Title: Black Buttons
Author: Eyes of Glass
Rating: K
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All in all, love was a complicated thing.
It was talked about very often to the point it almost became irritating. In any case, Coraline Jones never wanted to hear the words "I love you," ever again. Suffice to say she had good enough reason. Nearly every night since the incident she had dreamed of scratching hands and button eyes and always, always the words "You know I love you," Dreams like that quickly descended into nightmares.
"You know I love you,"
Indeed, to all outward perspectives, Coraline Jones was a perfectly normal little girl. From her blue hair to her blue nails to her blue pair shoes she certainly seemed very ordinary indeed. As is the case with many people who look perfectly normal, she most certainly was not. Not that she would say anything about it of course. To begin with her nightmares were certainly not normal. Most children her age would dream about falling or losing their favourite toy as all good girls and boys do. Coraline's dreams were very, very different. Not that she would say so of course. In any case, no one would believe her.
She dreamt of buttons sewn into the most unsuitable of places, she dreamt of single hands scuttling across floorboards towards her, she dreamt of smiles with teeth that were simply to sharp and above all her dreamt of a silent shadow, patiently waiting, behind the little door. It was very often she would wake up with sweat on her face and chilled feeling in her stomach. And all the while the dreams would echo through the day and even the bright sunlight she remembered the whispered words of a foe better left forgotten.
"You know you could stay forever, if you want to,"
In truth, she would never forget her journey through the tunnel and into the other world. She would never forget the colourful twisted reflection of her grey reality and in a way she was thankful for that. For if indeed she did forget, then one day the door would beckon once more and the silent shadow behind it would be smiling and waiting with her long slnder fingers. Her needle fingers.
"There's only one tiny thing we have to do first..."
Never ever again.
In the beginning it had just been easier to accept things the way they were. The sun would rise every morning, the sun would set every evening and the idea of just obeying a natural simplicity of life was very appealing. Truth be told, she was very much sick of pretending everything would be alright just by closing her eyes and hiding underneath the blanket. She had done that before and it hadn't helped much. Truth be told she was very much sick of being frightened of things much bigger and scarier than she. Being frightened didn't solve much either.
Sure, she remembered the treats and the laughter and the relief of finally finding parents who had time enough for her but it had all been an illusion. A twisted, cracked and warped fantasy made from the terrifying recesses of a monsters mind. And there had been a price to pay. Oh yes, she recalled staring down in horror at the two shiny black buttons her other parents laid out before her. The needle glinting in the firelight and the gentle voice of her other mother ringing in her ears.
"Is that any way to talk to your mother?"
How had she ever seen that thing as any kind of mother? In hindsight she would shudder at the memory of being in that monsters arms and eating the food she had made. In fact the thought made her feel sick and oddly dirty. As if she had made a great betrayal of her real parents by running to her monstrous ones. In a way she supposed it was kind of true but not any easier to admit. She was glad neither of her parents remembered their kidnapping by their jealous counterpart. She was glad they didn't remember being locked in an icy cold mirror and above all she was glad they still loved her after all her stupidity.
"Don't leave me,"
And still she dreamed. She dreamed of jumping mice with beady black eyes and a world no bigger than her house and its garden. She dreamed of butterflies which could talk and a friend who could not. But most of all and perhaps most worrying of all, she dreamed of a spider shaped shadow in a world beyond the little door in her living room and every so often, the Beldam would beckon her with her needle fingers and the shadow behind the door would slowly, steadily, surely…begin to grow.
"You know I love you,"