The Abysmal Pit (Part Two)

{ Picture credits; https://stock.adobe.com/de/search?k=giant+fantasy+tree }

III.

"They´ve gone camping for the weekend, so it´s just the two of us. Honestly, dear, at first I was a bit surprised because I thought I´ll get to hang out with your father´s cousin, too, but then I figured this is a great opportunity for the two of us to get to know each other better. I feel like I´m slowly losing the right to call myself a mother, I see you so little..."

Coraline´s mother was talking while moving things around the kitchen; plates, vases, photos in expensive frames... Coraline was stared at her blankly. She never saw her like this. Not sentimental, that wasn´t the thinng, but in this way. Without any layer of pretense. Her soul was completely naked in front of Coraline´s all-seeing eyes. She saw her grief and knew she was the one who caused it, but her mother didn´t regret having Coraline, but not knowing who Coraline truly was. There was passion, much unused passion and too much stress. There was self-doubt beneath it all which Coraline didn´t think her sedated mother was capable of feeling. It almost reminded her of her own struggles.

"Mom", Coraline stopped her. Woman´s face was sweaty and red, another proof of her nervousness. "It´s great we´re alone", she meant it, but was also scared of spending time with someone who hid so many emotions until... well, now. "We can... meet each other. As you said."

Her mother was relieved. She hugged Coraline. When did she last time do that? Years ago.

Her mother´s emotional changes continued to strike her throughout the rest of the Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes it was so hard she had to pause and calm herself. It was like an explosion inside her head; BOOM! TIME FOR LOVE/REGRET/HATE/DOUBT! And feelings weren´t even the worst part of it all. They were striking, but something else was like an atomic bomb exploding. Coraline felt her mother´s thoughts which often opposed what she said out loud. They came in colours and mixed or wrapped in membranes made of emotions, representing her mother´s true stand.

"You cooked this well, Coraline!" She hates it, red colour, disapointment.

"I wish your father would go out more often!" Not really, she´s doing her best, but she knows she has no control and makes her stressed out.

"If only you didn´t have school and I was free of work for a few days!" Actually, she can´t wait to go to bank and do what she´s good at, blue color, comfort; it´s almost over.

Weekend finished with the two of them sitting on the porch and looking at sky. Coraline went to bed early, ignoring her mother´s "This was a lovely weekend!" for she knew it was hard for both of them. Still, she survived, and it wasn´t untrue she and her mother got to connect. She saw her in a new light, free of disguise and in a motherly edition, while her mother reassured herself that she still has a daughter. It was a step forward.

At last, Coraline could lay in her bed and be alone, without other people´s thoughts harassing her...

Blissful loneliness didn´t last long.

Monday. School.

She crashed during first lesson.

While her English teacher was speaking about Shakespeare, Coraline constantly mistook his words for slices of thoughts which went through the mental wall she lifted around herself. Teacher was thinking about Marion´s legs and plotting how to make her stand up so that he could have a look at her whole body. In the same time, thoughts from all over the classroom traveled toward Coraline and fought to break her protection.

As soon as class was dismissed, she run to the toilet and locked herself inside one of the cabinets. Voices and colours in her head slowly diminished... But she was still inside the school, still trapped with five hundred souls full of secrets and hidden attitudes ready to erupt...

The door opened. Steps stopped in front of Coraline´s room. She felt them, again, thoughts coming to attack her... but these thoughts weren´t violent. They relaxed her.

"Coraline, are you here?" It was Madeline! "You looked bad and run off, so I came to check how are you feeling... Is everything OK?"

She took a deep breath. She remembered Madeline´s silhouette from the pit. Her honest, but scared soul, good intentions and friendly manners which made her different from her companions.

"I´m...a bit sick..."

"Do you want me to tell the teacher you wanna go home?"

"No.” Leone could be at home. She was frightened of meeting him. After all, he stood next to the pit and jumped before Coraline. He must know what happened there. Something must have changed.

Before entering the pit, Coraline noticed people´s behaviour and studied it in details. She was good in determining what was hidden behind fake politeness and listened to learn more about her subjects of interest. However, now she didn´t even need to blink to know all about people. Their personalities, opinions, fears, talents; like strings they reached for he. No way of stopping them.

She opened the door and stepped in front of Madeline.

"Geez, you don´t look so well", Madeline sounded worried. "We should call your parents."

"No!" That wasn´t an option. "I don´t want to alarm them..." Lucky for her, Madeline couldn´t see her hidden feelings and thoughts. "I´m just a bit dizzy, that´s all. Go on, Madeline, you don´t want to be late to class because of me..."

