The man stood beneath the stairs, staring at Nayomi without blinking. His smile looked calm, but that was exactly what made the atmosphere even more unsettling.
Nayomi tried to remember that face.
There was something familiar about it.
Very familiar.
But the harder she forced herself to remember, the more her head began to ache.
“Who are you?” Nayomi finally asked.
The man didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he looked around the old house.
“How funny.”
“What’s funny?”
“After all these years, you came back to this place with the same question.”
Nayomi frowned.
“I’ve never met you.”
The man gave a faint smile.
“Are you sure?”
That made Nayomi fall silent.
Arvin stepped forward.
“Don’t mess around.”
The man turned toward Arvin.
“You’re still protecting her?”
“I said leave.”
“Why? Afraid she’ll find out the truth?”
Raka looked back and forth between them.
“Hold on. Can someone explain what’s actually going on?”
No one answered.
Raka was starting to get annoyed.
“You’ve been talking like I’m not even here. Nayomi keeps getting dragged into a past she doesn’t remember, but not one of you is willing to explain anything clearly.”
Nayomi looked at Raka.
For the first time that night, she felt like she wasn’t the only one who was confused.
Everyone seemed to be holding a piece of the story.
And no one wanted to show the whole picture.
The man looked at Raka.
“You’re her younger sibling?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you don’t know either.”
“Know what?”
The man fell silent.
Nayomi cut in immediately.
“Stop.”
All eyes turned to her.
“I don’t care who’s right and who’s wrong.”
Nayomi drew a breath.
“I just want to know what happened that night.”
The man stared at her.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Even if afterward you might wish you’d never asked?”
Nayomi didn’t answer.
She only stared back.
At last, the man nodded slowly.
“All right.”
Arvin turned toward him at once.
“Don’t.”
“Too late, Arvin.”
The man walked toward the living room.
“You’ve already brought her back here.”
Nayomi and Raka watched him.
The man stopped beside an old table.
“My name is Dimas.”
Nayomi fell silent.
The name didn’t feel unfamiliar.
But unlike Arvin and Alena, Dimas’s name made her mind feel as if it were brushing against something hidden.
“You know me,” Dimas said.
Nayomi shook her head.
“I don’t remember.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t know me.”
Arvin glared at him.
“Don’t confuse her.”
Dimas gave a quiet laugh.
“Aren’t you the one who’s been confusing her all this time?”
That left Arvin silent.
Nayomi looked at them.
“What does that mean?”
Dimas looked at Nayomi.
“Arvin isn’t the only person keeping secrets.”
Arvin immediately looked away.
Nayomi began to feel that there was something bigger at play than she’d imagined.
“I want to hear everything.”
Dimas pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Sit.”
Nayomi didn’t move.
“I can stand.”
Dimas nodded.
“All right.”
He looked toward the window.
“That night, it was raining just like this.”
Nayomi immediately looked outside.
Outside, rain began to fall softly.
The sound of water hitting the roof sent a shiver through her body.
Dimas continued.
“You, Alena, and Arvin were in this house.”
“What were we doing?”
“Waiting for someone.”
“Who?”
Dimas looked at her.
“Someone who brought trouble.”
Nayomi held her breath.
“What kind of trouble?”
“An object.”
“An object?”
Dimas nodded.
“Something no one else was supposed to find.”
Raka frowned.
“Why was it important?”
“Because there was evidence inside it.”
“Evidence of what?”
Dimas was silent for a moment.
“Evidence of what really happened that night.”
Nayomi felt her heart beating faster.
“And then?”
Dimas looked at her.
“Alena found it.”
The room immediately fell silent.
“And then?”
“She wanted to tell someone.”
“Who?”
Dimas didn’t answer.
Nayomi was starting to lose patience.
“Who?”
Dimas looked at her.
“You.”
Nayomi froze.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“Because Alena trusted you.”
Nayomi lowered her head.
Fragments of memory surfaced again.
Alena holding her hand.
Alena crying.
Alena telling her not to leave.
“I left her…”
Nayomi’s voice trembled.
Arvin looked at her immediately.
“Nayomi.”
“I left Alena that night, didn’t I?”
No one answered.
And their silence made Nayomi even more certain.
“I left.”
Tears began to well in her eyes.
“I left her all alone.”
Dimas shook his head.
“No.”
Nayomi looked at him.
“What?”
“You didn’t leave.”
“Then why did she disappear?”
Dimas fell silent.
Then he said quietly,
“Because someone made you believe that you left.”
Nayomi stared at him in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
Dimas stood up.
“Your memory didn’t just disappear.”
He pointed at Nayomi’s head.
“Part of it was deliberately sealed away.”
Raka immediately asked,
“Who did that?”
Dimas looked at Nayomi.
And the answer made everyone fall silent.
“The person who was closest to Nayomi that night.”
Nayomi felt cold spread throughout her body.
Her eyes slowly shifted.
Toward Arvin.
Arvin immediately looked panicked.
“Nayomi, don’t listen to him.”
But it was already too late.
Because for the first time, Nayomi saw something in Arvin’s eyes.
Not fear.
Not guilt.
But loss.
As if Arvin knew that the biggest secret of that night was finally beginning to surface.