Chapter 7 "Secrets Behind an Old Photograph"
"Old photographs never lie. It's people who hide the truth."
That morning, the sky was clear and cloudless. Sunlight streamed through the classroom windows, reflecting off the gleaming tile floor. Outside, the trees lining the campus grounds swayed gently in the breeze.
The atmosphere at Garuda University looked just as it usually did.
Students hurried along to make it to their next classes. Some sat in the gardens working on assignments, while others joked around in the corridors, their laughter echoing back and forth.
But all that bustle felt very far away to Tania Geisha Kusumawardhani.
She hadn't listened at all since the professor began explaining the material an hour earlier.
Her blank gaze was fixed on the whiteboard, but her thoughts had drifted somewhere else entirely.
Images of Nicholas kept flashing through her mind.
His blue eyes.
The small, perpetually calm smile on his lips.
And the words that kept circling in her head.
"You're still afraid of thunder, huh?"
How could a man she'd only just met know such tiny details about her?
She had never told anyone except those closest to her.
Come to think of it...
Nicholas knew too much.
Far more than any stranger should have known.
"Tania..."
The soft voice was almost inaudible.
When it received no response, a hand waved directly in front of her face.
"Hello... come back to Earth, Ms. Kusumawardhani."
Tania startled slightly.
She blinked several times before finally focusing on the person in front of her.
Keisha Anindya was propping her chin on the desk, staring at her curiously.
"Huh?" Tania said shortly, blinking. She still looked dazed.
Keisha let out a long, dramatic sigh.
"Good grief..." Keisha muttered, shaking her head slowly. "I've called your name three times."
"Sorry," Tania replied softly, rubbing the back of her neck, which felt stiff. "I've got something on my mind."
"That much is obvious," Keisha shot back, raising one eyebrow. "The professor asked you two questions, and you just sat there staring into space. Good thing she thought you were taking notes."
Tania smiled awkwardly.
"I didn't even realize."
"Exactly. That's the problem," Keisha continued, leaning back against her chair. "You're usually the most focused person in class. Now you look like you haven't slept all night."
Tania only breathed out softly.
Before she could answer, the loud scrape of a chair made several students turn around.
Crash.
"Excuse me, excuse me!" Raka Pradana called as he pulled over an empty chair and sat down directly in front of them. His broad grin instantly lit up his face. "Make way for the best-looking student in the department."
Keisha immediately rolled her eyes.
"Who gave you that title?" Keisha asked flatly, folding her arms across her chest.
"I did," Raka replied casually, pointing proudly at his chest.
"Figures."
"Figures what?"
"Figures no one would object."
"Well, that means everyone agrees."
"It means no one wants to argue with a weirdo."
Raka pretended to clutch his chest.
"Ow..." Raka groaned dramatically, slumping back in his chair. "Your words are so sharp. This handsome heart of mine is wounded."
Keisha held back a laugh.
"Your heart isn't handsome."
"At least it's funny."
"That either."
Raka turned toward Tania.
"Tan, you be the judge."
Usually, Tania would have laughed at her friend's antics.
But this time...
She only gave him a faint smile.
A smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Raka immediately stopped joking.
His expression turned serious.
"Okay..." Raka said quietly, leaning forward. "Something's wrong."
Keisha nodded too.
"Yeah," Keisha replied softly. "I feel it too."
Tania let out a long sigh.
"It's that obvious?"
"Very," Raka answered without hesitation. "You're easy to read when you've got a lot on your mind."
"Especially your eyes," Keisha added, studying Tania's face more closely. "You've got dark circles. Did you not sleep last night?"
Tania fell silent for several seconds.
She looked back and forth between her two friends.
All this time...
Keisha and Raka had always been the people she confided in.
But what she was about to tell them sounded too impossible.
"If I tell you..." Tania said quietly, clasping her hands beneath the desk, "...don't immediately assume I'm crazy, okay?"
Keisha immediately reached for Tania's hand.
Her expression softened.
"Hey," Keisha said gently, stroking the back of her friend's hand. "We've been friends for almost five years."
"And?"
"I'd rather believe you than believe other people's gossip."
Raka nodded along.
"Agreed," Raka said firmly. "Just tell us first."
Tania drew a deep breath.
Then, slowly...
She began to tell them everything.
About the accident on the mountain road.
About the stranger who had saved her.
About Nicholas, who kept appearing at the strangest moments.
About the security footage showing her talking to herself.
About the old door being knocked on from the inside.
And about Nicholas knowing her favorite song and her fear of thunder.
As Tania told her story...
Neither Raka nor Keisha interrupted even once.
They both listened, their expressions growing more serious by the second.
A few minutes later...
The atmosphere at their table fell silent.
Without realizing it, Keisha hugged her own arms.
"The hairs on my arms..." Keisha murmured, rubbing her goose-bumped skin. "I swear, I've been getting chills this whole time."
