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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
- 1
- 2
- 3
Disclaimer: Coraline characters, plot, etc, movie-verse or novel-verse, do not belong to me. Which is good, in a way. Imagine what twisted things I could do with it.
Chapter 2: Return

That night, Coraline tossed and turned in bed. Why did she just run out of the sitting room? She should have checked the door. Nothing will happen to her as long as it was locked, right? Was it? She contemplated going to investigate its state, but was much too afraid to do so. A scratching at her window made her jump and she gasped as a shot of pure adrenaline shot through her veins.
She peeked from behind her blankets at her window and found the blue eyes of the Cat staring at her in an almost concerned manner. After escaping the Beldam's world, never once did she hear the Cat speak again but he had the most expressive eyes. Coraline could understand him as clearly as if he was speaking just by looking at the glassy blue eyes.
Placing her feet on the cold floor of the room, she tiptoed to the window and pushed it up, taking the Cat into her arms. His warmth comforted her immediately, and already she felt her fear fade away slowly.
The Cat meowed once in protest. He didn't like the contact, but submitted to her wishes just this once, sensing the tension in her body.
"She sent me a doll. What am I going to do, Cat?" Coraline sighed as she held the Cat close. The Cat meowed in reply, holding his paw up at the bed, staring intently at the worry and dark circles under her eyes. Coraline smiled. "You're right," She closed the window, preventing the warmth in her room from escaping into the cool night air. She stepped lightly back into her bed and settled down with the Cat curled up beside her. With his reassuring heat by her side, she eased into a dreamless slumber as the wary blue eyes of the feline vigilantly monitored the girl's surroundings, allowing no harm to come to his friend.
A week passed by in a relatively peaceful manner. Geeky, hunch-backed Wybie had attracted much attention at The Fog, but it had been worth it, reported Kate. After all, she had obtained her first kiss. Coraline listened with amusement but she remained on guard. More than once she felt sinister stares on her back but was never able to make out the perpetrator.
After gathering all the bravery she could muster, she examined the door in the sitting room - and found it locked tight, much to her relief.
She wondered about the doll a lot, trying to gain clues from her short confrontation with the Beldam's spy - Why had it been in the shape of eleven year old Coraline? Why not her as a sixteen year old? Could it be that the Beldam did not know her in this form? Over and over she contemplated it to no avail. There were no answers that she could find.
The Cat visited her every night, standing guard as Coraline slept. Gradually, she began the slip into unconsciousness with more ease, more effortlessly. She began to forget about her encounter with the doll - writing it off as mere paranoia.
That is, until the squeak.
It happened in the middle of the night, when the vast expanse of sky was at its darkest. The crescent moon hung heavily in the sky, like a scythe, a foreboding omen that threatened to slice the world and end it's deteriorating existence.
The Cat heard it first, jolting awake and hissing angrily. Coraline's eyes snapped open at the furious hissing of the Cat. His fur stood on end and he was readied to leap onto one of the disguised rats with buttons for eyes. Coraline gasped at the mouse. Its button eyes glistened sinisterly. The blood slowly drained from Coraline's face. How? How could she have opened the door? She thought in mortification at the horrendous turn of events. The Cat leaped off the bed and the button-eyed rat bolted out the partially open door, scrambling down the stairs, the Cat hot on his heels.
"Cat!" Coraline shouted, her concern for her friend preceding any self-preservation and fear of the Beldam. Pausing only to collect her pocket-knife and dressing gown, Coraline chased after the Cat. She knew where they were being led - to the sitting room. She hastily threw on her dressing gown, cursing the night gown she was wearing. Of all things she could be wearing to encounter her mortal enemy - why this girly dress-like nightwear?
She stepped into the sitting room and her eyes fell on the little opening in the wall as the mouse shot into it without hesitation. The Cat reached the open door, then backed off cautiously. Coraline joined him at the open passage and they stared into it. It wasn't dirty and disgusting like it had been the last time Coraline had been in it - but neither was it the amazing colourful tunnel it was the first time Coraline had passed through it. It was white and square-like, plain and cold to the touch.
