Home / Fantasy / The King of the Vampire Island / Chapter 104: Flickers in the Firelight
Chapter 104: Flickers in the Firelight
Author: G. SAROWAR
last update2025-04-25 21:30:07

Lily stared at the fire. It burned brightly, its orange glow lighting up everything around it. Nocturnal animals filled the jungle with their calls, the constant noise almost deafening to Lily. She had been awake for quite a while now. Around midnight, she was supposed to wake Jack. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time, but it was dead. No charge. Finally, she glanced at her wristwatch. In the dim light, she saw that it was already twelve. Just as she was about to wake Jack, she noticed him sitting on the hammock. That meant he had woken up on his own.

"When did you wake up?" Lily asked.

"Just a little while ago," Jack replied.

"Well, good thing you did. I was about to wake you."

"Alright then, you get some sleep. I’ll keep watch."

Lily wished him goodnight and lay down. Jack sat quietly on the hammock. After a while, he noticed the firewood was running low. The flames were almost out. He climbed down, added a few branches onto the glowing embers, and went back to
Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app
Previous Chapter

Related Chapters

  • The King of the Vampire Island   Chapter 1: The adventure begins

    Adventure1***The spring sunset has painted the skies over Haven Brook. The final exam was over. School is closed; it's time to enjoy a well-deserved break!A brown, curly-haired boy named Jack was lying down when his mobile phone started vibrating. As soon as he picked it up, he saw Max calling. He was his close school friend. He was a tall guy who always loved to wander.Jack answered and put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”“Hey, how’s it going?” Max’s voice came through, lively as ever.“I’m good. How about you?”“Same here. So, on this vacation, have you planned to go somewhere?”Jack smiled. “I already had a plan set up before school even ended. Next week, we’re heading to Demons Island. I’ve got everything ready—even the ship is arranged.”“Wow?” Max’s excitement was clear in his voice. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”“Surprise! I wanted to keep it a secret.”“Good. So, whose ship is it? How did you arrange it?”“It’s Uncle Daniel Scott’s ship,” Jack explained. “I talked to Un

  • The King of the Vampire Island   Chapter 2: The Mariner’s Bay

    As soon as they left the house, they caught a taxi and headed straight for the bus stand. They arrived just ten minutes before the bus was due to depart.If they were a second late, they might have missed it. Fortunately, they were ahead of schedule.The bus sped down the highway, its engine humming steadily. They sat side by side, with Jack by the window, gazing out at the passing scenery—though there wasn’t much to see.“Did you let Uncle Daniel know we’re coming?” Max asked.Jack shook his head. “No, I forgot. Hold on, I’ll call him now.” He reached into his pocket to grab his phone—but it wasn’t there. Then he remembered—he’d left it on the dressing table back home.Max raised an eyebrow. “I forgot mine, too. Now what? How are we going to contact Uncle Daniel?”“It’s fine,” Jack reassured him. “Uncle knows we’re coming. And I’m familiar with Mariner’s Bay.”“Let’s hope that’s enough,” Max muttered.They sat in silence for a while. An hour later, they arrived at the Mariner bus sta

  • The King of the Vampire Island   Chapter 3: Reach to the hotel

    No one spoke for a while. Max scanned the bushes carefully, but the darkness made it impossible to see anything.“Who do you think that could be?” Max asked.“Not ‘who,” Jack corrected him, “ask ‘what’.”“What do you mean, ‘what’?” Max frowned.“I’ll explain later. But first, let’s get out of here. It’s pitch-black around us.”“Alright, let’s go.”They hurried back to the hotel.“Now, tell me—why did you say that back there?” Max asked as he settled onto the bed.“What?”“Oh, come on! What you said while we were on the beach.”“Oh!” Jack raised an eyebrow. “You mean the thing that dashed away from the bushes? Are we even sure it was human?” he asked.“If it wasn’t a person, then what was it?” Max shot back. “You think it was some kind of animal?”“No,” Jack shook his head. “Not exactly. It wasn’t human, but it wasn’t an animal either. More like... both, somehow.”“Is your head alright?” Max raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? Not human, not animal, but both at the same time? What doe

