Coraline woke up with the cat meowing and patting at her face. She groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She yawned and stood up, picking up the fallen blanket and setting it on top of the few pillows she'd used.
Wybie and Norman were sleeping loudly, their snores filling the room. Norman was tightly wrapped in her sheets and blankets, his head slightly hanging off of the edge. Wybie shivered silently as he slept, his arms spread out, his hand dangling around Norman while his other hung over the edge of the bed.
"Guys, get up," Coraline yawned, shaking Wybie's foot. She stood there sleepily, her hand on his foot, for a while before yanking him off, his body hitting the floor with a loud thump. Norman shot up from the sound of Wybie falling and looked around in worry.
Coraline laughed at his shocked face and walked over to try and fix his tangled hair. She grabbed the hair covered brush off of the bedside table, putting his hair back in place. Wybie was fine as he was, the brown knots always being impossible to unravel.
"You guys want breakfast?" Coraline asked as she brushed through her blue locks. She tugged at the ends, realizing that it was growing a bit long. She shrugged it off and opened the bedroom door. "I have cereal... I think that's about it. I may be able to find some stuff for waffles or pancakes if you'd rather that."
"Cereal's fine," Norman answered, following her out of the room. The three of them sleepily and quietly ate breakfast, still in their pajamas Coraline had given each of them. Norman sat in a pair of pants she'd gotten from her dad and the large sweater he wore yesterday. Wybie had his own change of clothes he kept in one of the window seats in case of last minute sleepovers.
They got changed after breakfast and headed out.
"So, you see any dead people here?" Coraline asked.
"Yeah. A lot." Norman nodded. "Most are children."
Coraline hesitated before continuing on her journey through the gates. She walked over the bridge and pointed at the blooming flowers below.
"You haven't met the guy who planted these yet, but if you look closely, you'll see the top of beets in between a few of those." She leaned over the edge of the bridge and scanned over them. "There. Mr. Bobinski planted two of them side by side near the corner."
"Why haven't you got them out?"
"That'd be rude. He may seem like a crazy old man who likes his privacy, but he has good intentions." Coraline chuckled. "And he worked hard on hiding them. I don't want to make him feel as if he did a bad job."
They continued walking, listening to the blue haired girl chatter on about certain things. Wybie seemed interested, despite the fact he'd probably heard it all before.
"So, Norman, how do you feel about ghost hunting?" Coraline asked, turning to look at her friend.
"What do you mean? It's not really hunting if I can see them in plain sight," Norman asked in confusion.
"Well, we can't see them." Coraline pointed to her and then to Wybie. "So, how about you give us hints and if we can guess where they are and what they look like, then we win?"
"What would you win?"
"A trip to the Old Well." Coraline's smile brightened.
"Well...okay." Norman nodded in defeat. The three of them focused, but no number of hints could help the two non-ghost seers find the many different ghosts wandering through the trees.
They got to the other side of the woods, a tree stump standing in the middle of the small circle. A circle of mushrooms was placed next to it, mud coating a wooden board.
"Tell him the theory, Wybie." Coraline elbowed her friend.
"People say that if you fell to the bottom and looked up, you'd see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day." Wybie smirked as Norman walked towards it, bending down to knock on it. The sounds echoed back up to them, sending chills down Coraline's spine, but she ignored it and stood over Norman, watching as he ran his finger through the dirt and mud.
"This is where we tossed the Other Mother's hand. After we crushed it, of course."
"Sounds delightful," Norman stated sarcastically.
"Maybe we should camp out here tonight."
"I doubt my mom would let me stay away from home longer than I already have, but you could try."
"Awesome!" Coraline smiled as she sat down on the tree stump.
"Do you have nightmares?" Norman asked, looking up at her.
"Of what?" She replied, leaning back to gaze up at the clouded sky.
"Of the Other Mother."
Coraline didn't answer before she leaned forward again, her smile gone. "Yeah. Wouldn't you?"
"I guess. I've never met her, so I have no idea what to be afraid of though."
"Well, sometimes that's worse. At least I know what to look out for." Coraline looked down at her shoes before hopping off of the tree stump. "You want to see the door?"
"Coraline, opening it again could be a mistake." Wybie, who had previously been leaning against a tree, spoke up, the black cat now resting on his shoulders.
"She's...powerless, right? And who said anything about opening it?" Coraline shrugged And grabbed onto Norman's hand, running down the path through the trees again.
"Hey, Norman, right?" someone asked beside the stumbling boy. Norman looked up to see a young girl with braids floating alongside him. "I heard you talking to Coraline."
"Yeah?" he asked, earning a glance from Coraline, but she seemed to understand and slowed down a bit.
"Just...make sure she doesn't open the door. She's locked it up, but she has a natural sense of curosity." The ghost sighed and shrugged. "It could be dangerous for her, so don't let it get opened, okay?"
"Of course." Norman nodded. He vaguely remembered Coraline talking about the ghost children from her "adventure" with the Other Mother. He assumed this ghost was one of them.
The ghost child smiled in relief before nodding, disappearing.
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Okay, So I decided I wanted to just go ahead and get to the interesting part today. I am allowing you to read the remaining things I have written, and this is the last of it. Next chapter: Nightmares, is where the Beldam will make its appearance. Hope you guys still like it. This chapter was a bit rushed, but I plan to make up for that.
