Agung

Jalan Sulam, October 3rd, 14:37

I swore on my life that there was no one on the stage before. The fact that there was now a man on the podium talking to us baffled me. Due to the sudden light from before, all of us were looking at the stage. One moment there was no one there, a blink and suddenly, a white-haired young man was on it.

“Nice to meet you all, I’m Alex Adinata.” I felt my tense body relaxing; the man had a very calming voice with soothing cadence. “As you may have guessed, I’m the organizer of the 100 Fire Holders… contest.” The way that he paused before he said the word contest was odd, to say the least. “Now let me explain to you what this competition entails.” He bent down to grab one of the candles and brought it near his face. Under the light of the dancing fire, his mismatched eyes became eerier. Even the smile that was supposed to be calming turned mocking.

“Each of you can tell a tale to the candle. If the candle accepts your story, the fire will go out. Simple isn’t it?” He grinned but no one answered him.

I wanted to reply. I needed to reply. The man felt like my teacher and you never ignore your teacher when they asked you something. That was like a one way ticket to a red mark on your monthly report.

But there is… something that blocked out my thoughts. It was like everything inside your brain is getting sucked out leaving you with a blissful blank mind. Well, not everything because every word that the albino man said was getting etched in my memory.

“For example,” he said. “One late night a girl was driving back home in her modest Brio. She was hard at work today trying to finish her cherished project. Who knows? Maybe with this finalized she would finally get her well-deserved raise.” A sardonic smile bloomed on the albino face. “The road was dark. Some of the streetlights were turned off. The occasional light was enough for her to see the road but not enough to chase out the feeling of isolation inside the car. Unsettled, she turned on the radio but only silence greeted her. Frowning she looked at her phone only to find that it had run out of battery.”

The man took a seat on the chair that was on the podium, the candle still clutched on his long fingers. “She could stop the car to charge her phone of course but something inside her was telling her not to stop. She had to reach home now or she would never will. So she hardened her resolve and stepped on the gas. As the car went through the road she could have sworn she saw something in the middle of the street. Something like a sleeping person. But the voice in her mind was so loud and when the car passed through the sleeping person, she felt no bump no obstacle at all. Only smooth road.”

The albino smiled at us. “The end.” I thought he would blow on the candle to signal the end of the story but he did nothing. He just swept his gaze at everyone inside the Hall still with a gentle smile. “As you can see the candles don’t accept that story. I’m sure you’ll figure out why. I have faith in all of you.”

“Now, I’ll give you the correct example.” Suddenly I felt goosebumps along my arms. I would like to rub my arms but there is no will inside me. I simply couldn’t move. “There is a school in Jalan Sulam. It was the only school around. A building of magnificent beauty with history and memory. Although not to you, not to those born after.” He whispered.

xxx

“It’s time.” Irwan let down his arms as he nodded at his friends.

“A… Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sabrina shuttered as she pushed her glasses. “I mean we’re technically trespassing on owned land.”

“It’s fine it’s fine. As long as no one finds out, it’s not a crime.” The other girl, Laila, waved her hand carelessly. “Besides, if anything happens, Irwan and Erik will protect us.”

The two boys nodded earnestly. Knowing of Irwan’s crush on Sabrina, Erik decided to be a good wingman and grabbed his girlfriend’s hand. “Let’s go, dear.”

The couple entered the unlocked gate, leaving Irwan and Sabrina behind.

“Well, let’s go?” Irwan asked the distracted girl. The girl nodded absentmindedly as she followed her classmate, her eyes still on the ground. She really couldn’t shake the feeling of being looked at. In fact, ever since they had arrived in front of the school, Sabrina had felt the intense stare from the abandoned building. She tried to chalk it up as her imagination but was it really?

Sabrina shook her head and decided to focus on the other. Seriously in these dark surroundings, Irwan seemed to glow as a contrast. She knew other boys in class tend to tease Irwan because he’s sickly due to his genetic disease but in Sabrina’s eyes, the boy was one of the strongest people she knew. Irwan’s body couldn’t stand sunlight and yet the boy persisted and still went to school with them.

Alright, maybe Sabrina had a little bit of a crush on the foreign-looking boy.

The four of them went inside and as expected the school was shrouded in darkness. Sabrina took out the flashlight she had prepared beforehand and was rewarded by an exclamation of surprise from the others. Sabrina went speechless at how unprepared her friends were.

“… I only brought one.” She said weakly.

Laila grinned. “No worries, we have our phone.” And she took out her Vivo 1907. Turning on the flashlight application, she shone on the surroundings and muttered a “Wow.”

Because no one maintained the place, the school field had completely grassed over. Some of the patches of grass were as tall as 165 cm Erik. Needless to say, both Sabrina and Laila would practically be drowned in if they tried to walk past those patches.