Surprisingly, Madeline´s hand lowered on Coraline´s shoulder. Comforting sensation passed through Coraline´s body. It was good, yet so strange. She wanted Madeline to stay by her side forever and fill her up with calming energy. She cares, she actually cares about my welfare. To Hell with those bullies which I mistake for my friends! Anger. She wants to escape from them. And she wants to skip class, she´s never done it, she´s curious to see her parents´ faces when they see little dark spot on her record, she, a rebel for one day, she who wants one true friend...

"We could stay behind school...", Coraline suggested, knowing that´s exactly what Madeline wishes for. Kids hid there when they wanted to skip gym class.

"Really?" Her eyes widened. "Skip class?" Then smile spread across her face. "Awesome."

Coraline leaned against uncomfortable red bricks, back of her shirt was soon covered in orange stains, but she didn´t mind it. With all students besides them inside the building, she could finally try to relax.

"Have you eaten something bad?", Madeline asked. Her comforting, kind spirit healed Coraline´s bruised mind, but it wasn´t enought to recover her damaged nerves.

"No, it´s just this... thing I...", although she heard other people´s thoughts, she found it extremely hard to form her own. "I have, this, this..."

"Condition? Are you sick? Do teachers know? We should have told someone, you might need to go to the hospital..."

Coraline grabbed her hand. Her eyes reflexively opened as she spoke clearly: "No one must know. Promise?"

Surprised and scared, Madeline agreed to keep it a secret, but, with little determination which remained after being repressed, she demanded an explanation. Coraline could tell that even if Madeline couldn´t see through people´s masks like her, she´d know if she was lied to.

"On Saturday, I was in the forest..." So she told her about Leon, the pit, silhouettes and her early technique of understanding the truth behind lies people presented in public, she described her weekend with mom (spilling flour because mother´s nervousness disrupted her senses, struggling to hear her words when her thoughts flew like bullets...) and continued onto how hard it´s been to pretend to be all right at school while she was in pain. "Now I just want it to stop, I can´t..."

"Wait", Madeline stopped her. Coraline figured she´d been talking for quite some time. "You say you can see what I really think, you can read my mind?"

"Not really, but your thoughts come to me... I can´t explain it if you haven´t experienced it. I feel emotions and I see them in different colours, your changes in mood come to me like stimulus, I can tell when you are pretending or lying because your outer expression doesn´t match what is on the inside..." Madeline didn´t believe her, she could sense that, so she decided to prove it. "I know why you skipped class with me. Your biggest desire is to prove your so-called friends and family that they don´t really know you. You hate classmates who surround you and you want them to be shocked by your actions. Right now, you are surprised because all I said is true and you are starting to admire my talent, but you are also unsure about what to think about it. Since you are naturally good-hearted, you also send me vibes of worry because you feel obliged to protect me..." Losing her breath, Coraline had to stop speaking.

It took Madeline a few moments to steady herself. When she did, she turned to Coraline and declared: "We must go to your house and find that guy... Leon."

Coraline shivered. His grin, his all-knowing eyes...

"He has answers", Madeline said. "You are hurting, Coraline, and there are no pain killers to ease your suffering. Leon is our only trace."

"Fine", Coraline saw her point. Besides, she was touched by Madeline´d dedication to her. She has never been nice to her while Madeline tried to get to know her. To tell the truth, Coraline was scared of Madeline will run away and call someone else to deal with her crazy classmate. Instead, she stayed by her side and was more than willing to help her.

"Let´s go", Coraline stood up, pretending to feel more energized than she really did.

IV.

"It´s really amazing once you get used to it", Coraline spoke as they walked towards their neighborhood. "Seeing through everybody´s lies. Identities are build on them. I´ve never seen anyone who wasn´t at least a bit fake. You know, if for nothing else, then for getting a job or..."

Madeline stopped her before she stepped on a road full of fast-driving cars. Coraline almost stumbled, but managed to keep her balance.

"I guess that´s how it all works", Madeline said after danger was gone and they crossed the road safely. "Nobody likes complete truth. I mean, you can have tons of qualities, but one dark spot marks you as bad. You are not likely to reveal that dark spot to the world, are you? So you rather hide it..."

"Yeah, but there are dark spots which aren´t really dark." Seeing that she confused her companion, she used all of her ability to form her own explanation. "Imagine you are in a group of friends where nobody likes pink colour except you. It´s nothing horrible, you are allowed to have your own opinion, but you don´t want them to know about it because they´d make fun of you. So you lie and tell them your favorite colour is blue. Eventually, even you start believing that´s true. You either suffer on the inside for not being yourself or you change."

Madeline let out a sigh. "I understand that much too well."

