⚠⚠⚠ (!!Warning!! Suicide, abuse, self-harm, swearing and bullying are mentioned throughout this chapter and I advise sensitive readers to be cautious reading ahead.) ⚠⚠⚠

Lots of love Abs xx

Her bluebell eyes scanned her surroundings struggling to find any source of life, the room or wherever she was, was nothing but drowned in darkness and it nerved Marinette to no end.

Even if she was a guardian and the leading heroine of Paris, she was allowed to have her own fears but she never let them slip to anyone and she means anyone; No Kwami knew, no family member knew, no friend knew, only Marinette alone knew and maybe that was a mistake but then again...

Marinette nor Ladybug made mistakes like this... Neither girl knew mistakes, they were a foreign concept.

It was all dark and she didn't like it one bit.

It was Dark

It's too dark

She doesn't even speak, yet her voice cracks like someone dropping pure glass from a great height and she can feel it in her chest before it even begins.

She sucks in the shakiest of breaths and her now pale fingers twitch with a sensation she doesn't have a name to give it so it will remain nameless for the time being but she does know one thing for sure,,, She doesn't like this unknown sensation at all.

Get it out, Get it outt!

It felt like pins and needles but instead of it feeling weird and funny, it felt painful and if it wasn't disappearing anytime soon then she'd prefer it killed her on the spot.

It felt like when you stub your toes against a hard surface and you can't help but clutch your foot with all your might till it somewhat stopped hurting but this level of pain was one hundred times worse, she'd love for the sensation to disappear and if it wasn't leaving anytime soon then she'd prefer if it killed her on the spot.

It felt like when someone's come and hit you in your funny bone and the feeling isn't painful but it isn't ticklish either, it ranges from somewhere in-between but it all depends on the person since different people have different reactions to the feeling, but this agitation is unbelievable and if it wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon then she'd prefer for it to kill her right now.

This thing felt like it was suffocating her, it was making her feel dizzy, it was like this thing was giving her a concussion, this feeling was constantly stabbing her, whatever this thing was exactly was murdering her and she couldn't handle it despite the nameless thing being present for less than five minutes.

If this thing wasn't going to leave and disappear anytime soon then she would willingly ask to be murdered by it this very second.

Marinette's gone through a lot during just a span of four years and that's an understatement.

The black 'light' was closing in ever so fast and she was struggling to keep afoot.

Her eyes moved rapidly from left to right and beads of sweat collected on her forehead, her body temperature, heart rate and anxiety were all rising at the same speed and she soon...

She couldn't feel her lungs working, they stopped just like that and she lost air. She felt the absence of the thing for a millisecond before it came crashing down on her like hell fire.

A ringing sound echoed in her ears beating on her ear drums and she couldn't even hear her own thought track,,, she couldn't feel the hot sweat or her jammed heartbeat. She could no longer feel.

Marinette couldn't feel.

Marinette couldn't see.

Marinette couldn't hear.

Marinette couldn't taste.

Marinette couldn't smell.

Marinette simply just couldn't anymore.

This thing was consuming her and she for the first time in her life she had no choice, she had no escape plan, she was finally stuck and then everything happened so fast that she wasn't even given time to react or to even feel a single emotion.

With a silent gasp her eyes flipped open as she sucked in the deepest of breaths, she lay frozen fully confused of her situation.

Her legs were tangled in her duvet as her arms lay idly at her side gripping the white bedsheet that was slightly damp from her sweat; she had such a grip that her already pale knuckles were going pure white, her deep coloured pillow slightly darker on both sides of her head showing her tears that no longer stain her porcelain cheeks.

It was all just a dream... Just a dream

It was a flipping nightmare. It all felt so damn real but it was just a dream.

Marinette could remember everything before she fell asleep. She remembers Diana leaving the manor after having discussed with her for God knows how long, she remembers having confronted her classmates and the feeling of accomplishment wash over her like cold water, she can remember feeding the Kwami and all of them joking around together making the bluenette laugh till her cheeks hurt, she remembered helping Alfred bake Victoria sponge cake and she was so at peace that it felt odd.

Marinette could remember eating dinner with Titus and Alfred the cat before the rest of the Bat Clan joined her one by one, she remembers them playing board games that consisted of Monopoly, Uno, Chess, Guess who, Snap and scrabble; she could vividly imagine the hours they spent playing in her head: the amount of swearing and the amount of bets that were taken place and the sore losers and the little amount of winners and the infinite sound of laughter and the classic bickering and the near physical fights and the snacks and most importantly, she would forever love, cherish and remember the continuous vibe and atmosphere of the unforgettable night.

She remembered all of them laughing their butts off and she couldn't remember a time where she ever felt this much joy but she couldn't care less because she enjoyed the moment so much she forgot all of the problems she had in Paris, she forgot all the problems she had with her ex-classmates.

All her dilemmas were left in the dust for just that little while but it was more than worth it.

She missed her family and was glad she didn't leave.

Marinette forgot how much she used to love the simple things in life, she used to love small presentations of affection whether platonic or not, she always had a strong dislike for media and the use of money but that heavily impacted her during her time in Paris, she lost her bright and extrovert self.

Marinette lost herself amidst the toxic fog but the fog was fading away, it might be fading slowly but it was at a gradual pace that she could live with.

The bluenette could then remember all of them bunking in one of the many lounges of the Manor, all the 'Children' of the household gathering together and sleeping in a deep pile of thick blankets and fluffy pillows.

Despite not being related by blood they were all siblings and they couldn't care less about what people on the outside thought of them because at the end of the day it was just them, it would always just be them alone yet together in a brutal world that they would strive through as a chaotic family.

The 'kids' piled onto each other like dominos not having a single care in the world for their differences and selective time periods of dislike to one another, all of that out the window as they lived in the moment.

They played a final game of one word story that lasted for a little more than an hour, leaving them all in another fit of contagious laughter despite the zero lighting in the pitch black room and uncomfortable positions every single one of them lay in.

This was the best part of being a family and it was during moments like this where they all forgot that the majority of them were legally a Wayne.

Marinette very roughly remembers falling asleep after the several failed attempts to do so, and she wasn't alone meaning that they all stayed up even longer and the night seemed to be endless.

The 'children' inside the manor somehow had a very random yet comfortable conversation about the most random things but they had no care in the world because that's just how they are.

They all eventually went to sleep content with how the evening ended and savouring the rare moment because this only ever happens so often but they all do make an effort to have a night like this every Friday.

Someone must've carried Marinette to her room after she fell asleep since she was no longer surround by her family in the lounge they were all previously in. Marinette had no care for who carried her or the reason as to why she was relocated because she only had a single thought mindlessly lying in her now empty mind.

Whatever that thing was, the painful sensation that she wish just killed her. Oh God, it felt so real that she's no longer able to tell if this is still a dream or if its her reality.

'It was all just a dream.' Marinette kept on repeating the phrase, the six words being her mantra for the next ten minutes or maybe even longer, she's not sure.

It all felt too real but it isn't, it's all just a simple yet complex nightmare that she had never experienced before.

It was all fake, right?

Marinette isn't so sure about that.