<h4>Chapter 1139: Chapter 1139</h4>
The next morning, Zoey was already awake before the others. She stood at the edge of the clearing, bare feet dug into the soft earth, her back to the fire pit where smoke still rose faintly fromst night’s embers. The air clung to her skin, humid and heavy, though the sun hadn’t yet risen. She wasn’t looking at anything in particr, just the trees, the silence between the leaves. But her smile lingered, faint and offbeat, the same curl of the lips that had marked Rose... and then La.
Jude rose from the treehouse slowly, careful not to disturb Sophie beside him. He stretched, shook the sleep from his limbs, then descended barefoot into the clearing. He saw Zoey instantly. And when she turned to face him, his stomach twisted. That smile. She didn’t try to hide it.
"Morning," she said, voice light and almost musical.
"Early for you," Jude replied, trying to keep his tone casual.
"I didn’t sleep much." She tilted her head. "Too much to think about."
He stepped closer, studying her. "Like what?"
She shrugged and walked past him, brushing his shoulder lightly with her fingers. "Like how beautiful the woods are when no one’s watching them."
He turned to follow her with his eyes. "Zoey..."
She nced back. "Don’t worry. I’m still me."
But she didn’t say it like reassurance. It was more like an echo. Like she’d heard someone else say it first.
By the time the others stirred, the energy in the camp had shifted again, slight, but undeniable. Grace and Susan were the first to notice. They exchanged a nce across the fire as Zoey poured water into a bowl with a little too much flourish, humming a song no one recognized. Rose sat nearby, skin glowing in the filtered morning light, silent but visibly pleased. La leaned against a tree trunk, whittling a small stick into nothing, eyes half-lidded and unreadable.
Sophie noticed too. She stayed close to Jude’s side, speaking only when necessary. She didn’t ask questions. She didn’t say what they both already suspected. She just watched.
And Zoey knew she was watching.
All morning, her touch lingered longer than usual. Her kisses were warmer, herughs brighter. Sheplimented everyone. Ran her fingers along Grace’s shoulder. Braided Lucy’s hair with rose petals she imed she’d found alone in the woods.
None of it was suspicious on the surface.
But when she leaned into Scarlet’s ear and whispered something that made the girl blush and nce away...
Jude saw it.
The beginning of the next smile.
By midday, they split into pairs to explore the nearby caves, ones they’d passed over weeks ago. The ind’syout had shifted again, and new shadows had appeared near the western edge of the river cliffs. Rose and La volunteered to scout ahead. Ste and Susan took one trail, while Emma, Grace, and Natalie moved toward the overgrown valley behind the trees.
Jude stayed with Sophie, Lucy, and Scarlet. And Zoey.
She insisted on being in his group.
The caves weren’t deep, but the light barely reached inside. Moss covered the walls. Water dripped from above in slow, steady patterns. Their footsteps echoed, though they moved carefully, sh torches bouncing off smooth stone. At first, it was just exploration, touching, scanning, asionallyughing at old memories of traps or insects they’d faced. But once they moved farther in, theughter faded.
There were marks on the walls.
Not watchersign. Not runes.
Just scratches. Fingernail-deep grooves across the rock.
Jude ran his fingers along one of them, heart thudding.
Scarlet stepped close. "What are they?"
"I don’t know," he said. "But they’re recent."
Lucy examined another wall. "Too even to be animal. Too shallow for a tool."
Zoey walked ahead, silent now.
Then she stopped.
And began to hum.
The same melody from earlier. That haunting little tune that felt... older.
Sophie stiffened.
Jude reached for Zoey’s shoulder. "Where did you hear that?"
Zoey turned, her expression soft, her smile small.
"I don’t remember."
They didn’t go deeper. None of them said it, but the tension snapped the moment Zoey’s voice echoed off the stone in that tune. They left as a group, not running, not panicking, but faster than before. Back in the sunlight, it felt easier to breathe.
But something followed them out.
That night, the campfire was quiet again. Bodies pressed close, but not withfort. With caution. La leaned against Rose’s side, their legs tangled. Zoey curled up beside Lucy and whispered something that made her giggle. But Sophie wasn’tughing. Neither was Jude.
And Scarlet?
She hadn’t spoken since they returned from the cave.
That’s when Jude saw it, just a flicker. Scarlet watching Zoey across the fire, lips parted slightly. Her cheeks flushed in the dim firelight, and her fingers trembled just a little where they touched her own corbone. Then Zoey looked at her.
And smiled.
Not the wide grin from hours earlier.
Not even the satisfied smirk of someone loved.
It was that same, slow, haunting smile that Rose had worn on the riverbank.
That La had shed beneath the waterfall.
And Zoey... now passed on like a whispered secret.
Sophie’s hand found Jude’s under the nket. She didn’t speak.
But her grip told him everything.
Scarlet was next.
The stars were scattered wide across the sky, unnaturally clear, like someone had swept the clouds away just to let them watch. The air smelled of woodsmoke, faint sweetness from the nightbloom flowers that only opened when no one was looking. The fire had dwindled to soft coals, and the warmth between bodies had taken its ce. Most of the women were dozing in light sleep, curled against one another in gentle clusters, legs tangled, fingersced. But Jude wasn’t asleep. Neither was Sophie. And neither, he knew, was Scarlet.
She sat a little apart from the rest, closer to the shadows. Her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped tight around them. She wasn’t cold. But something about her posture made Jude’s chest clench. She didn’t look afraid. She looked lost.