It was cold.
And foggy.
I was surrounded by a cage of thick trees with mangled branches that cloaked the sky. Many of the branches were barren - resembling skeletons' hands reaching towards the heavens. Meanwhile, the remaining trees wore black, dried leaves that showered me each time an icy breeze swept through.
This was the type of place that at any moment a man with a chainsaw could pop out from behind a tree and cut me in half. I shivered both from the cold and from my fear.
Why? Why was I in a forest? (A haunted forest to be exact).
I didn't remember how I had gotten here.
Unless...of course...I probably was in a dream (yes, I had strange amounts of self-awareness even when I was sleeping). That realization made me calm down a little - all those strange animal calls and footsteps rustling in the distance were only figments of my imagination.
What a relief! Now I could enjoy the little adventure my mind was creating for me (even if it was a little on the eerie side).
I surveyed my surroundings until I noticed the outline of a figure hidden in the fog. The figure looked as if it were sitting on a chair at a table? No - why would there be a chair and table in the middle of the forest? Then again, my dreams were always weird so there was no point in questioning them.
With slow and heavy steps, I was careful not to trip on the warped roots that twisted on the dead-leaf-covered ground.
The fog lightened as I approached the figure. Time for the reveal. Was it a monster? A vampire? A werewolf? Or best yet, a shirtless Felix?
No.
It was a woman - she sat with a perfect posture at a rotting white piano.
I could only see the woman from behind, her golden blond hair flowed down her back, and her silky skin contrasted with her yellow sundress. How could she stand to wear a sundress in such a cold environment?
As I stepped closer, I noticed the air enveloping her was saturated with the scent of roses. Familiar.
She didn't seem to notice me. I debated about saying something so I wouldn't startle her. When she lowered her head towards the keys, I decided to hold off since she was clearly in some kind of trance with this piano.
Another breeze swept through, shaking the branches, clapping the skeletons' hands.
My heart rate increased.
I felt an unusual fear here. This graveyard of a forest felt empty and hostile. And this woman was creeping me out.
I wanted to wake up before things got weird.
The woman gracefully placed her fingers on the deteriorating keys and played. The piano's sound was out of tune, sending a shiver down my spine.
The music came in waves - washing over me in a somber way. The melody - it was like sweet poison - pleasing to the ears for only a moment before turning bitter. What was it telling me? Was it an unrequited declaration? A remembrance of something that had faded? A permanent goodbye?
Without warning, my eyes filled with tears. I had no idea why I was crying or why I couldn't make it stop.
This song. It stung. It was unbearable. I needed it to end.
"Please stop," I said, my voice echoed.
The music ceased.
She froze - her frame stiffening as she cocked her head. Had I offended her? Or had she just realized I was here?
She slowly turned to face me for the first time.
My lungs emptied in horror.
She had no face.
No eyes. No mouth. No lips. Just a blank canvas - empty white skin. She tilted her head at me, as she stood to her feet and strode towards me with graceful steps - her hand reaching towards me.
I had to go! I needed to getaway! It was just a dream! Just a bad dream!
It didn't matter if this was a dream. The fear and terror I felt were real.
Suddenly, my foot was snagged by a root and I tumbled to the ground, landing on my knees. I let out a yelp of pain.
My entire body trembled as I tried to move. No, no, no. I couldn't move! Not that kind of dream!
The woman was now standing over me, her blank face glancing down at me. Her yellow sundress was drizzled with blood droplets down the front, and I could now see a necklace dangling from her chest. It was silver - but too small for me to clearly see the emblem in the center.
"If only you would have been enough," A soft voice whispered. Was it the woman? No, she didn't have a mouth. Who said that?
In one last-ditch effort, I tried to get up to run, but my body was still in a state of paralysis.
The woman inched closer and closer until her cold fingers clutched my temples. I felt a warm liquid dripping down my jaw and cheeks.