Raka said nothing.
Instead, he looked deep in thought.
His blank gaze was fixed on the table.
As though he were piecing together a puzzle in his head.
"Rak..." Tania asked carefully, watching his expression. "What's wrong?"
Raka didn't answer right away.
He slowly rubbed his chin.
"Nicholas Winston..." Raka murmured, repeating the name several times. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
Tania immediately sat up straighter.
"You've heard it before?" Tania asked quickly, her voice filled with hope.
Raka lifted his head.
"I think so."
"Where?" Tania pressed, unconsciously interrupting him. Her fingers gripped the edge of the table nervously.
"That's what I'm trying to remember," Raka replied, furrowing his brow.
Keisha began thinking too.
"A school friend?"
Raka shook his head.
"No."
"A relative?"
"Nope."
"Social media?"
"No."
Raka closed his eyes for several seconds.
Then suddenly, his eyes flew open.
"Wait!" Raka shouted, slapping the table hard enough to make Keisha jump.
"What?" Keisha asked, startled.
"I remember!"
Tania immediately looked at him expectantly.
"Remember what?"
"My grandfather's house," Raka answered quickly. His breathing was slightly ragged from excitement. "I saw that name there once."
Tania frowned.
"Your grandfather's house?"
Raka nodded firmly.
"My grandfather used to keep old photo albums. There were lots of pictures from family events, company events, and business acquaintances."
"What does that have to do with Nicholas?" Keisha asked curiously.
"That's what I want to find out," Raka replied, getting up from his chair. "If I remember correctly... there might be something there."
Tania stood too.
"Should we go there now?"
"Yeah."
Keisha immediately grabbed her bag.
"Then I'm coming too."
Raka smiled faintly.
"Okay."
He looked at Tania for a moment.
"Tan..." Raka said more seriously. "If there really is something about Nicholas... we'll find out together."
Tania looked back and forth between her two friends.
For the first time since all those strange events had begun...
She no longer felt alone.
Without any of them realizing it...
Behind a second-floor window of the faculty building...
A pair of blue eyes watched them in silence.
The gaze was perfectly calm...
Yet it held a worry that couldn't be expressed in words.
Raka's SUV drove away from the campus. The city streets, initially crowded, gradually gave way to an older, quieter residential neighborhood. Large trees lined the road, casting shadows over the asphalt as the afternoon sun began to fade.
Not one of them really spoke during the first few minutes.
Each was lost in their own thoughts.
Tania sat in the front passenger seat, watching the road through the window. Her fingers were tightly interlaced in her lap. Every so often, she bit her lower lip, a sign of how troubled her thoughts were.
In the back seat, Keisha glanced at Tania several times through the rearview mirror.
"Tan..." Keisha said softly, leaning forward a little. Her face was filled with concern. "Are you still thinking about everything you told us?"
Tania exhaled deeply before nodding slowly.
"Yeah," Tania replied in a low voice without taking her eyes off the view outside. "The more I think about it, the less sense it makes."
Keisha was silent for a moment.
"To be honest..." Keisha continued, rubbing her arms as they prickled again, "...I'm starting to get scared too."
"But you still came," Tania replied, turning to her with a faint smile.
Keisha slowly shrugged.
"How could I let my best friend look for answers alone?" Keisha answered gently. "I am scared... but there's no way I could leave you behind."
Those simple words warmed Tania's heart a little.
"Thank you..." Tania murmured, smiling sincerely.
Raka, who had been focused on driving, smiled faintly too.
"Don't worry," Raka said, giving them a quick glance in the rearview mirror. "If it turns out there's nothing there, we'll head home and get some meatball soup. We can call it a day out."
Keisha immediately giggled.
"Do you think every problem can be solved with meatball soup?"
"In my opinion..." Raka replied casually, raising one shoulder, "...eighty percent of them can."
"What about the other twenty percent?"
"Add iced tea."
Keisha lightly slapped the back of the front seat.
"Come on... be serious for once."
"I am being serious," Raka replied with a quiet laugh. "If we're all tense, we'll only end up panicking more."
Tania finally smiled too.
Even if only for a moment...
At least the atmosphere inside the car was no longer quite so oppressive.
About thirty minutes later, the car entered an old residential neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.
The houses there stood in aging colonial architecture.
Some appeared abandoned.
Others were still occupied.
Raka slowed the car before finally stopping in front of a large, ivory-white house whose paint had begun to fade.
The front yard was filled with old mango trees and wild-growing jasmine.
The iron fence was slightly rusty.
Meanwhile, the windows remained tightly shut.
"We're here," Raka said quietly as he turned off the engine.
Tania stared at the house for a long time.
For some reason...
A strange feeling suddenly welled up inside her chest.
As if...
She had seen that house before.
"Can I ask you something?" Tania said softly, still staring at the old building in front of her.
"Sure," Raka replied as he unfastened his seat belt.
