Anggi was still standing stiffly inside the storage room.
Her breath caught.
Dimas, standing beside her, didn't move even an inch. The two of them simply stared at each other in the darkness, trying to determine whether the sound they'd just heard was real or only in their heads.
“Anggi...”
The voice came again.
Softly.
Like someone was calling from behind the door.
Anggi felt her hands beginning to go cold.
She wanted to answer.
She wanted to ask who it was.
But something inside her made it difficult to open her mouth.
Dimas moved closer and whispered,
“Don't answer.”
Anggi turned toward him.
“Why?”
“I don't know. Just don't.”
For the first time, Dimas, who was usually the most curious of them all, looked completely serious.
Footsteps outside the door began to sound again.
Softly.
Receding.
Then they stopped.
A few seconds later, silence returned.
Dimas turned on the small flashlight on his phone.
“We're leaving now.”
Anggi nodded.
They walked toward the storage-room door.
Carefully, Dimas pulled the handle.
The door opened.
There was no one there.
The hallway at the back of the house was empty.
Only a faint light from the living room spilled into it.
Anggi stepped out first.
She looked to the right and left.
“No one's here.”
Dimas followed her out.
“But there was definitely a voice.”
Anggi stared at the floor.
Something near the storage-room door made her stop.
Footprints.
Not shoeprints.
Not sandal prints, either.
They looked like the prints of someone's bare feet across the dusty floor.
Anggi crouched down.
“Dimas.”
Dimas looked over immediately.
His expression changed.
“Are they fresh?”
Anggi nodded.
“Yeah.”
They followed the footprints.
But strangely, the tracks led in only one direction.
Into the storage room.
Not out of it.
Dimas looked at Anggi.
“Then who went in?”
The question left Anggi speechless.
They found no answer.
That night, Anggi couldn't calm down.
The small notebook and the photograph they'd found in the storage room were now in her bedroom.
She sat at her desk and opened the notebook.
Much of the writing inside had faded.
Some of the pages were even torn.
But a few sentences were still legible.
“This house changed after that night.”
Anggi furrowed her brow.
She turned to the next page.
“At first, it was only a voice. Then that smell appeared.”
Anggi's heart began beating faster.
The sentence felt like it was describing exactly what she'd experienced.
She kept reading.
“Don't let anyone open the back room.”
Anggi immediately looked toward her bedroom door.
The back room.
Did that mean the storage room?
Her hand stopped as she reached for the next page.
One page had been written in different ink.
Darker ink.
“If that smell ever returns, it means she's found someone new.”
Anggi swallowed.
“Someone new?”
She whispered to herself.
Suddenly, someone knocked on her bedroom door.
Knock. Knock.
Anggi quickly closed the notebook.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me.”
Raka's voice.
Anggi let out a relieved breath.
“Come in.”
Raka entered carrying a glass of milk.
“Are you still awake, Sis?”
“Yeah.”
Raka glanced at the notebook on the desk.
“What’s that?”
“An old book.”
“From the storage room?”
Anggi fell silent.
Raka immediately knew the answer.
“Hey... don't tell me you're still trying to figure this out.”
Anggi looked at her younger brother.
“Are you scared?”
Raka sat down on the edge of the bed.
“A little.”
“Why?”
Raka stared at the floor.
“Because I heard something this afternoon.”
Anggi's expression turned serious.
“What?”
“While you were out with Dimas, I was home alone.”
“And?”
“I heard people talking in the back.”
Anggi felt that uneasiness return to her chest.
“Did you check?”
Raka quickly shook his head.
“No. I remembered what you told me.”
“Good.”
“But that voice...”
Raka stopped.
“Whose voice?”
Raka looked at his sister.
“Your voice.”
Anggi froze.
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t go outside.”
Anggi said nothing.
Her thoughts immediately turned to the storage room.
If that voice really could imitate someone...
Then who had been calling her all this time?
The next day, Anggi and Dimas met again.
This time, they brought the small notebook with them.
They sat in the empty school library.
Dimas read through the pages one by one.
“This isn't an ordinary journal.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it was written by someone who used to live in your house.”
Anggi considered that.
“Can you find out who?”
Dimas nodded.
“I'll try.”
He took the photograph from the notebook.
“There’s a name here.”
Anggi leaned closer.
On the back of the last page was a small inscription.
“Nadia.”
Anggi read it slowly.
“Nadia?”
Dimas nodded.
“Maybe that was the notebook owner's name.”
Anggi tried to remember.
She had never heard that name before.
“Should I ask my family?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Why not?”
“Because if your family really knows about this, why have they kept quiet?”
The question left Anggi silent.
Dimas was right.
It was possible her parents knew something.
But why had they never told her?
That afternoon, Anggi came home with a head full of questions.
When she entered the house, her mother was cleaning the living room.
“Mom.”
“Yes?”
Anggi stood there hesitantly.
“Do you know someone named Nadia?”
Her mother's movements stopped immediately.
Only for a moment.
But Anggi noticed the change.
“Who are you talking about?”
Her mother went back to wiping the table.
“Don’t go digging into things you don’t need to know about, Gi.”
The answer only made Anggi more curious.
“Why?”
Her mother fell silent.
“Mom?”
“Anggi.”
Her mother's tone changed.
“Sometimes there are things that are better left unknown.”
Anggi stared at her mother.
“But if something is in our house, I have the right to know.”
Her mother didn't answer.
She simply walked away.
Anggi stood alone in the living room.
And that's when it happened...
That smell appeared again.
Stronger than before.
Anggi slowly turned toward the back of the house.
Toward the storage room.
The storage-room door was slightly open.
Even though she was sure it had been closed that morning.
Cold air drifted through the gap.
Then a soft voice sounded.
“Anggi...”
This time, it was clearer.
Anggi didn't move.
Because after that voice called her name...
Another voice followed.
A woman's voice.
Whispering softly.
“Don’t trust them.”
Anggi stood rooted to the spot.
She didn't know who the voice meant.
But she was beginning to realize one thing.
The mystery of the house wasn't just about the strange smell.
Someone was trying to warn her.
And maybe...
that person had been waiting a long time for Anggi to uncover the truth.