(Tom"s PoV)Rama noticed the way I looked at him. He must have found that I acted a bit weird. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
I blinked my eyes and returned to my usual state. Chewing a piece of potato fries in my mouth, I shook my head. "I"m just trying to look if there"s something bad sticking to you."
"What bad? What is it? Can"t you speak clearly?" Rama looked at me in horror.
"Have you ever heard that those who experienced near death could see those who don"t belong to this world? Ghost, I mean." I asked casually, but with a hint of seriousness in my voice. Rama didn"t reply but he looked as if he was ready to listen to whatever I was about to tell him. "I can see them now."
Rama was stunned. He only looked surprised, but he didn"t deny it. I guessed he really changed from Rama back then who was so brave and didn"t believe in ghost, to someone who even felt scared at the mentioning of ghost. There must be something that changed his mind. Was it because of his son"s death?
"I believe you." He said as soon as the surprised expression was erased from his face.
I arched my eyebrows. That fast? Even though I knew he must have some beliefs about ghost, I didn"t think he would easily believe my words.
"Do you want to come to my house?" He asked carefully. He might not say it out loud, that he wanted me to see if there"s something wrong with his house, but I knew what he wanted.
So, was I playing as an exorcist? I had never portrayed myself as an exorcist or ghostbuster before and I had not thought to do so in the future. This ability to see ghost and to fight them were not something that I wanted to use as future occupation.
But, I wouldn"t refuse this invitation. The sooner I cleared up my mind about the thing that tickled my instinct, the better and the faster I went home to pack up.
"If it"s okay with you." I shrugged.
"Why would it be not okay?" He smiled. "Come on, my mother will be happy to see you, too. You know she is always favor you more than me as her own child."
I laughed. Indeed, her mother was sweet. Rama used to complain that I was her own biological child and not him, which earned him a loud smack in his back. It was such a good day.
After paying for our food and saying goodbye to the owner, we left for Rama"s house. Both Rama and Nita came from a well-off family. Combined with how the both of them also had a well-paid job, I didn"t think they would live poorly. Seeing their house I was sure that these two lived their life pretty well.
Their house was a pretty big and beautiful. It seemed that Rama"s mother lived with them ever since his father pa.s.sed away; it happened before I got into that accident. Knowing her mother, I was sure she was an understanding lady who would not interfere with her son"s household. She might even like Nita and treat her like her own daughter. She lived in the first floor of their house since it would be tiring for her to walk up and down the stairs.
True to what Rama said, his mother welcomed me with a big hug. She even cried and repeatedly expressed her gratt.i.ture towards G.o.d that I was alive. She was practically like my mother when she knew I was alive. She even checked if I was hurt somewhere, but after she saw my healthy body, her tears turned into laugh.
"Seeing you this robust and handsome, I can finally feel relieved. I should stop crying, lest it spoils this happy moment. Come, come, come inside." Rama"s mother pulled me along with her. "Have you eaten? How about having lunch here?" She asked excitedly.
"I"ve eaten, aunty, thank you." I refused her invitation politely.
"Well, it"s too bad, since I made some sour broth and crispy fried tempeh with chili sauce, I remember them to be your favorite."
Ah, I was nearly salivating. Only at the mention of those food could make me almost drooling. Those were some really easy to make food, traditional ones, but I liked them so much I could eat them every day. The fresh and sour sensation of the broth, combined with the soft texture of fish, could make me forget about my surroundings. The crispy and salty taste of tempeh and the spiciness of the chili sauce would complete the sensation in my tongue.
Ah, it was a torture to refuse that kind of offer, but I had just finished eating. My inner-self was crying at the thought of refusing that delicacies.
"Aunty still remembers me so well. Thank you so much, but maybe next time. I hope you forgive me this time." I apologized to her sincerely.
"It"s okay, child. There will always be another time. Just make sure to visit me again, okay? That time, I"ll cook for you again. You came back safe and sound is enough for me." She hugged me again.
