"Did you hear about the murders?"

Marinette had drawn out her voice, but it was certainly the last thing she wanted to hear first thing in the morning.
It wasn't abnormal that Marinette couldn't properly function without her normal everyday morning coffee.

She was tired, and that much was evident. Marinette had attained her coveted job since high school, but she had to admit that it held a lot more responsibility than she had initially anticipated.

She couldn't complain.

The money was decent, the hours were convenient and she was able to proudly show off her designs on the runway during fashion week. It was a huge accomplishment, and despite Marinette working under the Agreste name she was quite proud that she got her ideas out there.

But despite working for the Agreste fashion company for five years, Marinette had still held dreams of starting her own business. Twenty-four could be seen as too young to start one, but Marinette wanted to break that glass ceiling. Her ambitions were just incredibly too big.

"Is this a proper morning conversation?" Marinette replied, a light chuckle in her voice, as her blue eyes moved towards the coffee machine by the tills in the employee cafe.

"Perhaps it is a little impertinent." Chloe scoffed, moving alongside Marinette as they awaited their turn for the expresso line. "But I felt that it was imperative you'd be notified about a serial killer in Paris who seems to go after women with a specific look."

Marinette tucked some of her thick hair behind her ear, the young woman adjusted the structure of her pencil skirt. "Is that something I should be concerned about?" Marinette questioned, briefly glancing over at Chloe who scrolled through her phone with pursed lips.

"I'd have to say yes." Chloe replied promptly. "Besides the fact that it's too close to home, the murderer seems to go for young women in their early to mid twenties. All the victims had dark hair and light colored eyes..."

Marinette pressed her lips together, shifting in her heels as she couldn't help but to notice the slight twinge in her chest.
"Are you implying that I'm his type?" Marinette inquired, keeping her eyes trained on the coffee machine. Her mind briefly wandered over to what flavor cream she'd use, her stomach hurt at the thought of a serial killer following her all the way to the bus stop after her shifts at work.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Chloe chuckled. "Those poor women who were completely butchered all looked like you." The blonde pointed out, running her index finger through her high ponytail. "What if the killer already has his sights set on you?"

"I'd say he's welcome to!" Marinette joked, inwardly cringing at her dark humor, but the conversation was growing a bit too serious for comfort. "At least then you'd have more slots open to put your designs on display."

Chloe scoffed, a small smile on her lips as she slowly crossed her arms. "Oh please, we both know I belong on that stage. I do better on it than behind it if you know what I mean..."

"I think I have an idea." Marinette scoffed, her heart fluttering within her chest at the opportunity to finally grab a cup off coffee and get to work on a few designs that were due by the end of the week.

"Don't you think it's weird how Paris has a man dressed in a Cat suit tracking down crimes and bringing criminals to justice? I mean, I know we shouldn't compare real life to horribly written comic books, but this person may be a bit delusional." Chloe deadpanned, scrolling through her phone.
The blonde paused her digit, her blue eyes narrowing on a news article displaying the silhouette of the Cat like hero deep into the night.

"I've never met him and I wouldn't dream to. He sounds like a freak playing games. This is real life, we have police and medical workers and authorities, one of which includes my daddy who runs this town." Chloe explained. "We don't need crazy men in tight leather suits to play superhero."

Marinette scoffed, shaking her head as she kept her arms crossed.
She recalled the first time Chat Noir made an appearance for the first time a few years ago. It was only a year after Marinette started her freshman year at IFA.
She thought it was a little strange that he had emerged from nowhere. To think that there was a man dressed in a cat suit, with superhuman strength and was incredibly flexible and fearless when it came to leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

Marinette had initially shared the same thoughts as any sane person would. She felt that it was a little odd and police should handle these situations. Marinette even believed that Chat Noir was just a furry who wanted to dip his paws in business that had no right to be in. But he got the job done, and in fact did the job better than the local police did.

As far as she was concerned, the safer the city was, the more content she was with living there. She didn't care who or how it got done, as long as it got done.

She had never met Chat Noir in person, as she knew that meeting him never came under good circumstances. Marinette always made sure to keep her nose clean and mind her business. She was sure he was a decent man outside of his nightly duties of patrolling, but the last thing Marinette needed was to fall into a rabbit hole of danger and needing a black cat to pick her out by the scruff.

Marinette wouldn't have minded meeting him, but she knew that anyone whose ever met him, only did so because they were in grave danger. That simply wasn't what she wanted to be in.

"I'm sure it wouldn't be too bad to meet him. At least you know you'd be in safe arms. He's collected more bad guys than the police have." Marinette explained, stepping closer to the line of coffee and expresso makers by the tills. "No offense to Sabrina's father, but they really needed the help."

Chloe watched as Marinette had the room to approach the coffee maker. The young woman carefully pulled a paper cup from the dispenser and placed it beneath the coffee drip with an extreme want in her eyes.
There was nothing that could get between Marinette and her coffee.

