My thanks to all the people who reviewed my story, put it on their favorites etc. I hope you like this next chapter. Constructive criticism is very welcome.
littleBLACKduck
Chapter Two: In which Something is Found in a house that Shouldn't be there
Coraline looked over all the different items spread out on her bed. She had made a list of things she need on this new exploring trip. Rope, flashlight, a magnifying glass, which was classic, but she wasn't exactly sure how to use it in this particular situation.
She went over to her closet and pulled out a large brown backpack and began to stuff all of her equipment into it.
Just as she finished she heard the loud sound of a foghorn coming from outside. She quickly zipped up her pack and ran downstairs. Her mother and father were inside the kitchen enjoying a cup of tea as she zoomed past. She had almost made it to the door when she heard her mother's voice call her back.
"Hold it just a second young lady and come back here."
Coraline stopped and slowly backed up to the kitchen.
"Yes mom?" she asked innocently.
"Did I just hear a foghorn outside?" Her mother raised her eyebrows curiously. Coraline nodded.
"That's just Wybie, you remember our next door neighbor. We're gonna go…" She tried to think of the right words, "hang out for a bit in town…" She wanted to sound as believable as possible. But her mother didn't look like she was buying it.
"I thought you didn't like him."
"I'm putting him on trial right now." Coraline explained. She began to fidget uncomfortably, as her impatience to go outside increased.
"Hmmm," Mrs. Jones looked at her intently her lips pursed. "Well, I can see you want to leave. Be careful, and come back before 7." Her mother said with a half smile.
"Thanks," Coraline hugged her mother and then her father. "Bye," She quickly skipped out of the kitchen.
"Coraline, tell that boy that next time he comes he should wait at the door, why when I was…" Coraline never heard the rest of Mr. Jones speech as she closed the door behind her.
"Wake up Cat, we're leaving." Coraline patted the snoozing feline awake as she walked down the steps. Cat jumped up and landed neatly beside her.
She saw Wybie standing at the end of the driveway to the pink palace with his motorized bicycle.
She looked over at her own old bicycle that was propped up against the porch. It was from her 9th birthday. She had begged her parents for her own bicycle and when she finally got it she had thought it looked very spiffy, but now it was dusty and the paint was chipping. She had only just pulled it out of the shed that morning. She wiped off the handlebars and sighed. 'It's better than nothing." She tried to convince herself.
"That's your bike?" Wybie said incredulously as she reached him, trailing it beside her.
"Yeah why," She asked defensively. It was one thing for her not to like her bike but quite another for Wybie to criticize it.
"It's pretty old." He was staring at her bicycle with his head cocked to one side. She could almost hear him thinking over the 100 different ways he could fix it up.
"Thank you captain obvious I already know that. Now can we get going, I think it's going to rain." She cast a wearing glance up at the sky where dark clouds were gathering.
"That'll just add atmosphere Miss Explorer." He mounted his bike then continued, "I'll go slowly so you can keep up." Cat jumped onto Coraline's lap and situated himself inside her jacket.
As they rushed down the hill on their bikes, Coraline felt an adrenaline rush course through her body as wind whipped against her face. It filled her with so much renewed energy that Wybie didn't have to slow down as much as he thought.
After what felt like only a couple minutes but was really a good half hour of a glorious ride, they made it to the old orphanage.
When they stopped in front of the rickety rotting fence that surrounded the building, Coraline could see why all the kids thought it was haunted.
It leaned heavily to the left side, and all of it's windows we're boarded up. It was colored a sooty black a though it had been through a fire. The roof was heavily sunken in and Coraline thought that one good blow could bring the whole structure crashing down any second.
"Isn't it creeping looking?" Wybie shuddered as they propped their bikes up against the fence.
"Yup, exactly the sort of place people shouldn't go into in movies." Coraline replied.
"So you're doing it why..?"
"Because I made myself a promise to help find those girls, I can't really explain why. I just have to."
Cat leapt out of her coat and onto the ground. She pushed the rickety gate open and they all made their way up the muddy pathway leading to the front porch.
There they stopped and just stared.
"Well," Wybie began.
"Well what?" Coraline retorted nervously.
"Don't you want to go inside?" he asked.
"Why don't you go first." She pushed him gently forward. He stumbled up a couple steps then looked back at her. "You aren't scared are you?"
"No, of course not. Are you?"
Wybie shook his head. "No,"
"Then move it Wybourne and make sure the porch is safe to walk on." She said giving him a daring look.