Coraline bit her lip, feeling conflicted. Had the Beldam found the key? And if so, was it in her possession now? Then Coraline had to find it. With the door open, the Beldam had access to everyone - all the people Coraline loved. Her family, her best friends. She couldn't allow it. But to willingly enter the lair of that scary arachnid again? No way!
The cat meowed, attracting her attention. Her eyes slowly slid down to her companion who was observing her every action, noticing her internal chaos.
"What do I do, Cat?" she asked, once again feeling at a loss of what to do. The Cat rolled his eyes, then made the decision for her. He leaped into the passageway before her. She stared after him with wide eyes, then looked back at her house. A particularly loud snore from her father was the final push. Lowering herself to her knees she crawled through the pristine shaft, it's white colour creeping her out.
With every inch of distance she crossed, her heart thumped a little faster in anticipation of what was going to happen. This had to be the stupidest thing she had ever done - leaping into the fire without doing so much as preparing herself. She entered the alternate sitting room. It appeared much the same as it did half a decade ago, when she had first encountered it. No insect-shaped furniture nor spider-like patterns. The Beldam had fixed this place up. And also seemed to be missing.
Cautiously, with the Cat pattering by her side, she exited the sitting room. A low humming came from the kitchen and she entered it, recognising the more 'interesting' version of her kitchen immediately. And more importantly - she recognised the back of the Other Mother as she flipped some eggs and hummed to herself.
Coraline was cold, sleepy and the smell of the cooking food was making her hungry. She decided not to play any games. "Where's the key, Beldam?"
The Other Mother turned around, and Coraline jumped back, bumping into the door. The Other Mother didn't have buttons for eyes, but the same green ones her own mother did. It reminded her of the last trip she'd made to this world, where the Other Mother had tried to trick her while she was exiting the tunel between their worlds.
"Oh, Coraline, you're early!" The Other Mother said, her voice said with feigned surprise.
Coraline glared. "The key, Beldam," she repeated, folding her arms over her chest, trying not to show her surprise over the lack of buttons. If not for the fake syrup-like voice of the Other Mother, Coraline might almost mistake her for Mel.
"Sit, sit!" The Other Mother gestured to the chair. "I'm afraid that your Other Father won't be joining us today."
"Yeah, because he helped me and died in that dangerous garden of yours!" Coraline spat out angrily, the image of the man who was created to appear like her dad dying, drowning in the bed of vegetation after his last attempt to assist her.
The Other Mother frowned. "Temper, Coraline. Now, sit. Let's have a nice supper-breakfast." the warning tones in her voice rang clear and Coraline sat, her eyes locked on the Other Mother warily.
"Why don't you have buttons for eyes?" Coraline asked, her curiosity getting the better of her as the Cat leaped into her lap. The Other Mother eyed the Cat in disgust for a moment before speaking.
"I can transform into anything I like, buttons or no," she explained flippantly, placing some fried eggs onto Coraline's plate. Coraline made no move to eat them, but kept her hands on the Cat who kept under the table, his body shaking. Coraline frowned as she realised that the Cat was as afraid as she was of the Beldam, but had taken the first step back into this fake world for her sake.
"Then can you stop transforming into my mum? It's disturbing," Coraline said.
"What would you rather me transform into?" The Other Mother asked. Coraline paused. She had no answer to that question. She was rapidly distracted by the delicious smell of the eggs and grilled cheese on the table. But she resisted, reminding herself that everything of this world was fake.
"Thank you for the key, by the way," The Other Mother said. Coraline peered at her quizzically, head tilted to one side. "Though I suppose I should really be thanking the foolish boys who freed my hand. But I must say it was kind of you to place my hand so near to the key."
Coraline stared at the thin, dangerous appendage hanging from the Oher's Mother's wrist, glaring at it. Damn it. Why did she use the key to tie up the hand? It should have occurred to her that she should have separated them! But then again, she was only an eleven year old. Barely even a teenager.
"What do you want?" Coraline hissed, just managing to keep a lid on her temper. This thing ruined three lives, simply because she found them tasty and wanted something to love, and she'd almost managed to destroy Coraline's family.
