Kidnapped (A Miraculous Ladybug tale)

Chapter 1

Welcome to the remake of the first chapter! I hope you enjoy! 😊

It was a warm summer day, just like any other. Marinette was playing in the park with her best friend, a large grin on her face as she chased him around the park. Her parents were busy today, so she got to hang out with him today, and they were having a blast. "Tag! You're it." She giggled as she ran away, as fast as she could. This didn't last long though, as she became distracted by a small ladybug on a bush. "Ooh, it's so pretty." She was startled from her fascination as the boy suddenly ran into her, not expecting her to stop so suddenly. "Oof" "I'm sorry. Are you ok?" Marinette had been knocked over by the sudden force. "I'm fine. Look at this pretty ladybug though!" She pointed to the spot it had been just a moment ago, but the ladybug was gone, having flown off during the ruckus. "Aww," she turned out her lip and looked down. "It flew away." Just then, she felt something tickle on her right hand. She looked down to see what it was, and to her surprise, the little ladybug had landed on her hand. She carefully lifted it up. "Look ______ isn't it pretty?" "I can't believe it landed on me," she whispered. He nodded his head, also staring in awe at this tiny creature. They stayed staring like that for what felt like hours before the ladybug finally flew off again, riding a gentle breeze. They watched it fly off for a few moments before, "Tag! You're it!" ______ jumped up and quickly ran off. "Hey! No fair!" Marinette got up to run after him once more.

By the time ______'s parents called the two over to head home, it was already late. The sun was starting to go down, and his parents wanted to get the two home before it got dark. "Ok!" they said in unison, as they turned to run back. ______ was just a little further ahead of Marinette, but that fact would prove to make a world of difference. Before she even knew what was happening, Marinette felt big hands grab her from behind, one of them covering her mouth. She kicked and struggled, but it was no use. She tried to call out for help, but her voice was to muffled and quiet, ______ couldn't hear her. His parents were on the other side of the playground, and couldn't see her either, she realized there was nothing she could do as they roughly threw her in the back of a dark van. She tried to call peer out the window, but it was too high for her to reach. She shouted for help, and banged on the door, hoping somebody, anybody, would save her. However, if anyone did hear her, they never came to her rescue, as she banged on the doors till her hands hurt, and cried out till her voice was hoarse. Her attempts grew meeker, until eventually she sunk down on the floor of the van and cried. There was nothing else that she could do now, and as she let the emotions wash over her, she sobbed herself to sleep, gently leaning against the cold metal wall of the van.

~-----~

It had been hours since Marinette had gone missing. ______'s parents had noticed something was wrong when he came back from the other side of the playground without her. After searching all over, they had been unsuccessful in finding her, and feared the worst. The cops had been called a while ago, but they had stated that there was nothing they could do at the moment, and to wait. Of course, this did nothing to ease the parent's worry. Mr. and Mrs. Dupen-Cheng were even more fretful and distraught than they were, and Marinette's disappearance weighed heavily on their conscience. ______ had cried himself to sleep in his mom's arms, worried for his best friend. Both sets of parents didn't get much sleep that night. The Dupen-Cheng's staying up in hopes that Mari would somehow find her way home. They had wanted to go out and search themselves, but had been talked down by the police, insisting that it would do no good. Hesitently, they, had agreed, and stayed at home. ______'s parents, were unable to rest easy that night, knowing that their friends child had gone missing while she was under their care.

~-----~

After many months, the police closed the search for Marinette Dupen-Cheng, stating that there was nothing else they could do. Even though they knew that each day that ticked by made it less and less likely to find their daughter, Tom and Sabine Dupen-Cheng, had held on to the hope that she would be found. When the news was delivered to them, they broke. Their shred of hope at finding their daughter was gone. The bakery that they owned, and ran, was closed down for a time of mourning. Up till now, they had kept the doors open, despite the customers wishing for the two to rest. They kept saying, "If our daughter manages to find our way back, she'll be able to follow the smell of our pastries through the open door," but now, they needed time to process and accept their loss. It was 2 months before they finally opened the bakery again. While this place had painful memories for them, during their time of mourning, they had regained a small sliver of hope. They decided to keep the bakery running, in the hopes that perhaps one day, Marinette could find her way home. It's been many years now, since that fateful day, but still, Tom and Sabine continue to keep their doors open every day, keeping their small sliver of hope alive.

Hmm, this seems like a good place to stop, with a nice little intro to it. Next chapter we'll be diving a little deeper into Mari's experiences while being kidnapped, something I rather glossed over last time. Don't worry, there won't be any overly mature content, but it might get a little darker than before. If anything gets too bad, I'll give a warning beforehand, so that those who wish to, may skip over that part. ☺️

See you next time my lovely Kittens! ❤️

P.S. The cover for this book is a work in progress. 😅