Chapter 1839

The staircase began extending downwards.

One step.

Then another.

Then another.

Until it disappeared into the darkness.

At the bottom, a faint light appeared.

A warm golden light.

And a voice called from below.

"Jude?"

It was his own voice.

But younger.

Much younger.

The voice spoke again.

"Come down. I’ve been waiting."

The older Jude stepped in front of the staircase.

"No one goes down there."

Jude looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because the person calling you is not the person you think."

"Who is it?"

The older man stared into the darkness.

Then he whispered:

"The first Jude."

A silence fell.

Sophie looked confused.

"First Jude?"

The older man nodded.

"The one who made the promise."

Jude stared at the staircase.

"Then who am I?"

The older Jude looked at him.

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then he answered.

"You are the one who was created to keep it."

The first Sol suddenly grabbed Jude’s hand.

"Don’t go down."

Jude looked at him.

"Why?"

The boy’s eyes were fixed on the darkness.

"Because if you meet him..."

He swallowed.

"...he will ask you to give me back."

A soft laugh floated up from below.

Then the younger voice spoke again.

"Not just the child, Jude."

A pause.

"Bring me the twelve promises too."

Every chair in the chamber turned towards the staircase.

And from the darkness beneath the first house, twelve familiar voices began calling Jude’s name.

The twelve voices rose together from the darkness.

"Jude..."

"Come down..."

"We’re waiting..."

"Please..."

Jude stood at the top of the staircase, staring into the golden light below. He recognised every voice. Susan’s gentle tone, Rose’s quiet insistence, Serena’s familiar impatience, Layla’s softness, Natalie’s warmth, Zoey’s playful voice, Lucy’s calmness, Stella’s laughter, Emma’s sweetness, Grace’s careful words, Sophie’s measured voice and Scarlet’s unmistakable way of saying his name.

They were not merely similar.

They were perfect.

Even the little pauses between their words were familiar.

"Jude," Serena called again. "We found something."

Jude looked towards the real Serena standing beside Sophie.

She had heard it too.

Her face had gone pale.

"That’s not me," she whispered.

The voice below answered immediately.

"Of course it’s you."

Serena took a step backwards.

Jude looked at the staircase.

"What do you want?"

The younger voice laughed.

"Only what you promised."

"I haven’t promised you anything."

"Not yet."

The golden light at the bottom grew brighter.

A faint breeze travelled up the staircase, carrying the smell of fresh flowers and warm bread. It was the same smell that filled their shared house every morning when Natalie and Emma prepared breakfast.

Jude felt an unexpected longing for home.

The older Jude noticed.

"Don’t let the smell fool you."

Jude looked at him.

"What is down there?"

"The room where the first promise was made."

"And what is the first promise?"

The older man glanced at Sol.

"To bring back everything that was lost."

Jude tightened his grip on the boy’s hand.

"Then why does it want the twelve women?"

"Because the promise cannot be completed without them."

Sophie looked at the chairs.

"Are those the twelve promises?"

The older Jude nodded.

"They are not simply names. They are connections. Each chair represents something that was given when the island was formed."

"Given by whom?" Scarlet asked.

"By the people who wanted the world to survive."

Layla looked at her own chair.

"And what happens if we sit in them?"

The older man hesitated.

"Then the first house will remember you completely."

Jude frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"It means it will no longer need to imitate you."

The words settled over the chamber.

Lucy looked towards the staircase.

"So it can make copies of people?"

The older Jude shook his head.

"Not copies. Memories. It takes what it remembers about someone and gives that memory a shape."

Sophie slowly looked at Jude.

"Like the other Layla."

"Yes."

Layla’s fingers tightened around her sleeves.

"So somewhere in this house, there’s a memory of me walking around?"

"Perhaps."

"Can it think?"

The older Jude looked at the pool.

"It can believe it thinks."

Nobody seemed satisfied with that answer.

Natalie approached Jude.

"Then we shouldn’t stay here."

"I agree."

"We need to get back to the village."

Jude nodded.

But before anyone could move, the voice below spoke again.

"Jude, don’t leave them standing there."

The golden light flickered.

A new image appeared at the bottom of the staircase.

A dining table.

Thirteen plates.

A familiar wooden tablecloth.

And twelve women sitting around it.

They were all smiling.

The first woman raised her head.

"Jude, dinner is getting cold."

Natalie looked at the image.

"That’s ridiculous."

The second woman lifted a cup.

"Come and sit."

The third smiled.

"There’s a place for you."

The fourth turned towards the empty chair.

"And one for the child."

Sol suddenly hid behind Jude.

The older man stepped forward.

"Close the staircase."

"How?" Jude asked.

"Take the key."

Layla looked down.

The wooden key was still lying beside the opening.

She reached towards it.

But the moment her fingers touched the handle, the staircase trembled.

A gust of air burst upwards.

The voices below stopped.

For one terrible moment, everything became silent.

Then the twelve women in the image stood up.

All at once.

They pushed their chairs backwards and began walking towards the staircase.

Jude grabbed the key.

The golden light went out.

The staircase began folding inward.

"Everyone back!" the older Jude shouted.

The women hurried towards the passage.

Jude pulled Sol after them, but the boy stopped.

He was staring at the darkness.

"Sol!"

"Wait."

"There’s nothing down there."

The boy shook his head.

"Someone is crying."

Jude listened.

A faint sob came from beneath the floor.

Not the voices of the twelve women.

A child’s sob.

"Please..."

Sol’s face changed.

"That’s him."

"Your brother?"

The boy nodded.

The older Jude rushed towards them.

"Do not listen!"

But Sol was already moving.

He slipped from Jude’s grasp and ran down the first two steps.