Chapter 4 THE TRAP

The next morning, the sky was grey. Wind swept through the island like it had something to say something dark and urgent. Ada and Daniel had barely slept, taking turns to keep watch in case the man in black returned.

"We need to move before they find us again," Daniel said, folding the map. "Your father marked something deeper in some kind of structure."

Ada nodded. Her legs were sore. Her back ached. But she didn't care. She had come this far. She wasn't turning back now.

They walked in silence for nearly an hour, the path growing steeper and more twisted. Vines curled like snakes across their ankles. The air felt heavier with each step.

Suddenly, Daniel stopped.

"Look."

Ahead of them was a fence broken, rusted, but still standing. Behind it sat what looked like an old bunker or underground station, half-covered in moss and leaves. There were metal doors bolted shut, but a small keypad glowed faintly to the side.

"Ada," he whispered, "this place isn't just old. It's secure. Someone's been here recently."

She stepped forward, running her fingers over the keypad. Just then

Click.

A sharp sound came from the ground. Before she could react, the earth gave way beneath her feet.

"Ada!"

She screamed as she fell, landing hard in a deep pit filled with branches and mud. Pain shot through her leg. She tried to stand but her ankle screamed in protest.

"Don't move!" Daniel's voice echoed from above. "Hold on I'm coming down."

"No!" she called. "Stay up there. Someone set a trap. There could be more."

Daniel hesitated, then nodded. "I'll find another way down."

Ada gritted her teeth, trying to steady her breathing. The hole was deep, about ten feet, but narrow. Whoever built it meant for someone to fall in and not get out.

They know we're here, she thought.

Suddenly, she heard a rustle then footsteps. Not Daniel's.

A shadow passed over the pit.

Someone was above her.

She held her breath.

A man leaned slightly over the edge, wearing black from head to toe, his face partially hidden. He didn't say anything. Just stared at her.

Then-he smiled.

Ada's blood ran cold.

He walked away without a word.

Moments later, Daniel returned with a long tree branch and rope he'd found nearby. "I saw someone," he said breathlessly. "Heading downhill. He saw me and ran."

"I saw him too," Ada whispered, trying not to cry. "He didn't try to hurt me. He just looked at me. Like he knew who I was."

By evening, they had escaped the pit and found a smaller shelter under a collapsed tree trunk. Ada wrapped her swollen ankle with cloth from Daniel's bag.

"We need to talk," she said, her voice low. "This isn't just about my father. Someone is guarding something here. They knew someone might come."

Daniel nodded slowly. "I think your father wasn't just hiding. He was protecting something. And now... they think you came to finish what he started."

Ada looked at the map again. The bunker. The symbols. The hidden trap.

Everything pointed to one truth:

Her father was part of something much bigger than she ever imagined.

And now?

She was in the middle of it.