The Bug Bites

9- Murderous

Everyone had a soulmate.

You didn't exactly know who they were by name, but you knew who they were deep down. No matter what, you would know what kind of person your soulmate was.

When people were born, they were born with two sentences. On their right arm, one sentence layed written which would tell them the first thing their soulmate ever said to them once you met in person. You couldn't cover this up, and the whole world was open to see what your Soulmates first words would be to you.

On your left arm, hidden from the eyes of everyone but yourself, you would see the first thing your soulmate thought about you once you met in person.

So while the world would see what your soulmate would act like upon meeting, only you could see what they were truly like outside of that.

When Marinette was born, her parents had been worried.

"I swear to the heavens that if you don't leave I'm going to kill you right here and now!"

They were written in english, so it was easy to not be understood by everyone in Paris. But Marinette's grandmother had been there during her birth, and she was fluent in the language. The words terrified them.

They tried to cover her arm while she was younger, not letting many others outside of family and close friends know what it said. They would let Marinette decide what she wanted to do about it when she was older, but for now, they simply wished to protect her from any prying eyes and scrutiny.

They dreaded how she would feel growing up, knowing that that was what her soulmate would say to her.

When she turned five years old, she learned to understand what her right sentence said and what it meant. When she did, she had cried quietly, fearing the day she would meet her soulmate. Her mother asked if her left sentence was any nicer, but Marinette could only shrug.

"I don't know. It's in some funny language that I don't know..."

She lived in her own misery about it for a year, wearing long sleeves and not letting anyone see her sentence. It hurt her parents to see her in so much pain, and they always made sure to try their best to cheer her up.

It usually worked, but never for too long. They could never stop her from seeing those cruel words on her arm.

Then, after a year, Marinette had her sixth birthday. Her parents held it at the park across the street and all of Marinette's friends and classmates came. She still wore long sleeves, so as to forget about the words on her arm that constantly tried to sour her life.

It was a few hours into the party and half an hour after bouncing non-stop in a bouncy castle when Marinette noticed an older lady seated at a bench not too far away. Marinette was just running past, having gone home quickly to use the restroom, when she noticed the ladies book.

She had the funny squiggly words on the bind of the cover. The same weird squiggles as the words on Marinette's left arm.

She hesitated, not sure if she did or didn't want to know what the words were. She worried they would be far worse than what would actually be said .

But she needed to know. It was like her soulmate-bond was urging her to learn the truth.

SO, Marinette cautiously approached the lady. "Umm, e-excuse me, Ma'am?"

The lady looked up in surprise and smiled kindly. "Hello there, little one. Is that your birthday party going on over there?" She must have taken notice of the fake tara she wore as well as her princess dress. Marinette insisted that birthday girls must dress as princesses and must be treated as such.