Chapter 3: The Curse of the Construction Site

Warning - this chapter may be distressing to some. Please read with caution.

"Once upon a time, in New York, the government decided to build a new shopping mall. Which was only expected, 'cause all the girls who lived there liked to shop until they dropped..." began Zoe.

"Like Chloe," interrupted Alya.

"But anyway, because they wanted the building to be twenty floors high, it took a lot of work. So, the mayor bought some land for the builders to do their construction on. And the builders put in a lot of work. They put the job before themselves. Sometimes, they even worked on empty stomachs."

"How is that even possible?" said Mylene curiously.

"I don't know. But all I know is that it wasn't a good idea. Now, one particular builder, Oliver, was so starved of food, he fainted on the job one day! The other builders took their friend to a safe place so that he could get his strength back. They gave him some water, looked after him and let him rest."

"That's so sweet!" piped up Rose.

"But they made the mistake of leaving him behind while they went back to work - they were so obsessed with the job that they didn't think about the full extent of their friend's condition. So Oliver sat back, trying to rest... when all of a sudden, he began to hallucinate. He believed that he was in a battlefield, and it was the Middle Ages. So, he picked up an axe, and headed for the construction site, where the other builders were working."

"How did he know where the construction site was?" said Max.

"He thought he was in an army, and his enemies were at the construction site," said Zoe. "It was a nasty coincidence. So, while his friends worked, Oliver decided to attack. He snuck up on one builder, and chopped his head off!"

There was a flurry among the students: Rose let out a small scream; Marinette and Alya covered their mouths with their hands; Nathaniel clung onto his boyfriend, Marc, and Kim nearly backflipped all the way to the other side of the room!

"The other builders hadn't seen the decapacitation, so they thought it had been an accident. But anyway, in spite of the shock, they returned to work the next day. Around lunchtime that day, the builders were getting ready to have lunch, when one of them suddenly collapsed and died! His friends turned to see the Oliver - with an axe in hand! It had become clear that the fatigue had taken such a toll on him, that he had forgotten his surroundings! Now, the remaining builders tried to reason with their friend. But he tried to attack them next, so they fought back, in self-defence. And Oliver managed to kill all of them - except one guy, Mick. Mick grabbed a pole and, whenever Oliver tried to attack him, he blocked him. And Oliver wasn't having any luck fighting his 'enemy'. So, he stopped fighting. Mick used this oppurtunity to try and talk Oliver out of his trance - when Oliver slashed his own stomach with the axe! He'd killed himself, out of apparent dishonour, for losing the battle."

"So to this day, Mick lives with the trauma of witnessing his friend taking his own life, all out of disorientation. And as for the building project... let's just say it went up the spout. The construction site was declared as cursed. And no-one ever goes there again. People try at all costs to avoid it. And when they pass it, they run past, without looking directly at it - and it was all because Oliver had fainted from fatigue. Thus ends the story of the curse of the construction site."

There was a hush. Everyone was quiet.

"That - that was quite a horror, babe," said Luka.

"I know," said Zoe, with a wry smile. "It was all very sad, because several innocent men, who were married and had children, died when they shouldn't have. But that's what happened."

"Thanks for that, Zoe," said Nathaniel, Class-Representative-Mode kicking in. "Now, it's nine-thirty, and we don't want to get in trouble for staying up too late, do we? Now, let's get to bed."

So after taking it in turns to use the bathroom and change, everyone went to their places and fell asleep - all except Mylene, who was still very, very scared - traumatised even - by Zoe's story.

"Ah, a gentle soul, scared to death by a random horror story," said Hawk Moth, watching from a lair not far away. "Perfect fodder for my army of butterflies!"

He caught an akuma in his lair, and evilised it. "Fly away, my little Akuma, and evilise her!"

The akuma fluttered into the hotel room, where it caught a still-trembling Mylene by the bandana. Instantly she was possessed.

"Oliver," said Hawk Moth, "I am Hawk Moth. You can channel your fear in a way so that you can inflict on others the pain inflicted on the innocent characters. All I ask is for Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses."

"They'll all be defeated with my strength!" said Mylene/Oliver. She transformed into a man, and picked up a fire-axe from under the bed.

"I AM OLIVER," thundered Oliver, "AND ALL OF YOU ARE MY ENEMIES! PREPARE TO FIGHT!"

What do you think? Stay tuned for Chapter 4.