Chapter 3: Can You Keep A Secret?

It was probably the worst family vacation Coraline ever had.

She was expecting some sightseeing or maybe a bit of mall strolling? But instead, she was trapped in a strange house far away from Blithe's Hollow town. It reminded her eerily of the Pink Palace, only the house is not much of a palace but more of a mini mansion. When Coraline asked her mother about the place, she simply said it was from her side of the family.

Coraline has been having growing suspicions on Mel lately. She didn't find it normal on how the couple would barely leave the house. Her father always looked dazed at most time, as if he was under a spell. He greets her a good morning or a good night whenever they pass around each other but other than that, they rarely spoke. This made Coraline a bit lonely at time. He was the only one who really spoke to her if Wybie's not around or whenever she would have a disagreement with her mother.. which is the exact situation right now.

She took note of what the ghosts told her. Her mother was hiding something and she wasn't doing a great job at not making it obvious. But what she was doing a great job at avoiding Coraline at all costs. Coraline couldn't put her finger to it, but there's something about her mother. Whenever they would go out together for dinner, Coraline would forget about the whole thing.

To ease her frustration, Coraline did what she usually does: Go explore alone.

They arrived at Blithe Hollow somewhere around four in the morning and a snowy blanket already covered the whole town.

She had just been having second thoughts about the whole thing. She was thinking that maybe she was just hallucinating from the trauma. She was just about to give up when suddenly, she sees a boy.

She had seen him before, when that annoying girl was trying to sell her tickets to a dance or some sort. But she didn't give him much attention. The snow was distracting and she was deep in her thought. But once she had locked eyes with him at that diner, she felt an excruciating feeling of being electrocuted. She remembered the memory vividly when she unintentionally tried plugging in her mother's computer charger with wet hands.

Her mind went blank and shocks of images came to her. It was like watching a horror movie; she saw things rising up from the grave, zombies? She saw floating translucent figure in which she assumed were ghosts. She saw a little boy not older than eleven talking to them while other laugh at him. She saw dark swirls in the sky, thunder and lightning. She hears the soft whimper and pleading of a little girl and a mother who was screaming for her daughter. And then she saw a figure hanging limply from a tree, a rope around its neck. She saw a blast of green sparks and with a huge boom, she heard someone screamed, "I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER!"

The scene changed and she was inside a room. It was an old victorian-styled room. There were red dusty curtains covering the window, there was a design of a woman holding hands with different other children embroidered on it. Next thing she knew, she was suffocating in an enclosed, dusty space reaching for something she couldn't make out. Then as if something was pulling her away, she felt a force grabbing her and then she was back standing at the Pink Palace. Everything was dead silent and cold. A hand gripped hers tightly and she rested her head on that person's shoulder. She felt someone kissing her forehead lightly before she opened the door and saw everything burning inside.

When Coraline slipped back into consciousness, her eyes stung , her head was throbbing and she was shaking. She saw the same boy, sprawled on the floor, his drink spilled and his paper scattered. She had an unnerving feeling that he might've experienced the same thing.

The ghosts said she was going to meet someone, right? Someone who would help her?

She might already have an idea on who that person is.

The only problem was, who was he? How was she going to tell him? What if he's going to freak out and run away screaming? Or maybe he'll even laugh at her and call her a freak.

It was 10:30 am and Coraline decided to do a little bit more exploring. She found herself looking for a well, or maybe a cat she could play with. Even though she won't admit it, but she's homesick. She missed Cat. He didn't show up as often as before but if he did, he would always show up at her window. She missed the people there. Yeah, she started getting used to the company of old people. Her stomach tightened as she thought about April Spink. She had to keep her pace faster to prevent herself from tearing up.

As much as she also hates to admit, she missed Wybie. He was the first one to ever understood all about that whacked-up incident and he already became her best friend. Her friends from Michigan rarely visit now, so all she had was Wybie. Wybie got her back ever since the incident by the well. They were always together that she might've already considered him as her brother.

