The Door

Chapter Eleven

I woke up hungry, miserable and stiff – but warm. Someone had started a small campfire near me. I pushed myself up groggily and peered through swollen eyes at my world. The sun rested on the eastern horizon, and the smell of burning wood was in the air.

I twisted to see the house, and my hope plummeted to the ground.

It hadn't rebuilt itself, though it no longer gave off any smoke. Everything was ash and charred wood, a pile of black, except ... the front door. It stood in all its glory, the worn, wood planks in their frame as if no fire had raged for two days around it.

Frowning, I blinked rapidly as I stood, uncertain I was seeing this right. How did the front door survive when the rest of the house was in ashes?

"Hungry?" Carey's voice came from the direction of the shed.

I turned to face him. He had built a lean-to out of the extra wood left over from my days chopping tree trunks.

"Starving," I replied and started towards him.

He smiled and beckoned me over to the makeshift shelter. "Bagels," he said with a sheepish grin. "Kinda plain but I have tons of them."

I said nothing and knelt, reaching for one without bothering to thank him. I ate three of the huge bagels before the hunger was gone and then downed the liter bottle of water he offered me.

Carey said nothing until I was finished, and I lowered the empty bottle. "So ... how's life?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I don't even know."

"You went to Komandi?"

I nodded.

"Cold, isn't it?"

"Very. Ice worms, dinosaurs and igloos ... that happened, didn't it?" I studied him. "I'm not going crazy?"

"No, you're not. I hate visiting Komandi, too. Not a fan of the cold."

"I'd be more concerned about the dinosaurs," I retorted.

He laughed. "On Komandi, there are few predators. The planet is overrun with herbivores. It's where we go to hunt."

I shook my head, not caring what kind of dinosaurs they were. My gaze went to the pile of rubble left over from the house. "It's really gone, isn't it?" I asked, saddened.

"It is," he confirmed. "But that doesn't mean you aren't meant to be a Caretaker. We each build our own home."

I considered the idea with a frown. I could continue to live this bizarre life, dealing with aliens, or I could go home, serve my time and live a semi-normal life. I could pretend this insanity never happened.

But I'd never see Teyan again, if I did that.

Did it matter? It wasn't like I could live in a world with monsters, and Teyan was clearly determined to save his world from monsters. He wasn't going to leave his people to stay with me. Where did that leave me?

My stomach sinking, I found myself reaching for the locket that was no longer there.

"How 'bout it?" Carey asked. "You ready to become one of us?"

I gazed at the door, the only part of the house left standing. "I need to think about it," I replied.

"Sure. The Caretaker chose you to succeed her. You have all the time in the world to decide."

"Thanks." I was a horrible person to begrudge an old lady who died in her sleep but I did. Restless, troubled by the idea I'd never see Teyan again, I stood. "I'm going to walk around and see if my phone charger happened to survive."