"Alya, I'll be fine." Marinette voiced into her cell phone as she hastened her pace.

"You know you shouldn't walk around at this time of night," her friend replied on the other end of the phone, "it's dangerous."

Marinette tried not to roll her eyes at the young woman, feeling that she was being excessive with her worry. "It's two in the morning," she corrected, "and I'm perfectly fine. I just need to grab this book and then I'll be on my way home. I literally live right around the corner from here."

Yes, it was two in the morning, but that was nothing but a time for Marinette. She was used to staying up late, and tonight was no exception to her routine. There was no going around getting to the bookshop at this time of night due to procrastination on her part.

"Why couldn't you just get it in the morning?" Her friend asked wearily.

"It is morning," Marinette reminded her. She smiled as she stared at the old wooden doors of the bookshop. With a loud creak, she pulled on the brass handles as hard as she could until it opened wide enough for her to squeeze through before slamming shut.

As soon as she was inside the cold building, she dug in her bag for her flash light before turning it on. Just from standing by the doorway, she could see all that the book shop had to offer. From her position at the door way she could see each of the six book shelves and the desk on the side where people used to sit. It was a fairly small bookshop that had been run down for years. It was just common knowledge to anyone in the area that they could go into the shop, take any book that caught their interest, and then return it whenever they pleased. Though it was common law, there were always a few thieves in the bunch that would take the writings of Edgar Allen Poe or Shakespeare to keep rather than borrow.

"You know what I mean. I'm not hanging up until you're in your house safe and sound. Matter of fact I can't wait that long, I'll have a heart attack before then. Once I'm done painting my nails, I'm heading there."

At that, Marinette rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure why the red-haired beauty had even bothered to call in the first place, they'd only talked about a handful of times and it struck her as odd for her to call so early in the morning.

"Did Nino tell you to call me?" She asked as she admired the books in front of her.

Nino, a longtime friend of Marinette's, had introduced his lovely girlfriend to her about a good month ago when she had moved into his place. Alya, a fiery spirited aspiring journalist, had moved to the area to be closer to her boyfriend and to complete the rest of her college career in town. She stood at 5'6 with a slender glass like body figure, looking like the models Marinette dressed. With light hazel eyes and naturally faded red wavy hair to match, she captured the hearts of nearly any man that interacted with her.

Wanting his girlfriend to be friends with his best friend, Nino had introduced them the first day Alya had come to town. Marinette had to admit, she thought they were a beautiful couple and that Alya was truly a beautiful and righteous person, though she was still trying to get a feel for her. Out of the three times they had hung out, Marinette had enjoyed each and every time and could see a very good friendship blossoming between them. Hell, she already felt that her and Alya were closer than many of her other female friends.

Despite the closeness, they had never talked much on the phone previously. Only ever texts exchanged here and there every day and meetings in person.

On the other end, Alya finished off the last nail she had been painting during their conversation before putting it under the UV light, "Well...yea, you wouldn't listen to him and unfortunately for him, he couldn't go with you to make sure you were safe," she replied as she thought of her boyfriend, who was currently in another part of Europe finishing off a school assignment. He had called once Marinette had told him where she was headed and asked Alya to kindly talk with her while he finished his assignment with his group.

"I didn't tell him where I was going so that he could worry," she mumbled as she ran her hand over a few spines of the books. A smile graced her features as soot and dust coated the tips of her fingers.

"Telling a worry wart that you're going out alone at this time to an abandoned library-"

"Bookshop," Marinette corrected.

"Whatever. Abandoned place where they have books or whatever you please to call it nearly made him pop a blood vessel. He practically had a conniption fit trying to tell me about it."

Was her goal to kill her dearest of friends? No. She simply had an assignment that she had skimped out on doing until the day it was due. It wasn't her fault that time seemed to escape her during the week. Between other fashion assignments, the latest video games coming out, and trying to catch up on sleep, the assignment slipped her mind.

She shrugged her shoulders as if the young lady could see it on the other end, "What can I say? I like a little adventure."

Marinette turned her flashlight on a few books and began searching for the book she needed. She did have to admit most people would be creeped out by such a place, but she enjoyed every aspect of it. Aside from the dust, dirt, and eeriness of the place, Marinette found it to be a very calming location to study. Though she hadn't been in a few months, this was the only place where escaping the busy city life of Paris was truly possible since it was practically hidden away in the woods not too far from her apartment complex. It was by chance and a sense of exploration that she had even come across this place when she had first moved in.

"Please hurry. I just finished my nails, I'm about to head over there now."

"Alya, you really don't-"

Her friend shook her head on the other end before saying, "Mari, I'm coming. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Marinette picked out one of the books and began flipping through it. She knew it wasn't the fashion book she was looking for, but it had an interesting design along the spine. Wow, it's absolutely beautiful. She thought as she looked through it. Nothing but poems littered the withered pages. I'll definitely take this back to read when I get more free time.