“We should hold hands.” Erik stared at the two girls. “I’ll lead.”

It was a logical decision so no one protested. All of them formed a line with Erik in front followed by Laila then Sabrina and finally Irwan. The group of friends then proceeded to traverse the turf.

Sabrina felt miserable and she was sure even the optimistic cheery Laila felt the same. Her skin was scratched by the grasses and she felt itchy everywhere. She tried to ignore the feeling but it was futile for every step she took, she was jab all over again. She wanted to talk but her logic told her that once she opened her mouth she would get a mouthful of greens so she kept her mouth shut.

After minutes that felt like hours, they finally stepped on solid ground. Heaving a relief sigh, Sabrina shone her flashlight on the school corridor. As expected the place was a wreck. Most of the wall had already exfoliated, leaving the bricks inside to brave the elements. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere and Sabrina could only thank God that her hair was covered well by her hijab. As it was, she knew she was going to take a long thorough bath when they went home.

“Shit.” Irwan cursed when a loud BANG! Could be heard echoing in the school. His friends turned to him to see him nervously chuckled. “I was trying to see if there’s anything on the school bulletin.” He gestured to the now fallen board. “We haven’t even started and I hate this place.”

Sabrina felt it again. As soon as Irwan’s voice disappeared, the stare from before came back with twice the intensity. Unlike before, the stare now was filled with malice and hate. “We should go back.” Sabrina tried to persuade the others.

The other three traded a silent glance. “Let’s explore the place first at least. Seems like such a waste to return since we have already come this far.” Laila gave an uneasy smile to Sabrina.

Sabrina bit her lips. Maybe she should tell the others that they were not alone. That there was something inside the building having their eyes on their group. “I don’t… I don’t think we’re alone.” The instant she said the word ‘alone’, Sabrina froze. She was pinned by the gaze. It had now zeroed on her. Whoever was at the end of it now knew that they had been found by Sabrina!

“…brina. Sabrina!” Laila gripped both of Sabrina’s shoulders as she shouted her name. Sabrina didn’t realize that she had closed her eyes but when awareness came back she opened her lids to look at Laila’s black orbs. The other girl had turned pale and was looking at her in concern. “Sabrina, are you okay?”

Sabrina raised her trembling hands to grab at Laila’s arms. “Don’t leave me please.”

Laila didn’t feel good. The most composed and mature girl in the class had vanished. What was left is the shell of her best friend that was scared out of her mind. “I think we should go back.”

“But Laila… We told everyone we’re going to explore and take photos of the place.”

“I don’t care! My best friend is losing her mind because of this shitty place. I’m leaving. If they want to look at this school they can come and look by themselves. Screw them!” Laila hugged the other girl and then dragged her to retrace the way back, not even caring that the boys didn’t follow her.

Erik sighed. When her girlfriend made up her mind, there was no way to change it. He could only let down the others in class tomorrow. “Well, you heard the boss. Let’s go back Ir… wan… Irwan!”

Hearing the panicking voice of her boyfriend, Laila turned her head. The tall muscular boy was turning his head left and right, trying to find the last member of their little group. Laila could feel her heart sink down to her stomach. “This isn’t funny Irwan! We’re leaving you!”

But there was no answer from the usually soft-spoken boy.

xxx

I never knew that the sound of my heartbeats could be this noisy. It filled everything inside my head, forcing me to concentrate harder to hear the content of the story. As the story reached its end, the candle in Alex’s hand went out. Without any outside help or even any wind, the candle died by itself.

“And that’s how you know the candle accept your story.” The man stood up and placed the candle on the floor back. “There are 99 candles left. Your job is to extinguish them all. There is no time limit in this… competition. As soon as the last candle goes out, you can leave and receive your prize.” Alex smiled at all of us. “If there’s any question, you can find me. I wish you all the best.” And then right in front of our eyes, the young man slowly turned transparent until there was no longer any trace of anyone on the podium.

There was a moment of complete silence in the hall. Everyone was still unable to comprehend their situation. Like the airhead I was often accused of, I broke the peace with, “He’s a ghost.” I winced when I heard my own loud voice inside the hall. All eyes turned to me.

As in on cue, the Hall exploded in a cacophony of noises. There is a lot of screaming and scrambling. Sobs could be heard amongst the chaos and I was not surprised to find out I’m among those that are sobbing and screaming.

“Make way!” There are pulling and pushing as people ran out of the Hall. In a matter of minutes, the full Hall has become almost empty save for those that had been paralyzed by fear.

Tears keep dropping down my face blurring my sight as tightly gripped on Surya’s arm. The man himself was looking kind of green and was silently hyperventilating. I would’ve been concerned if I was in my right mind. As it was now, there was only one sentence repeating in my mind.

“I wanna go home. I wanna go home. I wanna go home!”