"If that was the case, then why hasn't he discovered who the serial murder is? It's not like he's clean with his crimes. Two of the victims were found with semen on them. He raped the victims just as he was done cutting their throats. There's a ton of evidence left behind, someone as mighty as Chat Noir who prowls the street surely would have discovered who this sicko is by now. I'm tired of the streets being empty like we're quarantined to a pandemic. I want to be able to go clubbing again without constantly looking behind my back or abiding to a curfew."

Marinette rolled her eyes, her fingertips lightly digging into her arms as she awaited for her paper cup to fill so she could add her favorite hazelnut cream and seven pounds of sugar.

"Some serial killers can be tricky to locate. He could leave all the DNA evidence he desires. If he's not in the database with prior criminal records or if he's not from around here, they can't tell for sure who it is. As far as I'm concerned this person doesnt leave any witnesses. All Chat Noir needs is to be at the right place in the right time. I'm sure he'll get to finding whoever this murderer is eventually, and then we can try to go back to our normal lives if we aren't unfortunate enough to get a copycat killer." Marinette sighed, slowly reaching over to grab her cup and move it to the side so that she could layer it beneath the creamer pump.

"Can't that come soon enough?" Chloe groaned, grabbing a papercup from the dispenser and moving over towards the expresso line. "It feels like it's been forever since we were able to go out. I mean, except for you. I know you'd stay in doors anyway, but I have a social life to maintain."

"Mm." Marinette hummed, pumping the creamer into her coffee until it was at a satisfying shade. She then moved over to the sugar where she began to dump as much as she could into it. "That's too bad I don't have to look over my shoulder every four seconds because I'm safe within the confines of my own home. Some clubs haven't closed, the ones that have closed only do it for our protection. You're still free to go out and maintain a social life, but they urge you to bring some sort of protection with you or that you don't go out alone. It's just a new normal for now until they catch the guy who is doing this." Marinette explained, stirring the sugar into her coffee.

"Seems like a lot to get over." Chloe deadpanned, shaking her head as Marinette snapped a lid on her coffee and took a long hard gulp. "Good luck during fashion week. Maybe if I'm lucky Mr. Agreste would allow me to walk the stage. I've known his family for years."

"So you've said a million times, Chloe." Marinette interjected. "Look, it was nice talking to you, but I'm behind on a few projects and they're all due by the end of this week. I'd love nothing more than to talk about Chat Noir being a furry and complaining about how the clubs close at midnight instead of three am, but I really need to get my priorities in order if I want to keep my job, pay off my debts, and start my own corporation with proper experience."

Chloe simply watched Marinette with a flaccid expression, completley unphased by Marinette's studious way of life. She'd always been that way since high school. Chloe didn't feel bad for her though, as far as she was concerned, Marinette was a boring girl with nothing else going on for her.

Marinette tucked her paperwork beneath her arm and she clutched on to the coffee cup.
The dark haired women clambered away in a hurry, occasionally tripping on her heels as she made her way out of the cafeteria and into the hallway so she could catch the elevator to her tenth floor office that she was graciously given after four years of hard work.

The blonde shook her head, snapping the lid on to her paper cup after she had pumped an extra shot of expresso.

Some people just never change.

_________________________________________

Marinette groaned, closing her sketchbook and sliding it to the side of her desk. She had spent the entire night working on designs.
Chloe had gotten into her head, and more often than not, Marinette caught herself worrying about the description of the women who were murdered. Marinette strayed away from her work, researching the backstories of the victims and upon learning that these women did look remarkably similar to one another.

They all matched her description. Dark hair, light eyes, pale freckled skin and a lean body build. Marinette had to admit that the murderer had a specific type, and she had cursed her genes for making her this way. She even contemplated purchasing a blonde wig, or dying her hair a crazy pink color. Marinette even contemplated getting a horribly orange spray tan. She was desperate enough to dress up as a clown, so long as it kept her safe.

The building was empty, and it was thirty minutes past curfew, Marinette only had an hour to catch a bus and get home or she'd be stranded walking.
She slung her purse over her shoulder, locked the doors and took an elevator down to the lobby. Marinette bid her farewells to the cleaning crew and she happily waltzed out into the night air.

Marinette bit her lip, fumbling with her purse as Chloe's words earlier only fueled her paranoia. She exhaled, mentally convincing herself not to look over her shoulder every twelve seconds. She inwardly scolded herself for listening to Chloe. She should have learned long ago during high school that Chloe babbled nonsense.

What was there to be scared of?
This murderer had been out for nearly two months, and Marinette managed to remain unscathed since then.

It was a little sad that the other women suffered, and the stab wounds were said to be horrific. The thought of it alone made her stomach turn.
She glanced up at the night sky, her heart sinking as she wept inside. The families of those women had to have been torn. It was a hard concept to grasp that all the women were in their twenties, and had their lives cut short so horribly and tragically.

Marinette could only hope that Chat Noir was nearby. All the murders happened at night, she couldn't be so sure as to why he wasn't able to capture him or see anything when all he did was prowl around at night.

She exhaled, lowering her eyes down to the pavement below. Marinette knew that Chat Noir must've had a life outside of prancing around Paris in a cat costume and climbing building all the while risking his life and sleep trying to keep the streets of Paris safe.

