Adrien's blood turned into ice and he stiffened. Images of black, crouched shadows that followed him from the square to his backdoor, shot through his brain. Here at his own house, they had managed to capture him. Stupid! He had felt safe, hadn't looked back, because the whispering voices had gone away. And now….

In the distance struck the church tower ten thirty. One lonely hit, a saddening sound.

"Psst, Adrien!" Whispered a voice. That too! They even knew his name. Adrien's hand was still resting on the doorknob from the back door. It looked like his hand was permanently stuck. If he would let go of the doorknob, he would be dragged away, taken by the shadows. Very slowly he turned his head. Through an opening in the hedge, a pale face looked at him. Long raven hair fell messy over the eyes.

Adrien let the doorknob go with a sigh. "Marinette! You scared the shit out of me! Why did you sneak up on me?"

"I wasn't sneaking up on you. I'm standing in our own garden and I tapped you on your shoulder, that's all. I had no idea you were this jumpy." The girl next door retracted her hand through the hedge.

"Speaking of sneaking, your sneaking like a thief through your own garden. And why did you let the air out of your tire?" Marinette giggled. "Sorry, but that looks pretty stupid."

Adrien's head turned red. Turns out Marinette had spied on him the entire time. "I'm home late 'cause of a party." He muttered. "I'm trying to get in without my parents noticing me. And that flat tire is an excuse if they find me. If they fall for it at least." He looked at Marinette. Should he tell her what happened? Ah, what does it matter. Maybe she would laugh at him, but he had to tell someone.

"You know…"

"What?"

"Well, normally I don't get frightened that easily, but I've had a strange evening."

"Strange? In what way?"

Adrien quickly told her about the strange shadows on the market square and the black van. "Crawling shadows?" Marinette asked. Adrien nodded. While he was telling the story, he realized how stupid it sounded. He sighed and shrugged.

"Forget it. It's probably all nonsense. I have to get into my room without being seen, that's the bigger problem." Marinette didn't laugh at him. She had an absent look in her eyes, like she had only listened to a small part of his story.

"My parents aren't even noticing that I'm out of bed," Marinette said. Adrien examined her. There was something disturbing in her voice.

"Problems?" Marinette shrugged.

"Do you believe…" She hesitated for a moment and wiped the hairs from her face. "Do you think that people can change, just like that?"

"Just like that? In one fell swoop? Bam. Changed. Do you mean that?"

"No, I mean that you suddenly notice that they changed unnoticed. Like a sneaky way, so you don't notice until they really have changed." The moon had come out from behind a cloud and it shone exactly on the hole in the hedge on Marinette's face. Adrien noticed that she was very pale, like she hadn't slept for days.

"Who are 'they'?" He asked. "Your parents?" Marinette nodded.

"It's been going on for a long time, but I noticed it just recently."

"What is it? What are they doing?"

"Nothing," Marinette said. "That's the problem. They don't do anything other than watching TV. The entire evening, until deep into the night they sit like some kind of zombies watching the TV."

"So? Isn't that normal? My parents also do nothing but watch TV. When you're getting older, like forty or something, then you don't have much more to do, I think. Or maybe they're just better channels than back in the days." Marinette shook her head.

"That's what I thought at first, but the only thing they've been watching is TV 12, it's the same program every time. And there's more to that. I feel it. During the day, they act normal. They do the things they have to do. Ironing, doing the dishes and stuff like that. My papa also just goes to work, but he isn't complaining anymore."

Adrien chuckled gently. "Is that bad?"

"My papa used to complain everyday," Marinette said. "About his boss, his colleagues, the working hours. But not anymore. Like it all doesn't matter anymore. They don't even ask how school has been, or where I'm going. It's not normal."

"Seems great to me," Adrien said. "I wish my parents would change too. Then I could do whatever I wanted, come home late whenever I want." Marinette bit her bottom lip.

"There's more. I think the colour of their eyes have changed."

"What?" Adrien looked at Marinette in disbelief. Marinette had always had a wide imagination and it looks like it had come back.

"To be honest, I've never looked at my parents eyes very well," Marinette said. "I mean, they're my parents. I've known them my entire life, they're just as predictable as the furniture. I thought they had both some kind of bluish-grey eyes, but I'm not sure. Anyway, the colour has changed now. Now, they both have something yellow in their eyes."

"Something yellow?"

"Yes, a yellow shine. I don't really know how to describe it, but I'm sure it's true." Adrien scratched the back of his head and looked at the backdoor. There were still no lights in the kitchen.

"Listen, I really need to get inside," Adrien stuck his hand through the hedge and put some of Marinette's hair behind her ear. "We can talk more in the morning, okay?" Adrien's hand was still on Marinette's face. He was truly worried about his friend, but he had to get inside before his parents noticed that he was still not inside. Marinette hesitantly nodded. She grabbed Adrien's hand and pushed it back through the hedge. She then disappeared.

Adrien turned around and walked over the door with a shaking head. Marinette might have thought too much about it. Her story was even weirder than his own. But, in the meantime it was already almost eleven fortyfive. If I'll still make it, then I'm a good boy, Adrien thought.

When he was back at the back door, he heard a sound like someone was clearing his throat. He looked over his shoulder. On the street, close to the garden fence, someone was watching him. A man with a large bunch of curls.

When he noticed that Adrien was watching him, he quickly walked away. For a moment, Adrien felt a large chill over his body. Did someone spy on him? He quickly shook the thought away. Probably someone who was walking their dog. Nothing to worry about.

He pushed the doorknob of the kitchen door down slowly. That went well. The door wasn't making any noise. There was still no light in the kitchen. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him carefully, he then turned around. From the living room, the bland shine of the TV shone into the hall and kitchen. They were still awake. No luck there.

From shock, he took a step back. At the kitchen table sat a dark figure, who was staring at him with luminous, yellow eyes.