8Disclaimer: I do not own the Coraline book or movie. The only things I own are my OCs and my love for both
In a dimly lit room there sat a woman with a monstrous appearance. She was tall, tall enough that even when she was hunched over, she towered over a grown man. Her flesh was a ghostly white and appeared to be made of cracked porcelain. She was so slim that at first glance one would confuse her for a giant skeleton. On her thin and pointed head was a greasy mop of jet black hair, cut into a jagged bob. Her lips were thin and coated by a jet black lipstick. For eyes, she had shiny black buttons, stitched into place. Instead of two human legs, four spider-like legs were in their place. And her hands were made of needles, but one was missing.
This is what no ordinary woman, this was the Beldam. A monstrosity who deceived and lured innocent children into her dreamlike web, and devoured their souls. Leaving only ghostly husks of them.
This Beldam was hunched over her sewing station, her back curved like a sickle; sewing pieces of flesh-colored fabric together.
For the past twenty-eight years, she has been sitting in her tiny world, slowly starving. She had been hoping for another child to move into the Pink Palace. But her hope had long faded away, for the Jones still lived in the apartment; and the key to the little door that led to her world was at the bottom of a well with her missing right hand.
The thought of how the key and how it got there made the Beldam boil in rage. Twenty-eight years ago a young blue-haired child named Coraline Jones, took everything away from her.
As she gazed at her collection of buttons, pondering which pair to use, her thoughts trailed to Coraline and how she is a grown adult now. The thought put a scowl on her face.
For twenty-eight years, she sent her rats out into the world beyond the little door to bring the key back to her. All never have returned.
The Beldam then selected new fabrics from her rack: black denim, bright purple wool, grey leather, and white cotton and lace.
Her mind then wandered back to Coraline. She wondered if she still had blue hair or she was married now or what career she had. All those ideas and questions made her hands shake and her eyes narrow.
She then brushed her metal fingers against an array of different colored yarn; stopping at a spool of thick dark brown yarn.
The Beldam began to sew fabrics together, thread yarn carefully, and stitch the buttons into place. When she was done, she held up her creation. It was a small doll of a little girl with a head of dark brown hair styled into a half-up ponytail, light brown skin, and big black buttons for eyes. The doll was dressed in black jeans, a white blouse, grey boots, and a bright purple coat.
As she inspected the doll, she noticed that this new doll had held a strong resemblance to another doll she made years ago, twenty-eight years ago. A doll with blue hair that wore a yellow raincoat.
This thought instead put a smile, a wicked smile on her face. If this doll looked like Coraline's doll, then maybe, just maybe she had a chance.
She snapped her thin metal fingers and a large grey rat crawled out from a dark corner of the room.
"Take this doll and hide it in the apartment. Anywhere you like, but make it easy for a child to find, but not to easy for her to find," she ordered.
She bent down even further and tied the doll to the rat's back. The rat scurried back off into the darkness of the room.
If her theory was correct then this new doll would belong to the daughter of the girl now woman she despised. With any luck, she could take this new child and have her revenge. But for now, she could only hope.
