Secrets

Part 23: Back to the future.

Alyssa and the Agreste siblings looked around. They were back in Adrien and Marinette's bedroom.
"How are you feeling?" Tom said looking at Bernadette.

"Not being able to sense the emotions around me is like having a blindfold over my eyes. But with this headache, I really needed some rest from the power of empathy. Worry not my brother," Bernadette said. Looking at Eva for an instant she added, "at least do not worry about me."

Tom, Alyssa and Gabriel looked at each other, then at Eva. They knew her. They knew she was having a hard time processing Marla's death.

"Stop that. I'm fine," Eva said in a serious tone.
"People who say they're fine, usually aren't," Alyssa said.
Eva gave her a look that clearly said 'not now'.

"What happened here?" Gabriel said, looking around the room. It was a mess, the furniture was destroyed and there was no door.
"The miraculous!" Eva exclaimed.

Hidden inside the wall in the back of the walk-in closet was a secret compartment where they were keeping the miraculous box. Opening it they only saw three miraculous left. The ox, the bee and the dragon miraculous.

"The team must have been attacked while we were away," Bernadette said.
"I don't like this smell,"—Tom sniffed—"It smells like... burnt stuff?"

"Bernie, you better stay here and rest," Gabriel said.
"Have you gone insane??" Tom asked placing his arm over their little sister and hugging her.
"What? Why??" Gabriel asked.
"How many horror movies have watched together?" Eva said.
"The one left behind always gets kidnapped," Alyssa said.
"Or killed," Tom added.
"Ohhh... right," Gabriel said.

Slowly they walked out of the room. The corridor was empty. There were broken frames on the floor, the carpet was incredibly dirty and there were scratches scattered over the walls.
Every turn they took they were expecting some vampire to show up, but that didn't happen which made them feel more anxious.
The smell of burnt wood and fabric became more intense on the following floor.

Gabriel signaled them to stop, "Wait here. It'll be faster and more silent if I go first and check things out, make sure there's no danger waiting for us downstairs."
Eva slapped the back of his head. "What did we just say about being left alone?"

Gabriel rubbed the back of his head and stuck out his tongue to her. She half smiled. The more they advanced the more anxious they were feeling. It wasn't only the burnt smell, it was the stillness of their home. At higher levels it was common to see kwamis flying around, playing or even arguing with each other. It was nighttime, in a normal day they would be hearing noise from their parents. Adrien liked listening to music in the living room. And Marinette would be sketching some new design while they talked about their day.
Alyssa didn't need Bernadette's power of empathy to tell her friends were incredibly worried.

They started half running when they reached the second and they gasped when they reached the balcony that overlooked the living room area. The whole place looked like a war zone. The whole kitchen area was gone, what remained of the furniture was all around in pieces, from what they could see there was burning furniture and plants outside. Even the floor looked cracked.

"What the hell happened here?" Eva said sounding on the verge of tears.
"Precisely that I fear: Hell," Tom said hyperventilating.

"DAD!!" Alyssa suddenly screamed and ran towards the stairs.
Alarmed they looked around for an moment before running after her.
It wasn't till they were closer that they saw what Alyssa had seen. Below the wreckage was Nino.

"Dad! DAD!!" Alyssa said, shaking her father.

Thanks to his super strength Gabriel was able to remove the debris in no time.
Alyssa started sobbing when Nino inhaled heavily. The debris had been preventing him from breathing easily.