Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1453

Chapter 1453: Chapter 1453

The ground beneath them hummed - not violently, not even ominously. It was like a purr. A sound of contentment. But it grew louder, rising up through their bones, through their chests, until it felt like it was shaping their thoughts.

Images formed in Jude’s mind - flashes more than memories. The waterfall. The altar. The night he first kissed Rose beneath the fireflies. The moment Susan first called him her home. The way Zoey had once cried in his arms after the thunderstorm. How Sophie whispered in her sleep. How Stella hummed lullabies when she thought no one listened.

Then came new images - ones he’d never seen before. An island covered in vines and bone. A woman with violet eyes walking naked across a field of stars. Twelve pillars of light, circling a glowing core. A heartbeat pulsing beneath the world.

When he gasped, the others did too.

They were seeing it.

All of them.

Natalie sat up, hair wild and face pale. "That wasn’t just a vision. That was... us."

"A possibility," Emma added, her voice trembling. "Or a memory. Or a future."

"Or all of them," Zoey said.

Umbra finally turned fully toward them. "You are the seed. The song wasn’t the end - it was the beginning."

Jude stood shakily, Lucy sliding off his lap and holding onto his hand to steady herself.

"Beginning of what?" he asked.

"The awakening," Rose answered. "The island was dormant. Waiting. Testing. Watching. But now\... it knows you. It knows us . And it’s opening."

From the trees, soft lights flickered - floating orbs, like fireflies but brighter. Hundreds of them. They drifted slowly into the clearing, weaving between the women, circling Jude, brushing their bare skin with delicate glows.

Grace reached out to one. It landed on her finger, pulsing once before vanishing into her palm.

She gasped.

"What did it show you?" Sophie asked.

Grace looked up, her eyes wide. "A place. Not here. Somewhere under us. A door."

Umbra nodded. "It’s time."

Stella stood. "Then take us."

"Not all," Umbra said. "Only those who carry the light."

Tension shifted in the air.

"The petals," Lucy whispered. "They chose us. One by one."

Emma stepped forward. "What about the rest of us?"

"You remain here," Umbra said gently. "The roots stretch far. But the heart... is guarded."

Zoey’s jaw tightened. "Then I’m going."

Umbra’s gaze met hers. "You carry the fire. Yes. You were chosen."

Sophie crossed her arms. "And if we come anyway?"

Rose stepped forward, her voice soft but firm. "You won’t be harmed. But the path will not open to you. Not yet. It would reject you."

"I don’t like this," Susan muttered. "This division."

"It’s not a division," Jude said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It’s a rhythm. Like music. Some notes play now. Others wait."

Lucy kissed his shoulder. "So who’s going?"

Umbra extended her hand. "You. Zoey. Grace. Stella. Natalie. Jude."

Only six.

Rose smiled. "I’ll stay. For now. We’ve shared enough. It’s your turn, love."

Jude kissed her, long and slow.

Then he turned toward the jungle.

The lights moved ahead of them like a guide.

The others watched them vanish into the trees, shadows and silver blending as they disappeared.

They walked in silence, not from fear but reverence.

The deeper they moved, the more the forest changed.

It wasn’t the same path as before. The air was warmer. The trees glowed faintly from within. The moss underfoot was softer, more like fur than plant. Vines parted for them, responding to presence instead of force.

And then they reached it.

A hollow in the earth.

A circle of stone with symbols etched into it - twelve glyphs. Each one pulsing.

Jude stepped to the center.

The others joined him.

The moment they did, the earth sank .

Not collapsed. Lowered.

A spiral.

They descended together, the stone spiraling down like a staircase being carved beneath them.

At the bottom was a cavern of impossible size.

And in the center - floating above a pool of glowing violet water - was a heart.

A literal , beating heart.

Suspended in air, pulsing with light.

It wasn’t human.

It wasn’t alien.

It was everything .

And it was alive.

Umbra dropped to her knees. Grace wept.

Lucy took Jude’s hand and whispered, "It’s beautiful."

Then the heart pulsed once.

Twice.

And on the third pulse - it spoke .

Not in words. But in need.

In desire .

And Jude understood.

The final ritual hadn’t yet begun.

But it would.

And it would change everything.

Jude stepped forward instinctively, drawn to the heartbeat in the air, the rhythm that filled his chest and legs with each pulse. It wasn’t just calling - it was welcoming . The glowing heart above the violet pool pulsed faster as he neared it, and the water beneath it shimmered like it recognized him, remembered him, wanted him.

Lucy followed him, their fingers still entwined. The others moved in unison, like dancers drawn into a choreography they’d never rehearsed but always known deep down. Grace’s breath hitched beside them, her hand grazing the smooth wall of the cavern. It vibrated at her touch, lighting up with faint symbols that danced like starlight - runes not meant to be read but felt .

As Jude reached the edge of the pool, he hesitated. The water was warm, humming with life, the surface rippling without touch. He dipped his fingers in.

It sent a bolt of heat through his body, not pain, but arousal - deep, slow, profound. He gasped and looked at Lucy, whose lips parted slightly in response. She didn’t ask what he’d felt. She could see it in his eyes. She slid her palm up his bare chest and stepped into the water without a word, her body shimmering as it disappeared beneath the surface.

The others followed.

Stella. Natalie. Zoey. Grace.

The water embraced them like it had been waiting.

Jude stepped in last.

It felt like velvet and fire and light and skin all at once, wrapping him in warmth that bloomed between his legs and deep in his chest.