Chapter 3: The Island's Secret
Kaito's mind raced as he scanned the empty shore. The figure had vanished into thin air, but the air still felt charged with something ominous. "What's going on?" Haru muttered, his voice shaky.
"I don't know," Kaito replied, his eyes darting across the desolate island. The unsettling feeling grew stronger, as if the island itself were alive and watching. "We need to find shelter... and answers."
They moved deeper inland, their footsteps sinking into the soft earth. The dense fog from the shore began to creep in again, swirling around them in thick, suffocating tendrils. Kaito tried to steady his breathing, but the silence was unbearable. Even the birds and animals—if there were any—had disappeared.
The island felt wrong. Every step they took seemed to draw them deeper into its grip.
Suddenly, Yuki stopped. "Wait," she whispered, pointing toward the ground.
Kaito and Haru followed her gaze. There, half-buried in the dirt, was a rusted metal plate. It was too large to be a piece of wreckage, and it seemed out of place, buried in the wilderness.
"What is that?" Haru asked, crouching beside it.
Kaito knelt down, brushing away the dirt. The plate had strange symbols etched into its surface, symbols that seemed ancient, foreign. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as a chill ran through him.
"I've seen these before," Yuki muttered, her voice filled with unease. "They're not from any language I know."
Kaito turned the plate over, revealing a hidden hatch beneath. Without thinking, he pulled at the rusted handle, and the hatch creaked open with a groan. Below, a narrow staircase led into the darkness.
"This island... it's not natural," Kaito whispered. "It's hiding something."
Haru glanced at the stairs, then back at Kaito. "Do we go down?"
Kaito didn't hesitate. "We have no choice."
Together, they descended into the unknown, unaware that the island's secret was about to change everything.
To be continued-