  • The King of the Vampire Island   Chapter 4: The vampire kills Parker

    Now, only the morning remained. The mystery of what happened in that hotel might be solved by daybreak. They spent the night on edge, nervously anticipating what was to come.Throughout the night, there were numerous knocks on the door. The doorbell chimed several times, too.Sometimes it was Mr. Parker, other times the hotel manager, and occasionally a staff member calling for them. But they never answered.Somehow, the hours passed, and dawn broke. The sun peeked over the eastern sky, bringing with it a sigh of relief from them. After freshening up in the bathroom, they were ready. Now, all that was left was to wait.Soon, Mr. Parker would bring breakfast. And that’s when everything would be explained—at least, they hoped it would. The mystery of the hotel might finally have an answer.A few moments later, the doorbell rang with a soft chime. They thought it might be Mr. Parker. Jack jumped out of bed and rushed to open the door.When he did, a young man—about twenty or twenty-one—

  • The King of the Vampire Island   Chapter 5: The Planning with Tulip

    “I’m not sure,” Paul said, shaking his head. “But a man named Mr. Byrne lived north of here. He studied vampires. He died a few months ago, but he had a daughter. She could help us.”“How far is Mr. Byrne’s house from here?”“Not far—maybe ten miles.”“Then let’s go,” Jack said. He looked at Max. “What do you think?”Max shrugged. “It’s your call.”“Paul, are you coming?”“Yes, I’ll go,” Paul said without hesitation.“Alright, let’s go,” Jack said.“Yeah, let’s go,” Max agreed.With Paul’s help, they rented a sedan from a nearby car service and drove toward Mr. Byrne’s house. Along the way, Paul explained that Mr. Byrne was of Italian descent, though he settled in the area.Jack suddenly remembered that his grandfather’s house was also in Italy. Though Jack had never visited, he silently promised to go with his father one day.Lost in thought, they eventually arrived at Mr. Byrne’s house. After ringing the doorbell three times, a girl opened the door. She looked to be about their age,

  • The King of the Vampire Island   Chapter 6: Preparation for Vampire Island

    “That meant you guys were planning to go to that island?” Luna said, looking at the boys. They were talking in the living room. Luna was seated on a sofa in front of the boys. She was around their age, with ash-colored hair and light blue eyes—a pretty girl. They already told her everything.“Yep,” Jack nodded.“Did you know you could die from this?”“I told them,” Tulip replied on the boys’ behalf. “But they didn’t listen. By the way, I didn’t see Auntie around.” She looked around. “Was she not home?”“Nope, she wasn’t.”“Where did she go?”“New York. She’ll be back in a week.”“Oh! Anyway, did you have the exorcism water with you?”“Yes, I kept some from my dad. You guys sit tight; I’ll go get it.” Saying this, Luna left. She came back shortly, holding a glass jar with a kind of liquid inside—sacred exorcism water. “Let’s go,” Luna said.“Go Where?” Tulip asked in surprise. “Where were you planning to go?”“Why?” Luna looked equally surprised. “I’m going with you guys.”“To that is

  • The King of the Vampire Island   Chapter 7: Arrive at Vampire Island

    The eastern sky was beginning to brighten. The sun hadn’t risen yet. The water was clear and blue. The sky matched it perfectly. Not a single cloud in sight.Jack was steering the boat, silently looking ahead. The boat sped forward. Right beside him sat Paul, also staring quietly into the distance. The rest were seated in the back. No one was speaking. It was as if they were observing a moment of silence.Luna looked down, lost in thought. Max fiddled with the Annihilin gun, inspecting it from different angles. Tulip pored over the Vampire’s Island map spread across her lap, examining it closely.“How much farther?” Max suddenly broke the silence.“Not much farther,” Paul replied. He was the only one among them who had ever been close to Vampire’s Island before. He turned to Tulip. “Pass me the binoculars, will you?”Without a word, Tulip handed the binoculars to Paul. Taking them, he raised them to his eyes and began scanning the area. In the northeast, he spotted an island. Focusin

