January 13, 2004.

It was a typical day at school. Maka was paying full attention to Stein's lecture as Soul put his feet onto the desk. Maka gave him a disapproving glance before looking back at the professor. Black*Star was yawning from boredom as Tsubaki tried her best to keep up with what Stein was saying. This continued for the rest of the class.

"The chairman's son didn't come for class again!" A girl whispered to her friend excitedly. "I know! He is so hard-core!" Most of the girl students were talking about the famed boy. "What a show-off!" Black*Star said angrily. "Yeah, uncool," Soul agreed as the two boys walked past Maka and Tsubaki. Maka shouted to Soul, "You better be home by eight-thirty!" Soul didn't look back but waved his hand nonchalantly to show that he understood.

"I heard that he is hot…!" More gossiping continued. As the two girls went through the doors that led outside of the Academy Tsubaki asked innocently, "Why do they keep talking about him if they haven't even seen him…?" Maka closed her eyes and replied, "Those girls don't know what they're saying. This guy can't be much if he doesn't show up for class. Probably just a jerk who thinks he doesn't need education." Maka opened her eyes as she finished and saw a weird boy with white stripes in his naturally black hair pass by. He had yellow eyes, pale skin, and an eerie cloak covering him. Finding this odd, she turned around to look at him to confirm if what she saw was real but he had disappeared.

Maka was lost in her thoughts. Who was that boy? Have I seen him before? "Maka, are you alright?" Tsubaki asked her friend. "H-Huh?" Maka snapped out of her stupor as Tsubaki explained, "You spaced out for a sec." "Did you see a boy walk by?" Tsubaki looked confused as she said, "No…" Disappointed in her answer, Maka clutched her books a bit tighter, "I'll see you tomorrow."

February 6, 2004.

Maka had completely forgotten about the strange boy she saw. She was busy with studying for the big test that would determine whether or not they would pass the grade. Everyone in the class was working on other assignments and hard at work since Stein had called today a "Study Day." He was muttering something that sounded something like, "Suddenly calling me to a meeting…Didn't get a substitute…" Maybe something's wrong...? It was just a passing thought before Maka took out her textbook.

Once the students were sure that Stein was out of earshot, they started conversing loudly, causing Maka to get annoyed. After a long while of getting no work done, Maka decided that she'd go home. After all, what's the point in being at school when you couldn't learn? At least, that's what she was thinking at the time. As she got up to leave she told her friend Soul, "See you. Going to go study." She could hear him chuckle from behind her as she left.

"Okay… So that's how it works…," Maka mumbled to herself as she forced herself to continue studying. It was well past midnight. Her eye lids felt heavy, and the textbook looked like an awfully appealing pillow… And before she knew it, she had drifted off into a well deserved rest. The only thing was that her 'pillow' wasn't as comfortable as she had hoped.

"Where am I…?" Maka gazed into the darkness nervously. As she turned, a pair of glowing golden eyes pierced through the shadows. "What…?" They disappeared, and the girl was left alone again. In a flash, Maka couldn't breathe; it felt as if all of the air in the room had evaporated completely. She gripped her throat, coughed, and looked around helplessly, "Help…"

She fell onto the ground with her hands clenched around her throat, "Help…" Suddenly, the strange boy from earlier appeared and stared at her blankly. He ignored her cries for help as he whispered, "You're in danger…" Maka still couldn't breathe. "You must escape the darkness…Before it devours your soul…"

Maka awoke with a start and pushed away from her desk, which caused her to fall back onto the floor. She was breathing hard, her hands pressed against her neck. "Are you alright?" Soul rushed in to check on her. "I-I'm fine…" She didn't make a move to get up. "Bad dream?" Soul inquired as he leaned against the doorframe. Maka didn't reply. "Wanna talk about it?" She still did not say anything as Soul sighed, "I'm going out with Black*Star, be back soon." He departed from the room as Maka's mind was buzzing.

What was that dream about? What happened? It felt so real… She shuddered as she recalled what occurred. It felt like someone was strangling me…That boy… Maka tried to remember where she had seen that boy. Wait! At school… I saw him walk past, right? But Tsubaki didn't see him… Maybe he knows what's happening… He said I was in danger…From the darkness? Darkness… Maybe I should call Tsubaki.

Maka dialed Tsubaki's number and waited for her to pick up. After a while, Maka heard Tsubaki's voice, "Hello…" Relieved, Maka started, "Listen, Tsubaki, I just had a terrible nightmare…" Tsubaki replied worriedly, "What happened? Are you alright?" Maka explained to Tsubaki in detail what had happened and about how she had seen the strange boy before. "Maka, you were just tired from studying…" Tsubaki said. "But Tsubaki, it felt so real!" Maka argued. "But Maka, it was just a dream. Try to get some more rest before studying again. I gotta go, see you! Try not to overwork yourself again," Tsubaki's voice faded away and Maka realized that she had already hung up. Maybe she's right…It was just a dream, after all…

February 9, 2004.

It had been three days since the nightmare, but Maka still kept a look out for the boy and tried to decipher what he could've meant in the dream. She would've asked for help from Tsubaki, but knew that she'd think that the whole thing was ridiculous.

With this in her mind, Maka made her way to her usual seat. Everyone was talking amongst themselves happily as Maka noticed a slip of paper on her desk. Confused, she reached for the paper and opened it. It read: YoU bEtTeR gEt OuT oF tOwN oR eLsE yOu WiLl DiE!

It was obviously made with magazine letters, but what struck odd to Maka was the picture of a giraffe on the edge. "Does someone hate me…?" Soul took the sheet out of her hands and read it. "What the hell? Maka, did you do something?" She shook her head and said, "I didn't." Soul thought for a moment before responding, "Don't worry about it. No one can kill you without being noticed." I'll ask the professor for help, I guess… Stein's voice rang out, "Everyone! Take your seats. Now, last Friday, as all of you know, I was called out of class. So, as an apology…" Everyone leaned closer as Stein put his hand under his desk. He pulled out a cage and slammed it onto the counter, "We will dissect this endangered bird."

