Chapter 2: Memories Brought to the Surface

Maka awoke the next morning on the floor. Her head felt like shit. She tried to move, but there was a pain in her head. Immediately, almost if on cue, a memory flashed through her mind.

It's so dark, and cold. The ground is wet, there's a man in a corner.

"Why, hello there, Maka Albarn..." The man said. "Do you know who I am?"

Maka shook her head slightly. She had a blindfold on, and she was tied to a post.

"We met at the club. You're with me for the night. I feel as if... tomorrow, people will be questioning you."

Maka's eyes widened as she tried to remember what happened, but she drew a blank. She opened her mouth, as if to scream, but nothing came out. Her throat was dry, and her body felt bruised.

Not even after the pain shot through her body, a dull object hit her in the side of the head, causing a throbbing, sharp pain. It was then that Maka's vision went black.

Maka's eyes widened and she let out a scream. She held her head and stumbled into a corner of the apartment. Soul jumped up from his comfortable spot on the kitchen table and ran over to Maka, ignoring the pain in his head as well and proceeding to comfort the now whimpering girl.

"Maka, what's wrong?" Maka didn't reply, instead, she grabbed him and held him close. She cried for a good fifteen minutes as Soul tried to figure out just what exactly happened.

"I- I just had a bad dream..." Maka finally found her voice.

"That's bullshit, and you know it."

"D-do you... remember... about... a... a... month ag-g-o... when I... came home... beaten...?" Maka managed to say through shallow breaths.

"Yeah, you said you had to fight someone at the bar while you were drunk." Soul looked down at her, questioningly.

"I- I li-lied..."

Silence followed. Nothing but piercing silence.

"What?" Soul was getting worried, like she was beat by a mob.

"I..." She took several deep breaths before explaining everything she remembered.

She was walking out of the club, feeling a little dizzy after that last drink a man offered her. She didn't know what it was, only that she wanted a drink. He smirked at her and let her chug it down.

Now, she was walking home from celebrating Jackie's birthday, dizzy, drunk, and drugged. All of the people attending the party had gone home with someone. Maka followed suit after five minutes.

"Hey! There you are, hun." A man in a black coat appeared next to Maka, the same man that had given her the drink. He placed his arm around her and she giggled, smiling like an idiot.

"Let's go home." Maka nodded as the man led her to his car, shoving her harshly into the leather seat of the BMW.

When they arrived at a secluded mansion, Maka was grabbed by the hair and dragged into a basement with soundproof walls and windows, so her screams and pleas for help and release were not heart.

Maka was beaten that night. Hard. Not raped, but beaten. He had stripped her of all articles of clothing and tied her arms to a pole, suspending her from the ground. He took any object to her. A bottle, a baseball bat, a bucket, until she spat blood and suffered a concussion.

That's when the memory erasing blow came to the blindfolded Maka. He dressed her back up nicely, cleaned the blood, and woke her up.

"Miss! Miss are you OK?" The man feigned ignorance.

"Yeah... I think. What the fuck happened?" Maka looked around and saw that she was all beat up. Her eyes widened in shock and her body throbbed.

"I found you in the back of an alley. You had gotten into a fight, and lost."

"Oh."

Those were the last words that Maka spoke before passing out. Her body was then taken back to the club and left where he supposedly "found her."

When Maka finished her story, Soul was shocked beyond belief. His meister had been beaten, and abandoned by some stranger, and he wasn't there for her. He's her scythe. Her weapon. A meister's weapon is supposed to protect the meister.

"That night, you needed me most, and I was flirting with other girls. I left you at the club for Vanessa, and you ended up like that." Soul spoke softly, but if anyone took a good look at him, they would be able to tell he was beyond pissed, but full of hatred towards himself and the man who did it.

"It's over, Soul. It's just a memory. It was probably the alcohol that set it off. It's done." Maka's words were like daggers to his heart.

'How is she able to just brush it off?' Soul thought, holding her closer.

"I have to shower. Excuse me..." She stood up, the pain in her head returning, but she pushed on, not wanting to have to watch her partner go through the trauma of failing.

"If only you knew, Soul, how much you meant..." She whispered these words as she turned on the water.

She was standing under the cool water, lathering her hair, when the memories flooded again.

That man had washed her naked body.

She suddenly felt very unsafe and wrapped her arms around herself, as if to try and apply some comfort to herself after what happened. She stood there, crying silently to herself.

That night, when Maka was ready for bed, the memories visited her yet again. They had been all day. Maka didn't know what to do. They kept coming back. She tried cooking, writing, playing the violin, and horribly failed at video games. But they just kept coming back.

