Battle Royale
Part 4

Soul felt anxiety take over him when he noticed Ox's killer; Black*Star running toward Maka. He'd seen him catch and tie both Elizabeth and Patricia on the tree and he looked absolutely mad. He feared for Maka's safety since they had history together. Black*Star is the only one Maka trusts and now with him being utterly crazy he fears he'll kill Maka.

"Wes! Get me out of these ropes!" He shouted and pleaded for him to let him out but he didn't. Soul went crazy trying to get out from the ropes. He needs to help Maka. He saw Black*Star killing Ox and he's really afraid for Maka. It's weird how strongly he feels toward Maka when he hasn't even talked to her. She probably didn't even know who he is but he can't help feeling like this. She's a wonderful, intelligent and utterly amazing woman. How he wished for her to be his.

"And the answer is still no. You can't screw up our plan Soul." Wes sat glued to the screen and I was seated next to him. I could see the screen thank god and I saw how Black*Star and Maka collided into each other. He brought her back to where he tied the Thompson sisters to the tree and my heart felt heavy.

Wes chuckled low as he caressed the desk with his index finger. "Silly nobles. To think that hope would make them into this. It's not like we can release the last one anyway." My eyes widen and my heart stopped.

"What? Aren't you going to release the last one? So you lied to them?" Soul didn't know what to feel. He felt heartbroken for Maka since even if Maka is the last one, Wes will kill her anyway. He can't let her die. He'll die himself before he let her die.

"Yes. Yes I did. It'll leave a clearer footstep in the history if I let them first fight each other until we kill the last one." Wes said quite proud while he spun the chair around to face his little brother. "And that means your little crush out there will eventually die. If she manages to survive until midnight, we'll kill her."

"Don't say we! I'm not in this anymore! I don't want anyone of them to die! This was your stupid idea to become a noble!" Soul hollered at his older brother. Wes's eyes turned dark and threatening again but Soul didn't care anymore. Maka's life is in danger and he has to save her! He can't beat around the bushes anymore!

"Are you questioning me? Our plan and our goal?" While Wes spoke, Soul spun on a plan to escape. He's very he still kept his knife in his pocket. If he could just get out from the ropes around his hands he'd be fine, but how could he pull that off?

"No. I'm not. I understand this has to happen. Now untie me. I'm hungry and need to go to the bathroom." Wes rolled his eyes. He was about to deny his request until Soul's stomach growled loudly.

"I don't want a cranky hungry Soul; I guess I can untie your hands since I refuse to feed you." Wes had his suspicions toward Soul. He knew his devotion toward Maka and he didn't buy his sudden attitude. Wes untied Soul's hands and handed him a sandwich. Soul started to eat it and Wes turned toward the screens. Kid had died a little while earlier from what looked like blood loss.

Soul ate half his sandwich and watched the screen Maka was on. Things started to get ugly. Black*Star circled around Maka and he got very worried for her but he couldn't show Wes his feelings. He had to remain calm and collected. One of Wes's monitors beeped and on the screen walked Death The Kid. Wes banged his desk and looked angry at the screen. "WHAT?! How is he still alive?!" Wes roared and started to go through Death The Kid's results. He checked the place where the tracker he injected in Death The Kid and it was in a different place than He was in.

Soul quickly realized Death the Kid found the chip and cut it out from his arm. The canon sounded when it couldn't feel his pulse anymore and then Wes announced his death and turned off his screen. Death The Kid is smarter than we've given him credit for.

Death the Kid gave me an opening to strike and I did use it. Soul grabbed my knife and hit him in the head with the bottom. Wes fell unconscious and hit the desk with his head. Quickly, he cut the rope with my knife and got up. With one last look toward the screen, Black*Star had just stabbed Patricia in the shoulder. Soul quickly pulled up the GPS and grabbed a first-aid for safety and ran out of the control room and into the arena with one person on his mind; Maka.

…

I'm trembling. Seeing Black*Star die in front of me had never crossed my mind until now when it has happened. My best friend throughout half my life is dead and lies at my feet with the murderer right in front of me.

