A/N: Nothing much. All I have to say is: If you like Coraline, go and see 9. It's epic.

Coraline Jones is the Best: I don't have an answer to that one yet.

delphigirl: You're getting chills? That's good~

AC/DC-FAN: Thanks! 8D

Jonesygrl11: I'm glad you like this story!

Mattie Scary: Thank yoooou!

The Capslock Savior: Thanks!

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"W-who are you?"

Once Coraline managed to get words out of her mouth, the silenced that followed was unbearable.

The spirit in front of her merely stared, as if it were studying the blue-haired girl in front of it. It's arm remained extended, shaking slightly.

Coraline swallowed, her throat dry. What was this... thing doing here? Why wasn't it saying anything at all? Just when she opened her mouth to say something else, the spirit raised a finger to silence her.

"I'm known as nothing nowadays," it said, bringing both hands back to its side. "I hide in this world, hoping that no one would disturb or find me. Only once has she noticed me here." Its voice was barely audible, but Coraline heard its words clearly.

Coraline stared blankly at the spirit, trying to comprehend what it was. She decided quickly that it had to be female, and had something to do with the Beldam. "I don't understand," Coraline replied, stepping closer to her.

The female spirit lowered her head. "Indeed you don't. That's why I'm here to explain...everything to you. I was relieved that you found the note, and I knew you had to meet me somewhere that she couldn't find me. Somewhere high up."

"How do you know the... Beldam?" Coraline was hesitant to call the spider witch Beldam, for she didn't know if this strange spirit called her that.

The spirit laughed humorlessly, as if the answer was obvious. "I don't just know her, child. I was her mother."

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Wybie was completely and utterly confused.

The Beldam, who was described to be malicious and evil, was making Mrs. Lovat and him breakfast. The things this witch did were impossible to predict.

Mrs. Lovat glared at her food as if it were a dead cat, while Wybie decided it was best to stare into space. The food was tempting, but what could be in it? Poison? Some kind of dark magic that made you do abnormal things?

Wybie pushed his food away at the thought, trying not to look disturbed. The tall, anorexic-like witch that stood in front of him continued to smile, seemingly unaffected by Wybie's expression.

Mrs. Lovat suddenly got up, her gaze on the floor. "I'm going outside."

The Beldam's smile only got bigger. "Really? You haven't even touched your breakfast yet." This witch treated everyone the same; child or not. She tapped her fingers on the counter, as if she were expecting something

"I'm afraid that I've lost my appetite," Mrs. Lovat spat, slowly making her way out of the room. Once she arrived at the nearest door, the Beldam appeared in front of her. Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. "How did you... do that?"

The Beldam crossed her arms over her chest. Her smile faltered, becoming more of a smirk. "That's not important. I believe you cannot leave this house until Coraline has been taken care of."

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'WHAT?'

Coraline staggered backwards, completely baffled by what she was just told. The Beldam--the most evil person to ever live--had a mother at one time. How could this be true?

"Huh?" was all Coraline could get out, and she soon felt stupid for saying it. 'Of course I understood what she said! It just doesn't make any sense.' Her eyes remained glued to the spirit, hoping that she would explain something that would make sense to her.

The spirit gave her something close to a smile. "You didn't think that she was just always a monster, did you?"

Coraline hesitated, then nodded slowly.

"Nonsense. Everyone changes in some way. Even you. You've become a very different person after your experience here. You're a bit wiser, and you have learned to appreciate your family and everything they do for you."

Coraline's heart ached at the the thought of her parents. She quickly regained her composure, trying to look serious. "That is true. But..." She paused, "How did the Beldam become the... thing she is right now?"

Any trace of the spirit's smile--or the Beldam's mother's--was gone. "I've never told this story to anyone, so it might be hard to explain."

'Everything about this world is hard to explain.' Coraline sat down, looking quite interested. "I understand."

"That's good. But you might want to stand up for this."

Coraline raised an eyebrow, then hoisted herself back to her feet. "How does standing affect the story?"

The spirit pressed a hand to Coraline's forehead, and looked to the ground. "It's easier this way."

Before Coraline could ask anymore questions, she found herself losing her vision and balance. Her sight became blurry, and she couldn't tell if she was still standing or some other position. She desperately tried to reach out for something, but she see nor had any idea of her surroundings.

When the thought of unconsciousness became likely, Coraline felt grass under her feet. 'Strange,' she thought, 'Wasn't I just on a roof? Oh well.' She wriggled her toes, hoping that it would somehow bring her sight back. It surprisingly did.

The blue haired girl was standing only feet away from the Pink Palace. The grass around her looked greener, and the whole atmosphere seemed... different. If the sky wasn't so bright, Coraline would have been convinced she was still in the Other World.

The feature that told her that she wasn't home was that the Pink Palace looked new. Too new; as if it were just built. In fact, two men dressed in odd clothes were pulling out a FOR SALE sign out of the front yard.

"This is too weird," Coraline said aloud. She automatically glanced toward the men to see if they had heard her, but they remained focused on the sign. She put a finger to her cheek, knowing for a fact that she had spoken quite loudly.

The smell of fresh paint entered Coraline's nose, and she knew that the Pink Palace couldn't be that old. "Am I back in time?" She looked at the men again, and they were once again oblivious.

'You are indeed,' a quiet voice said in her ear. Coraline spun around, expecting to see the Beldam's mother or some other creepy person. Instead, there was only a horse-drawn carriage coming into the driveway.

