The doll wasn't simply sitting there; it was posing.
Its rag body was turned toward the entrance, and those two black buttons, shiny and lifeless, captured the room's scarce light, fixing on them with an intensity that simulated an intelligent consciousness.
It was a sentinel and had been waiting a long... long time.
'That... that is the doll...'
Coraline's tension-filled voice resonated in their minds.
Lief blocked the doll's line of sight by stepping between Coraline and the sofa, and without saying anything, took a step inside, his boots breaking the silence of abandonment.
Airam followed him closely with her eyes scanning the place not with fear, but with interest.
'That thing smells bad,' she transmitted with disgust. 'It's empty inside... but there is something flowing through it, like a cable....'
Lief stopped a meter from the sofa and looked down, returning the gaze to the buttons.
Three seconds of tense silence passed and sure enough, he could feel it.
It wasn't a physical gaze; it was a goosebumps sensation telling him that something, somewhere, was watching through those buttons.
Obviously the Witch.
Raising his left arm, the gauntlet, clinging to his forearm reacted: the red veins running through the black metal pulsed, like veins pumping blood, but he didn't touch the doll, he simply closed his fist firmly.
Zmmmm
A deep low-frequency hum saturated the air.
The floating dust particles froze in their tracks for a fraction of a second, before being violently repelled toward the walls.
The atmosphere cleared instantly, leaving the air cold.
At the same time, the sensation of omnipresent surveillance was cut off abruptly.
On the sofa, the doll suffered a violent spasm.
Its posture collapsed and it fell to the side, becoming what it really was: an inert heap of rags and stuffing. The shine of the buttons faded, leaving them dead and gray.
'What did you just do?' asked Airam.
'I cut the transmission,' replied Lief, lowering his arm. 'I just left her blind and deaf.'
He wanted to send a clear message: whoever had just entered her trap was not a victim, but a hunter.
"Coraline, focus," he asked out loud, breaking the girl's trance. "Where is the door?"
Snapping out of her stupor, Coraline pointed toward a corner.
"There! Behind the wallpaper!"
The three approached.
At first glance, it seemed like a normal wall, but looking closely, the details didn't fit.
The paper's pattern was less worn by time, and there was a rectangular outline where the pattern didn't align perfectly.
Extending his hand, Lief touched the textured surface, and applied his will.
The telekinesis acted like a claw.
RRRRRIP
The sound of the paper tearing was satisfying.
Lief made a sharp backward gesture with his wrist and a whole section of the wallpaper was violently ripped from the wall.
Revealing a small wooden door, barely a meter high, which was embedded in the plaster.
It didn't have a knob, only a rusted keyhole that looked like a mouth waiting to be fed.
"I don't have the key," whispered Coraline. "The first time I had to follow the mice to..."
'No need.'
Interrupting her, Lief placed his index finger over the keyhole, but didn't push. He simply projected his will through the metal.
Clack
The lock's internal mechanisms were forced to turn by telekinesis.
The small wooden door groaned and opened outward, revealing not a brick wall, but a tubular passageway that seemed to extend toward infinity.
And it wasn't dark.
The tunnel pulsed with a bioluminescence in violet and blue tones, and a current of warm air escaped from inside, bringing with it a delicious aroma, the aroma of roast chicken with rosemary, fresh-baked cream cakes and hot chocolate.
'We have to go in...'
'I'll go first. Stay glued to my back,' ordered Lief.
Without hesitation, he crouched down and entered the mouth of the tunnel.
As soon as his hand touched the texture of the tunnel, disgust invaded him.
To the touch, they felt soft, warm, and slightly elastic, like the interior of a living organism.
!
But the instant he crossed, he felt something else.
He felt a mental prick. Something was trying to read him, to scan his desires and fears.
But for someone with his resistance, that prick was pathetic.
Airam entered second, running her fingers along the pulsating walls with a morbid fascination.
'Ugh... this is alive,' she transmitted, feeling the vibration under her fingertips.
Coraline entered last, clinging to Airam's T-shirt.
The journey was short and claustrophobic.
After advancing about ten meters on all fours through this pulsating throat, the exit appeared in front of them, bathed in a golden and welcoming light.
Lief exited the tunnel and stood up.
The cold air and the smell of dust from the abandoned house disappeared instantly, replaced by a perfect homey warmth.
They were in the same living room.
The architecture was identical, the windows were in the same place, but reality had been retouched with a filter of saturated perfection.
Crack... Pop...
In the fireplace, a cheerful fire crackled with a comforting sound.
The walls no longer had moisture stains; they were covered with impeccable wallpaper and decorated with vibrant paintings where the painted fruits looked so juicy that they made one want to bite the canvas.
The wooden floor shone, polished to a mirror finish, and covered by thick rugs.
On the coffee table, a glass vase held fresh flowers that didn't show a single withered petal.
Everything was perfect... Too perfect.
Except for the figure in the open kitchen.
A small woman, dressed in a turtleneck sweater and an impeccable apron, had her back to them while she worked in front of the stove.
She hummed a sweet and catchy melody while moving a frying pan, and the sound of food cooking filled the silence.
Sssssss...
The woman's humming stopped upon hearing the sound of their footsteps. She placed the ladle on the countertop and turned around slowly.
On her face was an immeasurably sweet smile, the quintessence of maternal tenderness, capable of melting any child's heart.
"Oh, my sweet Coraline," said the Other Mother, approaching slowly. "Mom was worried about you. I thought you had gotten angry and wouldn't come back. And look, you've even brought new friends to eat!"
Only then, Lief and Airam could see her clearly.
The face was kind, with soft cheekbones and slightly rosy cheeks. But where the eyes should be, there were two huge buttons.
Two opaque discs, without iris or soul, reflected the figures of Lief, Airam and Coraline.
The Other Mother stopped in front of Coraline and opened her arms, ready for a welcome hug designed to trap.
"And you two," her gaze directed toward Lief and Airam, and the smile widened even more. "Welcome to our sweet home. Dinner will be ready right away. I have prepared for you the most abundant banquet!"
The effusiveness of her tenderness clashed violently with the dead blackness of her eyes, creating a palpable dissonance that screamed DANGER.
Coraline let out a small whimper of fear and shrank behind Airam, clinging to her T-shirt tightly.
Airam positioned herself like a shield, her muscles prepared to attack at any instant.
Only Lief maintained an expression of calm, taking a step forward, looking directly into the button eyes.
'This is much creepier in person,' he thought feeling a chill.
"Hello ma'am" he said out loud downplaying the welcome. "We came through the door, and yes, we are hungry. We hope the cook lives up to the reputation of this house."
________
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