  • The King of the Vampire Island   Chapter 8: Caught by Vampire

    “The hotel manager was here! How was that possible? No, that couldn’t be. Why would he be here? So, was there no connection between the hotel manager and the vampire?”Max and Paul already spotted the hotel manager. Like Jack, the same questions were racing through their minds.Suddenly, the manager started moving toward them. They decided it was best to hide and slipped into a nearby bush. From their hiding spot, they watched as the manager slowly transformed into a vampire. They understood everything in an instant: this villain was the one committing all those awful deeds at the hotel. But one thing puzzled the boys. As far as they knew, vampires couldn’t stand sunlight. If sunlight touched them, they’d die. Yet this vampire-manager seemed fine in both daylight and darkness; nothing bothered him. This guy could walk around freely in broad daylight. How was that possible?Luna provided the answer. She explained, “Some vampires can tolerate sunlight.”Thanks to the vampire manager, t

Latest Chapter

  • Chapter 104: Flickers in the Firelight

    Lily stared at the fire. It burned brightly, its orange glow lighting up everything around it. Nocturnal animals filled the jungle with their calls, the constant noise almost deafening to Lily. She had been awake for quite a while now. Around midnight, she was supposed to wake Jack. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time, but it was dead. No charge. Finally, she glanced at her wristwatch. In the dim light, she saw that it was already twelve. Just as she was about to wake Jack, she noticed him sitting on the hammock. That meant he had woken up on his own."When did you wake up?" Lily asked."Just a little while ago," Jack replied."Well, good thing you did. I was about to wake you.""Alright then, you get some sleep. I’ll keep watch."Lily wished him goodnight and lay down. Jack sat quietly on the hammock. After a while, he noticed the firewood was running low. The flames were almost out. He climbed down, added a few branches onto the glowing embers, and went back to

  • Chapter 103: Where’s Luke?

    Orin is scared. She doesn’t know what to do now. Should she call out to them?No, that might startle the animals. That could make things even worse. When animals get startled, they become aggressive.What are those two?Tigers, bears, or leopards? Or something else?Orin hasn’t seen the animals yet. But from their growls, she can tell they’re fierce and large. The animals are slowly approaching the camp. Yes, there are two of them. Orin sees four eyes glowing in the darkness. One animal wouldn’t have four eyes. Nor would it have just one. Each animal has two eyes, so there must be two of them.The animals crept closer and closer until they reached Jack’s hammock. Orin’s heart pounded wildly in her chest. She was frozen with indecision. Then suddenly, an idea struck her.Luke was lying in the hammock closest to Orin. She poked him with a stick. He didn’t wake the first time, but on the second try, he stirred. As he sat up, he was about to make a sound, but Orin quickly put a finger to

  • Chapter 102: Right in Front of You

    The jaguar was about fifteen feet away from them. A distance it could cover in a single leap. And it wouldn't take more than a few moments for it to make that jump.The jaguar leaped from its position. It was mid-air when something extraordinary happened. The smallest and most frightened among them stepped forward. Without a second thought, it lunged at the beast, which was at least twenty-five times its size. It knew it stood no chance, knew it would meet certain death, yet it leaped — only to save its friends. It could have run away and saved itself.Though it couldn't match the jaguar's strength, Don managed to hold it off for a few moments with sheer cunning. Don's sharp claws slashed across the jaguar's face. The sight of such a tiny dog daring to attack enraged the jaguar even more. With a shake of its head, it hurled Don to the ground. Even after hitting the ground, Don didn't give up. It charged again at the jaguar. But this time, Don couldn't hold it off. The jaguar struck th

  • Chapter 101: The Black Terror

    Don stared at the large bush with a fearful gaze, barking furiously."Hey Don, what's wrong now?" Lily grabbed Don's collar and asked. Don glanced at Lily once, then turned back to the bush and started barking again."There's something over there," Jack said in a serious tone.Everyone immediately turned to look at him. "Something dangerous?" Orin's eyebrows furrowed."Yeah!" Jack nodded absentmindedly. "Something dangerous.""I think so too," Luke added. "There's definitely something scary over there."The two girls grew even more frightened after hearing Luke and Jack. "What do we do now?" Orin asked, her voice trembling.Without answering, Luke readied his bow and arrow. Jack picked up the wooden spear. The girls didn’t need to be told what to do. Watching Jack and Luke prepare was enough for them to understand. They each grabbed a spear and got ready.Don kept barking non-stop. No matter what they did, they couldn’t calm him down. At one point, Orin saw a shadow moving on the othe

