The Man Beyond The Map

CHAPTER 31 — THE TEMPLE

The scream came again.

“ETHAN!”

I stepped through the doorway.

Rain hit my face.

The jungle stretched ahead of me, dark and thick.

Nothing moved.

No monster.

No glowing eyes.

No impossible city.

Just trees.

Mud.

Rain.

And the distant sound of someone calling my name.

Aria came up behind me.

“Ethan, wait.”

I turned.

She was holding the doorframe.

Her eyes searched the jungle.

“I don't like this.”

“Neither do I.”

Marcus stepped outside.

Kane followed.

The soldiers stayed inside.

Kane looked around.

“This isn't possible.”

I glanced at him.

“What?”

“The storm.”

“What about it?”

“It wasn't raining five minutes ago.”

I looked at the sky.

Heavy clouds covered everything.

“Maybe it moved in.”

Kane shook his head.

“No.”

He checked his watch.

“It's been raining here for three hours.”

I stared at him.

“Three hours?”

He nodded.

“But we were underground for…”

He stopped.

“How long?”

Marcus answered.

“Twenty-three minutes.”

Nobody spoke.

I looked at the jungle.

That was the problem with this island.

Time didn't behave normally.

Maybe the hallucination explanation wasn't enough.

But I forced myself to stay practical.

There had to be a reason.

There was always a reason.

A voice came from behind us.

“Ethan.”

I turned.

The other Aria stood in the doorway.

She was pale.

“You need to come back.”

“Why?”

She pointed into the jungle.

“Because I know where she's going.”

“Who?”

“The woman who screamed.”

I stepped toward her.

“You've seen her?”

She nodded.

“In my dreams.”

I sighed.

“Everything is a dream with you.”

Her expression tightened.

“You don't believe me.”

“I believe you're trying to help.”

“That isn't the same thing.”

“No.”

I softened my voice.

“But it's what I have right now.”

She looked away.

Then she said quietly—

“She always goes to the temple.”

I froze.

“What temple?”

She pointed deeper into the jungle.

“There.”

I couldn't see anything.

Only trees.

Marcus stepped beside me.

“We should investigate.”

Kane immediately shook his head.

“No.”

Marcus looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because the last team that went there never came back.”

“How many?”

“Eight.”

“When?”

Kane hesitated.

“Seventeen years ago.”

The number again.

I looked at Marcus.

He was staring at Kane.

“You knew.”

“Yes.”

“And you never told me?”

“I didn't know if the records were accurate.”

I stepped between them.

“Enough.”

I looked into the jungle.

“We're going.”

Kane grabbed my shoulder.

“That's exactly what they want.”

I turned.

“Who?”

He didn't answer.

“Who, Kane?”

He released me.

“I don't know.”

“Then don't tell me what I should fear.”

I walked forward.

Aria followed.

Marcus sighed.

“I'm coming.”

Kane swore under his breath.

Then followed us.

The jungle swallowed us within seconds.

The temperature dropped.

Leaves brushed against my arms.

Mud sucked at my boots.

I kept my weapon ready.

This felt different from the cave.

There was no strange sensation.

No voices.

No visions.

Just a jungle.

A dangerous one.

But natural.

At least, I thought so.

We walked for almost twenty minutes.

Then the other Aria stopped.

“There.”

A stone structure stood between the trees.

At first, it looked like a ruined temple.

But when I got closer, I noticed something strange.

The stones were too precisely cut.

The walls were reinforced with steel.

There were cables running beneath the moss.

Marcus crouched beside one.

“Modern.”

Kane nodded.

“Very.”

I looked at the entrance.

Above it was an inscription.

Not ancient symbols.

English.

MERIDIAN FIELD SITE 03

My stomach tightened.

“This isn't a temple.”

“No,” Marcus said.

“It was built to look like one.”

We entered.

The interior was surprisingly clean.

Dust covered the floor, but the walls were intact.

Old equipment lined one side.

A communications station.

Medical cabinets.

Generators.

Then I saw the photographs.

Dozens of them.

People standing in front of the building.

Scientists.

Soldiers.

Technicians.

Survivors.

I walked closer.

One photograph made me stop.

A younger Marcus stood beside a group of men.

And next to him—

me.

I stared at the photograph.

I couldn't have been older than twenty.

Marcus looked away.

“You knew me before I joined your unit.”

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Longer than you remember.”

I turned toward him.

“What happened to my memory?”

Marcus was silent.

Kane answered.

“They wiped it.”

I looked at him.

“Who?”

“Meridian.”

“Why?”

“Because you saw something you weren't supposed to see.”

I stepped closer.

“What?”

Kane's expression hardened.

“You found the truth about the island.”

I looked around.

“And what is that?”

He pointed toward a sealed door at the back of the room.

“Behind there.”

Marcus moved toward it.

The door had a keypad.

He entered a code.

Nothing happened.

He tried another.

Still nothing.

I stepped forward.

“Let me.”

Marcus looked at me.

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

I placed my palm against the panel.

The screen turned green.

The lock clicked.

Everyone stared.

I slowly opened the door.

Inside was a small laboratory.

A single table stood in the center.

On it was a metal case.

I opened it.

Inside were files.

Paper.

Old.

Yellowed.

I picked up the first folder.

SUBJECT E.C.

My initials.

I opened it.

The first page contained a photograph.

Me.

The second page contained medical data.

Blood tests.

Neurological scans.

