A/N: So I was watching the movie Coraline and having a good time, but then I took a closer look at Wybie's design. Naturally, the thought crossed my mind that his bent back and differently-sized eyes were simply little, meaningless details included to make him look kookier.
BUT WHAT IF THEY WEREN'T?
And thus, a fic was born.
Chapter 1: Alone
Nancy Lovat crept up the stairs, her knees creaking almost as loudly as the floorboards. From the room at the end of the hallway, she could faintly hear sobbing. Hesitantly, the middle-aged woman pushed open the door and peeped inside.
She could see her 7-year-old grandson spread out on his bed, trying to muffle his tears with a pillow.
"Wyborn?"
He tilted his dark, curly head to look at her, his mismatched olive-green eyes ringed with red.
"W-why didn't you tell me?"
Nancy couldn't meet his eyes.
"The other kids at school today...they said I was ugly. They laughed at me." He sniffed again.
"Why didn't you tell me I'm a freak?"
She wrapped an arm around his bent, shaking shoulders.
"You aren't a freak."
Mrs. Lovat knew that the little boy derived no comfort from her words; the damage had been done.
"Look at me, Wyborn."
He raised his head, and she cupped his cheeks in her warm, rough hands.
"You were just made a bit...differently."
"In a bad way."
"That's not what I meant-"
"D-don't lie to me, Grandma!" Wybie turned away from his grandmother, tears filling his eyes.
"I wish I could just disappear."
Mrs. Lovat froze.
Her mind snatched her out of Wybie's dark bedroom with toy cars littered on the floor, and dropped her in the Pink Palace of 1951:
"I hate it here, Nancy!"
Her sister was stomping around in their room, kicking the walls and crying.
"Why are they so mean to us?"
"Momma says it's better here than it was in Houston."
"How is this BETTER? We can't even eat in restaurants like white folks!"
Exhausted from screaming, Susan Lovat flopped down onto her frilly bed. Nancy could see her the tears rolling down her twin's soft cheeks.
"I wish I could just disappear."
Trembling, Wybie's grandmother drew away from her grandson.
"Oh, Susan..." She whispered.
"G-grandma?"
No answer came. Nancy Lovat's bottom lip trembled as she slowly trudged down the stairs.
The front door opened with a "creeaak," and she peeked out, staring in the direction of the Pink Palace. Her eyes narrowed.
"I won't let you take him. Do you hear me, you monster? You may have taken my sister, and God may have taken my daughter, my son-in-law, and my poor husband..." Nancy choked back a sob.
"But no one's taking my little Wyborn!"