"No, I'm really not," Claire insisted, even though she stopped still in her tracks and tried to step in front of Coraline, not caring that she was shorter, because she was still better equipped in the end to deal with any sort of villain or monster, or so she believed. Even as she felt a chill run up her spine, cold as ice, she shook her head. "Powers are just powers, it's what you do with them that counts and I can't... do anything. I can't save people, I've tried, but people just end up dying because of me, that's all. If powers were all that people needed, then villains wouldn't exist."

A piano played off in the distance, keys out of tune and echoing unpleasantly through the hallway.

"Look, Coraline, you need to run," Claire insisted. "I can't save you, but I can stall whoever she is. She can't hurt me. I can't die, not unless— I just can't die for good, okay?"