The golden light of the afternoon filtered through the large windows of the living room, bathing the oak furniture and the carpets with a warm and deceptively cozy glow.
The air was permeated with a faint scent of lemon and Mrs. Connor's favorite aromatherapy fragrance.
Everything is calm...
Lief was lying on the leather sofa, with a cold can of Coca-Cola in his hand, observing the show with his mind blank and an expression of existential boredom.
In the center of the rug, three little girls were sitting in a circle, playing "house".
Lillith, in a pastel blue dress, was playing the role of "mom" with a dedication that bordered on the obsessive.
She cradled a giant teddy bear in her arms, rocking it rhythmically while humming a lullaby.
"Sleep, sleep, my dear baby... or the boogeyman will come and eat your feet…"
The melody was soft, but the lyrics had a sinister edge that made Lief take a long sip of his soda to keep from commenting.
He looked at the other two. Esther was organizing an imaginary tea party, and Emma was "operating" on a doll with a plastic knife.
That these three ticking time bombs were playing together without trying to kill each other or summon a greater demon was already a miracle he considered worthy of respect.
Or at least, of a sigh of relief.
'Sigh…' he thought, slightly crushing the can. 'This life feels more and more like a probation sentence…'
Ding-dong
Just when he felt that the mold of boredom was starting to grow on his brain, the doorbell rang.
The sound was so unexpected in the tense stillness of the afternoon that Lief almost jumped off the sofa.
His movement was so abrupt that the three girls stopped their games and turned their heads toward him with a creepy synchronization.
"I'll get it," announced Lief quickly, escaping their gazes.
He walked toward the door, grateful for the distraction, whoever it was.
He turned the knob and opened it.
Immediately, he arched an eyebrow.
Who was standing there was Maria. Or, at least, someone wearing Maria's body.
But the posture was wrong. The expression was wrong.
Everything about her screamed "danger".
The shy girl had vanished. In her place, this new version stood tall, with shoulders back and projecting absolute confidence. She was wearing a dark skirt and a white shirt unbuttoned one button more than necessary, while her lips, of an intense red that contrasted with her paleness, curled into a slight smile.
Her eyes, far from evading him, looked at him directly now, shining with pure intelligence.
"Airam," said Lief, without bothering to use his host's name. "What disaster brings you around here?"
The girl laughed slightly upon hearing her real name.
She didn't seem surprised in the least, on the contrary, she seemed pleased.
She raised a hand, extended a long and well-manicured index finger, and pressed it gently against her own red lips in a gesture of silence.
"Shh..." she whispered, and then blinked mischievously. "Why do you assume the worst? Could it not be that sweet little Maria has finally gathered the courage to come and ask you for a romantic date?"
Lief snorted, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.
"If she really had that kind of courage, she wouldn't have let it be you who knocked on the door."
Airam shrugged, not denying the accusation.
Her smile widened, revealing perfect teeth.
"Details, details," she murmured, taking a step forward and invading his space. "You're too smart for your own good, Lief. But you're right. I'm not here to play house...."
Without warning, her hand shot out and grabbed Lief's wrist.
"I'm really looking for you for something," she said, her tone dropping to a more serious register, "And it's very important. So..."
Without waiting for an invitation, she pulled him, dragging him inside the house with a determination that allowed no argument.
Lief let himself be led, but before going up the stairs, he turned toward the living room.
"You three," he ordered. "Keep playing. Don't break anything. And if the house catches fire, put it out before Mom and Dad get back."
"Okay!" the three girls replied in unison.
Airam didn't stop and dragged him directly toward the second floor. She crossed the hallway, burst into Lief's bedroom without knocking, and slammed the door shut behind her, isolating them from the rest of the world.
"Speak. Where is the date?"
Finally freed from her grip, Lief leaned against the door, crossing his arms with a relaxed posture.
"I suppose the destination won't be here, right? My parents are liberal, but I think this would cross a line."
"It's not that it can't be done. The bed looks comfortable enough and privacy is guaranteed."
Airam approached him with a feline gait, closing the distance and, using her innocent and sweet face, composed an expression of exaggerated seduction, biting her lower lip and running her gaze over Lief's chest.
"..."
Lief smiled slightly, and didn't back away a millimeter, but didn't play along either. His gaze remained imperturbable.
Seeing that he didn't take the bait, Airam let out a dramatic sigh, slumping her shoulders.
"You are so boring sometimes..."
Her teasing expression evaporated instantly, replaced by a seriousness that fit much better with her true nature.
She turned around, walking toward the center of the room while her fingers played with a lock of hair.
"Look, the truth is I've been busy. Lately, while traveling through the Mirror World, I discovered a place... very strange. A place that shouldn't be there."
