Shadowteer

Chapter 23

"Manon?! MANON?!"

"I'm here Chris! We're going camping, we're going camping, woo- Chris!" Chris walked into Manon's house and headed straight for her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the rest of the group. He looked her over and let out a sigh of relief.

"You're okay. Good."

"Ch-Chris! What-" he wrapped his arms around her and grinned like a fool on drugs. She was okay. She pulled away, folding her arms.

"What is the meaning of this? I was doing something important you know." He rolled his eyes.

"Would you have preferred if I came into your window at midnight and hugged you then instead, princess?" She shook her head and punched his shoulder lightly, nearly facepalming when she began to fantasize about it. She couldn't help it. She was a serious LadyNoir fan and that sounded like something Chat Noir would do.

"No knight, I wouldn't have. What's got you so worked up anyway?" He stared at her for some moments before going slightly red, rubbing his neck.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She rose an eyebrow.

"Try me." He facepalmed when she began to tap her foot slightly. Manon was never easy to talk to when she was mad. "I'm listening Mr. Antisocial Nico Di Angelo wannabe."

"Uh... Nico d- who now?" She facepalmed. Before he could speak, he heard a honk.

"GUYS! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE! GET IN THE TRUCK OR WE ARE LEAVING YOU TWO LOVEBIRDS, GOT IT?!" They both stared at each other, wide eyed. Kemen hated being late and according to him leaving early was the root to punctuality or whatever. He even made it rhyme. He would kill them if they were late.

"We'll discuss this later Manon." She sighed and nodded, clearly not ready to die. They grabbed their stuff and slid in. Meera turned to them immediately, eyes flashing.

"So... guys..."

"Yeah Meera?"

"Shut up Meera." She glared at Chris and turned to Manon who was pretty confused when she wiggled her eyebrows at them. Chris buried his face in his hands.

"What were you guys doing? Took you some time, right boys?" The guys nodded behind her. Kemen chuckled, earning a kick from Meera. Manon could only smile. Those two would be a power couple in no time. Just because she wasn't the Puppeteer didn't mean she had stopped being a shipper any way and she was determined to make her ships sail.

"We were planning our imaginary wedding. Were gonna get married later this year, live in an imaginary condo in Marseilles and rent imaginary libraries in Amsterdam and Budapest on weekends so we can avoid our imaginary angsty and or fangirling teenagers." Meera rose an eyebrow.

"I know I should be mad but that sounds adorable. I ship it." He waved her off and shut his eyes to end the conversation. He ignored everyone talking and pretended to sleep or listen to music on his earphones for most of the journey. He groaned the moment they reached the campsite.

"Come on Chris, it'll be fun!" He rolled his eyes, fake gagging as Manon got out of the car, jumping with excitement. A small smile made crossed his face as he watched her dance a little, failing to hide her glee. He had to keep her safe from Nightmare. He just had to.

. . .

"Let's go camping Chris! It'll be fun, they said. Getting in touch with nature, they said. Remind me to get better friends when we're back in the city." The others were tired of his whining so they had sent him off for a little while with Manon. Her smile was wearing pretty thin though, and it was getting dark. He growled as droplets of rain touched his skin, tugging the hood of his jacket lower.

"Would you quit whining? We'll be back at camp soon and you can eat s'mores, sing a song and be happy for once in your life. Why are you always so depressed?" He rose an eyebrow.

"Me? Depressed? You've got the wrong guy sunshine. I'm always happy."

"Yeah righ-"

"Can't say the same thing about you though." Manon stopped walking and turned around. Her heart stopped for a moment as she watched him look up to the sky with a groan, his hoodie falling off his hair to reveal his face. She turned back around, her face burning.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He wasn't sure how to explain to her that he knew she wasn't as happy as she pretended to be. Life hadn't been easy on her but she was strong. She was still giving life a good fight. And he was proud of her. He cleared his throat.

"Nothing important. Just thinking about how many ways there are to die here. I mean, we're in a bloody forest! Whose idea was it it come down here again?" She rolled her eyes, bumping his shoulder with her own.

"Live a little dude. We're having an adventure!"

"What if this adventure leads us so deep in the woods that we get mauled by a bear or have to eat leaves, dirt and chunks of our own flesh to survive before we finally die of starvation? Is that living?"

"Uh... well, at least we were alive for like a few seconds. Never trusted bears *cough* Winnie the Pooh *cough*."

"Hey! Winnie the Pooh is freaking awesome woman. I used to love watching that show as a kid."

"Well hurray for you but I find him creepy. No one can be that happy for so long. It's a cartoon though so of course it's unrealistic." She launched into a rant about how stupid some kid shows were and they walked together deeper into the forest until he decided it was time to head back.

"Manon, we should really be heading back." She looked back and front, her eyebrows furrowed.

"We should be back by now... I mean I..." Chris swallowed, a frown forming on his face.

"Don't tell me we're lost Manon... Manon?!" She looked back and smiled sheepishly, rubbing her left shoulder. He growled at her as rain descended upon them from the darkened sky. She stopped smiling and sighed.

"I'm sorry Chris."

"Sorry?! Were lost. In the woods! Have you ever watched that movie, Into the Woods? We could die out here! You are such an idiot." She hissed, tears forming in her eyes. His eyes widened slightly. "Crud, I'm sorry, I know how much you hate being called that-"

"Nope. It's fine. You're right anyway. I messed up, as usual, and I'm sorry. I'm just naturally stupid I guess." Their eyes met. Her eyes were filled with hurt, his with guilt and regret. "I'm sorry."

She ran off into the darkness, cursing herself for being born. Chris sucked in a breath and ran after her. He followed the sound of her sobs and the steady stream of I'm sorry's until he heard a sound he would never want to hear again. A scream. Manon was screaming. He ran towards it, a chill running down his spine.