Chapter 14: An escape

Soul's POV

"So, how is she?" I asked, unable to get anything else out of my mouth.

"Well..." The nurse began, scanning her charts. "You're girlfriend in there seemed to have one drink too many. She has alcohol poisoning. We've pumped her stomach, so she should be fine. But right now our concerns are brain damage, we won't know for sure until she wakes up though. We've also found marks on her body which we can relate to abuse."

"Marks? What do you mean?" Chrona spoke up, all of us clearly thinking back to the bruise on her face he had mentioned.

"And what do you mean alcohol poisoning? Maka doesn't drink." I spoke up, recalling all the times I begged her to come to a party with me where alcohol would be present. She said no every time...

"Well there's some contusions on her face, and a couple on her arms. Severe contusions and abrasions are present on her back, neck and hips." I heard Stein's knuckles crack as he clenched his fists, making them go white. His jaw was tensed and his eyes glared off in the distance, seemingly very angry about something. "And apparently she does, because we've taken multiple urine and blood tests and all came back with large amounts of alcohol in them."

"Well what about her panic attack then?" I queried, curious about the main reason this seemed to have started.

"Not much we can say on that. If I had to guess, I'd say too much mental stress, which can only be released during extensive sleep periods. Again, we won't know for sure until she wakes up."

"Can we see her?" Stein whispered, a combination of emotions spread on his face.

"Sure thing, she's just over in this room right here." She answered, gesturing towards the hallway. I had never seen Professor Stein move so quickly. Chrona quickly followed suit, and after thanking the nurse, I trailed behind them.

Stein stood beside her bed, anger and fear the only thing he appeared able to express. He loomed over her, doing his own examination of her injuries. Chrona and I watched silently, and I noted how unimpressed he was.

"These aren't new. Meaning she lied to us..." He muttered under his breath.

"How come the bruise wasn't there before then, Stein?" I asked, baffled.

"I don't know... A lot of makeup?" He growled back, making me shrink away. I shuffled over to the chair by the bed, and took her fragile hand in mine.

"What is going on with you Maka?" I whispered to myself, gazing at her face.

Chrona stationed himself at the edge of her bed, seating himself on the corner, and Stein just walked over to the window, staring out into nothing.

"What time is it anyways?" Chrona muttered, checking around the room for a clock.

"11:00 am, Wednesday." Stein said monotone, not even turning to respond. No one said anything for a while. The only sound heard being the periodic cracking of Stein's knuckles.

"Stein, c'mon. This isn't your fault." I said, knowing the guilt he was consumed by.

"I know." He nearly whispered, slowly turning around. Well that was a surprise to me. "It's YOUR fault." What?

"Stein." Chrona cautioned, but I retorted, ignoring the pink haired boy.

"How is this my fault?" I shouted, rising from my spot to appear more intimidating.

"If you hadn't gone around playing with all the little whores and hit her for standing up for herself, then she never would have run away from home!" He yelled back, advancing towards me. I stepped around the bed and met him in the middle.

"Guys" Chrona advised again, but went completing disregarded by both of us.

"Like any normal person wouldn't have reacted the way I did given the situation! Look I've said I was sorry! I messed up okay?" I screamed back this time, tears threatening to appear.

"Sorry doesn't change the fact that some sick fuck raped her!" My anger immediately resolved, and was filled with disgust. 'That's why he was so angry about the bruises on her hips...' I thought, taking a few steps back, and leaning on the side of the bed deep in thought.

He didn't care if he looked weak in front of Chrona or myself, the tears overflowing out of his eyes.

"You guys. Look." Chrona said again. I hadn't realized he was trying to tell us something until I looked over at Maka's body. She wasn't moving, but you could see that evil smirk she had before, and a blue iris peeking at us from behind lidded eyes. The bruise was once again absent, and I was unnerved by these facts. Opening her eyes fully, and blinking a few times to adjust to the light, she giggled.

"You guys are so silly. I wasn't raped!" Stein's tears stopped, and he looked towards her hopefully. "I was grabbed, yes. But it's okay I fought him off." She giggled again, smiling widely and her eyes twinkling dangerously.

"I know that you're not-" I was cut off by the sound of my own ringtone, blaring in the small room. She looked at me innocently, along with Chrona and Stein, all curious as to the end of my sentence. Glaring at her, I huffed and slipped my phone from my pocket. "What?" I shouted, at this point extremely irritable.

"Yo chill man. It's just me."

"Wes? Why are you calling me...?" I muttered, confused. I turned away from them, only to just miss the absolute fear and shock on the face of Maka. I could hear a faint voice speaking in the background, and some shushing from Wes

"Listen... This is gonna sound really weird... But uh... You haven't seen Maka around at all from last night to now have you?" He said, and I could almost picture him awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"I have, I'm with her right now. Why?"

"Oh thank god!" He shouted from the other line, forcing me to pull the phone away from my ear for a second. "Where are you guys?" Wes replied, ignoring my own questions.

"Why are you so interested in this?" I answered, skeptical of his interrogation.

"Well I saw her last night and-," he said

"You're the asshole who got her so drunk she almost died? She's in the hospital cause of that you prick. Maybe next time think twice about giving alcohol to a minor." I announced, and with that I hit the "end" button, too wound up for words.

"What was that about?" I heard Chrona say, and turned around to meet their faces.

"My brother called. Looking for you-" I said, accusingly pointing towards Maka. "-and I guess we discovered who our two culprits are. Maka why were you with Wes?" 'Or should I even call you that…' I thought, wanting to add it in, but unable to utter the words.

"Can I explain after I change into comfortable clothes?" She squeaked, discomfort and guilt setting into her features. I narrowed my eyes, but nodded in agreement. We all got up and left while she changed. However, remembering something, Stein opened the door.

"Hey Maka I forgot to tell you-" He broke off when he saw her pants and bra on, and she was frozen with her shirt over her head. What had Chrona, Stein and I were stopped on the spot was the strange design on her back. She was surprised by our intrusion and quickly tugged the shirt over her head, but she didn't seem to realize what we had seen.

"Maka… What was that?" I asked, walking towards her and gestured to her back.

"It was nothing." She snarled, squinting at me accusingly.

"Ivy." Stein said, watching her intensely. She glanced up and immediately glared at him, obviously angry with herself for responding to the name. "Ivy, Ivy, Ivy, Ivy. I knew something was funny about Maka lately. But to think that you were hiding in there all along hey?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She growled back.

"Stein what ARE you talking about?" Chrona butted in.

"Well you see…" Stein said, slightly turning, only to accidentally give Maka's body the chance to dash for the door.

"Soul, Follow her!" Stein shouted. I quickly chased after.

Normal POV:

"Wait what?"

"Stein what is it?" Chrona answered, desperation in his voice.

"Her Soul just… disappeared."

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