Death the Kid's eyes stayed on mine while he kneeled down in front of Black*Star and then I noticed what he was reaching for; two guns. My heart skipped a beat and I realize I've to get away from here. Quickly! As soon as I turn around to run there is a gunshot and the bullet hits me in the shoulder. I cry out in pain but continue to run.

Bang! Another gunshot. This time, it hit me in the hip and I'm having trouble getting away from him. I'm limping and the bullets keep getting fired but fortunately, they didn't him me. I tried to keep in the cries of pain as I keep limping away from him but it's very hard. The pain throbs and if I don't take care of my wounds I'm going to die.

As I round a large bush, hands wrap around my waist and pull me inside of it. I'm about to cry out in pain but a hand covers my mouth. My heart beats hard and I'm thinking of who it might be. Death The Kid, Elizabeth and Patricia are what I think are still by the tree and Black*Star and Ox are dead.

"Don't scream. I'm a friend." A voice of a male whisper in my ear. His voice is husky and low. His hand stays on my mouth and there is the sound of three bangs of a canon. That must be the death announcements for Black*Star, Patricia and Elizabeth. Something is off thought, their pictures doesn't show on the sky. There is only the countdown and it shows I've a little more than an hour left. "You've to trust me. I'm not going to hurt you."

My heart pounded hard in my ribcage and for a second I thought it would break free from my body. This mysterious person whose voice I've never heard before tells me he's a friend and to trust him. Oh boy, he met the right person to trust boys. Not. It took Black*Star sometime before he received my trust.

Black*Star. He's dead. My best friend was killed by none the less than Death The Kid. How could he even be alive? I heard the canon and saw his picture on the sky! Did he beat the system and figured a way out of it? But why did he then kill Black*Star, Elizabeth and Patricia? He could've freed us all and they would've still been alive. Although, would he been able to reach out to Black*Star and managed to get him out from his bubble of craziness? Probably not. I didn't even manage until he was stabbed.

Suddenly, there were footsteps. The footsteps got closer and they were rapid. It must be Death the Kid who's looking for me. "Be quiet." The voice whispered to me and he picked up a little black device with a screen on it. On it showed dots with pictures of our faces. Black*Star, Elizabeth and Patricia were by each other and that must be where the tree is while Ox's picture was far away from them. Although, Death The Kid's picture is at the edge of the map and far away from my picture. This must be some kind of GPS system which shows our locations. That means, even if I found a door out of this place, they would still know my where about and tracked me down if they wanted.

I saw Death The Kid's black and white suit through the bush's leaves and his golden eyes scanning the area. He was right beside the bush we're hiding in and if we made one little sound, we'd be dead. He slowly kneeled down to the ground and picked up a blood stained leaf with what must be my blood. For some reason, he sniffed on it and then continued running away with the leaf.

The mysterious man behind me started to relax but he kept his hand over my mouth. "I'm going to let go of your mouth, don't scream, okay?" I nodded immediately which surprised me a lot. I shouldn't be this relaxed around someone I don't know! Let alone with him holding me like this during these circumstances. It must be because he said he's a friend.

He slowly let go of my mouth and backed away from me. My legs gave in and he caught me. For the first time, I saw his appearance. Eyes of blood and hair of new fallen snow. His hair is messy but it looked so fluffy and smooth which made me want to run my fingers through it. I've seen this guy before, but where. I know I've seen his crimson eyes staring at me before but where…

The man noticed my wounds and cursed. "I didn't know you were this hurt. You need treatment immediately." He lowered me as carefully as he could on the grass but it still shot a stream of pain through me. "Sorry." He whispered and he must've noticed the pain on my face.

His grey jacket was off before I knew it and was placed under my head as a pillow. "Stay awake. Try not to fall asleep just yet. I need to get the bullets out." The spoke while he picked up a pocket knife which got my eyes to widen. Is he going to kill me? Before I got a chance to ask his knife cut up my coat so he could reach my wounds. I was only in my bra which embarrassed me a lot, but I didn't have the strength to fight back. My breathing got more shallow and slower and as he said, I've to stay awake. Who knows what will happen if I fall asleep. I don't want to die.

