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The Trade	By : sandyl666 Category: +1 through F > Coraline Views: 11933 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: Coraline book-verse is owned by Neil Gaiman and part of movie-verse is owned by Henry Selick, I own nothing. I make nothing whatsoever by writing and posting this on.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Disclaimer: Coraline's plot and characters isn't mine, it belongs to Neil Gaiman and partially Henry Selick I think?
A/N: A no-sex chapter. Aww.
Chapter 11: Recalcitrant

"You may go anywhere you wish in my realm... except for the apartment above us," the Beldam said idly one afternoon while they were eating - correction, Coraline ate while the Beldam watched and fed his creepy plants - at the table.
"Why?" Coraline asked, instantly curious about any location she was forbidden from entering.
"Because I say so, sweetheart. Now keep eating,"
Coraline was bored. She was already a restless being by nature and being caged up in the realm of a spider, with nothing to explore but a replica of her house and part of her garden, was stifling her curious nature. She paced around the hallway for a few seconds, knowing by routine that this was the time the Beldam was clearing up breakfast and allowing her some time to herself... in which she could do nothing.
Finally making her decision, acknowledging that walking around the garden for the umpteenth time was better than nothing, she moved to go out the door.
"Don't forget your jacket," the Beldam's voice came from the kitchen.
"You're not my mother!" she yelled back stubbornly as the door slammed behind her. She walked past the garden. It wasn't drying and grey like it was when she'd obtained one of the ghost children from the Other Father but at the same time, it wasn't all that amazing as the first time she'd seen it. It was just bare soil and dried up spaces that used to host beautiful fountains and breath-taking water-lily filled ponds.
She squatted on the bridge, poking her head slightly through the dull metallic bars of the railing, staring down at the deep pit beneath her.
She missed her home garden, with it's tulips and all the other variety of flowers that filled it. Coraline was ridiculously proud of her garden. She'd done most of the work. Well, maybe Wybie did help a bit, after Coraline had coerced him into doing so. But after her parents had lost interest in her 'playing with dirt' she continued to nurture the garden, loving waking up in the morning to greet the plants and find out how much each of them had grown. She hoped her parents or Wybie were still making an effort to take care of them while she was in the Other World.
Everywhere she looked there was dirt. Dirt, dirt, dirt. She was so bored of looking at all the dirt, especially in a place that in her memory had always housed the most amazing vegetation.
She got up and walked quickly away from the garden, unable to bear looking at it any longer. A flicker of movement in the windows of the upstairs apartment caught her eyes and she reflexively craned her neck to look up. But as she continued to stare, she saw no further movement. She averted her gaze again, only to have something flip past the windows once more. Her childhood curiosity piqued, she found herself running up the stairs, two steps at a time, until she was right in front of what was Mr B's apartment in her world, home to the Famous Jumping Mouse Circus.
She remembered the last time she was there and she felt a twinge of sadness remembering how the Beldam had hung the Other Wybie's clothes before the apartment, deliberately flaunting his death. She felt a tingle of adrenaline as she also remembered how the mice had attacked her. With cotton candy. It was funny looking back as a sixteen year old, but she remembered the feelings of terror their attack had elicited in that moment.
She heard a loud thump from within the apartment and hesitated. She scanned the area for any rat-spies that would report her obvious disobedience to the Beldam. Satisfied, she took a step and tried the door. It was open, unlocked, and completely dark inside. For some reason the most minimal of light filtered in through the windows. Not enough to allow her eyes to register the odds and ends of the room. Suddenly she wished she'd brought a weapon with her. Deciding that stealth was not on her side, considering that the door illuminated her figure to be seen by whatever creature inhabited the place, she proceeded to make her presence known.
"Hello?" she called out. She made sure to stomp heavily through the door. Something flitted in the darkness and she jolted in surprise, feeling a pang of deja vu from the last time she was in the room.
"Who's there?" she shouted. The teenager was quickly regretting disobeying the Beldam. She moved further forward, only to have the door slam shut behind her with a loud bang, enclosing her in pure darkness. She moved in the direction of the door, feeling around it until she could find the handle. Her fingers ran over something wet, and slimy. She recoiled reflexively, then brought her fingers to her nose, trying to smell out the liquid. It was thick, and smelled sour, disgusting.
She made a face in the dark then once again attempted to find the door handle, only to find it locked. She pressed on it with a grunt, exerting all of the strength she'd had, to no avail. She stared in the direction of the door handle, contemplating her next move, when something brushed against her shoulder, screeching. She squealed in reply, and ducked. But the creature brushed against her once more, screeching loudly, its eyes red like blood. Coraline scanned the room for the red eyes... Only to find a million other red eyes glowing in the darkness, all staring at her.
That was when all hell broke loose.
Bat wings flapped in the air noisily, screeches filled the air along with sinister squeaks as little teeth and claws dug into the flesh of her feet, legs, calves. She beat against them, screaming, but was unable to get rid of all of them. She started jumping and shaking frantically like a wet dog, trying to get them off her. As she was doing so, two hands coiled around her ankles.