There was no well or a cat, or a Wybie as well but she found a little house in the midst of the forest. She could tell it was long abandoned because place looked clearly unkempt; moss covered the walls, trash scattered everywhere, pieces of wood were nailed to cover the windows and snow piled up the roof as if it was going to break collapse any time soon. She couldn't resist the urge to go up to it and attempted to open it. It was locked and probably for a good reason. So, Coraline left it and continued her little walk. She couldn't help but feel that everything was familiar.

She stopped dead at her tracks when she saw a boy standing before an old dead tree. It was the boy from the diner. He wore a red scarf around his neck and a black jacket. She watched as he knelt down and placed a flower beside the tree. As much as she wanted to stick around and ask what on earth he was doing, Coraline turned back, praying that he didn't see her.

"Hey."

Life hates me.

She froze then slowly, turned around, "Hi."

He approached her, snow crunching under his boots. "Coraline, right?"

Coraline felt her chest lighten. He actually got her name right and the way he went slowly at 'Cora' when he pronounced her name - as if he was afraid of getting her name wrong- made her want to give this guy a trophy. Heck, even Wybie got her name wrong at first.

"Yeah," she responded before smiling apologetically, "I'm sorry but I don't quite remember your name."

"It's Norman. Norman Babcock."

"Sorry, Norman," Coraline held out her hand, "Full name's Coraline Jones. Nice to meet you."

He shook it, "It's fine, really. Likewise"

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" Norman asked once he let go of her hand.

Coraline was about to ask him the same question but decided it was best if she didn't get on the wrong foot with him. After all, she needed him.. in a way. Scaring him away at the first meeting wouldn't be a great idea.

"I'm kinda staying around here," she answered truthfully. She didn't find a reason to hide.

"Since when?"

"Three days ago. But we'll be outta here in a week or so. We're only in vacation."

Norman smiled, "Blithe Hollow's a bore, huh?"

Coraline stared at his smile, heart beating a little more faster but she quickly shook it off. Shrugging, "Nah. It's not as bad as my home."

"Where is that?"

"Oregon. It rains each and every day. I swear, you're going to hate it there."

Norman let out a small chuckle. "I've lived here all my life. So, anywhere else would probably be a better place for me."

Coraline laughed a little. He was easier to get along than expected, "Figures."

There was a brief silence. Coraline's mind was filled with thoughts. 'What to do next? What to say? Gosh, just tell him there's an evil witch going to kill the both of you.'

"So.. where do you live around here?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Coraline pointed to the path all the way to the small hill where her the house stood. "Over there. Up that hill."

"T-The Prenderghast estate?" She could hear the uneasy sound in his voice.

Prenderghast? Coraline suddenly felt tense. The Prenderghast estate? That's where they're staying right now? And her mother said the house was her grandmother's. She does not recall her maiden name being Prenderghast. But the name has a familiar twinge to her.

"Yeah, I guess. That big house on the hill..I didn't know it was called that," Coraline said, "My mother said it was in the family."

She saw his face's reaction turn into pure confusion. Before he could speak she immediately asked another question, "How about you? What were you doing here?"

"Just.. visiting." he replied.

She didn't want to pry. Considering that they barely knew each other and she was not going to scare him away. Though, part of her just wants to know everything. Especially if he has any idea what is going on.

"Oh, okay." She bit her lower lip. The air suddenly felt awkward. Coraline looked down to the ground, where she tried to keep her mind busy with the snow, "I-I should get back."

"Okay," he replied, "See you around."

They both turned their backs and starting trudging down (or up) to the path they took.

As Coraline head back up to her house, she couldn't help but feel unfulfilled. That was her chance and she blew it. Who knows when she would see him again? Or even talk to him again?

She walked further away from the spot they met and as she got closer to her home, the more she thought about their meeting and became puzzled. First of all, he said he was visiting. Who on earth was he visiting? There was no one in that place aside from the Jones. If he was talking about that old abandoned house.. then he must be crazy. No one lives there. He even brought flowers to a tree..

Flowers.

He was placing flowers under a tree.

Coraline stopped. Why was he doing that?

That tree..

He was visiting..

Struck in realization, she gasped, "A grave?"

The tree was a grave? B-But-

Before she could finish her thoughts, she sprinted back to the place. The tree was a grave. There was a tree in my dream. A ghost of a girl names Aggie said she was hanged. She was asking for my help and..

