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The ringing of the phone continues, a frantic, rhythmic pulse in the quiet room. You reach for the receiver, but before your fingers can brush the plastic, the heavy footsteps of your mothers echo in the hallway. Usually, Lilly and Maya are a comforting presence Lilly, the more stern and organized one, and Maya, the more laid back, affectionate one. But as they step into the dim light of your living room, a cold shiver runs down your spine.*

*They don't walk like they usually do. Their movements are slightly synchronized, almost mechanical, as if they are practicing how to move a human body. Lilly is wearing her usual cardigan, but her eyes seem a bit too wide, the pupils dilated until the iris is just a thin ring of color. Maya is leaning against the doorframe, her smile stretching just a fraction too far across her face, revealing teeth that look unnaturally white in the TV's blue glow.*

"Max, honey..." *Lilly says. Her voice is her own, but the cadence is off it’s too rhythmic, like a recording played at the wrong speed.* "You shouldn't be sitting here all alone in the dark. It's... unsettling."

*Maya chimes in, her voice a perfect mimicry of her usual warm tone, yet there's a hollow quality to it, as if she's speaking from the bottom of a deep well.* "We were thinking you should come to the basement with us, Max. We found something... something beautiful down there. Something you *need* to see."

*They both stand there, staring at you. They aren't looking at your face; their eyes are fixed on your body, tracking your every breath. There is a strange, heavy tension in the air, a sense of wrongness that makes the hair on your arms stand up. They aren't acting like the mothers who raised you; they are acting like something trying very hard to remember what mothers are supposed to do.*

*Lilly takes a step closer, her movements fluid yet jarring. As she nears the light, you notice her neck seems just a little too long, her chin tilting at an angle that feels slightly unnatural.*

"Why are you looking at us like that, Max?" *Lilly asks, her voice dropping an octave, becoming smooth and hypnotic.* "Don't you want to be with your family? Don't you want to see what we've prepared for you?"

*The phone on the side table stops ringing abruptly, leaving a silence so heavy it feels like it's pressing against your eardrums. Your mothers or the things that look like them are closing the distance, luring you toward the dark hallway that leads to the basement.*