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AAAAAAAAALLLLLLLRIGHTY! I've got more of my self-indulgent Coraline AU fic for @lost-trio-week!!! :D I have SO much fun writing these three as kiddos I swear to god. It's neat because they are all very different (because 11 year olds don't act like 15 year olds) but you can still see who they are under it, you know? Also, they're so fucking cute. I love them.

Anywho, may I present Chapter Two of Mechanical Lullaby!

“What are you doing out here?” Leo demanded. “I’m taking a walk,” the blond boy said simply. “What are you two doing out here?” “Huntin’ monsters. Duh.” "Leo found tracks." The blond boy looked more than a little skeptical, likely remembering the fact that she and Leo both had been in near-tears when he found them, but he was nice enough to not say anything. “Tracks? Where?” Piper gestured over to where Leo had found the tracks and the blond boy laughed after a moment of investigating them. “That’s not a monster! That’s Lupa!” “Lupa?” Leo asked. “What the heck is a Lupa?” “My dog,” the blond boy beamed. “Well, not really. My dad won’t let me have a dog, so she lives in the woods. She’s my friend, though.” “Oh.” Piper suddenly felt very silly and her cheeks grew warm. “Can we, uh, see her?” The blond boy shrugged. “Maybe. It looks like she came through here recently, so she’ll probably show up. She always does eventually.” Then he smiled and stuck out his hand. “My name’s Jason.”

First

Piper dreamt of mice. Lots and lots of fuzzy little mice with shiny black buttons for eyes that squeaked at her and danced around her feet. She giggled brightly and danced along with them skipping and twirling through a flurry of brilliant ocher leaves as they led her through the trees. Then they came to a sudden halt and she stumbled before coming face to face with the tree portal she and Leo had found the day before. Around her, the mice squealed in delight and raced through the hollow tree, though none of them came out the other side.

Come with us! Come with us! the mice coaxed in one unified voice. Come with us to the other world! The world where things are better!

Without a second thought, Piper got down on her hands and knees and started crawling forward. The mice crooned out a cooing noise and pressed up against her sides and she hummed happily, letting them draw her forward.

Just as she was about to enter the tree, there was a loud, ferocious growling sound that made her freeze in her tracks. The mice’s squeaking turned shrill and desperate now, and she felt her heart thump high in her throat. “What– What is that?”

It’s her! the mice wailed as one. It’s that nasty, awful she-wolf! Quickly! We must go before she comes and swallows us whole!

Piper’s breath hitched in her throat and she started crawling faster, but every movement forward she made sent the tree farther and farther away. “I-I can’t make it!” she cried. “She’s gonna get me! Please! Help me!”

The mice spoke again, but this time, they sounded like her dad, his tone resting heavy on a disappointed sigh. There is no one who can help you, Piper McLean. No one who would even try. Perhaps next time, though.

Then the ground fell out from under Piper’s hands and knees like a trap door and she was left tumbling through a swirling abyss of black and green and purple and white and yellow, crying out for help to the sound of a victorious wolf’s howl.

Piper fell to the floor with a yelp, her black sheets and rainbow comforter tangled up around her. She rubbed the side of her now-throbbing skull and scowled at her bed in betrayal. “That hurt!”

As expected, the bed had nothing to say in its defense.

Piper got to her feet, still pouting, and ran into the hallway, determined to complain to someone about the injustices she’d faced. “Daaad! Dad, where are youuu?”

She walked past the fridge before coming to a stop a few steps away and backing up so that she could read the note taped to the front

Pipes –

Sorry I wasn’t around to wake you up, but I had to go in early to film. I have some Lucky Charms in the cupboard for you. If anything happens, go ask the Gray Sisters for help. I talked to Mr. V, too, but he’s a very busy man, so try not to bother him. I’ll be home for dinner.

Love,

Dad

Piper frowned down at the paper before crumpling it in her fist and half-heartedly throwing it towards the trash can, not even bothering to see if it actually went in or not. She’d told her dad she didn’t like Lucky Charms anymore. Fortunately for her, the toaster was plenty accessible, along with the peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. She could have breakfast all by herself.

Once she was done with her toast and her mess was cleaned up, she stomped out the front door, this time taking her time to hunt down her big yellow rain boots, seeing as it was still gross and gray and damp outside. Her dad hadn’t exactly been thrilled about the state of her sneakers when he’d finally noticed them the night before, and she doubted another layer of caked-on mud would help her case much.

As soon as she was outside, though, all thoughts of her dad’s disappointed scowl vanished, and she grinned, shouting at the top of her lungs. “Leo!”

