The light rain was petering out, just a few stray drops falling on the leaves. The air was still biting cold, but the wind that'd been howling earlier had dropped to a soft murmur through the trees.
Nova and Axel were holed up in the dim, dusty bunker. They'd managed to sneak in, giving the guards the slip, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Every little sound had them on edge, every shadow felt like it was watching them.
Slap bang in the middle of the room, Nova went through Marcus Langley's suitcase again. Everything they'd found inside was like a mishmash of puzzle pieces that didn't quite fit. Fake passports, a map with some weird markings, documents that were half-charred—it all screamed that this guy was keeping something seriously big under wraps.
But this time, something else caught her eye. A diary, shoved in amongst the other papers. The cover was worn and dusty. The edges curled from damp, like it hadn't seen the light of day in years. Nova's heart thumped as she opened to the first page.
Marcus Langley. The name was scrawled in faded black ink.
Axel, perched next to her, leaned over. "Is that... his journal?"
Nova nodded. Her fingers turned the brittle pages slowly. Most of it was just humdrum notes—dates, weather, what he'd been up to that day. It was like Marcus was just some regular Joe keeping tabs on his time on the island.
But as she flipped through, the writing changed. The words got hurried. The ink dug deeper into the page, like Marcus was writing with a jittery hand.
Nova read out, "I'm not on my own here."
"They're keeping tabs. I don't know how many of them, but I can feel eyes on me."
"Every night, I hear noises outside my hideout. They come after dark."
Nova got a shiver down her spine. She and Axel traded a look, the tension cranked up a notch.
Axel swallowed. "They? Who's he on about?"
Nova didn't answer. She turned the page—only to find something even more unsettling.
Loads of pages were missing. Like someone had deliberately ripped out certain bits of the journal.
Nova bit her lip, trying to keep her frustration in check. What had Marcus written on those missing pages? What was the secret someone was trying so hard to bury?
But on the last page that was still there, there was a line written in red ink, bolder than the rest.
"Don't let them get their hands on it."
Nova's hairs stood on end.
Axel read the line and frowned. "Get their hands on what?"
Nova shook her head. "No clue. But Marcus was dead set on keeping it hidden."
Axel looked around the bare bunker. "If he wrote this, it means he stumbled onto something seriously big... and dangerous."
Nova turned the last page, hoping for another clue. But there were only faded ink smudges and faint scratches, like Marcus had scribbled something with a shaky hand.
Out of nowhere, footsteps echoed outside the bunker.
Axel snapped the suitcase shut and told Nova to keep schtum.
They held their breaths, straining to listen.
The footsteps got closer.
Then...
Braaakk!
The bunker door took a battering from the outside.
Nova and Axel jumped into action. Axel whipped out his knife, while Nova grabbed the pistol they'd swiped from the guard.
The door rattled again. The sounds weren't from just one person.
They weren't alone.
Nova whispered, "We gotta get outta here."
Axel nodded. "Which way?"
Nova glanced around. There were no windows, just a narrow passage in the corner that seemed to lead to another part of the bunker. It was their only way out.
Without wasting a second, they bolted for the passage. Just as they slipped in, the bunker door burst open.
Dark figures filled the doorway.
A radio crackled. "They're inside. Don't let them slip away."
Nova and Axel didn't hang about. They ran down the narrow passage, which sloped down. The bunker walls felt old, like they'd been left to rot years ago. The light from their flashlights danced in the dust-filled air.
Nova gripped Marcus's journal in her hand. What was really going down on this island?
Up ahead, the passage ended in a small room. There was a rusty iron table in the middle, some old filing cabinets, and...
A hefty steel door at the far end.
Axel went over and tried to yank the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked up tight."
Nova spotted something stuck to the door. A bloody fingerprint. She swallowed. "Looks like someone tried to get in here... or maybe out."
Axel touched the bloodstain. It was dry. It wasn't from anyone who'd just shown up.
Nova scanned the room and saw something on the floor—a piece of paper ripped from Marcus's journal.
She snatched it up quick. The writing was a mess, like it'd been scribbled in a panic.
"I can't hold out much longer. They know I'm here. If anyone finds this... this bunker's not a safe haven. It's a trap."
"And behind that door... that's what they're after."
Nova's breath caught in her throat. She looked at Axel. "Marcus said... it's a trap."
Axel took a step back from the steel door. "If he wrote that... we shouldn't even think about opening it."
But before they could decide anything...
BRAAAAK!
Someone fired something at the bunker's outer wall. The room shook with the impact.
Footsteps were closing in fast.
Nova gritted her teeth. "We need to move, now."
Axel looked around, searching for another way out. Then he spotted something—a ventilation shaft in the ceiling.
"Up there!" he yelled.
Nova scrambled onto the iron table and yanked the vent open. Axel went up first, then pulled Nova in just as gunshots echoed behind them.
They crawled as fast as they could through the narrow vent.
Below them, the voices of armed men were clear as day.
"Find them! Don't let them get away!"
Nova held her breath. They kept crawling, hoping to find an exit before they were cornered.
One thought kept looping in her mind.
What was behind that steel door?
And...
Why was Marcus Langley so spooked he called it a trap?
They didn't have all the answers yet.
But one thing was for sure.
They were in too deep to back out now.
Nova and Axel kept crawling through the vent, their breaths held tight, their hearts pounding. The footsteps and shouts of the armed men were still echoing below, but they were fading.
The vent finally led to an iron grate that opened to the outside. Nova peered down—the ground, wet from the earlier storm, was visible. It wasn't too high.
Axel signaled. "I'll go first."
Carefully, he pushed the grate open and dropped to the ground. Nova followed, landing with a slight jolt.
They dashed behind some bushes before anyone could spot them.
In the distance, they heard voices on the search party's radios.
"Bunker's empty. They've legged it."
Nova and Axel looked at each other.
They might have slipped through their fingers for now, but one thing was crystal clear—they were still in the thick of it.
Nova looked down at Marcus's journal, still clutched in her hand. Behind the ripped-out pages, there were still secrets waiting to be unearthed.