"So it's okay for me to fall through the floor then."
"What kind of gentleman are you! You would rather I fall through?"
"Okay, okay, don't get all crazy. I'll go first."
"And if you fall, I'll visit you at the hospital." Coraline joked with a smile.
"You're too kind." He took the next two steps in a short jump and Coraline quickly joined him. She unconsciously grabbed onto his arm as they made their way cautiously across the porch. But the floor didn't give way and they both felt slightly more confident as they pulled the rusty door open.
Inside the house was almost pitch black. Coraline and Wybie flicked on their flashlight and let the beams travel along the hallway. There was a long line of doors stretching down the hall on either side. Dust swirled wildly around and as they stepped inside some of it escaped up Coraline's nose and she succumbed to a sneezing fit.
"Ah the sweet smell of a rundown building. Anyway what exactly are we looking for?" Wybie asked as they made their way into the first room. It was round and had peeling yellow paint on the wall. There was a door leading to a walk in closet, and another which was a second entryway to the next room.
"Oh the usual," Coraline answered as she opened the closet door. "Clue's to see if anyone's been here, what happened to the missing girls, and possibly, if we're lucky something that'll help us figure out where they are, who did it and why."
But as they explored every nook and cranny of the first floor, they found nothing that would be of any help to them, just cobwebs, spiders and a cooing group of birds. They also ran into several rats which aroused the Cat's hunting spirit and he took after them like a speeding bullet, yowling.
As they walked up the stairs she began to feel a little disheartened. 'How can I help those girls if there's nothing here that'll help me?' she thought wearily.
The upstairs was almost as disappointing as the first floor, except that they couldn't go through all of it for there was a gaping hole blocking there pathway.
Coraline shone her flashlights beam down the hole. It landed a far way down into a room below.
"Wow, that's a long way to fall." Said Wybie softly. Coraline's stomach clenched tightly and she nodded slowly in agreement.
"I don't want to think about it."
She turned on her heels and stalked off trying to put as much distant between her and the hole.
She looked up at the ceiling and noticed an outline of a small door with a string dangling down from it. 'It must be a passage way to the attic,' she thought excitedly.
"Hey Wybie. Come over here." She called out. When he reached her she pointed up at the door.
"I think that leads to the attic."
"So," he replied with a shrug.
"So I can't reach it, I'll need to climb on your shoulders." She explained definitely.
"Do I look like a tree to you!?" Wybie began to protest indignantly, but Coraline brushed off his concern.
"Don't be such a baby Wybourne, It'll be easy. Now stay steady." She commanded. Even though he continued to complain about it, Coraline climbed onto his shoulders and reached up trying to catch the string dangling down from the door. As soon as she had a firm hold on the string she gently pulled it, so as to nudge the door slowly open. With a creak it gave way and Coraline found a ladder folded up on the inside.
"Wybie back up slowly. I'm gonna pull the ladder out." Coraline instructed him. Still muttering against it he did what's she asked and she gingerly let the ladder slid down to the floor.
"Satisfied Nancy Drew." He said edgily.
"Yes," Coraline hopped down with a grin and swiftly made her way up the ladder one hand pulling her up the other holding the flashlight securely. The attic was musty, small and terribly hot, and turned out to be filled with boxes covered in dust. Coraline's heart leapt excitedly in her chest.
"Look out all this stuff Wybie. It must be left over stuff from when the orphanage was still in business." She said happily. It didn't seem like it would be relevant to her current case, but Coraline's fingers itched to open the boxes and discover what secrets were held inside. She finally gave in and the first box she could reach. A dust cloud billowed up around her from the disturbance making her cough. She rapidly waved it away, and found the box was full of ugly faded blue checkered uniforms.
"Ew," she held a particularly dingy dress up into the light. "Their uniforms were worse then ours." Wybie laughed at this and began to help her look through the boxes.
"Hey look what I found." He said holding up a brown book held together by string. Inside we're pictures that Coraline knew where off the orphanage and the orphans who once lived there. There was one of smiling children playing in the yard full of grass. There was another of two old jolly ladies posing in front of the orphanage which was sturdy and bright looking. But the one that was Coraline's favorite was one showing a grinning little boy sitting with an equally happy girl with dark curly hair. They both radiated with such joy that it seemed to leap out of the picture and fill Coraline.
But it instantly faded away as Wybie slammed the album shut and looked behind him.
"I hear someone coming." He whispered anxiously. As they stood still, Coraline began to hear the tap of shoes coming down the hallway below. They quietly made there way to the attic entrance and looked down.
