CHAPTER 21
COOPERATING

CORALINE didn't sleep that night.

After the perimeter alert finally shut off, they didn't hear from Ms. Venable for the rest of the day. Coraline tried to convince herself that her suspicions weren't true, that she shouldn't believe coincidences so quickly, but it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't anymore. She stayed in her room the whole day, refusing to attend dinner. She didn't know what she would face downstairs. Starving herself was better than knowing the truth. She wasn't missing much anyways. The gelatin cubes tasted the same as ever.

When night came along, Coraline tossed and turned in her bed. She kicked off the sheets several times, only to curl them back around her. It felt like her pajamas were constricting her, or maybe it was just her chest. Some people liked to count sheep to fall asleep, but she thought – somehow – staring at her bedside candle long enough would help. (It didn't.) She could still hear "Hungry Heart" through the radio downstairs, reverberating through her floor. Coraline bit her lip so hard she almost popped a blood vessel.

She eventually drew a bath. Coraline didn't know what time it was, but she guessed it was sometime in the early morning. No doubt she would have bags under her eyes the next day. For some reason, she felt like someone was watching her as she slipped herself into the tub. The water was so hot that it was steaming, and it burned against her skin. She liked it though. It was always so cold in the Outpost.

Bruce Springsteen's voice was consistent through the floorboards. She dragged a hand down her face, trying to focus on something else. Coraline felt like she was going insane. She thought she left that part of her when she graduated high school, but Crazy Coraline was still alive and well.

The water hadn't even gotten cold before Coraline determined that it wasn't helping. She just needed to get in her bed again. Maybe she'd be able to sleep now that she felt clean. Dragging a towel down her bare body, Coraline felt a breeze whisk by her. She straightened her back, tying the red towel around herself. Droplets of water fell to the floor and wet hair laid across her back in clumps. Coraline chewed on the inside of her cheek and scanned the bathroom. Nothing moved but the flames atop of her candles.

Coraline rolled her eyes and turned around to her mirror. Taking her brush in one hand, she used the other to wipe the fog off the reflective glass. As she began to brush out the tangles in her hair, Coraline finally looked at herself in the mirror, but she didn't just see herself.

Two black eyes. White face.

Coraline gasped, spinning around on her heel with the hairbrush in front of her, as if it were a weapon. Her towel started to slip off her body, but she managed to hold it there as she looked around the barren bathroom. She breathed heavily through her nostrils. Everything was the same. No black eyes. No white face. Coraline licked her lips and tried to compose herself, but couldn't help the tremble that crawled up her spine, tickling her fear.

No one had been there.

•••

Ms. Mead had to drag Coraline to finally get her out of her suite. After dinner, Ms. Venable proclaimed that they had an important meeting to attend, one that everyone had to be present for. Coraline was glad she skipped dinner the night before. According to Gallant, the Greys served them live snakes in a broth. But skipping tonight was out of the question, and lucky for her, they were back to the usual gelatin cubes. At least, that dreaded Bruce Springsteen song wasn't playing any longer.

Apparently, everyone was just as suspicious as she was about yesterday's perimeter alarm. Something smelled different, and it wasn't from the snake broth they tried to cook. The whole Outpost had a different scent, like a mix of roses and blood – the perfume of death.

As Emily cut into her cube, she asked the question that everyone had been dying to voice: "So who's in your office?"

Venable's face had hardened. Everyone was staring at her as she played with her earring and adjusted her tunic. She wanted to laugh at their curiosity, knowing that it would kill them all someday. She met Ms. Mead's eyes with a smile. Instead of chuckling, she settled on the response, "All questions will be answered in due course. Eat."

A few Grey servants made sure the library was presentable as the survivors gathered inside for a meeting. Venable waited in front of the fireplace with her hands clasped around her cane and Ms. Mead at her side, like always. Everyone sat delicately on the old, leather couches, with the exception of Andre, who stood behind Dinah and placed a hand on her shoulder. Coraline also stood with Mallory in the back, leaning herself against a bureau. She played with the necklace hanging on her collarbones, squeezing her fingers around it over and over again. Her corset felt tighter than ever. She couldn't wait to leave the meeting and rip off this disgusting, purple catastrophe.

