Chapter 2: Blithe Hollow


As he got home from helping Neil and Salma for the preparation for the Winter Dance and and his short visit from Aggie's tree, he felt exhausted. It was 10:00 and he had already probably missed dinner (and no, the pizza with Neil and Salma didn't count because he only hate half a slice since Neil was so hungry)(He passes out when he's hungry and starts having seizures). Ever since Courtney had left for college, the house had been pretty quiet. His parents could care less where he would go or what time he got home as long he got home in one piece. He was just a not-so-normal guy living with parents and a dead grandmother.

He stepped into the house and was immediately greeted by her, "Home late, I see?"

"Hey, Grandma." He replied not really acknowledging the green ghostly figure floating right beside him.

"If I was still alive I already would've gave you a good punishment. But I'm dead so what's the use?" She half joked.

"I'm not eight anymore."

"And you're not eighteen yet. So, you shouldn't be breaking your curfew ," she said. She was probably intending on scolding him but the way she said it, she sounded rather calm, "Now go take a shower and go to bed."

"Yes, ma'am." But as he got up to his room, he just removed his sneakers and changed into an old shirt and sweatpants then buried himself under his sheets. His stomach made a growling sound.

"Sheesh, Norman. Do you have a lion inside your belly or what?" Said his grandmother who floated from the floor.

"Neil was hungry and forgot to leave a piece or two for me and Salma," he shrugged.

"You can't go to bed with an empty tummy."

"Well, I'm pretty exhausted so-" he yawned then buried himself deeper under his sheets. But Grandma Babcock kept talking, she floated over to a high shelf where he and Courtney's old storybooks were, "I remembered when I used to read you and Courtney to sleep. You both really liked it when I did that. Hmmm, let me see. Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Red Riding Hood.. "

Norman did his best to block out his grandmother's talking and shut his eyes tight, "Hey look, Sleeping Beauty! This was one of your sister's favorites!.. but I don't recall Sleeping Beauty sleeping under a tree.. I thought she pricked herself or something? Silly girl.."

Norman shot directly up, "Grandma, give me the book."

"I can't sweetie, I'm dead. I can't touch things. But it's right over here."

He silently groaned, hopping out of bed out and followed his grandmother's directions. He found the book. It was on the very top of the short stack of fairy tales (Probably why Grandma Babcock had seen the cover). His eyes widened. It was the exact book. The one his Uncle Prenderghast used to send Aggie back to sleep every year. But how? He thought the book had been struck by lighting and was permanently ruined. He dusted off the blanket of dust on the cover and opened the book. Then he saw in cursive handwritting-

Sandra,

Your brother and sister has a copy of this book as well. This is the story of Sleeping Beauty. I hope you'll love it and I hope in one day, you could use it just as how your grandfather and I had.

Love, Dad

His eyes widened. So, it wasn't the book his Uncle Prenderghast had, but it was an exact copy. This talent he has had been in their family for generations. His grandfather from his mother's side must have been expecting one of his children to inherit the special ability and it was his uncle Prenderghast who got it. He was rather thankful that the ability had skipped his mom. He didn't like the thought of his mother being called and teased a freak.

He sighed. Wow, there was a copy of this book in my house all along, he thought, and I went into the trouble to get it from my uncle's dead body.

But come to think of it, Norman hopped back to bed and opened the book with a small smile, if I had came in time to lull Aggie back to sleep.. then, I'll never find out about the truth and Aggie may never had rest in peace.

Grandma Babcock just smiled at him then disappeared at the wall.

It was odd for a fifteen (going on sixteen) -year-old teenage boy to be reading fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty but for Norman, this meant a whole lot more. He started to read but before he could even reach to the part where the princess had pricked her fingers on the spindle, he felt his eyelids growing heavy and soon drifted to sleep.


He was back at the place he thought he would never see again:

Aggie's tree and under the tree, there were five figures standing. He squinted his eyes but he still couldn't make out who they were. "Aggie?" he called out, "Aggie is that you?"

As he got closer, the four figures slowly disappeared and a small figure of a girl was left. As the four unknown figures were finally out of sight, the girl waved back, "Norman!"

He smiled at the sound of her voice. He never thought he would see her again. After the incident five years ago, he had never saw her again even in a dream like this. Every week, he would visit her tree and once a week, he would bring flowers, say some words and leave, half wanting her to actually show up and talk to him. He never missed a day in four years.