She laid there for hours, thinking, pondering over what happened. She looked at her clock. 3:00AM. She had been laying there for nearly five hours, getting up every ten minutes to walk to the living room and check on something that wasn't even there. She was paranoid.

Fifteen minutes later, she finally found the sleep she sought. It was then when the nightmare had decided to invade the peace she found.

She was running through a field, unaware of the two men following her. She had seen him, the man that hurt her, and she began to run. She didn't exactly know where she was going, but it was away from everyone. If anyone was going to get hurt, she wouldn't let her friends get dragged into it, no matter what the emotional and physical damage it would cost.

Soul, seeing her take off, followed. He was clueless as to what was going on, but he wanted to protect her. He liked her, not to mention the fact that she's his meister. And while all this was happening, the man had gotten in his car and drove around the city to cut off Maka.

She turned the corner just in time to see the car coming. He immediately stopped and got out of the car. He grabbed her by the wrist before she could run. He yanked her up and began licking her face, already twisting her wrist.

Seconds later, Soul showed up. Maka only had a second to scream before the man pulled a gun on Soul.

BANG!

Maka's screams filled the apartment. She sat up in bed and held her pillow to her mouth. Even then, her screams were heard in Soul's room. Her body was shaking, her sheets and pillow soaked with sweat and tears.

Soul sat up and ran over to her room. The door was locked, due to Maka's paranoia of the man. He tried hitting it open, Maka's screams getting more frantic by the second. When she screamed "NO!" was when Soul kicked the door down and ran to her side.

In Maka's mind, the truth was warped, and Soul was dying before her eyes. In real life, he was cradling her in his arms. In her mind, she was losing the best weapon on earth, and the only man she ever loved. In reality, Soul felt like he was losing the best meister, and the only woman he ever loved.

"Maka! Shh... Shh..." Soul rocked her back and forth, trying to get her to stop crying.

It was only 3:39AM. Maka didn't even get in thirty minutes of sleep before her nightmare barged into her mind, warping the truth.

A good twenty minutes later, she stopped crying. "I... I thought... you... you were... d-dead." Maka stuttered out.

"I'm right here." He petted her hair lightly as she explained the nightmare. Afterwards, she cried softly for a few minutes. Soul kissed her head lightly as he laid her back in the bed. She had finally fell asleep, peacefully this time.

He didn't want her to scream again, mainly because it hurt his heart, so he slept next to her. He wrapped his arm protectively around her waist and pulled her close to him. He fell asleep inhaling his drug - Maka.

For the next week, Maka woke up without Soul, screaming. Each night was a different nightmare, but she still lost the love of her life. Soul would come in, listen to her nightmare, and sleep next to her. He was getting more and more angry with each passing night.

Everyone at the DWMA couldn't tell she was having these nightmares. Her foundation she bought covered up the bags under her eyes from loss of sleep nicely, and the tea she drank in the morning gave her extra energy. Throughout the day, she would secretly eat candy to boost her energy. When she talked to people, no one noticed. Her eyes were full of fear and sadness, but her smile was still as big, so no one bothered. She was paranoid, always looking over her shoulder. Ever since the memories returned from that night, she was scared. She didn't understand how it was she didn't know until now, but all she knew was that she needed to find him.

And end him.

And from afar, Soul watched with a saddened expression. He wasn't able to help her. He watched her get up early and drink tea with tons of sugar, eat candy during break, and apply foundation between periods. He watched her cry every night. He watched her struggle, unable to help because he didn't know where to start. He wanted to find the bastard, and kill him for hurting his girl. Well, she wasn't his girl. But he wanted her to be. And secretly, she wished the same.

Soul had finally had it the day they began their training with their newfound powers. Maka was doing fine, until they asked her to resonate. Maka didn't want to disappoint anyone, so she complied. About fifteen seconds into it, she collapsed. Her body was exhausted, her head feeling dizzy, her body unstable. Soul transformed just in time to catch her falling body.

He felt her weight. Light. Skinny. Sickly skinny. Not only was she losing sleep, but she started eating less and less. Her weight was dropping, fast. He lifted her with ease, looking over his shoulder and saying "sorry" to the group before running off with Maka back to the apartment. He called a doctor on the way, still holding his unconscious meister.

He would for sure find this bastard.

And kill him.

I know it's a little early for a new chapter, but I had some time on my hands. I decided to write it at one in the morning. Thanks for reading. I hope you continue to read and review this story.

Oh, and for the four people who reviewed, THANK YOU! Those reviews really made my day. And for the person who calls themselves "no name," the title of the story goes to her/him. Thank you!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Requests? Private message me!

See ya later!

- lessthanthreedance