Chapter 1834

Jude closed the book.

He turned towards the older Jude.

"Why?"

The older man looked at him.

"Because the child was the only one who could open the fourteenth door."

"And what is behind it?"

The older man looked towards Sol.

"Everything we lost."

A loud cracking sound came from the corridor.

The walls began to split.

Silver roots emerged through the wooden boards, twisting around the pictures.

The women cried out.

Jude rushed towards the doorway.

"What is happening?"

The older Jude looked at the ceiling.

"The house has heard us."

A bell rang from beneath the floor.

Then another.

The fourteenth door began opening wider.

Sol suddenly ran towards it.

"NO!"

Jude lunged and caught him around the waist.

The boy struggled.

"Let me go!"

"Sol, stop!"

"I have to!"

"You don’t have to do anything!"

The boy turned towards him.

His eyes were filled with tears.

"It’s calling me."

Jude tightened his hold.

"Then let it call."

Sol shook his head.

"You don’t understand."

"Then explain it!"

The boy opened his mouth.

For a moment, he seemed ready to speak.

Then the older Jude shouted.

"DON’T SAY IT!"

A silver light burst from the fourteenth door.

The entire room vanished.

Jude found himself standing on the beach.

The sea was calm.

The sky was grey.

The sand was untouched.

And beside the water stood a little boy.

Sol.

But this time, he wasn’t wearing the clothes Jude had found him in.

He wore a simple white shirt and dark trousers.

The silver crescent pendant hung around his wrist.

Jude looked around.

There was no forest.

No mountain.

No village.

Only the beach.

A second figure stood beside Sol.

A man.

Jude.

Not the older version.

Not the present one.

The younger version from the drawing.

He was kneeling in the sand, holding the boy’s hands.

Jude couldn’t hear their words at first.

Then the wind changed.

And the voices reached him.

"Will you come back?" the child asked.

The younger Jude nodded.

"I promise."

"When?"

"When the door opens."

The child looked towards the sea.

"What if it opens before you come?"

The younger Jude hesitated.

Then he placed the silver crescent around the child’s wrist.

"Then you must not remember your name."

The boy looked up.

"Why?"

"Because if you remember, they will find you."

"Who?"

The younger Jude looked towards the northern mountain.

"The ones who were waiting before the island existed."

The child swallowed.

"Will they hurt you?"

The younger Jude smiled sadly.

"No."

"Will they hurt me?"

The man didn’t answer.

The child began crying.

The younger Jude pulled him into an embrace.

"Listen to me. Whatever happens, you must find me. But you must never open the door alone."

The boy nodded.

Then the younger Jude stood.

He walked towards the sea.

And disappeared beneath the waves.

Jude watched in horror.

The child remained on the beach.

Alone.

He waited.

The sun moved across the sky.

Then the moon.

Then the stars.

The child didn’t move.

He waited through rain.

Through storms.

Through countless days and nights.

Until finally, another figure appeared along the beach.

Jude.

The Jude who had found him.

The present Jude.

He walked towards the boy.

The child looked up.

And smiled.

Jude felt his chest tighten.

He remembered that moment.

The day he had found Sol.

The boy had been sitting near the water, holding the wooden bird.

But in the memory, something was different.

The child had not been surprised to see him.

He had been waiting.

The memory faded.

Jude was back inside the small room.

Sol stood in front of him.

The boy was crying quietly.

Jude looked at him.

"Is that what happened?"

Sol nodded.

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"I tried."

"When?"

"Every time I remembered something, the house took it away."

Jude lowered himself to the boy’s height.

"Then tell me now."

Sol looked at the open door.

"I don’t know my name."

Jude waited.

The boy wiped his face.

"I remember that I had one. I remember someone calling it. I remember hearing it beneath the tree."

"Who called you?"

Sol shook his head.

"I don’t know."

The older Jude appeared behind him.

"I do."

Jude stood.

"Then tell us."

The older man looked at the child.

His expression was filled with grief.

"His name was the first thing we buried."

A low vibration travelled through the room.

The silver crescent around Sol’s wrist began to turn.

Not rotate like a piece of jewellery.

It unfolded.

The curved silver metal opened into three thin pieces, each one extending into a different direction.

A small dark circle appeared at its centre.

The same symbol.

Three curved lines surrounding a point.

Sol stared at it.

Then he whispered:

"Father?"

The older Jude closed his eyes.

"Yes."

Sol looked up.

"Did you leave me?"

The older man didn’t answer.

"Did you promise to come back?"

Still nothing.

"Did you forget me?"

The older Jude’s face crumpled.

"Yes."

Sol lowered his head.

Jude moved towards him.

But before he could reach the boy, the fourteenth door slammed shut.

A tremendous bell rang.

The wooden room split open from ceiling to floor.

Beyond the crack was not the forest.

It was the northern mountain.

And beneath the mountain, Jude saw something that made every other mystery seem small.

A vast chamber.

A circular floor.

Thirteen enormous pillars arranged around a central platform.

Twelve pillars were connected by silver threads.

The thirteenth was broken.

At the centre of the platform stood a wooden cradle.

And inside it lay a small figure wrapped in pale cloth.

The older Jude stared.

"No..."

The first Sol stepped forward.

The boy’s face had gone completely still.

"That’s why I came back."

Jude looked at the cradle.

"What’s inside?"

Sol didn’t answer.

The silver crescent on his wrist unfolded completely.

The three pieces separated and floated before him.

The central point began glowing.

Then the figure inside the cradle moved.

A small hand emerged from beneath the pale cloth.