That night, Mr. Wiryo did not sleep.
Laras was still lying in her bed. The girl's face was pale, but her breathing was steady. After she was found in the basement, Laras had not said much. She only kept clutching her father's hand.
As if she was afraid that if she let go, something would come and take her again.
Mr. Wiryo sat beside the bed, staring at the black bracelet around his wrist.
Three red lines.
**THE THIRD NIGHT.**
He didn't know when the third night would come.
But he knew one thing.
He could no longer trust Mbah Ranu.
Shortly before three in the morning, Laras suddenly opened her eyes.
“Dad...”
Mr. Wiryo immediately leaned closer.
“What is it?”
“I remember something.”
“What?”
Laras looked toward the window.
“When I was underground... I saw Mom.”
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
“She said something.”
“What?”
Laras closed her eyes, trying to remember.
“She said... don't trust anyone wearing a black stone ring.”
Mr. Wiryo frowned.
“A ring?”
Laras nodded.
“Who was wearing it?”
“I don't know.”
Mr. Wiryo thought.
Then Mbah Ranu's face appeared in his mind.
He remembered when he had met the old man.
Mbah Ranu did always wear a black stone ring on his index finger.
Mr. Wiryo stood.
“Laras, stay here at home.”
“Where are you going, Dad?”
“To meet someone.”
“Don't go.”
Mr. Wiryo looked at his daughter.
“I have to find out the truth.”
The sun had just risen when Mr. Wiryo headed to Mbah Ranu's house.
But the house was empty.
The door stood open.
There was no sound.
No lights.
Mr. Wiryo stepped inside slowly.
The house was much darker than usual.
The things that used to sit on the table were gone.
The clay bowl.
The water jug.
The black candle.
Everything was gone.
Mr. Wiryo walked toward the back room.
There was a wooden cabinet there.
He opened it.
Empty.
But at the bottom of the cabinet lay an old photograph.
Mr. Wiryo picked it up.
A black-and-white photograph.
A group of men stood in front of a very old house.
Among them was a young man.
Mr. Wiryo recognized him.
Mbah Ranu.
But someone standing beside him made Mr. Wiryo's hands tremble.
His father.
Mr. Wiryo turned the photograph over.
Written on the back was:
**First night — 1978.**
Beneath the writing were several names.
Ranu.
Sastro.
Wiryo.
Mr. Wiryo stared at the last name.
**Wiryo.**
His father's name.
He felt his head spinning.
“What did you do?”
Suddenly, he heard a door slam shut.
**Bang!**
Mr. Wiryo turned.
Mbah Ranu stood behind him.
“It's time you learned the truth.”
Mr. Wiryo gripped the photograph.
“My father made a pact?”
“Not just your father.”
“Then who?”
Mbah Ranu sat down.
“It all began with your grandfather.”
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
Mbah Ranu began to tell his story.
Decades ago, Mr. Wiryo's family lived in extreme poverty.
His grandfather owned vast rice fields, but the fields had suffered crop failures for years. Debt piled up.
Then he met someone from the forest.
That person offered him wealth.
The condition was simple.
Their family had to guard a sacred place beneath the house.
In return, they would receive wealth as long as their descendants continued to uphold the pact.
“Then why did my father get involved?”
“Because the pact was inherited.”
“And my mother?”
Mbah Ranu looked at him.
“Your mother tried to break it.”
Mr. Wiryo froze.
“How?”
“She made a new pact to save you.”
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
“When you were sick three years ago, your mother had no money. She came to me.”
“So you helped her?”
“Yes.”
“And you told her to use wealth-pact sorcery?”
Mbah Ranu nodded.
“She agreed because she wanted to save you.”
Mr. Wiryo felt his chest tighten.
“My mother died because of that pact?”
“Not directly.”
“Then what happened?”
“The pact demanded a price.”
Mr. Wiryo clenched his fists.
“What?”
Mbah Ranu looked at him.
“When your mother refused to give it what it wanted, the creature took it itself.”
Mr. Wiryo held back his anger.
“Why didn't you ever tell me this?”
“Because if you knew, you wouldn't have come to me.”
“So all of this was a trap?”
Mbah Ranu didn't answer.
Mr. Wiryo stepped forward.
“Answer me!”
“Yes.”
One word.
Very softly.
But it felt like thunder.
Mr. Wiryo immediately punched the table.
“You used me!”
“Not me.”
Mbah Ranu stood.
“Your own greed brought you here.”
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
Mbah Ranu moved closer.
“But there's one thing you still don't know.”
“What?”
“The creature isn't demanding a sacrifice because it wants to kill.”
“Then what does it want?”
“It wants to pass itself on.”
