I blinked my eyes several times, groggy. If anyone had ever been too tired to move, I knew this was what it would feel like. When I did come to enough to move my fingers a bit, I found that my hand was also moving. It was then that I realized that my arms would not budge. Neither would my legs- only my feet. I opened my eyes fully, looking down. My wrists and ankles were chained to whatever was behind me-I didn't dare look back-, and my back and neck ached severely.

So she had found me. Caught me and taken me to wherever her lair was. I looked at my surroundings as secretly as possible. Terror rose in my chest as I realized where I was. In my own home.

This sent my mind spiraling into a state of utter shock. What kind of sick person would take a person who'd been gone for so long and imprison them in their home? I shuddered, seeing the wreckage on one side of the room. This obviously was where she had defeated my father. I saw the couch, the TV, even the door to my room without a scratch.

But maybe she'd intended it to be like this. Maybe she'd left the one thing that would remind me of my father the way it was after she attacked him. She just wanted me to be in pain. This was agonizing, I had to admit. I missed him too much for words.

I sucked in a short breath of air, and I worked up the nerve to speak. "M-... Maka?" I asked aloud, hearing it come out as more of a squeak.

She was there in a split second. The most glorious sight for sore eyes. I would have smiled if it wasn't for the red that burned in her eyes. I tried desperately to cut myself loose with some shinigami energy, but... I gasped. She had taken my abilities as a shinigami.

"Kid. I'm so glad you're here." Maka said, smiling warmly. It was almost as if she was back to normal. But the jacket remained. It was there on her shoulders, the material shining in the light.

"What do you want?" I asked, getting braver now.

"I already have what I wanted." Maka smirked, summoning some shinigami energy on her palm.

My cheeks blazed. "Give it back." I hissed between my teeth. Getting angry was the only way I could hold back the tears that were on their way. I gritted my teeth, feeling the hot liquid forming at the corners of my eyes.

Maka laughed. "Why should I? You're powerless now. And I'm far too happy ruling the city to care." She smiled, but something deep down in her tone said that she wasn't all that happy.

I raised an eyebrow that I realized had been furrowed quite deeply in my attempt to keep the tears from coming. "Oh really." I said without emotion. "Then why did you keep me here?" I asked, still trying to sound uninterested.

She frowned, as if trying to make me feel bad. Then she grinned smugly. "I have a job for you." She said.

I moved my neck to rest against what I realized was a wall that I was chained to. "What is it?" I asked, suddenly exhausted. I let my muscles relax.

Maka merely laughed. "Obviously, you'll tend to the prisoners." She chuckled, taking one step closer to me.

This made me uncomfortable, so I pressed my body closer to the wall. Seeing her face was the only thing that kept me from snapping to the point of insanity. I kept my eyes locked on hers, and she moved even closer. I gulped. "P-Prisoners?" I asked in a shaky voice. I didn't know she had that much mercy. But maybe... The real Maka was somewhere inside. I clung onto that hope with all of my might, swallowing hard as I prepared for the inevitable answer I was going to recieve.

To my surprise, she unshackled me. She probably knew that I was defenseless now. I had no choice but to stand at attention, not wanting to make her angry. Not with all of the power she had now. "They're at the bottom level. I'll have my guardians escort you." Maka smiled, waving the guardians forward. They led me forward, towards the door. I looked over my shoulder more than once to watch Maka. I couldn't make myself stop thinking about her. Now that I'd actually seen her, heard her... It was the most horrific pain that streaked through me every ten seconds or so. When would the torment end?

A guardian jabbed me in the back, pushing me forward to a large tunnel that went straight down. 'They're going to make me jump...' I thought, frightened. Suddenly, a round platform, the exact size of the hole, rose up carrying a few guardians. They walked off single file, possibly going to attend to Maka. The same guardian shoved me onto the platform, and walked onto it after me. My stomach lurched as we sailed downward at top speed. The guardians seemed used to it, but I found myself holding down what little food I'd eaten lately.

We sped past the floors, seeing people on every level, all wearing the same uniform. We came to an abrupt hault, and I looked around me curiously. There were cells lining a dark gray hallway. Lightbulbs hung 6 feet apart or so on the ceiling, barely illuminating the cells in between. The guardian pushed me off of the platform and it sped away, taking the rest of them with it. I stared up after it for a while, then turned and felt a shiver go up and down my spine as I heard a moan coming from one of the cells. Maka obviously did not treat her prisoners that well.