Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 1756

Chapter 1756: Chapter 1756

Rose stood at the far edge, her eyes also locked on the archway. She didn’t speak. She didn’t move. But Jude felt her presence like a flame flickering just out of reach - hot, powerful, always watching.

He turned to Lucy. "Something’s building."

She tilted her head. "Inside you?"

"No. Around us." He touched his chest. "It’s like... pressure. Like a storm just beyond the hills."

Lucy looked back toward the forest, her brow furrowing. "Then we get ready for it."

Later that day, they gathered in the clearing where they had first touched the pool. The obsidian water still shimmered like a mirror to another world, calm and silent. Stella brought fresh fruit wrapped in wide leaves, while Natalie and Zoey gathered vines to weave a new canopy overhead. The island responded eagerly - roots bent to cradle their makeshift furniture, flowers bloomed instantly along their paths.

It was Emma who suggested it. "We need a place. Not just to rest. A real home."

"A heart," Rose said, sitting cross-legged beneath the central tree. "A pulse point."

They built together. Not walls and roofs, but something living - vines woven into walls that breathed, flowers layered into beds, fruit trees grafted beside the pool so nourishment was always within reach. Jude dug alongside them, his hands in the soil, his skin streaked with golden pollen. When Lucy pressed a kiss to his cheek and whispered "You’re glowing," he only smiled and kept working.

By nightfall, their home had a shape.

A circle.

Always a circle.

Twelve alcoves grew like petals from the center, each one unique - Susan’s was shaded and quiet, filled with soft moss and shells. Zoey’s had a thick canopy overhead and branches perfect for climbing. Emma’s was carved into the side of a bent tree trunk, full of scrolls and crystals. Stella lined hers with feathers. Lucy’s shimmered with pale blue petals that bloomed only for her.

Jude’s space was in the center.

Open.

Accessible from every side.

They didn’t need to say it aloud - he was the root. The sun. And every orbit led back to him.

That night, after a shared meal of sweet fruit and steamed herbs, they curled together around him once more. No ritual. No summoning. Just closeness. Just skin. Just warmth. Emma lay beside him, her body pressed to his side, her breath steady and even. Zoey curled near his feet, one arm flung over Stella, who had fallen asleep halfway through a story. Lucy was on his chest again, her lips just below his collarbone. Rose stood at the edge of the canopy, watching them sleep.

He beckoned.

She came.

She didn’t speak, only slid down beside him, her hand resting over his heart.

He touched her wrist gently. "You’re still worried."

"I’m... waiting," she said softly.

"For what?"

Her eyes glowed faintly. "For the rest of the island to decide."

He turned toward her fully, careful not to wake Lucy. "You think something’s coming."

"I know it," Rose said. "It’s not the arch. It’s not Alara. It’s something deeper. Buried. Forgotten."

"Do you think it’ll hurt us?"

"No," she said. "But I think it’ll ask something of us. Something we haven’t been asked before."

She didn’t elaborate, and he didn’t press.

In the middle of the night, he woke to find Sophie sitting upright, eyes open, breathing fast. Her body was stiff, her hands clenched.

"Sophie?"

She turned slowly toward him, blinking rapidly. "I saw it."

"Saw what?"

She swallowed. "Beneath the island. The roots. They’re... not just roots. They’re tunnels. Paths. Something’s moving through them."

Jude sat up slowly, his hand on her thigh. "A creature?"

"No. Something older than that. It’s not awake yet. But it felt me."

The others stirred at her words. Lucy blinked, stretching. Zoey rolled toward them, frowning.

Rose stood.

"It’s begun," she said simply.

They gathered again, just before dawn, around the heartstone. It pulsed faster now - its light a bit sharper, more insistent. A soft vibration hummed under their feet.

"What is it?" Natalie asked.

Rose reached out and placed her hand on the stone. Her body shivered once, her breath catching. When she opened her eyes, they were full of light.

"It’s calling us inward."

"Where?" Susan asked.

Jude’s voice was steady. "The tunnels. Beneath the roots."

Zoey’s mouth curved into a grin. "Finally. A real adventure."

But none of them smiled.

Because deep beneath the golden forest and shimmering moss, something had turned over in the dark.

Something old.

Something hungry for light.

And the island had chosen them to go find it.

The moment they stepped beneath the roots, the forest shifted behind them. The light above dimmed as though the sun itself was watching them go, reluctant to follow. The tunnel beneath the heartstone yawned open without soundno crumbling of earth, no cracking of stone. Just a slow, seamless parting of roots that curled away like obedient serpents. Jude led the way, his palm brushing the living walls, feeling their pulse answer his.

Behind him came Rose and Lucy, then Zoey and Stella, then Emma, Grace, Natalie, and Susan. Sophie remained closest to the rear, her expression sharp, cautious. Every step they took was lit by the same inner glow they all now carried, a subtle radiance that pulsed from their skin like embers clinging to fire. The earth swallowed them slowly, gently, but with certainty, like a mouth closing over a prayer.

The tunnel didn’t smell of decay or dust. It was warm. Wet. Sweet. The scent of nectar and something metallic hung in the air. Moss lined the walls, soft and responsive to their touch. Every few paces, glowing fungi blinked open, casting soft pulses of amber light.

Susan clung to Grace’s hand. "I can’t tell if this feels safe or dangerous."

"It feels... ancient," Grace whispered. "Like walking through a dream someone else had a thousand years ago."

"It’s more than a dream," Rose said softly. "We’re inside the island’s memory now."

The tunnel forked suddenly, forming a perfectly symmetrical ’Y’. Jude paused.