All was well.
It had ended just fine too, she decided as she closed her eyes contentedly.
Coraline was a sensible girl-logical, and grounded in facts to a fault.
When she was young, she feared the water. She learnt to swim, and the fear left, for it was unreasonable. She was once afraid of the dark. She got a nightlight, and solved the matter for good.
She had, at one point, feared the Beldam, in much the same way that she had feared the dark and the water.
The Beldam had been vanquished, and the fear went down to the depths with the ancient demon.
Ancient demon. The very thought gave Coraline shivers of pride; she, Coraline, an average, normal girl in almost every way, had defeated a monster of epic proportions, sending it down to Hell where it belonged.
To do so required(as one would expect)bravery. Much bravery. More courage than most had in them. Definetly enough, Coraline decided, to not be afraid of any normal thing anymore.
And so Coraline came to fear nearly nothing.
She didn't have nightmares, didn't flinch while watching horror movies, and scoffed to herself at the petty fears of her schoolmates.
But aside from that, the Beldam was dead. Nothing more to it than that, really. And there was no need to fear a dead thing.
Coraline had even gone so far as to use the creature's name as a curse or insult a few times; no one knew what it meant, and for that it seemed all the more offensive.
Killing the creature was, after all, a triumph for which only she could claim credit for; and perhaps Wybie, but he had only helped out at the end anyways.
One year.
Coraline stared distantly out the window.
One year.
Had it really been that long?
Life hadn't been impacted by the...Happening much. Not real life. And definetly not her.
But the jolt of realization that there were, in fact, beings like the Beldam, had shocked Coraline much more than she would be willing to admit.
What if there are more?
The thought sprang to her mind before she could suppress it, barraling her tranquility to the ground with the absolute bluntness of the idea.
More than one Beldam...?
The girl stared out the window, her one drowsy, peaceful face now marred by a scowl.
No. It was impossible.
She shook her head, impatient with herself for coming up with such a ludicrious idea.
No. There was nothing, nothing at all, that even came close to suggesting the existence of another one. Nothing at all.
She stared out the window, placid once more, scorning the thoughts that rattled her veiw of reality.
What nonsense...
A/N: I know that was really short, but it was just the prelude; newer chapters will be far longer. This was just to set up a bit on where Coraline is at this point, both in mentality and in reality.
~Jones Tereka Seasight