Prologue One

It was years ago when Paris was deemed the safest city in Europe, thanks to Ladybug and Chat Noir. Unfortunately akuma attacks were becoming more and more deadly. Just months ago an akuma wreaked havoc on the city and killed several citizens, including one of her high school classmate's father. Poor Alix must be torn up about his death. Those weren't the only deaths occurring either.

The criminals that remained in the city were smart. Sometimes they were only caught thanks to becoming akumas, like the one that had killed Mr. Kubdel. He had been a known thief around the city who the police had been using to catch other, bigger criminals. The remaining criminals were too in control of themselves to become akuma, which was frightening in itself. There were psychopaths that couldn't feel emotions like other people, and wandered down the street looking for a target to kill. They ones that seemed normal, but weren't. The Ted Bundy's and Alexander Pichushkin's of France. Those were the ones suspect in the extreme cases that remained.

Paris was deemed the safest city in Paris because of the lack of petty crime, but akumas were becoming more and more violent, and the criminals that remained were deciding to up the ante on their own crimes, serial killings becoming as common as they were in the eighties, if not more so.

Sabrina sighed. Paris wasn't going to keep the moniker bestowed upon it for long at this rate. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the others that joined them occasionally when they were needed, were going to find themselves with harder and harder fights.

Oh well. That wasn't something she needed to concern herself with. It was tradition in the days before Halloween that she and Chloé would binge watch their favorite horror movies. Over the years this tradition dissolved into watching their favorite movies, no matter what genre, but they made sure one horror movie was always included in the mix. They started this tradition five years ago, when they were seventeen, and they didn't see themselves letting it die, even as they progressed into adulthood.

That did come with sacrifices, of course. She was at school all day, and found herself furiously attempting to complete her homework at night. It was exhausting studying to become a nurse, but Chloé stood by her wholeheartedly, becoming a better friend in recent years. Their movie night was starting later than usual, but it was all worth it. Her homework until Halloween was done and they could watch as many movies as they wished between their classes without any worries.

Perhaps she should have been more worried.

It was nighttime, and she was a young, defenseless woman, walking the streets alone, in the dark. She should stayed on guard a bit more. Her father even warned her about that. A new serial killer was wandering the streets, taking people and burying them alive. So far there were only two victims, a guy named Arthur Capel, the son of another prominent criminal who was recently locked up in jail, and Marie Delage, the daughter of the head of the Parisian Police Department. Both had been buried alive, placed into coffins and given hours to live while family and police rushed around Paris on these demented scavenger hunts in an attempt to save the victim. Both of them were found too late. Dead, with horrified looks on their faces, bloodied, broken fingernails matching the tops of the scraped lids of the coffins.

Sabrina was careful, though. Her father offered to drive her to Chloé's, but it was a short walk. She had been there thousands of times over the years. He just worried too much.

A cold breeze blew threw the air, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Sabrina let out a shiver, bundled her jacket around her a bit closer, and continued to walk. The sound of a falling trash can in an alley startled her, causing her to jump and look around, only to see a black cat running out of the alley. She let out a sigh of relief. It was just a cat. She shouldn't be so worried. She liked black cats anyway. She was always a fan of Chat Noir. She continued down the street, watching her step as she avoided cracks in the sidewalk and loose pebbles, narrowly avoiding a pile of dog poo before she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She turned around, seeing no one there.

"Hello?" She called out. There was no answer. "Just my imagination. Papa has just got me a little on edge. There's nothing to worry-"

A hand found its way over her mouth, pressing a cloth smelling of wine and rotting paper towels against her. She tried to scream out, get someone's attention, but she found the world around her becoming more and more hazy. Fighting back became impossible as she was pulled somewhere away. Voices were whispering quietly to each other, making it seem like someone was coming to her assailant's aide. She tried to make out her attacker, only seeing a pair of piercing blue eyes looking back at her in the darkness. After what seemed an eternity, she was finally asleep.

When she opened her eyes she half believed they were still closed. The space around her was darker than anything she'd ever imagined. She tried to sit up, only to bump her head against something hard covered in padding. She tried to move to the side, finding a barrier blocking her way. It was the same thing for the other side. What was this place? It was pitch black, with a soft interior, but everything smelled mildly of dirt and urine. After a moment of investigation she realized the urine smell came from herself. When did that happen? If she wasn't so afraid she would be embarrassed, but with the ordeal she just went through wetting herself was not a major concern.

She needed to find a way to get out of here. "Help!" she screamed, banging on the lid of her prison, "I'm in here! Someone let me out!" Her screams were absorbed by the earth outside. No one would hear her. "Please," came her pitiful cry, "someone help." Tears began to fill Sabrina's eyes.

Fear set in quickly.

Then panic.

Then hysteria.

Sabrina's breathing turned to hyperventilation as she clawed away at the stuffing in the coffin, quickly reaching the hard wood blocking her escape. She felt pain as she clawed away at the solid top, and flinched every time a splinter found its way under her fingernails, but the pain hardly mattered now. She needed to get out of here.

Why hadn't she just listened to her father and let him drive her? Why did she and Chloé watch horror movies like this? She didn't expect her life to suddenly become one. It was getting harder to breathe in here. She had to get out quickly. It was becoming harder and harder to will herself to scratch at the walls. Her movements were becoming weaker, which did nothing to calm her, but only increase her terror. Her chances of escape were growing more and more slim.

What did those people want with her? Why was she captured? Was this how Arthur and Marie felt when they were dying? No one deserved this. This way of death was hell itself.