..she also asked for his.

No wonder the places started looking familliar. It was in her dream.

The slope down was steep. Coraline was running down the hill fast, she was out of control. She felt herself hitting a solid figure that sent them both tumbling down the hill. Once they hit the bottom, she landed painfully on her back. Wincing from the pain, she slowly sat up and when she looked over to her side..

"Norman?"

Groaning, he pushed himself up. There was a cut on his forehead dripping with blood. Coraline stared down at her own self, her jeans were ripped, exposing her wounded knee and she was sure her foot wasn't supposed to face that way.

"Oh my gosh," she forced herself to crawl (which is more painful than she thought) towards him. "I'm so sorry.."

She was panting. Half of her was in pain and the other half over-embarassed at the moment. She pulled out her handkerchief and pressed it on his forehead.

"It's okay." Norman replied, slightly wincing from the pressure.

"Okay?! I could've severely injured you!" Coraline exclaimed. She thought about bringing him into the house and patch him up but with her wounded leg, it would be impossible for her to climb up at the moment.

"Really, it's fine," he insisted, taking the handkerchief and pressing it on his own forehead, "Hey, you're hurt too."

"It's just a leg wound, no biggie-"

"No, your lip is bleeding.. and your injuries are worse than you think," he said as he glanced down at her foot. He took the hankerchief an folded it into the side where it wasn't stained with blood and gently dabbed it on her lip. She was silent as she stared intensely at him. His blue eyes were focused on her bleeding lip and she was just getting conscious that his other hand was cupping her left cheek.

"Can you walk?" he asked, extending his hand as he got up. Coraline grasped it and made an effort to get up but it only caused her more pain. She sat back down.

"My house is just a short walk from here and up the hill. I think we could get there." Coraline said.

Norman crouched down to her level, looking at her with a uneasy look, "See, about your house.. I'm not really supposed to go there."

"R-Really? Why?" Coraline asked, astonished.

"I.. don't know." he was lying. Coraline can tell. She'd know when people lie.

"Okay, Let's just bleed to death then."

Norman smiled, "No thanks."

"Oh, so you're just gonna leave me here because you can walk?" Coraline smiled playfully.

He chuckled, "Come on. I know where to get help."

Even though Coraline protested, she ended up riding on his back. She wondered if she was heavy. They trudged down the snowy path heading to the town's center.

She was dying to ask him. It wasn't like her to be loss for words.. she could bomb him with questions and analysis in an instant. It's just.. she doesn't know where to start. The pain she was feeling on her foot was not helping one bit. She was biting down her lower lip just to stop herself from screaming.

What was she afraid, really? Was she afraid that Norman wouldn't believe her? Didn't she have the proof that maybe he already has an idea on what was going on? If yes, then why couldn't she speak?

"My Uncle used to live around here. In the outskirts of town, I mean."

Coraline snapped out of her trance, "U-uhm. I assume he once lived at that old house.. not far from mine?"

He nods, "He's dead already."

"..So, that's who you were visiting?"

There was dead silence before he responded, "Yeah."

Lies, Coraline thought. She pursed her lips before speaking, "No. You weren't."

Norman stopped walking. "What?"

"You weren't visiting your dead Uncle's grave."

He started walking again, "W-What makes you say that?"

He shows the most obvious signs of lying. The stuttering, the unsure voice and the delayed response.

Coraline racked her brain for a decent response. "There's this girl. She's dead. Hanged."

He didn't speak.

"I know about it," Coraline said, almost in a whisper.

"Agatha," he finally said, "She was Agatha."

"She told me her name was Aggie,"

Norman looked at her and smiled, "She must really trust you. Only family called her Aggie."

"I'm not part of her family."

"I know. I would know."

They heard the sound of an incoming car. They followed it and soon found the help they needed. "Sweet baby jenkins!"

Sheriff Hooper approached the battered-looking teenagers, "Babcock! What on earth happened here?! Is there a wild grizzly bear on the loose? Oh for goodness' sake, get inside the car!" they both did as they were told. Coraline slipped in the backseat with a bit of difficulty, Norman followed.

