Travel Stories
The Kumala Ratri (II)

Seeing the young man with a clay body, who tried to stand even though alcohol blurred his steps, inevitably Kay felt very unreconciled.

His conversations with this person, or his life experiences, and even his interactions with the late Father, elicited envy in Ray's heart. But somehow, talking to him also brings a sense of comfort. As if talking to a human who can accept anything, at least it makes no sense whatever the conditions. And Kay likes this guy, whatever he is.

Slowly, Kay sighed as the decision built up in her heart. It seemed that indeed he needed to learn how to become a living person before talking about the world of death, and it seemed, this person could teach him further.!

"Yuk, Bang. Backtrack. Tomorrow work again you know." said Kay when he saw Pangky still swaying, trying to stay upright while completing his needs. Apparently the young man was urinating without a care where he was at the moment.

"Ga can work tomorrow. The beach must be closed." he replied as he gave a small grunt.

"Et, why is it closed, Bang? Is there a po show?" reply Kay while frowning. There was no notice of any sort regarding the closure of the beach.

However the half-floating answer that emerged from the young man's mouth made him flinch.

"There were 2 corpses lying on the access steps of the coastal path, 1 scared half to death while scratching his body as hard as he could, 1 frightened, his bird swollen as a duck. Do you think the beach will open if there is something like that?"

??!

"Eh, what do you mean, Bang?" reply Kay without being able to hide the shakes in her voice.

"A group of fools, trying to rape a great creature named Kumala Ratri, the figure you are looking for. It's only natural to die." replied Pangky lightly with a small laugh.

Wtf??!

"And you know this from?"

"You just ask the girl sitting next to you" he replied with a small laugh.

...****************...

It's unclear how Kay ended up sprawled in her hotel room as a loud shake shook her from the blurry dreams that filled her sleep. Typhoon's pale face greeted as Kay opened her eyes.

"Wooi, wake up, Cempedak Forest! Everyone's freaking out, you're slitting like a chainsaw. Pake empathy dikit dong!' his sergeant riled as he continued trying to get Kay to pull herself out of the dreamland.

"What are you doing anyway? My head still hurts, Pan!"

"I'm.."

"No"

"Holy one."

"WAKE UP!!!"

Want to not want to, Kay jolted to sit down. Typhoon hand strength is not a light thing to bear.

Holding back the strong annoyance, Kay tried to get out of her bed, constantly trying to gather the consciousness that was still being scattered by the high alcohol content of the drink overnight.

"There are 2 Pecalang people waiting below. They want to ask where you were last night." sizzled Typhoon slowly.

"What the hell is this? Early in the morning noiseless storm. And what is this Pecalang problem?" kay's grunting while shaking his head, tried to eliminate the pulse that had not wanted to release the torment on his brain.

"There were 2 dead on the beach. 1 more died on the way to the hospital for insisting on tearing flesh from his own body with his hands and nails, and 1 more lamenting because the bird was swollen. Meanwhile, almost all the hotel night shift attendants saw you go out at night and come home almost morning. What do you think I need to explain?"

Kay flabbergasted. Faintly, memories began to emerge from his subconscious...

Ratri Kumala!

As consciousness begins to emerge and compose a complete story, Kay is drawn into the bathroom regardless of the Typhoon relentlessly repressing uncontrollably.

That damned thing must be immediately retrieved and sealed before it swallows more victims!

......................

Dreamland beach is sealed!

The horrific incident was locked up tightly, as various indigenous officers took every step quickly, minimizing any negative effects that might arise.

Pecalangs appear to be visible in various angles, keeping the location in the form of a radius, and ensuring no unauthorized parties approach. While some of the Pendandes seem to be starting a purification ritual, try to find a cause and make sure this bad thing doesn't happen again in the future.

Almost all morning, the two burly Pecalang continued to ask the same things without pause. Only when Pak Wayan, a Pedande there stopped the two men and told them to leave.

Only then did Pak Wayan say quietly.

