All Chapters of Bound to the Island: Our Family of Seven Is Marked: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

Mom was red in the face as she argued with our tour guide, Alex Prentiss.Alex stared at her coldly. "What are you afraid of? There are hundreds of people here, dozens of families. The root of this disaster is a family of seven. Or… are you the family of seven, ma'am?"Mom didn't dare argue. She quickly lowered her head like an ostrich burying itself in the sand.The people around us started chattering."We're a family of four.""It's just the two of us.""There are only three of us here. So, who here exactly is the family of seven?""Whoever the family of seven is, can you please step forward and kill yourselves? Give the rest of us innocent people a chance to live!"Clutching my older sister, Mable Carter's, hand tightly, I tried to disappear behind several tall people. Her hand was sweaty, showing just how nervous she was.I whispered in her ear, "It'll be okay. No one here knows each other. As long as our family of seven doesn't gather together, no one will ever know."I

Chapter 2

Voices rose in a clamor as everyone scrutinized each other. There was nowhere to hide."Who on earth is the family of seven?""Step forward right now! Are you really going to let us all die?"Alex's eyes were like lanterns, cutting through the fog and sweeping over Mable and me meaningfully, like a snake coiling around its prey.We held each other's hands tightly and lowered our heads, trying our best to make our presence as small as possible.Suddenly, someone pointed at me. "She knows! It has to be her! She said this is all just superstitious nonsense earlier and that the flooding has nothing to do with a family of seven. She's been arguing since the very beginning."The moment I was accused, the thick fog lifted, and the murky floodwater returned to how it looked before.The crowd's excitement spiked."I overheard her mention that the woman next to her is her sister. They're siblings. The other five must be around here too."Mable and I were instantly surrounded in a tight

Chapter 3

Mom immediately ran toward the source of the voice. "Jack! My grandson!"The child was my nephew, Jack Carter—Julian and Lindsey's son. He was only five years old.The moment his voice rang out, I only had enough time to see the hand grab his leg and yank him into the water. It happened so quickly—without any kind of warning—and before we knew it, Jack was already underwater. Even if we had wanted to save him, it would have been impossible.His small body was instantly swallowed by the raging flood, disappearing without a trace.Lindsey was even more frantic than Mom. She no longer cared about staying hidden and ran to the water's edge."Jack!" she screamed.Then, she ran into the deep water—and vanished.The people around us looked increasingly clear-eyed, their expressions growing more relaxed. "That's five people now. First, she said there were only two of them, then three, and now it's five. It looks like they really are the family of seven.""They brought disaster upon us.

Chapter 4

Someone turned to Alex."Is it him?"Dad shouted, "Of course it's not me! You can't just accuse me like this! If you want to find the people, then look for them properly. Why push me to my death?"He looked terrified, but there was something so honest about his face that made it seem like the others really had made a mistake."Time's almost up," Alex said. "Three minutes left. If you don't find one of the remaining two people, then someone else will have to die in their place."The crowd descended into chaos. Dad tried to slip back, but someone shoved him out again. Then, someone even stronger kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying nearly ten feet into an open space.The man said with clear hostility, "Since you're already out there, you might as well die in place of whoever it is. Don't come back."When Dad tried to return to the crowd again, he was completely ostracized. He had no choice but to stand there alone, wiping his tears, pretending to be wronged."Ten minutes

Chapter 5

I jerked my head up and saw a familiar figure being pushed into the center. I wiped my eyes so I could see more clearly.It was Julian. My heart started racing, and a sense of helplessness washed over me, like I was walking a tightrope over a cliff.Mom pounded on her chest, wailing in agony.I grabbed her fists. "Mom, don't hit yourself. If you want to hit something, hit me."She clutched her head and collapsed onto the ground, refusing to listen, refusing to watch, refusing to go through any of this."This man looks very similar to that mother and daughter. They're clearly family. All seven of them have been found now."The crowd let out a sigh of relief, and their eyes lit up, as if they'd just secured a victory.I couldn't stop gasping for air.Julian held me with one arm and supported Mom with the other. The three of us huddled tightly together."Mom, Vivian, I want to live, but it's out of my control. If we all die here today, at least we'll have each other for company."

Chapter 6

"Be a good girl and go somewhere else. This isn't a place for you," my parents said as they chased me out the door, not letting me see the bloody scene inside.Not long after, I heard the pitiful woman wake up. She cried and begged, "Please let me go. I won't sell fruits anymore. The fruit stall is yours. My son is still young. I need to raise him."I swear, just let me go, and I won't call the police or come after you."The grief and desperation in her voice twisted my insides. I wanted to crawl over and convince Mom and Dad to let the woman go.But the seven-year-old Mable stood in my way. "Do you still want candy?"I nodded. "I do."But more than that, I wanted to stop my parents.Mable grabbed my arm. "If you want candy, then don't interfere. Because once we kill that woman, the fruit stall will belong to our family. We'll be able to make a lot of money, and then you'll be able to have candy every day.""Then, I won't eat candy. I don't want that woman to die," I said, stil

Chapter 7

I let go of Alex's shirt and slowly waded into the floodwaters.I couldn't go on living. Anger alone wasn't enough to hold me together anymore.The weight of our sins felt suffocating—so suffocating that I might as well just give in to it and die.The flood swallowed my aching body, rushing into my mouth and nose, filling my lungs.Amid the despair, I felt a strange sense of relief.That hand in the water was cold yet agile. It turned out to belong to someone wearing a life vest and breathing through an oxygen tube.I knew it. This was the world of science, not some superstition-ridden fantasy.I stopped struggling and relaxed my body. I was ready to die and go see my family.But to my surprise, I opened my eyes again, finding myself in the hospital.Several relatives surrounded my bed, their faces full of worry."What on earth happened? When the police pulled you out, you were still alive. But your parents and everyone else… were dead. They only recovered their bodies."I p

Chapter 8

Alex laughed cruelly. "I told you. Since I was going to wipe you out, I would wipe out your entire family. My hatred for you all has only grown deeper with time."My mom was just a fruit vendor. That mobile stall was free for anyone to take. Just because she got there early a couple of times, your father poisoned her and killed her. How could I not hate you?"When my mom died, I was still a kid. Do you have any idea how I survived all those years? No, you don't, nor would you understand. I scavenged trash. I was humiliated. I was bullied. I lived as a homeless person for so many years."He became agitated, and the more he spoke, the more his eyes reddened. The hatred that filled his gaze was one so intense it felt like he wanted to grind my bones to dust.He had suffered for over a decade. And now, I would suffer for the rest of my life."You're just walking the same path I once walked," he added.While I was overcome with emotions, he suddenly turned and tied me up. He dragged m

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