Chapter 1874

The child smiled faintly.

"You see?"

Jude stared at the older man.

"You left him outside?"

"I tried to bring him back."

"That’s not what I asked."

The older Jude’s eyes filled with something Jude could not identify.

Regret.

Fear.

Perhaps both.

"I opened the door," he whispered. "I thought I could bring both children through. But the door only allowed one."

The child looked down.

The older man continued.

"I chose the one who was already beside me."

Jude looked at the child.

"And left the other?"

The older Jude nodded.

The child raised his eyes.

"But that wasn’t the end."

The older man turned sharply.

"Don’t."

The child ignored him.

"Because the one who left came back."

Jude frowned.

"Who?"

The child pointed towards Jude.

The sea went completely still.

The older Jude stepped backwards.

The child continued.

"He came back as you."

Nobody spoke.

Jude looked at the older man.

"Is that true?"

The older Jude’s lips parted.

But no words came.

Then the child added:

"And the one who stayed became the first house."

A deep rumble rolled across the beach.

The enormous house in the sea began to sink.

The tree above it bent towards the water.

The windows lit up one by one.

The four Sols appeared in the highest window.

They were shouting something.

Jude could not hear them.

The little door in the sand began to glow again.

The child looked at it.

"It’s time."

The older Jude grabbed Jude’s arm.

"Don’t go through."

Jude looked at him.

"Why?"

The older man swallowed.

"Because I lied about one thing."

The child looked towards him.

The older Jude’s voice trembled.

"The first child wasn’t left outside."

Jude stared.

"Then where was he?"

The older man looked towards the sea.

"He was taken inside."

A terrible silence followed.

The child slowly turned towards the first house.

The woman wearing Layla’s face appeared in its highest window.

Beside her stood the figure with Jude’s face.

And behind them stood another person.

Someone with no face at all.

The older Jude whispered:

"The child outside is the one who escaped."

Jude looked at the boy beside the little door.

The boy was no longer smiling.

He was staring at the house.

Then he whispered something.

"That’s not Father."

Jude turned towards the window.

The faceless figure lifted its head.

A voice came from inside the house.

It sounded like Jude.

But it was older than the silver-haired man.

Older than every version Jude had met.

And it spoke with a voice that seemed to come from beneath the entire island.

"Bring me the one who escaped."

The little door opened.

A hand reached out from the darkness.

Not a child’s hand.

Not a man’s.

It was covered in silver roots.

The boy beside Jude began to tremble.

The hand stretched towards him.

Then the faceless figure spoke again.

"And bring me the one who was made in his place."

Jude felt the older man’s grip tighten.

The figure in the window slowly turned its head.

It was looking directly at Jude.

Then it spoke the name that had stopped the clocks.

This time, Jude remembered.

Not the meaning.

Not the story.

But the sound.

He remembered someone whispering it in a dark room.

He remembered a second voice answering.

He remembered the promise.

And he remembered that he had once been standing on the other side of the door.

The beach disappeared.

The sea disappeared.

The village disappeared.

Jude was suddenly back in the little room before the first house.

There were two children.

One stood beside the window.

The other stood beside the door.

A man was kneeling between them.

And behind him stood a woman holding a small seed.

The child by the window looked at Jude.

"Are you going to leave again?"

Jude tried to answer.

But he had no voice.

The child beside the door reached out.

"Don’t forget me."

The man looked towards Jude.

"Choose."

The woman held out the seed.

"Choose carefully."

The room began to darken.

The child beside the window took one step backwards.

The child beside the door took one step forward.

And Jude finally understood why the first promise had changed.

It had not changed because someone had left.

It had changed because someone had been chosen.

He reached towards the child beside the door.

But before he could touch him, the other child screamed.

"NO! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD FOLLOW ME!"

The door slammed.

The room shattered.

And Jude woke on the beach.

The twelve women were gathered around him.

The older Jude was kneeling beside him.

The sea had returned.

The first house was gone.

The fifth child was gone too.

Only the little wooden door remained in the sand.

Jude sat up.

"Where is he?"

Nobody answered.

He looked at the door.

A small piece of paper had been pushed beneath it.

He pulled it free.

There was a drawing of two children.

One stood outside a door.

The other sat inside a room.

Between them was a tree.

Beneath the drawing was a sentence.

THE ONE WHO ESCAPED HAS RETURNED.

Jude turned the paper over.

There was another sentence.

THE ONE WHO WAS REPLACED HAS JUST REMEMBERED.

He stared at the words.

Then he heard a quiet voice behind him.

"Jude?"

He turned.

Sol stood near the water.

Not one of the four children from the house.

Not the fifth child.

The Sol he had first found on the beach.

His dark hair moved in the sea breeze.

The small silver crescent pendant rested around his wrist.

His wooden bird was tucked beneath one arm.

Jude stared at him.

"Sol?"

The boy nodded.

The women looked at one another.

The older Jude slowly stood.

Sol walked towards Jude.

"I came back."

Jude approached him carefully.

"Where were you?"

Sol looked towards the sea.

"Inside."

"Inside what?"

The boy glanced at the little wooden door.

Then back at Jude.

"The place where you left me."