The Man Beyond The Map

CHAPTER 23 — HUNGER

I turned.

Nothing.

The room was empty.

But I could still feel the breath against my neck.

Cold.

Wet.

Close enough to make every instinct in my body scream.

I raised my weapon.

"Show yourself."

Silence.

The hostess stood frozen behind me.

The other Aria slowly scanned the room.

"Did you see anything?"

"No."

"But you heard her."

"Yes."

The hostess swallowed.

"I heard her too."

The other Aria looked at her.

"Who was it?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know."

A drop of water landed on the floor.

Then another.

I looked down.

Wet footprints.

They began behind me.

They crossed the room.

And stopped beside the wall.

I followed them with my eyes.

Nothing.

Then the wall changed.

A dark shape appeared beneath the stone.

A handprint.

Human.

I stepped closer.

The mark disappeared.

The generator suddenly came back to life.

The lights flickered.

Once.

Twice.

Then stayed on.

The room looked normal again.

Except for one thing.

The door was gone.

Not broken.

Gone.

There was only a solid stone wall where the entrance had been.

The other Aria stared at it.

"That's impossible."

I walked toward the wall.

"Everything here is impossible."

She touched the stone.

"It's not supposed to do that."

"How do you know?"

She looked at me.

"Because I've been here for three years."

"And you've never seen this?"

"No."

The hostess walked toward us.

"Maybe the island doesn't want us to leave."

I looked at her.

"Then we'll find another way."

She smiled faintly.

"I knew you'd say that."

Something about the way she said it bothered me.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No. What?"

She looked away.

"You always say that."

"Always?"

She nodded.

"When things get bad, you say we'll find another way."

"How do you know?"

Her eyes met mine.

"I don't know."

The other Aria walked toward the wall.

"Enough."

She pressed her palm against the stone.

Nothing happened.

I tried.

The wall remained solid.

The hostess stepped forward.

Her fingers touched the same spot.

The stone immediately began glowing.

We all froze.

Lines spread beneath her hand.

A symbol appeared.

Seven circles.

One illuminated.

The same mark that had appeared on my chest.

The same symbol we'd seen beneath the island.

The hostess pulled her hand away.

The light disappeared.

Nobody spoke.

Then the other Aria whispered:

"It's responding to you."

The hostess stared at her hand.

"Why?"

I looked at her.

"Maybe because you're the one the island wanted."

She looked at me.

"And what does that make you?"

I didn't answer.

Because I had begun wondering the same thing.

We searched the shelter for another exit.

There wasn't one.

Food supplies filled one cabinet.

Water filled another.

Medical equipment lined the walls.

Someone had stocked this place recently.

I opened a metal box.

Inside were military rations.

Some were dated twenty years earlier.

Others had expiration dates from this year.

The other Aria noticed.

"The island doesn't follow time normally."

"What does that mean?"

"Yesterday could be tomorrow here."

"That's convenient."

"No."

She shook her head.

"It's terrifying."

The hostess sat on one of the beds.

Her exhaustion finally caught up with her.

She rubbed her arms.

I noticed the tremor in her hands.

"You're cold."

"I'm fine."

"You keep saying that."

She smiled.

"You keep noticing."

I grabbed a blanket.

When I wrapped it around her shoulders, she caught my wrist.

"Stay."

I sat beside her.

She leaned against me.

Her head rested against my shoulder.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

The other Aria watched us from across the room.

I could feel her gaze.

Eventually she stood.

"I'm going to check the supplies."

She walked away.

The hostess lowered her voice.

"She's hurt."

"I know."

"Because of me?"

"I don't think so."

She looked at me.

"You're sure?"

"No."

She smiled.

"At least you're honest."

I looked down at her.

Her head was still against my shoulder.

"You should sleep."

"So should you."

"I'll keep watch."

"Why?"

"Because that's what I do."

She lifted her head.

"You're not a soldier right now."

The words struck deeper than she intended.

I looked away.

"Maybe I don't know how to be anything else."

She touched my hand.

"Then learn."

I looked at her.

Her expression was gentle.

No fear.

No judgment.

Just warmth.

I turned my hand over.

Our fingers intertwined.

"You make everything feel familiar."

She smiled.

"Maybe that's the point."

"What point?"

She leaned closer.

"I don't know."

Her forehead touched mine.

"Maybe we're supposed to remember together."

I closed my eyes.

For a moment, I allowed myself to stop fighting.

Her lips brushed mine.

A soft kiss.

Then another.

Nothing rushed.

Nothing forced.

Just the quiet certainty that neither of us wanted to pull away.

When we separated, she whispered:

"I was afraid you wouldn't choose me."

I opened my eyes.

"Choose you?"

She seemed confused by her own words.

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

I studied her.

"Neither do I."

She rested her head against my chest.

Outside, something moved through the jungle.

A low growl.

Then another.

The other Aria returned.

"We have a problem."

I stood.

"What?"

She pointed toward the supply room.

"The food."

"What about it?"

"It's gone."

I frowned.

"What do you mean, gone?"

"The shelves were full."