He picked up a stick and put it in my mouth. "Bite down on this and try to be quiet." The stick tasted disgusting and I was about to spit it out before his knife gently lowered in my wound. On pure reflexes, I bite down on the stick and tried to hold my tears of pain in. His knife skillfully fished up the bullet from my wound and I wondered if he'd done this before. He didn't have much time before his knife was in my other wound and as quick as before, the bullet was out.

His hands were everywhere. First they had been on my wounds, trying to keep the blood from pouring out from my body and then they were wrapping bandage around my wounds. He'd covered up my bra with bandage, he probably had to get it around my shoulder while I had bandage wrapped around my hips. "You should be fine now. I cleaned the wounds and the bullets are out. But we still have to get you a hospital." He sounded so sure and professional. He looked so experienced when he fixed my wounds. And his hands, strong and bony, so skillfully lapping my body together.

"Why did you do this?" I whispered and he smiled for the first time toward me. Instead of being met by the white and perfect teeth, I was met by fangs. It surprised me for a moment. I've never seen anybody with fangs. That's when I remembered, his eyes. Those blood red eyes. Those are the eyes of the culprit on the TV! Is he trying to help me medically just so I could kill Death The Kid? It's still an hour left so he could want the games to continue! Oh my god! I Can't believe I thought he was a friend.

He must have noticed my uneasiness because his smile disappeared and he looked concerned at me. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Answer my question first." I said and I wanted to get up from the ground but my body is still too weak. "Did you help me just so the game could continue? I remember those red eyes on the Tv."

He sighs and grabbed my hand and I tried to retrieve it but he didn't let my hand go. "Listen to me. I'm not the guy you saw on the Tv. It was my brother. I'm not going to hurt you Maka. I'm on your side. I'm not doing this because of some sick game." He held my hand to his chest and I could feel the rhythm of his heart; strong and steady. "Feel my heart. I'm not lying to you. I'm against these games just as much as you are."

I'm still suspicious of him. I could tell he wasn't lying or he's a very good liar. "How can I trust you?"

He released my hand and started to search for something in his pocket. "This might look really weird but-" he fished up a wallet from his pocket and opened it, handing me a picture. To my surprise, it's a picture of me. I'm completely oblivious to the camera which means this picture was taken in secret without me knowing anything. I'm dressed in my school uniform I'm wearing now but it's a lot cleaner and don't soaked in my blood. I'm laughing happily at the front of the school. Around my neck was an arm which I assume is Black*Star's arm. "I've watched you over but I never intended to hurt you. All I wanted was to talk to you."

I couldn't dislike him. He just saved my life and even if it feels uncomfortable having your own personal stalker, I can't dislike him. "It feels weird having a stalker…"

"Not consider me a stalker. Consider myself like a secret admirer." He said is smiling once again toward me. With his exotic and mysterious teeth, I couldn't help but feel my heart flutter.

"Okay, secret admirer, I'm Maka Albarn as you might already know. "

"Yes I do. And I'm Soul Evans." Now I remember! I've seen him in many places. I've seen him at my martial art class and sometimes at lunch! I've never paid attention toward him or any other people for that matter except Black*Star. Now I'm feeling kind of bad for not remembering him since he was my classmate.

"Hello Soul, so now when you're finally talking to me, what do you want to talk about?" Soul started to ask me basic questions like what my favorite food is, what I dislike and like and all kinds of stuff. I had a feeling he already knew everything answer to his questions but it feels nice to have a conversation with him. I asked him some questions from time to time and it was like I wasn't under a death threat from his brother anymore. For once this crazy and maddening night, I'm feeling good and normal.

…

Wes woke up with a huge headache. He remembered seeing Death the Kid alive and then everything became black. He then remembered untying his brother's hands so he could eat but he must've knocked him unconscious so he could go and help his damned damsel in danger.

His teeth gritted and on Maka's monitor, he saw then talking to each other and for the first time, Soul's eyes seemed to sparkle. Not just sparkle, they were fires of happiness dancing inside of his eyes. They say the eyes are the windows of your soul and if this's true, Soul's unconditionally and limitlessly in love with her. He's never looked so alive in his life, but unfortunately, this has to end and Wes will be the man to do it.