"You're lucky I decided to bring the car instead of the motorbike," Sheriff Hooper said as she got into the driver's seat, "Now, what on earth happened?"

"We.." Coraline started.

"..Fell." Norman finished.

"That must've been one heck of a fall." She replied, "You're lucky I still owe you for stopping that zombie invasion or else I would've been suspecting something funny. Anyway, who's your little friend? Don't get to see her around. Is she new? Tourist?"

Coraline gave Norman a puzzled look. In which he just avoided her gaze. "I'm Coraline Jones. Tourist."

"Well, welcome to Blithe Hollow; a great place to hang." Sherrif Hooper said without any enthusiasm. She turned her attention back to Norman, "So, should I send you back home?"

"Please."

"And her?"

"She's with me."

"Huh. Never knew she was already your girlfriend."

Coraline flustered, "Uh, we're not-"

"I'm just helping her out, Sheriff Hooper."

"Oh, in that case..."

"Hi, mom."

Sandra Babcock dropped her cup of coffee as she saw the two teenagers before her. "Norman Babcock, what on earth had happened to you?" She went over to inspect the boy's forehead. She then averted her attention to Coraline, "Oh my, we need to get you both patched up."

She made Coraline sit on the couch, "I'll be back. Just hold on." She gave Norman a quick kiss on the head and disappeared into the kitched to get some ice.

"Are you okay?" Norman asked Coraline once his mother was in the kitchen.

"I'm fine," Coraline replied, "Your mom is really nice."

She imagined if she ever came home this beat up, her mother would definitley yell at her. She was rarely in good terms with her mother that she felt almost jealous just seeing their mother-son interaction.

Sandra appeared again, ice packs and a first-aid kit in hand. She handed one to Norman and then proceeded to treat Coraline, "Let me see your foot, sweetie."

Coraline reluctantly removed her boots and then socks. She was met with a very grusome scene. It was probably worse than she thought. Her foot was twisted in a completely odd angle. Her ankles were red and swollen.

Sandra made a tsk sound, "Looks like we need to get it back to place."

She didn't like the sound of that.

"Could you hold still for a second? I promise the pain would quick."

Coraline gulped before finally nodding. "Hold still."

With one painful twist and a loud crack, her foot was back in place. But that didn't stop the slight pain she was still feeling. "Thank you."

"My pleasure. I'm Sandra, by the way."

"I'm Coraline."

"Nice to meet you." Sandra smiled at her. After she was done treating her, she went back to Norman. She took a damp cloth and carefully treated the cut on his forehead. When Norman finally insisted that he could take it from there, Sandra went back to the kitchen to get some refreshments.

"So, where are you from Coraline?" Sandra asked as they were all aided up and were finally enjoying steaming cups of hot chocolate.

"Ashland, Oregon." she replied, taking a sip.

"Where are you staying here in Blithe Hollow?"

Norman gave her an alarmed look. He was slowly mouthing a, 'No.'

She understood what he meant. "Uhm, me and my family are staying in the Witch's Cauldron at the moment. We're only here for a week." She recalled passing by that inn a few times.

"I do hope you enjoy your Christmas vacation here. Maybe you and your family can join us for dinner sometime?"

"Mom.."

"Norman, I'm being friendly to our guest." Sandra said.

Coraline chuckled, "I'll definitley inform my parents about the invitation, Mrs. Babcock. Thank you."

Sandra smiled and got up mumbling, 'What a polite girl.'

"Well, I'll leave you both for now. You need to rest that foot first, Coraline. I'll just drive you to the Witch's Cauldron later."

"No, mom. I think I could drive her." Norman said hurriedly.

"Honey, you're not legal to drive yet.. besides, you don't even know how to."

"But-"

Coraline put a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "It's okay. I can handle."

"Okay." Norman said just loud enough for Sandra to hear.

"Good." and with that, Sandra disappeared into the next room. The door closed behind her and Coraline immediatley spoke, "So, your mom won't ask what happened to us or something?

"She's not the prying type." Norman replied then he immediatley changed the subject, "You know, I have a lot of questions for you."

