The Man Beyond The Map

CHAPTER 21 - TWO SURVIVORS

The ocean swallowed everything.

Cold.

Dark.

Weightless.

I couldn't tell which way was up.

My lungs burned as the current twisted my body through the darkness. I reached for something—anything—but my fingers closed around nothing but water.

Then something struck my shoulder.

Metal.

I grabbed it.

A broken piece of the chamber.

I wrapped one arm around it and kicked toward what I hoped was the surface.

My chest felt like it was splitting open. My vision blurred.

Then—

A hand caught mine.

I looked back.

The hostess.

Her dark hair floated around her face like ink. Her eyes were wide with panic.

She was sinking.

I grabbed her wrist.

She clung to me.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then the current pulled us apart.

I tightened my grip.

She kicked desperately as I pulled her toward me.

Her body collided with mine, and her arms wrapped around my neck.

I held her.

Not because I was thinking.

Because something inside me refused to let her go.

We were dragged through the darkness together. Her face pressed against my neck, her fingers digging into my shoulder. I could feel her trembling.

Then I saw it.

Light.

Far above us.

I pointed.

She nodded.

We kicked upward.

My lungs screamed.

The light grew brighter.

Ten seconds.

Five.

Three—

We broke through the surface.

She gasped violently.

I dragged in air so hard my ribs hurt.

For several seconds, we simply clung to each other as the ocean rose and fell beneath us. Her arms remained around my neck. My hands were locked around her waist.

Neither of us seemed willing to be the first to let go.

Then she looked at me.

Wet hair clung to her cheeks.

Her violet eyes were wide.

"You came back."

I frowned.

"What?"

Her expression shifted, confusion replacing recognition.

"I don't know why I said that."

"You've said it before."

"When?"

"In my memories."

She stared at me.

"What do you remember?"

"A beach."

Her lips parted.

"Three moons."

I nodded.

"And you."

She looked away as the wind moved across the water.

"I've dreamed about that place."

"What happens in the dreams?"

She hesitated.

"You."

My heartbeat changed.

"What about me?"

"Sometimes you're standing beside me."

She swallowed.

"Sometimes you're leaving."

"And sometimes?"

Her eyes met mine.

"Sometimes I'm the one begging you not to go."

Something tightened in my chest.

I wanted to ask more, but another wave struck us.

She slipped.

I caught her.

Her hands landed against my chest.

She stared at me.

Neither of us moved.

I could feel her heartbeat beneath her palm.

Fast.

Mine wasn't much slower.

"Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"If I tell you something..."

She hesitated.

"Will you think I'm crazy?"

"Probably."

She gave me a look.

"You're terrible at comforting people."

"I've been told."

She laughed.

The sound hit me harder than it should have.

I had heard that laugh before.

Not today.

Not three years ago.

Somewhere else.

Somewhere impossible.

She moved closer without realizing it.

Or maybe she did.

Her eyes dropped briefly to my mouth before returning to mine.

I noticed.

She noticed that I noticed.

Neither of us looked away.

"Ethan..."

"Yeah?"

"I think I've missed you."

My heart tightened.

"You don't even know me."

"I know."

She smiled faintly.

"But my heart does."

The ocean seemed to grow quieter.

I reached up and brushed a strand of wet hair from her face.

She didn't pull away.

Instead, she leaned slightly into my touch.

Her eyes closed.

For a moment, the island disappeared.

There was no jungle.

No Kane.

No impossible memories.

No ancient creatures.

Just her.

And the strange certainty that I'd been standing this close to her for far longer than I could remember.

I touched her cheek.

She opened her eyes.

"You really don't remember me."

"No."

"Then why do you look at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're trying to remember where you've seen me."

I gave a faint smile.

"Maybe I'm trying to remember why losing you feels familiar."

Her breath caught.

Then she kissed me.

Softly.

Almost cautiously.

It lasted only a moment, but when she pulled back, neither of us moved away.

Our foreheads touched.

Her fingers remained against my chest.

"I don't understand you," she whispered.

"Neither do I."

She smiled.

"That makes two of us."

A distant roar shattered the moment.

We separated instantly.

I turned toward the sound.

Nothing.

Only black water.

"Where's Aria?"

The hostess looked around.

Her face fell.

"I don't know."

I looked beneath the surface.

"Stay here."

"Ethan—"

I dove.

Darkness swallowed me again.

I searched through broken pieces of metal and stone.

Nothing.

Then I saw movement.

A hand.

I grabbed it and pulled.

Aria emerged from the darkness, barely conscious.

I wrapped an arm around her and kicked upward.

We broke the surface.

She coughed violently.

I held her until she could breathe.

"Where were you?" she managed.

"Underwater."

"I thought you were dead."

"So did I."

She looked past me.

At the hostess.

Something changed in her expression.

She noticed how close we'd been.

Her eyes lingered on the woman's hand still resting against my jacket.

Jealousy.

Pain.

Then she looked away.

"Where's Kane?"

I glanced toward the place where the chamber had been.

Gone.

Everything was gone.

