The Silver Ring
Maybe it wasn't a good idea.
Marinette trembled at the sight of a dilapidated mansion.
Windows have been boarded up, overgrown plants taking over most of the building even through the cracks. The lawn and pavement infested with weeds and cracks. Part of the roof is caved in, covered up in black soot, evident of a fire. The cream paint faded to a light grey. She even noticed the iron gates had rusted with vines twisting and growing.
Her bluebell eyes scan for anything that may jump at her. Or worse.
"Why did I take the stupid bet?"
CRUNCH!
"Eep!"
She jumps at the sound, much like a scared cat.
Oh god, I hope It's a squirrel. Please let it be a squirrel!
Marinette braces herself only to see nothing happened. She takes a few deep breaths to steady herself.
"Okay, Marinette. You can do this. You can do this."
The blackette cautiously walks up the steps and opens the scratched door. She shudders at the creaking sound. The mansion is a mess, cobwebs in every nook and cranny. Dust blanketing the furniture….well, what's left of it. It looks like a fire had devoured most of the entire place. Tinges of soot are all over the vastly abandoned building.
So this is the famous Agreste mansion. It looks very…
A mouse ran all the way to a dark corner.
"..homey."
Marinette wanders around, trying to find something. Part of the bet Alix made her do is that she has to bring an item from the mansion as proof. Of course, luck as always isn't on her side.
There's nothing to take when they're either broken, melted, or turned to ash like what used to be some kind of pillow.
No use for a souvenir right?
She moves on when a portrait around the corner catches her eye. Due to the severe damage it took, Marinette can only make out one face in particular. It was a woman with blonde hair in a side ponytail. Her crystal green eyes pop out in the portrait. She wore a lovely blue dress from the early 50s. The blackette herself admires the warmth behind the woman's gentle smile.
"She's so beautiful. Though she looks so familiar. Could she be—"
Is….is someone watching me?!
She dares to look behind her, finding no one?
"I think I'm done here." Marinette backs away, heading straight back outside. She is done with this. Screw this bet.
My life is more important than some dumb bet!
"Meow."
Marinette stops running, now near the door. She turns to see a black cat sitting on the bottom stairs. His green eyes bore right through her own, tail swishing back and forth.
When did the cat come here?
She hesitantly waves. "Hello."
The cat meows back.
"Do you live here?"
What on earth am I doing? I must be losing my mind, trying to make conversation with a cat.
Wait….where is he going?
The black cat goes up the stairs, ignoring Marinette's cry. Said teen follows after the feline, passing by another portrait, this time completely destroyed. By the time she catches up, the cat slips through a door.
An open door. That she goes through.
"Gotcha! Huh?"
No sign of the cat anywhere.
"What is all of this?"
Unlike what she had seen so far, this particular room is left untouched. Everything is still low sunlight reveals a quaint bedroom for a teenager in the 50s. Posters of rock and roll singers like Elvis are on the walls.
Marinette wanders around the room, looking at each item out of curiosity. From what she can remember from her parents, the Agreste mansion has been vacant for sixty years. It used to be owned by Gabriel Agreste, a fashion designer who died by a mysterious fire in 1955. The cause is still a mystery to this day. Even more mysterious is that no one knew much of his past. There's also rumors that the place is haunted by his spirit. Her best friend Alya believes them. She's always a fan of the paranormal, and she even made a blog that covers supposed activity.
On the other hand, Marinette is usually less inclined to involve herself in the paranormal world.
Hence why her classmate Alix thought she would never go through with her side of the bet. But the blackette is here now, ready to prove her wrong. Maybe she'll just take one thing in here, then she'll be free to go home. Her bluebell eyes then spies upon something.
Resting alongside the boarded up window is a piano with a glossy black finish. Not a hint of dust has touched the gorgeous instrument once looking at it closer.
"Someone must've taken good care of this piano…" Marinette stares at it in awe. Absentmindly sitting down, she presses one of the keys. It plays a lovely sound. She 'oohed' in surprised delight.
She presses another key, hearing an odd sound. Strange. But she paid no mind as the blackette entertains herself with the piano. Her vision however begins to blur, a sense of sleepiness taking hold of her. She didn't notice how the piano began to play itself. But Marinette does as the colors fade away to black and white.
.
.
BOP!
What on earth?!
The girl jolts out of her seat. Landing hard on her back. Ow. She stands up, only for her knees to wobble. Her eyes widen in perpetually unadulterated shock. The entire bedroom is now the ballroom area. A huge chandlier hangs right uptop the ceiling. Balloons and streamers spread all around. She gawks at the lovely dresses and suits from the mid 1940s. Expensive jewelry adorned by the women.
Champagne glasses poured in and served. Cheerful laughter, smiling faces, and mouthful eyes all around. Marinette can hear a light-hearted melody playing in the background. An orchestra band is performing for the party with the song. Marinette can also hear some of the lyrics as the lead singer sang his refrain.