"Imagine the questions I have for you."

"I'll ask first. Answer truthfully.." he said then quickly adding, "..please."

Coraline chuckled, "Sure."

"How do you know?"

"She told me."

"Where?"

"Under her tree."

"When?"

"The night we arrived here."

Norman paused. Coraline was answering his questions with ease. His mind racing with question but those were all he could manage to say at that moment. Norman stared at her. He was sure he believed her.

"My turn?" Coraline asked. He nodded. "Don't lie. I could tell."

She didn't mean it to sound threatening but Norman still nodded. Coraline looked down to her feet before she started asking. "How do you know her?"

"I stopped her..and she was great great aunt or something."

That's why he said he would know if she was family. She nodded, "stopped her from what?"

"From destroying the whole town."

It was Coraline's turn to pause awkwardly. "Wh-What was that zombie invasion that officer was talking about? I mean, was it literal? Or was it a figurative phrase?"

"Literal. See, there's this curse Aggie put on the the people who testified against her, just before they hanged her. She didn't let them rest in peace. During her anniversary, they would rise up.. and only to be stopped if someone with a special ability could lull her back to sleep before her anniversary. I-uh- was kinda late and the dead started rising and all-"

"Wait. What? Why did they hang her? What happened?"

"They thought Aggie was a witch. They hanged her. She was so enraged that she accidentally put a curse on them."

"She's the witch? The witch this town had been celebrating for her death?" Coraline asked.

"Yes. It's sickening.. I know."

"That's unbelievable. That's so.." she was at loss for words again. She pursed her lips then told him to go on.

"I.. needed to stop her. But - like I said - I was too late. So, I needed to finad another way to stop her. The solution I found.. was different than I originally planned. I saw what happened to her. She wasn't the wicked witch everyone was told about. She was innocent.. and young.. and was hanged. I made her rest in peace forever. At least, that was what I thought."

Coraline nodded, "H-How did you know? I mean, if everybody thought she was wicked, how did you find out she wasn't? A-And why you? Why were you the one needed to stop her?"

"I.. see things." He sounded reluctant, "We all did. My family, I mean. We were special. Everyone laughed at us."

"Everyone of you? Your mother can see things also?"

"It skipped my mother.. and my sister. I don't know why it was only me who inherited it in this generation."

"Wh-What do you see, really?" Coraline asked, "Are they..ghosts? the dead?"

"Mostly," he replied, "I sometimes have visions."

Coraline was finally warming up to him. She believed in every word he had said. Even though it sounded surreal, she'd believed it. She had gone through something much unbelievable.

"When we were at that diner, did you see something?"

"Yes. Did you?"

"Yes."

"What did you see?" she asked carefully.

"I saw you." Coraline shifts uncomfortably on her seat, "And?"

"I saw buttons."

Her heart started slamming through her ribcage. She had gone through years without her bringing up the topic directly. She had thought about it, yes. She had dreamt about it. But it was a long time since she had talked about it with another living person. Wybie intended to never settle on that topic ever again and he was the only one who knew what really happened.

"There was a little door. You were crawling in it. When you surfaced to the other side, there was a woman who called herself 'Other Mother'. There were other children I saw getting.. victimed by that woman. There was this door and a key and a hand. You were inside a mirror and there was fire-"

"Stop."

She was trembling. It was like the temperature in the room dropped to a zero degrees. Her fingertips felt numb. There was no thinking he was a fraud now. There was no way that was all a wild guess. He did actually see it.

"..I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'm just not used to talking about it. You see, I tried forgetting about it but the aftershock was just so.. obvious. They sent me to therapy and such," she chuckled as if it was supposed to be funny then quickly cleared her throat and told him, "I saw some things, too. Mostly the stuff you just mentioned a while ago. The zombies and ghosts. I think I heard Aggie. Then.. I just found myself back home and saw.. fire."

She didn't recall fire in the incident. She honestly didn't.

"Did you have the dream?" Norman asked, sensing that she doesn't want to dwell on the topic anymore.

"Yeah," Coraline replied and then she looked at him, "They told me I'm going to meet someone who will help me..."