Coraline felt pit for her new friend- friend? Is that what she is to me now?-and tapped her on the shoulder. "You are too good for any of them. They are the ones who should hide from your good heart."

Madeline looked at her appreciatively. "Thank you. I wish we´d met before."

Coraline felt her heart skip a beat, then a warm sensation spread throughout her body.

Coraline´s place seemed empty. Madeline suggested they search it separately, but Coraline rejected it. She could almost smell evil foreboding. But the house really was empty. Her parents were supposed to be at work, but where was Leon?

"It´s useless", she started saying, "he might have already left for all we kno..."

Madeline was standing in the corridor leading to the exit. She looked stricken with fright, motionless like a statue with hands slightly lifted and stiffed in a grabbing movement. Her lips shivered and eyes never blinked.

The door opened. A dark silhouette entered the house, reminding Coraline of faceless people she saw in the pit. Pain burned between her eyes as if a sharp knife cut her from the inside. She fought the pain to keep her eyes opened as the figure approached.

It was Leon. Expressionless face revealed nothing of his intentions. Coraline stepped back, but her legs were shaking. She might have fallen if she hadn´t took hold of the wall.

Then the pain dispersed and she could see normally once more.

"Hello", Leon spoke. This was the first time she heard his real voice. Nothing special about it, but it sent chills down her spine anyway. "Thank you for coming, though I knew you would."

"Are you doing this to her?", she asked indicating her new friend. "If you hurt her, I´ll..." What? What could she do to him?

Leon´s face never changed. "She is not being hurt. I have stopped her so that we could have a private conversation. It might not seem like that, but the girl is in a state almost same as sleep. Unaware of her environment, yet consciouss of existence..."

"Who are you?", Coraline wanted to know, "Because I don´t think you´re my father´s cousin. And what do you want from me? Why have you taken me to that place..."

"You´re wrong. You took yourself to the pit, I simply showed you the way. And you are also wrong when you say we are not related. I truly am your father´s cousin, but not the one he presented me to be. In fact, I barely know your parents. We met once, when you were born. I´ve been waiting for you to mature ever since."

"Why?" Her eyes searched for some kind of weapon, but there was nothing she could use to defend herself.

"Because you got the gift", there was big amount of respect in his proclamation, "you know what I mean. You see what others can´t. You see who people truly are, no matter what they pretend to be. I came to collect you. To teach you how to use your powers." He made a move as if to come closer. Coraline pulled back and waved her hand in warning. She hated how he said he came to collect her. She was a person, not an item waiting to be taken by some weirdo. "Be reasonable. You need my help. Otherwise, how will you learn to do what I just did to this girl?"

"Why the Hell would I want to do such a thing?" Madeline was still in a statue-mode, breathing through sllightly opened mouth.

Leon shrugged his shoulders. "We are blessed, Coraline, so why not use our power? Besides, how will you go through your life without it? It is like a voice to a singer, like brain to a scienist; your only chance to have a comfortable life. You´re no good in school, right? Exactly. Neither was I, or anyone else with our abilities. We can´t concentrate because other peoples´ thoughts, feelings, secrets reach out to us. But there is a way to control it. Human´s will is fragile, and we can make it turn as we wish. We can destroy or change it. With practice, you´ll be able to control every single mind in this world. Everyone shall behave according to your comands."

His face finally changed. Mouth slightly went up in imitation of a smile, eyes shone while he imagined brilliant future.

"You say there are more of us?" Coraline processed what she was told. She was sure of one thing; Leon was insane. Control other people? Sure, it seemed right to turn nazzi into a loving benefactor. It wouldn´t hurt anyone to persuade parents or teachers to loosen the pressure they exerted on her. She could make all the bullies befriend her. She might use their secrets for revenge. Make everything right. Change the world... Until now, she considered herself miserable and useless. All of a sudden, she became supergirl with powers. She could completely change her life... Then she looked at Madeline and Leon once again. Nope, this was still insane. "Where do these powers come from anyway? And what was in that pit?"

"Well", he assumed standing of a teacher, "we don´t really know how we get them, but we have proven we have them in our genes. Little black dots surrounding DNA chains. Only we are able to see them. This makes our powers absolutely secret. When you join us, you won´t be alowed to tell anyone else about them." Coraline fought back the urge to look at Madeline who knew about her powers. "And yes, as you might have noticed from my speaking, there are more of us, and it is likely that this wonderful condition runs in the family. We mostly find new members within our blood-lines, albeit often among distant cousins. You and me are the example. The truth is, mine and your father´s grandmother were cousins. As for the pit", he snapped his fingers, "it is one of our privileges. This place you went to is all around us, another side of the mirror we´re trapped in. The other side of our world where material has no meaning. We have the ability to open the door to this realm wherever we want. Only the most experienced of us can do it. Once you go there, you come back changed, as you noticed. That is, if you are one of us. If you are not gifted like us, you do not come back. You remain there, trapped for all eternity."

