The Man Beyond The Map

CHAPTER 16 - THE FLIGHT

I woke to the taste of blood.

My first instinct was to move.

My second was to assess.

My third was to remember where I was.

The first failed.

My wrists were tied.

The second told me I was lying on something hard.

Stone.

The third came slowly.

The island.

Aria.

The creature.

The woman with silver hair.

Then the darkness.

I opened my eyes.

Nothing.

No light.

I tried moving my legs.

Free.

My shoulders ached.

My wrists burned against whatever was holding them.

I tested the restraints.

Strong.

Not rope.

Metal.

I twisted my right wrist.

Nothing.

Again.

Still nothing.

I stopped.

Panic was useless.

I took a slow breath.

In.

Out.

I listened.

Water.

Dripping somewhere nearby.

A faint vibration beneath the floor.

And breathing.

Not mine.

Someone else was in the room.

I kept my eyes closed.

The breathing was slow.

Controlled.

Close.

I waited.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Then a voice spoke.

“You're awake.”

Female.

I opened my eyes.

Aria sat across from me.

Her back rested against a stone wall.

Her wrists were tied too.

I looked around.

The room was small.

Stone walls.

Stone floor.

No windows.

A single metal door.

“Where are we?”

“I don't know.”

“How long?”

“About an hour.”

“You were knocked out too?”

“No.”

She hesitated.

“I wasn't.”

I looked at her.

“What happened?”

“You collapsed.”

“You said you were sorry.”

Her eyes dropped.

“I know.”

“Why?”

She didn't answer.

“Aria.”

“I had to.”

“Had to what?”

“Get you inside.”

“Inside where?”

She looked at the walls.

“The island.”

I almost laughed.

“We're already on the island.”

“No.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“We're underneath it.”

I looked down.

The vibration beneath the floor suddenly made sense.

“Who tied us?”

“I did.”

I stared at her.

“You?”

“I had no choice.”

“There's always a choice.”

Her expression hardened.

“Not here.”

She pulled against her restraints.

“I tried to warn you.”

“You knocked me unconscious.”

“I stopped you from walking into the jungle.”

“You could have explained.”

“You wouldn't have listened.”

She wasn't wrong.

That irritated me even more.

I looked at the door.

“Where is Kane?”

“I don't know.”

“Where's the ship?”

“I don't know.”

“Where's the creature?”

“I don't know.”

“Then what do you know?”

She looked at me.

“You were expected.”

“By whom?”

She shook her head.

“I don't know.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it's true.”

The room fell silent.

I studied her.

She wasn't behaving like an enemy.

She was scared.

But fear didn't make someone innocent.

“Why did you call me Ethan?”

Her eyes shifted.

“Because that's your name.”

“Not according to my documents.”

“I don't care what your documents say.”

“You knew my name before I arrived.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

She looked away.

“Someone told me.”

“Who?”

“I never saw their face.”

“Convenient.”

“Believe what you want.”

She closed her eyes.

“But you need to understand something.”

“What?”

“The island doesn't care about your identity.”

“Then what does it care about?”

She opened her eyes.

“You.”

A metallic sound came from behind the door.

We both froze.

Something unlocked.

The door opened inward.

No one entered.

Just darkness.

I pulled against my restraints.

Nothing.

Aria whispered:

“Don't speak.”

Footsteps echoed from somewhere beyond the doorway.

Slow.

Measured.

Approaching.

I stared into the darkness.

A silhouette appeared.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Military posture.

I knew that walk.

“Kane.”

He stepped into the room.

No uniform.

No weapon.

Just black clothing and a small cut across his forehead.

He smiled.

“Good morning.”

I stared at him.

“You followed me.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Same way you did.”

“I stole an identity.”

Kane laughed.

“No.”

He stepped closer.

“You were given one.”

My eyes narrowed.

“What does that mean?”

“You still don't understand.”

“Explain.”

He crouched in front of me.

“You think you ran from the military.”

“I did.”

“You think you ran from Marcus.”

I said nothing.

“You think you came here because you wanted to disappear.”

He leaned closer.

“You didn't.”

“Then why am I here?”

His smile disappeared.

“Because someone needed you here.”

I stared at him.

“Who?”

Kane stood.

“The same person who built your new identity.”

My stomach tightened.

“Daniel Reed.”

“Yes.”

“He was real.”

“Very.”

“What happened to him?”

Kane looked toward the doorway.

“He came here.”

“And?”

“He learned the truth.”

“What truth?”

Kane looked back at me.

“That you aren't the first Ethan Cross.”

I felt the room disappear around me.

“What?”

He said nothing.

I pulled against the restraints.

“Explain.”

“You saw the photograph.”

“The man outside the facility.”

“Yes.”

“That wasn't me.”

“No.”

“Then who was he?”

Kane smiled.

“You.”

I stared at him.

“That doesn't make sense.”

“It will.”

He walked toward the door.

“Untie me.”

“No.”

“Kane.”

He stopped.

“You want answers?”

“Yes.”

“Then survive the next twelve hours.”

He walked out.

The door slammed shut.

I turned toward Aria.

“What the hell was that?”

She looked exhausted.

“I told you.”

“Told me what?”

“This island doesn't bring people here by accident.”

I stared at the door.

“Who is controlling it?”

Aria shook her head.

“I don't know.”

I laughed bitterly.

“Of course.”

She looked at me.

“You think I'm stupid.”

“I think everyone knows something except me.”

“That isn't true.”