"Mom, I"ll take him upstairs." Rama said quickly, saving me the efforts to console his mother again.
"Sure. Go. Nita might have just fallen asleep. You should check on her, too. She had nightmare just now."
Rama nodded at me, gestured at me to follow him upstairs, so I followed him. Before we got to the second floor, I had seen the baby safety gate he told me before. It was large and wide like what he said. When I got to the second floor, I looked around, trying to find any trace of inhuman beings in this room, but I found nothing.
"I"ll check on Nita first. Make yourself at home." Rama said.
I nodded and stood before the safety gate. I inspected the lock and found out that indeed, only adult could open it. There was no way a baby less than a year could open the lock. From the top of the stairs, I sat down and looked down. I couldn"t imagine how a baby could roll down from here to... there!
My eyes widened as I saw a trace of dark mist disappeared in the wall, right at the corner of the stairs. It was so fast, but I could see it. What was it?
As I was still pondering about what I had just seen, I heard Nita screamed from one of the bedrooms. I stood up and walked towards the source of her scream, sinister aura spread quickly, creating a suffocating atmosphere laced with intense fear.
Whatever it was inside the room, it was not an ordinary shadow. It was an evil thing!
"She"s here! She"s here! She wants to kill me! She wants to kill me!" Nita screamed histerically.
"Nita, baby, calm down. There"s no one here. Calm down!" Rama hugged her tight, preventing her from tras.h.i.+ng so much and hurt herself in the process. This was what I saw when I got into the room.
"She killed my baby! She killed my son! Now she wants to kill me!" Nita cried but her voice laced with anger and fear. From what I saw, she was close to losing her mind.
"No one is going to kill you. You"re just dreaming, baby. It"s just a nightmare." Rama coaxed her.
How I wish I could say the same. As soon as I reached the door, my eyes had been staring at one spot; the corner of the room, in front of the wardrobe.
The thing floating there was a woman, I was sure of that. The sinister aura came from her. Her face didn"t have any disgusting and horrendous wounds, instead she looked fine. But, her features made her looked unbelievably frightening. Her eyes were formed almost into a slit, glowing red with intense hatred. Her mouth was riddiculously wide with sinister smile plastered on her face. Her hands, ah no, they were claws, not hands anymore. They looked thin and long with sharp nails on each fingers. She was covered with black mist that I almost thought that she was black as well.
Not trying to be racist, but when someone died with evil heart, his/her soul would turn black, as if he/she was being painted with black soots.
Judging from how thick the black mist around her and how bad the darkness spread in her body, I could a.s.sume that this person was beyond help.
What was it that made her so cruel?
It wasn"t long until she noticed me staring at her. Turning her head towards me, she sneered with her eyes full with malicious intent.
"Human... you can... see me..." Her hoa.r.s.e and crooked voice travelled to my ears, but she stayed at her place.
It would be trouble if Rama and Nita heard me talking. I expanded my s.h.i.+eld and hid behind the wall as my spirit floated out to take my place. "Of course I can see you."
She looked surprised when I came out in my spirit form. But then she let out her creepy chuckled. "You got some skills in you, not bad." She sneered. She was capable of speaking fluently, why did she have to speak frighteningly just now?
"What do you want?" I asked, ignoring her comment.
"Why? You want to save this girl?" She asked unhappily as she approached me.
"Did you kill her son?" I asked again, not feeling intimidated even just for a bit even after she tried to overwhelm me with her dark aura.
"YES! Hahahahaha..." Her eyes widened in satisfaction as she answered my question. Then, she laughed like a maniac, as if killing the baby was an achievement for her.
I frowned as I watched her still laughing in front of me, clutching her stomach as if it would still feel hurt after laughing so hard. But, her laugh changed abruptly to a weeping sound. Streaks of tears came streaming down her face, making her looked even more terrifying. I could sense her chaotic emotion from her aura, madness and deep sorrow seemed to combine into one, but why?