Leo startled so bad he gave a full-body flinch that Piper could see from across the yard, and he whirled around at the sound of his name, his face pale and eyes wide. When he saw it was just Piper running towards him, though, he grinned. “Piper! You actually came!”

“Duh,” Piper scoffed as she trotted up to him. She took in a few deep, heaving pants to catch her breath and then she cocked her head at him. “Why wouldn’t I have come?”

“Figured you’d come to your senses and decide to avoid me,” he said matter-of-factly. “Everyone does eventually.”

Piper frowned, but shrugged the words off. “Well, you’re my only friend right now, so you’re stuck with me.”

“Okay,” he agreed easily. Then he squinted at her, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. “What… happened to your face? Did your dad do that?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve got a big old bruise right…” He leaned forward and jabbed her in the cheek, and she jumped back with a yelp– “here.”

“That hurt,” she scowled for the second time that morning. “And, no, my dad didn’t do it. I fell out of my bed.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I had a bad dream.” She cast her mind back to all the fuzzy colors and sounds from the night before and rubbed at her sore cheek. “I don’t remember much of it, but I think I was running away from a monster at the end.”

He nodded sagely in sympathetic understanding before he brightened. “There’s supposed to be a monster in the woods. You wanna go find it?”

“Yeah!”

Immediately, the two of them ran towards the woods as one, darting in and out of the trees and shouting at one another. That lasted for a little while until Piper came stumbling out of the treeline, clutching her stomach with laughter because Leo had slipped in one mud puddle and landed flat on his butt in another. She looked up to see a very clean house with sharp white edges and stern gray walls, and she puckered her mouth up into a contemplative little knot. “I didn’t know people lived in the woods.”

“They don’t,” Leo scoffed. “We came out the other side already. This is Theresa’s house.”

Piper perked up. “You mean the lady you live with?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. Can we go inside?”

Leo furiously shook his head, his eyes going wide. “Uh-uh. I told you yesterday: she doesn’t let me inside until sundown.”

“Oh.” Piper trailed her gaze across the house again before her eyes spied something of interest and she grinned. “There’s bars on that window over there. Do you have a monster that lives with you? Or a criminal?”

Instead of rolling his eyes or laughing and playing along, Leo shrank back at her words. He grabbed the hem of his shirt in both fists and pulled down on it, refusing to look Piper in the eye. “That’s my room.”

“Oh.” Piper bit her lip and glanced up at the window again. Suddenly, it didn’t seem nearly as cool and fun anymore. She instead turned to Leo, who was just as un-cool but still fun as she remembered, and she cocked her head to the side before giving him a decisive nod. “You should come spend the night at my house. It would be fun. You’ll like it.”

Leo looked at her suspiciously for a moment. “I’m not allowed to do stuff at night until summertime. Theresa said so.”

“Well, can I stay at your house?”

Leo actually laughed at that. “Even if Theresa wouldn’t kill me for asking, I wouldn’t. You don’t want to stay the night at that house.”

Piper puffed her cheeks out in a pout at the injustices of the world. “Okay, fine. We’ll wait for summer. Then we’ll have a sleepover.”

“If you’re still friends with me by then, sure,” Leo agreed easily. “Now, come on. Let’s go monster hunting.”

Piper nodded and she and Leo went back to the woods. This time, though, they didn’t run. They walked side by side, examining every broken stick and trampled leaf for any evidence of the beast they sought. She was in the middle of poking at the entrance to a little rabbit trail with a stick when she heard Leo call out, “Piper! I found something!”

Piper hopped over to his side, expecting to find him proudly displaying a snapped bush branch like last time, but instead she froze in her tracks, a vicious chill running down her spine.

It’s her! It’s that nasty, awful she-wolf!

There, in the mud, clear as day, was a massive paw print, nearly twice the size of her own hand, with several trailing off into the distance. It looked fresh. She swallowed heavily. “L-Leo?”

“Yeah?” Leo glanced up at her, but he was clearly startled by the look on her face. “Piper? What’s wrong?”

“Leo, are there wolves in these woods?”

“I-I dunno,” Leo stammered. He stood and backed away from the trail, a lot less thrilled about his discovery. “I’ve never seen any.”

“Have you ever heard them howling?”

“I dunno!”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Piper snapped. “You either heard them howl or you didn’t!”

“I’ve heard howling but I dunno if it was wolves!” Leo explained. “I just figured it was dogs!”

“What if it wasn’t?” Piper asked. Her breath was rattling in her chest as she took in terrified lungfuls of air. “What if there’s a pack of wolves in these woods? What if that’s what the monster is?”

