Darto didn't come home on Tuesday.
At first, no one thought it was strange.
Darto often went into the forest to gather wood. Almost every morning, he carried an old ax and a bamboo basket toward Repo Hutan, then returned before dusk with firewood bundled together with rattan rope.
He knew the small paths in Repo Hutan better than anyone. Even hunters from the neighboring village often asked for his help when they got lost.
So when the sun began to sink toward the west and Darto still hadn't appeared, his wife tried to stay calm.
“Maybe he found a lot of wood,” she told herself.
But the sky grew darker.
The birds began to fall silent. A thin mist descended from the forest slope, blanketing the dirt road leading to Repo Hutan.
Darto still didn't come home.
His wife finally went to a neighbor's house.
A few minutes later, the news spread from one house to the next.
Six men entered the forest.
They carried flashlights, machetes, and several torches. Most of them knew Darto well, so they were sure the search wouldn't take long.
But two hours later, they returned.
Their faces were pale.
They were carrying a bamboo basket.
Darto was nowhere among them.
“Where was the last place you saw him?” someone asked.
“Near the river.”
“His tracks?”
“Gone.”
“Gone how?”
One of the villagers swallowed hard.
“As if they just stopped.”
“Impossible.”
“We thought so too.”
He pointed to the bamboo basket they had brought back.
“We found this basket on the riverbank.”
Andi, who happened to be at one of the neighbors' houses, heard the conversation from a distance.
No one knew what had happened to Darto.
Some said he had slipped into the river. Others suspected he had been attacked by a wild animal. Still others whispered that Darto might have gotten lost and become trapped in a part of the forest no villager had ever explored.
But an old man only said quietly,
“Don't look for him after dark.”
No one answered.
The news reached Uncle Wirya's house that night.
Andi was sitting in the living room when his uncle came in from outside. The moment he heard Darto's name, Uncle Wirya's face changed.
Not shocked.
Not confused.
Afraid.
As if the old man had already known the news before anyone told him.
“Who went missing?” Andi asked.
“Darto.”
Uncle Wirya set his sandals beside the door.
He stood there for a long time without saying a word.
“You know Darto?”
“Of course.”
“Do you think he got lost?”
Uncle Wirya shook his head.
“Don't go outside tonight.”
Andi studied his uncle's face.
“You know something?”
Uncle Wirya didn't answer.
He walked to his room and took out a thick black jacket.
“Where are you going?”
“To look for someone.”
Andi immediately stood up.
“I'll come with you.”
“Don't.”
“But I can help.”
“Don't!”
Uncle Wirya's voice echoed throughout the house.
Andi fell silent.
He had never seen his uncle that angry.
Uncle Wirya took a long breath. Then his voice softened.
“Stay here and guard the house.”
“Will you come back?”
Uncle Wirya looked at him.
“If I'm not back by midnight, lock every door.”
Andi felt uneasy.
“Why?”
Uncle Wirya didn't answer.
He simply took a flashlight and left.
From the window, Andi watched his uncle walk toward the forest with several villagers. Their flashlight beams moved like fireflies among the mist.
Then, one by one, the lights vanished into the darkness.
Night settled completely.
One hour.
Two hours.
No one came back.
Andi tried reading a book to drive away his anxiety, but he couldn't focus his eyes on the words.
The clock hands kept moving.
Eleven o'clock.
Eleven-thirty.
Andi got up and walked to the window.
The forest looked like a black wall.
There were no sounds.
No lights.
No sign of Uncle Wirya.
Near midnight, Andi heard footsteps on the porch.
Creak.
Creak.
Creak.
He sprang to his feet.
“Uncle?”
There was no answer.
The footsteps stopped right outside the door.
Andi approached slowly.
“Uncle?”
Still no answer.
He held his breath, then opened the door a crack.
There was no one there.
Only cold air entered the house.
But on the ground, right in front of the porch, something lay there.
A bamboo basket.
Andi froze.
He recognized it.
It was Darto's basket.
The same basket the six villagers had brought back earlier.
Andi stared at it with a sick feeling in his gut.
How could the basket have ended up at his house?
He took a step back.
The basket was wet with something darker than rainwater.
Andi crouched slightly.
The liquid dripped slowly from between the bamboo strips.
Blackish red.
Blood?
He wasn't sure.
Suddenly, a voice came from the direction of the forest.
Faint.
Like someone calling out.
“Andi...”
His body tensed.
He stared at the trees.
There was no one there.
“Andi...”
This time, it was clearer.
Coming from deep inside the forest.
Andi felt his heart beating faster and faster.
The voice sounded human.
But something about it was strange.
Its tone was flat.
Too flat.
Like someone trying to imitate a human voice.
Andi was about to close the door when something moved far away among the trees.
An orange light.
Small.
Floating.
Fire.
Andi didn't blink.
The fire moved slowly between the trees, just like the one he had seen the night before.
But this time, there was something behind it.
Something that made Andi's blood feel as if it had stopped flowing.
A black shape.
Tall.
Much taller than a human being.
The figure stood motionless between the tree trunks.
Its head nearly brushed the lowest branches.
There was no face.
No eyes.
No clearly visible hands.
Only a thin, elongated black body.
The orange fire moved forward.
The black figure followed it.
Then both of them stopped.
Andi felt as if the figure were staring directly at him.
Even though it had no eyes.
Suddenly, the fire went out.
Darkness.
The black figure vanished with it.
Andi hurriedly shut the door and locked it.
He backed away several steps.
His breath came in ragged gasps.
Then three knocks sounded on the door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Andi froze.
From the other side of the door came a voice he knew very well.
Uncle Wirya's voice.
“Andi...”
Andi almost answered.
But then he remembered his uncle's warning.
If I'm not back by midnight, lock every door.
The wall clock showed exactly twelve o'clock.
And the voice from behind the door sounded again.
“Andi... open the door.”
Andi clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming.
Because at that moment, he realized one thing.
If the person standing outside really was Uncle Wirya...
then why had his voice come from the direction of the forest just seconds earlier?