Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1086

Chapter 1086: Chapter 1086

They turned, and the tall, thin creature stepped out of the trees.

Grace gasped.

Sophie grabbed Jude’s arm.

It didn’t move toward them. It only watched.

But then, behind it, another figure stepped out.

And then another.

They were identical.

Three.

Watching.

Waiting.

Sophie whispered, "We’re running out of time."

And the gate pulsed with light, louder than before.

Jude couldn’t sleep that night. Even with Sophie curled into his chest, her breath soft against his collarbone, his mind wandered endlessly. The memory of those creatures, tall, thin, featureless, lingered like a fever in his blood. He kept seeing them behind his eyelids when he blinked. Three of them now. Three watchers? Sentinels? He didn’t know what to call them, only that they had not attacked, had not spoken. Just stood there, watching with empty, unblinking stares. And the gate had responded. Not to them. But to the shard in his hand. Like it was waiting for something else. Something deeper.

When dawn finally touched the leaves, Jude rose carefully, not waking Sophie, and stepped out into the clearing. Smoke from the fire still clung to the air. Grace was already awake, sharpening a blade near the edge of the trees, her expression as drawn as his. Their eyes met, no words spoken. They both knew this calm was only surface-deep.

Back at the camp, everything looked... wrong. Happy, yes. Beautiful, yes. But wrong. Rose was lying across Zoey’s lap, fingers trailing across her stomach, whispering something that made the girl laugh and blush. Layla was massaging Rose’s shoulders, her smile slow, indulgent, too sensual for this early in the morning. And the others? They were watching. Smiling. Enjoying it. Too much. As if this was normal. As if nothing had ever gone wrong.

Only Susan seemed half-present, her eyes flicking across the scene with hesitation before lowering back to her food. Stella brushed a kiss to Emma’s neck, giggling when Emma turned and kissed her back on the lips. Natalie ran a hand through Sophie’s hair as she sat by the fire, and even Sophie didn’t seem to mind.

"It’s spreading," Grace muttered as she came to stand beside Jude. "It’s in the air."

"No," Jude said. "It’s in them."

By afternoon, the plan was simple. They would go back to the waterfall. The place Rose had fallen. The place something changed. He didn’t tell the others the full reason. Just said he wanted to check the area for food sources. Layla, Zoey, and Rose wanted to come. Of course. But he said no. This trip would be just him, Grace, Sophie, and Susan, who, to his surprise, agreed with almost too much eagerness. Maybe she saw something too. Maybe she remembered the way Rose smiled when she returned from the river, like she hadn’t nearly drowned but had been reborn.

The forest shimmered with heat as they hiked toward the waterfall. Jude couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Again. Not by the others. Not even by the creatures they saw before. By the island itself. Trees bent toward the path they walked, casting strange shadows that twisted against the light. Flowers that had been blue yesterday were red today. The moss beneath their feet hummed. Or maybe that was just in his head.

When they reached the waterfall, the air shifted. Colder. Wetter. Like walking into a different world entirely.

"This is where it started," Jude said, stepping toward the edge where Rose had fallen. He crouched, fingers brushing the damp stone. "Something in this water touched her."

Grace knelt beside him. "Could it be... living?"

"It changed her," Susan said softly, her voice half-lost in the roar of water.

Sophie walked to the river, dipped her fingers into the stream, then quickly drew them back. "It’s... warm. Not cold like it should be."

Susan stepped closer to the base of the falls, then suddenly froze. "There," she whispered. "Behind it."

They followed her gaze. Behind the veil of falling water, the rocks shimmered strangely. Shapes. Carvings? No, runes. Glowing faintly.

They climbed carefully around the slick edge, slipping behind the waterfall and into the shallow cave carved into the wall. The symbols lit up as Jude approached, the shard in his pocket responding with a soft thrum. The runes glowed blue, then purple, then red.

"Something marked her here," Grace whispered. "This is where she changed."

Jude pressed the shard against the wall. The symbols flared. The stone shifted.

A gap opened.

Not wide, just enough to reveal a tunnel sloping down. Dark. Wet. Breathing.

"No," Susan said. "Not today. We need to prepare. We need to think."

But just then, Sophie turned sharply, eyes wide. "Something’s coming."

They backed out of the waterfall, dripping and tense. And then they saw it again. One of the creatures.

It stood on the far side of the river, unmoving, just like before.

This time, though, it wasn’t alone.

Rose was standing beside it.

Just watching.

And then she turned and walked away, the creature following behind her.

"What the hell was that?" Grace whispered.

"She’s not alone anymore," Jude said.

They returned to camp in silence.

The sun had dipped behind the trees, casting the clearing in a warm golden haze. But it wasn’t enough to melt the chill in Jude’s chest.

Rose was already there, cooking. Smiling. Acting like she hadn’t just been at the river with a thing that didn’t belong in any world.

She looked up as they arrived, arms open, voice sweet. "Dinner’s ready!"

Everyone else was laughing, playing. Kisses were exchanged. Zoey grabbed Susan’s hand and pulled her into a spinning twirl. Layla ran her fingers down Stella’s back, and the blonde shivered, leaning into it.

"Act natural," Jude whispered to Sophie. "They don’t know we saw her."

Rose served him food like nothing had changed. Kissed his cheek. Sat beside him like she hadn’t been speaking to monsters.

Night fell. Laughter filled the air.

Later, when everyone had gone to bed, Jude sat alone by the fire.