He broke to a run, "Aggie!"

As he reached the tree, he saw her standing there. She was still looked eleven. Nothing has change. He had grown taller for the past years so he knelt down to give her a proper hug.

"I.. never thought you would show up again." he told her.

She was silent and right there, he knew something was wrong. She pulled away from the hug and looked down at her feet.

"Aggie? What's the matter?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Something is happening, Norman," she said, "Something not good. My mother.. she's gone again. Taken."

Before he could even reply, he heard thunder rumbling. he looked up and saw that the sky was swirling in dark clouds. Aggie's eyes widened in fear, "No."

"What's going on?" he stood up and took her hand. "Aggie?"

"N-No," she repeated. Norman glanced at her. Aggie's face was full of fear. "She knows."

Aggie tightened her grip on his and they both sprinted into a run. He didn't know where they were going. The path was unfamiliar but Aggie kept on running. The dark clouds were following them, along with lightning. Norman could feel the strong gust of wind howling in his ears.

"We're in danger, Norman!" Aggie yelled but was still barely inaudible by the strong winds, "The beldam is coming back. She took my mother. She knows our great-aunt Agatha. She's out for vengeance! She took my mother again!"

Norman could barely understand what she was trying to say.

"There's this girl you will meet," Aggie continued on, "She can help you! She's one of us, Norman!"

A stronger wind blew and it almost blasted the two from their feet. Norman had just held on a nearby tree, another hand wrapped around Aggie, "We don't have much time! You need get back to your world! Go! Jump!"

She was referring to the well.

"What about you?" he yelled, the strong winds making it difficult for him to talk.

"I'll be alright! Please, just look for the girl. Help her. You're also in danger. Now, jump!" Norman let go of Aggie. The strong wind made him stumble but he still managed to reach for the well. The last scene he saw was Aggie slowly fading into light and then, he went diving down the well head-first.


He felt his toes numb and felt inexplainabley cold the next morning. He shifted uncomfortably in his bed while trying to tuck in his cold toes under the warm sheets. Suddenly, he heard something rustling just beside his bed. His body tensed then he slowly opened his eyes.

Norman opened his eyes to the face of Neil Downe staring down at him. He let out a scream.

"Woah there!" his chubby friend exclaimed.

"Why are you in my room?" he asked, clearly terrified.

"Your mom let me in," he replied, "We still have a lot of stuffs to do for the dance next week, remember? The talk is that we meet up every seven in the morning. It's seven-thirty and Salma had already called me for the hundredth time this morning asking where in the world are we."

Since Salma was the highschool student body president, she was responsible for managing the 'Winter Dance' which was to held every winter break and of course, she just needed to drag Norman and Neil along. Actually, they did it for the extra points and besides, all they had to do was show up and just do what Salma tells them to do.

"Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute," he sat up. He caught sight of the book and immediately slid it under his pillow, not wanting Neil to see it. As he glanced at the window, he saw the reason of the cold; it was snowing. The thick blanket of snow was covering the entire front lawn and reminded him of marshmallows. It wasn't really Norman's favorite season (as he always gets a cold and a stuffy nose) but he found it relaxing.

"Hey, Norman," Neil was scanning along the zombie action-figures, "Why have you never thrown these away yet?"

"They're limited-edition collectibles," Norman replied flatly, getting out of his sheets , "And they're not as bad as that kitty lunch box you still have."

"Touché." Neil replied.

Norman ushered him out of his room since he needed to change. Then he went out two minutes later, wearing winter-appropriate clothes. His stomach grumbled and he realized he really hadn't eaten anything since last night, and headed to the kitchen.

He was greeted with the smell of bacon which made his stomach gurgle even more. Sandra and Perry Babcock were already seated on the table busy reading newspapers. Neil had rather made a noisy entrance (tripping on the mat and almost knocked over their vase) and they caught the adult's attention.

"Oh good, you managed to wake him," said Sandra, beaming at the two boys. "Breakfast's on the table, dear."

He sat down on his usual seat. Neil sat on where Courtney used to. Norman took as many bacon as possible because he will not let Neil get in the way with his food ever again.

After finishing up with a glass of orange juice, he realized that the two adults were too concentrated on what they were reading. The two were barely saying a word to each other. Their eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"Uh, Dad, 'wacha reading there?" He asked.

