Naufal and Raka were still standing beneath the stairs.
Neither of them dared to move.
The sound of something being dragged across the upstairs floor grew clearer.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
It sounded as if something was being moved from one place to another.
Raka stared at Naufal, his face tense.
“Fal, are you sure you want to keep going?”
Naufal swallowed.
“I’m scared too, Rak.”
“Then?”
“But if we leave now, I’ll keep thinking about it tonight.”
Raka let out a long sigh.
“You’re so stubborn.”
“You’re still coming with me.”
“Yeah, because if I leave you alone, it’ll only get worse.”
Naufal gave a small smile.
“So you do care.”
“Don’t get full of yourself.”
They tried to lighten the mood, but the sound from upstairs came again.
Scrape.
This time, it was louder.
They fell silent at once.
Naufal gripped the stair railing.
Slowly, he climbed up.
Raka followed behind him.
Each step felt heavy.
The house that usually felt comfortable now seemed like a strange place.
When they reached the upper floor, the sound stopped.
Abruptly.
There wasn’t another sound.
Raka whispered,
“Why did it stop?”
Naufal looked down the hallway.
“I don’t know.”
“Usually, when something stops right after we show up, that just makes it scarier.”
Naufal didn’t argue.
The hallway light flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then it came back on.
They looked around.
There was no one there.
Naufal’s parents’ bedroom door was closed.
Naufal’s bedroom was closed too.
But the empty bedroom at the end of the hallway was open again.
Raka pointed.
“That’s the room from yesterday?”
Naufal nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Even though we closed it?”
“Yeah.”
Raka fell silent.
They walked toward the room.
Before going in, Naufal stopped.
“Something’s strange.”
“What?”
“Yesterday, the door was hard to open from the inside.”
“And?”
“Now it opened by itself.”
Raka didn’t answer.
They entered slowly.
The room was still the same.
An old wardrobe.
A wooden table.
Old cardboard boxes.
But one thing was different.
The brown book Naufal had found yesterday was now sitting on the table.
Naufal was sure he had put it in his bedroom drawer.
Raka looked at the book.
“You moved it?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Sure.”
Raka stepped closer.
“Then someone moved it.”
Naufal opened the book.
The first page was blank.
The second page was blank.
The next several pages were blank too.
“A blank book?”
Raka picked it up.
“Then why keep it?”
Naufal flipped to the last page.
There was writing on it.
One sentence.
I’m still here.
Raka immediately dropped the book onto the table.
“I don’t like this.”
Naufal felt the same way.
But his curiosity was stronger.
He picked up the book again.
“Who wrote this?”
There was no answer.
Suddenly, the bedroom door slammed shut.
Bang!
Raka jumped.
“Again?”
Naufal tried to open the door.
This time, it wasn’t locked.
But it still wouldn’t move.
“Why won’t it open?”
Raka helped pull it.
It still wouldn’t budge.
“Fal, let’s not panic.”
“How am I supposed not to panic?”
They tried several times.
Nothing worked.
Then a voice came from behind them.
A quiet voice.
“Don’t open the door.”
Naufal and Raka froze.
Slowly, they turned around.
In the corner of the room near the wardrobe stood a dark shadow.
It didn’t move.
Raka backed away.
“Fal…”
Naufal didn’t answer.
His eyes were fixed on the shadow.
“Who are you?”
The shadow didn’t move.
Then a small voice spoke.
“I’ve been waiting a long time.”
Naufal’s throat went dry.
“Waiting for whom?”
Several seconds passed.
Then the voice answered.
“Waiting for you.”
Raka immediately grabbed Naufal’s hand.
“Get out.”
“But—”
“Now!”
They tried opening the door again.
This time, it opened by itself.
They ran out immediately.
They didn’t stop until they reached the lower floor.
They were both breathing hard.
Raka rested his hands on his knees.
“I don’t care what you want to find out.”
Naufal was still looking upstairs.
“Why?”
“Because that wasn’t a normal voice.”
Naufal fell silent.
He knew Raka was right.
But one thing kept bothering him.
The shadow had said it was waiting for him.
Not his family.
Not someone else.
Him.
While they were still standing in the living room, Naufal’s mother came out of the kitchen.
“What were you two doing upstairs?”
Naufal looked at his mother.
“Mom, do you know about that room?”
Her expression changed immediately.
“What room?”
“The one upstairs.”
His mother fell silent.
Raka watched her.
“You know something, don’t you?”
She looked nervous.
“Naufal, don’t get involved.”
“I just want to know.”
“Sometimes, finding out something can change your life.”
Naufal stepped closer.
“Mom, there was something in that room.”
His mother immediately went pale.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t tell me you opened that room.”
Naufal fell silent.
From his mother’s reaction, he knew.
She was truly afraid.
“Why are you scared, Mom?”
His mother looked toward the stairs.
Then she whispered,
“Because that room isn’t just a room.”
“What do you mean?”
His mother didn’t answer.
She walked toward the stairs.
Her hands were trembling.
“Naufal…”
“Yes?”
“Before we lived here, there was a child who often played in that room.”
Naufal stared at his mother.
“Whose child?”
His mother lowered her head.
“The previous owner’s child.”
Raka stepped closer too.
“Then what?”
His mother took a breath.
“That child disappeared in this house.”
The room immediately fell silent.
Naufal felt as if he were hearing the same story all over again.
“But why is he waiting for me?”
His mother looked straight at Naufal.
“What do you mean?”
Naufal didn’t answer.
Before he could explain, a voice came from upstairs.
“Naufal…”
Everyone froze.
The voice called again.
But this time, it wasn’t coming from the empty bedroom.
It was coming from Naufal’s own room.
His mother immediately grabbed her son’s hand.
“Don’t go upstairs.”
Naufal stared at the stairs.
The voice called once more.
“Naufal…”
And for the first time, his mother said something that made Naufal even more afraid.
“He knows your name because he’s known you for a long time.”