That morning, the atmosphere at Bisma's house felt different. Usually, the sounds of passing motorcycles, mobile vendors, and neighbors chatting could already be heard as soon as the sun began to rise. But that day, Bisma simply sat silently on the porch, staring at the narrow road in front of his house.
His thoughts were still fixed on what had happened over the past few days. It had all started with the discovery of an old object in the school storage room with his three friends, Raka, Dito, and Fajar. At first, they had only been curious, but the more they investigated, the more strange things they found.
"Bisma, you've been daydreaming this whole time. Are you still thinking about that thing?" Raka asked as he arrived with his bag.
Bisma turned toward him. "Yeah, Ka. I'm still curious. It feels like there's something we don't know yet."
Dito, who had just arrived, sat down beside them. "I feel the same way. I tried looking for information online yesterday, but there wasn't much to find."
Fajar sighed as he opened his water bottle. "What if we've gotten ourselves into an even bigger problem?"
Bisma looked at his three friends. Even though they were scared, not one of them truly wanted to stop.
"We've come this far. If there's really a secret behind all of this, we have to learn the truth," Bisma said.
They finally decided to return to the place where it had all begun: the old road behind the school. The place was rarely visited because it had not been used for a long time. Many locals said the road had a mysterious story behind it.
That afternoon, the four of them walked past trees that had begun growing wild around the old road.
"This place is getting even quieter," Fajar said, glancing around.
"Yeah. Even though I heard that people used to pass through this road all the time," Dito replied.
Raka stopped for a moment when he spotted a large rock beside the road.
"Hey, look at this."
Bisma and the others moved closer. A small carving on the rock was almost completely covered in moss.
"Is that writing?" Bisma asked.
Dito brushed the surface of the rock with his hand. Slowly, the writing began to emerge.
"Looks like old writing," he said.
They tried to read it.
"What is hidden will be found again by those brave enough to seek it."
They looked at one another.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Fajar asked, beginning to feel uneasy.
Bisma did not answer right away. He looked toward the long road, which had grown darker beneath the cover of the trees.
"Maybe it's a clue."
They continued on until they found a small building that was nearly collapsing. Its wooden door was damaged, but it still appeared to be locked.
"What kind of building is this?" Raka asked.
Bisma approached the door. On the front was the same symbol as the carving on the rock.
"This symbol is the same."
Dito took out a photo they had taken earlier.
"Look. This symbol is also on the object we found in the storage room."
They began to realize that all these events really were connected.
Suddenly, a sound came from inside the building.
Creak...
All four of them fell silent.
"Did you hear that?" Fajar whispered.
"Yeah," Bisma answered softly.
Raka took a step back. "Maybe we should leave for now."
But before they could move, the building's door slowly opened on its own.
The atmosphere fell silent.
None of them dared to speak.
Bisma stared into the dark room. There was an old table in the middle, with a small box sitting on top of it.
"I think we should see what's inside that box," Bisma said.
"Bisma, are you sure?" Dito asked.
Bisma nodded.
They entered slowly. Dust filled the room. Every step made the old wooden floor creak.
When they reached the table, Bisma picked up the small box.
The box had a lock, but the key was missing.
"So how do we open it?" Fajar asked.
Bisma examined the box. On its side was a small hole shaped like the same symbol.
Dito suddenly remembered something.
"Wait. What if the thing we found is the key?"
Bisma took out the old object they had kept.
As he brought the object close to the box, a click suddenly sounded.
The box opened.
Inside was an old book and several old photographs.
They carefully picked up the book.
"What's inside?" Raka asked.
Bisma opened the first page.
The writing inside the book shocked all of them.
The book told the story of someone who had once lived near the old road. That person had kept a huge secret connected to their school.
"So our school has a story like this?" Dito said.
Bisma continued reading page after page.
The more he read, the clearer it became that the person had once searched for something that had gone missing. Something believed to be connected to the past of their families.
"Wait," Fajar suddenly said.
"What is it?" Bisma asked.
Fajar pointed to one of the photographs.
The photo showed someone standing in front of the old school. But what shocked them was that the person was wearing the same symbol as the object they had found.
"Who is this person?" Raka asked.
Bisma took the photo.
There was a small inscription on the back.
"For the next generation that finds the truth."
They all fell silent.
It turned out their search had only just begun.
As they were about to carry the book outside, they heard footsteps coming from outside the building.
Someone seemed to be walking toward them.
"Hey... did you hear that?" Dito whispered.
Bisma signaled for everyone to stay quiet.
The footsteps drew closer.
Knock...
Knock...
Knock...
The building's door, which had been open moments earlier, slowly moved.
The four of them looked at one another.
None of them knew who had arrived.
Bisma gripped the old book tightly.
Whatever happened, they had already uncovered part of the great secret that had been hidden all this time.
And now, someone apparently did not want them to discover the rest.