The Other Coraline

Can't you just tell I love writing Coraline stories?

In the book, Coraline wondered if there was an Other Coraline. Well, what if there had been one?

Sometime before Coraline's ordeal with the Beldam, in the Other World.

"Get in your grave, NOW, Mother!"

The Beldam whacked her own mother with a shovel and sent her tumbling into the hole she'd dug.

"No! I'm your Mother! You will not do to this to me!" The Beldams Mother let out a horrible screech and was quickly subdued with another blow from the shovel.

"Hmph, mean old biddy," snapped the Beldam (never mind that she was the one who wanted to sew buttons onto a certain little girl's eyes).

The Beldam quickly slopped dirt onto the prone form of her Mother and patted the dirt down when she done. She turned to walk away and heard another screech.

The Beldam turned to see her Mother scrambling out of the dirt, her own button eyes caked in it.

"STAY DOWN!" yelled the Beldam. This time, she beat her Mother on the head with the shovel many times, until blood and brains splattered the dirt. Then she pushed her Mother back into the dirt, and stomped on it.

"Dumb wench." The Beldam checked her long nails, to make sure one hadn't been cracked. Satisfied her nails were in order and that her Mother wasn't going to come crawling back out, she turned and went to the house.

"Mum," said a small voice, from the living room, while the Beldam hungrily dug into a bag of beetles on the counter. Burying people was such hard work…

"What?" snapped the Beldam.

"Did you really have to do that?" asked a young girl. She stepped into the room, button eyes shining apprehensively.

"She annoyed me," said the Beldam, as if that was a perfectly good reason to bludgeon your own Mother's head to bloody bits and then bury her.

The Other Coraline sat at the table and tapped her nails, which were nearly as long as the Beldam's, and just as pointy. "I guess you'll be drawing another into this world."

"Of course," said the Beldam. "I'll have my own daughter soon."

"You've got me," said the Other Coraline, looking unhappy.

"Oh, you're just not the same," said the Beldam. "You're the Other Coraline, I need the real Coraline."

"Why?" asked the Other Coraline. "And, wait a minute! I'M the real Coraline. SHE'S the OTHER Coraline."

"No, you are," argued the Beldam.

"But-"

"Don't make me dig a grave for you as well."

The Other Coraline sighed and left the room. She went to the hall mirror and crouched in front, and waved her hand over it, so she could see into the other world. The Other (or was she the real?) Coraline passed by, not paying attention. She had a paper in her hand and a pen and was mumbling something about finding everything in the house that was blue. The Other Coraline glared at her. How dare she? The Beldam didn't want the Other Coraline; she wanted the one without button eyes. What was so great about her?

"If I was in that world, I would be loved, I bet," whispered the Other Coraline to herself. "I'd have different parents, and they wouldn't threaten to bury me in a grave." Her Other Father wasn't too bad, but he had no spine, and let the Beldam do whatever she wanted.

She sighed.

Later, just before Coraline discovered the World beyond the door.

"NO! MUM! LET ME GO!" The Other Coraline shrieked and wiggled, but the Beldam's grasp was too tight.

"I can't have you around, mucking things up, you pest," growled the Beldam, dragging her kicking child into the hall.

"DAD! PLEASE! STOP HER!"

The Other Father just stood watching, his button eyes glistening a little sadly. "Dear, must we really-"

"Be quiet!" snapped the Beldam.

She unlocked the mirror. "Oops, wrong one, that's the punishment closet. I need that in case Coraline misbehaves and needs to be locked up for a bit." She locked it and unlocked it again, and this time, a dark corridor appeared. "Here you go! You can stay there until I decide you can come out again! And don't you dare go to the real world, because I'll find out and then dig you your own grave and push you in!"

"Mum!" shrieked the Other Coraline, as the Beldam shoved her in. "WAIT-"

The Beldam closed the mirror, ignoring her daughter's pleas.

The Other Coraline leaned on the wall and sobbed. It was so unfair. Her Other Mother didn't love her. She wanted the other/real Coraline.

"I hate Coraline!" The Other Coraline balled her fists up.

After Coraline defeated the Beldam.

Coraline sat in her bedroom, doing her history homework.

Cat sat on the windowsill, enjoying the rare sunshine.

"You're lucky," Coraline told him. "You can go out whenever you please. By the time I'm done, it'll be time for dinner and then dark, too late to go exploring."

Cat just looked at her, a hint of pride in its face.

Coraline finished just before her father called for dinner.