She looked at him. "Can you?"

Norman gave her a hopeful smile, "I hope so. I mean, I could.. if you won't bail on me or something."

"Well, you didn't leave me in the forest when my foot was broken. So, I suppose I wouldn't."

They laughed a bit, enjoying the little moment of relief and maybe a start of a budding frienship.

"Just so you know, I'm still conused about everything. They didn't tell me enough."

Coraline decided to finally strip away the fear and tell him. She jumped to the whole story, about how she found the door and the Beldam. "In the dream, th-they told me she was coming back. That she was going to get back on all of us. When Aggie asked for my help.. she mentioned her mother. She said her mother was missing again and the Beldam took her. When I was eleven, the Beldam took my parents too."

"She told me about her mother, too. I haven't met the ghost children. Maybe I would've if the Beldam didn't find us. A storm came in my dream and Aggie said something about her knowing. I never had another dream of her since."

"Same here. Although, the vision I had was something to remind me that they weren't just a figure of my imagination."

"What else?"

"The ghosts also told me about my mother hiding something from me. These days, I could feel it. But I can't ask her what.. there's just something. It's just-ugh. It's hard to explain at the moment. I'll still look for it."

"I'll help if I can."

Coraline smiled at him gratefully, "Thank you. So, it's a deal then? We're both in this?"

Norman didn't hesitate before he took her hand again and shaking it, "Yeah, it's a deal."

Norman glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearing three in the afternoon. Sandra reappeared moments later, looking for her other sweater. "It's just too cold this holiday. When Perry comes home from home, I'll ask him to adjust the temperature.."

"You think you can walk now?" Norman asked once Sandra was out again.

"Think so." Coraline pushed herself to her feet. She took a few steps until she finally got used to it. Both got their bags, jackets and headed outside. Blithe Hollow was more packed in the winter holidays rather than summer or spring break. People would rather go to some sunny beach or go to a different country. But in the holidays, people tend to spend them in the more isolated towns like Blithe Hollow.

Children were chasing each other down, snowballs in hand, almost knocking over the two. "Where are we going?" Coraline asked. She needed to keep her pace steady to keep her from tripping. She also walked a little bit close to Norman so she would have some support.

"Somewhere else. We still need to talk. My dad would be home later and he doesn't like the thought of me with all these ghosts and stuff."

Coraline understood. They soon arrived at the Witchy Weiner's where the little incident happened. They sat down on the first table they saw. They both had another awkward silence before Coraline spoke, "This.. thing. We shouldn't really tell anybody else, right? I mean, by doing so, we would just put them in danger."

"Right," Norman agreed, "Uhm. Does anybody else knows about the Beldam incident?"

"There's my friend,Wybie," she replied, "He's way back home. I don't think he would be in any danger. And yours?"

"Basically, the whole town knows about the zombie and the witch.. but the real story behind Aggie? Only my family, Neil and Salma."

"Do they know about the dream and the visions?"

"No. It would be better if they didn't."

"So, it's a secret."

"A secret."

They both decided to spend a little more time in that place. Coraline shared about her experience with her father's 'food' and how she would always eat anything at every opportunity just to get her full before going home and facing her dad's mystery food of the day. They were just talking about things that were going on but eventually, they landed back on the topic.

"April Spink? The dead actress?" Norman asked with mouth full of french fries.

"Woah, how did you know about her?"

"She was in the paper mom was reading. But seriously, you think her death could be a connected or something?"

"Yes, I think, but I'm not entirely sure. See, the next morning after she died, everyone just left. My mother told me we were on a vacation here. I just heard later that day that the two other inhabitants of the apartment would be leaving as well. It's something suspicious."

"We really need to find out about all of this."

Coraline agreed, "Since you could see ghosts.. do you think you can see her? Maybe summon her. I need to talk to her."

"I don't summon the dead," Norman chuckled at the ludicrous idea. "I just talk to the ones around,"

"Then, where do you find them?" Coraline asked, confused.

"Usually where they died."

"Maybe we could go back to the Pink Palace? Would she be there?"

