Title: Patchwork
Chapter Five: The Clock is Ticking
Started: 11/22/09 11:27:06 AM
Edited: 5/14/11 8:29:24 PM
Story Quote: The clock ticked on, its pace becoming faster and faster in her ears. Time was running out. The beast was getting closer.
It had been several hours now that Coraline had been stranded in the woods. Several hours of wandering aimlessly through the bramble and roots had left her hungry and feeling more alone than ever. She leered up the sky with disdain. The sun slipped through the plethora of trees in small, elegant rays. Beside that light, however, she was left in the dark. Wisps of fog wafted up from the forest floor to merge with the glow. Had Coraline not been so upset, she might have even noted how pretty the sight was. Slight shivers crawled across her skin.
"Idiot!" she yelled into nothingness. "Idiot, idiot, idiot!" She ground her teeth together as she continued to stamp through the mud. "He just had to get lost in a place like this. Now I've gotten myself lost because of him!" Dark eyes flashed as the light ghosted over her. What a horrible way to spend a day. Why couldn't they had just stayed home and gotten the police or someone to find him? Why did Granny Lovat have to call her family?
Stupid Wybie. This was all his fault!
Something rustled in the bushes and she stopped. The floral covered bush shook slightly and a small gap appeared inside it. Coraline bent forward in order to get a better look. Blue hues gleamed back at her, causing her to frown.
"What are you doing here?" she asked impatiently. "Are you following me?" Elegantly, the creature crept from out of the shrub, its eyes stared at her calculatingly and its ratted tail twitched. "Are you looking for Wybie, too?" Coraline asked. The cat stared in silence. Of course, she wasn't really expecting an answer, but it's still nice to talk to someone when you're alone. His tail twitched from side to side coolly…calmly. Oh, sure, like he wasn't at all worried. Right.
Turning away from the cat, Coraline began to walk on. Maybe if she kept walking she would find her way out. She definitely wasn't going to sit around and mope when there was a good chance she would be able to get out of this situation on her own. She didn't need anyone's help. Not the cat, not her parents, no one.
The cat shook his head and began to follow.
Charlie huffed as he ascended the steep slope. The sun had fully risen into the dimming effects of the clouds. With a final puff he came to sit on an upturned log. Coming up along the hill was Mel. He gave her a warm smile as she too approached him and sat by his side. The watch on his wrist read 2:34 PM and twenty-seven seconds. Coraline had disappeared over four hours ago. A pressure on his shoulder caused him to look down to the head there.
"I wonder if anyone else has had any better luck," Mel asked timidly.
Charlie looked ahead over the landscape. Did this fog ever clear out? It seemed the only time there was no fog was when it rained, and even then it came right back. Maybe it was just the season. "I don't know. In any case, I'm sure that we'll find him soon. Coraline might have already."
Silence. Then, quietly, "Charlie?"
He shifted. "Yes?"
Mel ducked so that his shoulder covered her eyes. "Did we make the wrong decision in coming here?" It was rare that she every seemed this vulnerable, thus why Charlie cherished these small moments that she willingly opened up. He placed a hand on her head and gently stroked her hair.
"No, I don't think so," he said tentatively, "why do you ask?"
She lifted her head faintly in order to look at him. "It just seems that, ever since we came here, things have been going from bad to worse. Coraline can't stand the place and you haven't slept since the move. Look at these bags under your eyes." A long, delicate finger swept above his cheekbone. "I just wanted us all to be happy. Instead, everyone's miserable."
The pulsing of his heart choked the words from him for a moment. "Dear, don't worry. It may not seem like it now, but things will get better. Just give them a chance to," he soothed. She didn't always like to show it under her 'tough mom' façade, but she truly was distraught thinking that her decision would cause her family so much pain. She loved them. So, so much.
No one spoke; Mel's eyes became starry.
"Will you tell me about them?"
Caught off guard, Charlie returned a muttered, "About what?"
"The dreams," she persisted, "the ones you always wake up from."
He stared back at her thoughtfully. "Well," he began. "They're always different. I can only remember a few key details about each of them. In each one, though, there's always the monster."
"The monster?"
"Yes. A skeleton, with black button eyes and fingers of needles. In all of the dreams, I remember being so scared. Sometimes I don't even know why." A chill swept through his core. He closed his eyes and took a breath. "Recently, the dreams having been hitting me rather harshly. I bet it's just stress about finishing the article on time."
Even he could tell the last bit of his sentence was a weak excuse. Oh well, it was worth a try.
