Chapter 1

"Welcome to your new home, Master Grady," intoned a voice as gray as its surroundings.

Young Mr. Grady, or Henry, as he preferred to be known to his closest friends, gazed out the window into the cold, unforgiving sleet. His manservant, Yates, had failed to bring any hope at all for his new home with his rousing introduction, but perhaps the house looked better than the tone of voice implied. Sadly, what he saw failed to impress him. Truthfully, he wasn't impressed by anything these days-not since his parents had died in a boating accident. Still, the house on Grey Hill managed to make him feel even more disillusioned with his life, if that was at all possible.

There was a reason it was called The Palace. It was practically a stone fortress-at least, that's what it was built to be. Already, sections of it were in a minor state of disrepair. The tallest tower was leaning away from it, like it wished to pull away from the building itself. Henry sympathized-he wanted to escape, too. Unfortunately, this was as impossible for him as a tower running away.

Welcome to the Palace, he thought sarcastically as they rode closer. Slumping in his seat, he patiently awaited his fate.

If only he'd known what Fate had in store for him.


"Please, sir, allow me," the butler said as he took hold of Henry's baggage. Henry stared at the Palace, as empty as the house before him. While the structure was imposing, it was lifeless-the stones had chipped away in some places, the stone steps leading up to the front door were crumbling, and a window on the upper floor was shattered. Everything about the Palace screamed misery, which didn't give him any hope that his life would be better here. At least in his old home, there were relics of his old life-books, toys, furniture, and more. True, the memories etched into the walls were painful reminders, but at least they'd been acknowledgments of his parents; his old house had made it easier to reminisce about when they'd been a family.

In the Palace, he had nothing.

The interior of the mansion enforced the general, gloomy atmosphere. The walls and paintings were varying tones of grey, with the occasional black piece of furniture. There were no paintings or decorations of any kind. THIS is where I'm to grow up?

A tiny door caught his eye in the living room. Who would install a door that size in a place where everything else felt grandiose? Curiously, he turned the handle...

And found the door was locked.


Hello!

This is my first Coraline story. I hope you like it! As usual, please feel free to review and comment-it's very helpful.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Coraline characters. Please don't expect me to keep saying that at the end of every chapter. LOL Henry is my character (in a way). Have fun!