𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄 ❃ coraline au

014: revelations ii

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN OF TWENTY

❝ REVELATIONS II ❞

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(NAME)'S HEAD TWITCHES OVER THE CORNER. In the hallowed darkness of the dingy room she'd been confined to by Eros, she can barely make out the silhouette of a sagging, ancient iron bed. Who knows how long it'd been there? She hears a sound and a shining glow from beneath the stained cover of the bed.

"Who's there?" (Name) hesitantly whispered, hugging her knees to her chest.

An Irish-accented voice shot through the darkness, almost silent. "Hush, and shush!" she beckoned, whisper-yelling, "For The Incubus might be listening!". Her voice was evident and thickened with a sense of pure fear.

(Name) slowly stood up, approaching the bed. The glow underneath the raggedy sheet moved in sync with the words she'd heard. "You mean the Other Husband?" she whispered. Her hand gingerly pulled back the sheet to reveal dimly glowing ghosts of three women, all huddled together in fear, banded together. They all sat up.

The first woman wore the traditional attire of an Indigenous Native American woman, her face decorated with faded red paint across her face, specifically the bridge of her nose and where her eyes once were. Her black hair flowed down to her mid-back, tied back into two braids, with beads intertwined woven between strands of dark hair, feathers decorated in her hair.

The second was a meek-looking, young-faced blonde woman wearing a white cotton shirt, a light grey overdress, a brown apron tied around her corseted waist, some black leather shoes and a white bonnet on her head tied under her chin with a white string. Instead of eyes, she adorned a pair of black buttons where her eyes once sat. She couldn't have been older than twenty. Her style dated back to the 1600s.

The third and final woman was a black woman, with her dark hair styled in tight-looking, unruly-looking pin curls. She wore a housewife's dress, coloured a pale pink, with a pearl necklace around her neck with one of the pearls missing. She wore a pair of short black heels and black, opaque stockings. Her eyes were gone, replaced by the daunting black buttons. She wore a sad look on her face.

(Name)'s heart sunk at the realisation. This was Wybie and Charlotte's missing grandmother. Mr Lovat's wife. Who'd disappeared in the 1950s, or "stolen by a bad man" as Mr Lovat said? She'd been taken by Eros and his wicked ways too. It was horrifying what'd become of these poor women. Left to rot behind the mirror. "Who are you?" (Name) whispered.

"We don't remember our names..." the Indigenous woman uttered sadly, "But I remember my true husband...".

They all looked so sad. It made (Name)'s heart start to ache. "Why are you all here?" she questioned, "And what's this sick monster done to you guys?".

"The Incubus!" the three ghosts all said at the same time.

The trio of ghosts all moved around in a macabre dance, like ghostly fish dancing in a pond. "He spied on our lives..." Mrs Lovat explained, "Through the little doll's eyes...".

"...And saw that we were not happy..." the Irish woman continued, "My true husband was the settlement's pastor...who preached his sermons to our town. That devil of a man...he lured me away...lured us all away...".

"With affection and attention..." the Indigenous woman continued, "Gave us all that we asked for...yet we still yearned for more. My husband was the son of the tribe's chief. When his father passed, he took on his duties and become more occupied with the survival of our people...I do not blame him now...".

"...So we let him sew the buttons..." Mrs Lovat continued ominously, floating through (Name), leaving a glowing ghostly appearance of buttons over her eyes, "My poor husband...buying us our home. Yet he became more involved with his job...I wish he'd just noticed something was wrong...and stopped me from going back for more...".

(Name) shook her head and the ghost buttons vanished. "He claimed that he loved us..." the Irish woman uttered, "The forswearing bastard...he tricked us all. One at a time...".

The Indigenous woman sighed sadly. "But, as she said, he tricked us," she said, "And locked us away here...and ate up our lives...until we became shells of our former selves,".

The trio of ghosts fall back onto their shared bed and sank down, the stained cover covering them up. (Name) was stunned, unable to speak at the monstrosities she'd just heard about. She thinks a little, then opens her mouth to speak, trying to steady her voice. "Well, he can't keep me in the dark forever," (Name) declared, "Not if he wants to take my life...defeating him is the only chance I have,".

"Thou art different, mistress," the Irish woman spoke up, "Thee art different from the rest of us. He doth love thou...but his love is corrupt and unjust,".

Mrs Lovat approached where (Name) stood with the Irish ghost. "Perhaps," she began in a sing-song way, "If you do beat him...you could find our eyes!".

"Your eyes..." (Name) murmured, "He took them? I thought he'd just sewn the buttons over your eyes...".

Mrs Lovat shook her head sadly. "If only that were the case, sugar," Mrs Lovat corrected. There was a longing sadness laced in her voice, "But he's hidden them. Hidden them away from us. It's our only hope to escape,".

"Please, madam," the Indigenous woman begs, "Find our eyes. I plea. Our souls will be freed if you do!".

(Name) took a sharp inhale through her nose. "I'll try," she promised, "My best. I swear on my own life that I will try to find your eyes, defeat him, escape to my home and free you guys,".

The ghosts each pulsed with hope. She sighed, giving each of the saddened ghosts a sympathetic smile. Her plan was all laid out in her mind. One: get out of the room, somehow. Two: get home through the door. Three: get prepared. Four: return to the world. Five: get the ghost's eyes back. Six: defeat Eros. Seven: don't die trying.

Suddenly, a pair of hands reached through the mirror and dragged her out into the hallway.