"Is he okay?" Queen Bee hissed in my ear, pointing to Chat Noir who was yet again pacing in front of our stall.
"Probably not, but I just roll with it now," I whispered back and returned to assisting customers.
Queen Bee had joined our stall, due to the fact that we attracted a lot more business in a day than she did in a month. We split the money with her, Chat Noir still taking nothing. One of these days I was going to have to shove a third of the profits into his palms.
Queen Bee was no replacement for Alya, but she was a good friend. I felt happy around her, almost like I could forget, just for a split second, that I was going to die. She was a little timid at first, but she grew out of her shell. Except for around Chat Noir. Whenever he tried to approach her, she shrank away like the sea pulling out the ocean tide. Her eyes would fill with distrust. He had to have done something to her to frighten her like that. He didn't like her at first, so maybe he confronted her and he found she had nothing to hide. She couldn't be hiding anything. She was too nice and shy and sweet. But sometimes I saw a glint in her sapphire eyes, cold and merciless. Pure evil. Then it would be gone and I would convince myself that it was all in my mind. It was all in my mind, right?
Chat was still pacing around and being utterly useless. I was getting annoyed and started to let my temper take control. I yelled over the roaring crowds peering at our goods.
"Chat Noir, I swear I will kill you if you do not get your furry behind over here right now!"
The crowd laughed, snapping him out of his thoughts. He blushed scarlet and made his way to the back of the stall.
"Sorry..." he muttered and didn't meet my gaze. Things between us had been awkward since I finally rejected his advances. I had to let him down because I knew I couldn't get into a relationship. What was the point? I had eight months left to live, eight months to kill Hawkmoth. I had to tell him that I liked someone else, which was true but I needed to give up my feelings for Adrien. I needed to let go and focus on what was important, and that was freeing everyone from the control of the sorcerer.
Queen Bee stepped around me to help out yet another customer. Chat took this opportunity to start talking about his new plan to rid Paris of Hawkmoth. It was completely ridiculous.
"Chat, think about it. Where on earth are we going to get twenty pounds of fish guts?"
He bit his lip. "You're right, it's stupid."
"It needs some work, that's for sure."
We sighed in unison.
"So what are we going to do?" He asked, not expecting an answer. "We're running out of time."
"I know, I know." For some reason, he had a deadline similar to mine. I never told him about my curse, so that can't have been it. Whatever the case, it made him frantically search for the quickest way to defeat the villain. It fuelled his soul. Queen Bee turned around and joined with our whispers.
"There is no way we can get twenty pounds of fish guts, but there is also no way we can get the Ferris wheel. May want to rule that one out of future plans."
I laughed. Queenie had quickly worked out what we were planning to do and wanted to assist us in any way possible. She was a pretty good strategist and knew all the tricks. She could figure out where each of the akumatized objects was on each of the akumatized persons. We still hadn't managed to destroy one, but it was only a matter of time.
I went back to helping customers and I noticed Nathaniel lurking in the shadows once again. Every week he appeared, but he hadn't said anything since Chat Noir scared him away. He said he wanted to tell me something important the one time he did raise his voice, but he never got around to it. Then he did the same to Marinette but didn't complete his sentence before I ran at the sight of Adrien. Did he know I was Ladybug? No, where could he have found that out? Ever since I started this whole 'sewing in secret' thing, I became paranoid that someone would find out, tell my parents and then they would ban me from attending the market forever. I had to tell myself that these feelings were irrational, but still… Nathaniel was up to something…
Chat Noir's eyes narrowed when he saw him and Queenie tensed. None of us said a word as he looked at me, his eyes darting between Chloé and Chat at the same time. He slumped forward and walked off, taking one last glance back at me.
"That guy gives me the creeps." Queen Bee shuddered.
"Yeah," I agreed. "He's been trying to tell me something for weeks, but he point blank refuses to do so in front of you two."
"Oh?" she said with a tone of interest, her eyes almost forming slits.
Chat nodded. "Wonder what it is."
"Me too, Kitty. Me too." I replied with a sigh.
