Hidden In The Mist
Chapter 9 The Last Ritual

As the sun begins to lean west, the bird has returned to its nest. Herly was still standing at the door waiting for news from the man who delivered the body of the father.

"What's the matter, Her, why are you so nervous, since we've noticed, you just keep getting nervous, pacing back and forth like you're worried about something, What's the matter, what's really causing you to fret?"

"If you need a interlocutor, never hesitate to reveal it to us. We're best friends, only once, we can give you solutions."

Angga approached Herly, to find out what was the burden on her theme's mind. Since her father's body was departed, Herly did not say hello to three friends. The young man preferred to lock himself in the room, thinking about whether to make the ritual according to the will of the father, or whether he would stick to his stance to reject the condition of performing the ritual.

Herly herself never knew what her romance was doing all this time. Since childhood he was taught obedience, and never asked for what and why. Romo only stuffed Herly with various teachings and philosophy of life through puppet warriors who taught the importance of kerma and perketi as a rule of life.

The rest is just a beautiful fairy tale of the past, a lullaby. Since Mother and her eldest brother died, Herly only had a homo who raised him in a thick Javanese cultural circle.

Herly never knew anything about the real figure of the romo. He also never asked about their family history, and why they prefer to live in a remote village, even though he knew that they could have a luxurious life in a big city.

But no, the romance didn't want to do any of that. He chose to build a large house with many rooms and invited his colleagues to pull over for a moment from the tiring city crowd. Herly never even knew why her romance left one room empty on the third floor. He simply obeyed the prohibition of the father, so as not to touch the space.

Now that the faggot is gone, Herly must go in to perform one last rite, and find the one who will be the heir to the house, the rice fields, the kebu, and the ranch that the romans have painstakingly built.

More absurd, because the person who will be the heir to the entire wealth of the father, must be willing to accept the burden of the ritual that Herly himself, also do not know for what the ritual is done.

Herly thought she should share her burden with others. He decided to discuss all about the will of the father, to his wife and four friends.

After his degree studies, Herly invited his wife and friends to sit back in the living room. He will try to talk about the will of the father, and how he should respond.

"Before I apologize friend friend, because of the passing of Romo, you have to stay here longer. Honestly, I had no choice. Ever since the arrival of the lawyer, I've been thinking about the contents of this will."

Herly handed over a piece of paper to Angga. The young man read the outline of the will, then divided it into others to similarly understand the contents.

Good was the last person to read the contents of the will, and had more chances to find out the details of its contents.

"So what do you think after knowing the details of my Roman will. Do you think I should perform a ritual to fulfill the last will of the father, or just ignore it?"

Everyone was silent, each one had an opinion in their minds. Angga, Ryo, Jaka, and Bagus, waited for one of them to speak first. But none of them started talking.

Yasmin as the wife, and the person closest to Herly, then spoke up. The simple woman firmly said that she did not agree that Herly performed an unclear ritual for what to do.

"Herly mas better not follow the ritual. It would be better if we continue everything that has been built by Romo. As a wife, I personally wouldn't mind living here for the rest of my life. As long as we continue to be the same I sincerely mas."

Angga, Ryo, and Jaka immediately agreed to Yasmin's opinion. As lay people, who had no knowledge of Javanese culture, they argued that everything that exists now belongs to Herly as the sole heir. So they think, for what Herly must bother to carry out a will that has a complicated and ridiculous effect.

But then all their judgments changed when Bagus began to speak from the other side depicting a different figure from the father.

"You still have to perform the last rite Her, this is all for the sake of severing all the blood covenants that bind your ancestral lineage with them."

"Your womb has good intentions, he does not want you to inherit his suffering. That's why he wants you to leave this house to someone else, who can be a successor."

"I think he wants the chain of curses to break just to him."

"Everything is for the survival of his descendants' children. Don't forget you're the only boy who will continue the family, so romo, tell you to leave all attachments to this place."

"That's also the reason why he asked, you invited us. He wants to make sure you have someone who will help you through the storm."

"Releasing the blood covenant that has been passed down is not easy, they will not let you untie until your descendants are exhausted."

Hearing Good's long exposure, everyone in the room was dumbfounded. They did not expect, the significance of the ritual would have a deep meaning as expressed by Bagus.

Slowly Herly began to understand the meaning of the teachings of the father, why his parents distanced Herly from his personal romantic life, and the reasons he had just understood from the exposure of Good.

The atmosphere suddenly became silent, Herly glanced at Yasmin, as if to have his wife say something that would support Herly's next actions.

Yasmin herself was confused, she began to worry, if there is really a curse in the house, then she must support Herly to transfer ownership of the house to people who want to take risks for a false sense of comfort.

"I agree we leave this house mas, you tell Yono to find people to perform rituals, which is important not you."

Yasmin beckoned to Herly, that she was pregnant right now. Herly who saw his wife stroking elus in her stomach understood Yasmin's fear, but Herly was still confused, he did not know, whether the ritual could be represented?

Herly smiled stroking his wife's hair. Then along with his four friends, Herly ventured to open an empty room in the corner of the room.

After years of not knowing the contents of the room, finally for the first time Herly opened a mysterious room that was once forbidden to anyone.

The pungent aroma instantly spread when the door opened. Everyone could see ritual objects that were getting worn out and dusty. It is good to guess that the father has not done the ritual for a long time.

No wonder mystic disease infected the old man. Apparently, Romo let his body and soul be gnawed on creatures that became the embodiment of their family.

"If you want to break this covenant, you have to perform a ritual with the person who wants to do it."

"If not the black shadow that had seen Angga, will continue to follow you until anytime, unless the creature has met his new master."

Herly is in a dilemma, he does not want to be lost and sacrifice his family. But he is also unlikely to sacrifice others for personal selfishness.

Yasmin stared fixedly at her husband's face, as if pleading Herly not to do anything wrong, as her ancestors had done.

"I'm sure there must be another way, and we'll find a way."

Herly closed the room again, and they no longer occupied all the space on the third floor. Herly chose to use one of the rooms on the second floor, so that she could be closer to her friend.

In the room Angga began to think of the possibility of returning the curse to where it came from. He will try to find out for himself through social media, and browsing on the internet.

"I have to solve Herly's problem before I go back to Jakarta."