Exploring gone wrong.

[twitchy_witchy]

A young girl tumbles out of the plot hole at a run, slamming the closet door behind her hard. She turns, panting, to lock it and makes a small, frightened sound when she realizes she cannot. This is not the door it was supposed to be and she is not where she meant to be

Comments

[illgotten]

"Easy, easy." Mordred, just reaching the foot of the stairs, puts out a hand. "You all right?"

[twitchy_witchy]

Coraline eyes Mordred suspiciously. She isn't supposed to talk to strangers, and she's had too many tricks played on her already. But he looks like he's from her world, with real eyes instead of black buttons, so she says, "No. I want to go home, and I don't know what she's done with mummy and daddy and the other children, and I don't know where I am."

[illgotten]

"Oh, Lord." He runs a hand through his hair. "All right. Where you are's not where you were a minute ago. I don't know who 'she' is, but I rather think she hasn't followed you here, and if she has, there's more of us than there are of her."

Little smile. "And going home's a bit tricky, but I'm told it can be done."

[twitchy_witchy]

"She's the other mother," says Coraline, as if that should explain everything. "And I'm very glad if she's not following me, but that doesn't explain where everyone else is, and it's no good going home without them."

[patriciamydear]

Donleavy is not the comforting, nurturing sort. The following response is as reassuring as she gets.

"Life rarely plays fair, my dear. Might I ask where you are headed?"

[twitchy_witchy]

"I don't know, do I? I was going home, but then I was here instead." Coraline watches Donleavy carefully, as if she might turn into something else without a moment's notice.

[patriciamydear]

Donleavy doesn't turn into something else, but she does shrug and give her surroundings a withering glance.

"We are all "here instead," Miss. I'm not quite sure why or how it all works, but....voila."

[twitchy_witchy]

"Did the other mother do it?" Coraline asks, trying very hard not to sound frightened.

[eyrienprince]

Lucivar turns around and stares at Coraline as though she's quite mad, which is something coming from a very tall and scary winged man. He spreads said wings to half their span and frowns slightly. "Played fair? Who's playing games?"

Lucivar doesn't like games, and he likes games even less when they involve young girls. It makes him nervous.

[twitchy_witchy]

"The other mother," Coraline says. "Who are you?"

He doesn't look like one of the other mother's creations, but there's no way to be sure.

[eyrienprince]

A blink, unsure if he heard her right. "The other mother?" He frowns slightly, narrowing his eyes. "I'm Lucivar. What do you mean by the other mother?"

[twitchy_witchy]

Coraline shrugs. "She's like my mother, but different. Or I thought she was. They aren't much alike at all. The other children called her the beldam."

[ebonyjaenelle72]

Jaenelle takes one look at Coraline and goes on the offensive, her eyes darkening to a deep sapphire and a hint of the inhumanity of Witch touching her face. "Someone is chasing you," she says in a soft and deadly voice. She glides toward the door. "It won't touch you here."

[twitchy_witchy]

Coraline has been doing her best to stay brave, and Jaenelle doesn't look like one of the other mother's things, but things are getting to be a bit much. "Who are you?" she asks, in a very small voice. "And where are mummy and daddy?"

[ebonyjaenelle72]

Jaenelle changes, her eyes softening to a lighter blue, her shoulders relaxing and turning to Coraline, looking worried. "My name's Jaenelle Angelline. I'm afraid you're a little lost." She bites her lip slightly. "But...they might be here, I suppose." She looks younger, now that she's not quite so menacing, and probably friendlier, with a sweet, open face.

[twitchy_witchy]

"It's very nice to meet you. My name is Coraline Jones," says Coraline. She may be frightened, but she remembers her manners. "I need to find the other children, too. And the cat. I have to tell him I'm sorry for throwing him."

[twice_tainted]

"What did you win?" a young woman asks in accented English. She does not seem glib. "And what are you trying to keep out?"

[twitchy_witchy]

"I won the exploring game," Coraline says. "So I was going home, but the other mother wouldn't let us go, and now I don't know where mummy or daddy are, or the other children, or the cat." She pulls her dressing gown tight around her. "Who are you?"

It's reassuring to see someone without black button eyes, but the other mother is tricky, and Coraline doesn't dare trust her yet.

[twice_tainted]

"My name is Helen Rossi. I cannot be certain, but given what I've observed, it is unlikely that anyone could follow you on purpose through that door. It most often leads to a broom closet."

[twitchy_witchy]

"And the door to the empty flat most often leads to a brick wall, but it took me to the other mother last time."