The Man Beyond The Map

CHAPTER 15 - NO WAY BACK

The creature stepped out of the jungle.

I forgot to breathe.

It was enormous.

Not the largest animal I'd ever seen, but large enough to make every survival instinct in my body scream at me to run.

Its shoulders rose above the lower branches.

Its body was covered in dark, wet-looking fur that seemed almost black beneath the moonlight.

Four legs.

Long claws.

A head shaped like something nature had designed without ever asking permission.

Its eyes were the worst part.

Pale.

Almost silver.

They reflected the runway lights as it watched me.

It didn't charge.

It simply stood there.

Watching.

Waiting.

My pistol remained raised.

Aria's hand tightened around my arm.

“Don't.”

“You said that already.”

“And I'm saying it again.”

“What is it?”

She swallowed.

“I don't know.”

I glanced at her.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I've lived here for three years.”

That stopped me.

“Three years?”

She nodded.

“And you've never seen it before?”

“I've seen it.”

Her eyes remained fixed on the creature.

“Just never this close.”

The animal took another step.

I raised the pistol higher.

Aria moved in front of me.

“Don't shoot.”

“Move.”

“No.”

“Aria.”

“If you fire, it won't run.”

“What will it do?”

She looked at me.

“It will remember you.”

The words made no sense.

Then the creature lowered its head.

It sniffed the air.

Its gaze moved from Aria to me.

And suddenly—

It stopped.

Its ears moved.

Its eyes widened.

Then it lowered itself onto its front legs.

Not attacking.

Kneeling.

I stared.

Aria stared too.

“What the hell…”

The creature lowered its head until its nose almost touched the ground.

A low sound came from its throat.

Not a growl.

Something closer to recognition.

I slowly lowered the pistol.

The creature raised its head.

Our eyes met.

And for one impossible second, something flashed through my mind.

A shoreline.

Not this shoreline.

Another one.

Different sky.

Different trees.

A fire burning beneath enormous stars.

My hand resting against the head of something much larger.

A voice laughing beside me.

A woman's voice.

You always make friends with things that want to eat you.

Then the memory disappeared.

I staggered.

Aria caught me.

“Ethan?”

I looked at her.

“Did you see that?”

“See what?”

I pushed away from her gently.

The creature was still there.

Still watching.

I took a cautious step forward.

Aria grabbed my sleeve.

“What are you doing?”

“I've seen it before.”

Her face went pale.

“No.”

“I don't know when.”

“You couldn't have.”

“I know what I saw.”

She shook her head.

“People don't remember this island.”

“Apparently I do.”

“No.”

She looked at me with an expression I couldn't understand.

Fear.

Recognition.

Maybe both.

“You weren't supposed to come.”

I frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Before she could answer, the creature rose.

I immediately raised my pistol again.

But it didn't attack.

It turned toward the jungle.

Then it looked back at me.

It waited.

As though expecting me to follow.

Aria whispered, “It's showing you something.”

I looked at her.

“What?”

She shook her head.

“I don't know.”

The creature disappeared into the trees.

I watched the branches move behind it.

Then nothing.

The island became silent again.

I lowered my weapon.

“We need to get inside the aircraft.”

Aria frowned.

“Why?”

“To get away from whatever that was.”

She almost smiled.

“You can't.”

“Why?”

“Because the aircraft isn't leaving.”

I turned.

She was right.

The cockpit lights were dead.

The navigation system had shut down.

I climbed aboard.

“Stay here.”

I moved through the cockpit.

Battery.

Dead.

Fuel.

Plenty.

Engines.

Silent.

I checked the switches.

Nothing.

I tried the starter.

The engine turned once.

Stopped.

Again.

Nothing.

I switched to auxiliary power.

Dead.

I opened the maintenance panel.

Everything looked intact.

No obvious damage.

No fuel leak.

No electrical failure I could see.

I climbed back down.

Aria was waiting.

“What happened?”

“The aircraft won't start.”

“I know.”

“You knew?”

She shrugged.

“Every aircraft that has landed here has stopped working.”

I stared at her.

“Every aircraft?”

She nodded.

“How many?”

She didn't answer immediately.