"I understand why the child is here. Although this incident can't be blamed on you, but I'm sure it must have something to do with you. If possible, please finish as soon as possible."

And he just left.

A lot of time passed before then a strong hand patted Kay lightly on the shoulder. Apparently Pangky again appeared with glasses and bottles of mineral water whose contents were of course very much different from what they should be.

The young man immediately pulled out a chair and sat down casually, then filled the two glasses he brought and handed one of them to Kay.

"Kumala Ratri - negative forces that have charm abilities for humans who conquer it."

Kay gawked at hearing this. What is this guy talking about?

"When it appeared, that power, which had not previously existed, was said to have taken a grudge against the wishes of a woman who was raped to death in the place where yesterday's corpse was found." he continued after lifting the bottle to his mouth and chugging the contents.

Kay doesn't understand. If that's really the power of the cursed object of grandfather's collection, then who is this Kumala Ratri really?

"Anu, sorry, Bang. Yesterday Brother said that this Kumala Ratri is what I'm looking for. But from the story of Abanh, we seem to talk about different things." Kay replied after trying to smoothen the throat due to sipping liquor that Pangky handed to her.

"If what you're looking for is a pearl the size of a pinkie with a sling of old gold in the form of a snake encircling it, then we're talking about the same thing."

Kay is gawking. The ring is indeed one of grandfather's cursed things!

"I don't know what drives you and I can see your compulsion to do this, but it seems I need to open your mind a little further, Kay" she continued, as if she could read Kay's mind.

"You think drinking alcohol is good, isn't Kay?"

"Huh, yeah obviously no, Bang. Especially as hard as this." said Kay quickly.

"Here you're wrong again. You should ask back how much to drink." said Pangky while chuckling and again lifting the bottle.

"Drunk talk. If all my cravings, yes the prison is full, Bang." Kay replied again with a murmur when she saw the young man continue to lift the bottle without pause.

"My point is, all those things are not good if they're excessive, Kay. Just like alcohol to me and hate in your heart."

Hearing this, Kay was stunned. The sight of the long-haired youth was calm, as if it contained a lake without immeasurable ripples within. In front of him, it was as if all of Kay's secrets were clearly visible.

"Cursed or not, your grandfather must have his own reasons. Yeah, I know about it too. I once followed your father to take back your prayer mat and your grandfather's skull from a man who claimed to be an ustad in East Java." he said when he saw the questionable view of Kay.

"It encourages people to obey and carry out religious orders to the extreme by exhibiting various phenomena and wonders, and then encouraging people to do evil to continue to enjoy this miracle."

Kay was silent hearing this. Really horrible information!

"The man took the lives of 4 people, making several women lose their future and 8 boys suffered mental disorders because of his behavior. And he almost turned into the Devil himself when we took that thing from him."

"Then, what does this have to do with the alcohol problem?"

"The funny thing is, that person doesn't even need to do all the bad things he did back then if he has the determination he needs to use those things. Just like me, who was willing to work hard with all my might just so I could have enough money to buy the brand of liquor I wanted." she continued with a slight smile.

"So what you mean is?"

"Not the bad stuff, Kay. The human being cannot wear it... So you can't judge anyone on this. Especially your grandfather."

Kay breathed a heavy sigh. This explanation felt a little heavy for him to accept. The fact that there were so many items on the list dampened every goodwill in his mind.

"The obvious thing is that you're responsible for keeping that stuff away from other humans who don't understand the danger. Your grandfather knew the danger, so I'm sure he wouldn't use them unnaturally."

"But how are you sure?" said Kay sangai.

"A man who is able to educate men as well as your father cannot be evil, Kay.." he replied quietly before standing up and leaving with a bit of thrash, leaving Kay in a stifling feeling that just suddenly made her tears want to drip out.

The afternoon begins to move towards dusk as the wind continues to play with nature, carrying a slowly urgent longing from the depths of Kay's mind about the kind-hearted figure who often wore wire-framed sunglasses and wore a black peci that began to fade it.

Grandpa, Kay is confused as to what to think....