“Then tell me something.”

She hesitated.

“What?”

“Why were you waiting for me?”

She looked down at her hands.

“Because someone told me you would come.”

“When?”

“Twelve years ago.”

I went still.

“Twelve years?”

“Yes.”

“Who told you?”

“The same woman you saw.”

“The silver-haired woman?”

Aria nodded.

“Who is she?”

“No one knows.”

“You said she decides who leaves.”

“She does.”

“How?”

“She chooses.”

“Chooses what?”

“Who stays.”

The words settled heavily.

I pulled at the restraints again.

Metal cut into my skin.

I stopped.

“Aria.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to leave?”

Her eyes met mine.

“Yes.”

“Then why haven't you?”

She looked toward the ceiling.

“Because I was told to wait.”

“For me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Her lips parted.

But before she could answer, the lights came on.

Not electric lights.

Blue fire.

It burned along the walls without producing heat.

The door opened.

Neither of us had touched it.

A voice echoed through the chamber.

“Ethan Cross.”

My entire body stiffened.

The voice wasn't Kane's.

It wasn't Marcus's.

It wasn't anyone I'd ever heard.

Yet something inside me reacted.

Recognition.

Fear.

Something else.

The restraints around my wrists opened.

I pulled my hands free.

Aria's opened too.

We stood.

The voice spoke again.

“You have returned.”

I looked at Aria.

She was crying.

Not from fear.

Something else.

“What is this place?”

The voice answered.

“Home.”

The word hit me harder than it should have.

“No.”

I looked toward the doorway.

“I've never been here.”

A pause.

Then:

“You said that before.”

The blue fire brightened.

Symbols appeared across the walls.

Thousands of them.

Some looked like writing.

Others looked like maps.

One symbol caught my attention.

A circle.

Seven lines.

A broken center.

I had seen it before.

On the facility.

On the aircraft.

In the photograph.

My hand moved toward it.

The moment my fingers touched the wall—

The world vanished.

I was standing on a beach.

The sky was red.

Three moons hung above the ocean.

The water was glowing.

I looked down.

I wasn't wearing a military uniform.

I wasn't even wearing clothes I recognized.

My hands were younger.

Stronger.

There was blood on them.

A woman stood beside me.

Silver hair.

White eyes.

She smiled.

“You came back.”

I looked at her.

“Who are you?”

She touched my face.

“You always forget.”

The vision shattered.

I stumbled backward.

Aria caught me.

“What happened?”

I couldn't answer.

I was still seeing the woman.

Still hearing her voice.

Still feeling her hand against my face.

Then another memory surfaced.

A child.

Small.

Standing beside a fire.

Violet eyes.

She reached toward me.

“Don't leave again.”

I blinked.

The image disappeared.

I looked at Aria.

She was staring at me.

“What?”

“You saw her.”

“Who?”

“The child.”

My blood ran cold.

“How do you know?”

“Because everyone who comes here sees something.”

“What did you see?”

She looked away.

“My mother.”

I frowned.

“You saw your mother?”

“Yes.”

“She's dead?”

Aria nodded.

“Before I came here.”

I didn't know what to say.

She wiped her eyes.

“The island shows you what you need to see.”

“Or what it wants you to believe.”

She looked at me.

“Maybe.”

We stepped through the doorway.

A corridor stretched ahead.

Blue fire illuminated the walls.

The architecture was impossible.

Stone arches connected to metal structures.

Ancient carvings ran beside cables.

Everything looked like different civilizations had built the same place across thousands of years.

We walked.

Neither of us spoke.

Then we heard voices.

Human voices.

I stopped.

Aria grabbed my arm.

“Wait.”

We listened.

Several people were talking.

A man's voice.

An older woman's voice.

A child laughing.

I looked at Aria.

“There are people down here.”

She nodded.

“I know.”

“How many?”

“Enough.”

We continued.

The corridor opened into a massive underground chamber.

I stopped.

Hundreds of people stood below.

Some wore modern clothes.

Some wore military uniforms.

Some wore clothing that looked decades old.

Others looked like they had stepped out of another century.

A man stared at me.

Then another.

Then an old woman dropped what she was carrying.

Her face changed.

She whispered something.

People began turning.

One by one.

Everyone looked at me.

Nobody spoke.

Then an elderly man stepped forward.

He walked with a cane.

His eyes never left mine.

He stopped directly in front of me.

His hand trembled as he reached toward my face.

I stepped back.

He whispered:

“You're late.”

I swallowed.

“Do I know you?”

The old man smiled sadly.

“You don't remember any of us.”

“Who are you?”

He looked around the chamber.

Then back at me.

“We are the ones who stayed.”

“Stayed for what?”

He pointed upward.

“For you.”

A deep vibration moved through the chamber.

Everyone looked toward the ceiling.

The blue fire went out.

Darkness swallowed the room.

Then something enormous moved beneath our feet.

People began screaming.

Aria grabbed my hand.

The old man whispered:

“It knows you're awake.”

The floor cracked.

A massive eye opened beneath the stone.

And this time—

I remembered.

Not the island.

Not the creature.

Not the woman.

I remembered the moment I had first seen this place.

I remembered coming here before.

I remembered standing on the same beach.

And I remembered leaving.

But I hadn't left alone.

Someone had come with me.

Someone I had forgotten.

Someone who had been waiting for me ever since.

A woman's voice whispered inside my mind.

You promised you'd come back.

Then the eye beneath us opened completely.

And the entire island screamed.