We finished soon after that snippet of a conversation. Queenie rushed out first, telling us that her parents needed her in the workshop. Chat waited for me, but I waved him off. I had to count out the sums of money and work out how much fabric I could afford next week. I used to do the book keeping at home, but it raised too many questions and peers from my parents. I added. I subtracted. My mind wore itself out, I had never been good at mathematics. Then I swiftly left the market. Most people stayed at their stalls, trying to snatch those last few late customers, but we sold out far too quickly to resort to that.
The Summer's day had turned cold all of a sudden. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my shoulders, bowing my head as I left the market. I reached my alley, stepped into the shadows and my foot nudged off something… something warm. I tried to scream but my breath was sucked away. My head raced. A hand. There was a hand, attached to an arm, attached to a body sprawled across the ground, gasping for breath. I knelt down beside it. There was a wound, a gaping hole, in the middle of his stomach. We were surrounded by a pool of his blood. I grabbed the hand, trying to bring him some ease.
"Who…who? He coughed. "Who are you?"
His voice, obviously masculine, sounded so familiar. Almost exactly like…
I focused on my hand, which now had the blood of a dying man coated on it. I willed it to ignite. Sure enough, a ball of fire appeared in my hand, ready to be thrown. Tikki had taught me that spell for an attack, but I only wanted its light. I stared into the pale face of Nathaniel, my dying classmate. His eyes widened with joy through the pain.
"Marinette," he began, but I cut him off.
"Nathaniel, how did you know?" I asked, checking that I still had my Ladybug mask donned.
"Marinette, listen to me."
I drew my eyes towards his.
"People talking. She said you were Ladybug- they were going to betray you. She-" he started coughing again, and I knew he wouldn't be able to speak again. I shushed him.
"It's okay, I believe you. But now you need to rest, relax."
He trashed around, struggling to tell me one more thing.
"She- It's- It's- Chlo-"
"It's okay, I'll be careful. Nathaniel, you have to rest."
He still protested against the pull of death, but I couldn't let him struggle anymore. Instead of my soft voice, I commanded him.
"Nath, let go."
He sighed and went limp. His eyes went glassy and unfocused.
As tears streamed down my face, I reached out from the pool of blood and closed his eyes.
I had never understood the atmosphere of death. I had never been in one.
Now, murder hung thick in the air.
15 minutes earlier
Queen Bee dragged her red-haired classmate into an alleyway. He tried to scream, but she clamped her hand hard around his mouth. She slammed him against the wall and summoned her whips of light.
"What do you know?" She hissed. "What do you know?"
He pressed his lips together, so she let her whip fly. The glowing rope lashed across his forehead, leaving a line of exposed blood. He raised his hand to his head as she readied her whip again.
"Alright, alright." He snapped, trying not to loose focus. "I'll tell you what I know."
He took a deep breath.
"I know that Marinette is Ladybug, I know that you are planning to betray her, I know that you are in league with Hawkmoth, I know that you have no idea how to make pottery, I know that you are an akuma." With the strength he had left, he tried to manage a sly grin.
"And I know that you are Chloé Bourgeois."
She glared and he shrugged.
"You should pick your alleyways more carefully."
He braced himself for another crack of the whip, another lashing. Instead, he received A different sensation in his stomach, as if something was piecing it. He looked down at it to see Chloé pulling a knife from his guts. He collapsed and heard one more word from her.
"You should watch your mouth."
*DON"T YOU LOVE DEATH?! I SURE DO!
Almost as much as I like allergies. It's that time of year again for people with hayfever (me). Anyways, I literally finished this chapter 10 minutes ago, so much for being productive. I am going to start some more stories but I probably won't publish them until this is done. I have no idea when this will be done, I didn't make a plan. I have no clue what is going to be in each chapter. You guys ask me questions and I just say 'uh...'
COVER ART: I STILL CAN'T PAY YOU BUT IF SOMEONE WANTS TO OUT OF THE GOOD OF THEIR HEART? NO PRESSURE.*