The perfume of death became stronger then. Footsteps echoed down the hall. The smell was almost too much to bear as a man stepped into the room.

Coraline's breath hitched in her throat.

Long blonde hair – the color of sunshine – now reached his shoulders. Blue eyes and a perfectly straight nose. Sharp cheekbones that had only gotten sharper. He even had red eye shadow in the inner corners of his eyes. Almost the same person she was knew, except ... it wasn't.

Coraline couldn't believe that her suspicions had been correct. How had this happened? Out of the entire population on Earth, she was supposed to believe that they were two of the survivors left standing? Time seemed to slow as she watched him enter the room, pausing to stare ahead at Ms. Venable. Coraline placed a hand over her mouth and wondered if he had been a member of this famous Cooperative that no one shut up about. If he had – Coraline suddenly knew why she had been chosen, and she didn't think it was because he wanted her to survive the fallout. Not after her abandoning him. Was he known to hold grudges?

He strode with the intensity of an enraged lion – careful, precise, but confident enough to strike. Everyone was silent – pure, fucking silent. The thing that Coraline wanted for so long finally terrified her. The only sound that could be heard was his boots clicking against the floor. His robes fit the shape of his body perfectly, which had grown even more since she last saw him. Coraline felt the bile rise in her jugular.

He met Venable from her position in front of the fireplace. She smiled at him in a snarky way, but when she realized he was glaring at her to move, she hesitantly stepped out of the way. With a dark grin, Michael took over her spot and glanced to each survivor in the room.

Except, he didn't look at Coraline. He didn't even bat an eyelash her way, and she was standing at the far end of the room, right in his direct line of vision. He ignored her, as if she didn't exist.

"My name is Langdon and I represent the Cooperative."

Coraline's whole body was trembling. She wrapped her exposed arms around her torso and squeezed her legs shut, cocooning herself as she tried to suppress an angry scream. Langdon, she thought, that's what he's going by now? This had to be some kind of weird game, and she was going to be the toy. Like hell I am.

Despite her contained fury, Coraline had felt the familiar electricity from years ago. As soon as her gaze lingered on him, the threads were alive, glittering all around her and reaching out to touch him. But she was stronger now – stronger than any immature connection he once told her they had. It would be so easy to touch his hand again ... But she didn't want to and neither did he. For all she knew, he had brought her to the Outpost to be killed.

"I won't sugar coat the situation," he spoke, cocking his head to the side. Still, no eye contact. "Humanity is on the brink of failure. My arrival here was crucial to the survival of civilized life on Earth."

Look at me, look at me, look at me, she begged in her head. Look at me and see my anger, Michael Langdon. I know that you put me here for a reason. Look at me, you fucking coward.

Michael continued, "The three other compounds in Syracuse, New York, Beckley, West Virginia, and San Angelo, Texas have been overrun and destroyed. We've had no contact from the six international outposts, but we are assuming that they, too, have been eliminated."

Coraline noticed that he spoke with his hands now. She used to love his hands because they were big and held her small fingers like they fit perfectly in his palm. He was showing them off now with a few rings snugged on each hand, flashing his newfound wealth, she guessed.

Timothy raised a hand. "What happened to the people inside?"

"Massacred," Michael hissed, tilting his head in Timothy's direction. Coraline squeezed her limbs tighter around herself. "The same fate that will befall almost all of you."

"Almost all?" Mallory repeated, scoffing softly. Michael nodded towards her, hardly turning his head just a smidge to see Coraline on Mallory's right.

You little dipshit, Coraline thought. Don't you dare fucking ignore me.

"In the knowledge that this very moment might occur, we built a failsafe." Michael held out his hands, as if he were giving them a gift. "The Sanctuary."

