Breaking the Mask (Book Three)

Chapter 4

"Another time," Adrien jumped off the bed, wanting to end the conversation, "It's getting late. You should go to sleep"

Emma frowned, "Come on, just one small piece of info?"

Adrien sighed and shook his head, "Sorry, Emma. Not today"

Adrien turned the lights off, engulfing the room in darkness once again.

"Goodnight," Adrien said before stepping out of the room.

Adrien stepped through the door leading to his and Marinette's bedroom and closed the door. Marinette was seated at her desk wearing her pajamas with a pair of glasses over her eyes. She was leaned over her sketchbook, most likely drawing another design.

"So, what happened?" Marinette asked, not taking her eyes off her drawing.

Adrien adjusted his glasses, "She took it pretty well, but..."

Adrien sighed, "She wants to know about my side of the family now. I don't know what to tell her"

Finally, Marinette looked up from her drawing. She dropped her pencil on the desk and sat back in her chair, turning her head to look at her husband.

"You'll probably get mad at me for saying this," Marinette began, "But maybe you can visit your parents again. You haven't visited them in a long time"

Adrien clenched his fists at the sound of her words, "Do you really expect me to go back there? Marinette, that house holds too many bad memories for me. You saw it with your own eyes! You saw the scars that still mark my body because of my father.

"You..." At this point, his fists were clenched so tightly that they began to shake, "You saw how close I was to ending my life years ago because he put me through so much hell"

Marinette bit her bottom lip. She dared not to say another word to him. He was obviously still healing from the trauma of his father's treatment. Therapy did help him, but he will never forget everything his father put him through and all the physical and emotional pain he had caused him.

"Yes, I've forgiven him and my mom," Adrien lowered his voice, "But that doesn't mean it stopped hurting"

"I'm sorry," Marinette said softly, "I shouldn't have said anything"

Adrien shook his head, "It's okay. I'm sorry for raising my voice.

"But," Adrien continued, "I'll take it into consideration. Because deep down, I really do want to visit them again. They're still my family and they mean everything to me. It's just so hard to go back to that place"

Marinette stood up from her chair and walked over to Adrien. She stopped right in front of him and gave him the softest smile.

"Just know that I'll come with you if you need me to"

Adrien nodded, "Thank you. You're always there for me"

Marinette wrapped her arms around his waist and rested the side of her head against his chest. Adrien instantly hugged back and dug his face into her hair. He closed his eyes as their heartbeats synced with one another. No matter how damaged he is, he will always find comfort in Marinette's embrace. Whenever he held her, it was like all the cracks of what was once broken have been closed. Like he's forgotten everything about his parents. She was his escape from reality. He loved her so much he couldn't describe it. She brought light in the everlasting darkness. She was his entire galaxy.

~

"Have fun at school, guys," Adrien said as he pulled over on the curb.

Louis and Hugo stepped out of the car, leaving Emma in the middle seat. Emma sat there in silence with her backpack resting on her lap. Adrien looked at her in confusion.

"Are you gonna go?" He asked, "You don't want to be late to class"

"I want to talk really quick," Emma began, "You and Mom are hiding something from us, aren't you?"

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing how to answer, "Emma, now's not the time. Please just get to your class before the bell rings"

It was no use denying it to her, Emma was an intelligent girl just like her mother. Emma could easily figure out if he was lying, plus he didn't want to lie to his own daughter.

To his relief, Emma unclipped her seatbelt and slid down the seat towards the door.

"Will you tell us what's up eventually?" The young blonde asked.

Adrien sighed, "I'm... Afraid I don't have an answer to that question"

Emma didn't say another word and pushed the door open, where the cold wind blew into the vehicle.

"I love you," Adrien called after her.

Emma stepped out of the car, "I love you too"

His daughter shut the door behind her and went on her way towards the front door. Adrien pushed his glasses up his nose and reentered the street.

Adrien was about to turn a corner when a massive wave appeared from the street he wanted to turn into. Gasping, Adrien lifted his parking break, unclipped his seatbelt, and jumped out of the car. Seeing how close he was to being drowned by the wave, he scurried to his feet and ran for dear life, just in time for the wave to devour his car. Adrien quickly took his phone out and called Alya.

"Hello?" Alya answered from the other end.

"Alya, get the news up and running immediately!" Adrien shouted, "Tell everyone to take shelter in a high place! I think we have another monster to take care of, and it's drowning the city!"

"Got it, I'll tell our camera crew!"

Alya hung up, and Adrien continued running as fast as he could. His lungs burned greatly and his heart pounded painfully against his chest, but he couldn't slow down. There was no nearby place to take cover and transform. Transforming out in the open was a stupid idea, especially if the new villain controlling these monsters can see what they see. He didn't know if they could like Hawkmoth, but he wasn't risking it.

Adrien had been running for such a long time that he began to feel himself decelerate. His head ached with a heavy pounding against his skull, and his lungs felt as if they had been replaced by weights. His breathing was rapid, but he was barely catching any air.

Adrien turned his head over his shoulder, panicking at how close the wave was to him. He tried to accelerate, but it was too late. He had already been engulfed underwater.