Chapter 1857

Jude felt a strange pressure behind his eyes.

The memory of the two boys in the little room seemed to grow clearer.

One had stood beside the window.

The other had sat on the bed.

One had wanted to leave.

The other had been afraid.

"Which one were you?" Jude asked.

The child smiled sadly.

"I was the one who asked you not to go."

A crack travelled across the window.

The darkness outside rippled.

Then something moved beyond the island.

Jude leaned closer.

At first, he thought it was a cloud.

Then he saw the shape of a hand.

An enormous hand, made from the same darkness surrounding the island, stretched towards the tree.

Its fingers were longer than the northern mountain.

They moved slowly, feeling their way through the silver sea.

The child stepped away from the window.

"It’s coming."

"What is?"

"The thing that was outside."

Jude looked at him.

"You mean the thing you were afraid of?"

The child nodded.

"Why?"

"Because it wanted to come inside."

The enormous hand touched the edge of the island.

Every root trembled.

The northern mountain split with a sound like a thousand doors opening at once.

A blue light erupted from its depths.

Jude saw something beneath the mountain.

A chamber.

Then another.

Then another.

An endless sequence of rooms, descending through the roots of the tree.

At the very bottom was a small circular space.

Inside it stood a cradle.

The third Sol was there.

He was sitting upright, looking towards the window.

And beside him stood the silver-haired older Jude.

The older man raised his head.

Even from that impossible distance, Jude could see his expression.

He was terrified.

He lifted one hand and pointed towards the darkness beyond the island.

Then he mouthed something.

Jude couldn’t hear him.

But he understood the words.

It remembers us.

The enormous hand tightened around the island.

The little room shook.

The child beside the window suddenly grabbed Jude’s sleeve.

"Close it!"

Jude rushed towards the frame.

He tried to pull it shut, but the wooden edges had begun to stretch. Silver roots were growing through the hinges, twisting around the frame.

"Help me!"

The child pushed with both hands.

The window moved an inch.

Then stopped.

A voice came from outside.

It was not the voice of a man or a woman.

It was the sound of countless voices speaking together, so softly that Jude could barely distinguish the words.

"Little one."

The child froze.

The voice spoke again.

"You have grown."

Jude looked at the child.

"Don’t listen."

But the child was staring outside.

The enormous hand slowly opened.

Something appeared in its palm.

A small wooden room.

The same room.

The same bed.

The same table.

The same window.

And two children sitting inside.

Jude stared.

He was looking at another version of the room.

From the outside.

The two children were arguing.

One was standing beside the window.

The other was sitting on the bed.

The child beside Jude whispered, "No."

The scene in the enormous hand changed.

The two children were now standing beneath the tree.

One held a wooden bird.

The other held a seed.

The child with the seed was crying.

The one with the bird was trying to comfort him.

Then the scene changed again.

The two children were gone.

In their place stood the first house.

The enormous voice spoke.

"Give me the one who stayed."

The child beside Jude stepped backwards.

Jude moved in front of him.

"No."

The voice seemed to consider the answer.

Then it spoke again.

"Give me the one who left."

Jude felt the child’s fingers tighten around his sleeve.

"No," Jude repeated.

The enormous hand moved closer.

"Then give me the one who remembers."

A sudden flash of silver light filled the room.

The window slammed shut.

The child fell backwards.

Jude caught him.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then the child looked up.

"You shouldn’t have answered."

"Would you rather I gave you to it?"

The child lowered his eyes.

"No."

"Then stop telling me what I shouldn’t do."

The child almost smiled.

But the expression disappeared quickly.

A knock sounded from the door.

Jude turned.

The door had not been there before.

It was a simple wooden door, with no handle and no markings.

Three knocks came from the other side.

Then a familiar voice spoke.

"Jude?"

Susan.

Jude rushed towards it.

The child grabbed his arm.

"Wait."

"It’s Susan."

"Maybe."

Jude turned.

"Are you going to say that every time I hear someone I love?"

The child looked towards the door.

"No."

"Then let me open it."

The child hesitated.

Then he stepped aside.

Jude placed his hand against the door.

It was warm.

He opened it.

On the other side stood Susan, Rose, Serena, Layla, Natalie, Zoey, Lucy, Stella, Emma, Grace, Sophie and Scarlet.

All twelve were together.

They looked exhausted, but unharmed.

Susan stepped forward.

"Jude!"

She embraced him.

For a moment, Jude closed his eyes.

The familiar warmth, the sound of her voice, the sight of the others gathered behind her—it was enough to make the impossible events of the last few moments feel distant.

Then Susan pulled away.

"What happened?"

Jude looked at the child beside him.

"It’s a long story."

Rose glanced into the room.

"Who’s that?"

The child lowered his head.

"Sol."

The women exchanged glances.

Natalie stepped closer.

"Which Sol?"

The child looked up.

"I’m Sol."

Scarlet studied him.

"You look different."

The child touched his hair.

"Do I?"

"Not your appearance," she said. "Something else."

Sophie looked around the room.

"Where are we?"

Jude turned towards the window.

"The room before the first house."

Serena’s expression changed.

"You found it?"

"I think it found me."

Layla stepped inside.

Her eyes immediately settled on the child.

"Have we met?"

The boy stared at her.

Then he nodded.

"Before."

Layla frowned.

"Before what?"

"Before you were Layla."

A silence fell.

Jude looked towards the woman.

"Do you remember anything?"