The Cat Bell Curse

👣 Chapter 10 🐾

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Marinette and Nathaniel walked into the bakery after school ended. The bluenette informed her parents about Nathaniel before the two teens went up to the apartment.

   Marinette stopped in the kitchen, grabbing some snacks for them and supper for Chat. The redhead helped her carry one of the trays upstairs and wondered what the other was for.

   "Minou, I'm home!" the designer called, "and I brought a friend."

   "Who are you talking to?" the artist asked, scanning the room for who Marinette dubbed as "Minou." However, when no sound of small, padding feet came, Marinette began to worry.

   "Kitty?" Marinette called again, setting down Chat's tray then looked underneath her chaise. The space was empty.

   "Chat Noir, where are you?"

   There was still no response.

   "You never told me you had a cat," Nathaniel spoke up, Marinette almost forgetting about her friend.

   "It's not my black cat. I was looking after the poor thing until his owners were found," she replied, climbing up to the loft to find it empty as well. Nathaniel joined her in the search but neither of them found the animal anywhere in the apartment.

Marinette grew worried and was close to panicking. She grew close to Chat and couldn't-didn't want to imagine her small friend possibly getting hurt.

The teen scurried down the stairs into the bakery and ran up to the counter.

"Maman, Chat is missing," Marinette told her mother. Sabine was about to say something when a customer walked into the bakery.

"Go look for him outside but be back before it starts raining. I heard the storm is supposed to be bad," the Chinese woman told her daughter before turning her attention to the customer. Nathaniel made it down the stairs when seeing Marinette run out the door. He followed, calling her name.

"Marinette! Wait up!" Nathanaël called, a bit frustrated that his time to spend with his crush was ruined.

"It was all because a stupid cat," he thought, bitterly. Once Marinette allowed the redheaded teen to catch up, the two continued.

"Chat!" The bluenette called, searching down alleyways and trash cans. It felt like they were out their for hours and furthering their way from the bakery.

The longer Marinette couldn't find the black cat, the more her heart broke. She really loves Chat Noir to the moon and back. He was there for her in the darkest times of her bullying and lose, a heartbreak.

The day Marinette found Chat was the same day she confessed to the love of her life, Luka. He was already graduated and played an electric guitar in a band.

She was head over heels for who she thought was sweet and had a way with words. The bluenette grew attached and almost every fashion design was inspired off of the young rock star.

Yet, he broke the girl into a million pieces after embarrassing her in front of a crowd at one of his concerts. School didn't help since most of the popular kids that bullied her were at the concert.

Then Marinette went for a walk her clear her mind and found Chat. She cherished every moment with the grumpy feline and grew so fond that she fell for the animal. She grew attached again. Now, here was another devastating situation the teen was put in.

Chat was missing.

Gray clouds gathered in the sky and thunder rumbled, shaking the ground a little.

"Marinette, we should really start heading back," Nathaniel warned. Marinette didn't listen and stubbornly continued with her search.

"Seriously, what is so special about that dumb animal?" The not so shy redhead asked, angrily. The fashion designer paused then sharply turned around until her eyes met with his. A stone cold glare was sent the artist's way.

"He's not just some "dumb animal." Chat Noir is one of my best friends and has been there for me when no one else was there. Not even you were there for me when Luka broke my heart! You were one of my only friends that I could rely on and chose to stand on the sidelines and do nothing!" Marinette fumed.

"I wanted to be more than just friends, Marinette. I was going to tell you that while working on the project, but now, we're out here looking for your cat because he ran away," Nathaniel retaliated. "He probably ran away because of you probably did something!"

Marinette's eyes widen in shock then shoved the redhead out of the way, walking passed him. Small droplets began to fall from the darkening sky.

"Where are you going? We need to find shelter," Nathaniel called Marinette. The determined girl didn't turn around, only replied, "Knock yourself out! I'm finding my cat!"

Nathaniel didn't reply after that, instead he went to take cover from the oncoming storm. Marinette didn't look back and knew they weren't friends anymore. She didn't care and continued her search for her beloved pet. Chat Noir.

"Chat Noir, please be okay," Marinette silently, prayed.

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"When I get my jaws on you, you'll be looking worse than road kill!" Theo barked at Adrien. Adrien was running low on steam, lungs begging for air. It was only a matter of time before he completely runs out and meets his fate in the muzzle of a dog.

Adrien never would of thought he would die by being hunted and killed by a dog. If someone told him that a month ago that he would be killed by a stray dog, he would've laughed and used some colorful words.

"Why does my life suck!" The human-minded cat thought, breathing heavily. The sky grew darker and a darker with each passing minute while rain grew heavier and heavier. Adrien could barely see a few feet in front of him.

Deciding to risk a turn into the alleyway, Adrien almost slipped but was able to balance himself. Some good luck was on his side until it became bad luck when the alleyway was actually a dead end. No fence with a hole to save him, just a brick wall with no escape routes.

"I've been waiting a long time to do this," Theo happily growled, slowly inching closer to Adrien. The black cat's heart pounded from running and fear as the dog came closer. He was stiff as the wall behind him and frozen with shaky limbs.

The dog pounced and Adrien turned, closing his eyes and waited for the pain. Nothing came except for the sound of a grunt and a yelp. Green eyes opened slightly to see Theo being wrestled down by someone. He wasn't able to make out who it was though.

The two rolled on the ground, trying to cease dominance in their fight for power. Theo barked and snapped at the person above him while Adrien's savior grunted and struggled against the hound.

Only when a flash of lighting came did Adrien see the hooded person's arm get bitten by Theo. Adrien heard a loud snap of the person's arm then his or her's scream. He recognized that scream, making his heart drop to his stomach.

"Marinette!" Adrien gasped in fear. He watched as Theo pinned down the screaming girl to the ground. Suddenly, Adrien wasn't stiff anymore. Without a second thought, he pushed away from the wall and ran into battle.

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