ParaNormaline

Chapter 8: As Darkness Falls

--General POV--

The Witch crossed her arms angrily, rolling her eyes. "And it was going so well..." she moaned in disappointment. She shrugged, no longer caring, and turned to the Other Mother. "They're on their way here, though it might take awhile for them to arrive." She explained. "We'll bring them here once they're ripe for the picking." The Other Mother smirked. "After all, I created this world, which means they get here when we decide." "True... But it'll get quite boring if they just walk on and on..." the Witch answered, thinking. "Don't worry." The Other Mother assured. "I know just the person to liven things up a little..."

--Coraline's POV--

Coraline shot straight up, her fingers digging into her sides. She looked over at Norman, who was still sleeping soundly. They had decided to take a break from walking so they could rest for awhile and save their strength and relax. Though Coraline didn't really feel relaxed at all. For starters she had no clue where they were heading, and she had a feeling that the Pink Palace was a while away. And to make it worse, she was having nightmares again, which just added to the strain she had from worrying. She was pretty tempted to just walk around for a few minutes so she could calm down, but after what happened at the mansion she wasn't too keen on leaving Norman alone, or going off by herself for that matter. "All I can really do is wait, I guess." She decided, lying back down so she could stare up at the stars. She found herself constantly glancing over at Norman to see if he was waking up or not. Eventually she sighed, telling herself to stop being so impatient. She smiled faintly as she looked back up at the moon, thinking back to when she was looking for the ghost children's eyes and her parents. "Just when I started to think I had gotten rid of the Other Mother for good..." she mumbled. She looked over at Norman again, who seemed to stir for a moment, though he still wasn't waking up. "Now she's after both of us..." Coraline continued sadly. She froze as she heard something rustle in the bushes and looked over nervously to see what it was. "Norman... Wake up..." she looked over at him, praying he heard her, but he hadn't reacted at all. "Norman..." she repeated, coming over and shaking him lightly. Still nothing. "Norman!" she repeated his name a little louder this time and she shook him harder. She groaned when all he did was snore. "You are seriously out of it..." she mumbled in annoyance. Suddenly she felt something hit her in the back and she tumbled forward, landing right on Norman. They both screamed out in panic, unsure of what had just happened. After a moment Norman just stared at her in confusion and shock. "What're you doing?" he asked, sounding a little nervous. Coraline raised an eyebrow, but after a moment her eyes widened as she realized the position they were in. "I-I fell!" she told him quickly, getting up as blush rushed to her cheeks. "I meant before that, but that'll do." he decided, sitting up. "Oh. Right." She answered, blushing even more. "It's fine, I don't mind." He assured, getting up. After a moment of thinking he blushed as well. "I-I mean-" "I know what you mean, don't worry." Coraline giggled.

Suddenly they heard the bushes rustle again and froze. "What was that?" Norman asked, looking around. "That's what I was trying to find out." Coraline answered. She froze when she felt something wrap around her foot. She screamed out as she was suddenly pulled down and started being dragged away. "CORALINE!" Norman quickly dived forward and grabbed her hand, not allowing her to be taken any further. She glanced back in worry to see a shadow with red eyes tugging on her leg, trying to get her to come. She looked back at Norman, who was struggling to keep her hand in his grasp. Whatever this shadow was, it was strong. Coraline gasped as she saw something come up behind Norman. It looked like the shadow, but it was shaped like Norman. "Look out!" she yelled quickly. Before he could react the shadow-Norman hit him on the back of the head, knocking him out cold. Coraline felt her hand slip out of his grip and she screamed as she was pulled into the bushes. Coraline kicked and struggled as much as she could to escape the shadows grasp, but nothing worked. "LET ME GO!!! NORMAN!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "No one can hear you..." the shadow hissed at her as he rushed through the trees, away from where Coraline and Norman had been resting. "He's going to come back for me. You'll be sorry you messed with us, just you wait!" she snapped at it. "Correction, my dear..." it replied, slamming her hard against one of the trees and holding her in place with one of its clawed hands. "He'll be sorry he messed with you..." it took its other hand brought it towards her as it started to glow. "What're you- HELP!!!" she screamed out, shutting her eyes tight. No one was coming, and she had a bad feeling this was going to hurt.