"Coming!" shouted Coraline, putting her homework away.

She went down the hall, and paused by the mirror. She remembered when she'd seen her parents in it, when the Beldam had trapped them.

Something shimmered in the mirror. Coraline blinked, but could see nothing, except herself, standing there. She shook her head and went to the kitchen, wondering what culinary travesty her father had cooked tonight.

The Other Coraline pouted in the corridor. Since the Beldam had been defeated, the Other World had been destroyed. She couldn't go back.

"I should leave this place," said the Other Coraline, to herself. "I should. Mother isn't around to bury me for going into the real world. But the Jones wouldn't want two Coralines, would they? Hmmm…"

Coraline's father had cooked chili, which would have tasted alright if he hadn't added chunks of Habanera peppers to it. Coraline thought her mouth would catch on fire.

"I read spicy food is good for you," said her father, eating it up with no problem. He loved spicy food.

Coraline guzzled water. "Too much!" she choked out.

"I had a big lunch," said Coraline's mother, pushing her bowl away. "I'll-I'll save it for tomorrow to eat for lunch!" She gave her husband a big fake smile.

Coraline thought of eating something else, but the frozen pizza supply had run out, so she was stuck with the spicy chili. No doubt she would end up with diarrhea later.

Coraline managed to choke the bowl down, and drank about a liter of ice cold water, to soothe her burning mouth. Her stomach hurt.

"How about some cookies?" asked her dad, pulling burnt, blackened cookies from the oven.

"Bathroom-now!" stammered Coraline, running out of the kitchen.

She didn't notice the face peering out the mirror.

And she didn't notice the face again when she went to the kitchen, to see if there were any cookies that hadn't been burnt to a crisp.

The leftover cookies all resembled pieces of coal, so Coraline decided to pass. Her gastrointestinal system couldn't handle another cooking blunder, courtesy of her Dad. She dug in the cupboards, looking for something sweet.

"Ooh, old Halloween candy." Coraline pulled the jar down from the shelf and dumped it out on the counter. Old Mars bars, even older M&M's, toffee, some nasty hard candies that looked like they belonged in Miss Spink or Miss Forcible's candy dish. Coraline flicked those aside.

"Oooh, Snickers!" Coraline stuffed five mini Snickers into her pocket.

"Coraline, not too much candy," said her mother, coming in for a cup of tea. "You'll rot your teeth out. Just one or two pieces. Wait, isn't that from last year?"

"Candy doesn't really go bad," fibbed Coraline.

"Oh, okay. But no more than two pieces," said her Mother.

Coraline grabbed two mini Milk Ways, plus about eight extra mini Snickers and four tootsie rolls, and stuffed them in her pocket.

"What did you pick?" asked her mother.

"Two tootsie rolls," said Coraline, "forgetting" to mention the other seventeen pieces of candy in her pocket.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth afterwards, for at least two minutes." Her mother replaced the leftover candy in the jar and stuck it back in the cupboard.

Coraline went into the hall, unwrapping a tootsie roll. She stuck it in her mouth and softened it a bit. Looking in the mirror, she took the tootsie roll and pushed it against her front teeth, and then pushed and prodded it, until it stretched and covered most of her top teeth, making them look blackened.

"This is what happens if you don't brush your teeth," said Coraline, doing a little dance in the mirror, looking at her blackened teeth. She smiled crazily at herself.

A pair of black button eyes suddenly appeared to the right of Coralines reflection.

Coraline jumped and spluttered. The stretched out Tootsie roll flew off Coralines teeth and hit the mirror with a faint splat. Coraline forgot about it and stared at the mirror. The button eyes were gone.

Coraline told herself she was just imagining it.

Cat wondered down the hall, the tip of its tail arched into a question mark. It stopped and looked at the tootsie roll stuck to the mirror and then at Coraline, a look of disdain clear on its face.

Coraline shook her head, willing the image of the black button eyes to leave her mind. She didn't see what happened next, behind her.

The Other Coraline showed herself fully in the mirror. Cat arched its back and let out a hiss. The Other Coraline sneered and then retreated. Cat bolted down the hallway.

Coraline sat in bed, reading a book, munching a snickers bar.

"Not bad, only a little stale," she said.

By the time she was finished, she felt a little sick.

"Too much," she muttered. "Too much sugar. Bleah."

She read until she felt tired. Cat came into the room and jumped on the bed.

"Want to snuggle?" asked Coraline.

Cat shot Coraline another condescending look and then looked at the door.