"Just The Blithe Hollow Bugle. Just look at what this guy sent in to Dear Blithely! It's hilariously pathetic!" Perry howled in laughter. He used to loathe the Bugle since it always had their names and always got picked at. Mr. Prenderghast used to have his own section called 'Hollow Words' in the paper. They were the town oddity. Only Courtney seemed to be the one who didn't have a hard time fitting in but she was no help since she always tend to bash Norman every time she gets interviewed.

Then after the incident, the death of Mr. Prenderghast and Courtney moving to college (and also, her sudden change of heart after the incident), they were finally warming up to being treated normal. They have rarely seen their names getting bashed anymore. They could still read news about themselves, but that was because Blithe Hollow was a small town and any little event is already worthy of newspaper publishing (Take Mrs. Henscher victory with getting rid of the rodents in her house, for example).

Norman nodded then he turned to Sandra, "Uh, mom, any interesting news out there?"

Sandra was more focused on the news out side of town.

"Hm.. definitely," she replied in her usual sweet and calm tone, "The town of Burgess is really feeling the winter spirit. They're having ice sculpting contests, snow ball war games, ice skating and free hot choco. They're celebrating in honor of the legend of Old Man Winter."

"And, oh!" she exclaimed as she caught sight of a new article, "I'm sure you'll like this, honey. 'Born again in New Holland?' It's about a rumor going about a boy that had successfully raised his pet from the dead. Though, it has not yet been confirmed since the townspeople refuses to speak up which just arouses more suspicion."

Norman gave a small nod. Sure, the living dead was one of his little obsessions a few years ago (He still has those action figures as proof) but as after the incident, he had been more mature.

"..what is this?" Sandra's eyes stopped at one article, "'Last night, a star of the late 50's had passed away. April Spink is an elderly retired actress along with her life-long companion in show business, Miriam Forcible. Spink's body was found dead in their flat and is still unclear whether it was suicide or homicide . According to sources..."

Whatever it was, Norman wasn't that much interested. But still, it was new. He barely heard of his mother telling him about a murder case.

"Sad. She was one of your Grandma Prederghast's favorite actresses of all time." Sandra said.


"Where were you?"

Salma approached the two with arms crossed, undoubtedly mad at the two. "I thought I made it clear that we meet at seven?"

"Sorry, Salma," Norman smiled apologetically at his friend, "We got.. a little busy."

Salma huffed, "Fine. We already lost too much time. Come now, we need to sell more tickets."

They trailed along her until they reached the town square. She turned to the two and handed them stacks of tickets. "Now, I expect we would be done by nine o'clock and I expect all tickets sold. Remember, approach friendly and never settle for the 'I'll pay later' excuse. I repeat, never. We cannot risk being short on money."

She turned on her heels and approached two familiar faces from their high school. Neil sighedand looked at Norman, "I get nervous around strangers."

Norman patted his friend on the back, "Goodluck."

Salma seemed to be doing great. Norman, not so much and Neil? Don't even ask. They met up again near their school, all three of them looking exhausted. They both handed back their left-over tickets in which Salma groaned in frustration, "Really? You both can't even sell tickets to save your own lives."

If Norman could sell to the ghosts, then he would. It seemed like the ghosts were more interested in it than the living beings in this little town.

She put the tickets back in he pocket. Sighing, "Well, at least we got.. $13? That's fine enough. But still.."

As if on cue, a girl around their age came trudging along the snowy path. Salma perked up and approached the girl. "Hey you!"

Well, so much for friendly apporoaching, Norman inwardly groaned. Norman noticed something unusual from the girl. Her hair was dark, but if you look at it closely, it had a hint of blue-ish purple. He wondered if she dyed it. She had huge hazel eyes and a freckled-face. Even though she was along their age, Norman couldn't recall seeing her around town somewhere. Suddenly, there was a sudden pain in his head that he couldn't understand.

"Me?" she replied, clearly taken aback.

"Yes," Salma put a hand on the girl's shoulder, "What's your name and how old are you?"

"I'm Coraline and I'm uh, f-fifteen?"

Salma smiled, "You should attend the Winter Dance."

What she replied was something in a mix tone of laughter and confusion, "Uh, I don't even go here."

