Naufal couldn't tear his eyes away from the small footprints on the floor.
The footprints were still clearly visible.
Wet.
One after another.
Starting from the direction of the stairs, then stopping right in the middle of the living room.
There was no one there.
But everyone could see the footprints.
His mother covered her mouth with her hand.
His father stood rigidly.
For the first time, Naufal saw his father look truly afraid.
Not ordinary fear.
It was the fear of knowing about something they couldn't control.
“Dad…” Naufal's voice was soft.
His father didn't answer.
He only stared at the footprints.
“Have you seen this before, Dad?”
Several seconds passed.
Then his father slowly nodded.
“I have.”
Naufal immediately looked at his father.
“When?”
“When you were still little.”
“Why didn't you ever tell me?”
His father sighed.
“Because I thought that if I stayed quiet, everything would stop.”
Naufal felt disappointed.
“But it didn't stop.”
“No.”
“It even happened again now.”
His father didn't deny it.
Suddenly, Naufal's phone rang.
Everyone jumped.
Naufal picked up his phone.
Raka's name appeared on the screen.
He answered immediately.
“Raka?”
“Fal, where are you?”
“At home.”
“I'm coming back.”
“Why?”
“Because I just remembered something.”
Naufal glanced at his father.
“What?”
“I ran into Mr. Hasan earlier.”
Naufal frowned.
“Mr. Hasan, the next-door neighbor?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“He knows about your house.”
Naufal immediately fell silent.
His father turned at once when he heard Mr. Hasan's name.
“What did he say?”
Raka sounded confused.
“Is your dad there?”
“Yeah.”
“Weird.”
“What’s weird?”
“Mr. Hasan said never to ask about that house.”
Naufal gripped the phone tighter.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“I don't know either.”
Naufal's father took a breath.
“Tell Raka to come here.”
Naufal looked at his father.
“You want to talk to him?”
“Yes.”
A few minutes later, the sound of a motorcycle stopping in front of the house reached them.
Raka came in with a serious expression.
He took in the tense atmosphere in the living room.
“What’s going on?”
Naufal pointed at the floor.
Raka followed the direction of his finger.
His expression changed immediately.
“This…”
“Yeah,” Naufal replied.
“Did they just appear?”
Naufal nodded.
Raka moved closer, but Naufal's father stopped him immediately.
“Don't touch them.”
Raka stopped.
“Why?”
Naufal's father looked toward the stairs.
“Because this isn't the first time these footprints have appeared.”
Raka fell silent.
Naufal sat down on the sofa.
“Now tell us everything.”
His father looked at the three of them.
“You won't be able to accept everything.”
“We've seen it with our own eyes,” Naufal said.
His father fell silent.
Finally, he began to tell them the story.
“Long ago, before this house was bought, there was a family named the Ardis.”
“The Ardis?” Raka asked.
“Yes.”
“They were the ones who lived here before?”
Naufal's father nodded.
“They had a son named Dika.”
Naufal immediately remembered the sound of a little child.
“Dika disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“One night.”
“What happened?”
His father looked at the stairs.
“Dika was playing upstairs.”
“In the empty room?”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“His parents heard him talking to someone.”
Naufal swallowed.
“Who?”
“That was what they never found out.”
Raka rubbed his face.
“So the kid just vanished?”
Naufal's father shook his head.
“Not entirely.”
“What do you mean?”
“They found Dika's toys in that room.”
Naufal immediately remembered the red toy car.
“The toy car?”
His father looked startled.
“You know about it?”
Naufal picked up the red car from the table.
“This?”
His father's face immediately went pale.
“Where did you get that?”
“Last night.”
Naufal's father walked closer.
His hand almost touched the car, but he stopped.
“That thing should have disappeared by now.”
Naufal looked at his father.
“What do you mean?”
“After Dika disappeared, his family took all his belongings.”
“But this is in the house.”
“Yes.”
The room fell silent again.
Raka looked at the car.
“So this thing appeared again?”
Naufal's father nodded.
“And that's not a good sign.”
Naufal began to feel angry.
“Why am I always the one this happens to?”
No one answered.
“Why does that voice call my name?”
His father looked at him.
“Because maybe…”
“Maybe what?”
His father stopped.
Naufal stood up.
“Dad.”
His father finally said,
“Maybe this house chose you from the very beginning.”
Those words left everyone silent.
Raka immediately shook his head.
“Chose him?”
Naufal's father didn't answer.
Naufal felt like his head was overflowing.
He wanted to deny it.
But too many things made no sense.
Before he could ask anything else, a sound came from upstairs.
This time, it wasn't a voice calling for him.
It was the sound of a little child laughing.
Softly.
Then louder and clearer.
“Hahaha…”
Everyone turned at once.
Raka stepped back.
“Fal…”
Naufal didn't answer.
Because the voice sounded like it was coming from the empty room.
Then the door to that room slowly opened.
Creeeak.
Darkness filled the space behind the door.
But there was something on the floor in front of the room.
A piece of paper.
Naufal saw it.
His father immediately said,
“Don't pick it up.”
But Naufal was already walking closer.
“Naufal!”
He stopped for a moment.
Then he picked up the paper anyway.
There was only one sentence written on it.
I've been waiting for you since before you came to this house.
Naufal read the sentence over and over.
His hands began to tremble.
Raka stood behind him.
“Fal…”
Naufal stared at the paper.
“What?”
Raka pointed to the bottom of the paper.
There was a small line of writing that had only just become visible.
A date.
Naufal's birth date.
Naufal immediately froze.
Because now he knew.
This wasn't just about an old house.
It wasn't only about a missing child.
Something had known him since before he had ever set foot in that house.