Murder In The Old Castle
301.Back to the Old Castle
Fog enveloped the city, months after the terrible events that befell the city. Residents return to their activities in their own world. As usual, the road is crowded with vehicles and people passing by, want to carry out their respective activities. After the murder of the artists, there was almost never another serious crime. The inhabitants of the city live their days in safety and serenity.
In a residential complex, Ammar Marutami sits on the front porch of his house while enjoying a cup of coffee that is still warm. The confidence that had plunged freely after the events of the old castle, now recovered. He is ready to serve and involved in the investigation of new cases. His wife, Mariah Alray was very supportive of whatever her husband was doing.
This morning, Mariah brought a bowl of chicken porridge to her husband who was sitting on the terrace, because Ammar wanted to have breakfast on the terrace while enjoying the morning air. They live in an area that is a bit far from the crowd, so the morning air still contains a lot of oxygen, birds squeaks can also still be heard in the trees. Breakfast near the open air like this will certainly cause a special taste sensation.
"A letter came to me yesterday" said Mariah, sitting on an artistically designed wooden chair.
"What letter?" ammar asked, scooping the porridge in front of him.
"Letter from my best friend during High School. Name's Lily. We have not had contact for a long time, suddenly he sent a permit for the loan application of the castle for a purpose," said Mariah.
"What need?" ask Ammar again.
Ammar knew that the old castle was a place of tragedy that many became the lips of a wide audience. The castle is now open to the general public as a tourist attraction. There are even some people who rent to stay for a few days there. They did not care that the old castle located in the middle of the tea garden was once a silent witness to a spate of serial murders there. In fact, the event seemed to be an attraction to visit there. After all, not far from the castle there is a beautiful waterfall, so the old castle is increasingly visited by tourists.
After Anggara Laksono, the owner of the castle was killed, the automatic inheritance rights were handed over to Mariah Alray, his nephew. Anggara Laksono has no family other than Mariah Alray. The old castle was badly damaged by fire after Tiara Laksmi set the castle on fire in a tragedy that occurred two years ago. Now Mariah has done a major renovation so that the old castle does not look creepy. In the front yard, a beautiful flower garden is ready to welcome guests. In addition, the interior is also added with other facilities, but it does not change the ancient impression of the castle.
Mariah opened the castle to anyone who wanted to look around, or spend the night in the castle, but on condition that they would have to bear their own accommodation, given the distance to the city of about two hours, of course to get food can not go back and forth. However, it does not discourage people who love adventure to try the sensation of staying overnight in an old castle of two or three days.
Like this morning, Mariah got a loan request letter from Lily, a friend during High School. He intends to borrow the castle for one week for a reunion with some of his High School friends. Mariah was also invited to the reunion.
"Lily said she would hold a reunion at the castle, bringing each other. A total of 11 people will be invited. They'll stay in the castle for a week. Do you think that's interesting?" ask Mariah for an opinion.
Ammar just sighed. He was still traumatized by all the horrors that had happened in the castle. Moreover, he had a severe accident in the castle that had made his leg injured. He could still feel the sighs of drah and the heartbeat racing faster while inside the castle.
"Would you like to join the reunion?" ask Ammar.
"I'd love to meet them. It has been a dozen years since we parted, it would be nice to meet old friends. Lily was very close to me back in High School. I miss him a lot too. Maybe the idea of a reunion is a good thing" said Mariah.
"But why in the old castle? Is there no other place more worthy?"
"You don't think the castle is worth it?"
"It's not so, Mariah. Sorry if that offended you. The castle .. You know for yourself in the castle there have been various terrible events. Access to the city is very far away. Of course this will be a very troublesome reunion" said Ammar.
"They understand that and I told Lily about it. Lily said she had been adventuring, and the invited friends agreed. So there's no problem. If you don't want to, it's okay. Let me go to the reunion. Just a week, honey. We rarely have holidays either. This is my chance to have fun with my friend" Mariah said.
Ammar was silent for a moment. He looked at his wife's eyes as if begging him, he had no better choice. He still remembers Mariah being held in a dark, stuffy basement, but why did Mariah seem to be unscathed by it?
***
The appointed day arrived. The day before the reunion, Ammar and Mariah had arrived at the castle first to prepare all the necessities needed by the residents within the next week. Mariah even hired three people to clean all the space in the castle, ranging from the front porch, back, to the pool area. In addition, Mariah has also prepared food ingredients for the needs of one week. The castle will be closed to public visitors for a week. This is done to maintain the privacy of the castle residents later.
Since the beginning set foot in the castle area. Ammar already sensed the scent of horror stored within the castle. He could still feel the atmosphere so grim and gripping. Ammar still remembers the face of Tiara Laksmi, a giant killer who was angry and threatening. As a psychic, of course Mariah can also feel that. Even from within the basement, he could still hear the roaring cries. However, Mariah did not want to ruin the atmosphere. She kept it a secret from her husband.
"This castle hasn't changed much, even though you've remodeled it" muttered Ammar Marutami.
"I just pulled it a little. I don't want to destroy the authenticity of this castle.it was built since colonial times. Of course in it a lot of history. The authenticity of this castle must be preserved, including the painting."
Mariah pointed to a large painting hanging in the dinidng. A painting depicting a woman in a white dress, with mysterious eyes. Ammar still remembers the painting. The woman in white dress in the painting is the figure of Anastasia Pratiwi, the wife of Anggara Laksono, the owner of the castle who is also the uncle of Mariah.
"A pretty girl, right?" mariah.
"And mysteriously," continued Ammar.
"She's my aunt" Mariah murmured.
Ammar is just a mangosteen. Indeed, too many secrets are hidden in this caste. To this day, he still feels great horror. All the furniture in it reflects that this castle is indeed very ancient. Maybe only high-brained people would want to live in it. However, this reunion plan made him a little worried. I hope everything is okay for the next week.
***