"Wybie," the young, fifteen-year old girl moans out, tearing through the deafening silence of her bedroom - dark and empty it was. The only clear thing she could make out within the darkness was the piercing blue eyes of Wybie's cat that lied near the doorway, watching them with quiet, knowing eyes.

The home was empty, her parents had been gone for majority of the evening for work-related ventures and wouldn't be back until later on that night.

Coraline, as she always did whenever her parents weren't home (which was often) invited Wybie over, mostly because she'd grown to enjoy and appreciate his company over the years and also because she was lonely. Wybie provided as an excellent source of escapism, a pleasant distraction from her nauseating thoughts and disturbing memories that she would do practically anything at this point to rid herself of.

The alcohol she would sneak from her parent's stash would sometimes help, she would feel a peculiar lightness afterwards, vertigo, and her mind would fog up in the temporary absence of her memories. It was a nice feeling, she could admit, but Wybie was better. She always preferred him over the alcohol and pretty much whatever else she did to distract herself from overthinking.

Two years had passed since the incident and Wybie and she had grown rather close since then. He was the only that knew of what happened to her, about The Other Mother, The Other Wybie, The Ghost Children - with the exception of The Cat, who could mysteriously talk in The Other World, but was unable to in this one, or he simply chose not to. Coraline wasn't 100% sure.

"...Wybie," she breathes, shakily of course. "Wybie, don't stop..."

Her fingers tangle in his curls, soft and thick they were, and she tugs at them as she lets out a soft sigh in response to the warmness she feels at the pit of her belly and the pleasant tingles between her legs in response to the sensations of Wybie's tongue.

Wybie's touches brought a sense of comfort and security she could feel with no one else in her life - nowhere else - not even inside the alcohol bottle or from the pocket knife she began to carry around not long after the nightmares began.

Coraline took great pleasure in the feeling the sharp blade brought her as it pressed into the skin of her wrists, deeply, until it broke skin and all she saw was red - lots of it - and immense relief would wash over her as a result. It was a nasty habit she'd picked up after the nightmares became too much and she sought immediate relief that alcohol could not provide her.

Coraline could have turned to her parents for help, but in the end, she decided against it. She didn't want her parents to think she was crazy and she feared they would send her away. Wybie was the only one that knew of the inner demons she was battling - about the nightmares, cutting and alcohol and of course he was beyond concerned. She made him promise he would not tell a soul, but only if she promised to stop.

She stayed true to that promise for as long as she possibly could, before she succumb to her desires yet again, triggered by her nightmares that would not go away no matter how much she willed them to. Coraline had once went a total of two days without sleep before she could no longer fight the heaviness of her eyelids and the exhaustion of her body, beckoning her for rest.

For a while, her dreams were blank and empty, and for the first time, she could finally rest somewhat peacefully.

However, the peacefulness did not last very long and eventually, the night terrors returned and she was back to practically drowning herself in alcohol and donning long-sleeved shirts to hide the marks and bruises on her skin from her own doing.

It was unfortunate that her nightmares weren't based on a false reality (she would have preferred if they were), but consisted of the memories she tried on a daily basis to forget, replaying over and over again like a broken record, until she would awaken (usually in the middle of the night), sweaty and breathless, staring wide eyed into the darkness of her room with the exception of the moonlit sky peaking in through her blinds, giving her room a slight eerie glow and it only emphasized her loneliness and lack of protection, which is what prompted her to get the pocket knife in the first place.

She snuck it from Mr. Bobinsky once while delivering his mail that had yet again gotten mixed up. She pretended to inquire about advice on a school project and when the older man wasn't looking, she snatched it off of his coffee table. He never noticed it went missing, much to her relief and no one was the wiser.

Her nightmares consisted of a multitude of things. Sometimes, they would consist of her abandoning The Other Wybie, leaving him for dead, never to be seen or heard from again - destroyed by The Other Mother.