Her sharp nails penetrated my skull.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
My eyes shot open as I jerked my head off my desk. My entire body was shaking and my stomach was turning. I gasped for air as I tried to calm my heart rate (hopefully, I wasn't gasping too loudly as I didn't want my 'neighbor' in the cubicle right next to me to think I was a weirdo).
Not again.
This had been my fourth time falling asleep at Agreste Inc.
Breathe. Think about something else, I told myself. Something happy. Food. Dessert. Macaroons. Burgers. Kittens. Puppies. Beaches. Felix at the beach. With me.
Felix.
Felix.
Felix.
I imagined myself being held in his arms, tightly fastened to his chest as we stared at a Hawaiian sunset- that was enough to calm my trembling body.
But I had to stop thinking about him before it turned me all mushy.
So, now I was back to thinking about burgers.
After I'd calmed down as much as I could, I straightened my back and stretched my arms into the perfumed air as I attempted to stifle a yawn. My neck was sore from the unusual sleeping position.
How long had I been asleep? Who had walked past my desk while I was out? Hopefully not the VP of Compliance.
All the coffee and tea in the world couldn't remove my exhaustion. I simply couldn't focus on all those letters and numbers on my computer screen. I didn't have it in me to read emails or do any sort of data entry. All I wanted to do was sleep...except I couldn't...or at least I couldn't have quality sleep.
Ever since Felix and I were akumatized last week, I'd been having nightmares - all of which ended with me somehow dying.
I couldn't sleep at night - even then I would dose off before being wakened by a terrifying dream. It had been so severe that I tried leaving the lights on while I slept. It didn't help.
At one point I debated if I should ask my parents if I could sleep on the floor in their room. But I had too much pride for that. After all, I was a superhero I reminded myself. I should at least be able to handle my own inner demons.
Either way, this needed to stop. I couldn't keep falling asleep at work. Or having these nightmares.
My mind drifted to Felix. I wondered if he'd been having trouble sleeping as well. Maybe this was a side effect of Silver Akumas. If only I could talk to him about it.
That was the worst part of everything: I didn't know where Felix was or why he'd been absent from work ever since the night at the hospital. Even Mr. Agreste was back at work (in a temporary wheelchair and against all the doctors' instructions). So why wasn't Felix?
The last time I saw him, his fist had broken a wall. He had looked as if he was in so much pain - both physical and mental. I was so worried about him. Was he alright? And what on earth had his father said to him to make him lose his temper?
I had tried to ask Natalie, but she was either busy or in a meeting every time I stopped by her office. When I messaged her on our company's internal communication platform called Connect, she never replied to my message (even though I could see that she read it).
The wheels of thought endlessly spun in my mind. It was overwhelming. There was so much to process and question. But I barely had the mental strength to do it.
After much more thinking, I determined I should stop by Felix's office again to see if he had come in today. Granted - I'd been doing that every day since the hospital. But it couldn't hurt to try again. Maybe he was finally here and I'd simply missed him.
I rose from my desk and made my way down the long window-lined hallway to the elevator only to discover that it was out of order. Darn. I would have to take the stairwell.
I hated the stairwell - it was low-key shady and looked as if it didn't belong in a place like Agreste Inc. It would be a twelve-flight climb in a place with grey carpeted stairs enclosed by white-washed walls, steel rails, and rusted red pipelines popping between levels. The air here felt stuffy and clouded - the dim orange lighting only emphasized how severely this place was infested with dust.
Perhaps going in this stairwell wasn't the best idea...especially after my nightmare of the faceless monster-woman. What if she jumped out and attacked me? What if she phased through the wall and pulled me into some kind of underworld?
No. Enough was enough. I needed to stop being childish.
Actually....on second thought. Screw that. This place was creepy. I wanted to get out.
I raced up the stairs as fast as I could in my low heels and restrictive navy dress. By only the first flight of stairs, I was hopelessly out of breath with beads of sweat dripping from my forehead and rolling down my back. This was pathetic. I was Ladybug for crying out loud! I shouldn't be so out of breath from a couple of measly stairs.
I persisted through my breathlessness, making my way up flight after flight. Until I heard a door from upstairs open. It closed and I heard vibrations of footsteps above.