"Oh, don't worry! It's open for everyone. That's why we made it during the winter break, so other people around the country can attend." Which was true. Blithe Hollow had such a small population that they really needed to invite people from other places so that they could have a huge crowd.

"That's nice but I don't really have someone to bring with me. Also, I don't really know anybody in this town so-"

"Well, Caroline. My name is Salma. That guy is Neil and the other is Norman. You should definitely g-"

"It's Coraline and thank you but no thank you. Look, I really don't want to go.. so, if you'll excuse me." Coraline didn't even glance at Norman or Neil and walked off, brushing past Salma. She seemed to be irritated with Salma's failed attempt with entrepreneurship. Norman couldn't blame her.

"That was rude." Salma grumbled under her breathe as she walked back to her two friends.

"Actually, Salma.. you were the one who was-"

"Just keep quiet, Neil." Norman elbowed his friend.

So, all in all, the trio didn't feel like doing anything more productive that day. The teenagers found a place at Witchy Weiner's. Salma was lecturing Neil about the Greek and Roman myths in which Neil seemed only half interested in listening. Norman was trying to avoid conversation with the both as possible and tried making himself looked entertained with the same copy of the paper his mother was reading this morning.

"..and for the record Neil, Pluto was also the god of the underworld and riches in Roman mythology in which his Greek counterpart, Hades was only god of the underworld.."

His head wasn't hurting anymore. Maybe it was just because of the cold. He took another sip of the hot chocolate before flipping another page. His eyes scanned around the words 'Child Disappearances' at the paper which surprisingly got his attention. He had heard of children disappearing before.. but this was absurd. There was a page filled with names of children all around the country. The eldest are around eleven to twelve and youngest at three years old.

The little bell rang, which indicates a new customer had entered the diner..

The blue-haired girl had entered the diner along with two other adults. She shook snow from her boots before fully getting in. The room was rather warm, so she took her coat off just like what the other did. She looked around slowly and caught his eye...and that's when everything went ludicrously in slow-motion. Her hazel eyes suddenly flashed in a electric green color. They stared at each other, paralyzed.

Once those once-hazel eyes had locked with his blue ones, something bizarre happened: he had a vision.

It was something he hadn't done for a long time but it was happening right now.

The walls of the diner seemed to disintegrate then he saw fire. It was burning as high as a skyscraper. There were frightened little children around the house, holding hands and seemed to be chanting some sort of spell. Inside the fire, Norman could distinguish a figure of a woman struggling to break -free, her bloodcurdling cries echoing through the empty lot. The scene faded and what was left was a view of a palace-like house in the middle of the woods.

The scene changed and he watched a little girl wearing fake butterfly wings being dragged inside a small door by needle-like hands. The petrifying screams of the little girl echoed through the empty corridors. The next was a boy, he was holding hands with the peculiar hand. He seemed to be shaking tremendously. The view shifted and that's when Norman saw the eyes of the boy were replaced by buttons. Dried blood was smeared all over the boys face.

"Shh now. It didn't hurt that much, did it? Now, let me tuck you in for tonight because you're now my son."

He heard a painful ripping sound, but he looked away.

Next, there was two identical girls in one bed. The one on the left opened her eyes and silently crept out of the room. She reached the small door in the parlor and crawled inside. The scene immediately shifted into something very gruesome. One of the needle-like hand was holding the struggling child down on a workbench while the other hand was holding real needle and thread. With one last push of the girl's little head on the workbench, the other hand thrust the needle with the thread into the girl's eye.

Then he came faced-to-face with a mirror. He put both hands on the mirror and once it came contact, the reflection changed. The hands in the reflection were smaller compared to his. It had delicate fingers and what seemed like scars and bruises on the palm. His eyes drifted to the face, and he saw a little girl around eleven. She had short hair and huge eyes. She was in black and white. Her hands started roaming around the sides of the mirror, as if searching for a secret compartment that could open it.

Norman tried banging on the mirror to break it. But the little girl didn't notice it.

The girl's hands dropped to her side and a look of hopelessness flashed on her eyes. She slid down into lying position until she was already curled into a ball.

Norman watched the little girl with sadness in his eyes. He remembered Aggie. How she felt so hopeless. And how he wasn't been able to save her.

