The Man Beyond The Map

CHAPTER 30 — DON’T GO INTO THE JUNGLE

The island screamed.

Then everything stopped.

The red sky disappeared.

The seven eyes above us vanished.

The impossible city was gone.

I blinked.

I was standing inside a cave.

A normal cave.

Wet stone.

Mud.

Rainwater dripping from the ceiling.

No towers.

No crowds.

No ancient kingdom.

No monster.

Nothing.

For several seconds, I couldn't understand what I was looking at.

Then I heard someone breathing beside me.

Aria.

She was on her knees, one hand pressed against her chest.

I crouched beside her.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded slowly.

“I think so.”

I looked around.

The other Aria was standing several meters away.

Marcus and three soldiers were near the entrance.

All of them looked confused.

One soldier lowered his rifle.

“What the hell just happened?”

Nobody answered.

Marcus looked at me.

His face had gone pale.

“You saw it too?”

I stared at him.

“The city?”

He nodded.

“The creature?”

Another nod.

I looked toward the cave entrance.

There was no enormous beast outside.

No army.

No burning jungle.

Just rain.

Heavy rain.

I stood.

“Was it real?”

Marcus took a long breath.

“No.”

The answer came too quickly.

I turned toward him.

“You're lying.”

He didn't deny it.

Instead, he walked toward the cave wall and brushed away some moss.

Behind it was a steel panel.

Old.

Rusting.

Almost completely hidden by the rock.

He pressed his palm against it.

Nothing happened.

Then he entered a sequence on a small keypad.

A green light appeared.

The panel unlocked.

I stared at him.

“You knew this was here.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Because I helped build it.”

The cave became silent.

Marcus pulled the door open.

Beyond it was a narrow concrete corridor.

Not ancient.

Not supernatural.

Military.

Old military.

The kind of facility that had been abandoned for decades.

I stepped inside.

The air smelled of dust, oil, and something chemical.

Aria followed.

The other Aria remained behind.

I looked at her.

“You coming?”

She hesitated.

Then followed.

Marcus closed the door.

The sound of the rain disappeared.

We walked for several minutes.

No one spoke.

Eventually, we reached a room.

There were old computers along the walls.

Most were dead.

One monitor still had power.

A single line of text appeared on the screen.

PROJECT MERIDIAN

My stomach tightened.

I looked at Marcus.

“What is this?”

He didn't answer.

I walked closer.

Another line appeared.

SUBJECT CROSS — STATUS: TERMINATED

I froze.

“What?”

Marcus moved toward the computer.

I blocked him.

“Don't.”

He stopped.

I pointed at the screen.

“Why does it say I'm terminated?”

“Because, officially, you are.”

I stared at him.

“I'm standing right here.”

“I know.”

“Then explain.”

Marcus looked exhausted.

“The military didn't create Project Meridian.”

“What?”

“We found it.”

“When?”

“Seventeen years ago.”

The same number.

My chest tightened.

“The missing facility.”

Marcus nodded.

“The one I told you about.”

“You said it disappeared.”

“It didn't disappear.”

He looked around the room.

“It was moved.”

I frowned.

“Moved where?”

“Here.”

I looked at the walls.

“This island?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Marcus took a seat.

“Because the people who built it were trying to hide something.”

I crossed my arms.

“What?”

He looked at me.

“You.”

I almost laughed.

“Of course.”

“I'm serious.”

“So am I.”

Marcus leaned forward.

“Ethan, listen carefully. There is nothing supernatural happening here.”

I stared at him.

“Then what did we just see?”

“Hallucinations.”

“Shared hallucinations?”

“Yes.”

“From what?”

He pointed at the ceiling.

“Something in the ventilation system.”

Aria frowned.

“Gas?”

“An aerosolized psychoactive compound.”

I looked at the other Aria.

She was staring at the floor.

“That's why we all saw the same things?”

“Not exactly the same.”

Marcus stood.

“Your brains filled in the gaps.”

I thought about it.

The city.

The red sky.

The creature.

The voice.

Maybe none of it had been real.

Maybe the island had simply been messing with our minds.

But there was one thing I couldn't explain.

I looked at my chest.

The seven circles were gone.

There was only the strange mark.

A scar.

Nothing more.

Aria noticed it.

“You said it was a door.”

I looked at Marcus.

He shook his head.

“No.”

He stepped closer.

“It's a tracking implant.”

Silence.

I touched the mark.

“A tracking implant?”

Marcus nodded.

“Small. Subdermal. Military-grade.”

“Who put it there?”

Marcus didn't answer.

I already knew.

“Kane.”

Marcus's expression tightened.

“Yes.”

I stared at him.

“Why?”

“Because you were never supposed to leave the program.”

I felt anger rising.

“What program?”

Marcus looked toward the computer.

“Meridian.”

The monitor flickered.

A photograph appeared.

A younger version of me.

Military uniform.

Standing beside several other men.

I stared at the image.

“I've never seen that.”

“You have.”

“No.”

“You were twenty-one.”

I stepped closer.

The photograph changed.

Another image.

A laboratory.

A steel door.

A group of scientists.

Then—

a woman.

Silver hair.

White eyes.

I froze.

“That isn't possible.”

Marcus looked at the screen.

“She wasn't real.”

I turned toward him.

“What?”

“She was part of the experiment.”

The other Aria suddenly spoke.

“I know her.”

Everyone looked at her.

She looked frightened.

“I've seen her.”

“Where?”

“In my dreams.”

Marcus nodded.