A girl about the age of 16-17 came into view and she looked curiously at the ladder. She had bleached blonde hair and dark eyes. Coraline didn't feel that she would be much of a threat against her and Wybie and so decided to have the advantage of being the first person to speak.
"What are you doing here?" She called down. The girl let out a high pitched scream and turned around in all directions trying to find the voice that had spoke to her.
"A-are you a g-ghost?" she stuttered out, shaking with fear.
"No silly, we're up here."
The girl looked up and closed her eye breathing deeply in relief as she saw Coraline and Wybie.
"I-I thought you we're a ghost." She explained to them as they climbed down.
"Why would you think that?" Coraline asked her. The girl looked down at her feet embarrassed. "I…I don't like to say." She simpered.
"Oh go on tell us." Coraline coaxed her.
"All right. I'm Psychic." The girl blurted out. There was a moment of silence, and Wybie shot Coraline a skeptical glance.
"You don't believe me do you," The girl's voice reached a high pitch, and she had a look on her face of being deeply offended. "Why else would I come here? I sensed a distressed spirit that needed my help."
"Oh really," Coraline said sardonically. "Where exactly was this "sense" coming from?"
The girl shrugged uncertainly, "I'm not sure, somewhere inside here. I thought I'd just wander around till I found it. What are you two doing here?"
"We're looking for clues to help us find those two missing girls," Wybie announced proudly.
"I'm Coraline Jones and this unfortunate looking boy is my neighbor Wybourne Lovat." Coraline said offering the girl her hand. Wybie scowled at Coraline.
"You can call me Wybie." He also offered his hand to the girl and she shook it reluctantly.
"You both have really interesting names. Mines just Leslie, plain old boring Leslie Doyle." She introduced herself. "It's not very psychic sounding is it?" She sighed heavily.
"I like it." Coraline told her. "But it seems silly to talk around up here. Why don't we go outside?" She suggested.
"Sure," the girl answered cheerfully.
All three children found their way downstairs, when Coraline heard a soft meow. She looked behind her but cat wasn't there. She looked in front but it was just the same.
"Cat?" She called out. She received an answering meow but she couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.
"Wybie, I hear cat but I can't find him. It sounds like he's close, Listen."
They all fell silent and Wybie cocked his head sideways to listen.
"It' sounds like it's coming from the wall." He told her in a confused voice.
"Cat?" Coraline leaned her ear against the wall. Wybie had been right. He did sound like he was coming from the wall. It also sounded like he was moving away from her.
"Wait Cat!" Coraline yelled chasing his cry down the hallway.
"What is it now Jonesy?" Wybie exclaimed in annoyance. He really wanted to leave this house. It seemed to be getting darker. Which meant it was closing in on twilight outside.
Coraline followed Cat, of at least cat's meows into a little room. She looked around it with her flashlight but still didn't see him. Dim light came in through the window which seemed to be one of the few that weren't boarded up. Coraline saw a heavy drizzle falling outside. As she cast a glance up at the top of the room she found that this was the one right below the large hole on the second floor.
"Cat?" She called out one final time. She followed his howl to the left side of the wall. She tapped on the wood. Then she noticed some cracks in the wall, as though their was a way to open it, like a secret panel. She began to laugh.
"You must have found your way into the wall while chasing the mice. Don't worry I'll get you out."
She kicked the wall as hard as she could near the cracks and to no surprise it didn't take her long to break it open. But to her utter horror, cat wasn't the only thing that fell out of the wall. Coraline gave a shriek and jumped back, for there lying at her feet, vacant eyes staring up at her was the dead body of a girl.
"Oh my god." She breathed out her heart beating painfully against her chest. Her mind whirled in utter revulsion and panic.
"What's wrong Coraline?" Wybie and Leslie stopped dead in their tracks as they too noticed the body.
"We've gotta get outta here, we've got to call the police, we've…" Coraline didn't finish as she ran out of the room followed closely by her two companions and cat. But just as she stormed out the door two strong arms reached out and grabbed her. She let out another loud scream.
"What do you kids think you're doing here!?" Yelled her captor in a gruff voice, He held her in one arm and grabbed Wybie and Leslie with the other. Coraline wiggled loose and looked up at him. It was a police officer.
"Don't you guys know this place is off limits, you could have hurt yourselves." He reprimanded them sternly.
"Forget about us!" Coraline gasped out. "There's a dead Body in there!"