"Come on," said Coraline, patting the blanket. "It's time for bed."

Cat growled and leaped off the bed and darted out into the hall.

"Fine, be that way," said Coraline.

Later her mother wondered why there was a flattened tootsie roll with teeth marks in it stuck to the mirror.

The next day was Saturday, so there was no school. It was raining buckets outside.

"Can I go outside?" asked Coraline.

"No," said her mother. "You'll be soaked."

"I'm booored!" said Coraline, lolling on the living room floor.

"Draw something then," said her mother, thrusting some paper and markers toward her. "I need to work."

So while her mother clattered away on her laptop, Coraline sat on the floor and used a blue marker, coloring the entire page blue. Then, in darker blue, she added the words "Rain", making the letters look like they were dripping down the page.

"Here, Mum," said Coraline, showing her the page.

"Ah, another modern work," said her mother, barely glancing at it. "When you're famous, you can put that in the gallery with the other one you did, called "Mist", which, as I remember, was a white page with the letters drawn in random places."

Coraline sighed.

"Can I have some candy?" asked Coraline.

"Sure, sure," said her mother.

"Can I let the alien kidnap me, like they did last time when we shopping for school clothes?" asked Coraline, watching her mother's face.

"Yes, of course," said her mother, waving a hand, not paying attention.

"Can I play dress up with your clothes?"

"Yes, do whatever, just let me work."

Coraline got some candy from the jar and went to her parent's room, to dig in there closet. She found a long fancy gown her mother had obviously not worn in some time, and pulled the plastic cover off. The tag on the back said Gucci, which meant it was probably expensive. It was dark pink, with ruffles on the chest and around the hem. She put it on, and tightened the straps as far as they would, and then put on a pair of her mother's sparkly black heels. She wobbled into the hallway, lifting the hem. She only tripped once.

She stood in front of the mirror, striking poses like she'd seen models do on TV and in magazines.

"Gucci's newest model, Cooorraaaline Jones!" exclaimed Coraline, strutting around in front of the mirror.

Coraline tripped again on the hem, tearing it.

"Ooops."

The dress was quickly sheathed in its plastic and stuffed into the very back of the closet. Hopefully, Coraline would not be suspected.

She found a long strapless maxi dress and put it on, plus a pair of her mother's flats, which were too big of course. Chewing a mini Snicker's, she got her mother's largest handbag and went back to the hall to strut in front of the mirror. She struck more model poses, and then smiled at herself. Her teeth were smeared with chocolate. Not very model like…

"Disgusting," whispered a voice.

Coraline froze.

"Mum?" called Coraline.

"What?" yelled her mother from the living room.

"Did you say something?"

"No, I'm working. Don't bother me."

Suddenly a pair of button eyes appeared in the mirror and then quickly retreated. Coraline screeched and tried to run down the hallway, but tripped on the dress, landing with a loud thud.

"Coraline, whatever your doing, stop it!" her mother yelled.

Coraline hitched the dress up and scrambled to her parent's bedroom. She ripped it off and stuffed it into the closet, telling herself she'd just imagined the eyes.

"There's no Beldam, no Beldam," she muttered to herself, cramming the purse into the closet. She kicked the shoes off.

To prove it to herself, she went back to the hallway and looked at the mirror, trembling slightly. She tapped the glass. Solid.

"There is nothing there," whispered Coraline. "Nothing, nothing, nothing."

"Something."

The last word came as a whisper from the glass. The form of a girl appeared, snaky hair blowing in an unseen breeze, dark black and silver knee length dress, sharp, pointy nails and-

"Button eyes!" shrieked Coraline, stumbling into the wall behind her.

The girl laughed and then disappeared.

"I killed her!" screamed Coraline.

Her parents came running, from the living room and from the study.

"What happened?" asked her father.

"What's all the noise?" squawked her mother.

"Button eyes! She was in the mirror! I saw her!" gabbled Coraline.

Her parents just looked at her.

"Coraline, be more quiet when playing your pretend games," snapped her mother.

Her parents went back to working. Coraline stared at the mirror, too frightened to move.

The face appeared again. It wasn't the beldam...

It was her.

Just different.

"What are you?" asked Coraline in a whisper.

"I'm Coraline," said the Other Coraline.

"I'm Coraline," said Coraline.

"No, you're the Other Coraline," said the girl in the mirror, frowning. Her snake like hair wiggled and flowed.

