at him.

"PEDOPHILE!"

"OLD PERVERT!"

"CHEATING SCUM!"

Spirit was practically blown back from the malice in their voices. He looked from his daughter, to the girl tied up, to Soul, all wearing identical masks of rage. He really didn't understand. He was always like this and never had he been yelled at by three people at the same time. Sure, the girl tied up was a little younger than his usual—make that a lot!—but she was still pretty. The fact that she was more, ah, gifted than most girls her age might have influenced his taste. He did expect Maka to grumble a little but he couldn't help himself.

Looking at the girl he had just been flirting with, he flinched involuntarily. Her silver eyes were squinted at him as if with enough concentration she could make him spontaneously combust. Her body language, though confined by the chains, clearly said in screaming words GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME. Her teeth were bared like a dog and if he listened enough he could probably hear the subtle growl in the back of her throat. Even chained to a chair she looked scary as hell.

Soul stepped forward and hauled her back up until she wasn't on her back anymore. once she was more comfortable—as comfortable as she could get chained to a chair—he made no move to back away again. If anything, he just moved closer to her side, half hiding her from spirit. This didn't go unnoticed by the death scythe of his daughter.

Soul, for his part, had no idea what he was doing. Usually he would just dryly mock Spirit when he was flirting with a woman. But hearing that old perv come onto Sam…something had snapped in him. Even now, he couldn't stand the way that Spirit was looking at her, and had put himself between his meister's dad and her. He chalked it up to it being the cool thing to do.

Sam was shocked at his gallantry. An hour ago he had been threatening to kill her and now he was defending her from a perverted pedophile. Usually, she was the one defending herself; she had found out that if you hurt someone enough emotionally and physically they would stop liking you. But, seeing as how she was tied up, she had been fully prepared with a rant the likes he had never heard before to compensate for her predicament. Then Soul had stepped up and helped her, not even backing down afterward like she had expected. Actually, she never expected to even be helped up. They did kidnap her, after all. Looking at Soul's back to her she abruptly realized how he was practically a girl's bad boy fantasy, what with his messy yet cool hair, the leather jacket, motorcycle, and an I-don't-care-about-anything attitude that should have been snobby but was actually quite endearing. Unbeknownst to Sam, her cheeks had started to redden, until it looked as if all the blood in her body had suddenly relocated to her head.

"We didn't need your help," Maka told her father, her nose upturned, "we captured the witch ourselves without any difficulty." If Maka noticed how both Soul and Sam jumped at her voice she didn't show it.

Spirit's gaze was once again drawn to his daughter. He went over her words in his head and made a mental leap that sent him reeling "So that girl is the witch?" At Maka's nod Spirit sprouted long, curving grey and black blades from his back and arms. "Don't worry, Maka, papa will protect you."

Before Spirit could even take a step towards Sam he was met with a Maka Chop. Maka just stood over his slumped and bleeding form, silently enjoying that he had finally shut up. Soul quietly walked up beside her and stuffed his hands in his pockets, slouching over as he watched Spirit bleed out a little geyser of blood from the dent in his skull.

"Your dad is an idiot," he commented.

Maka glared down at the prone form that everyone insisted on calling her dad. "That weak man isn't my father," she pronounced with venom. The two stood over his unconscious body for a few more moments in silence before Sam distracted them.

"So…since you weirdos kidnapped me and all, I think we should really introduce ourselves. At least, before any other freaky stuff happens." The three locked eyes with each other and Maka sighed.

"I guess we should go first…"