Chapter 7:

As soon as they got to Lord Death, Maka, Tsubaki, and Black*Star all started speaking at once. He stared between the three of them anxiously, unable to get a word in. Liz and Patty stepped in front of him.

"Everybody shut up!" Patty shouted. The room went silent; she nodded triumphantly.

"Alright," Liz said, "now, one at a time. What in the world is going on here?"

They all looked at one another, then Tsubaki nudged Maka forward. She took a shaky breath.

"The kids...they're missing. I went to check on Mel and she was gone, so I headed to Tsubaki and Black*Star's house to look for her, and, well, I guess David is gone, too." She had long since stopped trying to hold back the tears. All she could do was wipe them away as they came. "We have no idea where they might be or even how long exactly they've been gone, but, I just...I just know there's something wrong."

Lord Death looked just as confused as they were at first. And then his face fell. He turned and strode up toward the mirror, muttering "I know exactly where they went."

All the eyes in the room were suddenly focused on him.

"You do?" Tsubaki and Black*Star asked simultaneously, holding onto each other.

An image appeared in the mirror, one that they all recognized immediately.

"Soul?!"

"They must have gone looking for him," Lord Death said. "I told them to stay back. Damn!"

"She...she knew?" Maka whimpered. "But…"

"Yes," he sighed. "She knew."

By the look on Soul's face, the panic in his strides, Lord Death knew that the kids must be in trouble. As he followed Soul's movements in the mirror, he couldn't help but think that this was his fault. He couldn't help it if she defied him, but...if he had just told her there was nothing he could do, her father was gone, go back to class…

Deep down, though, he knew it wouldn't have done any good. There were two reasons he had agreed to help her: because Soul was his friend and would have done the same for him, and because he had seen Maka's determination and heart in Melody. If he hadn't helped, she'd have found a way anyway.

As he saw Soul reach his destination-a storm cellar behind an old church-he turned with a sweep of his coat.

"Follow me. We need to hurry. Liz, Patty, contact the police chief, let him know what's going on."

The strength and willpower he'd seen in Melody that day was impressive. She wasn't the kind of girl who would go down easily. Still, he knew better than anyone that her youthful stubbornness, and her connection to Soul, could get her killed. And if David was with her, which he almost certainly was, then he could get himself killed trying to save her.

Mel had all but given up hope. David had regained consciousness, sustained a few more good kicks to the ribs, and been knocked out again once. She had been removed from the support beam and had taken a couple of hits to the face over the last...God, how long had she been down here? She'd already lost all concept of time, had run out of energy to cry any more, and was about ready to accept her fate.

And then there was a startling creak. A cold breeze swept the room, carrying the scent of fresh air. The stairs practically screamed under the weight of someone's footsteps. Mel lifted her head; who could be…

"Dad?!" She felt all of the hope that had drained out of her well up in her chest again. Was she about to be rescued?

"Alright, you persistent bastards," he said. "It's been eight years and you finally got me. Now let Mel and David go."

Liam looked over at Melody, then at her unconscious partner, and then up to Isaac. They shared identical lazy, greasy grins that made Melody sick. The two men turned their smarmy expressions to Soul.

"I don't think so," Liam said. Before Soul or Melody could question him, he grabbed Melody by her hair and dragged her to her feet. She cried out in pain, while her father cried out in shock. Instinctually, Mel started to fight her captor; but the click of a slide and the cold pressure of a gun to her temple froze her in place. The realization that she now truly stared death in the face stopped her from even breathing.

Mel could barely hear the commotion around her past the rapid thumping in her chest, the frozen blood rushing through her ears. Her mind raced even faster than her heart, flashing through memories of Kishin battles, the ones she had defeated relatively easily, and the ones, including the Canadian clown fiasco, that she had very nearly lost.

And in not one of those memories did she remember being nearly this scared.

"Alright, what the hell do you want?!" she heard her father shout.

"I want justice!" Liam yelled back. He held Melody against him with an arm tightly around her chest and arms. She fought her hardest not to cry, not to show how desperately afraid she was.

"Justice for what?!" Soul's voice started to shake.

"For my sister!" Liam bellowed, taking the gun from Melody's head to point it at Soul. "You killed her!"

Hollow silence followed his outburst, his accusation echoing in the minds of everyone present. Soul was the first to break it, shaking his head slowly at the distraught kidnapper.

"That…that was years ago," he whispered. "Hell, that was before Mel was even born! What does she have to do with it?"

Liam began to laugh. It was a strangled, twisted kind of laugh, the kind that one usually only hears from cookie-cutter psycho villains in superhero movies. Soul shook his head once more.

"We went over this years ago!" he called over the frightening laughter. "Your sister killed fifteen men and ate their souls. And she was about to go for a sixteenth when-"

"LIAR!" A shot went off into the ceiling, bouncing off the concrete and around the cellar. Mel screamed and made herself as small as she could to avoid being hit by the ricochet. By some stroke of luck, the small-caliber bullet buried itself in the wooden stairs, grazing Isaac but otherwise missing everyone in the room. "Evelyn was innocent!" Liam insisted, ignoring his brother's many choice swearwords.

"I honestly don't know how you deluded yourself so badly," Soul said through gritted teeth, "but your sister was a murderer, and on her way to becoming a full-blown Kishin. Even your parents admitted it!"

"She was seventeen!"

"So was I!" Another brief, thick silence followed Soul's shouted response. "That doesn't make her innocent, and I think you know that," he added in a more hushed tone.