Or, they would consist of The Other Mother succeeding in her depraved plans and Coraline never making it back, never being able to see her parents again, or Wybie, and she would allow The Other Mother to sow buttons in her eyes and she'd end up lost forever, her wretched soul detaching from her body, and she would be trapped inside The Other World that she once believed was a utopia, but in reality, a far more sinister place than she could have ever imagined, controlled and orchestrated by malevolent forces with the intent to deceive and manipulate and lead sad, vulnerable and lonely kids like her astray and into believing The Other World was everything their current reality wasn't.

Coraline didn't like to ponder on what would've become of her had The Other Mother came out on top and the kind of life (or lack thereof) she would be subjected to as a result. It was only the worst case scenarios that would come to mind when she would allow her mind to wonder off like that.

"Wybie," she whimpers, the familiar pressure building in her lower abdomen as the pads of his fingers press into her thighs that were spread apart to accommodate his body between them.

And then, her nightmares would consist of The Other Mother.

Black button eyes gleaming down at her as long, sharp claws press against her naked flesh, dragging against the soft skin of her legs.

Coraline had no idea how she had gotten this way, how she ended up stripped of her pajamas with a dark, frighteningly thin being hovering over her with a malevolent smile and an overall malign deposition. It was The Other Mother, but she did not appear the way Coraline had grown accustomed to seeing her. She was bony, tall, sinister, and the delightful disposition was gone. Whatever she was now, Coraline knew it was evil and wasn't her mother. It was something else, something she had never seen before in her life, and it frightened Coraline to death.

Coraline tried to resist, to fight her off, to scream, but her tongue feels three sizes too big and her throat felt dry. Her limbs are rendered too weak and they feel like weights, too heavy to move, much less lift and use them to defend herself.

"Do not be frightened Coraline, I won't hurt you. Quite the opposite actually."

The voice smirks, in a tone that sounded like a replica of her mother's and Coraline was not in the least bit comforted by those words or the familiar tone of voice.

She cannot speak, no matter how much she tries to, the words do not come out. She doesn't even move or show any signs that she was in discomfort, even if she was.

For some reason, her body is not her own and they do not respond to her silent commands to move, to yell, or to repel.

And to this day, Coraline recognizes it was her lack of action that would haunt her, torment her and keep her up at night. It was the source of her self-loathing and inability to ever forgive herself for something she had no control over. After all, she had only been thirteen. But by that same token, if she could defeat something as dangerous and evil to her well-being and others as The Other Mother, why was she unable to do much of anything that night? Why had she been so weak and helpless? It made absolutely no sense to her at all, even to this day.

Cold, soft lips meet hers, further silencing her and razor sharp claws trace her thighs, inching closer and closer to its destination. They hook around the elastic band of her underwear, dragging them down her legs with ease.

"Oh! Look how beautiful you are Coraline, just for mommy."

Tears well up in her eyes when she feels cool fingers touch her (contrasting greatly from the claws she felt only moments earlier), down between her legs, in a place she'd never been touched before, caressing her rather gently, and Coraline wants to scream, but of course, she does not. The only thing she does is remain paralyzed, frozen, and powerless.

She tries to focus on something other than the dark figure hovering above her with the skeletal frame and gaunt face and it is only then that she realizes she is not in her room, but the decorated room in The Other World. The various stuffed animals stare at her, tauntingly, and a single tear falls from her lashes, splashing down onto her cheek, even as something pleasant tingles between her legs.

Whatever was being done to her did not hurt, it felt good, but Coraline did not want it, did not want this, not in this manner, not when she was this frightened and not with The Other Mother or whomever it was peering down at her with dark excitement.

Sharp claws trace against her jawline and thread through her hair, tugging at the short blue tresses rather harshly.

"Do not resist Coraline, do not fight it. Let it consume you dear, allow it to overtake the very essence of your being."

Unpleasant chills rush down her spine at the words whispered in her ear and almost instantaneously, the movements of the fingers down between her legs increase in speed, evoking a small, incoherent noise from her throat.

