Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1058

Chapter 1058: Chapter 1058

The morning came with a brittle silence. Not the peaceful kind, but the kind that made the air feel heavy, like every tree and stone was waiting for someone to say what they were all thinking. The monster wasn’t just a passing hallucination anymore. They had all seen it. There was no more denying it, no more pretending that they were imagining the same nightmare. Still, no one spoke its name. No one gave it shape in words. Doing so would make it stronger, maybe even more real than it already was.

Jude was the first to rise, stretching beside Layla’s sleeping form. The fire had burned low in the night, casting soft embers against her face. She stirred when his fingers brushed her cheek. Her eyes opened slowly, and for a second, there was calm. But then it returned, the same unspoken dread darkening her gaze.

He kissed her forehead and murmured, "We need to figure this out."

She nodded without asking what he meant.

By the time the sun was rising over the treetops, everyone was gathering. They didn’t need a meeting. It was unspoken, today was a day of searching. They needed answers, direction, a reason. Something had changed, and it wasn’t just them. The island had shifted again, and whatever rules it once obeyed were breaking.

They split into three groups without much discussion. Jude went west with Rose and Zoey, aiming for the old hills they hadn’t explored in weeks. Natalie led a second team along the riverbank, with Serena and Sophie at her side. The third group, Susan, Layla, and Emma, took the southern trail where strange flowers had bloomed two days ago in unnatural colors. Grace, Lucy, and Scarlet stayed behind to secure camp, reinforcing the food stores and watching for any signs of the creature returning.

The westward path was steep and uneven, the moss thick underfoot and the air tasting faintly metallic. Zoey held her machete loose at her side, swiping through overgrown vines as they moved. Rose was quiet, her eyes constantly scanning the shadows. Jude kept to the front, but his thoughts raced too fast for him to be fully present.

"There’s something up there," Zoey finally said, her voice a low murmur. "Something we missed before."

Jude looked back. "The stone altar?"

"No," she replied, "deeper. Remember the hollow tree with the split bark?"

Rose stiffened slightly. "Yeah. We passed it just before the path turned into that shallow cave."

Jude nodded. "Then let’s go there."

The forest grew denser as they moved forward. Light pierced the canopy in thin, golden slices. Birds didn’t sing. Not even the bugs made noise. The deeper they went, the more it felt like stepping into a place the island itself wanted hidden.

They reached the hollow tree just before midday. Its bark was still split, but the wound had grown. Where before it had been a narrow line, now it looked like something had clawed it wider. Deep grooves curved around the opening like twisted ribs.

Zoey crouched, running her fingers over the marks. "Fresh," she whispered. "Last night or early morning."

Jude peered into the hollow. The space inside was deeper than he remembered. It led somewhere, down, maybe into the roots or a tunnel of some kind. A foul smell wafted out, sharp and musty.

Rose shivered. "Do we go in?"

Jude shook his head. "Not yet. I don’t want to split us any further. Let’s mark it and come back with the others."

Zoey etched a watchersign on a nearby stone, an old spiral meant to guide memory and attention, and they continued uphill. The path was rocky now, the trees older, bent inward as though whispering to each other.

Then the wind changed.

Rose stopped walking.

"Do you feel that?" she asked, her voice tight.

Jude felt it too, pressure, like a presence pressing against their backs. He turned around slowly.

And there it was again.

Across the clearing, standing just beyond the tree line, the thing was watching. Not moving. Not hiding.

It didn’t need to.

Its form was clearer now. Long, stretched limbs like branches twisted into something vaguely humanoid. Its surface flickered, like light struggling to reflect off smoke and wet stone. Its face, or the absence of one, seemed to pulse, like a void breathing in and out.

Zoey raised her machete. "What the hell do you want?" she hissed, though the fear in her voice betrayed her.

The thing didn’t respond. But Jude felt something, like a whisper, not in his ears but inside his thoughts. A presence brushing the corners of his mind.

It stepped forward once.

Rose gasped.

Jude grabbed her wrist. "Don’t run."

But it didn’t approach further. Instead, the moment Rose moved closer to Jude, it stopped. It tilted its head, if that was a head, and then turned away, vanishing back into the forest like mist.

The three of them stood frozen.

Zoey cursed softly. "It’s watching us. Learning us."

Jude exhaled shakily. "Let’s keep moving. We’re close to the waterfall. If there’s anything unusual there, we’ll know."

They followed the path without speaking, their eyes sharp and hearts pounding. The air near the waterfall always felt fresher, and now it felt like a sanctuary. A place the thing couldn’t reach.

The falls roared in the distance. As they crested the last hill, the clearing opened to the familiar sight, mist curling through the rocks, vines hanging like curtains, the water crashing down into the pool below. But something had changed.

The cliff wall to the left of the waterfall had split open.

Jude frowned. "That wasn’t there before."

Rose stepped closer. "It looks like something tore it apart."

They approached the new fissure. Inside, dark marks lined the stone, symbols etched deep into the rock. Not watcherscript. Older. Wilder. Jude reached out, fingers brushing one of the grooves.

The stone shuddered.

"Did you feel that?" he whispered.

Zoey’s eyes widened. "Yes."

Rose knelt by the entrance, her fingers tracing a set of curved lines. They pulsed faintly beneath her touch.

Jude looked back toward the trees. The wind had stilled again. The waterfall’s roar was suddenly distant, like an echo rather than a presence.

And then, in the corner of his vision, it appeared again.

Not behind them.

Above.

Jude looked up.

It stood on the far ledge, across the waterfall, gazing down from the stone arch high above the falls. Its form was still, but the mist moved around it, curling like fingers against its shape.

Rose saw it too.

She backed away from the fissure, eyes wide.

But her foot slipped on the mossy rock.

"Rose!" Jude lunged forward.

She stumbled, arms windmilling.

The monster didn’t move.

Zoey screamed her name.

Jude reached out, fingers grazing hers.

But it was too late.

Rose fell over the edge.

Her body vanished into the mist and spray below, the sound of the waterfall swallowing the cry that escaped her lips.

Jude stood frozen, the taste of panic sour in his mouth.

Zoey was already scrambling down the rocks, yelling Rose’s name.

But the creature was gone.

Only the mist remained.