Chapter 159 Lightening help

Chapter 159: Chapter 159 Lightening help

At the strange island, dust and rubble were still drifting through the air. The remains of the cave continued settling around the ruined forest, with small stones rolling down the broken ground and disappearing between the roots of the surrounding trees.

For a while, there was no sound. Not a single voice. Not even the growling of the creatures that had been hunting them before the cave collapsed. The silence was almost worse than the noise.

Adrian lay beneath the rubble, barely moving. His body felt heavy, and for several seconds, he couldn’t even remember what had happened. He remembered the creature. The collapsing cave. The screaming. Then nothing.

He slowly pushed against the rocks covering him. To his surprise, they shifted easily. Adrian blinked. He looked down at himself and realized something strange. A thick layer of rocks had formed around his body like a protective shell. It was almost as though the rocks themselves had shielded him from the collapse.

"How the hell...?" He touched the stones around him, still confused. He had no idea why he was protected. Maybe his powers had activated automatically. Maybe the cave itself had somehow protected him. At that moment, none of it mattered.

There was only one thing on his mind. Kai.

Adrian immediately looked around. He couldn’t see the blonde anywhere. He hadn’t heard Kai’s voice either. His chest tightened.

"Kai?"

Nothing.

Adrian pushed himself up and started removing the rocks around him. "Kai!!"

Still nothing.

"Kai, are you there? Can you hear me?"

His voice echoed through the ruined area. No answer came.

Adrian’s panic began growing. He moved faster, grabbing one rock after another and throwing them aside. Some had sharp edges, and one sliced across his palm. He hissed in pain but ignored it. Blood began running down his hand.

"Kai!" He searched desperately.

The others who had been hiding inside the cave were nowhere to be seen either. Talia. Mark. Alexis. Mary. The others. Adrian couldn’t find any of them.

Then something caught his attention. A body. It was partially buried beneath hundreds of rocks.

Adrian froze. All the color drained from his face. For one horrible second, his mind immediately imagined the worst.

No. It couldn’t be Kai. It couldn’t.

He stared at the body, his heart pounding violently. "That’s not Kai." His voice shook. "It’s not Kai. That can’t be Kai, alright?" He swallowed hard. "It’s someone else. I know it’s someone else."

It was cruel. Adrian knew that. Wishing for it to be someone else meant wishing for another person to have died. But at that moment, he didn’t care. He would rather discover a stranger beneath those rocks than Kai.

Adrian quickly began removing the rubble. Stone after stone. His hands became dirtier. The cuts on his palms widened. But he kept digging.

Eventually, the body became visible.

Adrian stopped. A breath escaped him. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding it.

It wasn’t Kai.

Relief washed over him. But it disappeared almost immediately when he recognized the person.

"Mark..."

It was Mark. One of Talia’s people. The man had been completely crushed beneath the cave. His body was horribly mangled from head to toe. His head had been bent at an unnatural angle, one leg twisted badly around the ankle, and his chest had been compressed beneath the weight of the rocks.

Adrian stared at him silently. He couldn’t imagine the pain Mark must have experienced before dying. The worst part was that there had been no way for him to scream. His chest and lungs had been crushed so badly that he couldn’t have drawn enough air to make a sound.

Adrian slowly shook his head. "I’m sorry."

He didn’t know whether Mark could hear him. Probably not. Still, it felt wrong to simply leave him there without saying anything.

Adrian stood and turned away. He had to find Kai. That was all that mattered now.

He continued searching through the rubble, throwing stones aside and checking beneath them.

Then—Rustle.

Adrian froze. A leaf moved behind him. Every hair on his body stood upright. He slowly stopped breathing. His head turned slightly.

The forest was strangely quiet. The sun had already returned. Adrian had been so consumed by his panic that he hadn’t even noticed that daylight had replaced the darkness.

He frowned. Wait. Weren’t the creatures supposed to come out at night? That was what Talia had told them. The monsters hunted when darkness covered the island. So why had he heard something moving now?

Adrian took one careful step backward. He turned.

Something rushed past him. A shadow. It moved so quickly that Adrian barely saw it.

He blinked. "What the..."

Nothing. The forest was still.

Adrian stared in the direction the shadow had disappeared. "Maybe it’s an animal." He gave an awkward laugh. "I’m just being too serious."

He turned back toward the rubble.

Then—Whoosh!

The same shadow moved again. This time it crossed the path behind him at an even greater speed.

Adrian’s smile disappeared. Something was wrong. He hadn’t seen a single normal animal since arriving on the island. Not one. After everything that had happened to Earth, could there even be normal animals left? The creatures they had encountered weren’t normal. The plants weren’t normal. Even the island itself wasn’t normal. So what was that thing?

Adrian’s throat went dry. He slowly backed away. "Kai..." His voice was quieter now. "If you’re alive, motherfucker, say something." He looked around nervously. "Let’s get the fuck out of here. I’m fed up with this death-like island."

Nothing.