  • Chapter 100: Don the Defender

    The fastest snake in the world is the black mamba. It can cover nearly five meters per second. It is also one of the deadliest venomous snakes on Earth, said to rank just behind the king cobra. Interestingly, the black mamba isn’t black at all; its body is a dark grayish-olive color, though at birth, even that shade isn’t present. As it grows older, its color deepens. The name "black mamba" comes from the inky black color inside its mouth. When threatened, it raises its head high like a king cobra and hisses loudly — just like it was doing now. The black mamba doesn’t stop after one strike; it bites repeatedly, pumping venom into its enemy. Its venom is primarily neurotoxic, attacking the nervous system directly. Just a single drop is enough to cause a heart attack and kill a full-grown human in fifteen minutes.The snake was so close, it wouldn’t take a second to lunge at Luke. Death stood right before him, and he knew it. He could see no hope of escaping alive.The snake raised half

  • Chapter 99: Where’s Luke?

    After searching for quite a while, Luke couldn't find anything except four bird eggs. Finally, feeling frustrated, he sat down on a tree stump. But then, he quickly realized that sitting still wouldn't do. He had been out for quite a while. If he took any longer, they would start to worry. So, sitting there was no use. It would be better to head back to the camp. Surely, Jack must have found something. But what if, just like him, Jack didn't find anything? The thought made Luke pause. Then what would they do with these four eggs? They would have to go hungry.A bunch of such thoughts kept swirling in Luke’s mind. At that moment, he noticed a bush rustling nearby. He knew that bushes don’t move on their own. Someone was disturbing it. So there must be something inside. But what was it? A dangerous, fierce animal? Luke didn’t want to think further. He quickly moved behind a tree for cover, keeping his ears alert for any sound, ready to hear the slightest noise. He kept his gaze fixed on

  • Chapter 98: Out of the Darkness

    Lily opened her eyes and saw someone leaning towards her. At first, it was unclear, but slowly, the face became clearer. Seeing Jack, a spark of joy flashed in her eyes.Lily couldn’t speak. She didn’t have the strength to speak. Only a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips. Jack gave her water to drink. Lily lay on his lap. In this condition, there was no way Lily could climb the vine. So, he would have to figure out how to lift her. But how?Jack sank deep into thought. His mind had already started working to find a solution. Within moments, the path to a solution revealed itself to him. Now, they just needed an extra vine. One that was right above, near Luke.Luke and Orin were sitting above, holding their phone's flash at the mouth of the hole. They waited eagerly. At that moment, they heard Jack’s call. He needed another vine. Without delay, Luke threw one end of the vine into the hole. He held the other end himself.As soon as the vine was in hand, Jack began his work.

  • Chapter 97: A Ray of Hope

    Frozen Darkness. Nothing can be seen. After a while, Lily sat on the floor inside the hole. She could not understand where she was now. Her body felt extremely weak. There was a sharp pain at the back of her head. When she touched it, she realized that spot was swollen.Slowly, everything came back to Lily. She realized that she was still lying in that same hole. But how long she had been there, she couldn't guess. She also couldn't figure out whether it was day or night."Well, did they leave?" she asked herself. If they had left her here, what would happen to her? She would starve to death, trapped in this darkness. The thought made Lily stop. She had to get out of this hole, but how? Her body was so weak that she could barely stand up from sitting. How would she escape from here with such a frail body?Lily sat silently for a while. She noticed something strange—there were no mosquitoes in this hole. Where there should have been a mosquito haven, there were none. Not just mosquitoe

  • Chapter 96: The Night Watch

    Ghosts are not believed in by science. But there are many times on Earth when strange events happen that modern science cannot explain. So, who causes these events?However, whoever causes them, they operate above science. They don't follow any scientific principles. So, could it be that some supernatural events are happening now? They could be.Jack's hands and feet were freezing in fear. He couldn't understand what to do now. Should he call them? Should he say that he is trembling in fear of ghosts? No! This is not possible in any way. They would call him crazy.At that moment, the noise happened again. Jack perked up his ears to listen. This time, something gurgled near him. He sat up, keeping his ears alert. He wanted to hear the noise again. It seemed as if it was happening just for him. This time, Jack figured it out.He laughed to himself. He had mistaken the call of a wild cat for a ghostly sound. He felt like scolding himself for his foolishness. Thank goodness he hadn’t woke

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
Scan code to read on App