"I don't remember my parents having a horse," Coraline said to the voice, "so I'm now positive I'm back in time."

'Not entirely. This is more of a... memory of mine.' The voice said this as if it was hard to get out, and didn't say anything else.

Coraline raised an eyebrow, and kept her gaze on the carriage.

When the carriage stopped, there wasn't some fancy guy that was stearing the horse that got the people inside out. Coraline was surprised by this, because in every old movie someone would open the carriage for the people. Instead, the man guiding the horse merely smiled, and waited for whoever was inside to make their way out.

The first to step out was a young lady, who looked eerily like the spirit Coraline encountered earlier. She had a small smile on her face, which was barely seen behind the fan she was holding up.

'She needs it, too,' Coraline thought, wrinkling her nose at the long sleeved dress the lady was wearing. It felt like the middle of summer, and wearing such a dress seemed like torture.

Once the lady got herself--and her dress--fully out of the carriage, out stepped a little girl.

Coraline's eyes widened at the sight. The little girl had long, black curls and a white bow tied to the top of her head. To match the bow, she was wearing a less torturous strapless dress. Frills and white lace covered the dress. But what was most noticeable was her very familiar smile.

Coraline covered her mouth when she realized who it was. She wobbled a bit, giving herself a mental smack for becoming so off balance when she was surprised. "It's her," she simply said, hoping the invisible voice would answer. Instead, she only heard the quiet murmurs of the people near the carriage.

"Do you like the house?" The prettier version of the Beldam's mother asked. She placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder; smiling slightly.

The Beldam returned the smile. "It's wonderful, mother."

Coraline had never seen the Beldam genuinely smile. Her smile was always fake, and the smirk she always wore was just as bad. Now, seeing this smaller version of the monster, Coraline had to keep reminding herself that it was truly her.

She took a step toward the family; curious as to what they were going to say next.

The man who was controlling the horse gave the Beldam a gentle pat on the back. "Good! Why don't you get settled in, then? I took a look at your room the other day, and I'm sure you'll love it."

The Beldam immediately sprinted in the direction of the house, almost tripping from the fast pace she was going. Her parents stayed behind; discussing some things about the new house.

"I don't get it," Coraline said. "She seems... perfectly happy with her family. It makes no sense that she would turn into a horrible monster."

The invisible voice spoke again, 'At this point in time it doesn't. It's best if we skip ahead.'

Before Coraline even realized what was happening, she had appeared in the Pink Palace's kitchen.

Of course, this version of the kitchen was brighter and everything in the room looked brand new. The Beldam's smile was no longer there as she watched her father write things down on a piece of paper. His expression was blank, and he put a hand to his forehead.

"Is... mother going to be okay?" The Beldam asked; cocking her head to the side. She picked at the dark red dress she was wearing, as if to distract her from something else.

Her father didn't look up. "I'm sure she will. She just needs to rest in the hospital for a while."

Coraline watched this from around the corner, and she remained silent.

The Beldam looked to the floor. "How long will she be in the hospital?"

"I don't know everything, honey," her father sighed, only pausing briefly from writing. "All we know is that mother is very ill right now, and she needs some help." He patted his daughter on the shoulder. "Everything will be fine."

The Beldam nodded her head slowly, as if it were hard to do. "She's been gone for a week now."

"I know she has. It won't be long until she comes home."

The Beldam, who seemed slightly frustrated, didn't say anything else. She grabbed a button-eyed doll that was on the counter top and left the room.

Coraline opened her mouth to say something, but the invisible voice stopped her. 'We must follow her. Quickly,' it said.

Coraline quickly followed the younger version of the psycho spider out of the house. She was walking at a fast pace, as if she were late for something. The button-eyed doll she was carrying dragged in the mud; making it look even more ugly than before.

"Where is she going?" Coraline asked, as she continued to follow her around the garden. The rate at which the Beldam was walking seemed to pick up as she went on. Her head was low, and Coraline couldn't see her expression behind the black curls.

'She wants to get away. She was always smart as a child, and she knew from the beginning that I wasn't going to be okay.' The sadness in the voice thickened as it finished the sentence.

Coraline stared at the ground for a moment, then continued to follow the Beldam.

After a few more minutes of half-jogging, the Beldam stopped at the side of the road. "Aw, look at you; you're a mess!" she said to the doll, wiping the mud away from its button eyes. She shook her head, and fixed the doll's dress. "Mother will have to fix you up when..." She stopped suddenly; holding the dirty doll closer to her. "Mother isn't coming home, is she?"

A soft, tingling of a bell was heard. The Beldam spun around, and so did Coraline. A purple, luminous tent seemed to have appeared out of no where, and was now settled at the side of the dirt road.

A man stood in front of the flap entrance; his hand inches away from a bell hanging from the top of the tent. A soft smile was hidden under his white mustache. He lacked white hair to match the mustache, but donned an old-looking brown suit.

The Beldam stared expressionless at him as he ran the bell again.

"What if I told you," he said, "that there was a way to save your dying mother?"

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There you have it. Another pointless chapter lacking a good plot. There's a reason why the Beldam's parents haven't mentioned or said her name, and we'll get to that in the next chapter.

By the way, do you guys have any good name ideas? (No, this isn't the reason why no one has said her name yet. XD)