Chapter 22: Chapter 22
Back to the Village
After a 15-minute journey, they finally made it out of the forest and reached a hill. They could see the village below, already buzzing with activity. Couples walked around, greeting each other cheerfully. Irwan turned to Nadia, who stood beside him.
"Come on, Nadia, let's go down," Irwan said.
"Okay, are we heading straight to Brian and Riana's house?" Nadia asked.
"Yep, directly there," Irwan replied.
"Alright, let's go," Nadia said, taking Irwan's hand.
They started descending the hill on a path leading to the village, helping each other down the somewhat steep and slippery muddy slope.
"Careful, Nad," Irwan said, helping Nadia step onto the ground beside him.
"Y-yeah, thanks," Nadia replied, taking Irwan's hand.
Once they reached the bottom, they met two couples chatting near the rice fields.
"Good morning," one of the couples greeted Irwan and Nadia, who had just come down.
"Good morning," Irwan replied.
Irwan observed the four people in front of him. Their faces looked pale and thin, but their eyes seemed lively, with happy expressions. After saying goodbye, Irwan and Nadia quickly ran towards the village, then towards Brian and Riana's house. Several villagers they passed greeted them with "good morning," and they replied briefly.
When they arrived at Brian and Riana's house, they both stopped to catch their breath for a moment before walking onto the porch.
"Huff... finally here," Irwan gasped.
"Yeah, their house shouldn't be far from ours, but it feels like we went way out of our way to get here," Nadia replied.
"You're right. Come on, let's knock," Irwan suggested.
"Okay," Nadia said.
They walked onto Brian and Riana's porch and knocked on the door. After a long wait with no answer from inside, Irwan turned to Nadia.
"Maybe they left?" Irwan asked.
"Hmm, maybe. Want to look for them while we walk around the village?" Nadia asked.
"Let's just go home first, then we'll come back," Irwan replied.
"Oh, okay. I also want to change and shower. We haven't showered since yesterday," Nadia said, sniffing her clothes.
"Let's go, Nad," Irwan urged.
As they turned to leave for their own house, click. The door suddenly opened. Irwan and Nadia immediately turned around. When the door opened wide, they saw a young man they didn't recognize.
"Hello, who are you looking for?" the young man asked.
"Uh (looking around and stepping back slightly to see the house number) isn't this... my friends Brian and Riana's house?" Irwan asked.
"Huh? No, this is our house. We've been here for a year, and we don't know anyone by those names you just mentioned. Want to come in first? We can chat inside; my wife is pregnant, by the way. Sorry it took me so long to open the door," the young man replied with a smile.
Irwan and Nadia were surprised to hear this. They immediately looked at each other, then Irwan looked back at the young man in front of him.
"You've been here for a year?" Irwan asked.
"Yes, my name is Hendra, and my wife inside is Yuni. You're our neighbors, right? Come on in," Hendra invited warmly, opening the door wider.
When the door opened wide, Irwan and Nadia immediately saw a thin, purple mist swirling on the ceiling of the house. They instantly stepped back and looked at Hendra, forcing a smile.
"Not right now, thanks. We're going home first. We'll chat later, okay?" Irwan said.
"Oh, okay. Just knock when you come. Hey, what are your names?" Hendra asked.
"I'm Irwan, and this is my wife, Nadia," Irwan said, introducing Nadia beside him.
"Hello, nice to meet you, Hendra," Nadia added.
"Nice to meet you too! Have you two been in this village long?" Hendra asked with a wide smile.
"Um... pretty long, yeah," Irwan replied.
"Oh, cool! You should tell us some stories. I'm still a bit confused about how things work in this village," Hendra said.
Irwan observed Hendra's face. Hendra's face looked fresh and not pale like most of the villagers, but when he looked back at the purple mist floating on the ceiling inside the house, he immediately put his arm around Nadia.
"Sure, later, okay? We're going home first," Irwan replied, cutting the conversation short.
"Okay, see you later! Sometime, when Yuni's strong enough to walk around, we'll come visit your house!" Hendra replied cheerfully.
"Alright, sounds good!" Irwan replied.
After that, they both immediately left the porch of what should have been Brian and Riana's house. They continued walking towards their own home without saying anything. When they got close to their house, Nadia suddenly stopped walking.
"What happened to Brian and Riana? Why are there new people replacing them?" Nadia asked.
"I don't know... did they turn into those creatures, like Lina said? But what's weird is, we just met them yesterday, right? Not a year ago?" Irwan mumbled.
"Yeah, this is strange, Wan. I'm getting scared again," Nadia replied.
"Me too. Now it's just the two of us, no more friends," Irwan said.
"What if we look for Brian and Riana?" Nadia asked.
"Where would we even look?" Irwan questioned.
"Hmm, I don't know if this is a good idea or not, but at least we can ask the villagers who have lived here for a long time, right? There's no way no one has seen them," Nadia suggested.
"Hmm, you're right. Okay, how about this: we go home first, change, shower, then we go to the village hall, pretending to get food. We'll look for Felix and Lusi," Irwan planned.
"Yeah, that's right! There's no way they haven't seen Brian and Riana at all, right?" Nadia agreed.
"Now, let's go home first. Come on," Irwan urged.
They continued their journey. When they reached their house, it was still the same as when they left it yesterday. They both immediately walked onto the porch. Click. As they stepped inside, they saw that the entire room was covered in thick dust, like a house that hadn't been lived in for a long time. But the first thing they noticed was the ceiling: there was no swirling purple mist above them. Both of them felt relieved. Thump! They leaned against the door and sank weakly to the floor, resting against each other in relief.
"Thank goodness our house is still the same and no purple mist above us," Nadia said.
"Yeah, even if it's dusty, this house is still our home," Irwan replied.