I slowed my pace so the person wouldn't think I was crazy (even though I was) for running up the stairs as fast as possible.
Closer and closer. We would no doubt pass each other.
Lila.
I was filled with nothing but dread when she turned the corner and sauntered down the same flight of steps wearing a candy apple red dress with a white blazer. Even her heels were red. Bold outfit.
I wanted to disappear! I felt so incredibly awkward around her ever since she overheard me and Alya in the bathroom talking about Felix. Part of me wondered if she ever told anyone. I assumed she hadn't since nothing ever came from it and I never got in trouble or anything.
"Hey, Mari!" She smiled cheerfully as she sent me the most innocent look ever.
Mari? Why the heck did she think she had the right to call me that? That name was only reserved for my close friends, like Alya and maybe even Felix one day (on second thought, maybe not, considering he never once used my first name - to him I was only Mrs. Dupain-Cheng).
"Hi," I greeted, as I continued to walk. I didn't want to talk to her, so I focused my eyes on the steps.
Lila reached for my hand and tightly grasped my wrist. The motion jerked my arm back (which really hurt my shoulder socket) and I almost lost my balance and fell backward from the current step I was on. Thankfully, I caught myself before I had a wipeout.
I examined her expression, as fury pumped through my body. There were no signs of mal-intent. She just smiled.
"I'm glad I ran into you. I wanted to talk to you." She slowly released her grip.
The skin on my wrist was red.
"What?" I asked as I rubbed my shoulder blade, hoping it hadn't popped out of place.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to grab you so hard. I just didn't want you to walk away," she said, placing a hand on her hip.
"Well, you have my full and complete attention now. What is it?" I said, trying to hide my anger.
"I just wanted to see how you're doing," She cocked her head. Something about that statement felt disingenuous.
"Like...in what way?"
"Oh, you know. Working with Felix. How's it going?"
"Good," I faked a smile.
There was an awkward pause. Her gaze was persistent. Not once did she look at the ground, unlike me.
"It's so crazy Mr. Agreste had a stroke last week," she said. I guess she was trying to generate 'small talk' since her effort to straight-up ask me about Felix had failed.
"I'm just glad he's doing okay now," I said, "or relatively okay, I mean."
"It must have given Felix quite a scare. For his own father to fall ill at work," she said with the slightest grin and lively eyes.
"I'm sure it scared everyone," I said, trying to keep my answers as general as possible.
"Were you with him? When it happened?" Her voice squeaked. Even she couldn't hide her overwhelming curiosity.
I debated about lying, but I was no good at it.
"Yes."
"Interesting. Did you go to the hospital with him?"
I nodded.
I saw jealousy dance across her forest-green eyes as she puckered her glossy lips.
"Huh. You've spent a lot of time with him then," She said as she thoughtfully gazed upward.
"I guess."
Another awkward pause.
I shuffled my heel against the carpet as I debated if I should cut off the conversation now.
A strange, envy-filled glare pierced me as she refocused her gaze.
"Did he ask you to go with him to the gala?" she said, running her manicured fingers through her thick hair.
"Gala? What do you mean?"
"I take that as a 'no' then," she sighed as if in relief, "The gala is a winter-themed ball hosted by Agreste Inc. I heard Mr. Agreste is insisting on continuing with the plans despite his condition. All the hottest models and high-level employees will be there. The press even shows up."
I swallowed, vaguely remembering it mentioned at employee orientation.
"Oh. Well. I'm probably not going then. Will you?" I asked.
"Of course. I have connections," She said with a wink.
"Good for you," I forced a smile.
"Yeah, it's basically a red-carpet event. But if Felix hasn't even brought it up to you, then he's probably asked someone else."
I was pretty sure that wasn't the case. I couldn't imagine Felix asking anyone to a gala. Besides, based on how much of a dark condition his mind was in at the hospital, I assumed a ball would be the last thing on his mind. If he wasn't showing up for work, there was no way he'd show up for a gala.
