- After a while, the other mother comes into the mirror room, looking much better. She picks up Coraline as if she's a little girl and carries her into the kitchen, putting her down on the counter top.
- The other mother tries to play nice (she even fixes her a delicious breakfast), but Coraline still isn't buying it.
- Coraline challenges the other mother, suggesting that they play a game.
- If Coraline loses she'll stay in the other world forever and be the other mother's daughter. But if Coraline wins, the other mother has to let Coraline, her parents, and the other three children go.
- The other mother agrees. Excellent.
- Coraline says they can play a finding-things game, where she'll find her parents and the souls of the other children.
- The other mother agrees again.
- Our heroine eats the breakfast the other mother made. We can't blame her, she's starving.
- Before starting the game, she makes the other mother swear to play fair. The other mother swears on her mother's grave and then on her right hand. Naturally.
- Coraline starts to explore the kitchen, looking for clues.
- The other mother refuses to give Coraline any hints and then she just disappears, which kind of freaks Coraline out.
- Coraline wanders back to the hall mirror, holding the stone with the hole in it. Interesting: the stone looks green in the mirror, and there's a green trail coming out of Coraline's room.
- She follows the color to her room and starts to go through her toys.
- Just then, she remembers what the kids said in the mirror room: look through the stone.
- She looks through the hole in the stone and suddenly, the whole world changes: everything suddenly appears gray and flat, like a sketch.
- But there's one spot of color in the room.
- Coraline goes to it and picks it up: it looks like a red marble. But wait, it's the soul of the little boy! It speaks, and tells Coraline to hurry on and find the others.
- Coraline feels newly determined: she changes back into her pajamas and puts the marble in her pocket.
- When she steps outside her room, there's a vicious, cold wind blowing.
- Coraline shouts for her other mother to play fair and (ta-da!) the wind stops.
- She goes outside and heads over to Miss Spink and Miss Forcible's place, which is dark and abandoned. The dogs now look like bats and are all hanging from the ceiling.
- With hope in her heart, she looks through the stone and tries to find something that might be a soul.
- She sees something bright, the size of a marble, inside a weird gray blob. Not too specific, we know.
- Coraline goes up to it and sees that it's like a cocoon with two squashed figures inside; one of the figures is holding the marble-soul.
- Coraline is terrified, but she reaches inside the cocoon and manages to grab the marble. Slowly, the creature's fingers pry loose and Coraline gets the marble out.
- She notices that the faces of the two figures resemble Miss Spink and Miss Forcible.
- Weird. And gross. Run for it, Coraline.
- Miss Spink and Miss Forcible wake up and start yelling "thief." Then the dog-bats wake up and start flying around at Coraline.
- She hears a girl's voice in her head now, telling her to run.
- And run she does.