Ladybug takes a deep breath, doing her best to slow her heartbeat. She can feel it pounding in her ears, beating so loudly the akuma surely must hear it. She presses her back more firmly against the crate she and Chat are tucked behind, praying it doesn't slide from their combined pressures and screech against the floor.

"I don't see it anymore," Chat whispers. "Maybe it got lost."

He says that, but he doesn't move. They both feel it's eyes peering towards them. They both know it's still there.

—-—(::)—

45 minutes earlier

The day has been wet and dreary. Marinette glances around at her classmates, noting they are all fighting sleep. Their teacher sighs as she repeats yet another question and receives a few half thought-out answers.

Marinette scribbles what notes she can to keep herself awake, all the while the clock at the end of the room carries on.

Tick, Tick, Tick

She forces herself not to listen to it. She forces herself to pay attention.

BANG

A lightning strike hits the roof of the school, and the whole room jolts awake as the power flickers.

"Easy class, it's alright," their teacher soothes them. "The storm is supposed to pass soon."

People begin to settle in once more, but they are agitated and nervous. The clock keeps moving, and for just a moment all Marinette hears is Tick, Tick, Tick.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone flinches as the scream carries up the hall. It's followed by a heavy crash and panicked shouting. Miss Bustier tells them to stay in their seats, then runs out the door to see what happened.

"Do you think the storm blew the wiring somewhere?" Max offers as he slides deeper into his seat, struggling to believe his own theory.

"Someone probably freaked out about the thunder and nocked something over," Alix assures him, though she also looks concerned.

"Well, when I was in Singapore, we had storms like this ALL the time. I hardly even noticed it was storming until Miss Bustier said something about it." But no one hears Lila's lie. They are more concerned about the slow moving figure outside the window with sickly green skin and a narrow form. It comes to a stop outside their door, dropping out of sight. After a moment, a set of long, bloody claws slides under the door.

Tap, Tap, Tap

The claws bump against the floor in time with the wall-clock. As it pulls its arm out of sight, it scrapes its nails on the wooden floor, leaving long tracks. The group watches in perfect stillness as the creature rises back into view, standing just in front of their classroom door, smiling at them with a wide, soulless grin of fangs and unblinking, red eyes. It licks its lips.

Chloe screams and scrambles back in her seat, nocking poor Sabrina to the floor. The creature's smile grows as the class begins a terrified scramble. It drives it's claws straight through the door, snapping the wood and shattering the glass. With a chuckle, it darts into the room and begins scrambling up the wall. It's head is bent backwards as it continues to watch its prey. Marinette waves her classmates out the broken door and into the hallway, desperate to get them to safety.

"This way!" She calls, rushing them down the stairs. She follows them until they reach the bottom floor, then peels off as they make the exit to transform.

"Tikki, what is that thing?" She whimpers when she's alone. "An akuma? An amuk? An illusion? I don't know!"

"I don't know either, Marinette. With the miraculous' he stole, Hawkmoth has any number of powers at his disposal. But whatever it is. You and Chat Noir can stop it."

Marinette takes a deep breath, knowing her small friend is right, and prepares for the fight.

The creature continues to prowl, cocking its head as it hears the scuffling of student's feet. It reaches for the doorknob to a small storage closet, only to be knocked back by Chat Noir's staff.

"Now, I'm all for a good scare, but I think you're taking things a little too far," Chat taunts as the creature scrambles to its feet. "This horror act gets a little old, you know?"

The creature flexes its claws, "Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty."

Its voice comes out in low mumbled echoes just before it charges, claws outstretched. Chat braces himself for the fight, but with a zip of Ladybug's yo-yo is soon pulled to the safety of the school roof.

"Perfect timing, m'lady. This thing…. I'm not gonna lie, it's kinda freakin' me out."

"Understandable," Ladybug nods. "We need to figure out where it's akuma is before it hurts anyone."

"Actually, I've been thinking about that. Are we sure it's an akuma?"

"No, I'm not," Ladybug hesitates.

Chat Noir puts a steadying hand on his partner's shoulder. "Whatever it is, we can take it out. Together. I'll follow you anywhere."

Another scream tears through the air as the monster scatters a group of hiding students. It sets its sights on one of them, grabbing at their ankle just as Ladybug pulls them to safety.

"It's okay, your safe now," she tries to say, but even as she says it she notices the claw marks around the girl's ankle and the blood beginning to flood her clothes.

"It's gonna eat us!" The girl screams. "We're all gonna die!"

There's a red tint to the girl's eyes as her fear escalates. Nothing Ladybug says breaks through the spell of fear.

"I'm leaning towards akuma," Ladybug shouts to her partner. "It's put her under some sort of fear spell! Don't let it touch you with its' claws!"

