Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1253

Chapter 1253: Chapter 1253

Jude froze in place, his hand inches from Susan’s arm, his chest rising and falling with quiet urgency. The smile on her lips trembled for a moment, as if even she didn’t realize it was there. Her eyes darted around at the others - Zoey, Emma, Sophie, Lucy - who had all taken a slow step back. The air in the shrine thickened, like the bowl had exhaled something none of them could see.

"Susan," Jude said softly, his voice steady but low. "You’re still here. You’re still with us."

Her eyes locked on his, wide, shining with tears, but her body didn’t move. She looked like she was listening to something far away.

"I don’t want to be alone," she whispered.

"You’re not," Lucy said gently, stepping forward. "We’re here. We’ve always been here."

Susan’s lips parted, her breath trembling. "But they’re here too. Inside my dreams. Inside my skin. And sometimes... I can’t tell which is real."

Zoey edged toward the Offering Bowl, watching Susan carefully. "We destroy it. That’s the only way."

Emma frowned. "Do we even know if we can?"

"We don’t have to destroy it yet," Sophie said quickly. "If Susan’s still fighting, it means it hasn’t taken her completely. That means there’s still time."

"But what if that smile was the start?" Jude asked. "What if she’s already half gone and just doesn’t realize it?"

Susan turned to face him again. "I don’t want to hurt you."

Jude stepped forward, slow and deliberate. "Then don’t. You’re stronger than this. We all are."

Her knees buckled, and Jude caught her before she hit the ground. She clung to him tightly, her breath warm against his neck. "It’s like there’s two of me," she said, trembling. "One that’s scared, and one that’s smiling."

"We only need the scared one," he whispered back. "You hold on to her."

They stayed in the shrine for another hour, gathering every scrap of information from the walls and markings. Sophie found a sequence of spirals that seemed to represent different stages of the transformation - the Offering, the Dream, the Smile, the Silence. "It’s a progression," she murmured. "First they hear it. Then they see it in their dreams. Then they smile. Then..."

"They stop talking," Zoey finished. "They become them."

Emma looked at Susan, who now sat huddled against the stone, her knees hugged to her chest, her head bowed. "She’s in stage three."

"We don’t let her reach four," Jude said.

They left the shrine just after midday, the tunnel’s breath cold behind them. The light outside stung their eyes after so long in the dark, but the forest looked unchanged. Still too quiet. Still too still.

"Do we go back to camp?" Lucy asked.

"No," Sophie said firmly. "Not until we know what we’re dealing with. If we go back now, Rose will know we’ve found the shrine."

"She already knows," Zoey said. "She’s probably always known."

"She hasn’t stopped us yet," Emma added. "Which means either she’s letting us do this... or she’s waiting for us to make a mistake."

They moved in silence through the trees, keeping close, eyes scanning every movement. The sun dipped lower, turning the sky orange and violet. Jude felt the pull in his chest - the ache of missing them. Rose, Layla, Grace, Stella. He could still remember their laughter, the way they clung to him on rainy mornings, how they whispered secrets in the dark when the world felt small and safe.

But now he didn’t know what was real in those memories anymore. Were they still them, deep down? Or just echoes now?

As the sun disappeared, they found a small hollow nestled between rocks. It was defensible, out of view, and dry. Jude lit a tiny fire from the driest twigs, careful to keep the light low. Susan sat closest to him, silent, unmoving. Lucy curled against his side. Zoey and Emma took opposite edges of the hollow, knives drawn. Sophie stood just outside, watching the trees.

That night was quieter than the last. No whispers. No voices in the wind.

But that only made it worse.

At dawn, Susan was gone.

Jude woke with Lucy still tucked against him, but the warmth on his other side had vanished. There was a hollow in the earth where Susan had slept, her blanket still crumpled, still warm. A trail of footprints led out into the forest - bare feet.

"Susan!" Jude called, already grabbing his boots, his axe.

Zoey was on her feet too, face pale. "She slipped out in silence. That’s stage four."

"No," Lucy whispered. "She wouldn’t leave us."

Sophie checked the ground, tracing the path. "She went west. Toward the river."

They followed fast and quiet. The trail was fresh, the soft dirt giving up her every step. The further they went, the more tangled the trees became, until finally the path opened near the river’s edge - and there she was.

Standing on a rock in the shallows.

Staring down into the water.

Her reflection smiled up at her. But her real face didn’t.

"Susan!" Jude shouted.

She turned slowly, the smile vanishing from the reflection the instant she looked away from it.

"I thought I could fight it," she said. "But the dreams don’t stop."

"You are fighting," Zoey said, stepping forward. "That’s why you’re still you."

Susan looked at the river again. "I keep hearing my name. In their voices. And now... I don’t know which version of me they’re calling to."

"Come back to us," Lucy pleaded. "We love you. We need you."

Susan stepped into the water.

Jude moved instantly, rushing forward, splashing through the stream. He reached her just as the current pulled at her legs. He grabbed her waist, holding her tightly. "You’re not going anywhere."

"I can feel them in me, Jude," she said, clutching his shirt. "Every time I breathe, they’re closer. I don’t know how much longer I can keep them out."

"You’re stronger than them."

"No," she whispered. "But we are."