Hidden In The Mist
Chapter 18 Secret of Romo

Ryo and Jaka are still checking every room in the house. Although Ryo was actually a bit afraid to be in the room, which according to him, every room in Herly's house held an aura that made her hair shudder, but she still went in search of the thing Herly wanted.

Every now and then Ryo, sensing the presence of others nearby, enters a room on the second floor.

There were times when he felt his ears like someone blowing up, but when he turned his head there was no one nearby. Ryo tries to stay calm even though he feels the incongruity is more real mental terror.

"I shouldn't be alone. This house has a life, I have to leave now, otherwise the residents in Herly's house can make me die standing."

Ryo rubbed his nape which felt cold. He quickly exited the room to find Jaka. While at the end of the hall Jaka did the same, the young man exited the room while running towards the stairs.

Looking at the tension on his face, Ryo realized, his friend must have seen something that made him scared.

"Hey.. hey... Slow down Jak, what happened, why did your face turn pale so, what was there?"

"There was something in the room by the big window Yo, like the hand of a creature, I really saw it, the finger of the creature clutched firmly my ankle."

"Here you look at the bruises on my legs, do you think it's just my hallucinations, no man, it's real. This house is no longer good. From the beginning I was convinced that Herly's house was haunted. We go home now, if you want to stay longer in this house please, it's up to you, but I want to go home now!"

Ryo saw the bruises on Jaka's legs, and this was the first time the creatures in the house had made physical contact with them. Ryo could not ignore this fact, he just silently followed Jaka who was packing in their room.

"What's this, why is Jaka yelling so yell, your voice sounds all the way down Jak, what's up, bro, what's going on?"

Ryo and Jaka spontaneously turned to the door of their room. Good was standing right in front of the door, as if it was blocking the intentions of the two of them who wanted to leave Herly's house.

"The longer this house gets dangerous, Gus, we can't stay here any longer. Let's see the bruises on Jaka's legs, the wounds are real Gus, the bruises are like the clutches of human fingers 'do you think this is normal?"

"Me and Jaka, we're both going back to Jakarta today, the creatures in Herly's house have started to be brutal, it seems like they all don't like our presence in this house, I suggest you come with us now, or something bad will happen to us in this house."

"Truely said Ryo Gus, before we really fall victim, we should leave immediately this cursed house. We don't want to die for nothing here."

Good did not respond to Ryo's words, and Jaka. He stepped closer to Jaka, and immediately crouched down checking his bluish-black ankle.

I don't know what he read, but after Bagus rubbed Jaka's ankle, the bruised scar suddenly disappeared instantly.

"If you want to go please, Herly also wants us to leave this house as soon as possible. But you need to remember, a few hours ago, when we were at the dinner table you said you'd stay in this house until Herly's problem was solved."

"Then you will leave Herly because of the demons of this house?"

Nice smile mockingly, while standing up he left Ryo and Jaka who were packing. In the middle room. In front of the stairs Bagus passed Herly and Yasmin, but he did not greet them. The young man only smiled faintly, then just passed by without any trite ado.

Herly and Yasmin just smiled. They began to get used to the haughty attitude of Good. Herly personally never took a Good attitude as a serious one. That's why he and Yasmin are acting so ordinary.

They walked casually together, towards his room on the Third floor. Herly felt the need to discuss Yasmin's move to her teacher's boarding school tomorrow morning.

"Tomorrow morning I will, you leave early in the morning. Yono will escort you, as he takes our guest to the station."

"Till there say my regards to them. You tell all the circumstances here to Romo kyai, hopefully he has a way out of our problems."

"But mas, I'm not good if it's not the same, the boarding school we've never been together, only until we know them."

"Already, I've informed romo and nyai, you just need to mention my name, they must understand."

Yasmin and Herly dissolve into their conversation, while Bagus travels inside Herly's house, antique objects are neatly displayed from the living room to the dining room makes Nice amazed and curious about the figure of the father.

Good to continue to observe the objects of inheritance in the house, while imagining how the figure of a father during his life. Her footsteps involuntarily brought Bagus to the back area, down the hallway all the way to a place more like a food warehouse.

Good to stop there for a moment. His eyes were drawn to the large paintings depicting the lives of Javanese people in the past. After having a chance to feel the painting on the wall, the cold young man went towards the kitchen, a place he had wanted to visit since he first came to set foot in Herly's house.

When Bagus arrived at the kitchen area that turned out to be very spacious, he saw several young women from the village, chatting while talking about something. Good to stop and steal hear what they're talking about.