As she fingered through another book, a creak behind her echoed throughout the book store. She jerked her head in the direction of the sound with a swiftness. Slowly waving the light in that general direction with squinted eyes, she mumbled into the phone, "I think...someone's in here with me….Hello!" She hollered, hoping to get a response from said person.

No response.

"Marinette, get the hell out of there." Alya said as she shrugged on her coat, "I'm not about to start running there just to find your corpse." After checking to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she locked the door to her apartment.

Marinette began walking to where she had heard the noise, "No, I need this book," she heard scurrying around the bookcase and picked up her steps to follow. As she rounded the book case, what she had been looking for ran past her causing her to scream and fall backwards with a thump.

"Marinette!" Alya screamed.

Marinette let out a sigh as she rubbed her now sore bottom, "Calm down, a rat on steroids just made a dash for me. Not a big deal," she was by no means afraid of a rat, though it had surprised her greatly.

Alya grabbed her now throbbing chest. "That's it, I'm running over there. I can't take another scare like that."

"Sorry," Marinette said with a chuckle as she stood.

"Sorry…. doesn't cut it, young lady. Can't you just…. stand outside…. until I get there?" Alya asked through her pants from running.

"No can do, I'm sure the book is in this aisle. By the time you get here, I'll probably already have the book," Marinette put her phone on speaker and set it down on a bookshelf near her, "You're on speaker."

Alya muttered a string of cuss words, "What is with you and needing to feel an impending sense of doom?"

Marinette picked out a book that was the same color as the book she was looking for, but put it back when she discovered it was a book about frogs. With a huff, she began her search again. "The feeling I get is just so exhilarating, I simply can't avoid it."

"That's not funny, I'm fifteen minutes away and so much can happen in that time."

Marinette walked back to her phone with a pout. "I don't want to hear it from you, Miss I'll -Do-Anything-To-Get-A-Good-Report."

"It's my job, and even so I know my limitations. I only go within my capabilities," Alya said in a matter of fact tone.

"Well…" Marinette didn't have much of an argument for that. Alya was right, she never went too far for a story. Between her track team record, her eloquent writing, and excessive knowledge on technology, she was a great journalist in the making. Before she could make up a reply her attention was drawn to the far back of the small building.

More so than a noise was a small feeling of cold, like a gust of wind. She looked to the very front of the building where the windows were. Despite the cracks and breaks in the windows, the wind wasn't coming from there.

"What are you doing? Why is it so quiet?" Alya asked.

"Hold on," Marinette muttered. She began walking to the direction the wind was blowing from. It was just around the corner at the bookshelf she was previously near.

It struck her as odd that she was just now hearing the wind in the old building. Maybe it's my imagination...But with silence lingering in the air, there was certainly a gust of wind that wasn't coming from the window.

"Marinette, what are you-"

"Shhhh," she whispered, trying to locate the noise, "I hear something."

"No, no, no, no, no. Marinette, stay where you are. I'm almost there."

Marinette let that be the last thing said between them as she walked closer to the sound. With perked ears, she listened intently to the sounds around her. A shiver ran down her spine as the wind crept closer and the sound grew louder. Focusing only on the resonance, every other noise was tuned out.

At the very end of the bookcase in the middle aisle, she pressed her index finger to the spine of the book she thought it was coming from. In an instant, she snapped her hand back, surprised by the coldness the book held. It was notably a different temperature from the room she stood in.

"I found where the noise was coming from!" She shouted back so that Alya would know she was okay.

"Why does your voice sound so far away?" Alya asked, "Come near the phone."

"I'll be there in one second," she said as she reached for the book once more, prepared for the coldness that would come with it.

Once her fingers had latched onto the back of the book, she pulled it out with ease and looked at the cover. She ran her fingers over the raised letters engraved on the front of the blood red book. Marinette couldn't understand anything written on the cover, but was fascinated by the beauty of it all.

"What is this? Russian?..." She questioned. She knew she had seen writing like this before, but she couldn't remember where exactly she had seen it from.

As she opened the book a small gust of wind flew out, blowing her hair behind her. She nearly dropped the book, surprised by the sudden wind that had caused her to close her eyes. As the wind died down, she blinked down at the pages. It was coated in the same raised black writing on the cover.

What does any of this mean?

She began fingering though more pages, completely captivated by the mystery held in the words. Despite not being able to read the terms, she wanted to take the book home to study it.

Wait

The words were still in the same cryptic letters, but she was slowly beginning to make out what it read. As if translating it, she stared carefully and began reading aloud.

"Un….." Marinette mumbled, trying to understand the code. "Unleash?"

As if a light flickered, Marinette understood the sentence.

"Unleash The Darkness From Which It Came."