With one last strong hit from his fist, the mirror cracked. The girl inside perked up, her eyes widening. First was a look of happiness then overcame by a look of fear. She screamed, but Norman doesn't hear. She pointed at something behind Norman and slowly, Norman turned around. He saw two needle-like hands striking at him. He was blasted off through the never-ending hallway.

Scenes and words came flashing to him in an instant. He saw the little girl in color. Her blue hair and freckled face and how she crawled inside the door. All he could say in his head was, "No. No. No. No."

The girl reached the other side. In which she was greeted by a tall woman.

"You're not my mother."

"I am your Other Mother, silly."

There was a banquet on the table with food and drinks Norman never had tasted before. There was the bright-haired girl sitting in the middle, looking as amused as she could be.

Then it was up the room. There were toys flying around, talking. They were alive. It was something an 8-year-old Norman would've dreamed of having. Norman felt a little part of him smile and felt at home.

..But no, this is wrong..

He saw the girl laying on a bed much larger than her- probably her parent's bed- as she silently cried. He saw her going up to the parlor again with puffy eyes and crouching down to the level of the door with words echoing from her mouth, "Because if you're scared and you still do it anyway, that's brave."

The scene shifted and it was the girl running around the palace-like house. A stone held up to her eye. There was a beautiful garden with glowing and singing flowers. There was a black cat running beside her. Again, the scene changed and they were back at the parlor. The face of the woman was hidden but he could see the familiar needle-like hands.

He watched her battle. He watched her as she set a trap for her hand. He watched as the hand fell into a hole of darkness.

Then he was back at the scene of the fire. The figure stopped struggling. The children stopped chanting. Their eyes fixed on the giant flame dancing though the night. His eyes caught sight of a girl around thirteen at his left. She looked familiar to him but at the same time, she looked so different.

One of the children screamed and then everyone broke into a panic. Flames shot out to everywhere like a meteor strike. Norman was stuck, he cannot move and run like the others. A ball of flame went shooting right at him and after that, all he could feel was burning.


Norman's eyes shot up as he felt burning. He then realized he was on the floor, newspaper scattered with his hot chocolate spilled all over his shirt. People were gathering around to see the view. Especially the blue-haired girl who rushed to his side quickly, he could obviously see that something happened to her as well, she was blinking rapidly as if her eyes still stung. But before she could give a helping hand, Neil had already knelt down beside him and helped him up. Salma clasped a hand on his back as he was up and motioned for him to sit down.

She waved one hand to the crowd, "Nothing to see here, folks."

The blue-haired girl gave one more peculiar glance as she turned her back and followed the two adults to a table at the far left corner.

As soon as the crowd dispersed, Neil and Salma bent closer as she whispered, "Woah, what happened? We haven't seen you done that.. in ages."

"I-I don't know." Norman replied, resting his forehead on his palm. His eyes fell on his chocolate-covered shirt.

"Man, that was freaky. Something must be up." Neil whispered, recalling the past events.

"I don't really know. Wh-What happened?"

Salma pursed her lips, "You just.. fainted. Right there and then. And that's when we thought you had another vision or something.."

Norman didn't respond. Which made Neil and Salma glance nervously at each other, "Norman.. you didn't have one, did you?"

"No," Norman lied, "I'm just tired. That's all."

Norman knew Salma and Neil doesn't believe him but they didn't ask any further. "Uhm so, do you want anything to drink? Water or something?"

He caught sight of the blue-haired girl. She was rubbing her eyes, she looked up and blink twice and that's when she exhaled deeply. She turned to look at him but her mind changed as she jerked her head back. Norman uttered no word but he turned back his attention to his friends, which he thinks is the better solution.

"Water. Water would be nice."


[Author's Note:] Me and Kiwi Werewolf decided to upload a chapter at the same time! :D If you haven't read her story, Power of Three, then you should go and read it now!

I wrote Norman's vision scene while listening to 1440 by Olafur Arnalds, Where Is My Mind- Suckerpunch OST

Now, Norman and Coraline have met *evil laugh* Let the intense parts of the story begin.

OH! And I added some kind of little hints of other animated movies in this chapter! I'll give a virtual cookie to the one who could guess them all! (There's just two)

Again, many thanks to Delorean7, Nicktendo Squad, Kiwi Werewolf and Emori Loul for the faves, alerts and reviews! They mean a lot!

'Til the next update, guys!

-IriMono