Shadowteer

Chapter 22

Chris was exhausted when he found his way home. He lived alone in the apartment he had shared with Nino and his dad. Nino and Alya had a home they lived in but he proffered to stay in the apartment. It brought back so many memories.

He remembered hanging out with Nino and making fun of Maurice with him. He remembered when he had bonded with Alya over how idiotic and yet amazing his brother could be. He remembered the last time he saw Manon before he left. She had no idea he was leaving at the time and she kept asking him why he was acting so strange... such an adorable little six year old.

Flashback

"Chris! Come play with me dude! Chris!" He glared at her.

"I don't want to." She blinked back tears and stared at him in confusion, her pigtails hanging low.

"You're angry with me. Wha did I do?" He shrugged and continued to keep as far away from her as possible till she couldn't take it anymore. She ran up to Nino, tears pouring from her eyes. She sniffed a little, her nose running and reported him to his brother. Nadia held her and cleaned her nose with a handkerchief while Nino glanced at his brother. Chris growled.

"TATTLETALE!" He slammed his door shut, locked it and sat down cross-legged on the floor. After all she did to him, she still wanted him to be her friend? He was hurt. Hurt to his core. He was a little boy, nine years old. Manon was going to be seven in December. How could she do this to him?

"Chris? Can I please come in?"

"No."

"Chris, Manon just wants to be friends. Can't you give her a chance? You still haven't told me what happened to you when you got akumatised."

"I... She hurt me Mama. They all hurt me." Tears pricked his eyes as he sobbed. Nino heard it from the other side and swallowed. He had heard those sobs every morning when the little boy woke up for almost two- no three years. He still wasn't used to it. "I want to leave this place. I don't want to be here anymore! It hurts..."

"I'm sorry Chris. I'm sorry. You sure you wanna leave?"

"Mhmm."

"But you'll have to leave Manon behind and Alya and Adrien and Marinette and all your friends..." the boy spoke again in affirmation. He couldn't be there a moment longer.

"We'll talk about this later. Manon and Nadia are leaving, kay kid?" Chris stood up and unlocked the door. He ran to Manon and hugged her. She gasped but hugged him back. The adults took pictures of them secretly.

"Good... goodbye Manon." His face was hard but his eyes softened as he stared at her. How could someone so bad have been so nice to him? Manon was just relieved to see he wasn't mad at her anymore. She followed her mother and waved.

"Bye Chris! See you later!" It had been a long night after that. Nino had to explain to a tearful raging Alya that he and Chris would be gone for a while. He came back to visit but Chris was too hurt to ever go back to Paris. And Manon never saw her best friend again. Until he came back, that is.

He lay down on his bed. He couldn't help but feel a slight chill run down his spine. He had a lot of trouble sleeping. Not like he wanted to. Every time he got even a glimpse of sleep it ended with him waking up barely seconds later, trying to forget what he had seen. He sighed and tried to keep his eyes open but it wasn't long before they drooped shut.

"Chris! What brings you here?" He frowned. That voice sounded familiar. He groaned when he saw the source.

"Not you again Papillon. What do you want?"

"Well how about an apology, and, oh yeah, how bout you get the hell out of my apartment before I make you?" He looked up. In place of Papillon was his father, looking angry as usual. He felt a slight jolt of shock but soon it was gone. All that was left was hate.

"I'm not apologising to you old man. And about the apartment, I'd rather keep it, if you don't mind-"

"I DO MIND!" Chris blinked neutrally.

"And I don't care. It's mine now Maurice." He heard a dark chuckle. His ears pricked up, his hair standing on end. Oh no.

"Maurice? Who's Maurice? Sounds like a guy I could hang with. Or just hang." He heard the laugh again and took a  shaky breath.

"I... I thought you were gone."

"Gone? No Chris. Suppressed? Yes. Weakened? Sure. You bruised my ego a bit Chris. Pushed me to the deepest, darkest corners of your mind and made them my prison. But I got out. I'm gonna crawl my way out of this place and when I do, I'll come for you and everyone you love. Starting with that girl, what was her name again? Though I guess I should thank her. You wouldn't have made me if she hadn't messed you up. Funny how life works, huh?"

"You're not going to touch her." The guy in the cloak only sniggered. "I'm serious Nightmare. You place a finger on her and I swear I'll make you pay." His eyes blazed when he heard a soft chuckle turned loud and maniacal pour out of his mouth.

"Oh Christopher, Christopher, Christopher. You think I'm gonna hurt her? No sweetie," he took of the hood of his cloak and smirked dangerously when Chris paled, visibly shocked. "You are."

And Chris. Poor, confused Chris, could only stare at the face of the same demon that had tormented him for years after he left Paris. His breathing quickened and he felt himself swaying. He tried to push away the dizziness but seeing Nightmare's face made him sick.  Why, you might ask? Standing in front of Chris, hood down, wrapped in a black cloak and grinning the grin of a possessed psychotic serial killer... was kimself.

He fell to the floor, feeling spots evade his vision. He jerked violently as Nightmare lay down next to him, as he lay down next to himself. The last thing he felt was the dread of seeing his own face on the body of that... demon before he woke up.

He shook violently once he woke up. He got up and pushed down a table, letting out a small whimper when items on it fell to the floor with a loud crash. He fell along with it, head spinning and arms shaking. I'll come for you and everyone you love. Starting with that girl, what was her name again?

He cursed.

Manon.