The day was getting darker, and a white fog started showing up between the thick trees. Irwan kept walking, holding Nadia's hand.
"Wh-where are we now, Wan?" Nadia asked.
"Just be quiet for a sec, I'm trying to find the way. You've asked, like, three times in five minutes," Irwan said, a little annoyed.
"Well, what do you expect? It's dark now, we're still in the woods, and to be honest, I'm really scared," Nadia replied.
"You're not the only one who's scared," Irwan said.
They kept walking through the forest with no clear direction. The thick white fog made it hard for them to see what was in front of them. "Rustle." A sound came from the bushes. Irwan and Nadia immediately looked towards the sound and huddled close together, on guard. A few moments later, after making sure there was nothing there, they continued on their way.
"Let's just go back to the cave," Nadia suggested in a low voice.
"Huh... go back? To Lina's place?" Irwan asked.
"Yeah, we're getting deeper into the forest. You said you thought you knew the way back, what's up with that?" Nadia said in a low but slightly annoyed voice.
"Why are you blaming me? I didn't say I knew, I said I kinda knew. There's a difference," Irwan snapped.
"Don't get all mad at me," Nadia shot back.
"Then don't be annoying," Irwan said, getting annoyed too.
"I've been saying we should go back this whole time, but you were stubborn and wanted to keep going," Nadia argued.
"Do you just wanna keep fighting, huh?" Irwan replied.
"I'm scared, you know!" Nadia said.
"Me too, I'm scared too," Irwan said.
"Whoo...whoo...whoo."
"Whoaaa!" Irwan and Nadia screamed, hugging each other right away. "Whoo...whoo...whoo." Then they looked up and saw an owl perched on a tree branch. It turned out the sound had just been the owl. "Phew." Irwan and Nadia breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's just an owl," Irwan said.
"Yeah, it just scared me," Nadia replied.
"Let go of me," Irwan said. Nadia was still hugging him tightly.
"No way. Find the way first, I'm scared," Nadia replied.
"How am I supposed to find a way if you're hugging me like this?" Irwan said.
"Fine, then let's just walk together. Can't we do that?" Nadia asked crankily.
"Ugh, fine," Irwan replied, turning around.
Irwan started looking left and right to check their surroundings, but all he could see was trees and white fog all around them. After a moment of silence, Irwan finally saw a path to the southeast of where they were standing.
"This way, Nad," Irwan said.
"O-okay," Nadia replied.
Still hugging and walking slowly, they started heading toward the path and followed it. The further they went, the darker it got ahead of them because there was no light at all, besides the moon that hadn't reached directly above them yet. Step by step, and watching their surroundings, they kept going with hope and tension.
"Wan, what time is it now?" Nadia asked.
"Ugh, why are you asking for the time? How should I know?" Irwan replied.
"Just asking, don't be angry," Nadia replied.
"Please don't make things more tense than they already are," Irwan replied.
"Rustle." Irwan stopped walking right away and hugged Nadia. They heard the bushes in front of them making a sound. "Rustle...rustle." This time the sound came a few times, like something was coming closer to them. Nadia's grip on Irwan's arm tightened, and his arm was shaking a little. They both went silent and their eyes didn't leave the bushes in front of them. "Rustle...rustle...rustle." The sound got faster and closer. Irwan looked around. He saw a tree branch on the ground and immediately picked it up to use as a weapon.
He kept facing the bushes, his trembling hands holding the branch, ready to attack whatever came out of them. "Rustle...rustle." The sound was close now. Irwan and Nadia could see the bushes shaking in front of them.
"I-Irwan... I'm... scared," Nadia said, stuttering and shaking.
"C-calm down, Nad, I'll... I'll protect you," Irwan replied, trembling.
Thump...thump...thump. Their hearts were pounding. "Ruustle...ruustle." The bushes in front of them shook harder and got louder. Irwan got ready in his stance, even though he was shaking badly. Suddenly, "rustle," the bushes stopped moving and the air was instantly silent again. Irwan and Nadia stayed on guard and kept looking around. Then they looked back at the bushes in front of them.
"Why... is it quiet now?" Irwan asked, confused.
"I... I don't know," Nadia replied, also confused.
"Rustle." Suddenly, a flash of a shadow came out of the bushes. Irwan and Nadia were so shocked they couldn't even scream. They both took a step back and squinted, trying to see what creature was in front of them. It turned out it was just a cute gray-furred cat with red eyes. The cat just sat there, frozen, looking at them without moving at all and as if he's observing two human in front of him.
"Oh... it's just a cat," Irwan said, a little relieved.
"W-wait. Why... a cat out here in the middle of the night in the woods and it's not making a sound?" Nadia asked.
"Wait, is it weird to see a cat at night? You usually see a lot of them in fields and houses," Irwan said calmly.
"B-but this is in the woods... and cats usually meow... this one's quiet... and this cat has red eyes, what kind of cat is that?" Nadia replied, scared and holding Irwan's arm even tighter.
"Ugh, you need to calm down. Nothing's gonna happen. Come on, let's go. We have to find our way back, right?" Irwan said.
"Hissssssssss."
"Waaaaan!" Nadia screamed, pointing forward and burying her face in Irwan's arm.
Irwan looked forward. The cat's head was floating, separated from its body, which was still sitting neatly. "Hiss," it hissed again when their eyes met. Two long fangs, curved in opposite directions, came out of its mouth.
"Whoaaaaa!" Irwan screamed right away.
Without thinking twice, he grabbed Nadia's hand and ran, bursting through the dark forest blanketed in white fog. They kept running and running without looking back. Thud. Nadia suddenly fell, tripping over a root sticking out from a tree. Irwan, feeling Nadia's hand slip, immediately turned back and went to her.
"Get up quick, Nad!" Irwan yelled, trying to help Nadia stand.
"Ow... I can't. My leg still hurts and it's not healed yet. What do we do?" Nadia said, trying to stand and falling back down.
"Oh no, this is bad." He turned and crouched in front of Nadia. "Get on quick!" Irwan yelled.
"O-okay," Nadia replied.
Nadia crawled and climbed onto Irwan's back. After that, Irwan stood up and started running again with no clear direction, because all he could think about was getting away from that cat and moving forward. Nadia hugged Irwan's neck tightly from behind and buried her head in his neck, terrified.