Psychological evaluations.

The third page made my hands go cold.

MEMORY SUPPRESSION SUCCESSFUL.

I looked at Marcus.

“You said I escaped.”

“You did.”

“After they erased me?”

“Yes.”

“Why would I escape if I didn't remember?”

Marcus looked at the floor.

“Because some things survive memory loss.”

I looked back at the file.

Another page.

SUBJECT SHOWS RECURRING ASSOCIATION WITH FEMALE SUBJECT A.V.

My eyes stopped.

A.V.

Aria Vale.

I looked at Aria.

She was standing behind me.

Her face had gone pale.

“That's my name.”

Marcus shook his head.

“No.”

I looked at him.

“What?”

“Your name is Aria Vale.”

She frowned.

“Then why did you say no?”

“Because that file is seventeen years old.”

She stared at him.

“I wasn't even born seventeen years ago.”

Silence.

Kane looked at the file.

Then at her.

“That's impossible.”

I turned the page.

There was another photograph.

A woman.

Same face as Aria.

Same eyes.

Same scar beneath her left ear.

She stood beside me.

The date underneath read:

JUNE 14, 2009

Aria whispered—

“That's me.”

I stared at the photograph.

“No.”

She stepped closer.

“I know that face.”

Marcus shook his head.

“You were twenty-seven in that photograph.”

She looked at him.

“I am twenty-seven now.”

Nobody spoke.

Kane suddenly grabbed the file.

“Give me that.”

I pulled it away.

“No.”

He stared at me.

“Ethan, listen to me.”

“No.”

“Those records are classified.”

“I don't care.”

“You don't understand what you're holding.”

“Then explain.”

He looked at Aria.

“Her identity was created seventeen years ago.”

Aria stepped backward.

“What?”

Kane's voice softened.

“You may not be who you think you are.”

She shook her head.

“No.”

“You may not have been born where you think you were.”

“No.”

“And you may have been on this island long before you ever boarded that plane.”

She backed into the wall.

“Stop.”

I moved toward her.

“Aria.”

She pushed me away.

“Don't.”

I stopped.

She was crying.

“I remember my childhood.”

“Do you?”

She looked at me.

“Yes.”

“What's your first memory?”

She opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

Her face changed.

“I…”

She pressed her fingers against her forehead.

“I don't know.”

Kane whispered—

“Exactly.”

The lights suddenly flickered.

Everyone turned.

The old computer terminal came alive.

A screen illuminated the room.

A video began playing.

Static.

Then—

A younger version of me appeared.

I was sitting in a chair.

My head was shaved.

Electrodes were attached to my temples.

A woman stood beside me.

Silver hair.

White eyes.

I stopped breathing.

The woman from my memories.

She leaned toward the camera.

Then looked directly at me.

At the present me.

As if she knew I was watching.

“You'll forget this.”

The younger me looked frightened.

“Why?”

“Because remembering will kill you.”

“Who is she?”

The woman looked toward the camera.

“Aria.”

The video cut.

Another recording appeared.

This time—

Aria was sitting in the same chair.

Younger.

But not by much.

She looked directly into the camera.

“Ethan.”

My heart stopped.

She smiled.

“If you're watching this…”

She swallowed.

“…then we failed.”

The recording ended.

Aria covered her mouth.

I couldn't speak.

Marcus stepped toward the computer.

“There's more.”

He pressed a key.

Another recording appeared.

Kane.

Seventeen years younger.

He stood beside the silver-haired woman.

She spoke first.

“The procedure worked.”

Kane nodded.

“And Ethan?”

“He won't remember.”

“What about Aria?”

The woman looked toward the camera.

“She will.”

Kane frowned.

“Why?”

“Because she has to find him.”

The screen went black.

Then one final line appeared.

PHASE TWO: REUNION

I stared at it.

My hands were shaking.

“What the hell is Phase Two?”

Kane didn't answer.

Marcus looked at him.

“You knew about this.”

Kane's silence was enough.

I stepped toward him.

“You knew.”

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Seventeen years.”

I hit him.

My fist connected with his jaw.

Kane staggered.

Marcus grabbed me.

“Ethan!”

I fought against him.

“You lied to me!”

Kane wiped blood from his mouth.

“I lied because the truth would have gotten you killed.”

“You erased my life!”

“I saved it!”

“From what?”

Kane looked at me.

Then toward Aria.

His expression changed.

“From her.”

Aria stared at him.

“What did I do?”

Kane's eyes hardened.

“You don't know?”

She shook her head.

“No.”

He looked at me.

“Neither does he.”

I stepped closer.

“Tell us.”

Kane hesitated.

Then—

A loud crack came from outside.

Everyone froze.

Another.

Branches breaking.

Something moving through the jungle.

Marcus raised his weapon.

Kane whispered—

“They found the facility.”

I looked toward the entrance.

“Who?”

He shook his head.

“Not who.”

His face went pale.

“What, then?”

Kane looked at me.

“Us.”

I frowned.

“What?”

He pointed toward the doorway.

“We're not alone.”

A shadow moved across the entrance.

Then a voice came from outside.

My voice.

Calm.

Familiar.

“Ethan.”

My blood ran cold.

The same voice from the video.

The same voice from the cave.

The same voice that had spoken from the doorway.

“You should have stayed away from the temple.”

Aria grabbed my hand.

The lights went out.

And in the darkness—

someone inside the room whispered:

“Don't let him see you.”