She opened the cabinet.

Empty.

Every package.

Every bottle.

Gone.

I checked the floor.

Nothing.

No footprints.

No signs of forced entry.

The hostess stood behind me.

"Maybe someone took it."

"Nobody came inside."

"Something did."

We searched the shelter.

Nothing.

Then we heard a sound.

A stomach growling.

I looked at the other Aria.

She looked at the hostess.

The hostess's face reddened.

"Sorry."

I almost laughed.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't remember."

"Today?"

She shook her head.

"Before the flight."

The other Aria frowned.

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

"Because you've been unconscious for hours."

The hostess stared at her.

"Hours?"

"Yes."

"I thought it had been minutes."

I looked at my watch.

The display was dead.

The second hand moved backward.

Then forward.

Then stopped.

I removed it.

"What the hell?"

The other Aria looked at the ceiling.

"We need food."

"We'll hunt."

She stared at me.

"In the jungle?"

"Unless you have another suggestion."

She looked toward the sealed entrance.

"No."

"Then we hunt."

The hostess stood.

"I'm coming."

"No."

"I can help."

"You don't know the island."

"Neither do you."

"Fair."

She smiled.

The other Aria sighed.

"This is going to end badly."

We found an opening behind the shelter.

A narrow passage led into the jungle.

The air outside was colder.

The moon had appeared.

Except there were two of them.

I stopped.

"Was that there before?"

The other Aria shook her head.

"No."

The hostess looked upward.

"Maybe the island is changing again."

A bird screamed overhead.

Something answered from the trees.

I raised my weapon.

We moved carefully.

Twenty minutes later, we found tracks.

Deer.

Fresh.

I followed them.

The other Aria stayed behind me.

The hostess walked beside me.

"Do you know how to hunt?"

"Yes."

"Military training?"

"Among other things."

"What else?"

I looked at her.

"Things I don't remember."

She smiled.

"You're very mysterious."

"I didn't ask to be."

"Maybe that's why I like you."

I stopped.

She almost walked into me.

"What?"

She looked embarrassed.

"I said maybe."

I smiled.

She smiled back.

Then the forest erupted.

A creature burst through the bushes.

I fired.

It dropped.

The other Aria rushed forward.

"Is it dead?"

I approached carefully.

The animal looked like a deer.

But its antlers were black.

Its eyes were silver.

And beneath its skin, faint blue lines pulsed like veins of light.

The hostess stared.

"That's not normal."

"Nothing here is."

I cut a piece of meat.

The moment my knife touched it, the creature's body dissolved.

Not decayed.

Dissolved.

It became black smoke.

The smoke rushed toward me.

I stumbled backward.

The hostess grabbed me.

The smoke entered my chest.

Pain exploded through my body.

I screamed.

The mark beneath my skin ignited.

Seven lines appeared.

One after another.

The other Aria shouted:

"Ethan!"

I dropped to my knees.

A voice filled my head.

Ancient.

Hungry.

You cannot feed here.

I gasped.

"What?"

Not until you remember.

The forest disappeared.

For one second, I saw a vast hall.

Thousands of people kneeling.

Aria stood beside me.

The silver-eyed creature stood below the throne.

And in front of me was a table.

Covered with food.

I heard myself say:

"Let them eat first."

Then the memory vanished.

I collapsed.

The hostess caught me.

"Ethan!"

I opened my eyes.

She was crying.

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not."

Her hand pressed against my chest.

The mark was still glowing.

She looked at it.

Then at me.

"I think I know why the island is starving us."

"Why?"

She whispered:

"Because it wants you hungry."

The other Aria looked toward the trees.

"Why would it want that?"

A voice answered from the darkness.

"Because hunger wakes old instincts."

We turned.

The silver-haired woman stood between the trees.

White eyes.

Expressionless face.

She looked directly at me.

"Especially yours."

I stood slowly.

"What do you want?"

She smiled.

"I want you to remember what you were."

The hostess stepped closer to me.

"Who are you?"

The woman looked at her.

For the first time, emotion crossed her face.

Sadness.

"You really don't remember me."

The hostess froze.

The woman looked at me.

"You told her to forget."

My heart stopped.

"What did I tell her to forget?"

The woman's white eyes moved between us.

"The night you destroyed your own kingdom."

Silence.

The forest seemed to hold its breath.

Then she disappeared.

The other Aria whispered:

"Ethan..."

I stared at the empty space.

"What?"

"Did you really destroy a kingdom?"

I looked at the hostess.

She was staring at me with fear.

Not the fear of a stranger.

The fear of someone who had loved me before.

And remembered something I didn't.

Then the ground beneath us began to shake.

A deep sound rose from somewhere beneath the island.

Not a roar.

Not a growl.

A heartbeat.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

The hostess grabbed my hand.

The other Aria raised her weapon.

I looked toward the ocean.

The water was pulling away from the shore.

Farther.

Farther.

Revealing something enormous beneath it.

A staircase.

Descending into the exposed seabed.

And carved into the first step were three words:

COME FIND ME.

I knew the handwriting.

It was mine.