Morning came beneath a gray sky.
Mr. Wiryo hadn't slept at all.
Ever since hearing his wife's voice from beneath the bed, he had remained sitting on the edge of it, staring at the black bracelet around his wrist.
He had already tried to take it off.
He couldn't.
He cut at it with a knife.
The thread didn't break.
Even when exposed to candle flame, it didn't burn.
Stranger still, every time Mr. Wiryo tried to damage it, the bracelet felt tighter around his wrist.
As if it were alive.
“Dad?”
Laras's voice from outside the room made him jump.
“Are you awake?”
“I am.”
“Dad, breakfast is ready.”
“Yeah.”
Mr. Wiryo glanced at the clock.
Six in the morning.
He opened the door.
Laras stood there holding a glass of tea.
“Why are your eyes so red, Dad?”
“Didn't get much sleep.”
“Why not?”
“I've got a lot on my mind.”
Laras handed him the tea.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Mr. Wiryo looked at his daughter.
For a moment, he wanted to tell her everything.
About Mbah Ranu.
About the coin.
About the black boar.
About his wife's voice.
But then he remembered Mbah Ranu's warning.
**Don't tell anyone about this pact.**
“It's nothing,” he said.
Laras nodded, but her face showed she didn't believe him.
That day, Mr. Wiryo went to work as usual.
But something had changed.
Everyone he encountered seemed to look at him differently.
At the market, an old vendor suddenly stared at the black bracelet on his hand.
“Where did you get that?”
Mr. Wiryo immediately covered the bracelet with his sleeve.
“A gift from a friend.”
The vendor fell silent.
Then he whispered,
“If you can, get rid of it.”
Mr. Wiryo felt his heart pounding.
“What do you mean?”
The vendor didn't answer.
He simply turned around and went back to work.
As afternoon approached, Mr. Seno came to collect the debt.
“I'll come back tomorrow,” he said.
Mr. Wiryo lowered his head.
“Give me a little more time.”
“You've had too long already.”
“I'll pay you.”
“With what?”
Mr. Wiryo didn't answer.
Mr. Seno smiled coldly.
“If you can't pay, I'll take your house.”
Those words left Mr. Wiryo speechless.
The house.
The only thing his wife had left behind.
The place where Laras had grown up.
He couldn't lose it.
That night, after Laras fell asleep, Mr. Wiryo sat alone in the living room.
A gold coin lay on the table.
Eleven p.m.
He waited.
Nothing happened.
Eleven thirty.
Still silent.
Eleven fifty-nine.
The light suddenly flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then it went out.
Mr. Wiryo lit an oil lamp.
Its tiny flame swayed.
A knock sounded at the door.
**Knock... knock... knock...**
Mr. Wiryo didn't move.
The knocking came again.
**Knock... knock... knock...**
Three times.
Exactly like the night before.
He stood and opened the door.
There was no one there.
But a clay jug sat in front of the house.
Mr. Wiryo recognized it.
It belonged to Mbah Ranu.
Beside the jug lay a scrap of black cloth.
He carried everything inside.
When he opened the cloth, he found a small bowl filled with ash.
Written across the ash were the words:
**THE FIRST NIGHT.**
Mr. Wiryo swallowed hard.
He knew the time had come.
He picked up the gold coin and headed toward the backyard.
Mbah Ranu had told him the ritual had to be performed alone.
But before stepping outside, Mr. Wiryo glanced toward Laras's room.
His daughter's door was closed.
He whispered,
“Please let this be the last time.”
Behind the house stood a small shed.
Mr. Wiryo went inside.
He placed the jug in the middle of the floor.
Then he sat cross-legged.
He lit a black candle.
At once, the air turned cold.
He placed the gold coin in front of him.
Mr. Wiryo followed Mbah Ranu's instructions.
He didn't understand every word he spoke.
Some of them sounded like ancient Javanese.
Others didn't even sound human.
As time passed, Mr. Wiryo's voice grew softer.
Then he felt something touch his back.
Cold.
He turned around.
There was no one there.
He faced forward again.
The gold coin began to move on its own.
Spinning.
Slowly.
Faster and faster.
Then it stopped, facing Mr. Wiryo directly.
The black bracelet on his wrist suddenly grew hot.
“Ow!”
Mr. Wiryo clutched his wrist.
The skin beneath the bracelet felt burned.
He wanted to stop.
But the shed door suddenly slammed shut on its own.
**Bang!**
Mr. Wiryo jumped to his feet.
“Who is it?”
There was no answer.
Then a sound came from outside.
**Hrrr...**
Mr. Wiryo froze.
A snort.
A pig.
It came again.
**Hrrr... hrrr...**
This time, it was very close.
He stared at the door.
The shadow of four legs showed through the gap beneath it.
The creature stood right outside.