The book began to glow before black light shot from the book in whips. As one whipped at her face, Marinette dropped the book while falling to the floor from the force of it. The galaxy colored whips elongated and flew all throughout the bookshop, knocking over bookshelves and causing books to fly all around her.

Marinette began to crawl away in fear but screamed as one of the whips latched onto her ankle. It burned as if heat was being emitted from the black matter. Everything was happening too fast for her to comprehend that the book had actually grabbed her. She tried kicking her leg and flailing it about, that only caused it to tighten its grip.

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as her leg burned from the pressure. She could hear Alya screaming for her on the phone, begging to know what was happening and yelling that she'd be there soon. She felt like her leg was being ripped off as she dug her nails into the wood floorboards to get away.

Is this how I'm going to die?

She turned from her position facing the door only to see a black hand was grabbing her, much to her horror. Another blood curdling scream escaped her lips as she tried to kick her leg once more. Rather than something trying to grab her and drag her down, it was someone. The whip had formed into a midnight black hand grabbing her tightly.

Pictures of her friends and family danced before her eyes as she thought of nothing but her death. This was it. She was going to get dragged into the book and die a lonely death.

Marinette clawed her way to a raised floorboard before latching onto it. She felt a second-hand grab onto her other leg with much more force than before, yanking her a few inches backwards and away from the floorboard she had previously held. She watched in sheer dismay as a head surfaced from the book. Green eyes with the intent to kill stared back as claws dug into her skin drawing blood in the process. She could barely make out what was happening between hundreds of black whips flailing about and the body slowly making its way out of the book.

Marinette tried another kick directly towards the face, causing it to loosen its grip slightly. Seeing the small chance as an opportunity to crawl away, Marinette took it. She scurried a few inches away as quickly as possible from the whips and body that had pulled her. She shielded her eyes in an attempt to see what was happening as the dark whips flew around her. The black body was halfway out of the book and was still clawing its way out.

It wasn't until Marinette had looked closer that she realized it wasn't trying to drag her into the book.

"It's looking for a way out," she breathed out as she watched it grab onto anything and everything. They locked eyes once more as Marinette stared. Kill was written all over the green irises. It was in that moment that she knew she needed to close the book and keep that thing from escaping.

She searched frantically for anything that could help her get close enough to the book to close it, but nothing near her was long enough. With a gulp, she attempted to stand while using a bookcase to her right as leverage. Her legs buckled below her from the pain, causing her to fall back to the ground.

In about two seconds, if I don't do something that thing is going to kill me.

Her mind raced as she went through the few options she had.

I need to get that book.

With that last thought, she used all of her strength to hoist herself up, propel herself forward, and charge at the book. With newfound vigor, she dove for it.

But it was too late.

The black mass flipped out of the way as Marinette crashed into the shelf behind her, causing few books that hadn't fallen to fall around them. With the body completely out of the book, more black whips flared as different colored lights burst out before dying black again. She reached both hands out for the book and managed to grasp the front and back board of the writing, though no matter how much strength she tried to use, she couldn't shut it.

Marinette screamed as she felt one of the beams practically pierce her body, the pain only intensified as more beams broke out from the book she held. The black light burned red as it broke through her.

In an instant, the light died down and Marinette completely crumbled to the floor, the book collapsing next to her. It was too dark for her to see anything seeing as the light had stopped and she had a now broken flashlight. Not knowing if the other being was still in the bookshop, Marinette kept quiet and as still as she could.

She didn't move until five minutes passed and she was sure that she was alone. She couldn't bring herself to stand, but mustered the strength to crawl out of the book shop. Once she was outside and a few feet away from the shop she released a breath she didn't even know she was holding and laid on her back. Letting the book fall from her hands, she tried to make sense of all that had happened.

What just happened? She found herself repeating in her head multiple times. Absolutely nothing made sense. The more she thought about it, the more jumbled and confused she became.

"Marinette!" Marinette didn't need to look in the direction of the voice to know it was Alya, her gaze lingered on the sky above her, the sky she never thought she'd see again after tonight.

A frantic Alya ran to Marinette and collapsed beside her. Alya leaned Marinette's body on her own in an attempt to support her seeing as she couldn't sit up on her own.

The reality of everything began to set in and tears poured down Marinette's face.

I could've lost my life.

"Are you okay? Oh my god you're bleeding," Alya said as she examined Marinette's face.

Marinette raised a soft hand to her cheek and cringed as she brushed against the cut. This is where that whip of black light hit me in the face.

Alya tried to help Marinette stand, "Come on, let's get you home."

Marinette simply shook her head as she looked at her ankles. The whips that had once grabbed her left third degree burns, baring the white meat that was once her flesh and a pool of blood in its presence. There was no chance of her standing at this point, it was much too painful.

Alya drew a hand to her mouth as she looked at her friend's ankles covered in blood, "What happened to you?"

Marinette was wondering the exact same thing.

What happened to me?