Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1103

Chapter 1103: Chapter 1103

Sophie grabbed Emma’s arm, pulling her back. Jude stepped forward. "Enough. You want me? Then talk to me."

Rose’s expression softened, almost sad. "You still think this is about want?"

Then a whisper came from the trees.

It was a watchersong, but warped, deeper, laced with echoes and fragments of voices they didn’t recognize. Jude turned toward the sound, heart pounding.

And just beyond the edge of camp, something moved.

A shadow, huge and formless, slipped between trunks, glowing faintly, its presence felt more than seen. The others didn’t react. The nine, Rose and her circle, continued to smile, unmoved.

But Jude, Sophie, and Emma saw it.

The monster was there again.

It flickered in the gaps between trees like an illusion, like a fever dream. It had no shape but felt like hunger, like seduction, like the edge of sleep.

And then it vanished.

Emma gasped. "It was watching us."

Rose looked amused. "The island watches all. You’ll see."

Jude’s voice was hoarse. "What is that thing?"

"It’s truth," she said simply.

They backed away slowly. There was no way to fight, not yet. But as they retreated into the trees, Jude knew one thing without doubt.

They were running out of time.

That night, they didn’t return to camp. They built a hidden fire far from the others, deep in a thicket where the light wouldn’t show. None of them spoke much. They only stared into the flames, huddled close.

Sophie broke the silence. "We’re the only ones left."

"We need to find the root of this," Jude said. "Whatever came back with Rose, whatever it is, it’s using her."

"And she’s using them," Emma added.

They fell into silence again, the watchersong still echoing in their minds. Soft and slow and poisoned.

The flames crackled.

And far off, in the dark, they heard laughter.

Emma barely slept, curled up between Jude and Sophie beneath the tangled canopy of the thicket. The fire had long since died out, and though the night was warm, a chill clung to their skin. Morning came with no songbirds, no breeze, only a heavy silence and the knowledge that they were the last ones resisting. Sophie stirred first, her body pressed close to Jude’s, her arm draped over his chest. When her eyes opened and met his, he could see the same fatigue and fear mirrored in them, but also something harder. Determination.

"They’ll come for us," she whispered. "Maybe not today. But soon."

"They already are," Jude said, his voice low and rough. "They don’t need to drag us. They want us to choose it."

Emma shifted beside them, sitting up, her fingers running through her hair. "Then let’s make the choice first. Let’s go back. Not to submit, but to end this."

They returned to camp near midday, walking openly, side by side. Jude’s hand stayed on Sophie’s lower back, both protective and grounding, while Emma walked a half-step ahead, scanning the trees. As they emerged into the clearing, the scene that greeted them might have been beautiful, if not for the wrongness beneath it all.

Rose and her circle lounged in the tall grass. Their laughter floated on the air like perfume, sweet and intoxicating. Lucy sat in Zoey’s lap, her fingers gently playing with Zoey’s hair while Grace stretched out, her head resting against Natalie’s thigh. Layla and Susan lay side by side, their legs tangled, whispering into each other’s ears. Stella stood at the center of them, bathed in sunlight, her arms lifted like she was feeling something divine.

Rose watched them return, her eyes glowing gold in the light.

"You came back," she said, standing slowly. "I hoped you would."

"We’re not here to join you," Jude said. "We’re here to end this."

Rose tilted her head. "End what, love?"

"Whatever you are," Emma snapped. "Whatever’s controlling you."

Rose laughed, soft and low. "There’s nothing controlling us. We’ve been set free."

Sophie stepped forward. "We saw it. In the woods. The thing that followed you out of the river. You think it’s a gift, but it’s not. It’s using you."

"And what would you do?" Rose asked, stepping toward Jude. "Fight it? Run from it forever?" She was close now, her voice a velvet purr. "You already feel it, don’t you? How your body aches for the warmth we’ve found. How your soul longs to rest."

Jude didn’t move, didn’t blink. "I want my wives back."

Her expression flickered, but only for a moment. "Then stop resisting. Join us, and you’ll have all of us. Every piece."

She reached up to touch his chest, and Sophie was there in an instant, slapping her hand away.

"Don’t touch him."

Rose turned to her, and for the first time, something like irritation crossed her face. "You were always the stubborn one."

Sophie’s voice didn’t waver. "You were always the one who needed to be loved. That’s what it’s using."

Behind them, the others were rising. One by one, the nine stepped closer, eyes glowing faintly, movements unnaturally fluid.

Emma raised her spear.

"Don’t," Jude said. "That’s not who they are. That’s not how we win."

Rose blinked, and for the briefest moment, her mouth trembled. Jude stepped forward slowly, his voice dropping into a whisper.

"I know you’re still in there. All of you. Whatever it is, whatever it’s made you, there’s still something real underneath. I’ve felt it. In the way you touched me. In how you looked at Sophie. In how you hesitated just now."

The others stilled.

"You don’t remember everything," he said, "but I do. The first day on the island. How scared you were. How you all clung to each other, and to me. That was real. That’s what I want back."

Rose’s hands curled into fists at her sides. Her lips parted, but no words came out. Behind her, Susan blinked rapidly, looking momentarily disoriented. Stella pressed her fingers to her temples. Grace stepped back a single step.

But then the watchersong returned.