Chapter 3 THE ISLAND

The boat rocked from side to side as waves slapped against its wooden body. Ada held on tightly to the edge, her knuckles white, her stomach turning from the salty breeze and nerves.

They had traveled by road to Bayelsa, and from there, paid a local fisherman to take them to a "place no one talks about." At first, the man had refused. But when Daniel showed him the map, the old man's face changed.

"People don't go near that place," he had warned. "The island carries ghosts. Things happen there."

Ada had felt a chill, but her voice stayed steady. "Please. We have to go."

Now, three hours later, the island was in sight.

It wasn't big just a thick patch of land surrounded by dark water. From afar, it looked like a rock sitting in the middle of the sea. Black Rock. The name made sense. Its edges were jagged, and its trees were wild and overgrown, like they hadn't been touched in years.

As the boat neared the shore, the air shifted. It smelled different less like saltwater, more like something old. Forgotten.

"This is where I leave you," the boatman said, stopping a few meters from land. "I'll come back in two days. If you're not here, I'll assume you're gone."

Ada nodded, heart pounding.

They jumped into the shallow water and waded to land. Her shoes soaked. Her clothes heavy. But none of it mattered.

She had arrived.

The island was eerily quiet.

No birds. No wind. Just the crunch of their footsteps as they walked deeper into the trees.

Daniel held the map, trying to match it to the landscape.

"This way," he whispered.

They followed a narrow path until they reached what looked like the remains of a small cabin broken wood, scattered tools, a rusty lantern. Something about the place felt familiar, even though Ada was sure she'd never been there before.

"This must have been his hideout," Daniel said, brushing dust off a half buried box. "Your dad really stayed here."

Ada's throat tightened. Just the thought of her father walking these same paths, hiding from something or someone, made her chest ache.

Suddenly, a sound.

Leaves rustled behind them.

Ada turned sharply. "Did you hear that?"

Daniel froze. "Yeah. Someone's here."

They ducked behind a tree just as a figure passed through the path they had just walked. A tall man, dressed in black, with a walkie-talkie clipped to his belt.

Ada's heart raced.

"Who is that?" she mouthed.

Daniel pulled her deeper into the woods. "I don't know. But we're not alone."

They stayed hidden until nightfall, finding shelter in a cave marked with a symbol that matched one on the map an old letter A inside a triangle.

They lit a small fire with dry wood and shared a pack of biscuits Ada had brought.

She looked up at the stars peeking through the leaves.

"This place... it feels like a memory," she whispered.

Daniel nodded. "It feels like a secret no one was supposed to find."

They didn't speak much after that. Just sat there, side by side, while the forest hummed around them.

But one thing was clear:

This island wasn't just a place.

It was a message.