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[curiously_cora]

Coraline knew what she had to do. Coraline hid him out of sight and threw the key at the creature in front of her. Its head snapped up away from the little boy, button eyes narrowing at Coraline and long red claws curling into her palms. She smiled at Coraline, blood and gore covered her dress, as she stepped forward and away from Sawyer towards

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[lucked]

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.Steady in the background, but jarring with her pulse, time was moving forward in quick, halting steps. It made Claire feel small, the steady beat which she had no control over, but held her captive to its effects. Shadows stretched further down the hall without any obvious source, and dust began to coat the lockers with a sleepy gray color as she walked, sneakers tapping against the linoleum. Anytime now, she'd be outside. Anytime now, she'd be stepping out the front entrance of Union Wells, her family's minivan parked not a few yards away with Lyle tapping his foot impatiently inside. But the further she walked, the more she realized that she'd lost count of the classrooms lining the hall, lost track of how long she'd been walking, because each second lost its value as more passed by. Breath growing short, Claire broke into a run, wheezing as her shoes thudded against the floor and tears ran down her cheeks

[curiously_cora]

You can run, Claire.

Coraline stopped suddenly, looking around for the source of the voice. Looking up at the flickering lights Coraline began to walk backwards as she heard the sound of laughter, female laughter and that awful ticking sound. There were school lockers, endless school lockers that Coraline had lost count of and one girl on the floor of the hallway.

"Claire?" Coraline yelled though her voice barely carried down the long hall. Coraline ran towards her friend screaming her name though it sounded like a whisper "Claire!"

[lucked]

The white of bone peeked through muscle and sinew, blood pumping loud in her ears and never in time with the clock. Further down the hall, someone whispered, the words indistinct, and it only frightened Claire more as her face blanched from the pain. She didn't cry anymore, she didn't gag, simply bit down hard enough on her lower lip to draw blood and yanked suddenly at her leg until everything cracked back into place. Gasping for breath, Claire pulled herself back onto her feet, dizzy and forgetting which way she'd come from in the first place.

All of the lockers seemed to be stretching upward, toward a ceiling growing further and further from her.

"Peter," she whimpered under her breath, tears easily spilling over as she tried to decide which way to run. "Peter was here, where did Peter go?"

[curiously_cora]

The more time she spent in this corridor, the less safe Coraline felt. It was cold and quiet, too quiet except for the ticking. That awful ticking. It was horrible. Coraline ran to Claire, skidding along the floor as she came to a halt.

"Claire are you o...kay," Coraline said, slowing down as she watched Claire push her broken bone back in. She wanted to tell her no, that she'd hurt herself but then she was fine. It was... healing. "Your... foot? Erm, Peter? I don't know. There was a house back that way but then it was gone and I don't know how to get back. There was- something bad there and I think it's coming Claire, we need to go."