Adrien turned the phone off out of anger and tossed it away from him. "That's crap," He muttered, "Marinette is still alive!" Having taking a few seconds of calming down, Adrien looked over at the items that had been taken out of the bag. "I'll look through this privately. You two may leave me alone now." He listened as the man and Nathalie started walking away, and when he knew they were gone, he started putting all the items back in the bag, before heading to his room.
Stepping inside his room, he shut the door and placed the bag on his bed, before he collapsed on the floor, lying there, looking helpless, but also a thought roaming around his mind. Chloe couldn't be right. After everything, there was no way he was going to believe Chloe Bourgeois, but he was afraid other people were going to believe her. He was afraid they were going to give up on searching for Marinette.
Adrien sighed and picked up his phone, and for 5 minutes, he stared at the black screen while his cheek rested on the floor. Finally, taking a deep breath, Adrien turned his phone on and headed to the account he was sure belonged to Marinette. Tapping on a few things, Adrien finally landed on the page.
*Do you wish to private chat 8746?*
Yes No
Adrien stared at the screen, and then he sat up, and tapped on 'yes'. He waited a while, as if expecting Marinette to chat him first. When he had had enough of the wait, he decided to send the first message.
A - (hello.)
He waited again, wasn't really sure if this was the best idea. But after a few seconds, Adrien's heart skipped a beat, seeing that 8746 was now online. He smiled widely when he got a reply.
8 - [Sup.]
A - (how are you doing? )
8 - [you're Adrien, aren't you? I've heard so much about you.]
A - (why are you pretending you don't know me? Are you mad at me? Is that why you left? Was I too annoying?)
8 - [what? I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you're trying to say. I just moved to Paris.]
A - (then how is it that you know about my story? I never told you!)
8 - [I received a note taped on a notebook. The note said, "this notebook is a story. Post the story on Lady-Blog and make sure you give Adrien the credit." I read the story and it was amazing, so I decided, why not?]
A - (okay, if you think you can fool me, you're wrong! You don't have to make an excuse. You don't have to lie to me!)
8 - [what are you talking about?!]
8 - [this is the truth! I'm sorry. Are you mad that I posted the story? I just found it really interesting, and I thought all of Paris deserved to read it as well. I can take it down if you want.]
A - (it's not about the story! It's about you! You're Marinette!!)
8 - [Marinette?]
8 - [hum, that's weird.]
A - (what's weird??)
*8746 sent a photo*
8 - [that's what's weird. . .]
—————————————————
Rose, I heard you were moving back to Paris. Well, when you get back, your mother will be waiting for you with a note. I want you to follow this note's directions and do exactly what it says. I would do it myself, but I'm afraid I won't be around to do so. Don't ask.
- Marinette
——————————————————
A - (that's Marinette's handwriting.)
A - (you knew Marinette?)
8 - [Marinette and I were best friends since we were young. Unfortunately, I had to move to another city because of my family, and I left with my dad while my mom stayed in Paris. I've just returned.]
8 - [she gave the note to my mother so I could receive it. My name is Rose. I'm not Marinette. Sorry to disappoint you.]
(. . .)
(. . .)
(. . .)
A - (well, do you know where Marinette might be? Anywhere?!?!?)
[. . .]
[. . .]
[. . .]
[. . .]
[. . .]
[. . .]
8 - [no.]
*8746 has left the chat*
Adrien stared at his phone, re-reading the note that the person he was texting had left the chat. It wasn't Marinette! The new info made him crawl up like a little baby as he hid his face. It wasn't Marinette.
Soon Adrien could hear little sniffs coming from his room, and it was then that he realized it was actually coming from him. Oh my goodness. He sat up, leaning his back against his bedside. Quickly he wiped away the small tears, a new fear arising inside of him. It wasn't Marinette.
His eyes then landed on the bag, which he had not checked out yet. New hope entered as he reached for the bag, and he took it and opened it, pulling out all the things that were in there; the book, the phone and the torn pieces of calendar.
He checked the calendar first. It was like a puzzle, but a very easy one, because all he had to put together were four pieces of the calendar. It didn't take long at all, and soon he was finished with it.
Adrien stared at the little words Marinette seemed to have written on the calendar. On each date she wrote down how many days there were left, which confused Adrien for a bit. Whenever a day was past, she would put a large 'x' on it. Adrien got to the middle of the calendar, right where it said, 'Today is the day." His heart dropped. It was the same day she disappeared. So Marinette really had been planning her disappearance.