Marinette couldn't imagine trying to balance a double life as a hero.

She paused, immediately shaking her head as she was merely steps away from her designated bustop.

What was she thinking?!
Chat Noir was completely insane! He honestly shouldn't be out in the middle of the night watching everyone when the police were hired by the mayor to do the job! These things should be left for the police!

Marinette gripped on to her hair, curling her toes within her heels as she allowed Chloe to get into her head once more. She was being incredibly paranoid and Marinette was hating every single second of it. She just needed to go home, have a shower and relax until she had to wake up bright and early for work the next day.

Marinette knew the better option was to distract herself with thoughts about work. She needed to get some sewing done and she needed to have them measured for the models so that they'd be ready for the runway.

She needed to stop with all this nonsense that required anything to do about Chat Noir, the murders or even Chloe.
It would only distract her away from the things that really mattered and that was to get her work done. Marinette was married to her work, she didn't have time to worry about that other stuff.

She had been okay for weeks up until this point, there was no need for her to suddenly get worked up now.

And for what?
For something Chloe said?

Marinette pressed her lips together, clutching on to her purse as it was only then that she realised that the streets were virtually empty. She had never been out past curfew before and she knew that there were some businesses open, but no one dared to be out this late. All the women that matched the description of the serial murders wouldn't dare to go out alone in a situation like this.

Yet, here Marinette was. A young woman in her twenties with a small build and a freckled face, busy body with dark hair out and about on an empty street just waiting to be hunted like fresh kill.

Marinette paused at her bus stop, her heart racing as she stood in dead silence. There was not a soul in sight. She wondered if the bus would be empty as well. The killer could have been anyone, it could even be the bus driver.

She chewed on her bottom lip, realizing that no matter how many times she tried to stay away from the subject that fueled her anxiety, she somehow got stuck on it.
Marinette never wanted to stay past curfew again. If another murder occurred that wasn't hers, she'd avoid any type of media like the plague.

This was something that had to be dealt with by the police, and if the mysterious Chat Noir could somehow help put a stop to it as well, then so be it.

All Marinette had to do was wait for her bus and mind her own business. She needed to worry about work, and that was all that mattered. The rest was simply an anxiety fueler.

The warm breeze blew through her hair as Marinette waited in silence, she reached up, attempting to brush her fingers through her bangs, but she never made it.
Marinette barely had time to think before she felt a tight grip on her wrist and she was suddenly pulled into darkness.

Her eyes darted around her, unable to see who had grabbed her and a small whimper escaped her lips the moment her face was slammed against the hard surface of a brick building at the end of a block.
She twisted her ankle, but the searing pain that radiated across her face hurt more than the fact that her ankle was possibly swelling.
Marinette couldn't make out a figure, and she couldn't make out where she had suddenly been dragged to, but all of the curiosity washed away the moment she felt a cool blade of a knife pressed against the tender area of her throat.

This couldn't be happening.
This couldn't have happened to her.

Perhaps Chloe was right all along.
This would be the night that she'd die.

"Don't move..." the husky voice murmured into her ear. "Or I'll run this through your neck..."

Marinette flinched, the fear that soaked into her bones made her unable to move.

"P-Please..." Marinette whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut as she waited for the worst to happen. After what she had read happened to the victims, Marinette didn't expect any less. "Don't do this. I swear I'll give you anything you want. I won't even say a word-"

"Shut up!" The assailant interjected, his free hand twisting into her hair and pushing her face harder against the brick building. "Your fucking begging is getting annoying. If you want your fucking head on the floor, I'd suggest you shut that pretty little mouth of yours."

Marinette trembled, tears pooling in her eyes as she clenched on to her keys. There was no one in sight.

There were no police cars.
No Chat Noir.
No witnesses.

Nothing.

If Marinette was going to die, she'd at least try to defend herself and take her chances while going down. She had nothing remotely sharp on her but if she wound her keys around her knuckles precisely enough, she'd at least have the chance of getting his eyes and using her heels as a weapon.

Marinette had no intentions of going down without a fight.

She slowly looped her keys into her knuckles, her chest heaving as she was about to make her move but paused the moment she saw the flash of silver and a pair of glowing green eyes that scared her more than the assault.

Her eyes widened the moment a metal stick plummeted into the space beside her head, and immediately she could feel the knife on her neck jerk away. Marinette could have fallen to her knees, but she had been uncomfortably pressed up against the wall.

The assailant was sandwiched between her and the mysterious male who had taken the stance behind the both of them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

Marinette gulped, her brow furrowing at the sound of another voice who came in to join the escapade.
Marinette could vividly feel the man behind her laugh, the knife then moving to her side as she remained still.

"So you're the Chat Noir that everyone's been talking about I assume..." he muttered, lightly moving away from Marinette who awkwardly stood there. Her heart squeezed in her chest and Marinette thanked her lucky stars that someone had arrived just at the right time.

She wasn't sure if she had finally helped out in the mysterious serial murders or if they both were going to end up dead.

All she did know was that she had no intentions of staying out after curfew ever again