She had no more tears to shed, but she still cried. Was she going to die? Was this how she left the world? She had wanted to do so much! The last of her resolve was gathering and she began to scratch at the coffin's lid again.

What were all those years of hard work and studying for? She scratched at the lid once more, feeling bits of dust fall onto her face and into her mouth. This was no time to stop.

What about all those people she was going to help save when she became a nurse? She pounded in desperation once more. Surely the lid was getting thinner. Surely she could break out with a hardy punch or kick.

What about all those wrongs she had committed in high school? She and Chloé both knew that they had a lot to make up for. How were they going to make things right? "Get me out!"

What about her Papa? What was he going to do without her? She was all he had.

She didn't even notice her vision fading. It was hard to when everything around her was devoid of light. Her desperate movements were becoming lighter and lighter until they finally stopped completely. Her breath remained shallow. There was no way for her to escape on her own. The only hope remaining was that she was found in time.

The sound of shovels hitting the dirt echoed throughout the clearing. Police tape was cutting off the scene as onlookers gathered around. This was a fairly nice park, though the area was tucked away in a corner. What were police doing digging a hole? One police man was desperately digging at the dirt, getting twice the amount in half the time of the other officers. Sweat was on his brow, but he didn't care. He didn't stop to wipe it away or take a drink.

To the side, behind the tape, a young blonde woman clutched her hands together in prayer. Please let her best friend be safe. Please let the police have found her in time. Please. It was only just a few hours ago they were texting one another, excited for the day that was coming.

Why had she suggested watching a stupid horror movie? Sabrina was too busy with school to have had time for something like that. Why was her sweet friend lying down there and not her? Some stupid tradition or her best friend's life? The answer was laughably obvious.

"Sabrina!" She called, only to press her head into the shoulder of her father, who watched along with the other bystanders, supporting his daughter.

Roger was the one that hit the coffin first. With the amount of police digging it didn't take long. Only a few minutes. Only a few more seconds to get enough dirt removed to open the lid. He prayed he wasn't too late. Please, please don't let him be too late. He needed to save his daughter. He needed to save the light of his life.

Inside the coffin was his daughter, terror frozen on her face, like the others, with bloodied nails matching the top of a coffin with the stuffing ripped off, and shallow scratches on the surface. She was dead. Rogers cries of agony could be heard by everyone around, hitting each one of them like a bullet. Chloé's cries became harder as she sobbed into her father's jacket.

Off to the side, in the shadows, stood Ladybug and Chat Noir, looking down at the pitiful scene with their own grief strewn on their faces, their fingers laced together in an attempt to comfort one another as they realized they were unable to save another citizen of Paris- they were unable to save a friend.

In the crowd a passerby stood, looking at the grieving father, resisting the urge to smile. He had been successful in his endeavors. He had done it. Sabrina had died, and her father and the police were unable to save her. There was just two more targets left on his list of people to be killed. He closed his blue eyes and turned away from the scene, playing the part of the sickened bystander. This was too good. He was getting away with murder, and the police had no idea that he were right under their noses.

He walked away as the crowd did, hands in his pocket as he walked away, getting to his house and letting out a sigh of relief.

There was only two more people left. Two more victims and this whole game would be done. Arthur Capel, Marie Delage, Sabrina Raincomprix, Maël Vieux, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, also known as Ladybug. He were most excited for that last death. He couldn't wait to see how Paris would react when their beloved hero was seen as just a corpse- another victim, not that Ladybug and Chat Noir did much good when they were actually needed. Of course, he did his research. It seemed Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the others possessed something called a Miraculous, giving them their powers. They would have to make sure it was removed before the fun began. Oh, he couldn't wait. Even if, by some miracle, they managed to find Miss Savior-of-Paris then Chat Noir would be the one to end up dead. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a laugh.

Hawkmoth wasn't the only villain in Paris anymore. He spared a glance at the room his partner in crime lived in and smiled. No, there were two more joining the ranks, and unlike Hawkmoth, they would succeed.

It's that time of the year again... the time of the year where Katie gets her crap together and has a consistent update schedule! Yay! All joking aside though: Happy October and Halloween everyone! My Spooky Stories candle is back out! (I write with candles, and have a special Halloween one.) If y'all were here last holiday season then welcome back! I'm so excited to see you again! If this is your first time then welcome and I'll explain what my holiday countdowns are!

For Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day I do a themed story. Halloween I write a horror story, Christmas a Christmas story and Valentine's Day a love story. I update these stories daily in a countdown to celebrate the holiday. There are the 13 Days of Halloween the 12 Days of Christmas and the 14 Days of Valentine's. Since it's spooky time it's horror time. Starting today (October 1st) I am posting the first part of this story, prologue number one. October 13th I will be prologue number two. There are two prologues to this story because I couldn't decide which was more important to the story so bonus prologue. You're welcome. On October 19th I'll start posting chapters daily until Halloween. Pretty weird but you'll get the idea!

If you don't feel like waiting until the 13th for another chapter then go check out last year's Halloween story: Sepulchral. It was my first holiday countdown and started it all. If you thought there was a lot of thought put into that story my notebook I use for plotting this one is an absolute mess. You will not want to miss this! This year I took out all the stops to make it scary and suspenseful.

Did anyone actually read this long authors note? Sorry. If you did then let me know what you think and tell me your favorite kind of Halloween candy as well as your predictions for what is going to happen. I'm so excited y'all! See y'all the 13th! (I'll be 22 the next time I update this... weird.)