The Van Til House: STRAF SABBAT
Chapiter 8's

Magisna watched in surprise as Hendra quickly made three torches. Then he stroked his jacket and pulled out a small can of lighters.

Magisna.

"What are you doing carrying a lighter fluid?" ask Novi. "Don't you kind of a fire-fighting maniac?"

"The cave work in the cave's spare time is not your business, yes" replied Hendra. He sprayed the liquid onto the cloth until it got wet.

Magisna began to feel anxious. Hendra's a little too weird. Who carries the lighter fluid everywhere at all times?

He concentrated on watching Hendra. 

Hendra held the lighter under the torch and slowly lit the torch. Burns weak and smokes a lot.

"Better than total darkness" he said. He gave one torch to Dika and one to Magisna. He himself held the last.

Novi made a complaint, but Magisna ignored him.

Magisna stared intently into the darkness in every alley. He can't see anything. Every road is full of possibilities. Magisna wants to try everything. I can't believe how excited he is right now.

"Which one do we choose?" ask Hendra.

"On the right" said Novi.

"Why?" ask Alexza.

"Why not?" Novi asked back.

Magisna clasped her torch tightly. The others seemed as excited as he was. Now or not at all.

"Laten feesten," exclaimed Hendra enthusiastically.

They entered the tunnel.

I can't wait to tell everyone this Monday, Magisna thought. He felt so eagerly adventuring as he walked through the tunnel.

But no one will believe me. No one would believe the practical and healthy-minded Eka Magisna went to explore the labyrinth.

But I did!

Magisna followed Hendra around the other corner. I'll bring something as proof that I'm really here, he decided.

He watched the floor as they walked. But all he found was old beer cans and bags of potato chips.

"Hi-ho, hi-ho, we go to work," Sings quietly.

Magisna heard Novi snort laughing.

It's kind of funny. Dika has just ruined his own image as a great guy.

Magisna saw a pile of newspapers near the wall. Maybe there was an old newspaper I could bring, he thought.

He walked there and picked one up. "Hey, you guys should see this," he called.

Novi immediately headed towards him. "What the hell?"

"This is the Banten Radar of 1992" Magisna told Novi. "Not from Dutch times."

"Try to see." Alexza snatched the newspaper from Magisna's hands. "So really, there was a person or a group of people who had come here in the '90s."

Hendra looked sharply over Alexza's shoulder. "Great," he mumbled. "It doesn't lie."

Magisna knelt down and snatched away another newspaper. He heard a slow giggle, so close to his ear.

He jumped away, and hit Alexza.

"Liat-liat dong," Alexza snapped.

"Sori, the cave heard the sound of the rat," said Magisna lying.

"Ish, disgust. The cave wants to go back" Alexza told them.

"Gua too," Novi agreed.

"The cave doesn't want to!" Hendra walked straight in the tunnel. Dika walked right behind him.

Magisna mengamati lantai terowongan. Ia tidak melihat tikus seekor pun. Kukira aku memang mendengar suara tikus mencicit, dan mengira itu suara tawa cekikikan, pikirnya. Ia cepat-cepat mengejar Hendra dan Dika.

A few seconds later he heard footsteps behind him. Magisna smiled. I don't think Novi and Alexza would dare try to get back there without a torch.

The five of them moved further and further into the labyrinth. Nobody's talking right now.

Magisna found herself thinking about Hendra's story to them. The image of another teenager invaded his mind. Kids like him, probably got lost down here and died.

Magisna continued to trudge forward, while his torch was held aloft. He can't go back, anyway. The walls seem to be getting closer and closer.

Once in a while, rats squeak in the dark. At every moment, Magisna remembered the little claws that stuck at her nape. And he remembered again the giggling voice of the little girl.

Being here is not fun anymore, he said in his heart. I'm getting scared.

What the hell am I afraid of?

It knows. At the bottom of his heart he knew.

He was always afraid of the dark. When he was a kid, he thought monsters lived in the dark. And even now, the dark room scared him.

I have to stop being so whiny, he told himself. He tried hard to get rid of the fear, trying to calm down. And succeed-little. He could see through the flame of his torch and concentrate on the checkered pattern of Dika's flannel shirt in front of him.

The tunnel went down even deeper. Right above him, a gurgling sound was heard by Magisna.

Hendra stop.

"What, Ndra?" ask Magisna.

"Look at yourself" said Hendra.

Magisna is moving forward. What he saw was a pool of water inundating the entire alley. Water gushed out from the ceiling.

"Where did this water come from?" ask Novi.

"Good question" sambar Hendra, "about how good is it, huh? Can we cross?"

Magisna saw garbage floating in the pond, arising and sinking due to the torrent of water.

"Gua doesn't care how dalem," Alexza grumbled. "Gua doesn't want to cross that colem!"

"What the hell is the problem?" ask Hendra. "It's just aer."

"No," Alexza said solemnly. "Gua won't cross that aer."

"Gua too," Magisna agreed. Novi.

Hendra twirled his eyeballs. "OKAY. We're going to mutter and find another tunnel."

Hendra turned and went down the tunnel. He turned to the right then to the left, then to the left again. Magisna stayed close behind him.

I hope we get back to the stairs, he thought. I'm ready to get out of here.

Hendra turned to the right.

"Why do we go this way" Novi said. "We tried this tunnel."

"Not yet, we haven't come here" Dika replied. "The same thing. They all look the same."

Hendra kept going.

"It looks like Novi really is" Alexza said.

Hendra stopped and shone his torch around the tunnel.

Magisna realized he didn't know where they were. He had no idea how to get back to the stairs. They've turned three or four times. But they just turned left or right? He doesn't remember.

"We're straying, right?" ask Magisna slowly.

"We're not straying" replied Hendra.

"Let's go back up the stairs" Alexza said. "The cave is under here."

"Gua too," Dika agreed.

"OK, okay," said Hendra finally. "The cave knows the way. Come on!" He started going down the tunnel again.

Yup! thought Magisna. We're gonna get out of here. And I won't look so whiny.

Hendra turned to the right.

"Where are you sure you're going, Ndra?" ask Alexza.

Hendra did not answer.

"I don't think this is the way. We're really straying," Novi murmured.

Is this how those people died? ask Magisna in heart. Are they lost down here too?

Don't think about it, he rules himself.