Button Eyes, Clock Hearts

Needles and Buttons

On the steps of the mansion, the Role Holders gathered. After a little tinkering, snipping and screaming, they managed to get the girls' eyes back where they belonged. With their eyes back in place, each girl took her clock in hand; the metal timepieces fading and the girls' chest light up briefly. Jabberwocky touched her chest, frowning at first, and then grinning when her clock resumed its regular pace within her. Nix gave her big brother a hug and Julie smiled at her own brother, tears in her eyes. Free. They were finally free. No matter what happened next, they could live or die as free girls.

"Hey!" Everyone turned to see the outsiders walking up with grins on their faces. Nix ran up and grabbed Alice's dress, "Did you do it? Did you follow the instructions?" Coraline nodded and produced the weapon. A dagger. Made of sewing needles. The black key had been fused into the handle.

"It took some fancy blow torch work, but it'll do the job." Everyone turned to the mansion's doors and Coraline turned to speak, "This is it. We don't know what the Other Mother has waiting for us, and some of us might not make it. But we have to do this."

Alice, Cat, and Coraline decided not to reveal what had happened under the hatch. Somehow they managed to grab the music box and place the doll inside for her safety. Breathing in, Coraline gripped on to her weapon tightly and kept the other in her pocket. Everyone nodded, gripping their own weapons tightly, and followed her through the gates to the final battle. There were no others to go aiagnts them this time. But, there were insects of various sizes attacking the role-holders and only leaving those who were wanted by the Beldam to find her. Reluctantly, the group passed, running through the foyer, down the halls.

Coraline turned to Nix and the twins as they ran, "Where would she be?!"

Nix pointed, "She'll be in Blood's study!"

Coraline swallowed hard as she pushed open the doors to the Mafioso's study...and resisted the urge to throw up. The room...was furnished with the same freaky bug furniture as the room in the Pink Palace. There was a large, ornate fireplace giving off a greenish glow. Behind the cockroach desk, a what seemed to be a maze of book cases extended who knows how far. chirping, crackling and distant screaming filled the otherwise silent room. But...no Beldam.

Coraline and the group stepped further in and Cat murmured, "...Could she be hiding elsewhere?"

Juliet shook her head and Jabberwocky answered, "No way. This is her favorite room. She's here...somewhere."

Coraline and the small group approached the maze and entered, wary of the glow worms that lit the paths. As they walked along, Juliet muttered, "I once read about mazes and labyrinths. The trick to solving them is to stick to the right-hand side."

"It is what it isn't, and what it isn't it is" the voice of Loise made Coraline stop.

"Then...this must be sticking to the left side" deciphered the girl. The others sighed but did not object to the order and continued to walk along, dragging their hands lightly over the bookcase to their left. The twists and turns of the maze became steadily more elaborate as the area around them deteriorated. The books, slowly, became less detailed. Eventually, they disappeared altogether as the shelves started to break down into dirt walls. Instead of pages and dust bunnies littering a tile floor, it became a dirt trail, covered in broken children's toys and...small bones. The walls and roof quickly changed to match the floor, and then the twists stopped. They were standing in a long tunnel, lit only by the glow worms lodged in the walls and ceiling.

And at the end of the tunnel...was a small door. A door that seemed to made of...sandstone, with a small, strange symbol carved into the front. It was nearly sealed shut by cobwebs, but there were small, lit candles on either side of it. And in the dancing flames, the skulls of children of various ages could be seen, piled high on either side like welcome signs. Coraline swallowed and walked over slowly. The door sat, not moving an inch.