There are keys to many doors—
Keys to treasure vaults hidden in ancient tombs…
Keys to forgotten cities swallowed by time…
Keys that unlock memories long buried, and wounds still fresh.
And then…
There are the keys that defy logic.
Keys that twist reality.
Keys that open the gates to other worlds.
I am Nick.
And I have those keys.
Since I was a child, I've been slipping between realities—
Crossing into places no map could ever chart.
Some beautiful.
Some terrifying.
Some so strange, they haunt my dreams even when I'm awake.
But no one knows that.
No one but my mother ever did.
She was the only person I trusted—the only one who truly saw me.
She never treated me like I was broken or cursed.
To her, I wasn't weird. I was special.
She called me her little "Guardian of Doors."
But when I was eight… she died.
And with her, the only light I had left in the world vanished.
My father?
Gone before I could ever remember his face.
And after Mom passed, I was sent to live with my aunt, Muriel.
She tries her best. She really does.
But we don't talk much.
Not about the past.
And definitely not about the keys.
I keep them hidden.
Just like I hide myself.
At school, I'm the quiet one.
The one who sits in the back.
Never raises his hand.
Never lets anyone close.
Because what would I say?
"Hey, wanna hang out after class? Maybe jump through a portal to a floating city made of crystal and fire?"
Yeah. No thanks.
People don't like things they can't understand.
They call them names.
Or worse—monsters.
So, I've stayed in the shadows.
Alone.
Until her.
Her name is Amber.
She's got this calm energy about her, like a breeze before a storm.
Jet-black hair like mine, eyes that always seem like they're searching for something more.
She sits two rows ahead of me in English.
And lately… she keeps glancing back.
Like she knows I'm not just another loner.
Like she feels something about me.
At first, I thought it was just a fluke.
But it keeps happening.
Day after day.
And for the first time in years, I feel something strange in my chest.
Hope.
Could I actually let someone in?
After all this time—after everything I've seen, everything I've lost…
Is it possible to have a friend?
Maybe more?
But then, the fear creeps back in.
What if she thinks I'm crazy?
What if she runs away?
Because being Keybound isn't some fairy tale.
It's not all magic and wonder.
It's dangerous.
It's lonely.
And it's my burden.
But sometimes, late at night, when I hold one of my mother's old keys in my hand and stare into the glowing shimmer of another world through a half-open door…
I wonder.
Maybe this power wasn't meant to be hidden.
Maybe I wasn't meant to be alone.
And maybe… just maybe…
Amber is the key to something I've been missing all this time.
A reason to stay.
A reason to trust.
A reason to believe that some doors…
Are worth opening.
Even if they lead to the unknown.