Coco wrinkled her nose. "The Sanctuary?"

"The Sanctuary is unique," he replied, turning away. Michael leaned back slightly and kept his eyes on the survivors' peculiar stares – all except Coraline. "It has certain security measures that will prevent overrun."

"Excuse me, sir – what measures?" Ms. Mead asked, raising a brow. "Why weren't we given them?" Coraline's face twisted. Miriam didn't recognize him either?

Michael held up a hand, but kept the other on his chest. "That's classified. All that matters is that the Sanctuary will survive, so that the people populating it will survive, so humanity will ... survive."

"And who are the people that are populating it?" Andre inquired skeptically.

"Also, classified," Michael quipped.

For a moment, Coraline was tempted to voice a question just so he would look at her. She kept her mouth shut, but released the tight hold she had on her body. Her arms and legs were weak from simply being in his aura.

"However," he continued, "I've been sent to determine if any of you are worthy and fit to join us."

The room erupted in whispers, ranging from excitement to pure disbelief. Coraline's eyes went wide as she realized then the whole reason why she was here. She felt like she was going to throw up everywhere. She already knew she wasn't going to this goddamn Sanctuary, nor did she want to, if that meant she had to endure his dangerous presence day in and day out.

"The Cooperative has developed a particular and rigorous questioning technique we like to call," he grinned, "Cooperating."

Coraline snorted and shook her head, earning a glare from Ms. Venable. Michael, however, refused to hear the audible sound.

"I will then use the information gained to determine if you belong," he finished with a satisfied expression.

Coco puckered her red lips. "What is this? The Hunger Games?" She exclaimed, waving her hands in the air. Michael's inquisitive brow rose at her attitude. "This is bullshit. I paid my way in here, and that is the only 'cooperating' I plan on doing!"

Michael snickered. "You don't have to sit for questioning."

Andrew slowly glanced up. "What happens if we choose not to?"

"Then you stay here and die." Michael's tone was venomous, poison practically oozing from his mouth. It made Coraline's face get warm.

Gallant suddenly raised a hand, receiving a glare from his grandmother. "I volunteer to go first."

"And so, you shall," Michael sneered. "The process should only take me a couple of days, unless it is necessary for me to deliberate longer. So, hopefully, you won't be kept in suspense forever. But do realize that I am fond of a good thriller. For those of you who don't make the cut, all is not lost.

"If the worst should happen and feral cannibals come knocking ..." He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a small vile. "Down one of these. One minute later, you fall asleep, and never wake up."

What a saint, Coraline mocked in her head.

And then it happened.

His eyes were on her. His stare penetrated every bone in her body – stunning her, paralyzing her. Coraline wasn't sure how long he was ogling at her, but it felt like hours. He was direct and provocative, challenging her as he lifted a brow in her direction. She had wanted him to look at her so badly before, just so he could feel the anger bubbling beneath her skin, but it was too much now. This wasn't what she wanted whatsoever. Coraline's mouth dropped slightly, and she clutched her exposed shoulder. He knew what he was doing. He always knew what he was doing.

The threads around her were visible and tugging for her to walk forward, but the two refused to move. Michael knew the more he stayed away, the more the connection would haunt her, tease her. He'd come to her when he knew it was time.

"I look forward to meeting each –" His eyes didn't leave Coraline's. "– And every one of you."

Placing the vile back in his pocket, he nodded Ms. Venable's way and sauntered towards the exit of the room. Coraline kept her gaze forward, breaking the eye contact and trying to keep the frenzy in her mind at bay. She still felt his stare on her, piercing the curiosity and sin brewing deep inside her soul, as he finally left the library.

Venable tapped her cane against the floor, signaling the end of the meeting. Coraline ran to her room immediately and vomited her guts out.

•••

A/N: I HOPE THIS WAS WORTH THE WAIT

I send this to my friends 284679013 times a day and they are so sick of me LMAOOOO