The platform.

The glass walls.

The staircase.

Kane.

Only open ocean remained.

"I don't know."

Aria looked toward the horizon.

"We need land."

I nodded.

We swam.

The ocean seemed endless.

My arms grew heavy. My legs burned.

The hostess stayed beside me.

Every few minutes, our shoulders touched.

Neither of us commented on it.

Eventually, my feet struck something solid.

Sand.

I pushed forward.

We crawled onto a beach.

For several seconds, none of us moved.

I rolled onto my back.

The sky above us was black.

No stars.

No moon.

Nothing.

Then the hostess laughed.

A quiet, exhausted laugh.

"We're alive."

I turned toward her.

"Somehow."

She pushed herself upright.

Her uniform was soaked.

So was mine.

Aria stood and examined the shoreline.

The hostess wrapped her arms around herself.

She was cold.

I removed my jacket and handed it to her.

She hesitated.

"You're cold too."

"I'll survive."

She accepted it.

When she put it on, the sleeves covered most of her hands. She looked strangely comfortable in it.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She stepped closer.

"You always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Take care of people."

I looked toward the jungle.

"No."

She waited.

"Just the people I care about."

Her expression softened.

"Do you care about me?"

I looked into her eyes.

"I think I started before I knew your name."

She stopped breathing for a second.

Aria turned away.

I noticed her shoulders tremble.

"Aria."

She wiped her face quickly.

"I'm fine."

"You're crying."

"I'm not."

"You are."

She looked at me.

"Don't."

I stopped.

She looked toward the jungle.

"You don't understand what it feels like to spend three years believing someone remembers you..."

Her voice broke.

"...only to watch him look at someone else like she's the answer."

The hostess lowered her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Aria shook her head.

"You don't need to apologize."

"I didn't choose this."

"Neither did I."

I stood between them.

"I don't know what's happening."

Aria looked at me.

"That's the problem."

She walked toward the jungle.

"We need shelter."

I followed.

The hostess stayed beside me.

After a few steps, her fingers brushed mine.

She hesitated.

Then slowly intertwined them.

I looked down.

Then at her.

She smiled faintly.

I didn't let go.

The jungle swallowed us almost immediately.

Branches scraped against my arms. Roots twisted across the ground. The air was thick and wet.

Every few seconds, something moved in the darkness.

The silver-eyed creature was gone.

That worried me more than its presence had.

Aria suddenly stopped.

"Quiet."

We froze.

A low growl came from somewhere ahead.

Then another.

The hostess tightened her grip on my hand.

Aria reached for her weapon.

Something moved between the trees.

Fast.

The hostess stepped behind me.

I raised my weapon.

The creature appeared.

Huge.

Dark.

Silver eyes reflecting the faint, moonless light.

It looked at us.

Then lowered its head.

I recognized it.

The creature from the runway.

The same one that had followed us.

The same one that had disappeared when we'd entered the underground chamber.

It slowly approached.

The hostess whispered, "What is that?"

"I don't know."

The creature stopped directly in front of me.

Its eyes changed.

Recognition.

Not curiosity.

Recognition.

It lowered itself until one knee touched the earth.

Its head bowed.

Aria went pale.

"You remember him."

"I don't."

The creature lifted its head.

Then spoke.

Its voice was deep enough to vibrate through my chest.

"Welcome back."

I couldn't breathe.

The hostess stepped closer.

"Back?"

The creature looked at her.

Then at Aria.

Something almost like fear appeared in its silver eyes.

It looked at me again.

"Forgive us, my King."

The words struck harder than any weapon.

Aria whispered—

"Ethan..."

I couldn't answer.

The creature bowed lower.

"My King."

I stared at it.

A pressure built behind my eyes.

A memory.

A throne.

Black skies.

Millions of figures kneeling beneath me.

The same silver-eyed creature standing among them.

And a woman beside me.

Violet eyes.

A hand in mine.

Then—

A child crying.

A door closing.

My own voice saying:

I have to forget.

I stumbled backward.

The hostess caught me.

"Ethan?"

I looked at her.

For one impossible second, her face changed.

Not completely.

Just enough.

I saw the woman from the red sky.

The woman beneath the three moons.

The woman I'd promised not to leave.

Then she became herself again.

The hostess.

Aria.

The woman I'd met only hours ago.

I stared at her.

She stared back.

Neither of us spoke.

Then the creature lowered its head once more.

"You have returned to the beginning."

I swallowed.

"What am I?"

The creature's silver eyes lifted.

"You are the reason this island exists."

A cold wind moved through the trees.

"And the reason," it continued, "the ocean has been waiting."

I felt Aria's fingers tighten around mine.

Then, from somewhere beyond the jungle, something answered the creature.

A roar.

Deep.

Ancient.

Massive enough to shake the ground beneath our feet.

The creature turned toward the sound.

For the first time

It looked afraid.

Then it whispered:

"The ocean has found you."

I looked toward the darkness.

Something enormous was moving beneath the earth.

And this time

It wasn't coming for the island.

It was coming for me.