As he placed his bag in the car trunk, Kala noticed his other friends still having breakfast on the terrace. Unconsciously, a scent reached his nose, and he reflexively looked around.
"Lavender…"
Kala felt puzzled. Dion's house didn't have any such plant, so why was the scent suddenly so strong?
Brukk
The sound of the car trunk closing echoed. Melvin immediately approached Kala, who looked like he was searching for something.
"What's wrong, Kal?" he asked.
"Don't you smell that?" Kala replied.
"Smell what? Incense?" Melvin joked.
"Do you think this is a graveyard or some ritual site?" Kala responded sarcastically.
"What smell? I only smell wet soil; it rained last night anyway," Melvin said.
"No, it's the smell of lavender flowers," Kala said firmly.
"Maybe it's coming from your hair—your color's lavender," Melvin teased.
Kala reflexively smacked hid friend's shoulder. "No, dude, it's really the smell of flowers."
"Really? You can smell it?" Melvin sniffed the air around them.
Hasta, approaching them, looked confused seeing his two friends busy sniffing the air.
"Are you guys okay?" he asked.
"Kala smells lavender, but I don't," Melvin said.
"Dion's mom didn't plant any flowers here, so it can't just appear out of nowhere," Hasta added.
"Are you sure you guys don't smell it?" Kala double-checked.
Both shook their heads.
"I can still smell it," Kala said in astonishment.
"Maybe you just forgot to put on floral perfume," Melvin suggested.
"No, dude. None of my perfumes smell like that," Kala said flatly.
Hasta finally intervened. "Let's just have breakfast with the others first."
~~~~~~~
The sun shone brightly when they arrived at a quiet road flanked by towering trees on both sides.
"Are we sure this is the right way?" Yoga asked.
"Yes, the villa Lyo mentioned is somewhere around here," Dion replied as the driver.
"This place is too quiet. What if it's a trap?" Yoan remarked.
"What thief would come to a creepy place like this?" Melvin mocked.
"What about ghosts?" Yoga asked.
"Ghosts can't touch humans; why be afraid of that?" Yoan said.
"They can't touch, but they can possess. Haven't you seen in movies someone go insane from possession?" Yoga countered.
"Why would I watch things I've never seen happen in real life?" Yoan retorted.
"Ugh, so logical," Yoga muttered.
"You just watch too many of those movies," Yoan teased back.
The scraping sound of metal stopped their argument. The car had reached a villa, its tall iron gate marking the entrance.
Dion returned to the car after checking the gate.
"It's unlocked, guys. Help me push the gate; it was really heavy moving it alone earlier," Dion said.
They all got out and pushed the gate together.
A large building with faded white paint came into view. They stared at the villa, bewildered.
"Is this villa abandoned?" Yoga asked.
"Good, that means we can look for the diary safely without anyone noticing," Dion said.
"Let's start looking then," Melvin suggested.
They entered the villa, greeted by flying dust and a chaotic interior that looked like a shipwreck.
"So creepy," Melvin shivered.
"Scared?" Dion teased.
"Shut up," Melvin said.
"Why doesn't him just find the diary itself?" Yoan asked, observing the surroundings.
"No luck, remember?" Kala reminded him.
"But he never said the villa was empty. Judging by the condition, it's probably been abandoned for about a year," Yoan added.
"He probably hasn't come back since," Kala said.
"So when did he find the diary? It's been a year, but he still remembers it?" Yoan said, leaving Kala speechless.
"Let's stop debating and focus on the target," Hasta said.
"Lyo said the diary was last seen in the main room," Gantha said.
"Yes, it should be around here," Melvin replied.
"Search, guys," Dion instructed.
They searched everywhere until Melvin found the diary in a bookshelf filled with books, but a blank sheet was stuck on top of it.
"This looks like the one described," Melvin said, inspecting the plain black book with a moon and stars on the cover.
"Yes, this is the diary," Kala confirmed.
"But there's a blank sheet stuck to it," Yoga noted.
"Maybe it just got stuck there," Dion said.
Gantha, more perceptive, took the paper and poured some water from his bottle onto it.
Gradually, writing appeared on the paper.
Blue with white patterns stretching endlessly
Straight lines forming the basis of an image and text
"What is this? A puzzle?" Dion asked.
"A clue," Hasta said.
"Blue with white patterns stretching endlessly… Sky?" Yoan guessed.
"Straight lines forming the basis of an image and text… Lines," Kala added.
"What does this clue mean?" Melvin asked, puzzled.
"Maybe it has something to do with this place," Gantha suggested.
"Sky lines? Sounds poetic," Melvin commented.
"I think it's the name of a place, like a shelter or something," Yoan said.
"Like a school or an office?" Hasta suggested.
"Maybe. Perhaps before it was a villa, it was a place where many people lived," Kala speculated.
"Found it, let's go back," Dion said.
"We came all this way just for the diary. How about a short break?" Yoga suggested.
"Just a short break, don't do anything weird," Kala warned Dion and Yoga, realizing their intentions—Yoga wanted to play hide-and-seek inside the villa.
"I knew it," Kala said flatly.
"Villa's decent. Better to take photos than do something strange," Melvin proposed.
"I agree," Hasta said.
They scattered, some taking photos, others exploring casually, and some venturing outside. Kala wandered alone.
The villa felt unusually calm to him—no eerie or threatening atmosphere, everything seemed normal. But that normalcy felt strange. It was too peaceful for a case in an abandoned location.
Kala stood beside a large empty pool, noticing a strange red cloth at the bottom. He descended to retrieve it.
"This cloth is clean," he observed, holding the red fabric, thinking he might get a vision from it.
"Sakala,"
a voice called, making Kala reflexively remove the cloth from his eyes.
He looked around, but there was no one there.
"This is what I've been waiting for." Kala climbed back up.
He waited quietly, focusing, but after several minutes, nothing happened.
"What the hell? I didn't get a vision from this cloth. Maybe it's just an ordinary cloth someone left behind," Kala muttered, tossing it back into the pool.
"So you're here," Gantha's voice sounded.
Kala turned to see Gantha approaching.
"Why, does it matter if I'm here?" Kala said.
"Did you feel something strange?" he asked.
"No, that's why it feels weird. I tried, but nothing happened," Kala replied.
"Maybe we're overthinking. It could just be a normal case. Because it's an abandoned villa, we overanalyze," Gantha said.
"But my gut says something's wrong with this villa," Kala insisted.
"I saw Asta scared after checking the bathroom. Others were taking photos—hopefully they caught a ghost," Gantha added.
"Actually, someone called me here earlier, but I couldn't see them," Kala said.
"So it really is weird, but no one wants to show themselves," Gantha concluded.
"I told you," Kala said flatly. "You know I'm an esper."
"Yeah, I believe you, Shaman," Gantha said.
Kala looked at the orange sky and then at Gantha, who was quietly watching the pool.
"Someone there?"
"What's that kid doing over there?" Gantha asked, still staring at the pool.
"Whose kid? Missing child?" Kala followed Gantha's gaze.
"Don't you see him?" Gantha asked.
"See what?" Kala replied.
"Nothing. False alarm. Let's go back inside."
Gantha walked back into the villa, and Kala followed. Unbeknownst to them, someone had been watching them through the villa window.