Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women
Chapter 967

Chapter 967: Chapter 967

Jude crouched beside her. Thin glyphs, barely visible, were etched into the bark, carved in a language he didn’t know, but felt. "They’re not ours."

Serena’s eyes scanned the fog. "We should move back. Whatever wrote those glyphs didn’t want us to see them."

Before Jude could respond, a rustle passed through the mist. They froze. The sound wasn’t animal. It was slow, deliberate. A shape moved behind the trees, tall, humanoid, but not a watcher. Not mist. Flesh. It vanished before they could follow.

They retreated, marking the spot with silver ribbon. By the time they returned to camp, the sky had darkened despite the hour.

"They’re testing us," Jude said as they gathered beneath the arch. "Something else is in the forest. It watches us like the watchers do, but not with curiosity. It’s older. Maybe more territorial."

Sophie frowned. "Could it be one of the monsters from the mountain?"

"No," Jude said. "This was something different. Not beast. Something thinking."

Grace stepped forward. "Then we respond in kind. No fear. No aggression. We build signal. Offer clarity."

That night they constructed a totem at the eastern edge, a tall column of wood carved with symbols, layered in blue paint, wrapped with cords of vine and silver. It bore a simple message: Peace. Home. Watchers welcome.

They placed it before dusk. The watchers gathered at a distance, observing. No mist moved into the orchard that night, but the shape in the woods didn’t return.

When the morning came, it was Susan who woke first. Jude stirred when she sat up, stretching in the pale light, hair wild against her back. She turned, slid back under the covers, and pressed her lips to his collarbone.

"Come with me," she whispered.

He blinked. "Where?"

"Nowhere far. Just the river bend."

They dressed quietly and slipped past the orchard. The trees were quiet this early, the mist clinging low but not threatening. Susan led him through a patch of lavender brush until they reached the small waterfall that fed into the river, a hidden place where they’d first kissed years ago, back when love was still wrapped in survival and mystery.

She stepped into the water barefoot, letting her dress float around her. Jude followed, the chill shocking at first, then invigorating. They stood chest-deep in the pool as water poured in silver arcs around them. Susan ran her fingers along his jaw.

"Do you remember when you promised to marry us all?" she asked.

He smiled. "You mean when you all demanded it?"

She laughed, and it echoed between the rocks. "It wasn’t a demand. It was a pact. A shared truth."

He stepped closer, his hands finding her waist beneath the water. "I remember thinking it was the only moment I’d ever felt whole."

She kissed him, deeper this time, hungrier. The water wrapped around them as if holding the moment in place. Jude felt her press closer, her body melting into his. Their movements were slow, then fast, then slow again. Not desperate, but deliberate. Like they were affirming something ancient between them. When they finally broke apart, breathless, she rested her head against his shoulder.

"I needed that," she said.

"So did I."

When they returned, the orchard had changed.

The totem was still standing, but the watchers were gone. Completely. No mist, no shimmer. Not even the low hum they’d come to expect.

Scarlet met them at the firepit. "They vanished just after you left."

"Vanished?" Susan asked.

Scarlet nodded. "Every last one. No signals. No presence. The whole border’s empty."

Jude frowned. He spent the day walking with Lucy and Grace through the woods, looking for any signs of watcher activity. Nothing. Even the glyph trees had dulled. Ribbons that once shimmered with energy now hung limp. Something had withdrawn.

That evening, they sat around the fire, unusually quiet. The children sensed the change too, staying close to their mothers. Jude sat between Susan and Layla, staring into the flames.

"Do you think we did something wrong?" Lucy asked.

"No," Jude said. "I think something else is happening."

Natalie leaned in. "Or something is coming."

He thought of the glyphs near the eastern edge. The shape in the woods. The sense that the island was holding its breath.

That night, he dreamed.

He stood in the orchard, but everything was ash-white. The trees were brittle. The watchers stood around him, not mist anymore, but solid, tall figures of glass and smoke. One of them reached out, touching his chest. Its voice wasn’t a sound, but a knowing.

She comes. She remembers.

Jude woke with a gasp, heart pounding. Susan stirred beside him.

"Another dream?" she whispered.

He nodded. "This one was different."

The watchers didn’t return the next day either. Jude led a group to the eastern edge again. The totem had been altered. Not destroyed, but changed. Its top half now bore a new symbol etched in ash-black paint. A spiral broken in the center. A warning, maybe. Or a message.

That evening, Jude called the wives to council.

"We need to be ready," he said. "The watchers pulled back. That means something stronger is moving."

Sophie stood. "Then we meet it. Not with fear. But with all we’ve built."

Scarlet placed a knife on the table. "And if it comes with harm?"

"Then we defend what’s ours," Susan said, voice like iron.

They nodded. A silent unity.

That night, Jude took turns walking perimeter watch with Serena and Stella. The orchard was quiet. Too quiet.

Just before dawn, the mist returned. But it was wrong. It was darker. Not blue, not gold. Gray. Heavy. It hung at the edges like oil in water, and with it, a low sound, like whispering across glass.

Jude stepped to the edge. One figure stood in the fog.

Not a watcher.

Tall. Robed in ragged cloth. Head bowed. Its hands were human. But its presence was cold. Alien.

Jude called softly, "Do you come in peace?"

The figure didn’t answer. It raised its head. Eyes like empty wells stared back.