Adrien was disappointed with the info he found. He didn't want it to be Marinette's doing, because then that would just show Gabriel was right. If Marinette was gone by herself, what made him so sure that she even wanted to be found. Perhaps Marinette left to start a new life.
The calendar only told him how many days Marinette had been planning her disappearance for, nothing else. He put the pieces of calendar away, before reaching for the phone. As soon as he grabbed the phone, Lila's words suddenly entered his mind.
"She didn't take her phone. Of course, if she was going to kill herself, she wouldn't take it with her."
And Chloe. . . Chloe said she knew about Marinette planning to disappear, that she was tricked into being the reason. Adrien rolled her eyes. That blonde brat hadn't been tricked into being the reason for Marinette's disappearance. She was the reason, and now Adrien was beginning to get angrier with the new post Chloe had written.
The real truth?!?! No Chloe, you're just making up another lie! Adrien turned the phone on. He was lucky the phone was still on, but he found it to be at 10%, which bothered him. He didn't like using phones that had such low battery. Oh my goodness, Marinette. You don't have a password on your phone?
Adrien went through all the apps Marinette had on her phone. Marinette didn't have any games on it, he found that Lady-Blog was on it, and a few other apps he didn't recognize as well. Wait, now I know why 8746 isn't Marinette. Because she doesn't have a phone to use and post all my stories on Lady-Blog!
But then one app caught his eyes, which really shocked him as he may have passed it while hurridly trying to search for something helpful. Diary. Marinette had a diary on her phone. Adrien immediately clicked on it, feeling like this was a huge thing. Now he could know everything Chloe did to her, every single one of them, and he'd know how Chlor would pay for them all. And maybe — just maybe — Marinette would reveal her location as well. But when he instantly clicked on the app, he was brought to a page that made his stomach churn.
Type in the password to get in
— — — —
At least now, Adrien knew the password contained four letters. His thought immediately went to one name and he decided to try it out.
A L Y A
— — — —
He was so glad and proud of himself when the screen turned green and the diary started unlocking. It was his first try too, but maybe Marinette had made it a little too easy. Well, the thought of guessing the password slipped from his mind as he skimmed though the dates of the password, wanting to to look for the correct date — the date Marinette went missing on.
And finally he found it. And he clicked on it. It brought him to another page, and his body relaxed when he saw a diary entry of the date.
Today Chloe has taken it too far! What she did today was unimaginable, I really can't believe she would do something like that. It pains me that I have to lie to my parents every single time. It pains me that they're finally learning the truth but I won't be here to see them finally crack the case.
And oh my goodness, Alya is coming back. She's coming back. Hearing that makes me rethink my decision of leaving, just for a bit, but I didn't change my mind. I've already made this plan, I'll stick to it! I'm sick and tired of all of Chloe's torture. I'm sick and tired of the way she treats me, of the way she acts like she's going to be in a better place, of the way she brought others down just to bring herself up. She's so pathetic! I despise her with all of my guts!
Today, after Chloe did what she did, which was absolutely horrifying, I scratched out the plan I had before and changed it. I had decided to be leaving in 10 days, but I couldn't stand it anymore, so I'm leaving now!
That was it! That was all she wrote for that date. Adrien found it heartbreaking to read but at the same time, useless, because it didn't help with anything. He already knew of all these information, all the things Marinette wrote down, he'd already figured it out. He knew what Chloe did, he knew Chloe was lying, he knew Marinette ran away, but he still wasn't sure why she ran away. Was Lila right? Was she going to end herself? Or was she simply going away to start a new life? Then wouldn't she have told her parents?
"Argh!" Adrien tugged on his hair, finding this hard and frustrating. He wish for nothing more but for Marinette to appear right in front of him, to tell him she was okay, to tell him where she was. He wanted to figure all this out, but he couldn't if he had so little clues.
A knock came on his door and Adrien yelled for whoever it was to come in. Nathalie rushed inside. "Adrien. Adrien, you might wanna check the news."
Adrien frowned, but picked up the remote and switched the tv on. He turned to the news, Nadja on the screen as usual. Then Adrien noticed in the back a large crowd, with Mr. Bourgeois and Chloe standing in front. Were they holding a press conference? Adrien stood up. "I'm heading over!" He spoke and Nathalie nodded, already knowing he would. Adrien didn't waste time at all as he dashed out of his room, out the mansion, and running towards where the press conference was being held.