Chapter Two

Lila

"Paris is still reeling from the horrible, horrible attack on the Grand Paris, where almost all the inhabitants and guests, including Mayor Andre Bourgeois, fashion critic and Style Queen Audrey Bourgeois, and their daughter Chloé Bourgeois, were found murdered last Tuesday," Nadja Chamack narrated on her nightly news broadcast. "For those not yet in the know, there were no survivors, save Zoe Lee, Audrey Bourgeois's second daughter, who was out the night of the attack. The images circulating are incredibly disturbing, suggesting a level of violence even Monarch's most fearsome creations could never achieve. Scarabella and Kitty Noire have pledged to bring the culprit to justice, using all due force necessary. Security footage of the attacker…"

"Oh, Chloé," Lila muttered as she turned the volume on the TV down. "How did you get yourself into this mess?"

The attack had been the only thing on people's minds at school. The only thing anyone would talk about. Sabrina was in hysterics. Max was trying to prove that, statistically, it had to be a particularly dangerous akumatized villain, some type of serial killer, perhaps. Kim was spouting off claims that it was a cryptid monster made real. Alya and her dumb boyfriend were busy talking with Mylene, Juleka, Rose, and Adrien, and from what Lila overheard, Marinette had gone missing days ago.

Lila had smirked a little behind their backs. She had noticed Marinette was drifting off more and more ever since Monarch's attacks resumed. If she was lucky, Marinette had taken care of the Marinette problem for her.

Of course, she had to keep up the act of the horribly distraught friend, comforting Sabrina and asking for donations for Chloé's funeral. Part of her believed it. Ever since the girls had entered their partnership, she had felt an odd affection for Chloé. As far as Lila was concerned, it wasn't true love. Now that her plaything in crime was gone, she realized what Chloé meant to her.

"Like my favorite toy that I just lost forever," Lila sighed. She glanced at the time, even though she knew her 'mother' - really just another pawn, in her mind - wouldn't be home that night. "Just as well, really," she muttered. "I like having the place to myself."

Then a creaking sound caught her attention. Lila whirled around, almost instinctively going into a boxing stance. Like she had trained herself to.

All her training blanked once she saw what was creaking. Her eyes flicked towards the TV screen as they widened to the size of dinner plates. It was after her.

"D- do your worst," she attempted to snarl defiantly, but it came out as more of a panicked stutter. The monster's burlap-covered head tilted, mimicking a bird. Then it's metal maw seemed to shift into a crescent smile.

"Lavender Arancione," it said in a horribly ragged voice. "Delphi Giallo. Wisteria Marrone. Their blood. Your hands. Just like last time. Not like last time. Not like last time. All lies."

Lila took a shocked step back. Her trail had been clean. She was sure of it. "You… who are you?! What are you?!"

The monster laughed a horrible, ruined laugh. "Not… like… them. Or… you. They worry. You know. Unloved. Because lies, lies, lies."

"Stop it!" Lila screamed as she became increasingly skittish… and aware of her heartbeat. Thu-thump. Thu-thump.

The monster seemed to notice her pounding fear, too. It ran a previously unnoticed red-black tongue over its metal teeth. Thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump.

"They're… dead," the monster's tone changed, Lila noticed. It was almost listing her crimes. "Just… like… their… mothers. Just… like… your… mother."

Lila noticed the monster's scythe shift slightly, as the beady black eyes seemed to somehow, impossibly, darken further and the glowing mass of evil in its cage writhed faster.

"Just. Like. You."

A red-black tendril of evil erupting from the cage, punching through Lila's chest and wrapping around her torso. Thu-thump thu-thump thu-thump thu-thump.

Lila gasped - she couldn't manage a scream - as the magic started to pull her life away from her, her heart pounding faster and faster.

Thu-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump-tha-thump.

The magic pulled her closer to the monster. She couldn't fight it. She felt her skin crack, her organs beginning to fail one by one, her hair - wig and natural - all falling out, all as her heart kept pounding.

"No…" Lila pathetically begged. At last the magic released her, and she fell to the ground, an inch away from death. The monster's ragged smile widened as it pulled her into the dark, eager to finish the job. Lila still couldn't scream. She couldn't do anything but succumb.