"Thief! Thief!" familiar voices screamed out somewhere towards the back, their cold hands wrapped firmly around her ankles, before tugging on them, causing her to fall heavily on her butt, and be dragged across the room. She looked in the direction she was being pulled in and saw two figured intertwines, their green and pink skin glowing eerily in what little light could get into the windows. Coraline's eyes had quickly become accustomed to the darkness and she found she could see the rats squirming around her and the dog-bats flying overhead.
She flipped around as she was being dragged, sinking her nails into the wood of the floor in an attempt to anchor herself. Instead, splinters bit into the soft flesh beneath her nails, and ten deep gouges were left in the floor, continuing a trail as Coraline was forced towards the two abominations who still thought she was a thief.
Something dripped onto her hand and she looked up, and screamed. The Other Father was as pumpkin-like as the last time he saw her, leering at her with red eyes, drool dripping out the sides of his mouth and on to her fingers. And all of a sudden she knew what the liquid on the door was.
"Help me!" she shouted at him, remembering him to be an ally.
"You shouldn't have disobeyed Mother," he said in that distorted voice, his words sounding choppy and weird.
I think I know that now! She was tempted to shout at him but instead begged him: "Please, please help me!" She was starting to bleed, she was sure. She could feel the wetness on her fingers and the pain of freshly opened wounds beneath her nails. Her eyes widened when she realised he was walking forward. And suddenly she wasn't being dragged anymore. Instead of feeling relief that the abuse to her fingers had stopped, her heart accelerated at the sight of the intertwined Miss Spink and Forcible towering above her.
"Thief..." They said ominously, trailing off, making that single word seem more intimidating than it already was.
"So sharp you won't feel a thing..." The Other Father intoned, and in his hands he held a package that Coraline recognised within a fraction of a second. Despite being unable to see inside the box, she wasn't surprised when he brandished a needle. The hands were still holding tight onto her ankles. She sat up and moved back slowly into Miss Spink and Forcible, forcing a hiss out of them, never taking her eyes off the Other Father. Abruptly, after a long, agonising wait, the Other Father attacked.
His arm struck downwards, the sharp needle flying towards her face.
Now! She quickly ducked, flattening herself against the floor as the needle sunk into Miss Spink and Forcible. Apparently what one felt, so could the other, as they both screeched at a note so excruciatingly high that it made the Other Father take a step back and groan, and blurred Coraline's vision for a second. But that didn't matter to her, having already become accustomed to the dark. She forced her legs out of its bonds, taking advantage of the pained distraction, and rolled away.
She got to her feet as quickly as she could and dashed towards the door, ignoring the warning nips she got from the bats and rats. She was mere seconds from the locked door when it suddenly burst open. She dived against the dark figure at the door, and tackled it. They rolled across the landing in front of the door before stopping just shy of the railings.
Coraline sucked in a shocked breath when she looked to the still open door to see all the red-eyed creatures running towards them, eager to sew buttons onto her eyes, screeching and screaming, when suddenly the door slammed shut.
She was panting heavily, and was surprised to see that her rescuer was just as breathless.
"Coraline," the Beldam said between pants. "What did I say-" He breathed out. "-about exploring that room above?"
"I'm-" Coraline took in a deep breath, still gasping in shock at what had just happened. "I'm sorry!" she managed to get out, her body trembling from the shock and adrenaline. Her breathing seemed to just accelerate, her heart thrumming uncomfortably. She felt like throwing up.
Sensing her impending panic attack, the Beldam tightened his arms around the girl as he, too, fought for breath. When he'd heard the noise above he quickly figured out what had happened, and rushed out of the house and onto the apartment upstairs.
"Calm down, darling. You're safe. I have you," he told her. She nodded, as she tried to control her breathing. She could feel her panic slipping away, and her breathing slowing as he continued to whisper comforting words to her. She wasn't registering any of the words, but just the calm tone of his voice made her feel more at ease.
"Thank you..." she said after a few minutes, by which she had calmed down almost completely.
"I told you explicitly not to go up there, Coraline,"
"I know, but I was just bored... And you didn't say why. I didn't think..." she trailed off, shuddering as she remembered all the angry red eyes.
"They're my creations, the ones you defeated. I revived them, thinking they would go back to what they were, and serve me as they should have. But for some reason, some of the side effects of their defeat was... irreversible." he said.
"No kidding..." she muttered, unconsciously moving closer to him for more comfort. Her head rested against his chest, focusing on the beats within his chest as she tried to push out the images of those twisted, distorted beings.
A/N: This chapter may seem like a non-sequitur, but I swear, it is relevant to the plot. For one, there's a CoralineXBeldam moment! And second of all, it just wouldn't make sense for Coraline to accept her punishment nor obey the Beldam's every rule. And third - I want it to be clear what happened to the rest of the characters that was created by the Beldam.
And because I probably don't have anywhere to insert this, during the musical where the Miss Spink and Forcible act to cheer up Coraline, Miss Spink and Forcible were new creations by the Beldam. He couldn't get the old ones to work again.
- 10
- 11
- 12
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The Trade