The Island of Time

Seventy-two Hours Earlier

Seventy-two hours ago...

The calm waves of the Caribbean ebb beneath the yacht, the deck rising and falling beneath a pair of polished Oxfords. The man in the Oxfords stands at the bow, scanning the infinite blue horizon through a pair of binoculars.

"Where are you, my friend?" says the man, in a sing-song tone. "...She can't have gone far."

Something colorful flits by the binoculars' lenses. Looking up from the binoculars, Everett Rourke sees a breathtaking creature: a winged seahorse of phosphorescent colors. He smiles.

"Well, isn't that lovely?"

A servant emerges from below deck and arrives with an encrypted satellite phone placed on a silver platter. It rings impatiently. Rourke snatches it up.

"Hello, darling."

A female voice on the other side has a soothing, sophisticated British accent.

"There is a situation at the resort, Everett. The wedding party is quite alarmed. The bride has gone missing."

"'Bride?'" Rourke says. "What bride are you talking about? There's no wedding at The Celestial this week--"

For a split-second, the world whites out. Rourke falls silent. He looks back over the length of his yacht and gazes upon his crowning achievement, the isle of La Huerta.

"...So it begins."

Even from a distance, he can see the island trembling. Dazzling colors of red and blue dance across the jungle. The gentle white smoke billowing from the peak of Mount Atropo turns black. Around the yacht, waves begin to kick up. The voice on the phone tries to remain calm, but cannot mask its anxiety.

"Everett, tachyon reading have spiked. It appears the Tau even is cascading." the voice says.

"A bit ahead of schedule." he chuckles. "Appropriate, wouldn't you say?"

He smiles at the island. "No matter. Proceed with the operation as planned. I'm excited, aren't you, darling?"

"What about the guests?" says the voice on the phone.

"Ah. Right. Them. I presume we should evacuate the resort. I leave that business to you, dear."

"You should get so safety as well, Everett." the voice sounds worried. "Please."

"Come now." he says, disappointed. "You know I must be returning to my office. That is where the fun really begins..."

"Are you sure that--"

Rourke doesn't hear the rest of the question. A shuddering roar from the ocean deafens him. He turns in time to see the glittering sea horse vanish inside the mouth of a colossal creature breaching the surface.

"There you are!" he yells at the creature. "You know it's rude to keep someone waiting."

The creature slams back down beneath the water with a stupendous splash, drenching Rourke.

"Unfortunately," he continues, as if nothing happened, "I must be going. But I shall be seeing you soon, no doubt."

Rourke heads back to the bridge of the yacht, where he begins typing on a large touchscreen.

The voice from the phone yells, "Everett... Everett, can you hear me? Does this postpone the timeline for the project?"

He laughs and shakes his head. "It accelerates it."

His eyes scan over a file on-screen.

"Don't fret, darling. Our new arrivals will be in excellent hands." He smiles menacingly. "Proceed as planned. This island is their destiny, one way or another. They're the key to everything."

Rourke hangs up and tosses the phone back to the servant. As the servant heads below deck, he glances at Rourke's screen and sees several faces flicker past... Jake... Estela... Quinn... Sean... and Deegan.

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Author's Note:

So yeah, this is the end of Act 1! Expect the first chapter in Act 2 soon!

You get the bonus scenes in this book by collecting all of the clues in an act. If you get all of the clues, you get the full bonus scene. If you get half or more, but not all, you get half of it. If you get less than half idk what happens but you probably don't get it at all :(