"Just to love you, Coraline dearest," The Other Mother purred. The food before them remain untouched. The Other Mother didn't eat, and Coraline wasn't too sure she wanted to take in things the creature wouldn't.
"What, by sewing buttons into my eyes?"
"If that's what it comes to, yes," The Other Mother stood up, the chair making no sound as it was pushed back from the table. The stealth and litheness with which the Other Mother moved only seemed to scare Coraline. Her hand tensed on the Cat as the Other Mother moved towards her. "Coraline, Coraline..." The Other Mother sighed. "You've grown up to be so beautiful... Who knew a little brat like you could have the potential to be such a woman?" One of her long sharp nails trailed over Coraline's neck as she circled around the girl, analysing her every feature. Coraline stiffened at the contact and goosebumps appeared all over her skin.
Coraline resisted her urge to slap away the Other Mother's hands and instead took a deep breath. She knew there was only one way for her to try and escape this mess.
"Let's play a game," she said. The Other Mother's hand on the nape of her neck froze. Simultaneously, the body of the Cat under Coraline's hand tensed and it let out a soft whimper of concern.
"A game?" The Other Mother repeated with a chuckle. "Hmm, and what would the stakes be?"
"The key. And Cat and I get to go home safely,"
"High stakes," the Other Mother commented. "And if I win?"
Coraline paused. "I'll let you sew buttons into my eyes," The Cat hissed quietly under the table, protesting. He didn't dare say anything in the presence of the Beldam.
"Not good enough, Coraline. After all, with the key, I can lure as many vulnerable souls as I want and persuade them to have buttons for eyes." The Other Mother said.
Coraline ground her teeth together in frustration. "Then what do you want?"
"Your parents. Your friends. I want you to lure them here if you lose."
"No!" Coraline replied, horrified. The Cat leaped off her lap as Coraline bolted up from the chair, causing it to fall backwards and hit the floor with a loud thud. She whirled around to face the Other Mother, eyes blazing. "I will not hand them over to you!"
"It's your choice, Coraline darling," the Other Mother said with a deceptively gentle smile.
Coraline glared at the Other Mother as some of her passion faded away. So what now? As it is the Other Mother had access to her loved ones anyway. And she'd won once against the Beldam, hadn't she? She could do it again.
"Alright," Coraline conceded, speaking the words she never thought she would. "Alright, I'll lure them here if you win," The teenager resisted the urge to bite her tongue as those poisonous words slipped off her tongue.
The Other Mother smiles triumphantly. "Well, then, what game should we play?" Coraline opened her mouth to answer but the Other Mother went on, cutting off whatever the girl had to say. "I think I should choose the game this time, yes? It's only fair,"
Fair, my foot. Coraline thought but nodded once brusquely.
"Now, hmmm..." The Other Mother said thoughtfully. "How about... A creating game?"
Coraline's whole body was stiff, almost like an ice sculpture. She felt like she would crack into a million cold shards at any moment. This thought was further reinforced by the tell-tale cramp forming in her right leg. The pause that the Other Mother left for Coraline to fill in remained awkward, silent. Coraline continued to glare at the creature who was wearing her mother's appearance.
"I shall provide the materials for you, and show you what it is you need to make. But if you don't create it by the time the button covers the moon..." The Other Mother held out a single, too long finger towards Coraline. Coraline shrank back a little but then, remembering why she was here, straightened her back and met the Other Mother's chilling contact head on. The Other Mother placed a single finger and slid it down Coraline's cheek in an affectionate, almost gentle way. Coraline felt like throwing up. The Other Mother inclined her head to whisper into the bluenette's ear.
"You'll be mine, Coraline. As will your family and friends," She laughed harshly, then walked out of the room. Pausing at the doorway, she looked over her shoulder. "Well? Come,"
Coraline hesitated, then followed. What have I gotten myself into? She wondered, shivering from more than just the cold as she placed one foot before the other, following in the footsteps of the evil, spider-like creature in front of her.
A/N: I made an amazing discovery while proof-reading this chapter. Did anyone else notice that the Beldam's name can be re-arranged to form bedlam? How cool is that? And how dumb am I to have not noticed it until now?
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The Trade