"It also depends. Some only stay as ghosts because they have something to finish in this world. If they've done their duty, that's when they can finally move on. We don't know for sure if April Spink died in peace or still had some unfinished jobs."

Coraline sighed. Taking a sip of her soda, she glanced outside the window. The sun was already orange in the sky, saying that it is almost time for night.

"Something tells me she's not done yet." she replied.

With the help of Norman, she was able to get home. She pushed through the heavy door of the house. As expected, she was greeted by silence. It was a big house and there were only three of them in it. Coraline was used to the company of others in her old home. Even if the others didn't come to visit, she always had Wybie.

Wybie.

She wondered how he was now. That's when she realized she haven't really used her phone. Once she got into her room, she took out her phone. Even though she haven't charged it, it still had some battery left. Hooray for power saving. She saw that there were two messages. Opening them, she smiled when she saw they were both from Wybie. Both message contained two words and they were, 'Hey Jonesy'

She chuckled as she typed up a reply, 'Wyborn.'

With a satisfied grin, she casually tossed her phone to the side. She found herself then laying on her bed, staring blankly to the ceiling. She wondered what to do next. Now that she had found Norman, what do they do? How could they help her? Panick strikes in as she realized that there was still so much more that they don't know. She was just so carried away that she had found who the ghosts and Aggie were talking about that she forgot the real problem.

She clenched her fists. Keep calm keep calm keep calm keep calm.

"CORALINE!"

Great.

She sat up from her bed, "What?!"

"Dinner!"

"I'm done eating!"

She layed back down and covered her face with her pillow. Wait-

An idea struck her. But she would have to be quick. Rapidly, she threw herself out of bed and rushed downstairs. She could hear her parents in the dining room, discussing some business matters. Her heart beats rapidly as she made her way to her parent's bedroom. The door opened slowly with a creak revealing a tidy room. Her parents were always strict with neatness. Their bags were neatly piled up on a corner of the room and their bed neatly made.

Be quick. Find it and leave.

There was something her mother was hiding. Something. She doesn't know what it is but went to search by the pile of bags. She opened each and every one, searching for something that might look suspicious but all she found were clothing and books about gardening. She tried her best to pile them up again neatly then looked under the bed. None except for a pair of slippers.

Tic tick tick.

Time was running.

Beads of sweat trickled down her face as she opened the closet. She coughed as she was greeted by dust and cobwebs. Closing the closet irately, she scanned the room for other signs. She caught sight of a familiar red curtain. A sense of déjà vu hit her. She seeing this curtain in her vision. She racked her brain for the next thing that happened. She was in a dusty place, suffocating.

The closet.

She quickly opened the closet and went in. She brushed away cobwebs and covered her nose to prevent her from sneezing. It must be here somewhere. She inspected the walls if there were any hidden doors. Not much time. She inspected the bottom, putting away the old and moth-eaten shirts. Suddenly, she tapped on a rougher surface. She searched it's sides until she finally found a space where she could lift the rough surface like a lid.

She was sweating. She can finally feel the lack of air and the dust going into her nose. She reached into newfound hole, which seemed bottomless. She was indeed suffocating but she still reached until her hands found something solid. It was heavy but with all her power, she pulled it up. She pushed herself out of the closet. She fell face-first on the floor.

She dusted off her shirt, then her hair. I've been through too much pain today. Too much.

She looked at the thing she just pulled out. It was a small chest. It was only a bit smaller than her parent's laptop. She inspected it from side to side. When she looked at the bottom, thats where she saw a piece of paper taped below and her name sprawled on it in messy writing. There was a smudge of dried red ink on the side in which Coraline dismissed the thought as blood.

She heard footsteps.

Oh gosh. Coraline shoved the clothing that had fell out of the closet and closed it shut. She took the small chest in her arms and sprinted out of her parent's room. She froze in her tracks as she heard the footsteps grow louder. She caught the sight of her parent's shadows. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest.

"Wait, I still need to get something from the study. I need your help." came her mother's voice then she heard her father say a quick 'sure'.

The shadows dispersed. Coraline breathed out a sigh of relief. Once she heard the study's door shut, she ran upstairs back to her bedroom.