Coraline swallowed, perceiving that if her distant cousin had made a mistake, she´d still be in that terrifying place. "What if I don´t go with you?"

Leon shook his head disapprovingly. "That is not a choice, Coraline. If you refuse us, you represent a threat. Anyone who knows about us is a threat. What would happen if the military found out about us? They´d want to use us for wars! Besides, our possibilities would shrunk if we couldn´t operate in secret. People would find a way to hide their true personalities just like we did. You noticed how you can´t read me like others? I have a protection. You´ll get one, too. Just come with me."

Coraline felt cornered. She tried to procrastinate. "What about my parents?"

"They don´t really remember having a child." Coraline flinched. "Now you see what we can do. As I mentioned, human will is fragile. You can convince anyone to believe in anything! Once there are more of us, and we´ve been gathering for decades now, we´ll start working on our great plans. One of us shall rule every country in the world. We´ll bring new laws and stop wars. We´ll make people follow us and support our causes..."

"But what about free will", Coraline was beginning to be generally concerned, "what about human rights?"

"Those who bring upon destruction and lead wars against each other have no rights."

"But masses of innocent people... You´ll turn them into zombies!"

"It´s a small sacrifice for a better future."

Leon remained calm. Coraline wasn´t as good at it as him, but she tried hard not to show her worry. Though he could probably see it growing inside of her. There was no way to hide from this man. The thing was, she didn´t know what to do. If she refused his offer, she would not survive. She was well aware or that. And besides, what Leon was saying made perfect sense. People lost sense long time ago. She knew how human cruelty ate everything in its reach better than anyone else. If they eliminated it, if they forced people to live in peace, to respect each other... But then again, that wasn´t the kind of supergirl she wanted to be.

New life she was offered didn´t seem as attractive anymore.

"Couldn´t you just leave me?", she asked. "Just let me be. I just want a normal life! I´ve been burdened with other people thoughts since I was a kid... I mean, I wonder if my life would´ve been better if I simply saw what others wanted me to see, and not the reality... Like everyone else..."

Leon looked right at her. In a second he was next to her, holding her hand tight. Tears almost welled up in her eyes.

"I´m giving you one more chance to reconsider. Will you join me and my mates in attempt to make this world a better place? Will you let us educate you about your powers, help you use them?"

Coraline bit her tongue. How many others would gladly accept such an offer? How many would jump at it if they had an opportunity?

"Why couldn´t I have gotten a normal loving family, a normal life, friends, good school, fine grades, nice body... why..."

The Sun came through the door and filled house with horrible light. Coraline screamed as it broke into her mind and spread, burning her thoughts, memories, everything...

The bonfire in her mind continued for some time until she was unaware of anything at all. Then it died down and left behind dark nothingness.

IV.

"Good morning!"

Outside, sun was shining. It was a nice and warm day. Children´s voices reached Coraline´s room through the windows. She laughed at them, excited to go out and head off to school. It took her quite a while to choose what to wear. She needed new clothing, something less baggy. When the decisions were finally made, she looked once more in the mirror. "Hello, beautiful", she said in the same tone she wished her reflection good morning.

Downstairs, her parents were just heading off to work. She kissed them both, happy because she caught them before leaving. "We´ll see you at dinner, right? I´ll make those waffles you love so much!"

"Thanks, mum!"

Madeline waited for her. They walked to school together, lost in endless talks about Madeline´s basketball game and Coraline´s shopping plans.

School day passed faster than Coraline expected. She had so much fun between lessons talking to Madeline. She asked Marion, always so pretty, for fashion advice and talked with Thomas about dogs. She considered adopting a pet. That would be nice.

Dinner with her parents was nice as always. They talked, laughed, and watched a movie afterwards.

She went to sleep content, ready for tomorrow´s test.

The only thing making her uneasy were her dreams. Because sometimes, when she fell into deep sleep, she had nightmares. She dreamed of another Coraline, a lonely girl who knew things about other people, things nobody should know. This Coraline struggled at school and lacked friends. Once, she had a dream about this Coraline jumping into some kind of a pit and seeing strange things there, black silhouettes representing hidden personalities...

But those were only dreams.

THE END

Written: 25th August 2021

Submitted: 12th February 2023

• ©Copyright 2023 Anakronizam aka Arijana Grginčić. All rights reserved.