Liam shakily dug around in his pocket, awkwardly putting his gun in his other hand and jostling Melody around slightly in the process. For a moment, she thought this the perfect chance to escape; but her hands were still tied, and the rest of her body was frozen in terror.

Finally, he threw down a crumpled photograph, putting his gun back in his dominant hand and using it to gesture to the picture.

"Does that look like a murderer to you?" he growled. Melody squinted at the picture. It showed a beautiful young brunette, smiling into the camera, with a boy who she figured out to be a much younger, cleaner-cut version of the crazed kidnapper. The picture had been taken by Evelyn-Mel could see the girl's forearms at the edges of the picture-and a well-placed lens flare gave the picture a warm, happy feeling.

A perfect summer snapshot.

Mel was brought back to the cold basement by her father's voice.

"No, she doesn't look like a murderer. But when we found her…she didn't look like that anymore."

"You're a liar," Liam choked out, once again aiming his pistol at Soul. "Evie was sweet and smart and she would never have done the things you people accused her of! Our parents were never the same! You destroyed our family!" Mel gasped as she felt the barrel of the gun pressed against her temple once more. "I wanted to kill you at first," he went on. "But as the weeks and the months and eventually the years passed by, I realized that would be too easy. Our family suffered the worst loss possible; killing you wouldn't teach you anything. I wanted to torture you the way you tortured us. I just couldn't figure out how…"

He looked down at Melody. She turned her face away but still felt the heat of his breath as he hissed, "And then you had a little baby girl."

"Please…" Soul was starting to beg now. A groan came from the other side of the room; David was coming to again. Liam looked over at Isaac.

"Let him go. I only needed him to keep this little bitch from biting my hand off."

Isaac nodded and cut through David's restraints. He picked him up by the collar of his sweater and half-dragged him toward the stairs. David tried to fight him, but he was far too weak at this point.

"No, wait...Mel!"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." It was hard to sound reassuring when she was shaken to her core. Soul took David and helped him up the stairs. He carried the half-conscious boy outside, and returned a moment later.

"Look, Mel has nothing to do with this. You shouldn't punish her for something I did." She could hear his voice quaking as he started to lose his calm facade.

"Oh, I'm not punishing her," Liam drawled. "She won't feel a thing. It'll all be over for her in less than a second. You, on the other hand," he pointed his gun at Soul again, "you and your old lady will feel it for the rest of your lives."

Liam put his gun back to Mel's head again. She closed her eyes. It was all she could do.

This was it.

"Killing me won't bring your sister back." Mel didn't even realize she'd said it until a second later. She felt her captor start to shake, trying to form words but unable to come up with any.

"Why, you little-"

There was the sound of sirens and a screech of tires outside, followed by lots of footsteps, and then shouting.

"Stop! Let the girl go!"

Liam took his gun away from Mel's head. She opened her eyes to several cops aiming their guns at him. Lord Death appeared at the top of the steps.

"Let her go, son," the police chief called. "It's over. We've got you on stalking, blackmail, kidnapping, assault and battery...you're already going to prison. I don't think you want murder on there, too."

Liam started to shake harder. She could hear him breathing through gritted teeth. It felt like forever before he finally spoke.

"Isaac...get over here. Untie her."

She felt her hands and feet freed, and immediately ran toward her father. The two of them made it up the stairs and out of the cellar, just as they heard the first shot go off. There were several more, and then silence.

It seemed like the world had faded away for a minute or two as Mel tried to comprehend what had just happened. Past the glare of the flashing red and blue lights, the sun was just starting to come up; she and David had been down there being tormented for hours. And that one phrase, uttered without even thinking about it, was the only reason she was still alive.

"Soul!"

Soul and Mel both turned toward the source of the call: a terrified, puffy-eyed Maka. She threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him over. Then, just as suddenly, she let go and shoved him back.

"Soul Evans, I swear to God if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll...I'll..."

Somewhat to Mel's surprise, Soul began to laugh. He stepped up to Maka, took her head with both hands. "I missed you, too, Maka." And with that, he kissed her. Mel looked away and rolled her eyes.

Maka looked toward her daughter, and suddenly all that fury was aimed right at her.

"And you, young lady. Not only did you scare me half to death, but you could have gotten yourself killed! And David, too! I will put bars on your window, and I-"

Mel only smiled. "Missed you, too, Mom."

Maka balled her hands into fists, trying desperately to stay angry. In the end, though, all she could do was pull Mel in and hold her tight.

"Damn it, you are so much like your father," she sobbed.

Soul came in and hugged both of his girls. Out of the corner of her eye, Mel saw an ambulance pull up.

"David…"

Mel split from her parents and sprinted toward the gurney being wheeled toward the ambulance.

"David!"

She caught him right as they were about to lift him into the vehicle. He weakly looked up at her and managed half a smile.

"Mel...thank God you're alright. God, Mel, I'm so sorry. I screwed up. I should have protected you, I…"

"No!" she brushed his hair back out of his face. "No, David, it's my fault. I shouldn't have rushed you into this. If I had just listened then you wouldn't be here and…"

Maka found herself flashing back to the old cathedral, when she and Soul were about that age, having a nearly identical conversation. She sighed and shook her head. She felt Soul put an arm around her, and turned to face him. She smiled.

"I really...did miss you," she said. Soul smirked back at her.

"I know you did. And I missed you guys. Hey…" he turned her so her whole body faced him. "Forgive me?"

She nodded and hugged him. She giggled. "I'm not sure Mel will forgive you if you've forgotten her birthday, though," she said. He shook his head as they started walking toward Mel.

"Come on, what kinda deadbeat dad do you take me for?"