Coraline pressed herself against the wall. "No, you've got button eyes; you'd be the Other Coraline."

The Other Coraline sighed, her button eyes glistening. "Whatever."

"What are you doing in there?" asked Coraline. "Did I forget you?"

"What?"

"When I saved the souls of those children, did I forget you?" asked Coraline, thinking this was one of the Other Mothers victims. "Except you look an awful lot like me. Did she sew buttons onto your eyes and trap you?"

"She trapped me," said the Other Coraline. "Because she didn't want me interfering with her plans. She loved you more than me. But the Other World is gone now and I can't go back."

"She didn't love me," said Coraline. "She wanted to sew black buttons onto my eyes and trap my soul there forever."

The Other Coraline looked at her, hate in her face. "She threw me in here and warned me not to come out; otherwise she'd bury me in a grave next to Grandma."

Coraline remembered the Beldam saying how she'd buried her mother, and then pushed her back into the grave when she tried to crawl out.

"How horrible," said Coraline.

"I want to come live with you," said the Other Coraline, trying to hide her smile.

"But-" Coraline didn't even know what to say. "Wait, Grandma? The Beldam was your mother?"

The Other Coraline nodded her head and tried to look sad.

Something told Coraline not to trust this girl. If she was the daughter of the Beldam, she was probably evil too.

"I'm so lonely," said the Other Coraline. "I don't want to be here, alone anymore. I want a family, someone who won't threaten to bury me every day, someone who doesn't stick me in dark corridors." She began to cry and covered her face with her hands.

Coraline wasn't sure. Maybe this girl wasn't so bad. It would have to be awful, being the daughter of such an evil creature. She couldn't imagine her own parents threatening to bury her, even if her mother found the torn hem on the Gucci dress.

The Other Coraline removed her hands. There was blood all over her face. Red tears were leaking from her button eyes. Coraline recoiled in disgust.

"Oh, sorry," sniffed the Other Coraline, wiping her face on the hem of her dress. "Can't help it really."

"Well, I guess you can come out," said Coraline. "But, how will we explain the eyes?"

"Oh, I can remove them, once in that world," said the Other Coraline. "I just can't do it here. But I need help."

"Um, okay," said Coraline.

"I need help getting out," said the Other Coraline.

She pushed on the mirror, and began to emerge from it, as if the mirror were liquid. Coraline gasped.

"You have to pull me out," said the Other Coraline. "I can't get myself out all the way."

Coraline stood up and grasped the Other Coralines arms and heaved. There did seem to be quite a lot of resistance.

The Other Coraline grasped her arms. A smile flickered on her lips. "Come on."

She suddenly yanked Coraline forward. Coraline felt herself meld partially through the mirror.

"What are you doing?" asked Coraline.

"Get in here!" The Other Coraline suddenly sounded angry.

"No!" shrieked Coraline. "Let me go!"

"This is your fault!" snarled the Other Coraline. "You killed my mother, my father, destroyed my world, the Other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, and Mister Bobo. The rats are gone! The house is gone! Everything! And you dare to live in this world, loved by your parents, everything perfect for you, despite the fact that you're a murderer!"

"SHE TOOK MY PARENTS!" screamed Coraline.

"Coraline, play quietly!" shouted her father from the study, unaware that his daughter was being yanked through a mirror by another Coraline.

"Murderer!" whispered the Other Coraline.

"Why do you care!" gasped Coraline. "She threatened to bury you!"

"Still, that world was all I had!" hissed the Other Coraline. "And the Beldam wanted you! If she'd gotten you, she'd probably have let me back out, and I still would have had my home! But no! You killed her and destroyed everything!"

Coraline screamed as the Other Coraline gave a mighty last heave. Coraline felt herself falling through darkness. Then she hit a floor with a mighty thud.

The Other Coraline leaped through the mirror, no problem at all. Obviously her having trouble was a ruse.

The Other Coraline landed with a slight thump in the hall. She grabbed a heavy looking metal statue from a nearby table. It was a statue of a clown, its gray face doleful. The Other Coraline smashed into the mirror.

Coraline got up and whipped around. She could see in her world. But the Other Coraline was smashing something into the window.

"NO!" shrieked Coraline, racing to it.

Too late.

Mirror shards rained down, tinkling to the floor, throwing bits of reflected light everywhere.

"Goodbye," the Other Coraline stated simply. "They'll never be able to see or hear you in there. You're just a human."

"CORALINE JONES!" screamed two voices, hearing the mirror break.