"I've never been here before, have I?"
Raka frowned in confusion.
"Not that I remember."
"Why?"
Tania slowly shook her head.
"I don't know..." Tania murmured, her gaze still fixed on the old house. "This house feels... strange."
"Strange how?" Keisha asked curiously, looking toward the building too.
"Like..." Tania paused, trying to find the right words. "Like I've stood here before."
Raka and Keisha exchanged a glance.
Before either of them could respond...
A soft afternoon breeze blew past.
The old house's wooden door...
Creaked open by itself.
All three of them froze.
Raka swallowed quietly.
"That..." Raka murmured, staring at the door as it opened inch by inch. "I'm sure it was still closed a moment ago."
Silence settled over the old house's yard for several seconds.
No one moved.
The only sound was the soft rustle of leaves stirred by the afternoon breeze.
Raka was the first to break the silence.
"Maybe..." Raka said softly, trying to sound calm, "...the door wasn't fully latched."
Keisha glanced at him doubtfully.
"Are you sure?" Keisha asked, pulling her jacket tighter around herself. Her face looked a little pale. "The wind isn't even strong."
Raka slowly scratched the back of his neck.
"Yeah... hopefully that's all it is."
Tania didn't respond.
Her gaze remained fixed on the door, now open a few inches.
For some reason...
That strange feeling returned.
As if the old house...
Had been waiting for her to come.
"Let's go inside," Raka said at last, taking a key from his pants pocket. He drew a deep breath before walking toward the porch first.
Tania and Keisha exchanged a brief glance, then followed behind him.
As the door was slowly pushed open...
The scent of old wood and dust immediately greeted them.
Afternoon sunlight streamed through the tall windows, forming thin beams filled with swirling dust motes.
"The house is still neat..." Keisha murmured, looking around. "I thought it would be a mess."
Raka nodded slowly.
"After Grandpa died, this house was rarely used," Raka replied as he walked through the living room. "But Dad always has someone come clean it once a week."
They made their way down a long hallway lined with old wooden cabinets.
Family photographs in black frames hung along the walls.
Some had begun to fade with age.
Others were still clear.
"Grandpa's study is at the end of the hall," Raka said, pointing to a half-open door.
When the door opened...
The room was filled with bookshelves rising all the way to the ceiling.
A large wooden desk stood in one corner.
Several yellowed photo albums were arranged on top of it.
"There..." Raka said, approaching the desk. "If I remember correctly... that album."
He picked up a dark brown leather album.
A thin layer of dust drifted into the air as he opened it.
"Let me see..." Keisha called curiously, moving closer.
The three of them stood around the desk.
Raka turned the pages carefully, one after another.
Old photographs filled every page.
There were birthday parties.
Family events.
Building dedications.
And even photographs from business meetings.
"Wow..." Keisha murmured in admiration, examining one of the pictures. "People back then looked so formal in photos."
Raka chuckled softly.
"Yeah. Everyone looked so serious."
Several more pages passed without yielding anything.
Tania began to breathe out slowly.
"Maybe..." Tania said in a low voice, staring at the album, "...I was just hoping for too much."
"Wait," Raka interrupted quickly. His hand stopped turning the page.
His expression turned serious.
"There's something here."
Keisha and Tania instinctively moved closer.
"What?" Keisha asked softly.
Raka pointed to a photograph larger than the others.
At the bottom of the photograph, written in fading ink, were the words:
"Wijaya Kusumawardhani Foundation Charity Ball — 2003."
Tania immediately recognized her father's much younger face.
"That's..." Tania murmured, pointing to one of the figures. "Dad."
Keisha nodded slowly.
"Yeah..."
Their gazes then shifted to the right side of the photograph.
Suddenly...
Tania's breath caught.
A tall man in a black suit stood there.
Fair skin.
Black hair neatly combed.
And...
A pair of blue eyes she knew so well.
Her hands began to tremble as she reached for the photograph.
"That's..." Tania whispered, her voice barely audible. "Nicholas..."
The room suddenly fell silent.
Raka quickly took a magnifying glass from the desk drawer.
"Let's take a closer look," Raka said, handing it to Tania.
With her fingers still trembling, Tania studied the man's face in the photograph.
The longer she looked...
The clearer became the truth that made it feel as though her blood had stopped flowing.
There was no difference.
Not even the slightest.
That face...
Those blue eyes...
That smile...
Everything was exactly the same as Nicholas, who now so often appeared before her.
Keisha swallowed quietly.
"Tan..." Keisha said faintly, her face pale. "That photograph... was taken in 2003..."
Raka nodded slowly.
"Which means..." Raka continued, his voice growing heavy, "...more than twenty years ago."
Tania continued staring at the photograph without blinking.
Her heart pounded harder and harder.
If the photograph had really been taken more than twenty years ago...
Then how was it possible...
Nicholas looked exactly the same.
He hadn't aged even a little.