The Princess and Her Cat

Eleven

The rest of the school day was a living nightmare. No matter where I went, what class I was in, or who I was with, I was terrified. My captor could be anywhere right now, waiting and watching. Grabbing Adrien's hand as we walked down the hall after school, I led him past the students and into a deserted classroom, flipping on the light and locking the door. Turning away, I sat in one of the chairs and gestured for him to sit beside me.

"Adrien, I'm so scared," I breathed, grabbing his hand.

"I know," he murmured. "But I have faith in you. You can do this, Mari."

"I've given up. I can't do this anymore. The stares, the sneers... My own brain is trying to kill me, Adrien," I said, desperation clinging to my voice. Tears were gathering in my eyes, and I blinked, trying to dismiss them.

"Don't leave me, Princess," he pleaded, his green eyes desperately searching my blue ones.

"I don't want to!" I cried. "But sometimes I see how messed up I am and I think that the world doesn't need me anymore!" Wetness was on my cheeks now, though I didn't bother to dry it.

"But I need you, Marinette. I will always need you, and if you died... I don't know what I'd do with myself."

"You would move on. You would fall in love with someone else, you would get married and have a bunch of blond haired children, and live a life full and happy, just without me. I am poison to you, Adrien. I'm going to drag you down. You should leave."

"Well if you're poison then I want you to kill me," he answered instantly, and without a hint of doubt in his voice. "I do love you, Mari."

"I love you too. So much. I've wanted to tell you for so long, I've had a massive crush on you forever, and..." The words poured out of my mouth faster than I could control them, but I couldn't seem to shut up. It just kept coming; words and sentences flowing like Niagara Falls. Adrien's face was bright red, his green eyes looking brighter because of the hue of his cheeks. Eventually my words petered out, and we simply stared at each other, very different thoughts running through very different minds. There, in the school, facing each other, knees touching, hands linked, eyes locked.

We had passed a boundary that day. Sure we had shared kisses, slept wrapped in each other, but there had always been an unspoken thing hanging between us. Now I knew what that was. It was love.

θθθθθθθ

We parted a few minutes later with promises of seeing each other that night. I returned home, slaving over homework that I had fallen behind in. It was late, far too late, and still no knock had sounded on the trapdoor.

Where was Adrien?

I tried his cell, nothing. I tried his email, his home phone, anything I could think of, and there was no response. It was his night for patrol, but that should have ended an hour ago.

Panicking, I transformed, then leaped out the window, combing the streets of Paris for the blond haired boy I loved. The streets were void of Adrien. Barren, dark, and quiet. Deadly quiet.

"Chat!" I screamed, not caring who heard me. "Chat!"

Silence. It echoed in my ears, whispering my doubt before screaming it in my ears.

He's gone. He's not coming back for you. He's dead.

He's dead. He's dead. He's dead.

Where was Chat Noir?