SINDOORAH PROPHECY
MIDNIGHT CEMANI

Black pepper chicken.

The scent invaded Nina's sense of smell in the middle of the night, though it wasn't exactly the same as the last dish she made for Nolan's dinner. However, the shadow was just in the mind. Only this time the aroma was dominated by the smell of raw chicken meat which was later stored in the refrigerator.

Having insomnia every day since mastering the power of Sindoorah is not bad, but if there is a disturbing aroma after sunset and getting stronger until midnight, of course Nina is disturbed. Armed with curiosity, Nina then decided to leave the room and guerrilla search for the source of the unpleasant aroma.

The first search was not far from Nina's favorite spot. Kitchen. You could say, little Nina is a girl who grows up and is familiar with the atmosphere of the kitchen.

Orphaned since he was able to recall the first memory of the outside world, the face that Nina first memorized was Aki Permana sitting at the kitchen table while teasing Aunt Sumirah.

In fact, Nina did not feel proud to admit that Aki Permana was her grandfather. However, after growing up, he will not be surprised why his skin, hair color, and eyes are different from his grandfather. Aki Permana's flirtatious behavior turned out to have a big contribution. The grandfather said, Nina is the only grandchild and indeed there is only one in this world, who was born from the womb of a Dutch noni.

It was as complicated as her past and Nina could not blame the grandfather. He only wanted to see the faces of his father and mother, but never told by Aki Permana. Nina immediately decided who was on whose side for the kitchen.

Every time Aunt Sumirah was cornered because the woman herself did not dare to report, little Nina would immediately pretend to cry, often for real, until her shrill scream beat the steam of the kettle. Then then, there were thunderous steps towards the kitchen, followed by the thunderous screams of Mrs Olivia.

Aunt Sumirah was saved by the need to calm little Nina because the excitement in the kitchen should not be heard to other parts of Ricci's villa. Especially when the owner, Norman Ricci came to visit his mistress.

Lady Olivia can contaminate Ricci's villa with a voice, while Nina can't. That's the difference between a commoner and a great mistress, that's how the grandfather explained. However, still Nina would roar without cause - in Aki Permana's eyes - every time the old man showed signs of wanting to tease Aunt Sumirah, until in the end the grandfather stopped himself because he was tired of being scolded by Mrs Olivia. The existence of Nina who was originally considered troublesome by Aunt Sumirah turned into a blessing. Dear Nina, even became the successor to the woman who deserves to be called the "mother" is serving in the kitchen of Ricci villa.

Honey, when Nina turned seventeen, Aunt Sumirah suddenly disappeared, as did her grandfather. Despite often making trouble with every beautiful woman nearby, Nina remains grieved over the loss of her grandfather, her only blood-soaked family,

Nina wondered: the difficulty was whether the man who forced her grandfather to leave just like that, did not even have time to leave a letter. However, the cruel Lady Olivia instead said that her grandfather took Aunt Sumirah to elope.

Not likely. Nina would never believe the woman's words. His grandfather may have been pegat, but exaggeratedly accused him of acting recklessly at an age that had almost entered the burrow. Nina was convinced that deep down in Aki Permana's heart, her grandfather still loved her. No sane parent can leave their child or offspring to pursue a pseudo-external love. The proof, Grandpa still brought himself to work at Ricci's villa. If you want, Grandpa can abandon Nina or assume she was never born in the world when Nina's parents were gone.

Nina also had a big void, although not as heavy as the blow of losing her guidance figure, Aunt Sumirah. The woman had polished him into a perfect-great woman in kitchen affairs, also faithful in serving the Ricci family. While for the business of protecting yourself, it seems that Nina must find another great figure that makes more sense than the knowledge of scoop and seasoning because her life is not only in the kitchen.

Then Nolan appeared. Nina can't remember when she started having the ability to read someone's heart. Maybe, since she was a child, but at that time Nina considered it commonplace like listening to the hum of ordinary chatter that is sometimes unclear. At that time, Nina was confused as to why the lips of the people around her did not move. Apparently, he was listening to the art of the heart that only circulated in the head. Nina had a chance to feel afraid, but one day, Nolan's heart changed Nina's view of the gift she had.

Nina is aware that such nostalgia is useless, especially the memories of Nolan. The man had burned his hopes to ashes, even worse than that. However, Nina remembers very well how Nolan was happy to settle into the kitchen if caught coming home in the middle of the night. Her husband would occupy the chair while enjoying a dish that had become cold from being untouched.

The part of him that was once occupied by Nolan is now gone, changing the view of Sindoorah sitting in Nolan's favorite chair while holding his own dinner party. On the table looks a variety of frozen seafood that can remove teeth if chewed. A plate of crab claws even let out a chill into the air.

However, this barrier did not apply to Sindoorah. The rabbit man grinded the seafood ferociously while Nina approached with her hands folded in front of her chest.

"You're welcome." Sindoorah then resumed the frozen culinary feast. However, Nina swiftly pulled the plate from the front of Sindoorah. Both of them contradict for a moment. The pupils of Sindoorah's eyes shrink to resemble a narrow slit.

"What's wrong with you tonight?"

"I smelled chicken all night" Nina complained.

"Then? I don't see anything to do with me." Sindoorah sniffed in all directions. In Nina's imagination, Sindoorah's large and long ears wave against her head. Nina fantasized about wanting to hold those two ears now to vent the anger.

"You told yourself that threats against me also jeopardize your fate."

"alright. Let's find a chicken that's been disrupting your sleep." Sindoorah licks the sauce in her hand while winking.

"What do you mean by satire?"

"Oh, someone was offended apparently. The object that disturbed your sleep earlier could have been somewhere unknown ..with your husband." Sindoorah laughed loudly after saying so without caring about Nina's hardened gaze.

"I'll find it myself."

Nina does not allow Sindoorah to follow her. The kitchen was definitely not the place he was looking for, hence he had no interest in anything else there.

The smell of the chicken grew stronger as Nina turned across the living room to Olivia's room, then Naomi. A sharper smell guided Nina to climb up to the second floor.

Nina's steps suddenly stopped in front of the door of her room. Wait, it's back to where it was.

Nina then turned to the balcony that passed the full moonlight, right behind the glass door at the end of the hallway. An intuition made Nina's feet step there on her own, then she opened the balcony door wide. The disgusting aroma of chicken meat instantly filled his tongue, oral cavity, nose, esophagus, and stomach.

Nina's hunch is right. He found something outside the balcony pecking hard on the ground.

As the creature rose, its head full of curved beaks and jet-black crest covered the low moon in the sky, then a pair of pitch-black eyes flashed staring at Nina sharply.

***