One woman, who looked older than the others, expressed her fear at Herly's family home. According to him, since the death of the father, the air in the house became very cold, several times he saw the figure of the father who looked a little younger, was standing upright in front of the third-floor window.

According to the woman, she saw the figure of her employer, looking sad staring out the window. But he did not dare to make sure what he saw was real or just an illusion that was driven by fear because the father died in a condition that they thought was not in good condition.

"Ehm... Sorry to interrupt your gossip talk, to be honest I'm lost. This house is so big that I'm confused."

"On the original owner of this house, what do you call him, ndoro kakung huh?"

"Was the person you maxed out, Herly's father, or was there another owner, the original host, before they occupied this house?"

The working women at Herly's house were surprised by Nice's presence in the kitchen. Even Herly was very rarely seen reaching the kitchen, but this stranger suddenly appeared before them, and immediately asked about his master.

They looked at each other. Some women looked frightened looking at Nice's flat facial expression. The oldest woman then walked towards Bagus with a friendly smile on her lips.

"Aden this is a friend of Mr. Herly, why would you want to know about our employer, what was previously possible by not knowing ndoro kakung?"

"I was here first, Herly and I weren't friends, so I didn't know how private her parents were."

"But I was impressed to see this large house, a collection of ancient objects on display throughout the room, making me very amazed. I became interested to know who the figure of the father in the past."

The woman observed Good from toe to head, and she felt Good had no ill intentions towards them. The woman then invited Good to sit down, while one of them brewed coffee for Good.

"I am not very familiar with the figure of ndoro kakung, but his history we know, because ndoro kakung who brought our grandfather to this village."

"He's the one who cut the pedestal, and hired our grandfather here. He saved my grandfather from the pageblug in his village, and in the end we settled here."

"It used to be not as beautiful as it is now, but since ndoro kakung opened the farm here, our village became peaceful, although not all in this village is safe. There are certain limits that should not be broken."

"For example, the forest that borders this village. No one from our village passed through the forest before the time of surup. Some say, people who violate abstinence will be misled by creatures there, and certainly will never return."

"About ndoro kakung he is the grandfather of Mr. Herly. I don't know him, but he often tells me about him. The figure of the Javanese who are attached to tirakat, my man, and rituals. But unfortunately his life is not long, he died for no apparent reason, right on the day of Mr. Herly's birth."

"It used to be a small house, but it was Herly's father who built it, until it was as big as it is now."

The woman stopped her cherry. He seemed reluctant to give more information about Herly's father to Bagus, but he knew how to force them to tell stories.

"So how could Romo succeed as he is now. I see he has a lot of expensive collections in this house. What kind of business does it do that well, he can build all this?"

"Pak Herly's father owned all the rice fields, gardens, and farms in this village. He sold the produce to the city, and we worked his land."

"As for how the beginning he could have a large capital, no one knows for sure mas. But we've heard rumors that he's been rich a long time. From the colonial era, sir Herly's ancestor was a noble who had a lot of gold."

"As our parents said, sir Herly's grandfather was strong. It's no secret that he often lives my life. There's a rumor that on a certain night he did a special ritual."

"But since Herly's mother and brother died, his father was rarely seen performing the ritual again, he often invited his business associates to come here. That's why this house is getting bigger."

"I think it's because he's lonely, but I don't know, villagers like us are just guessing, nobody knows for sure why."

"About the appearance of the figure that I told you about earlier, is he the guardian of this house, or is he a pet to look after the family of the father?"

The woman's face suddenly turned pale, she immediately covered her mouth. The woman seemed to realize that she had spoken wrongly. Good that did not want the woman to look all wrong, immediately stopped her short interview.

The young man immediately apologized, and thanked the village woman who had given him a lot of information about the romo.

"Have fun in this house is very different. Here the air is colder, it turns out that romos have ingons who guard their possessions and bloodlines."

"I'm not surprised if the will became complicated, but Herly should have heard the advice of the lawyer. Because that's the only way Herly can be free from the curse that was passed on to her."

Slowly Good began to find a bright spot, he understood the reason, why the aura of the house seemed very haunted. After getting an explanation from the woman, Bagus immediately said goodbye. He went towards the back garden, where he had once seen the shadow figure of the person peering at their arrival.

"I'm sure that Herly's father could no longer give her what she wanted, so she sacrificed herself."

Nice sigh, he kept walking towards the garden behind the house, while the women who worked in the kitchen, kept watching him while discussing the presence of Bagus, which they valued dangerous.