Always Find You

Chapter 14 - "Curiosity Killed the Cat"

  Getting a door slammed in his face is nothing new for Adrien, living with his father and all, but this seems to hurt more. Marinette's parents really believe he could've hurt her. And, while they're suspecting him, the real culprit is out there somewhere with his Ladybug.
He gets into the backseat of his car and instructs his driver to head back to the mansion. When they pull up to the gate, Adrien can't help but feel relieved to finally be home. It's been a rough few days, and he just wants to curl up in bed and sleep for the next month.

'I suppose that won't really help Marinette, though,' He thinks.
As soon as they get through the front door, Adrien runs straight to his room and falls back on his bed.

"Kid?" He hears a little voice next to him say, "Are you okay?"

He glances over at Plagg, who is being more sensitive than he's ever been before, "You wouldn't believe me if I said yes."

"Yeah... Tikki is pretty torn up about it too."

Adrien sits up and glances into his jacket where the other kwami is staring off into the distance.

The boy takes the Ladybug Miraculous out of his pants pocket and examines the earrings. He thinks of how he hadn't noticed Mari wearing them everyday. How oblivious could he possibly have been? Maybe he could've helped her somehow if he had noticed.

"Tikki," Adrien says to the kwami, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," She says, still staring at the same spot on the wall, "I just... I can't handle losing another Ladybug. She's only a kid, Adrien. You both are." Tikki glances up, almost like she just noticed that for the first time.

After a few moments of silence between the three, Adrien slaps his knees and says, "Well, if I'm going to go to bed, I should get you guys something to eat first. I don't think anyone's home, so we can sneak down to the kitchen."
He realizes just how hungry he is as his stomach grumbles, and decides to grab a snack for himself too.

~ ~ ~

Marinette's stomach grumbles; literally the least of her worries right now. The wound in her side has caused lots of blood loss in the half hour since Hawk Moth left. Her hands have begun to lose circulation from the pressure on her wrists, her every move is agony, and pure exhaustion has take over her entire body.

'He's going to be back any time now and know that you were lying. You need to get out of here!' She thinks to herself.

Fully aware of the consequences if she fails, Marinette forms a plan. She summons every last bit of strength, trying to ignore the incredible pain shooting up and down her body, and hoists her legs up so she's now hanging upside down by her hands. The girl places her feet on the ceiling and pushes against the bind of the chains, trying to dislodge the shackles from the stone. She screams loudly in pain and effort as her muscles rebel against her. The chains budge slightly, but Marinette drops back down to her original position, unable to hold it any longer.
Her knees, too weak to hold her anymore, buckle, leaving her hanging by her arms from the ceiling.

"This is it... I'm going to die all alone." She says to herself, tears starting to form in her eyes. She's done everything she can, and now it's time to face the music.

~ ~ ~

"Please tell me you two heard that?" Adrien asks the kwami who are eating their respective meals.
An agonized scream just came from somewhere in the house, and none of them can just ignore it.
Plagg and Tikki exchange wide-eyed looks, nodding back at the boy.
"We should go investigate," Adrien says, putting down his half-eaten granola bar and running out of the kitchen and into the dining room. He stops for a moment to listen for any other noises, but moves on to the foyer after hearing nothing.
"Are we sure it-" Plagg starts before getting interrupted by a harsh shh from Adrien.
After a minute of silence, the boy complains, "I can't hear anything with my regular ears... But maybe Chat's ears will do the trick," He glances at his kwami, "Plagg, claws out!"
A green light envelopes him, leaving Chat Noir in his place. He cups his hand to his ear, now clearly hearing what sounds like someone sobbing. Chat quietly points Tikki in the direction of the upstairs, and they make their way up.
Adrien runs all the way up the stairs and checks every room in the house, nobody is to be found. He heads back down the stairs, but before he can make it to the bottom, he hears the same quiet sobbing. Chat turns around, now absolutely positive that it's coming from the walls. He presses his ear to the marble right next to his family portrait and notices the sound getting louder.
"What?" He says, more to himself than to Tikki, "That makes no sense." The boy investigates every inch of the wall on the staircase's landing.
'Wait, since when does a painting need to have hinges?' He thinks. Grabbing the right side of the portrait, he pries the edge of the frame off the wall, revealing a large doorway a few feet off the ground. He exchanges a quick glance with Tikki before jumping into the entrance and going down the stone stairs on the other side of the doorway. When he gets to the bottom, he finds another door with a deadbolt. Chat puts his ear to the door one more time, hearing nothing else from the other side.

"Well," He shrugs to Tikki, turning the deadbolt, "Curiosity killed the cat."

~ ~ ~

(Author's note: I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT HOW THE STARS HAD TO ALIGN FOR THAT LAST LINE TO HAPPEN. I am grateful to both God and Jesus for this opportunity. 😂)