Mr. Wiryo backed away.
The shadow didn't move.
Then a human voice spoke.
“Wiryo...”
Mr. Wiryo froze.
It was his wife's voice.
“Open the door.”
Tears suddenly fell from Mr. Wiryo's eyes.
“That can't be...”
“Wiryo...”
The voice called to him again.
“Do you still remember me?”
Mr. Wiryo covered his ears.
“Don't!”
“Open the door.”
Mr. Wiryo began to cry.
He desperately wanted to believe that the voice truly belonged to his wife.
But his common sense screamed that it was impossible.
His wife had died three years ago.
The shadow beneath the door then changed.
Four legs became two.
Then they became four again.
The two forms shifted back and forth.
Human.
Pig.
Human.
Pig.
Mr. Wiryo squeezed his eyes shut.
Suddenly, his entire body felt light.
So light.
He tried to stand.
But he couldn't.
His hands felt smaller.
His fingers seemed to fuse together.
His bones began to crack.
**Crack... crack... crack...**
Mr. Wiryo screamed.
But what came out wasn't a human voice.
It was a loud snort.
**NGHROOOO!**
He opened his eyes.
The world looked different.
Lower.
Closer to the ground.
He looked at his legs.
They weren't human legs.
Black hooves.
Coarse fur.
A massive body.
Mr. Wiryo panicked.
He tried to scream.
But all that came out was a pig's voice.
Inside his mind, he was still human.
He could still think.
He still remembered Laras.
But the body he inhabited no longer belonged to him.
The shed door opened on its own.
Outside, the night looked incredibly bright.
The full moon hung in the sky.
And for the first time, Mr. Wiryo saw the world through the body of a night boar.
The smell of earth was overpoweringly strong.
He could clearly smell human beings from far away.
He could even smell money.
Somehow.
He could sense valuable things inside the villagers' homes.
Gold.
Money.
Jewelry.
Everything seemed to have a scent of its own.
His legs moved on their own.
Mr. Wiryo left the shed.
He ran toward the village road.
The villagers' houses could be seen in the distance.
From inside one of them came an incredibly strong scent of money.
His body moved toward the house.
But before he reached it, he heard something.
A baby's cries.
Mr. Wiryo stopped.
He remembered Laras when she was little.
He didn't want to take anything.
He tried to turn around.
But the boar's body kept moving.
As if another force were controlling it.
He drew closer to the house.
Inside, a man was sleeping.
A wallet lay on the table.
Mr. Wiryo's body moved closer.
Then a loud voice rang inside his head.
**Take it.**
Mr. Wiryo refused.
**Take it.**
He still refused.
But his body kept walking.
When his snout touched the table leg, a scream rang out.
Mr. Wiryo flinched.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Her eyes went wide.
She saw a huge black boar in the living room.
“A boar!”
The woman screamed.
Her husband woke up.
Mr. Wiryo panicked.
He ran outside.
Behind him came the sound of a door being slammed.
“Chase it!”
“That boar!”
Mr. Wiryo ran with all his strength.
He hadn't taken anything.
But as he crossed the yard, he saw something fall from his body.
A gold coin.
He stopped.
A number appeared on the coin.
**100,000**
One hundred thousand.
Mr. Wiryo realized that every journey had a result.
And the longer he remained in that form, the more money he would earn.
But something even more terrifying happened.
When he turned toward home, he saw Laras standing in front of the door.
His daughter had woken up.
And she was looking at a black boar at the end of the road.
Their eyes met.
Laras froze.
So did Mr. Wiryo.
For a moment, he was certain Laras recognized him.
But instead, the girl screamed in terror.
“Dad!”
Mr. Wiryo flinched.
Laras looked toward the house.
“Dad!”
She ran inside.
Mr. Wiryo wanted to chase after her.
But his body suddenly collapsed.
Darkness.
When he opened his eyes, Mr. Wiryo had become human again.
He lay on the shed floor.
His body was drenched in sweat.
The black bracelet still circled his wrist.
Five gold coins lay in front of him.
But beside the coins was something that made him go pale.
A long strand of hair.
Laras's hair.
Mr. Wiryo clenched the hair in his fist.
“No...”
Mbah Ranu's voice came from the corner of the shed.
“Now you understand.”
Mr. Wiryo turned.
Mbah Ranu stood there.
“You said this was only about money!”
“It is.”
“Then what about my daughter's hair?”
Mbah Ranu smiled.
“The creature has already begun choosing its sacrifice.”
Mr. Wiryo stood up angrily.
“Cancel this pact!”
Mbah Ranu only laughed.
“It's too late, Wiryo.”
“Why?”
“Because the first night is over.”
Mbah Ranu pointed to the five gold coins.
“And now...”
He looked at Laras's hair.
“...it knows what you love most.”