Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1109

Chapter 1109: Chapter 1109

They followed it deeper, until the petals gave way to moss, and the moss gave way to pale stone. At the center of a clearing, framed by two ancient trees twisted into an arch, stood a pool. Perfectly round, too still to be natural. The surface reflected nothing. It was darker than black.

Jude stepped forward, but Emma grabbed his arm. "Look."

Shapes moved beneath the surface.

Then the singing began again, softer, but closer now.

From behind the trees, they emerged.

Rose. Zoey. Layla. Grace. Lucy. Natalie. Susan.

All barefoot, robes of woven vines and sheer silk flowing around their bodies like mist. Each with that same slow smile. The same glowing eyes.

Rose stepped forward. "You came."

Sophie moved in front of Jude instinctively, but he brushed her hand. "We need to talk to them."

Rose extended a hand. "Then come closer."

Jude took a step, but not toward her. Toward the pool. "What is this place?"

"The veil," Rose said. "The island’s heart. It shows you what you hide."

Emma stared into the water, jaw tightening. "It’s feeding on us."

Zoey laughed gently. "No, Emma. It’s freeing us."

"Then why are you all the same?" Sophie said sharply. "Why do you all smile like that? Why do none of you cry or scream or fight?"

Rose’s eyes glowed brighter. "Because we have nothing left to fear."

Jude turned toward her. "What happened to you after the river? That’s when it started."

Rose’s expression softened. "I didn’t fall. I was taken."

"By that thing?" Jude asked. "The one from the ritual?"

"It is not a thing," she said. "It’s a truth. And now, we are part of it."

Sophie whispered, "You’re possessed."

Rose stepped closer. "No. I’m complete."

And then she turned, holding her arms wide. "Today, the rest of you can be, too."

From the trees behind them, Susan and Lucy stepped out. Between them walked Stella, head lowered, eyes half-closed. Her lips moved silently, repeating words they couldn’t hear.

Emma called out, "Stella!"

Stella looked up. For a second, something human flickered in her face.

Then it was gone.

She smiled.

The ritual began.

They circled the pool, chanting in harmony, voices rising like steam into the trees. Jude, Sophie, and Emma stepped back, hearts pounding. The ground beneath the pool began to tremble.

"We can’t stop them now," Sophie whispered.

Jude looked at the bone shard in his hand. It pulsed violently, as if trying to jump free.

"Then we use this," he said.

Sophie stared. "You don’t even know what it does."

"I know it’s ours. Not theirs."

He stepped forward. The moment his foot hit the edge of the pool, the singing stopped.

Every head turned.

Rose’s voice was sharp. "Don’t interfere, Jude."

"I already did," he said, and he threw the shard into the pool.

A scream echoed, not from the women, but from the pool itself.

The water shattered like glass.

The women cried out, clutching their heads. Some fell. Some writhed. The glow in their eyes flickered.

And for one precious moment, silence returned.

Rose dropped to her knees.

Zoey gasped. "What... what happened?"

Grace clutched her chest, eyes wide with confusion. "Where...?"

But before any of them could move, the ground cracked open where the pool had been.

A hand reached out, long, skeletal, glistening with something darker than water.

The thing was coming through.

Jude screamed, "Run!"

Sophie and Emma grabbed his arms, dragging him back. The corrupted wives scrambled in different directions, screaming, breaking formation.

And from the earth, the being rose, taller now, no longer shifting. It had form. Substance. Hunger.

They ran.

Branches slapped their faces, thorns tore at skin, but they didn’t stop.

Behind them, the song had twisted, no longer harmonious, now a wail of fury and pain.

They didn’t stop until the trees grew thinner, until the wind returned, until birds began to chirp once more.

They collapsed on the edge of a familiar ridge, panting.

Sophie turned to Jude. "You were right."

Emma’s eyes were wide with terror. "But what now?"

Jude looked back the way they came.

"They’re not just corrupted," he said. "They’re servants."

"And the thing’s awake now," Sophie whispered.

Jude nodded slowly.

"Now the real fight begins."

The morning fog lay heavy over the trees, pressing a damp chill into the forest floor as Jude stood at the edge of the clearing, his shirt clinging to his back. He hadn’t slept much, haunted by the image of that thing rising from the shattered pool and the way Rose had screamed, not in pain, but in fury, as though something precious had been stolen from her. He stared into the distance, watching shadows move where there should have been none.

Sophie approached from behind and slid her arm around his waist. "You haven’t said a word since we got back."

"I keep thinking I’m going to wake up," he said. "But I never do."

Sophie rested her cheek against his shoulder. "I miss them already."

"They’re not gone," he murmured. "Not yet."

Behind them, Emma stirred a kettle over the fire, her movements sharp and focused. She hadn’t spoken much either, keeping her thoughts close, her gaze constantly flicking toward the trees. Jude knew she was waiting, just like him, for someone to come walking out, eyes glowing, smile wrong.

Sophie squeezed his side. "We need to figure out how to bring them back."

"We need to survive them first," he said. "Whatever that thing is, it didn’t finish."

As if summoned by the thought, a sound echoed faintly through the trees. A soft whisper, a breath carried on the wind. It wasn’t a song this time, it was laughter. Faint, female, layered. Sophie stepped away from him and turned slowly, scanning the forest.

Emma stood up and grabbed a small axe. "They’re nearby."

"Or they want us to think they are here, near, watching us," Jude said. "They’re getting smarter."

"No," Sophie said, eyes narrowing. "They’re getting bolder."