Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1220

Chapter 1220: Chapter 1220

Hours passed. They cleaned themselves in the river, took naps in the sun, and ate the fruit Rose and Zoey brought back - juicy, sweet, sharp with a flavor that felt brand new to the island. Jude swore it had never grown here before. No one questioned it. The island had changed, and so had they.

That night, they lay under the stars again, gathered around a fire smaller than usual but just enough.

"I don’t want to forget any of this," Lucy said suddenly.

"You won’t," Sophie said. "It’s part of you now."

"But I want more," Lucy continued, staring up at the sky. "I want to know what else this place can show us now that it’s not pushing against us."

"We could follow the river farther," Susan suggested. "There might be more of those glowing groves. Or the cave Rose mentioned before she fell in..."

Rose nodded slowly. "It called to me. Even before the fall. Something’s in it."

Jude felt the shift in the air again. The spark of curiosity, of adventure. The edge of mystery returning - not like a threat this time, but an invitation.

"We go tomorrow," he said.

Everyone murmured agreement.

As they settled in for the night, skin brushing skin, warmth seeping through every touch, Jude found Rose’s hand again. Her smile met his in the firelight, no longer sinister, no longer wrapped in shadows.

Just Rose.

Whole.

Home.

And as sleep tugged at his edges, he whispered, "We’re still here."

She nodded.

"And we’re not done yet."

From somewhere deep in the forest, a soft, musical sound echoed - a distant chime, unfamiliar and strange. But it didn’t bring fear.

Only curiosity.

Something new had awakened.

The sound echoed through the trees again just before dawn, soft and lilting like wind moving through hollow stones. It stirred them from sleep gently, not with urgency, but invitation. Jude opened his eyes to a sky washed with purple and rose, the early morning light turning the canopy above into shifting shapes and golden veils. He blinked against the haze of sleep and found Rose still curled beside him, her head against his chest, breath warm on his skin. Sophie was tangled against his other side, her leg draped over his, while Susan lay at his feet, fingers curled around his ankle like a promise.

Zoey was already sitting up by the embers of last night’s fire, hair a mess, expression unreadable as she stared into the forest.

"You hear that?" Jude asked, voice low.

She nodded slowly. "That chiming sound."

"It came from the direction of the cave I saw," Rose murmured, lifting her head now, pushing hair out of her face. "The one below the cliffs."

Lucy stretched lazily from her hammock of woven leaves and vines. "I heard it in my dream," she whispered, voice dreamy. "It sounded like it wanted me to follow."

Emma sat upright across the fire pit, her eyes half-lidded. "I think it showed me something. A path."

"Did anyone not get a dream last night?" Susan asked, sitting up with a yawn.

Sophie looked around, already pulling on her simple wrap. "I didn’t dream. But I woke up exactly when the sound happened."

"Same," Jude said, rubbing his face. "Which means whatever it is, it wants to be seen."

Stella emerged from the forest edge, returning from the river, her skin glistening with dew and water, hair dripping down her back. "It’s louder from the east," she said. "I went to check the path past the river - it’s leading us somewhere."

Natalie stood, tying back her curls. "Let’s go. If it’s not a threat, it might be something waiting."

Layla leaned against a tree, arms crossed. "And if it is a threat?"

Rose looked over her shoulder, calm but firm. "Then we face it. Together."

They moved with practiced ease. Packs were filled, water skins tied to hips, light weapons strapped in where necessary. But there was no fear this time. No tension. Even Layla’s teasing was gentle, and Emma’s quiet humming as they walked filled the space between them with comfort.

The journey east took them into a part of the forest they hadn’t explored since early in their time on the island. Trees here were thinner but taller, like pillars of green light, and the underbrush glowed faintly with small flecks of silver. The chiming sound continued, sometimes close, sometimes drifting far ahead, but it never faded completely. It called them forward like a heartbeat pulsing in the distance.

They reached the cliff just before midday. It wasn’t tall - maybe a dozen feet - but the descent was steep and slick with moss. Beyond it, nestled in the side of a rocky hill, was an opening wide enough for three people to walk through shoulder-to-shoulder. Vines had grown over its mouth, but they’d been peeled back recently, the leaves still fresh from disturbance.

"This is it," Rose said, her voice hushed.

Jude touched her shoulder. "Are you sure you’re ready?"

She nodded. "I think... it wants us to see something. Maybe it always did."

Susan moved to his other side, her fingers brushing his. "Then let’s see."

They climbed down carefully, helping one another with soft touches and whispered encouragement. Once on solid ground, they lit the torches Zoey had packed in her satchel. The cave swallowed the light quickly, but it wasn’t dark. The walls shimmered with a soft internal glow, pulsing slightly - faint spirals and runes flickering across the stone like echoes of watcherscript but with no active energy. These weren’t memory runes. These were... stories.

"This is older than the spiral," Emma whispered.

Jude ran his fingers across one of the shapes. "Or deeper."

They followed the glowing symbols deeper into the cave, past chambers filled with strange echoes, past a narrow tunnel that forced them to move single-file. The air grew warmer, tinged with something almost sweet - like crushed flowers and honey left too long in the sun.

The cave opened suddenly into a dome-like space.