Raka didn't move.
The small footprints stopped right at the doorway.
Then they vanished.
As if whoever had left them had suddenly been lifted off the floor.
Raka stared at the bedroom door for several seconds before finally locking it again.
He didn't care who was in the hallway.
Not tonight.
He returned to the table and picked up Rania's notebook.
The last page was still closed.
Rania's earlier message echoed in his mind.
**Don't read the last page.**
For the first time since arriving in Karangwening, Raka decided to listen to his little sister.
He put the notebook in his bag.
Then a voice came from the next room.
“Raka…”
He froze.
The voice came from Room Five.
A woman's voice.
Very soft.
“Raka…”
Raka stood up.
He approached the wall separating his room from the one next door.
“Who's there?”
There was no answer.
Then came a tapping sound from the other side of the wall.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Raka furrowed his brow.
“Rania?”
The tapping stopped.
A few seconds later, the voice spoke again.
“Don't open the door.”
Raka stepped back.
He recognized that voice.
It was Rania's voice.
“Rania, are you in there?”
“Don't open it.”
“What happened?”
There was no answer.
Raka grabbed his flashlight and walked toward the door.
“If you're in Room Five, I'm coming in.”
“Don't!”
The voice was louder this time.
Raka stopped.
Then Rania's voice changed to a whisper.
“It's waiting for you.”
“Who?”
Silence.
“Rania?”
Suddenly, a child's voice came from the next room.
“It knows you're here.”
The hair on the back of Raka's neck stood up.
That wasn't Rania's voice.
It was the voice of the boy in the red jacket.
He backed away several steps.
Then something fell inside Room Five.
Crash!
Raka opened his door.
The hallway was dark.
The emergency light at the end of the corridor flickered.
He walked toward Room Five.
Its door was closed.
A puddle of water was visible beneath the gap.
Raka crouched down.
Water was flowing out from inside the room.
The smell of wet earth filled the air.
“Rania?”
There was no answer.
Raka gripped the doorknob.
Cold.
Freezing cold.
He turned it.
It wasn't locked.
The door opened slowly.
Room Five was empty.
The bed was still neatly made.
There was no suitcase.
No clothes.
No personal belongings.
As if the room had never been used.
Raka stepped inside.
There was a large black stain on the wall to the left.
He touched it.
Wet.
Not water.
His fingers turned brownish.
Dirt.
Raka stepped back.
Then he saw something on the table.
A photograph.
He picked it up.
The photo showed Rania standing in front of the inn.
Jatmiko stood beside her.
But the photo looked as if it had been taken years ago.
Raka turned it over.
There was a handwritten message from Rania.
**This room is never empty.**
Raka looked around.
“Why?”
A voice answered from behind him.
“Because there's always someone inside.”
Raka spun around.
Jatmiko stood in the doorway.
His face was pale.
“Sir…”
Jatmiko didn't enter.
He only stared at the room.
“Get out.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
The tone of his voice made Raka obey.
They returned to Room Six.
Jatmiko locked the door.
“Room Five hasn't been allowed to open in a long time.”
“Why?”
“Because the last person who slept in there never woke up.”
“Who?”
Jatmiko fell silent.
“Rania?”
“No.”
Raka let out a relieved breath.
“Then who?”
Jatmiko looked at the floor.
“His younger sister.”
Raka furrowed his brow.
“Rania doesn't have a younger sister.”
Jatmiko raised his head.
“I didn't say Rania's sister.”
Raka fell silent.
Jatmiko continued.
“The person who slept in Room Five thirty years ago was a little girl.”
“Who?”
Jatmiko stared at him for a long moment.
“Her name was the same as Rania's.”
Raka felt his chest tighten.
“That's impossible.”
“In Karangwening, a lot of things are impossible.”
Raka opened his bag and pulled out the old photograph.
“Show me.”
Jatmiko looked at the photo.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“From Room Five.”
Jatmiko took the photo.
His hand trembled.
“This photo shouldn't exist.”
“Why?”
Jatmiko turned the photo over.
Written on the back was:
**Room 5 — July 17, 1996.**
Below it were seventeen names.
But this time, there was one extra name.
**Rania Adinata.**
Raka stared at Jatmiko.
“Why is Rania's name here?”
Jatmiko didn't answer.
A tapping sound came from Room Five.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
They both turned.
The tapping came again.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Then a woman's voice came from behind the door.
“Raka…”
Raka froze.
The voice grew clearer.
“Open the door.”
Jatmiko immediately grabbed his shoulder.
“Don't.”
“That's Rania.”
“No, it isn't.”
The voice from Room Five came again.
This time, it had become a sob.
“Bro…”
Raka closed his eyes.
It was the name Rania had used only when they were children.
“Bro…”
His hand slowly moved toward the doorknob.
Jatmiko stopped him.
“If you open that door,” he whispered, “what comes out won't be Rania.”
Suddenly, the sobbing stopped.
Silence.
Then another sound came from behind the door.
A child's voice.
Laughing.
“She still doesn't remember.”
Raka looked at Jatmiko.
“Remember what?”
Jatmiko didn't answer.
Because a more terrifying voice came from the next room.
A man's voice.
Raka's own voice.
**“I've been here before.”**