“I– There isn’t a real monster!” Leo protested. “It’s all made up!”

“Is it?” Piper demanded. “You mean to tell me that no one has ever gone missing in the woods?”

Leo’s eyes widened and he was hyperventilating now, right along with her. “That-that doesn’t mean anything! People go missing in the woods all the time!”

Piper wasn’t listening to him. “I bet the whole pack is here. I bet they’ve got us surrounded,” she lamented. Tears pricked at her eyes. “Leo, I don’t wanna die in dumb old Laketown!”

“I don’t either!”

There was a rustling behind them and Piper and Leo immediately jumped together, clinging to one another in fear. “We’re gonna die, Leo!”

“I know!”

“They’re gonna eat us!”

“I know!”

“They’re gonna–”

“Why do you think you’re gonna die?”

Piper and Leo both screamed at the top of their lungs and spun around. Well, they tried to, at least. What they actually did was land in a big tangled mess of bruised limbs and stinging egos. Piper got her bearings first and she shook her head and scrambled out of the pile, scowling at the newcomer with her hands on her hips. “What’s the matter with boys in this town!? Don’t any of you know it’s rude to sneak up on people?”

The boy in question frowned gently at her and cocked his head to the side. He was about their age, and with his big blue eyes (only made bigger by the glasses he wore) and his fluffy blond hair, he reminded Piper of a Golden Retriever puppy. “Uh, sorry?” he said, sounding genuinely apologetic, unlike some very rude boys she’d met the day before.

“What are you doing out here?” Leo demanded. He was still on the ground, but he was in a proper sitting position at Piper’s side, arms crossed over his chest in an attempt to make himself look bigger.

“I’m taking a walk,” the blond boy said simply. “What are you two doing out here?”

“Huntin’ monsters. Duh.”

The blond boy didn’t look all that impressed with the answer, but he did seem interested. “That’s neat. Have you found any?”

“Not yet,” Piper admitted. “But Leo found tracks. We were gonna follow them and hunt the monster down!”

The blond boy looked more than a little skeptical, likely remembering the fact that she and Leo both had been in near-tears when he found them, but he was nice enough to not say anything. “Tracks? Where?” Piper gestured over to where Leo had found the tracks and the blond boy laughed after a moment of investigating them. “That’s not a monster! That’s Lupa!”

“Lupa?” Leo asked. “What the heck is a Lupa?”

“My dog,” the blond boy beamed. “Well, not really. My dad won’t let me have a dog, so she lives in the woods. She’s my friend, though.”

“Oh.” Piper suddenly felt very silly and her cheeks grew warm. “Can we, uh, see her?”

The blond boy shrugged. “Maybe. It looks like she came through here recently, so she’ll probably show up. She always does eventually.” Then he smiled and stuck out his hand. “My name’s Jason.”

“Uh, I’m Piper, and this is Leo,” she said, shaking his hand.

Jason nodded, then offered his hand to Leo, too, who looked surprised that he’d gotten the same gesture as Piper, but shook it just the same as Piper had. Jason looked at Leo’s arm with his eyebrows puckered. “What happened to your arm?”

Piper glanced down to see that Leo had some dark bruises around his wrist, and she frowned as well. Leo just casually shrugged like it was nothing, though. “I tracked in mud and Theresa got mad at me.”

Jason nodded seriously. “My dad’s the same way. If I make a mess he’ll yell at me for, like, an hour, even if it’s not a big mess. He used to not be so bad, but my sister ran away last year, and he’s gotten extra mad and mean since then.” He looked over at Piper. “What about you?”

Piper considered that for a moment. Back in Oklahoma, making a mess would likely have gotten her a stern talking-to from her dad before he made her help him clean it up, but since they’d moved to LA it had taken more and more for him to pay attention to anything she did, good or bad. Since moving to Laketown, she’d occasionally wonder if he even remembered she’d come with him. She just shrugged. “He probably wouldn’t notice. He never notices me.”

There was another round of understanding nods before Leo huffed and flopped back in the leaves. “Well, now what? Our monster’s just a dog, so we can’t do that anymore.”

“Sorry,” Jason said sheepishly.

Piper tapped her chin in thought for a moment before she perked up. “Jason, do you wanna play Other World with us?”

“What’s Other World?”

“It’s pretend,” Leo explained before Piper even had the chance to open her mouth. “We found a cool tree yesterday, and Piper made up a whole world to play pretend in. She’s kinda bossy, but it’s still fun.”

“I am not bossy!”

Jason just laughed. “Yeah, that sounds fun!”