"You like the way this feels, don't you Coraline?"

The voice purrs in her ear and Coraline wanted to lie and say she hated the feeling, but truthfully, she did not hate it, she enjoyed it - or maybe she thought she did, maybe she'd convinced herself that she did in order to suspend her disbelief of what was taking place, without her permission.

"All you have to say is no and it'll end, but you won't, because you love it, don't you Coraline?"

And she can't say those two measly letters that could put an end to this and she'll never forgive herself for being unable to get it out.

Maybe she'd done it purposely, maybe she didn't want the pleasure between her legs to end, maybe The Other Mother sensed that she'd wanted this all along, just as she'd known she'd desired a different pair of parents, ones that were less neglectful and more loving and attentive.

Coraline would never know what was wrong with herself that night, all she would remember was her lack of action to stop it, the swiftness of the fingers caressing her, and how it wasn't long before Coraline was suddenly filled with immense pleasure and relief, with something wet spurting out of her as a result.

"There we are..."

The voice near her ear hums in satisfaction.

Coraline felt exhausted afterwards, sleepy and a little delirious.

The fingers disappear from between her legs. She blinks and she's alone, fully clad in her pajamas, tucked underneath the thick comforter atop of her bed, as if what had just occurred did not occur at all. Coraine was too exhausted to further speculate what had just taken place (or what she thought had taken place) instead, she's succumbing to her sleepiness, into a dreamless state and awakening the next morning in her own room, in her own bed, like always.

Coraline, for the longest time, had difficulty coming to terms with what exactly transpired that night and if it even happened in the first place.

Perhaps, she had simply conjured it up. As disturbing as that would have been, it wouldn't have been the craziest thing she's done or experienced.

However, what always kept her from believing it was a false memory conjured up in her mind was that it was much too vivid, and knowing what she knows now, she does not doubt that it was real, no matter how much she did not want it to be, and she found comfort in believing it was a figment of her imagination over the years because she would not have to reconcile with the fact that she did nothing to stop it - only lied there like a statue. How pathetic was that?

"Oh."

It hits her like tidal waves and she finds herself tugging at the soft curls as she arches her back, eyes closing and lips parting as she lets out an audible cry of pleasure.

It's quiet now, with the exception of her heavy breathing as she lies against her mattress, half-naked, as her chest heaves up and down, gazing up at her ceiling, exasperatedly.

"...Okay?" Wybie asks, minutes later, blinking up at her from his position down between her legs with those wide brown eyes of his, slightly covered by his messy curls from her constant tugs and pulls.

"You bet." Coraline replies with a smile, tugging at his wrist. "C'mere..."

He crawls on top of her, careful not to crush her with his weight and she pulls him down for a kiss, which he gladly accepts.

Wybie knew about most of her secrets, if not all, except that particular incident with The Other Mother. Coraline didn't know why she had told him practically everything but that. If he believes her when she told him about the The Other World, The Other Mother, The Other Father and The Ghost Children, why would she think he would suddenly disregard her if she informed him that she'd been molested by a malevolent being such as The Other Mother in her true form?

"...What are we?" Wybie asks, interrupting her reverie of thoughts, minutes after they pull away from their impassioned kiss, mostly due to lack of oxygen. He lies beside her now, running his fingers down the side of her face. "We've been carrying on like this for a couple months now and yet, we haven't even clarified whether we are an item or not."

She turns to look at him, utterly astonished.

"Are you... are you saying you want a relationship with me?"

"I... sort of thought we've already had one going, just never properly addressed it." Wybie's wide brown eyes widen in embarrassment. "Or was I wrong to assume that? Some people at school asked if we were together and I told them we were."

"No, no, you aren't wrong at all." Coraline quickly reassures. "The only reason I didn't want to put a label on it is because I didn't want to ruin what we had going... It's nice."

"Yeah?"

"Of course, why do you think I keep coming back for more?"

"Because I give such amazing, mind-blowing head that you're unable to find anywhere else?"

