Leaving a Warning
After opening the door to their house and stepping inside, "Thud!" Irwan put down his knife. He etched something onto the dining table. Nadia moved closer to Irwan to see what he was writing.
"To whoever inhabits this house after us: don't trust the beautiful, comfortable life in this village. You must get out of here, because this village isn't paradise. This village is a human farm for supernatural beings who feed on human flesh and drink human blood. Don't be swayed by your desires. Look for signs like purple mist in the sky and leave this house. We don't want you to suffer the same fate as the typical villagers, because we care about you."
"Trek!" Irwan placed the knife on the table. Nadia immediately wrapped her arm around Irwan's arm as he sat next to her. Both were silent, not speaking, calmly waiting for nightfall so they could leave their home forever. After a few moments of silence, Nadia finally spoke.
"After we get out of here, do we go back to our old lives?" Nadia asked.
"Of course not. We'll run far away, just the two of us. You want to, right?" Irwan asked, turning to look at Nadia.
"Yes, I don't have any family out there anymore. I'll be with you, forever," Nadia said.
"Same here. I will too. We'll always be together," Irwan said.
"It must be nice, building a family together. Too bad I can't have kids," Nadia said.
"Don't think about that. It's just us two until we're old. It's okay if we don't have kids, because I can't have them either, right?" Irwan replied.
"Hehe, true," Nadia replied, looking at Irwan.
Irwan looked at Nadia. His hand rose to touch Nadia's cheek, and their faces started to draw closer. Nadia closed her eyes, and they kissed intimately. Irwan's hands wrapped around Nadia, beginning to explore her body, but when Irwan's hands landed on her chest, Nadia suddenly opened her eyes and pushed Irwan away.
"S-sorry, not yet," Nadia said, hugging herself.
"S-sorry. Are you... still traumatized?" Irwan asked.
Nadia didn't answer but nodded. Irwan immediately moved forward and hugged Nadia, who was now trembling, to comfort her.
"S-sorry, Wan," Nadia said, her voice trembling.
"It's okay, it's my fault for rushing," Irwan said.
"No, it's not your fault. I already told you what happened to me. I'm the one with the problem," Nadia said.
"Enough, let's not talk about it anymore. We're both messed up. I also acted like that just now automatically, not out of feeling. Before... if I didn't move, I'd get hit," Irwan said.
"Is that so?" Nadia said.
"Yep, that's how it is. So don't feel guilty. We'll take it slow. The most important thing now is getting out of this village," Irwan said.
"You're right, Wan. We can fix all of this after we get out," Nadia said.
"It's still midday. How about we rest first? It seems we won't be sleeping tonight," Irwan said.
"Y-yes, let's sleep here," Nadia said.
"Agreed. Not in the room," Irwan replied.
After that, Irwan stood up and locked the house door. Then he sat back down next to Nadia. They immediately hugged each other and closed their eyes to rest before starting their journey.
******
The Mysterious Lullaby
Late afternoon, almost evening, as the sun was about to set, "Ugh," Irwan woke up and slowly opened his eyes. "Krrrr... krrr... krrr..." He heard soft snoring next to him. He looked to see Nadia still asleep in his arms. But as his consciousness returned,
"Teng... treng... ting... tring!" "La... la... la... la..."
He heard the sound of a lyre accompanied by a beautiful and melodious hum, yet it also felt mystical and sad at the same time. Irwan's eyes immediately widened because he clearly heard the music.
"Nad... Nad... wake up, Nad," Irwan said, gently shaking Nadia's body next to him.
"Mmmph," Nadia began to groan and stir. Irwan kept shaking Nadia until she opened her eyes.
"What is it, Wan?" Nadia asked, just waking up and rubbing her eyes.
"Do you hear a song?" Irwan asked.
Nadia paused for a moment as if gathering her senses after waking up, but suddenly, she sat up straight next to Irwan, her eyes wide.
"A sound... of a lyre and humming? A folk song... but it's beautiful and creepy," Nadia said.
"Yeah, it's coming from outside. Let's go out. It's time for us to leave," Irwan replied, standing up and crouching to grab his backpack.
"But it's dusk, don't you want to wait another half an hour?" Nadia asked.
"No need, now's the time. Let's go, quickly," Irwan replied.
Nadia also stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder. Then Irwan took the knife from the table and walked to the door. Before opening the door, they looked at their house one last time. Then Irwan unlocked it and went out, holding Nadia's hand. They both immediately walked, following the music they heard. They climbed a hill and returned to the place where they usually saw the Japanese soldier commit suicide, but this time they ignored the soldier and walked, following the music that seemed to be deep within the forest.
The sun set. They continued walking through the forest. Mist began to fill the spaces in the woods, but they kept walking hand in hand. Irwan placed a pinch of rice on a tree if they reached a crossroads or a branching path so they would know where they came from. They continued to walk deeper into the forest, still holding hands. Finally, they reached a lake with clear green water, making the lake clearly visible.
"Huh... there's a lake in the forest?" Irwan asked.
"Y-yes. (She turned to look beside her) Wan, look at that," Nadia said, pointing to the side.
Irwan looked and saw that the lake was divided into two. One side had green water, and the other had blue water with a waterfall on the cliff in front of them, right in the middle of the border between the two lakes with different colored water.
"Teng... treng... ting... tring!" "La... la... la... la..."
Irwan and Nadia looked straight at the waterfall where the song was coming from. It turned out there was a gazebo right in front of the waterfall, and they saw a woman wearing a white kebaya layered with flowing white fabric, playing a lyre and humming. Irwan and Nadia immediately swallowed and shivered, seeing the woman, even from a distance, because her appearance resembled a ghost from the horror stories they often heard outside.
"Ding!"
Suddenly the music stopped. Irwan and Nadia saw the woman lift her head and look at them. Suddenly, the woman appeared in front of them in an instant, her face pale but smiling kindly. "Thud!" Irwan and Nadia immediately fell to the ground and scrambled backward. The reason was that they saw the woman's eyes, which had a green circle on the left and a blue circle on the right, like the color of the lake water in front of them.