Naufal was still holding the paper with trembling hands.
The writing at the bottom kept throwing his thoughts into chaos.
His birth date.
Not a similar date.
Not numbers that happened to match.
It was exactly the date he had been born.
Raka stood beside him, looking confused.
“Fal, let me see.”
Naufal handed him the paper.
Raka read it slowly.
At first, he looked perfectly normal.
But a few seconds later, his expression changed.
“Is this your birth date?”
Naufal nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Who could know that?”
Naufal didn’t answer.
The same question was spinning through his mind.
Who wrote this?
How could something in that house know something even other people didn’t know?
Naufal’s father took the paper.
The moment he saw the writing, his face went pale.
“You recognize this handwriting?”
Naufal asked immediately.
His father didn’t answer.
“Dad.”
The man remained silent.
His mother, standing behind them, suddenly began to cry softly.
“That’s impossible…”
Naufal looked at his mother.
“You know?”
His mother covered her face for a moment.
“There was one person who used to write like that.”
“Who?”
His mother looked toward the empty bedroom.
“Dika.”
That name instantly changed the atmosphere.
Raka looked at Naufal.
“The missing kid?”
His mother nodded.
“His handwriting?”
“Yes.”
Naufal looked at the paper in his father’s hand.
“So Dika wrote this?”
His father took a breath.
“We don’t know.”
“But Mom said it’s Dika’s handwriting.”
His mother slowly sat down.
“Before he disappeared, Dika used to make little notes all the time.”
“Notes about what?”
“Lots of things.”
“Me included?”
His mother fell silent.
And that silence became an answer.
Naufal began to feel angry.
“Why does everyone know something about me while I don’t know anything at all?”
“Naufal…”
“No, Mom.”
His voice began to rise.
“I’ve lived in this house for years. I slept in that room. I ate in this room. But it turns out there’s some huge story everyone’s been hiding from me.”
His father stepped closer.
“I only wanted to protect you.”
“But from what?”
There was no answer.
Naufal let out a short laugh.
“From this house?”
His father lowered his head.
“From something in this house.”
That answer left Naufal speechless.
They all knew.
There really was something.
Not just a sound.
Not just a shadow.
Something they had been avoiding all this time.
Raka tried to calm things down.
“Fal, maybe now isn’t the right time to get angry.”
“Then when is?”
Raka didn’t answer.
Because he knew Naufal had every reason to feel betrayed.
Suddenly, a sound came from upstairs.
This time, it wasn’t footsteps.
It was the sound of something falling.
Crash!
Everyone immediately looked up.
The empty bedroom door was still open.
Naufal’s father stood up.
“You two stay here.”
“Where are you going, Dad?” Naufal asked.
“I’m going to check.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
“But—”
“Naufal.”
His father’s tone made Naufal stop.
“I’ve lost control in this house before.”
Naufal fell silent.
“I don’t want the same thing to happen again.”
His father walked toward the stairs.
But after only a few steps, the house lights suddenly went out.
Darkness.
His mother jumped.
“Naufal!”
“I’m here, Mom.”
Raka turned on his phone’s flashlight.
The small beam illuminated the living room.
“Dad?”
There was no answer.
Naufal immediately began searching.
“Dad?”
A sound came from the direction of the stairs.
Tap.
One step.
Tap.
Then it stopped.
Raka aimed the flashlight that way.
Nothing.
“Where’s Dad?”
Naufal began to panic.
He took out his phone and turned on the flashlight.
“Dad!”
His father’s voice came from upstairs.
“Naufal…”
Everyone froze.
It sounded like his father.
But something about it was strange.
As if it were coming from somewhere far away.
His mother immediately grabbed Naufal’s arm.
“Don’t go upstairs.”
“But that’s Dad.”
“No.”
Naufal looked at his mother.
“You know something?”
She quickly shook her head.
“That thing can imitate voices.”
The statement made Naufal stop.
Raka stared at the stairs.
“Imitate?”
His mother nodded.
“Dika’s family once heard the voices of people they knew, too.”
“Then what?”
“They followed the voices.”
“And?”
His mother looked down at the floor.
“They found the empty bedroom.”
Naufal looked upstairs.
“Dad’s up there.”
No one answered.
His father’s voice came again.
“Naufal…”
This time, it was clearer.
“Help me…”
Naufal almost went upstairs.
But Raka grabbed his hand.
“Fal.”
“That’s my dad.”
“We don’t know that.”
Naufal looked at Raka.
“What if it really is my dad?”
Raka fell silent.
He knew that question was impossible to answer.
Finally, Naufal made up his mind.
“I’m going up.”
“Naufal!”
“I can’t just sit here.”
Raka immediately followed him.
“If you’re going, I’m coming too.”
His mother tried to stop them.
“Don’t.”
But they were already walking toward the stairs.
Each step felt colder than the last.
When they reached the top, the hallway looked different.
Darker.
Longer.
Even though the distance was still the same.
Naufal looked toward the empty bedroom.
The door was open.
His father stood in front of it.
With his back to them.
“Dad!”
The figure didn’t move.
Naufal approached.
“Dad?”
Slowly, the figure turned around.
And when his face came into view, Naufal stopped dead.
It really was his father.
But something was wrong.
His father was smiling.
A smile Naufal had never seen before.
“Naufal…”
The voice was soft.
“You finally came.”
Raka grabbed Naufal’s arm.
“Fal…”
Naufal didn’t move.
Because another voice came from inside the empty bedroom.
His real father’s voice.
“Naufal!”
They both turned immediately.
The voice was coming from inside the room.
Not from in front of them.
Naufal looked at the figure before him.
Then he looked at the bedroom door.
And that was when he realized it.
The man standing in front of him wasn’t his father.