"That too," Coraline giggles. "But it's not only that. The sex is like no other, no doubt, but what I have with you goes beyond that. You know things about me that I could never tell anyone else, not even my parents. You accept parts of me that I still have trouble accepting myself. I'm not perfect - not by a long shot - but you accept me anyway. You actually care about whether I live or die."

"Of course I care. Don't for one second think that I don't Coraline Jones."

Coraline feels something warm and fuzzy in her belly in response to Wybie's words. She knew he meant them, just by earnest glint in his eyes as they gazed at her through the darkness that surrounded them.

He moves his hand up from her stroking her face and begins to stroke her hair instead, twirling one of the bright blue strands around his finger, and leans into kiss her.

She wraps her arms around his neck and eventually crawls on top of him, straddling his hips, feeling one of Wybie's calloused hands slip underneath her shirt, sliding the palm up against the length of her spine, pressing the cool pads of his fingers into her skin.

Coraline runs her fingers through his hair, addicted to the softness of his curls, tugging at the large ringlets, and the way they felt against her fingers as they dug into his scalp.

"...I love you," Wybie blurts out once she pulls away, taking her completely by surprise. "...I love you Coraline."

When he's met with silence, Wybie immediately begins to visibly panic, which Coraline of course found geeky, but adorable nonetheless.

"I mean I... I didn't mean to say that out loud. I'm sorry. I-"

"I love you too."

"What?"

"I said that I love you too Wybie. I love you too."

"Really? You... you really mean it Cory?"

Coraline grins at the nickname and nods her response because it's true. She did love Wybie. He'd been the best thing about moving here, the only positivity that came from moving here. Coraline was sure that Wybie was her soulmate. Although she had only been fifteen, she honestly could not see herself opening up to anyone else the way she has with Wybie. Anyone else, she was sure, would blow her off and write her off as crazy - just as Wybie initially did before he'd almost fallen down that seemingly bottomless water well where they'd met for the very first time.

That had been two years ago and Coraline could not believe how things had turned out - both positively and negatively. If someone were to pull her to the side and tell her everything that would take place in her life, including her discovering a trap door that led to another universe where another, seemingly perfect family existed or that she would end up intimately involved with the curly haired boy she'd once referred to as a "stalking psycho nerd," she would have laughed right in their face and asked them what they were smoking.

But, if she had learned anything from what she had gone through in the past two years was to expect the unexpected and that nothing was impossible, no matter how outlandish it may seem.

"Yeah... yeah I really do."

"Wow..." Wybie breathes out, utterly amazed.

Just then, Wybie's cat jumps onto the bed, meowing and pawing at Wybie's shoulder.

"Meow."

Suddenly, a door slams shut downstairs and voices echo throughout the large home. Coraline gasps and hops off of Wybie, in search for her jeans that had been discarded half an hour ago.

"My parents, they're back. You have to go!"

Wybie is already up, slipping on his coat and scooping up his cat.

"I'll sneak you out the back. Come on." She whispers, tugging on his hand and cautiously leading him out of her room.

Somehow, they're able to dodge her parents that were engulfed in a discussion about her father's boss being a jackass and they don't even realize Coraline sneaking past them with their backs turned and ushering the curly haired boy out the back, undetected.

One of the few perks of having less than attentive parents.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Wybie asks, turning to face her before he leaves with his cat in tow.

"Yeah, 7:00 AM - on the dot?"

"Ditto," Wybie grins, before leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. "I love you."

Coraline doesn't believe she will ever grow tired of hearing those words, especially from him.

"I love you too," she blushes. "Now go on, before we end up getting caught."

"Copy that." Wybie smiles, before he is gone, skipping off into the darkness until he disappears from her line of vision.

She makes it back up to her room before anyone can be the wiser and spends the rest of the night thinking of Wybie. A part of her dreads when she has to sleep again, in fear of encountering her night terrors yet again.

But, to her surprise, Wybie appears in her dreams that night and she finds that, for the first time, she has no desire to awaken again.