Adrian’s eyes kept moving from one side of the forest to the other. He didn’t dare look away for too long. Something could be standing behind him. Something could already be watching him.

Then—a faint sound came from beneath the rubble.

Adrian froze. His eyes widened. He immediately dropped to his knees. "Did I just hear something?"

He leaned closer. There it was again. A weak hum.

Adrian pressed his ear toward the rocks. "Are you really there?"

Another sound came. It sounded like someone struggling to breathe.

Adrian’s heart jumped. If it wasn’t Kai, he was going to lose his mind. Still, he began digging again.

The strange rustling behind him grew louder. Something was moving. But Adrian forced himself to ignore it. He had to get Kai out first.

He pulled one rock away. Then another. Then another.

Finally, he heard it.

"Adrian..." The voice was weak. "...there you are."

Adrian nearly laughed from relief. "Kai!"

"I am suffocating right now." Kai coughed beneath the rubble. "Please get me the fuck out of here."

"I’m trying!" Adrian quickly began throwing the rocks aside.

But he was so distracted that he didn’t notice something approaching behind him. A light tap landed against his shoulder.

Adrian went completely still. His blood ran cold.

He slowly turned his head. His mind immediately screamed at him to run. He had been alone. He had seen no one. So who had just touched him?

Adrian’s body tensed as he prepared to attack. But before he could fully turn around—

"Kai?" The voice came from beneath the rocks.

Adrian looked down. Kai was still trapped. His face had gone pale. His eyes were wide with horror. He pointed shakily behind Adrian.

Adrian’s stomach dropped. He didn’t want to turn around. He really didn’t. But whatever was behind him had already touched him. There was no point pretending it wasn’t there.

Adrian tightened his fists. Then he slammed his foot against the ground.

Crack!

The earth split. A deadly line raced across the floor toward the creature. The ground opened beneath it.

The mysterious creature tried to leap away, but it wasn’t fast enough. A terrifying screech echoed through the forest as the creature fell into the newly opened pit.

Adrian stared at the hole. "What the hell was that?"

Kai finally managed to push his head through the rubble. "That’s one of the most horrendous beasts I’ve ever seen." He looked around nervously. "Help me get out."

Adrian immediately rushed toward him. "We need to leave. If there are more of those things, we’re screwed." He grabbed Kai’s arm and began pulling. "Come on!"

But before he could free him—BOOM!

A thunderous clap exploded from the sky.

Adrian barely had time to look upward. Lightning crashed down.

"Shit!"

The impact sent him flying. He was thrown across the ground and slammed directly into a nearby tree. His back hit the trunk hard enough to knock the air from his lungs.

"Ugh!"

Meanwhile, the rocks covering Kai exploded outward. The force sent stones flying in every direction. Kai was thrown free.

Adrian’s eyes widened as he watched him. "Kai!"

For one horrifying second, Adrian expected to see charred flesh. But that didn’t happen.

Instead, Kai stood. Completely unharmed.

The lightning had struck him directly. Yet rather than burning him, it had somehow healed him. The bruises and injuries from the cave collapse were disappearing.

Kai slowly looked down at his hands. Then at his body. "What the..."

He flexed his fingers. His breathing steadied. His strength returned.

Adrian stared at him from beside the tree. "You just got struck by lightning."

Kai looked at him. "I noticed."

"And you’re fine?"

Kai glanced down again. "I guess so."

Adrian shook his head. "Of course. Why wouldn’t you be?"

Kai started walking toward him. Then he stopped.

A growl echoed through the forest. Kai immediately turned. His expression hardened. "Something’s here."

Adrian pushed himself away from the tree. But before either of them could prepare themselves, Kai looked upward. His expression suddenly changed.

There was something flying through the sky. At first, it looked like another enormous creature. But then Kai noticed the shape. A machine. A gigantic flying machine. It moved across the sky with impossible speed.

Kai narrowed his eyes. Someone was standing inside. A figure. A familiar figure.

His heart nearly stopped. He stared harder. Long dark hair. That presence. That unmistakable silhouette.

Kai’s mouth dropped open. "Fuck."

Adrian looked at him. "What?"

Kai suddenly grinned. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He pointed toward the sky. "Adrian, look!"

Adrian followed his finger.

Kai’s excitement exploded. "It’s Luna Hart!" His voice echoed through the forest. "She found us!"

Kai immediately started running. "We’re safe!"

He had completely forgotten about the creature. Forgotten about the cave. Forgotten about the island. Forgotten about everything.

Luna had found them. And if Luna was here, then the others had to be nearby too.

"They’re here too!" Kai laughed as he ran. "They came for us!"

Adrian watched him sprint away. He slowly placed a hand over his face. "I guess that’s what I get for trying to help." He groaned as he pushed himself upright. His entire body ached from being thrown into the tree.

"Wait for me, idiot!"

Kai didn’t even slow down.

Adrian sighed and hurried after him.

Above them, the enormous aircraft continued descending toward the island. And for the first time since they had been separated from Luna and the others, the two men finally had hope that they might actually leave the strange island alive.