Coraline's Nightmare Ch. 1

Chapter 1

Coraline's Fortune
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"Oh, my twitchy witchy girl, I think you are so nice. I give you bowls of porridge and I give you bowls of ice…cream." Sung Coraline Jones as she read through a cookbook yet again.

Her parents were still at that gardener's convention in Seattle for their catalog and now she has to cook for herself. This was fine, since she was sixteen.

It had been four years since Coraline and her parents moved from Pontiac, Michigan, to the Pink Palace Apartments in the middle of Oregon. Four years since she fought…her. Coraline tried to not think much of the Other Mother and her made-up world. After all, the witch did try to sew buttons into her eyes to devour her essence. But the memories were engraved into her mind forever. Especially when she nearly lost her life and her parents during the whole event.

Needless to say, Coraline decided to pick up on a few things to tend to herself and her busy parents. The first being on how to cook. A valuable lesson, since she could not take any more of her father's cooking. Which was both appreciated and a relief (mostly by her mother) by her parents. Coraline also took up sewing, navigation (for her explorations), and other tidbits of information.

She had to be resourceful, especially when her parents obtain a heavy workload.

Other than her talents, Coraline's physical form also changed. She was a bit taller than her mother but still shorter than her father. She was slightly flat, although her clothes, including her school uniforms, hide that fact. A fact that she was both annoyed and grateful for hiding. Her hair remained blue as ever and flowed down past her waist. She had taken up a habit of wearing headbands to keep her hair back, usually the thick ones.

That night, she was wearing a powder blue sweater that she had knitted; a pair of slightly baggy jeans, black shoes with white laces, and a dark pink and violet 2-inch wide headband. In other words she was growing up fine. But, she still maintained the curiosity and adventurous spirit that was with her when she was twelve.

After careful debating, Coraline decided to cook up some leftover chicken she made the night before and made with it a sandwich. As she at the sandwich, Coraline began to think. With her parents gone till after Christmas, she had little to do. She could've talked with her friend, Wybie, and see what he was up to. But the boy and his grandmother were gone south for their family's Christmas.

She could talk to Mr. B, the man who lived in the upstairs apartment. But he was training his jumping mice for the New Year's circus performance and the mice had been having a hard time with winter rolling in. That left the blue-haired girl to talk with her downstairs neighbors: Miss Spink and Miss Forcible.

Who knows? Maybe I can get my fortune told again.

After her dinner, Coraline finished cleaning the apartment before her visit to the former actresses. Before she left, Coraline grabbed a grey-blue button-up poncho that she knitted and filled the cat's dish. Ever since her battle with the Other Mother, the black cat that helped Coraline came by often. Even though he was still feral, the cat did appreciate the meal and cat door that Coraline had installed a couple years back.

The sun was still showing a bit as Coraline left her apartment and headed for the downstairs apartment. After she knocked on the door, she was greeted by the women's three new Scotties; Julius, Brutus, and Horatio. They were followed by Miss Spink, who looked about the same as she did when she met Coraline.

Opening the door, Miss Spink greeted Coraline.

"Ah, Caroline. So good of you to decide to come visit us."

"Still Coraline, Miss Spink." Coraline replied.

This had become their usual greeting, despite telling Miss Spink countless times that her name was Coraline and not Caroline.

As Coraline was being lead in to the basement apartment, she was acknowledged by the slightly blind-as-a-bat Miss Forcible. Like that day four years ago, the two women disagreed over tea types until Miss Forcible decided to go with jasmine. Coraline sat down on the sofa with the three dogs by her sides. This included the wall of stuffed Scotties that the women had. Over the years, Coraline had become used to being around the dead dogs.

After Miss Forcible brought the tea and some hot scones, Miss Spink offered to tell Coraline her fortune again. Coraline agreed and drank her tea. Once the cup was near empty, she handed the cup to Miss Spink, who gently shook the cup until a shape appeared. The result, however, caused Miss Spink's eyes to widen.

"Oh~. Caroline. Caroline. Caroline. Caroline. You are in terrible danger. You…and someone else."

This caused Coraline to raise an eyebrow.

"Again? And who?"

"I see the danger is in the form of a bag-man. And the other figure, I see in the form of a skeleton."