After class, Maka ran to catch up with the teacher, "Professor…" The hallway they were in was significantly dark; the lights were broken. Stein turned to face her, "What is it?" Maka panted, "I…I need to…speak to the chairman." Stein's eyes widened considerably as he said, "Er…Maka Albarn, was it?" She nodded in response as he continued, "I'm sorry, but the chairman does not speak to anyone other than his son and most trusted friend. I apologize, but I cannot help you." Maka thought for a moment, "Then, can you help me? I found this on my desk this morning." She handed him the slip of paper. "What is this?" He flipped the paper questioningly. "What do you mean? It is a note that is threatening me," Maka looked at him oddly. "Are you joking? Albarn, please do not disturb me again with this nonsense." He gave her the paper and started walking away. "But sir…!" "Good day," He said with finality.

Maka looked at the paper and realized that the message had disappeared. Confused, she flipped it over, just as Stein had, but the message was not there either. She started walking down the hall towards the entrance of the school, still looking at the letter. As she stepped into the sunlight, the message resurfaced; except, it said something else this time: LeAvE nOw! YoU cAnNoT sHoW aNy AdUlTs ThIs MeSsAgE. iT wIlL dIsSaPpEaR sO nOoNe CaN sAvE yOu!

Again, there was a giraffe picture on it; but this time, its' neck was disconnected from its' body. "What the…?" Maka started worrying. Someone really does hate me…! What do I do? I've never been hated before… "Are you alright, Maka?" A friendly voice called. Tsubaki…! "Look at this!" Maka showed her the message. Tsubaki looked frightened as Maka continued, "The first note said 'you better get out of town or else you will die.' What should I do?" Tsubaki informed, "Since you can't show it to any adults…I guess you should just make sure that you are never alone. Try not to think about this too much…It's probably just an empty threat…?"

February 24, 2004.

Maka was finally enjoying herself again. She was sitting in the living room and enjoying a good book. It was getting at the best part, when there was a knock on the door. Is Soul back? Maka got up and made her way to the door when the visitor knocked again. They were definitely in a hurry. She opened the door to see a girl around her age. "Hello…?" Maka greeted questioningly. "We need to talk, now…" the girl was speaking quite seriously. Maka let her in and they both took a seat on the couch.

"What's your name?" Maka asked. "I'm Liz, but that's not important. Listen, you need to get out of here. Out of this city." Maka moved uncomfortably, "I'm sorry, but this is my home." Liz snapped, "You don't understand! You need to leave. You and everyone around you are in danger as long as you're here. I don't have time to explain why because he will figure out that I'm not there…" She shuddered. "He?" Maka inquired, annoyed. "Er, I said too much…But…Bad things will happen if you stay."

Maka started getting angry, "Please get out of my house. I will not listen to this. I've had enough." "Not until you understand…! I've already interfered in his affairs so I might as well go all the way…!" Liz argued back. Maka pulled the girl (not strong enough to hurt her) out of her apartment and closed the door. "Don't do this…!" Liz pleaded from behind the door but Maka would hear none of it.

"Did she listen…?" A different girl asked.

"No…" Liz replied.

March 1, 2004.

The girl named Liz didn't show up again. But, what she said had worried Maka. What if everyone really was in danger? But, she decided that she was out of her mind and dismissed the idea. There was no way that something was threatening everybody, right?

Today was the day that they were taking the big test. The test that decided whether or not they passed the grade. Soul and Black*Star looked extremely unnerved, so Maka concluded that they probably didn't study. Tsubaki, Maka noticed, didn't look nervous at all. In fact, she seemed very confident. "And here are the test papers. No cheating, or else you'll get a zero. A zero means that you fail the grade. Got it?" Stein snarled to the class. He seemed angry about something.

The questions were tremendously easy. Maka swept right through them and finished first. To pass the time, Maka took out a book and started reading; her favorite pastime. As the clock ticked, Stein finally said, "Put down your pencils. The test is over." Maka glanced at Soul who looked a bit relieved. This made her smile.

After school, Maka walked home alone. Soul had explained that he was going to play basketball and Tsubaki had hurried to her house. Maka was really tired as she unlocked the door. All of the studying she had been doing was getting to her. As she walked into her apartment, she didn't bother to turn the lights on and wandered to where her room was. Before she made it, strong arms wrapped around her. "You didn't listen…" The boy whispered into her ear, "After all of those warnings…Why?" Maka couldn't get out of his grasp, "I'm not about to leave my friends…!"

"You're going to have to. It's too late, I can't hesitate anymore," his grip tightened, "Someone that isn't involved has already been killed." Maka said, "What are you talking about?" The stranger responded, "Your friend…Is gone." Maka finally broke out of his grasp and pulled out her phone. He can't be serious… She called Tsubaki and waited for her to pick up. Sure enough, a friendly voice came through, "Hello." Relieved that the boy was wrong about Tsubaki, Maka started explaining what was happening, "Tsubaki! When I got home a boy was here and…," she broke off. "I'm not able to come to the phone right now, please leave a message or call me later."

As she heard this, Maka dropped her cell phone. "What happened to Tsubaki? Who are you?" The boy looked impatient, "There's no time to explain right now, come on!" He took a step toward her as she took one back. "Not until you tell me what the hell is happening!" Before she finished the sentence Maka felt as if she were being lifted. The stranger had grabbed her and was moving quickly. He was moving so fast that Maka couldn't object because of the dizziness. Where is he taking me…?