"Sounds like a sharp plan!" Chat Noir shouts back as his staff keeps the creature at an arms reach. Ladybug snags the monster in her yo-yo string and rips it away from her partner, eliciting a hiss from its over-wide mouth. She struggles to hold it as it writhes. Chat Noir calls on his cataclysm and prepares to end this nightmare. Then it laughs. With a violent jerk it breaks Ladybug's hold, sending her flying straight at Chat Noir. She tumbles into him, and in the chaos, his cataclysm turns her yo-yo to ash.

"It's broken, it's broken, it's really really broken," the creature sings to the tune of a nursery rhyme, grinning all the while.

"What do we do now?" Chat Noir whispers in a panicked tone.

Ladybug pulls herself to her feet, trying to think straight. "We need to lead it away from the students."

"What about the basement? There shouldn't be anyone down there."

"Everyone knows you don't go to the basement when you're being chased by a monster!" Ladybug scolds.

"Exactly, that's why there won't be anyone down there."

Ladybug groans, but follows Chat down into the school's basement storage. The creature is close behind them, so they take cover behind a crate.

"I don't have much time left before I transform back," Chat reminds her.

"I'm certain the akuma is in its claws. If we can just get it still…"

Chat glances around the crate. "I don't see it anymore," he whispers. "Maybe it got lost."

He says that, but he doesn't move. They both feel it's eyes peering towards them. They both know it's still there.

A scraping sound catches their attention as the akuma's claws scrape the walls as it comes into the room.

"Sure would be nice to have a good luck charm," Chat quietly offers.

"Once I use it, it will know where we are."

"I'll buy you some time." He leaps out from behind the crate, but the akuma is nowhere to be seen.

"Little Kitty came to play, but Little Kitty shouldn't stay."

Chat looks up in horror at the creature clinging to the ceiling above him. A blood red liquid drips from its mouth as it grins down at him.

"Tasty. Tasty. Tasty, Kitty."

Chat tries to knock the villain down with his stick, but the thing crawls about like a spider, digging it's claws into the ceiling. It's sickly, green body moves quickly to avoid him, soon dropping down with a chuckle. Chat blocks it's attack with his staff, noting the red glow of Ladybug's lucky charm.

He knows he just has to hold it off long enough for her to form a plan. But his ring is on its last paw pad. They are running out of time.

The creature looks away for just a moment as Ladybug sprints into its view, and Chat takes the chance to knock it in the head. It flails as it tries to shake away the pain, and Chat feels a sharp pain in his cheek and it's claws tear at his skin.

"Chat! Catch!" Ladybug tosses him a baseball bat, and he reaches out to catch it.

What if I don't catch it? What if I detransform before we win? What if we lose?

Chat tries to shake off the fear as it grows inside him and manages to grab the bat. He looks up to see Ladybug duck taping the creature to the wall and she is shouting for him to break the monster's claws.

But he can't do it. He is petrified by fear.

"There's no time, Ladybug! You don't have your yo-yo, and I'm about to transform back!"

He can hear his heart in his ears. He wants to run, but his feet won't move.

"Chat, look at me!" It takes all his self control to look away from those bloody red eyes and onto the red suit of his lady. He tries to focus on her features, on her fierce blue eyes.

"I need you, Kitty."

His eyes shut tight until the last moment, and Chat rushes towards the akuma. He bashes its claws with the bat, shattering them like glance. The creature roars in pain, but soon is nothing more than a freshman boy.

"Go, Chat Noir!"

Ladybug frantically points to his flashing ring, and Chat dashes up the stairs without a word of goodbye, making it out of sight just as his transformation wears off.

He slowly makes his way back up the stairs as Adrien, careful to not be seen until he is beyond the distance of suspicion. The effect of the fear spell is greater now that he is no longer transformed, and for just a moment he thinks Ladybug won't be able to use her powers to fix her yo-yo, and they won't be able to purify the akuma, and all this will happen again, only worse! And then… he feels the warm rush of her powers swirling around him. He brushes his cheek, smiling as the scratch marks disappear.

—-—(::)—

The sunset is beautiful. Chat breathes in the cool fall air, humming a song until he hears her soft landing.

"How are you doing?" Ladybug asks as she plops down beside him.

"Far better now that you're here, m'lady."

They sit in silence for a moment, and she lays her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispers to him. "When I'm uncertain, like today, you always bring me back to focus. I don't know what I would do without you."

"I rely on you too, you know," he manages to say, trying not to let the heat in his chest rise to his face. "If it wasn't for you, I would have still been petrified in that school's basement."

"Let's call it even then," Ladybug smiles as she lifts her head. "I'm gonna have nightmares about that thing for weeks though."

"Me too," Chat chuckles. "I heard it was really a kid who got teased for being spooked by the thunderstorm."

"Yeah. He wanted to punish his classmates by making them as scared as he was."

H

"Well, seems he succeeded on that part."

The sun begins to dip lower in the sky. Chat stands up and stretches, knowing he's supposed to have a late dinner with his father.

"I've got to get going," he smiles. "Until next time, m'lady."

"Until next time, Chat Noir."

(I don't have much experience with "scary" stories, so I thought this would be a good place to try something a little different. Happy October, everyone!)