"A strange place? Define strange."
"Strange even by my standards."
A complex mixture appeared in Airam's eyes.
"The power I felt from there is very special. It's saturated with... dreams, fear, and a kind of conglomerate of resentment. I've never seen a form of energy with that texture, it doesn't resemble me. It looks more like... the materialization of something...."
She paused, looking Lief in the eyes.
"Something told me not to go in alone. There are rules there that I don't fully understand, and that's why I wanted to find you. I need the heavyweight to go take a look together."
"Dreams and materialized resentment..." Lief pushed off the door, and for the first time, his eyes lit up with genuine interest.
The monotony of the afternoon had been broken.
"It sounds fascinating and it will certainly be a pleasure to accompany you."
"I knew you would accept"
She smiled satisfied, Airam walked toward the huge full-length mirror in the room.
She extended her fingers and gently touched the surface of the mirror.
"Are you ready? This trip might be a little turbulent."
"Whenever you want."
She turned and held out her hand to Lief. He took it without hesitation, feeling the unnaturally cold temperature of her skin.
The instant their hands closed, the reality of the bedroom dissolved.
It was unknown how much time passed…
Maybe it was just a fleeting instant, maybe it was eternal minutes. The world became a tunnel of distorted lights and shadows flying past around them, accompanied by a buzz of static.
Suddenly, the speed decreased and the sensation of free fall ceased.
Lief felt weight under his feet and the solidity of the firm ground returned.
The vertigo disappeared, replaced by the static air of a new environment.
He opened his eyes and observed the scene before him and immediately, his eyes narrowed.
They were standing in the middle of a residential street... a disturbingly perfect street.
On both sides of the avenue, two-story houses were lined up, each with its own character but united by an aesthetic of normality.
The grass on the front lawns was cut with precision, a vibrant green. The white wooden fences glistened as if they had just been painted.
The afternoon sun bathed everything in a warm light… At first glance, everything seemed so quiet, so idyllic and peaceful.
But in the air floated an indescribable sensation, an "incorrectness" that made the skin crawl.
It was too quiet…
It was an absolute silence. There were no voices, nor children's laughter, nor the distant hum of lawnmowers. There was no sound of cars passing nearby, not even the singing of birds could be heard.
The whole street was like an extremely detailed painting on which someone had pressed the "mute" button.
The colors were bright but lacked the spark of real life. It was a stage waiting for the actors to come on scene... or for something to come out of the shadows.
Lief took a few steps toward the sidewalk and saw a metal signpost on the corner.
On the top plate, painted with white paint that was peeling, unmistakable capital letters could be read:
[ELM ST.]
"So here it is..."
The corner of Lief's lips curled into an amused smile. Finally, the pieces fit together. Now he understood perfectly the nature of that "special force" that Airam had felt.
"Does it ring a bell?" she asked, looking at him with curiosity. "I don't recognize the place. I just felt that the 'door' in this area was particularly unstable, like an open wound. It stank of stale fear and it was ridiculously easy to cross."
"Oh, it rings a bell. And a lot."
Lief turned on his heels, his gaze sweeping the apparently perfect and harmless houses, as if his eyes could peel back the paint and see the bloody tragedies that had soaked those walls.
"Let's just say we've landed in the private hunting ground of a local celebrity," he explained casually. "A famous guy who has the nasty habit of killing his victims only when they are dreaming."
Just at the instant he finished the sentence, the silence of the street broke.
A soft sound came floating from the end of the street, carried by a breeze that didn't move the trees.
Thump... thump... thump.
It was the unmistakable sound of a jump rope and with the rhythm, came a voice. A nursery rhyme sung by a little girl, but the tone was too ethereal, too hollow to belong to a living being.
It resonated through the street with a clarity that froze the blood.
"One, two, Freddy comes for you..."
"Three, four, close the door..."
"Five, six, take the crucifix..."
The singing was getting closer, gaining volume.
A little girl, dressed in an immaculate white dress and two pigtails, slowly came out from the corner of the street. She was jumping rope with a hypnotic cadence while she sang the deadly litany.
But her movements were lifeless… rigid. And when they could see her more clearly, they saw that her face was an expressionless wax mask, and her eyes stared at nothingness, passing through Lief and Airam without really seeing them.
!
Airam's body tensed involuntarily.
She could feel it, what emanated from that girl was not life, but a pure concentration of that force that had attracted her here.
"..."
In contrast, Lief put his hands in his pockets, looking completely relaxed, listening with genuine interest to that classic horror lullaby.
"Well, it seems our host already knows that visitors have arrived," he said with a smile that, given the circumstances, could only be classified as cheerfully reckless.
"The only question is if his claws will be sharp enough for what is coming his way."
________
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