“We’ll have to see if we can find it again,” Piper said decisively. “Have you seen it before? It’s this hollow tree that makes a little arch. It’s got yellow leaves.”

Jason wracked his brain for a moment before he shook his head. “I don’t think so. I thought I’d seen every tree in the woods before, but that doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever found.”

“That’s what I said when we saw it yesterday! ” Leo grinned. He hopped to his feet and started running into the trees, shouting over his shoulder at them. “Not it!”

Piper shrieked in delight, taking off after him with an echoed “Not it!” leaving Jason to chase them, once he’d gotten over his momentary confusion. They all ran through the trees, and Piper was horrified to learn that she was the slowest one in the group, though she could outmaneuver Jason when she put her mind to it, and Leo was so easily distracted that she caught him plenty as well. She got the feeling both of them just let her catch them more than a few times, but she was having too much fun to really care that much.

Then, just like it had the first time, the tree seemed to appear out of nowhere, though it didn’t require Leo to trip again. Its brilliant leaves stood out against the backdrop of green in a way that stole Piper’s breath and made her heart race, the same way it had the day before and in her dream. “Guys! I found it!”

Jason stepped up to the tree and gave it an appreciative once-over. “I didn’t know trees could live all hollowed out like that.”

“Cool, huh?” Leo grinned.

“It is.”

Piper beamed, feeling an odd sense of pride before she dropped to her knees and started crawling. “Come on! Follow me!” Jason and Leo fell in line behind her, but before she could make it to the tree, a deep, threatening growl filled the clearing, making her blood freeze in her veins.

It’s her!

Piper looked over her shoulder to ask Leo and Jason if they’d heard the growl like she had. Leo met her gaze, looking just as terrified as she felt, but Jason was on his feet, a delighted smile spreading across his face. “Lupa!”

As if on cue, the trees along the edge of the clearing parted and in prowled the single biggest dog Piper had ever seen in her life. Her fur was a thick, wiry gray, and her big yellow eyes shone like lamplights in the gloom, and they were both fixated entirely on Piper, who stayed frozen like a fawn in a wolf’s sights. Her movements were slow and deliberate as she walked between Piper and the tree to sit herself down in front of Jason.

“Uh, Jason?” Leo squeaked. “Are you sure that thing’s a dog?”

Piper honestly had the same question, but Jason just laughed and threw his arms around Lupa in a hug. “Of course she is! She’s the best dog in the world!”

In reply, Lupa thumped her tail on the ground and licked Jason’s cheek with her big slobbery tongue, making him laugh again.

“Uh, if you’re sure she’s a dog, I guess it’s fine,” Piper said hesitantly. She got to her feet and offered her hand for Lupa to sniff. “Nice doggy?”

Lupa watched her for just a moment, and Piper could have sworn she arched one of her eyebrows, but Jason scratched her behind the ear and said, “This is Piper. She’s nice,” and she leaned forward and licked the back of Piper’s fingers.

“That’s so cool,” Leo breathed from where he was half-hiding behind Piper’s back.

Jason looked pleased with the assessment. “Do you wanna pet her?”

Leo made a terrified choking noise and scrambled back, more than giving his answer, but Piper tightened her jaw. “I’ll pet her.”

Jason beamed at her and nodded eagerly, so she slowly lifted her hand and sank her fingers into the thick gray fur on Lupa’s cheek. Lupa watched her carefully, but she still tilted her head to make it easier for Piper to continue petting her. “She’s so soft,” Piper marveled in a hushed voice. She glanced over her shoulder at Leo, who was watching her like a hawk. “Leo, come on! You gotta pet her!”

“Okay,” Leo agreed, clearly not super excited about the prospect. Still, he lifted his shaky hand and patted it between Lupa’s pricked ears.

Lupa watched him for a moment before she pulled her lips back and lunged forward just a bit. Piper and Leo both ripped their hands away from her and leapt back with a shared yelp, but Jason just laughed brightly. “She’s just playing, guys!” he said as soon as he caught his breath. “She won’t actually bite you. Promise.”

Piper was more than a little skeptical, but as if on cue Lupa inched forward to softly snuffle at Leo’s side before giving him a gentle headbutt. Leo was trembling from head to toe and looked about on the verge of tears, but he still reached up and petted her again. “N-Nice doggy.” Lupa made a quiet chuffing sound and licked Leo all over the face like she had with Jason, until Leo was a giggling mess in front of her. “Okay! Okay! Nice doggy!”

Piper grinned at the display before she turned to Jason. “Do you think she’ll play the game with us?” Then she frowned at the tree with a contemplative scowl. “Course, I don’t think she’d fit through the portal.”