"I'd be worried if I were you. At these types of events, he's the center of attention. All the models swarm him. I even heard his ex-girlfriend is coming."
Ex-girlfriend? What? My body stiffened.
"If that's the case, I'm glad I'm not going," I paused, "I didn't realize he had any past relationships. He always seemed too introverted for that."
She let out an annoying laugh that echoed its way up the stairwell and bounced off the walls. It felt like drowning in her evil laughter.
"Duh. The man is literally a millionaire - once his dad dies - which could be very soon - Felix will inherit everything and be a multi-billionaire. So...of course, he's very popular with women despite his personality."
"Multi-billionaire," I whispered, "I didn't realize it was that much."
"Why?" A spark of mischief lit up her face, "Does that change things for you? Does it make you want to fight for him even more? You could be so filthy rich if he picked you."
"No. I'm not a gold-digger," I snapped, clenching my fists.
"We'll see about that," she raised her brows, as she flicked her wrist.
The air between us felt tense. But I was still curious about his ex-girlfriend. So I decided to endure her evilness and ask.
"Who was his ex?"
She furrowed her brows as she sent me a 'you-must-be-an-idiot' look.
"How do you not know this? They literally dated for a year and it was all over the gossip magazines."
"I don't really read those much," I said, lowering my chin.
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, "Her name is Kagami Tsurugi. She's some type of engineering student at Harvard now. Her mother owns a company that is one of Agreste Inc.'s main fabric suppliers. She's flying back here for the event. That sounds like a woman determined to get her boyfriend back if you ask me."
I felt sick. I shouldn't. Felix was a nineteen-year-old guy. Of course, he'd had a girlfriend. Yet I felt a little disappointed. In a way, I was hoping he was like me - someone who had never dated before. Based on his isolated nature and 'particular' personality, I assumed that to be the case. Now I felt alone in my 'never-dated-before' life.
"Were they serious?" I asked, trying to mask the dread in my voice.
"I'm mean, you don't spend one year in a relationship without it being somewhat serious."
I nodded, as my eyelashes involuntarily fluttered.
"But I'm not worried. Kagami doesn't stand a chance against me," Lila said as she puffed out her chest. "And neither do you," were her unspoken words. I heard them loud and clear in her evil eyes and devious grin. She was frightening - and the look in her eye indicated she desired to push me down the stairs.
I chuckled, more out of nervousness than anything else.
"Anyway, where ya heading off to?" She said, as she closed her eyes and innocently smiled.
"Felix's office," I swallowed hard, regretting those words.
"Don't bother. He'll be working from his Pent House this week," she shrugged.
"How do you know?"
"Natalie told me," she spoke with so much authority. As if she had some kind of 'in' with Natalie.
Why would Natalie tell Lila and not me? Wasn't I Felix's secretary? Didn't I at least have a right to know where he was? And why did no one tell me Felix lived in a Pent House?
"And what do you mean by Pent House? Like his own?"
"Course it's his own. He moved out when he was eighteen. You didn't think he still lived with Mr. Agreste did you?"
Yes. yes, I did. I stood there frozen.
She scoffed, her lips curving upward.
"I see you're no competition. For all the time you two spent together, you literally know nothing about him. Here I was worried for nothing!" She snorted, "Anyway, I actually need to get going. I'm glad I ran into you. Good chat. See you later."
She patted me on the back in a demeaning way - as if I was a child and she was the 'grownup' with all the power and authority. I hated it! I hated her true colors!
She gracefully strode down the stairs and turned the corner, leaving me alone in the stairwell.
I was confused. What was the purpose of that entire conversation? It only made me feel worse about myself and a little insecure about my 'workship' with Felix. As if she had been demonstrating her power and highlighting my inferiority.
Felix was hers. I was nothing compared to her...the message was clear.
I wasn't sure who was worse - who terrified me more: the faceless woman who tried to kill me in my dream or Lila.
I leaned against the chilled railing as my knees weakened. This was all wrong. So overwhelming. Please, I wanted to wake up.
Let this also be a dream.