<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #00BFFF">David</span></span></div><br/><br/>They stood there for a moment, David and The Caretaker, watching Tessa disappear behind a very intricately crafted door. When it closed, there was an odd sound, like what an airlock mind sound like, only very soft and subtle – barely perceptible. He kept looking at the door, fearful to look anywhere else. It felt strange to be alone. The silence seemed to come in waves, deepening and relaxing in regular intervals. Like feeling your heart pump blood through your brain. <br/><br/>Would he ever see Tessa again? Were they now being separated and beguiled into believing they were safe only to be pounced on by scientists or aliens – alien scientists. David didn’t even have the energy to pursue his fears any farther, his imagination was riding on thin ice. Time felt so odd here. It was like he could feel it passing, like the tic of a clock, only the clock seemed to be somewhere inside him, somewhere he couldn’t pinpoint. Maybe, if he was being dramatic, he’d describe the sensation as residing in his soul. <br/><br/>When he turned to look at The Caretaker, he briefly wondered if he would see those thing silver and gold threads he had seen when they had first met him. But there was nothing. Only the old man, watching him. <br/><br/>“Monsieur de Clermont,” The Caretaker smiled and gestured for them to continue down the hall. “I assure you that Miss Green will be fine.” David resisted a look back at the door they had just left. “The doors you see here before you are quite special,” he almost sounded wistful, “there is a great story, or two,” he chuckled, “behind each door. But, of course, we will discuss more of this when you are both well rested and have had time to process the events of this evening.” They seemed to walk for quite a while and David wondered how on earth a hallway could be so long. “Here we are,” The Caretaker finally stopped and David was so out of it that he nearly kept going. <br/><br/>The Caretaker again took some time to rummage through his things to find the right key, though David had no idea how he could fit what had to be millions of keys on his person. In fact, he was sure it was quite impossible. As the man looked for the key, David studied the door. It was odd, similar to one of the doors he had seen in the earlier hall they had passed – a solid block of silver with no handle. Except this door seemed to be made of nothing he would imagine doors to be made of. Instead of wood or metal, the door seemed to be made of ice. <br/><br/>“Um,” David said, with a skeptical tone, “how exactly am I supposed to get in? There’s no key lock.” <br/><br/>“Here we are,” The caretaker produced a tiny silver whistle and handed it to David, who just held it in front of him. “Ah,” The Caretaker said, realizing that David was stuck, “I believe the objective is to whistle into the key to activate the process. It is, of course, only linked to you so be assured no one else can whistle their way in,” The Caretaker smiled as if he had just made a joke. <br/><br/>The silver whistle was the size of his finger, but thin. It had a small hole near the top and two holes at either end. David wasn’t sure what whistling would do but he gave it a shot. <br/><br/>“Before you do, simply think of what combination of sounds you might want to use. The sounds should come to you,” The Caretaker said. <br/><br/>David put the tip of the whistle into his mouth and breathed air into it. The sound that came out was beautiful. It was the most beautiful music he had ever heard. The notes when from high to low, to high, to higher, to high, to low, to high – when he noticed movement he stopped. The ice was turning into vapor. Then, all that was left of the door was a soft mist. <br/><br/>“I’ll come for you in the morning,” The Caretaker looked back towards Tessa’s door a long way away, “I’ll see about enticing the house to make your room a bit closer, hopefully it’ll be amenable to that suggestion. Otherwise you’ll both just have to get really good exercise.” He smiled and gestured for David to walk through. <br/><br/>David felt the cool mist on his face as he passed. It was calming and comforting. When he was completely past it, he saw that the mist began to solidify. The he could feel the coolness of the ice, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable cold. When he looked at his room, it was exactly like his room in Montchouette, his family home in the mountains where there is always snow – and where he spent the year with his mom. He felt a little sad remembering that time, but also happy to have that memory. He would enjoy the sound of the fireplace crackling and looking at the mountains. The entrance to the lavish bathroom was to his left, and the closet was positioned in the hallway leading to the bathroom. The fireplace, which wasn’t in the original room, was crackling across from his bed. Beyond at the opposite end of the room, he could see an enormous window that stood in place of a wall and he could see mountains with snow tops in the distance, though it was too dark to see much. He looked down at the key, wondering where to put it. He suddenly noticed a silver chain inlaid with tiny diamonds that sparked in the firelight. He wasn’t sure if it had been there before, maybe he hadn’t noticed it. He hung the key/whistle around his neck. In this room, he finally seemed to relax his shoulders. They were tense from the events of the evening and he suddenly felt more tired than he’d ever felt in his life. He decided he would explore more in the morning. He took off his shirt and pants, opting to sleep in his underwear – which some might consider an odd choice considering the big block of ice he had for a door. The bed was so comfortable, that after he snuggled under the blankets, giving one last sad thought to where John might be, he fell asleep.</div>