"You know, Coraline has been saying something about her dreams, too. About an alternate Jones family in the other apartment. She said that they have button eyes…but no skeleton. I wonder if it's only a matter of time…"
Oh, yes, the 'other' family through the little door in the parlor. Maybe…no, that was just silly. Behind that door was nothing more than a wall of bricks. He had seen so himself. When he looked over at Mel, she was deeply lost within her own realm of thoughts. The lengthening of their shadows was suddenly brought back to Charlie's attention.
"Dear, we should keep looking. Now is not the time to think these things over."
She sighed and nodded back to him. "You're right. Lets get moving.
"Wybie!" Coraline screeched. "Wybie, come out here! I've had enough of this, you geek!" Her voice echoed around her; it was the only reply she received. This was truly a very long day. The muscles in her legs were irritated with the tension of running and her skin was clammy from all the moisture. She wanted to sit down. A rock, dampened by the fog, beckoned to her.
The cat padded to a position in front of her. His eyes gleamed back at her like bright blue beacons in this endless sea of confusion and fear.
"Do you have any idea where he could be, cat?" Coraline asked miserably. His tail twitched, then remained still. Her head collapsed into her hands.
This was hopeless. Really, it was. Hours she had been searching. Hours she had looked and done nothing more than further her own state of loss. Tears of frustration pricked at her eyelids.
Snaking trails around her ankles, the fog began to thicken. It crawled through the air indolently, crept up trees like billowing white ghosts. Coraline would be lying if she said she hadn't noticed this grim fact. It would also be a lie to say she wasn't in the least bit frightened.
Just then, she saw a large black shape about five yards off.
"Wybie?" she tried, unsuccessfully. Her voice cracked with the strain of her tears. Maybe it was just a bush. The form moved, a slow, lumbering sway. The cat's ears laid back against his skull. What…was that? Though she felt like turning back, Coraline remained absolutely still. The pounding of her heart cruelly lashed against her ribs making her breathing become tremulous. The form shifted again and began to approach her.
That…was no bush.
The bear's wicked black eyes darted over the girl before it. Teeth, jagged and sharp, revealed themselves as black lips were wrenched back in a snarl. The cat hissed, arching down and away from the beast. The very ground shook when the bear took a step forward. Even the fog bowed out of way of this fearsome king.
Try not to move. Try not to move. Try not to move!
It was getting closer. She could see its matted, damp fur laden with mud and bramble; the lazy malevolence in which it stalked made her insides ice over. The cat inched backwards; his eyes were wide, watching every movement. He hissed again, the bear roared, and Coraline began to run.
Blood pounded in her ears like a ticking clock. The count was on. Somewhere in her mind she could register the twigs snapping and the mud slapping at her boots. She could also hear the heavy breathing of the beast. The clock ticked on, its pace becoming faster and faster in her ears.
Time was running out. The beast was getting closer.
The slope began to stoop down quickly. Mud and momentum made a deadly combination as she descended. In fact, traction was so lost that she was more sliding than running. Chancing a brief look behind her, she saw the bear begin to slow in its pursuit. Short, muscular legs were making little progress, tumbling beneath the giant rather than propelling it forward.
And the she fell.
Screaming as she plummeted down, mud coated her jacket, her hair, her face. Bitter wind lashed at sensitive skin, cutting into her like so many needles. An upturned root collided with her chest, compelling the air from her lungs. She sputtered, trying to breathe, but ended up swallowing a mouthful of sickening mud. Nausea caused her to gag and her vision to blur. Hands gripped at the ground below for some sort of help but were met with none.
And then it was over.
Caught in the drive of her fall, her body tried to force her forward, but she dug her knees and nails into the mud to balance herself. The contents of her stomach were lost before her as she retched. Her head rose shakily, and her swimming vision clouded the scene before her. She took in a labored breath to stabilize her body, and focused at the hill above.
The bear had stopped and was now staring down at her lazily. Then it turned, back up the muddied path, and into the bowels of the fog.
Tick, tock, tick, tock…
Tick, tock…tick, tock…
Tick…tock…tick…
The clock began to slow its rapid pounding; transforming back into monotonous beats. Wobbly legs barely managed to withhold her own weight. Move. Her mind told her, though her body adamantly protested. Move. And she did. Only to fall not after four steps. She scrambled to right herself, only to stop when she saw what she had tripped upon.
A body.
Wybie.
(Ending Song Time!)
"Yeah I'm on the run,
See where I'm coming from,
When you see me coming run,
Before you see what I'm running from,
No time for question asking time is passing by,
Alright,
You can't win child,
We've all tried to,
You've been lied to,
It's all ready inside you,
Either you run right now,
Or you best get ready to die,
You better,
Move,
I said,
Move"
Song: Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) Artist: Gnarls Barkley