SURREPTITIOUS
Part 04's

Amadhea poured water from the dispenser into the glass and then gulped it down to the toilet. The girl pensively for a moment. Suddenly the sound of a car entering the courtyard of his house. Amadhea ran to look at the window, it was true, there was a white car that came and stopped in front of her house.

A woman in her 40s got out of the car with a young man who appeared to be slightly older than Amadhea.

"Amadhea?" call the woman when she is at the door of the old house.

As the woman called her name, Amadhea immediately went out and met her.

"Auntie Merlin? Aunt didn't tell me to come here?" ask Amadhea.

The woman named Merlin extended her hand. "Where's your papa's car key?"

"What?" Amadhea.

"You don't make the car, do you? Here's the key, Calvin needs the car more than you, '" asked Merlin in a somewhat pushy tone. More forceful than asking.

Amadhea gave Calvin the keys to his father's car. The man patted Amadhea on the cheek then he took the black car belonging to his father Amadhea from the old garage.

"Gross shit, anyway? Why not clean? You study online too, right? You should clean up. Look at the front of your house is dirty like this. What kind of girl, anyway? Don't be a spoiled child. Since Mas Sudarman and Mbak Ayu died, you have been so dreamy" Merlin grumbled.

Amadhea did not respond to the words of her father's sister.

Without them noticing, someone stood inside the house and watched them through the large window. The creature's breath sounded clear like the breath of a dead person.

"Tuh, right, daydream again. I wonder, really, you could be ranked 2nd in the class." Merlin enters his white car while Calvin drives Sudarman's black car.

The white car drove first. Calvin pulled his head out of the car window. He smiles. "Dhea, we're leaving, yeah."

Amadhea did not respond. He stared at the black car taken by his cousin as he drove out of the house.

"Even I've never tried to drive myself. Papa promised to teach me how to drive, but now they're taking Papa's car" muttered Amadhea.

As Amadhea was about to enter her home, she heard the sound of ambulance sirens from a distance. He stopped at the door and saw the ambulance stop in front of his neighbor's house.

It appears that the girl who was taken by the ambulance this morning is now back in good health. Amadhea heaved a sigh of relief seeing that.

"Thankfully, she seemed to be fine," said Amadhea then continued her steps into the house.

In the afternoon, Amadhea brought some fresh fruits from the refrigerator. He was visiting a neighbor who had just returned from the hospital.

"Son Dhea?" Irma, the girl's mother welcomed Amadhea well. He invited Amadhea in and met his daughter.

The two of them climbed the stairs leading to the 2nd floor.

"Aulia has a problem with her breathing. Yesterday the asthma relapsed. Aunty gave him the inhaler and the medicine he used to take. This morning the asthma relapsed again and it got worse. Aunty and Om panicked, fearing she was exposed to COVID. My mother called the doctor and an ambulance. They say it's not a symptom of COVID, but a symptom of asthma" the middle-aged woman said.

"Is Aulia okay now?" ask Amadhea.

"Alhamdulillah, now he is gone" replied Irma.

"Thank God" said Amadhea.

They entered Aulia's room. The young girl looked at Amadhea.

"Aunty's staying, yeah." Irma rubbed Amadhea's back.

Amadhea sat on the chair beside the bed where Aulia was lying. He placed a basket of fresh fruits that he brought to the table.

"Aren't you okay?" ask Aulia.

Aulia smiled stiffly. "I'm feeling better now, brother."

Amadhea smiled. "Thank God."

Aulia seemed to want to say something, but she hesitated. Both hands were squeezing the blanket.

Amadhea realized that. "You want to say something?"

Aulia moved her hand to get Amadhea to get closer to her. Amadhea brought her ears closer to Aulia's mouth.

"Sister is not alone" whispered Aulia.

Amadhea actually knew and had realized that a long time ago, but when she heard it from someone else's mouth, she was really goosebumps and scared.

Aulia clasped Amadhea's hand tightly. "So don't stay in that house."

"Did you see it?" ask Amadhea.

Aulia nodded slowly. "Just yesterday we were looking at each other from the window of the room, I saw it."

Amadhea listen.

"He's very scary. I thought after Brother's parents died, someone else stayed in the house to accompany Brother, but Mama said, Sister Dhea lives alone in the house," clearly Aulia with a trembling voice.

👻 Flashback 👻

Aulia saw a twig on the window of her room. He got out of the bed and opened the window and removed the twig. His gaze was fixed on the old house next to his house, precisely to the window of the main room of the 2nd floor.

Both of Aulia's eyes narrowed to see someone standing in the room facing her. Although it was a bit vague, but he was sure that someone was a waist-haired woman with an indistinct face.

Aulia thought that the woman was Amadhea. He waved at her, but was not responded to by Amadhea.

Someone came to the window across there. It was Amadhea. Aulia frowning. The long haired woman was still standing there. As Amadhea walked towards the window and opened it, the mysterious woman disappeared. Aulia was confused of course.

Amadhea looked at him. Aulia waved her hand. Amadhea also waved her hand.

The woman appeared again behind Amadhea. This time Aulia saw that woman's face which was extremely frightening. A pair of bulging eyes almost popped out with charred facial skin and partially melted.

"What is that thing?"

Aulia stopped waving her hand. He pointed towards Amadhea. It seemed that Amadhea did not understand the code Aulia had given her. He still waved his hand at Aulia.

"Get out of there, sister Dhea" said Aulia. He wanted to scream, but his voice was blocked.

Aulia flicked her hand and pointed towards Amadhea who was actually pointing at the woman behind Amadhea.

As Amadhea looked behind her, the woman disappeared. Aulia froze as she smelled a burning scent and the smell of raw meat suddenly appeared inside her room.

The girl did not realize that the woman was behind her, looking at her with her mouth wide open.

Both of Aulia's legs trembled as she felt hot hands touching her feet. The girl dared to look at him. He looked down, but there was nothing down there. When he turned back to the window, the face was already a centimeter in front of him.

...👻👻👻...

^^^18.11 | 1 September 2021^^^

^^^By Ucu Irna Marhamah^^^