Then she pointed toward the far end of the runway.

I followed her finger.

The jungle swallowed most of the view.

But now that I knew where to look, I could see something beneath the trees.

Metal.

A wing.

Half buried in vines.

Then another shape.

A fuselage.

And farther away—

Another.

My stomach tightened.

“How many planes?”

“Seven.”

“Seven?”

“That I know of.”

I walked toward the jungle.

Aria followed.

The first aircraft was an old military transport.

Its paint had almost completely disappeared beneath moss.

The cockpit windows were shattered.

I checked the fuselage.

No bodies.

No luggage.

Nothing.

“How long has this been here?”

“Years.”

“What happened to the crew?”

“Some were found.”

“Some?”

She nodded.

“The others disappeared.”

I looked at the second wreck.

Commercial aircraft.

Old model.

The emergency door was open.

A suitcase lay beneath a tree.

I crouched beside it.

The label was still attached.

TOKYO — PARIS.

A passenger's name.

A date.

I checked it.

Twenty-one years old.

My skin prickled.

“This plane crashed here twenty-one years ago?”

“No.”

Aria looked toward the runway.

“It landed.”

I turned.

“What?”

“It landed normally.”

“How do you know?”

“Because the landing gear is intact.”

She pointed.

The aircraft had no signs of a crash.

It had simply been abandoned.

I looked at the runway.

Then at my aircraft.

A cold realization settled inside me.

The island didn't destroy aircraft.

It trapped them.

I stood.

“Where are the people?”

Aria's expression became distant.

“Some built homes.”

“Here?”

“Yes.”

“Others?”

She looked into the jungle.

“Didn't survive.”

The way she said it told me there was more.

“What killed them?”

“Different things.”

“Such as?”

“Animals.”

“That's normal.”

“Not here.”

I waited.

She continued.

“Storms.”

“Also normal.”

“Not here.”

I frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“You'll understand.”

I hated those words.

They reminded me of the voice.

The files.

The facility.

Everyone seemed to know something except me.

“Aria.”

“Yes?”

“Tell me the truth.”

She looked at me.

“I am.”

“No. You're telling me pieces.”

She looked away.

“I don't know the whole story.”

“Then tell me what you know.”

She was silent.

Finally, she said, “The island changes.”

“How?”

“The coastline moves.”

I stared at her.

“The forest moves.”

I didn't answer.

“The weather doesn't follow normal patterns.”

“That's impossible.”

“So is an island appearing where there isn't supposed to be one.”

She had a point.

She continued.

“People arrive at different times.”

“What do you mean?”

“I arrived three years ago.”

“And?”

“The last person I met arrived twelve years before me.”

My eyes narrowed.

“That doesn't make sense.”

“He was thirty when he arrived.”

“And?”

“He had been here for forty years.”

I stared at her.

“That's impossible.”

“Yes.”

She looked toward the jungle.

“But it happened.”

A wind moved through the trees.

The leaves whispered.

Then stopped.

I checked my watch.

06:12.

The sun should have been rising.

But the sky remained dark.

I looked east.

The horizon was beginning to glow.

Slowly.

Too slowly.

Aria noticed me watching.

“Don't trust the time.”

“Why?”

“Because time doesn't always behave here either.”

I laughed once.

“You're telling me time is broken?”

“Sometimes.”

I looked at her.

She wasn't joking.

“Where did you learn all this?”

“From the people who were here before me.”

“Where are they?”

“Dead.”

The answer came quickly.

Too quickly.

I studied her.

She was hiding something.

But before I could press her, a distant horn sounded.

Deep.

Long.

It came from somewhere beyond the jungle.

I reached for my weapon.

Aria froze.

“What?”

She looked toward the sound.

“That isn't supposed to happen.”

“What isn't?”

“That means someone else arrived.”

I turned toward the ocean.

The horizon was clear.

Then I saw smoke.

A dark column rising beyond the trees.

“Another aircraft?”

Aria shook her head.

“No.”

“What, then?”

“I don't know.”

We ran.

The jungle opened onto a rocky overlook.

From there I could see the ocean.

Something was burning on the water.

Not an aircraft.

A ship.

Large.

Modern.