Coralines mother and father thundered into the hall.

"Coraline! What did you do!?" yelled her mother.

The Other Coraline turned to face her parents.

"Hello mother and father," she said, a creepy smile spreading on her face

They gasped. This girl looked like Coraline, but she had buttons over her eyes, and her hair looked weird. But it had to be Coraline, who else would it be?

"Coraline, why have you got buttons on your face, what did you do to your hair-and what the bloody heck did you do the mirror!" Coralines mother was wondering how much of her gel she'd used to make her hair look like that.

"These are my eyes," said the Other Coraline, causing her parents to stare.

Coraline was frantic in the corridor. She screamed and pounded the walls, shrieking for help. She noticed there was a little shard of mirror left, down in the corner, stuck to the frame. It was the only piece that hadn't fallen to the floor. It was only about the size of her hand. She peered through it and could see the Other Coraline in the hall .She poked a finger at it, but couldn't go through it. It would have been too small for her to crawl through anyway. She watched her parents stare at the Other Coraline and tried to shout for help, but they couldn't seem to hear her.

"Coraline, dear, what do you mean those are your eyes?" asked her mother, stepping closer.

Coraline's father followed. "Stop playing games, Coraline, and tell me why you broke the mirror!"

"I had to." The Other Coraline shrugged. "But don't worry; you've got me now, so you don't need the other one. I'll be the perfect daughter. We can play games and shop, and I'll eat whatever you make, father, and if you want to be left alone to work, I can play quietly by myself until you're done." She smiled.

Coralines parents realized that this was not there daughter.

"What have you done with our daughter!?" shrieked the mother.

"Who cares about her?" The Other Coraline pouted; the look quite scary on her face. "You've got me now. You don't need the other one. I'm your Coraline now. I'm your daughter. And I'll always be your little girl!"

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY DAUGHTER!" shrieked Coralines mother, getting quiet hysterical now.

"You're not our daughter!" roared her husband.

The Other Coraline looked displeased. "You don't want me?"

"WE WANT OUR REAL DAUGHTER!" he shouted.

The Other Coraline clenched her hands. "If I can't have you, no one will…"

She lunged.

Coraline watched as if in a dream. This couldn't be happening. The blood, all the blood, oh no, oh no…

The Other Coraline reached for shouting man before her and dug her sharp nails into his throat. The pointy nails sank right through the skin ease. The Other Coraline yanked her hand back, ripping the jugular vein right out. Blood spattered the walls and dribbled down to the floor, mixing in with the mirror shards.

Coraline and her mother shrieked. Her mother leaped forward, desperate to protect her husband, but it was too late. He thumped to the floor, dead, blood spurting out, his own heart pumping it out with its last dying beats.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU MONSTER!"

The Other Coraline grabbed the mother, and stabbed her in the eyes with her sharp nails. They both screamed, one in fury, the other in agony. Coraline banged on the mirror shard, screeching for the Other Coraline to stop.

Coralines mother reeled back, blind, blood seeping from eyes. The Other Coraline renewed her attack.

"WHY DOES EVERYONE LOVE HER!?" she yelled. "WHY CAN'T ANYONE LOVE ME!?"

Another jab of the nails, and Coralines mother landed on the floor, her throat torn out as well. Coraline screamed in terror as her mother's empty eye sockets stared blankly into the remaining mirror shard.

"MUM! DAD!" Coraline let out an unbridled shriek of despair.

The Other Coraline wiped her bloodied hands on clothes of her victims.

"Tsk, tsk, they could have had the perfect daughter…"

Later

Police roved about the apartment, taking pictures of the hallway and looking for clues. The bodies had already been removed, having been photographed several times.

An officer stepped near the mirror, and took several more pictures from different angles of the blood spatters on the wall, and of the broken mirror. Only one shard remained in the corner.

"This is awful," said another officer, stepping close. "We haven't seen anything this gruesome in ages."

"I know," sighed the first one. "And we've got no leads. The ladies in the other flat heard screams, but the time the cops got here, whoever did it was gone. The daughter is missing, and nobody seen her leave. There were no signs of forced entry into the house either."

"There throats and eyes were torn out," said the second. "Almost as if an animal or something did it."

"Doesn't explain what happened to the daughter," said the first. "And how would an animal get in and get out. No, some psycho did this…"

"We should get back to the station," said the second.

"Yeah, come on, let's go, we got to get these photos into evidence."

They left the house, never hearing the sobs of the girl trapped behind the mirror…