Jason considered that as well. “Maybe she’s just part of the Other World. She could–”

Jason was suddenly cut off by the sound of a loud, menacing snarl, and they both turned to see Lupa had her teeth bared at the tree, her hackles raised and fur bristled all the way down her back. Leo was right in front of her, about to crawl through the arch, but now he was completely frozen in place, eyes wide and staring down the dog who looked like she was about to eat him for lunch.

Immediately, Piper felt indignation swell in her chest and she stomped at Lupa, trying to look as big as possible. “Hey! You dumb old dog! You leave him alone!”

Lupa’s head swung around to stare at Piper, a deep growl rumbling in her chest. Piper wanted nothing more than to turn and hide under the nearest bed, but instead she held that steady, lamplight gaze and puffed her chest out and did her best to not look scared. A moment passed, then two, before Lupa made a disgusted-sounding huffing noise and she turned and fled into the trees.

Piper let out a slow, shaky breath before she turned to Leo. “Are you okay?”

“’m fine,” Leo mumbled, refusing to look at either of them.

Jason was at his side, helping him to his feet, and he looked almost as shaken as Leo. “I’m sorry that happened,” he said earnestly. “I’ve never seen her do anything like that. I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

“‘snot your fault,” Leo huffed. His gaze flicked to the side and he frowned. “Man, she really doesn’t like this tree.”

“She’s definitely not allowed to play Other World with us,” Piper agreed.

“I’m sorry,” Jason repeated, shamefaced. “I really didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Piper assured him. “We’ll just have to make sure your dog’s not around next time we play.”

Jason looked surprised at that. “You… still wanna hang out with me?”

Piper glanced over at Leo to gauge his reaction, but he just shrugged and nodded so Piper grinned at Jason. “Yeah! We can play now, if you want.”

Before Jason could reply, there was a sharp KRCH-BOOM! of thunder overhead and Leo scowled. “It’s gonna rain again.”

“It always rains in spring,” Jason reminded him with a remorseful sigh. “I’ve gotta go. If I get rained on, my dad’ll get mad at me and I don’t wanna get yelled at. Again.”

“Same here,” Leo agreed. “I can’t afford to bring any more mud inside.”

“Okay,” Piper huffed. If she had her way, she’d stay out in the storm, but playing in the rain wasn’t as much fun by herself. “You guys wanna meet here tomorrow?”

“Yeah!”

“Sure!”

Piper nodded, satisfied with their answers before she turned and ran towards the woods. “Bye, guys! See you tomorrow!”

“Bye, Piper!”

This time, Piper did beat the rain home, and right as the front door slammed shut, she heard the bottom fall out of the stormcloud and a white wall of rain poured down from the sky. She heaved a deep sigh and kicked off her boots before flopping over the arm of the couch. Her dad liked to fuss at her for using the furniture like a jungle gym, but she figured if he wasn’t here to fuss, she could jungle gym all she wanted. She wished her dad was home to fuss at her, but he wasn’t. He had important movie star stuff to do. It was just her (and her weird neighbors) all alone in this big ugly house.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, the phone on the wall started to ring and she sat straight up to look at it curiously. After the third ring, it clicked off before starting back up, and she scrambled across the room to go answer it.

“Hello?”

“Yes, hello. Is this Tristan McLean’s daughter?”

“Uh.” Piper paused for a moment, deciding on her answer. “Who’s asking?”

“My name is Jane,” the lady on the other end of the line said shortly. “I am an assistant on the film set where your father works. He asked me to call you.”

Piper clutched the phone closer to her ear. “My dad? He told you to call me? Is he okay?”

“Mr. McLean is perfectly fine. However, due to the storm, filming has been delayed. He wanted me to tell you that he will not be home for dinner, but that he would arrange for a pizza to be delivered instead.”

“Oh,” Piper said softly, feeling her shoulders slump. “Okay.”

“Your father has also asked that I wish you good night, and to remind you to brush your teeth,” Jane added. “Now that I have, I believe we have concluded the need for this conversation. Good night, Miss McLean.”

“Good night, Jane.”

Without a moment’s delay, the phone went dead. Piper stood there with the phone pressed to her ear for a few more seconds, like she thought that if she waited long enough, her dad would pick up and tell her it was all just some silly joke. He didn’t. He never did.

Piper sighed heavily and hung up the phone. She slumped over to the waiting couch and wrapped herself up in a blanket like a little Piper burrito and pretended like she didn’t want to cry.

Well, at least I get to have pizza.

#mechanical lullaby

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