Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 880 - 882

Chapter 880: Chapter 882

They didn’t remember. That much was clear. Every time the blue smoke touched one of them, it slipped in and out like a dream, erasing itself from memory, leaving only confusion and that strange, disoriented look in their eyes. But Jude remembered. And now, every time one of his wives smiled at him, kissed his cheek, or laughed like nothing had changed, he found himself studying their faces, looking for cracks in the mask. Not because he didn’t love them. He did. But because something else had started loving him too.

That morning, he kept his distance. He took a small basket and left camp to gather wild fruit from the southern edge of the forest. The trail there passed by a ruined stone arch, half-swallowed by vines, a relic from something older than the island’s current inhabitants. Jude didn’t know if the arch had been part of the original island or brought here with the shell, but its presence unsettled him. There was a coldness around it, a strange stillness in the air when you stepped beneath its crumbling span.

He picked cautiously, filling the basket with red berries, fat and bitter. A monkey-like creature watched him from a nearby branch, its pale eyes unblinking. It didn’t flee when he looked at it. It only stared, one hand wrapped around the branch, its long tail curling slowly behind it. Jude turned away and walked back to camp without speaking a word.

By midday, the air had turned heavy and warm. A storm was building somewhere out at sea, but the wind hadn’t reached them yet. The treehouses creaked gently in the breeze. The smell of roasted roots and fish filled the air. They gathered under the central canopy to eat, Jude, Sophie, Susan, Lucy, Scarlett, Natalie, Emma, Zoey, Stella, Grace, Serena, and Amelia. Lyla was still gone. No one spoke of her today. That absence lingered like a gap in the circle, a silence shaped like a person.

Conversation flowed easily for the first half of the meal. Scarlett teased Serena about falling into the river the day before. Serena responded by throwing a small fishbone at her. Zoey recounted a dream she’d had about flying over the island in a boat made of fire. They laughed. They ate. Jude said little, watching them all. He was waiting for it, the shift, the moment when one of them would change. When something unseen would slip through the cracks and wear one of their faces like a second skin.

It happened not long after they finished eating. Natalie had stood to gather the stones they’d used as plates, humming softly to herself. Then, without warning, she stopped. Just stopped. Her body froze, her arms still mid-motion. Everyone noticed. The silence came fast, heavy, like a blanket thrown over the fire.

"Natalie?" Susan said.

Natalie didn’t respond.

Jude stood.

Then Natalie turned her head slowly toward him. Her lips curled into a slow, knowing smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. And then she walked toward him, not rushed, not dramatic, but deliberate. Like she’d done it a hundred times before.

When she stood in front of him, she reached up and traced a line down the center of his chest with one finger. Her breath was warm. Her voice was softer than usual. "Why do you look at me like I’m a stranger?"

Jude didn’t answer.

Her hand slid to his waist. "Don’t you remember last night? The way I touched you in the dark?"

He grabbed her wrist, not hard, just enough. "Natalie, stop. You’re not, "

She blinked.

And suddenly she was back. Her expression twisted with confusion. She looked down at her hand, still resting against his skin, and yanked it away like it had touched a flame. "What, what did I just say?"

"You don’t remember?"

"I... no. I was picking up the plates. And then I was... here."

"It’s fine," Jude said. "Maybe the heat’s getting to you."

But everyone had seen it. They stared at her. At him. And something passed through them all like a ripple, fear, quiet and sharp. Serena moved closer to Stella. Sophie lowered her gaze. Grace’s fingers clenched around the cloth she’d been folding.

The rest of the day passed slowly. No one mentioned the moment. They went about their chores, quieter now. There was an unspoken agreement to stay in pairs, to keep eyes on each other. No one wanted to be alone. Not anymore.

That night, they didn’t sing by the fire. They didn’t tell stories. They ate quietly, watching one another through the flickering flames. When it was over, Jude stood slowly. He felt their eyes on him as he stepped forward.

"I want to try something tonight," he said.

They didn’t speak.

"Whatever’s happening, whatever’s slipping into us, it’s using the silence. The unspoken. We can’t fight it if we don’t understand it."

He took a deep breath.

"So I’m asking each of you. Do you remember anything from when it happened? Anything at all?"

No one answered.

He looked at them one by one. "Emma?"

She shook her head slowly. "It’s like... like something brushing against your thoughts. Gentle, but heavy. Then it’s gone."

"Scarlett?"

"Sometimes I wake up and my clothes are different. Like I changed them. But I don’t remember doing it."

"Susan?"

"I felt something whispering to me. I don’t remember the words. Just that it sounded like my own voice, but older."

They kept going. One by one. And the more they spoke, the more their fear crystallized. It wasn’t just blackouts. It wasn’t just seduction or strange smiles. It was something deeper. Like their memories were being rewritten, rearranged. Like they were being prepared.

"What does it want?" Sophie whispered.

Jude didn’t answer. Because he didn’t know. Love? Control? Transformation?

The fire burned lower. No one moved.

Then Zoey spoke, her voice quiet. "It doesn’t want to hurt us."

Everyone looked at her.

She blinked, as if surprised she’d said anything. "I mean... it hasn’t tried to kill us. Right? It just... touches us. Like it wants to be close."