Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1060

Chapter 1060: Chapter 1060

The sun hovered lower in the sky now, golden light casting rippling bands over the frantic surface of the water. They were all trembling with cold, but no one left. No one even suggested stopping. Each woman kept diving, pulling herself onto slick rocks for breath only to throw herself back under, lungs burning, hearts thudding with terror and stubborn hope. Jude had lost count of how many times he had dropped below, scouring the deepest parts of the pool, reaching into cracks where eels slithered and weeds threatened to tangle his arms.

But now something had changed. The water was calmer toward the outer edge, where the stream thinned and trickled off past a line of jagged rock formations. Jude had been staring in that direction for a while, eyes narrowed, jaw clenched. He swam there, slow and deliberate, like something was pulling him, some instinct clawing at the edge of his thoughts. Behind him, the others continued calling, diving, crying. He didn’t shout back, didn’t tell them where he was going. Something inside him told him to just move, just follow.

The water narrowed, growing colder, the current more subtle. Shadows pooled between the rocks here, strange shadows that moved in ways they shouldn’t. The trees above swayed even though there was no wind. Jude pushed past a formation that jutted up like broken fingers, his hand brushing the surface of a stone that felt... warm. Like the one near the ledge earlier.

He paused.

His heart kicked hard in his chest.

Then he heard it, not a voice, but a sound. A soft splashing, different from the chaos behind him. Careful. Gentle. Like something moving just out of sight.

He turned sharply.

Nothing.

He floated for a second, just breathing.

Then a shout came, Natalie’s voice, sharp and cutting. "Jude! Where are you?"

"Here," he called over his shoulder. "By the outer stream. Come quick."

Water sloshed as Natalie and Layla appeared first, then Zoey, Lucy, and the rest. One by one they came, their eyes searching his face for hope, for meaning. His expression gave them pause. It was tight, focused, electric.

"I heard something," Jude said. "There. Behind the rocks."

Without waiting, he ducked underwater and swam into the narrowing passage. The stream here was stronger, not chaotic like the fall, but relentless, trying to push him back. It curled around him, cold fingers pressing him toward the center. He kicked harder, dodging a jutting rock, squeezing through a narrow gap. And then he saw something, white. Pale. It vanished as quickly as it appeared.

He surfaced, gasping. "There’s something, someone, she’s here!"

The women surged forward.

Emma was next through the gap, then Grace. The rest followed, one by one, until all of them were treading water in the narrow channel, their bodies brushing against the stone, moving carefully now, quietly.

"There," Serena whispered.

Everyone froze.

In the fading sunlight, near a low ridge of rock that dipped into the water, something pale floated. Hair. Tangled. Clinging to a jagged edge. A hand, slack and still, just beneath the surface, caught in a curl of current.

They stared.

Layla moved first, her voice a broken whisper. "Rose..."

No one breathed.

Jude’s pulse roared in his ears. His fingers dug into the rock beside him. He swam forward, fast, ignoring the sharp edges that scraped his skin. He reached her in seconds, pulling her body gently from the stone’s grip. She was limp, her skin cold. But her chest,

It moved.

A shallow rise. Barely there. But there.

"She’s alive!" Jude shouted, hauling her up, cradling her against his chest. "She’s breathing!"

A collective sound broke from the group, part sob, part scream, part joy so desperate it hurt.

They surged forward.

Sophie reached her first, brushing the wet hair from Rose’s face, her eyes wide with tears. "She’s alive... she’s really, "

"Give her space," Jude said, turning her gently in his arms, trying to keep her upright. "Her breathing’s shallow. We need to get her warm. We need, "

And then Rose’s eyes fluttered.

Everyone stilled.

Her lips parted, breath catching in her throat. She blinked slowly, as if trying to focus, then lifted one trembling hand toward Jude’s chest.

He grabbed it instantly. "You’re okay. You’re with us."

Her lips moved, barely a sound escaping. "I saw... it..."

Jude leaned closer. "What did you see?"

But her eyes rolled back, body slumping again, her energy spent.

"Get her out of the water!" Susan shouted.

Jude moved fast, carrying her through the narrowing stream as the others cleared the way. Zoey and Lucy were already climbing the rocks ahead, finding footing, reaching down to help pull them up.

Once out of the water, they laid Rose down on a smooth patch of stone. Her skin was pale, her dress torn, her legs scraped raw. But her chest still moved, slow and steady. Alive.

They wrapped her in cloaks, pressed their hands against her arms, her cheeks, anything to share warmth.

Layla crouched beside Jude. "She said she saw something."

"She did," Jude said. "I saw it again just before I heard her."

"You think it took her?" Natalie asked softly.

"I think it let her go," he answered, voice low.

The others fell silent.

The air was heavy now. Not just damp from the river, but heavy like before a storm. A pressure that pushed on their lungs. The forest around them, the rocks beneath them, all seemed to be listening.

Sophie looked up at the jagged wall of stone across the stream. "She shouldn’t have survived that fall."

"No one should’ve," Emma whispered. "And yet..."

"And yet it let her live," Serena finished, staring into the trees.

Rose stirred again, eyes fluttering weakly.

"Don’t move," Jude whispered, brushing wet hair from her cheek. "Just breathe."

Her fingers curled slightly, and she turned her head toward him, her voice barely audible. "It was... watching me."

Jude’s heart stuttered.

"What did it look like?" he asked.

But she didn’t answer. She drifted off again, breathing shallow.

Everyone looked at each other.

Zoey stood slowly, turning to face the forest, her eyes sharp. "We need to get back to the treehouse. She’s not safe out here. None of us are."

They began to move, lifting Rose together, passing her gently between them as they navigated back down the water’s edge toward the familiar parts of the stream. The path home would be long and dark, but no one said a word. They didn’t need to. Each of them knew something had changed.

They had found Rose.

But something had found them first.

And it wasn’t done.

As they walked, quiet fell over them like a blanket, broken only by the sound of dripping water and the hush of leaves. Jude kept one hand on Rose’s shoulder, his mind racing.

And in the trees behind them, deep in the shadows, two eyes blinked once.

Then vanished.