The Spider's Curse

The Arrival

     Unexpectedly, the trip only took less than an hour for them to arrive from Oregon, as much to her surprise, everything in the city looked somehow new to her eyes, first thing she noticed how the road is much more wider and essential for large amounts of passing vehicles, she remembered how Oregon was once loaded with overbearing traffics as what she and her parents experienced before, her eyes caught an unfamiliar shops and buildings, probably new, Coraline stared at the people roaming around the displayed shops as children played along the small park, she smiled, realizing that Oregon changed for the past few years after she left, she wondered on her seat as the vehicle continued to drove away..
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     Minutes already passed and Coraline texted her mother for an update, she smiled as soon as her phone rang back recieving her mother's reply, she turned it off and placed it inside her bag, suddenly, the driver grinned as he saw something through his wind shield "Well, well, well...seems like we are here Miss..." he finished as he made her to look towards his direction, she noticed the familiar billboard standing at the side of the road, she gasped

"Ashland..." Coraline whispered

"Indeed.." The Driver replied with a smirk

As soon as the vehicle entered the main street, as what she expected, Ashland had newly built streets, shops and houses which made her attention to the surrounding even more...

The place changed a lot...

From Boston Airport towards Ashland, everything changed...

And now, she had doubts if the pink palace was still the same as before...she wondered if even the people are still the same..

Her eyes trailed towards the houses and large trees passing through one by one, when she suddenly noticed the vehicle began to slow its speed down, turning it's direction to a small, muddy and cramped pathway..

She stared at the trees grew thicker and thicker as they travel deeper in the woods, she stayed silent, waiting for the the trees to disppear, she closed her eyes and the vechile stopped, she opened them again

Her heart pounded as she saw from afar the familiar construction from the distance

The old man turned his head to look at her

"Missy, we're here.." he smiled and went outside the vehicle, opening the door for her and grabbing her luggage

Coraline continued to stare at the view in front of her in awe, silently observing the wooden construction from afar, her eyes widen in disbelief

"It's the pink palace..." she muttered under her breath, Josephine was right...the Pink palace still does exists..

Coraline clutched her fist and breathe

She's here...

she quickly grabbed her wallet and handed the money to him with a nervous smile

"Thank you so much good sir..." Coraline told him and the Old man nodded

"Call me Mr. Greg Miss..." he smiled and went towards his taxi opening the door, he turned his head to look at her

"Have a safe vacation Ma'am.." he waved his hand goodbye as Coraline waved back to him, Mr. Greg finally went inside and turned on his taxi, the vehicle drove backwards as it starting to move it away from the blue haired woman, she continued to gaze at the vehicle until it was no longer in sight..

Coraline with a wide smile quickly grabbed her luggage and proceeded to walk on the steepy hill with determination in her eyes

She walked towards on the hill when a sound of rumble coming from the sky made her to look up and stretched her hand, for a moment, she felt small droplets of rain fell on her palm, she sighed

"I guess it's going to rain then..." she muttered and sighed in disappoinment before she grabbed her leather cap and opened her umbrella, lucky for her luggage, it's water proof

The rain from the sky grew thicker making her umbrella in moist but Coraline ignored them, she proceeded to walk on the muddy road with caution, her eyes focused on the large construction ahead of her as she walked closer to it, the apartment became more clearer, suddenly, she stopped

"I'm here...." she smiled in relief

In front of her stood a tall wooden apartment of the place where everything started, the place what she once called home, still exists and somehow in a good shape, she noticed how the apartment looked more vibrant than before, she smiled

"Mrs. Lovat sure put a lot of effort in fixing it again..." she chuckled and continued to walk towards the muddy trail again when she noticed someone was also walking towards her direction, Coraline quickly went towards the person

"Excuse me!" Coraline yelled pulling her luggage along as she quickly doubled her pace, the person heared her from afar, he quickly turned his head up and greeted her with a smile

Coraline stared at the man wearing a leathered cap while holding his bag full of envelopes, a mailman just finished delivering a letter from the pink palace

"Goodmorning Miss! What can I do for you?" He asked as he closed his bag, the woman panted for a few seconds

"I was wondering... is the resident, Mrs. Lovat was still there?" She asked, pointing her finger towards pink palace

The Mailman sighed relief and nodded "Well if you're looking for her, you're in the right place! She usually sat outside her home...my that old lady talks a lot for her age!" He chuckled

Coraline smiled "Thank you for your assistance good sir.."

"Ahhhh...no problem Ma'am! Pleasure meeting you.." The mailman slightly raised his hat when a sudden gush of rainfall and strong wind made him clutch his bag tightly as Coraline struggled to grip her umbrella, the rain began to fell heavy for both of them

"I should go ahead, these letters won't deliver on it's own! Plus, I don't want them to get wet!" The mailmain exclaimed and he quickly ran in panic, he never got to hear her say Goodbye

"Oh God...oh well..hope he finds a shade.." she replied as watched him running away, the heavy rain made her to see more difficult than before, she groaned and head towards the pink palace again and saw how muddy the pathway is, causing to roll her eyes

"Why did I forget about the mud...I should have ask Mr. Greg to carry me all the way here! geez..." even though complaining won't help her, she carefully stepped on the visible rocks on the way..

It's better than to step on the mud afterall...

But the thick rain is blocking her sight

That is when, her luck arrived...

A bright light suddenly flashed, averted her eyes, it almost lose her vision, she squinted and heared a honking sound, she tried to open them again but too late....

A large truck was approaching closer to her

Her legs froze and threw her umbrella in the air

She screamed...