"Midnight with the stars and you.
Midnight at a rendezvous.
Your eyes held a message tender.
Saying I surrender all my love for you."
She sees a gentleman reading a newspaper on the sofa. At a closer look, the year 1945 stands out. 1945? Has she just time traveled or is this some sort of dream. It has to be a dream. There's no way that this mansion somehow...sent her back in time. Marinette wanders around, surprised that no one noticed her at all.
That is soon answered when she spies the same woman from the portrait walking towards her. Marinette froze, panic seeping through her very soul.
Why can't I move?! I don't know what she'll do to me if-
The blackette loses her train of thought as the woman walks directly through Marinette's body.
The uneasy tingling feeling lingers, alarming her. Marinette looks down only to see her hands now transparent. The teen is practically invisible to everyone.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen."
A masculine voice cuts off the blackette's train of thoughts. Looking up, she sees the voice came from a tall and imposing man. His grey-blue eyes yield signs of kindness and generosity. Standing next to him is the same blonde from before.
"I would like to thank you all for supporting the reopening of Agreste Fashions."
Thr crowd minus Marinette clapped cheerfully.
Agreste Fashions? Could this man be the mysterious fashion designer Gabriel Agreste? And what about the woman?
Wait...that's Emilie 's his wife! The late famous model of Paris!
What is going on? Why is Marinette seeing all of this? And she could've sworn she heard someone laughing.
Emilie seemed to have heard it as well, considering the fact she excused herself and heads to the kitchen. Marinette follows after her, ignoring the same uneasy feeling as she passes through the crowd. She notices how the kitchen looks a lot different than the present. It feels more...welcoming. She also notices a ruff of blonde hair hiding behind a cabinet.
"Where are you, sweetie?"
Marinette saw Emilie smiling as she crept towards the boy. Before he could run, the model caught him.
"Gotcha!"
She hoisted the four year old up into the comfort of her arms. The boy giggled joyfully.
"You got me, Mama. You got me!"
That must be her son. They were playing hide and seek.
A fuzzy feeling warms up Marinette's chest. It reminds her when she used to play such games with her mother when she was a kid.
What happened to them?
A sense of drive took over Marinette. She wants to find out more about the Agreste family and what led to the tragedy of 1955?
Great, now I sound like...A...l...y...
Her vision starts to blur again. She lost control of her legs as reality around her fades away.
.
.
Marinette sits up quickly, almost giving herself whiplash.
It felt like a strange dream. Except she never recalled falling asleep.
"Meow."
The blackette sees that the same cat is now sitting on the piano bench. Again, he stares at Marinette, green eyes unblinking.
"Where were you, you sneaky cat?"
She reaches a hand towards the cat, only to hiss at her.
"Jeez, not a friendly one huh?" The cat ignores her, licking his paw. Marinette grumbles with disdain.
What is with this cat? He's so strange.
The cat suddenly jumps off, revealing a silver ring sitting on the piano bench. How did she not saw this before? It's impossible for it to show up out of nowhere. Marinette tries not to question more as she picks up the ring. Looking at it, it's a simple signet silver with no initals or amything else to identify the owner.
Acidic green eyes suddenly appear out of the shadows behind Marinette. The atomsphere changed ominously, giving her chills.
I-is someone here?!
The eyes then disappear once the blackette turns around. Panicked, she runs away from the room. She quickly goes back to the first floor, zooming past the main door.
Instead of taking the bus like she did eariler, Marinette speeds through the abandoned street, crossing through traffic of people and cars. She continues down more blocks, not noticing the moon high in the sky.
It isn't until she reaches the bakery Marinette stops. Her heart still beats rapidly in her chest, breaths coming out in fast uneven puffs. There's no way she's going back there. Not in a million years. She unclenches her fist to find the ring still in her hand.
Well, at least no one would tease me as a scaredy cat anymore.
"Marinette, are you back from Alya's? It's time for dinner."
Dinner? But it's 2 pm, right?
The teen checks the time on her phone, eyes widening at the numbers.
I was in that mansion for three hours?!
Before she could think more about it, her mother calls for her again.
"Coming Maman!"
As Marinette goes inside her home, the black cat watches her from a distance. A Cheshire-cat like grin forms on his face with gleaming green eyes.
Thanks for freeing me, Princess.
Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of a new series that span about five chapters or so. May change depending on the content. The cover's done by a fellow artist from Miraculous Amino as an art request. Their username is Hentai boi, so check them out please! This time, I plan on writing this story to the end! I'm currently working on the latter half of chapter two right now, and I'm not stopping!
And one more thing before signing off, the song mentioned in this chapter is "Midnight, The Stars And You" by Al Boilly. Yes it's the song that played in the ending of "The Shining".