She quickly shut the door to her room. She slid down to the floor, panting and sweaty. She stared at the prize right before her. She breathed out happily before laughing a little. However, her laughing was cut when she heard the telephone ringing.

The telephone ringing.

She thought it was an old house. Why would someone be calling?

The rings echo through the silent house. She heard her mother shout from below, "Is that the phone ringing?"

Panicked, she rushed out the room - made sure that the chest was safely under her bed first - and answered the phone. She remembered a horror movie she and Wybie had watched back at her home. It was about a mysterious phone call and if someone answered it, that person would die in seven days or something like that. The movie came flooding back to Coraline, which wasn't helping the tension.

She was relieved when a familiar voice spoke up:

"Hello? Is this the Jones?"

"Norman Babcock?" Coraline whispered back harshly.

"Oh hey. Coraline?"

"Don't you 'oh hey' me. You almost caused me a heart attack!"

"Um.. I'm sorry? Wait- why are you whispering?"

Coraline sighed. "Look, I can't talk right now. I just.. found something. The thing I think my mother was hiding from me. She doesn't know I have it. I'm going to show it to you tomorrow."

"I need to tell you something, too. There's something.. I just recently found out I could do. Look, I don't know if this is relevant to the whole situation but I just think I should show you."

"Just meet me tomorrow. Aggie's tree. Eleven o'clock."

Below she heard her mother shout, "Coraline? Who's that?"

"Okay. I will. Just.. don't freak out."

"I'm used to it. I gotta hang up now. Oh, and don't call on this number." with a click, the phone call ended.

"Coraline?" her mother ascended the stairs, "Who was calling?"

"It was a friend, mom. I met some kids at the town this morning. Th-They said they would call me."

There was a look of disbelief on her face. Mel wasn't used to her daughter meeting new friends. So far, it had only been Wybie and her friends from Michigan. Still, Mel wouldn't believe her easily.

"Are they boys?" asked her father monotonously, still in the confused daze he was ever since they set foot in the house, "no boys allowed."

Before Coraline could reply, her mother cut her off, "We should meet them sometimes. I don't want you to have friends that we don't approve of. Unless they're all a make-up excuse."

Giving Coraline one last evil eye, she and Charlie head back downstairs. Coraline stomped back in her room, aggravated by her mother. She was glad that the room had it's own bathroom. She took a steaming hot bath to ease all her sores for the day. She changed into the most comfortable clothes she had and then lay in bed for the next five minutes.

Her thoughts lingered from the death of April Spink to her newfound partnership with a ghost-seeing boy she barely knew. She thought about the small chest that is under her bed right now. Maybe she could finally inspect it and try to open it. Hopefully, it's not locked or anything.

Coraline wasn't like her parents that would never procrastinate. So, she chose to close her eyes and fell asleep instead. She was just so tired that even her sore body cannot keep her awake.

It can all wait until tomorrow.

[Author's Note:] Effing 7k words. Holy shoots. I'm sorry if this is too long..I know it would just bore you. I'm also sorry for the /kinda/ late update! Let's just say me and my laptop had a little 'argument' and it refused to work for a few days. I'm not even joking.

Also, take note that they're fiteen-sixteen-ish here. I know, it's kinda awkward. Even I have a hard time imagining it sometimes. And I'm so mean to Mel :( I'm sorry if I made her act so mean (I could've used another word but considering the fact that there might be kids reading this..) but it's only because of her 'secret', right? ;D

Oh, and I know this chapter is confusing. I don't like confusing my readers.. so I'm just going to give some spoiler-ish hints: *GASP* Did Coraline just see the future?

Another shoutout to my friend, Kiwi Werewolf! She had helped me a lot with the motivation for this chapter! "BEAT THE BLOCK! BEAT THE BLOCK!" OH, and congratulations Pinki Diane and Surprise Pie! *showers you with cookies*

Seriously, guys. Your reviews are awesome! Thank you so much! They mean so much more than just words on my computer screen! :D

Oh yeah, I also don't think I have proofread this chapter enough... IT CAN ALL WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW. *runs off and gets some sleep* (EDIT4/6/13: Done. Fixed some stuff. Haha XD)

-IriMono