Hearing this, Miss Forcible took Miss Spink's fortune-telling hat, thinking it was the teacup, yet again.

"Oh! Give me that cup, April. I still say your eyes are going bad."

Again, the two women began to argue over the tea's message. As they did, Coraline took the cup and looked herself. She hadn't practiced fortune-telling or divination, but she could see that Miss Spink was right. From the bag-man's form, she could somehow sense that she should stay away from someone like that.

Then, she looked at the second figure, the skeleton man. Like with the bag-man, Coraline could sense something. But this figure, however, she could sense that he was no danger to her and possible a new friend she would make in the future. But, that was her instincts.

Then again, Miss Spink was never wrong in her fortunes.

After saying good-bye to the two actresses and their dogs, both living and departed, Coraline then left the apartment and returned to hers. The new fortunes still echoed through her mind, thankfully taking the place of the Other Mother. What danger could she be in? Who was this bag-man and skeleton that Miss Spink saw in her tea leaves?

Whatever the reason, Coraline remembered one of the most important advices she had received: Be very careful. Especially for what you wish for. But, since she had no school and she had nowhere she needed to go, Coraline was content on staying home. But as she was getting ready to settle down for the night, she spotted something on the hill next to the apartment.

"Huh? I haven't seen that area before." Coraline spoke.

Her curiosity peaked; Coraline went up to her room and grabbed a large, leather satchel. Within it, she placed a compass; a map of the property; a thick, blank notepad; a flashlight; some matches; and her lucky hat that the cat managed to retrieve a before confronting the Other Mother after gathering the three ghost eyes.

Once those were packed, Coraline then went down to the kitchen and packed a lunch. After all, who knows how long she'll be gone. After she packed the lunch, Coraline then went back to her room to pick up something she forgot. In her desk was a handy sickle that Wybie had given her one year ago. The blade was of curved iron and the handle was tied with leather. There was a small chain that helped its owner find it and keep it close. Her parents protested the gift at first, but they allowed Coraline to keep it to protect herself on her explorations.

After she finished packing the satchel, Coraline then wrote a note on her notepad.

"Gone exploring. Be back soon. Coraline."

Since she didn't know when her parents would come back, Coraline always left a note if she was going someplace. She then placed the note on the table and turned off the lights.

After locking the apartment, Coraline then headed up the hill. Once she made it to the fork in the road that the right path lead to the well, Coraline took the left. She walked and walked until she could see the window she saw the place from. Returning her gaze to the path, she came to a circle of trees. But these were not like the trees she was familiar with.

"What in the world?" Coraline asked in surprise.

On each tree, there was an unusual door. She saw a firework, a heart, a shamrock, a turkey, an Easter egg, a Christmas tree, and the one that caught her eye, a jack-o-lantern. Coraline stepped into the center and did a slow, 360 degree turn. As she turned, she noticed that there was a pattern.

"Independence Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and…"

She then turned to the pumpkin door.

"…Halloween."

Ever since she was little, Coraline loved Halloween. Dressing up, going door to door to collect candy, good-natured pranks, and the stories of spirits walking the earth, since it was supposed to be a time when the border between the mortal world and that of the spirits. It was when she would love scares that didn't cost her life.

Focused on the Halloween door, Coraline walked up to it. She then reached out her left arm and turned the nose knob on the door. Once done, Coraline then opened the door to find…

"Nothing?"

The inside of the tree was dark and hollow. Nothing was inside, which made Coraline annoyed.

However, before she could turn back, Coraline felt a strong breeze. A breeze so strong, it lifted her off her feet and into the tree, closing the door behind her. Coraline fell and fell, but had yet to hit bottom. She brushed away the cobwebs that had begun to gather on her and she began to smell pumpkin cider the further she fell. As she fell, Coraline was reminded of one of her favorite stories, Alice in Wonderland, seeing the similarities between herself and Alice.

"But Alice had never dealt with a witch that had buttons for eyes."

After a few minutes of falling, a bright flash blinded Coraline, causing her to cover her eyes. Once she was able to sense the light dimming, she removed her arms and opened her eyes. What she saw, she couldn't believe.

"Where on earth am I?"