Its bow was pointed toward the island.

Black smoke rolled into the sky.

I looked at Aria.

“Did that just appear?”

She nodded.

“It wasn't there a minute ago.”

The ship moved closer.

Then its engines stopped.

It drifted.

No crew visible.

No lights.

No distress signal.

I pulled out binoculars.

The deck was empty.

“Could be abandoned.”

Aria didn't answer.

I lowered the binoculars.

“What?”

She pointed.

Something was standing on the deck.

A person.

I raised the binoculars again.

A man.

Military uniform.

He stood completely still.

Then he lifted his head.

Even from this distance, I knew him.

My blood turned cold.

“Kane.”

Aria looked at me.

“Who?”

“Commander Victor Kane.”

“How do you know him?”

“Because he's the reason I came here.”

She stared at the ship.

“Then you have a problem.”

“What?”

“The island didn't bring him.”

I looked at her.

“What are you talking about?”

She pointed toward the jungle behind us.

“The island brought you.”

Then she pointed toward the burning ship.

“Kane came on his own.”

A cold silence settled between us.

I watched the ship.

Kane was no longer standing on the deck.

He had disappeared.

Then my radio crackled.

I hadn't turned it on.

Static filled the air.

A voice came through.

Kane.

“Hello, Cross.”

I raised the radio.

“How did you get here?”

A laugh.

“You really thought you were the only one with a stolen identity?”

My jaw tightened.

“What do you want?”

“You.”

“Why?”

“Because you were always the key.”

“To what?”

The transmission distorted.

Then his voice returned.

“Ask the girl.”

I looked at Aria.

Her expression had changed.

She looked terrified.

“Kane,” I said, “what did you do?”

The radio went silent.

Then one final message came through.

“Nothing.”

A pause.

“I only followed you.”

The transmission died.

I lowered the radio.

Aria wouldn't look at me.

“You knew he'd come.”

“No.”

“You're lying.”

“I didn't know Kane was coming.”

“But you knew someone might.”

She said nothing.

I stepped closer.

“Aria.”

She finally looked at me.

Her eyes were wet.

“I knew someone would follow.”

“Who?”

“You.”

My heart stopped.

“What?”

She took a shaky breath.

“You weren't the first person I was waiting for.”

The wind moved between us.

“Then who?”

She looked toward the jungle.

“The first one came twenty-three years ago.”

“And?”

“He looked exactly like you.”

I stared at her.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“That isn't possible.”

“He called himself Daniel Reed.”

The name hit me like a punch.

My forged identity.

The dead pilot.

The man whose life had been built for me.

I couldn't speak.

Aria stepped closer.

“Daniel Reed wasn't just a pilot.”

“Who was he?”

She whispered:

“He was the last man who escaped this island.”

My mouth went dry.

“Escaped?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“He didn't.”

I frowned.

“You just said—”

“He left.”

She swallowed.

“But he never escaped.”

“What does that mean?”

“He was allowed to leave.”

I stared at her.

“By whom?”

She didn't answer.

Instead, she looked past me.

I turned.

The creature stood at the edge of the jungle again.

Watching.

Waiting.

And beside it—

A second figure.

A woman.

Silver hair.

Bare feet.

White dress.

She was too far away for me to see her face clearly.

But she raised one hand.

Not toward Aria.

Toward me.

My heart began pounding.

Aria whispered something I couldn't hear.

I turned toward her.

“What?”

She was staring at the woman.

Her face had gone completely pale.

“What?”

Aria finally answered.

“She hasn't appeared in twelve years.”

“Who is she?”

Aria looked at me.

And for the first time since I had met her, I saw genuine terror in her eyes.

“The woman who decides who gets to leave.”

I looked back.

The woman was gone.

So was the creature.

Only the jungle remained.

I stood there, frozen.

Then something struck the back of my neck.

I dropped.

My vision blurred.

Aria shouted my name.

I tried to rise.

Couldn't.

My hands stopped responding.

The world tilted.

The last thing I saw was Aria kneeling beside me.

The last thing I heard was her voice.

“I'm sorry, Ethan.”

Then darkness swallowed me.

And somewhere beneath the island, something ancient opened its eyes.