Mr. Wiryo stared at him in confusion.
“Every pact needs a successor.”
Mbah Ranu pointed toward the photograph.
“First, your grandfather.”
“Then your father.”
“After that, your mother tried to break it.”
“And now...”
Mbah Ranu looked at Mr. Wiryo.
“...it's your turn.”
Mr. Wiryo stepped back.
“No.”
“You've already accepted the money.”
“I can return it.”
“Not enough.”
“I'll burn every coin.”
“It's too late.”
Mbah Ranu smiled.
“The creature has already caught the scent of your bloodline.”
Mr. Wiryo immediately thought of Laras.
“No.”
He ran out of the house.
When he reached home, the front door was open.
“Laras!”
There was no answer.
Mr. Wiryo ran to the bedroom.
Empty.
The window was open.
A bracelet lay on the bed.
A black bracelet.
Exactly like his.
Mr. Wiryo picked it up.
From behind him came Laras's voice.
“Dad?”
Mr. Wiryo turned.
Laras stood in the doorway.
Her face was pale.
“What’s wrong, Dad?”
Mr. Wiryo pulled her into a tight embrace.
“We have to leave.”
“Where?”
“Far away from here.”
“Why?”
“Right now.”
They began packing their things.
But when Mr. Wiryo opened the wardrobe, he saw something.
All of Laras's clothes had turned black.
Mr. Wiryo stepped back.
“Don't touch them.”
Laras moved closer.
“Dad?”
“Don't!”
Mr. Wiryo shut the wardrobe.
Then came a knocking sound from beneath the floor.
**Knock... knock... knock...**
They looked at each other.
The knocking came again.
**Knock... knock... knock...**
Three times.
Laras began to cry.
“Dad, we have to go.”
Mr. Wiryo nodded.
They ran toward the door.
But before they reached the yard, the door closed by itself.
**Bang!**
Mr. Wiryo tried to open it.
It wouldn't budge.
Laras grabbed his hand.
“Dad...”
The lights in the house went out.
Darkness.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
**Thud... thud... thud...**
From the kitchen.
A black pig slowly emerged from the darkness.
But this time, it was much larger.
A necklace made of gold coins hung around its neck.
The creature stared at Mr. Wiryo.
Then it looked at Laras.
Mr. Wiryo stood in front of his daughter.
“Don't touch my child.”
The pig growled.
Suddenly, Mbah Ranu's voice rang out from outside.
“Wiryo!”
Mr. Wiryo turned.
Mbah Ranu stood behind the window.
“Take Laras underground!”
Mr. Wiryo shouted,
“No!”
“If you don't, she'll die!”
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
Mbah Ranu smiled.
“The choice is yours.”
Mr. Wiryo looked at the black pig.
Then he looked at Laras.
He realized it.
Mbah Ranu had deliberately driven him toward that choice.
No matter what he chose, Mbah Ranu would still win.
Suddenly, the bracelet on Laras's wrist glowed red.
The girl screamed.
“Dad!”
Mr. Wiryo reached for his daughter.
But the floor beneath Laras's feet cracked.
**Crack!**
Laras fell.
“Dad!”
Mr. Wiryo caught her hand just in time.
Laras's body dangled above a dark hole.
Hundreds of grunting sounds came from below.
Mr. Wiryo tried to pull his daughter up.
“Hold on!”
Laras sobbed.
“Dad, I'm scared!”
Mr. Wiryo summoned all his strength.
But something below was pulling on Laras's leg.
Mr. Wiryo nearly fell in.
Then a hand emerged from the hole.
A human hand.
Its skin was pale.
Its nails were black.
The hand gripped Laras's ankle.
Mr. Wiryo screamed.
“Let go!”
He slashed at the hand with his machete.
The hand came free.
Laras was pulled back up safely.
The two of them collapsed onto the floor.
Mr. Wiryo hugged his daughter.
But when he looked into the hole, he saw faces within the darkness.
Dozens of faces.
All belonging to people who had once made pacts.
And among them...
was his father's face.
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
The face opened its eyes.
Then it said:
“Wiryo...”
“You're not finished.”
The hole suddenly closed.
The house fell silent again.
Mr. Wiryo stared at the black bracelet on his wrist.
The three red lines had transformed into a perfect circle.
New writing appeared inside the circle:
**THE SUCCESSOR HAS BEEN CHOSEN.**
Mr. Wiryo looked at Laras.
His daughter was trembling.
“Dad... what does that mean?”
Mr. Wiryo couldn't answer.
Because he had just realized something.
The creature had never been after him from the beginning.
Nor had it been after money.
Its true target was Laras.
And now, the pact had chosen her as its successor.