“That's exactly what Meridian was designed to create.”

“Dreams?”

“Memory manipulation.”

My blood ran cold.

Marcus continued.

“Trauma conditioning. False memories. Behavioral prediction. Psychological profiling.”

I stared at him.

“So everything I've been remembering…”

“May not be real.”

Aria stepped closer.

“But some of it is.”

Marcus looked at her.

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I remember it too.”

That stopped everyone.

Marcus looked at me.

“You were part of the program.”

I swallowed.

“What happened?”

“You were sent here.”

“For what?”

“To investigate the facility.”

“And?”

“You found something.”

“What?”

Marcus looked at the other Aria.

Then at the hostess.

Then back at me.

“A woman.”

Aria's expression changed.

“Who?”

Marcus sighed.

“We don't know.”

I remembered the silver-haired woman.

White eyes.

Always watching.

Always speaking as though she knew me.

“She's real.”

Marcus nodded.

“Yes.”

“Where is she?”

“We don't know.”

“Then why does she keep appearing?”

“Because she knows you're looking.”

A sound came from the corridor.

Everyone froze.

Footsteps.

Slow.

Measured.

Coming toward us.

Marcus immediately raised his rifle.

The soldiers followed.

I moved Aria behind me.

The footsteps stopped.

Then—

a voice.

“Marcus?”

His face changed.

I knew that voice.

Kane.

Marcus whispered—

“Impossible.”

The door opened.

Commander Victor Kane stood there.

Alive.

Dry.

Not a scratch on him.

He looked at me.

Then smiled.

“You really should stop believing everything you see.”

I raised my weapon.

“You've got some explaining to do.”

Kane glanced at Marcus.

“I told you this would happen.”

Marcus lowered his rifle slightly.

“You were supposed to be dead.”

Kane smiled.

“So were you.”

I stepped forward.

“Where's the ship?”

“Gone.”

“Your soldiers?”

“Gone.”

“The creature?”

Kane laughed.

“There was never a creature.”

I felt my jaw tighten.

“Then what did we see?”

“An old defense system.”

“What?”

Kane walked into the room.

“Meridian wasn't just a research facility.”

He pointed toward the corridor.

“It was a weapons laboratory.”

I looked at Marcus.

He nodded reluctantly.

Kane continued.

“The island was used as a testing ground.”

“For what?”

“Psychological warfare.”

He looked directly at me.

“The system detects stress, releases controlled compounds, manipulates lighting, sound, electromagnetic frequencies and implanted stimuli.”

I remembered the red sky.

The seven eyes.

The voice.

The throne.

All of it.

A carefully constructed illusion.

Kane looked at my chest.

“And your implant made you particularly vulnerable.”

I touched the scar.

“You put it there.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To keep track of you.”

“Why did you let me escape?”

Kane's smile disappeared.

“I didn't.”

Silence.

I looked at Marcus.

Marcus looked away.

Kane continued.

“You escaped twelve years ago.”

My stomach dropped.

“Twelve?”

“You disappeared.”

“I was in the military.”

“Your records say so.”

“What does that mean?”

Kane looked at me.

“You've been living under a manufactured identity for years.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Who am I?”

Kane took a slow breath.

“That's the question Meridian was built to answer.”

The other Aria suddenly stepped forward.

“Why was I brought here?”

Kane looked at her.

His expression changed.

For the first time, he looked genuinely uncomfortable.

“You weren't.”

She frowned.

“I was on a plane.”

“I know.”

“Then why did it land here?”

Kane didn't answer.

I stepped closer.

“Kane.”

He looked at me.

“Someone hijacked that aircraft.”

“Who?”

He hesitated.

Then said—

“We don't know.”

Aria spoke.

“And me?”

Kane looked at her.

“You were never supposed to be here either.”

I felt something tighten inside me.

“Then why does everyone keep saying she was expected?”

Kane's eyes moved to me.

“Because someone has been planning this for a very long time.”

“Who?”

Kane looked toward the corridor.

“That's why you need to leave.”

I frowned.

“Why?”

“Because the people who built Meridian aren't interested in killing you.”

He paused.

“They want to see what happens when you remember.”

A distant metallic boom shook the facility.

Everyone turned.

Kane's face went pale.

“What was that?”

Marcus checked his radio.

Nothing.

Another boom.

Closer.

Then the lights went out.

Total darkness.

Aria grabbed my hand.

I heard the other Aria breathing rapidly.

Then—

a flashlight came on.

Kane was holding it.

His face had lost all color.

“Everyone stay together.”

“Why?”

He pointed toward the emergency exit.

Someone had scratched words into the steel door.

Fresh.

Deep.

Three words.

DON'T ENTER JUNGLE.

I stared at them.

Marcus whispered—

“We never put that there.”

Another sound came from outside.

A human scream.

Then another.

Then silence.

Kane looked at me.

“Whatever you do…”

He pointed toward the exit.

“…don't go into the jungle.”

I looked at Aria.

Then at the other woman.

Then at Marcus.

My entire life had become a lie.

The affair.

The escape.

The fake license.

The island.

The memories.

Maybe even the person I believed myself to be.

But one thing was real.

Someone was outside.

And they knew my name.

I reached for the door.

Kane grabbed my arm.

“Ethan.”

I looked at him.

His voice dropped to a whisper.

“If you open that door…”

He swallowed.

“…you may finally find out who sent the plane.”

I pulled his hand away.

Then I opened it.

And somewhere deep inside the jungle

a woman screamed my name.