Wagering
The Devil Inside Her

In fact, his tears had been drained away to make his eyes swollen badly and his voice became hoarse, but Baskara still did not feel better. His chest still felt tight, like something big was clogging his airway so that the oxygen he was breathing with difficulty could not be carried to the heart.

On the balcony of the Blue apartment, he sat alone, fixated on his bare feet with the contents of his head that were increasingly less clumsy. The ashtrays on the table were already filled with dozens of cigarette butts, along with bits of ash that some were flying in the wind. The cigarette butts were not only his, some were Sabiru's, who up to an hour and a half ago still insisted on accompanying him through the cold night wind at 2 am.

He had forced Blue to sleep because the girl had class at 9 this morning. At first the girl refused, of course, the typical stubborn Sabiru she had known all along. But after being persuaded and reassured that her condition would improve when morning came, the girl finally agreed to lay herself on the bed.

Although in the end, the word improved it may not be realized for a long time. Because he really doesn't know what to do now. He had not even said anything to Blue, only letting the girl see him cry all night without knowing what had hurt him so deeply.

“Ha...” Baskara breathed a long breath. One more cigarette he took out from inside the pack, the last stock of the 2nd pack he opened the mini mala.

Smoke swirled in the air, polluting the still clear early morning air— progressively worsening the quality of the oxygen he breathed. Smoking while breathing is difficult is a bad choice, but Baskara has no better choice because it turns out that crying is not enough to make her feel better. Neither are cigarettes. But at least, the movement of sucking and exhaling cigarette smoke a little help unravel the complexity that is in his head.

For now, the only thing Baskara thought of was an escape move. He may not be coming home in a few days. He was not ready to meet his parents, to listen to the defense that his mother had not had time to throw because he was hunted to leave the house.

Baskara may also try to avoid interaction with Fabian. Because every time he saw the child, he believed that guilt would come back to haunt him, making him suffer until the thought that dying would be better would come more often than in previous days.

He really needs to clear his head, think about what is the best step he can take next with a better head condition.

Cigarettes that Baskara suction constantly burned up completely, changing its shape which was once the size of an index finger, now only as high as one finger. He smoked his cigarette for the last time, before dumping it on the ashtray and then he walked into Sabiru—'s room, letting the burning embers bear witness to how devastated he was that morning.

On his bed, Blue fell asleep with a thick blanket wrapped all parts of his body except the head. Baskara slowly stepped closer to the bed, then fixated long enough to look at the plain face of Blue who was asleep. Many things had changed during their separation, but the look of this innocent face, was still unchanged long ago.

There are no coincidences in this world. Everything that happens has its own reasons. Just like when God allowed her to embrace Sabiru again. The reason was probably because God knew, if there was no this girl beside him, then he would probably give up right now.

Baskara again exhaled a long breath—entah already how many times he did since last night. Then, he moved slowly, sucked himself into the blanket—joined Blue who was busy wading through dreams.

That little body he clutched tightly. It was as if only from there could he gain strength. Then, a steady roar of Blue breath similar to lullaby for Baskara— led him towards the dream world.

Prank!!!

Another expensive collection of vases that became a victim of Sera's annoyance. It was already the 11th, and presumably the woman had not been about to stop even though she had been raging like a madman for hours after hearing Jeffrey's explanation of what had happened to Baskara.

Fractions of bells scattered everywhere, filled the floor of the middle room that was dim because the chandelier on the table also did not escape the rampage of Sera. The woman threw one of her favorite vase collections to the chandelier, making it smashed to pieces and some debris thrown away had hit Jeffrey—'s cheek leaving a scratch wound that the man was forced to accept with a chest of air. The blood that flowed from the scratch wound was even allowed to dry on its own. Because Jeffrey was too busy looking for a way to incline the crazy Sera.

“Please on you, Jeff!” Sera again shouted in disobedience. He galloped forward, stomping on the shards of the shard without worrying about his shoes being torn and his legs might get hurt. His index pointed right in front of Jeffrey's face, looking up at the guts of the man who was the source of Happy—and the source of his pain. “I'm trying to hide everything, Jeffrey. Turn over I kept the secret safe, and our son wasn't hurt. But you even lightly talk everything to Baskara!”

“The recording clearly contains our voice, Sera. I have no choice but to explain everything.” Jeffrey spoke in a low voice. Unlike Sera who had already lost her sanity, Jeffrey was still trying to stay calm. Because it would be useless if he returned the scream for the sake of the scream that Sera threw in the same high tone, it would only aggravate the atmosphere. “After all, sooner or later, this truth will definitely be revealed as well. As smart as we hide it, Baskara will still know.”

“That wouldn't have happened if you weren't stubborn enough to be responsible for that bastard!” sergeant Sera. “I've had a good day letting them live, but you'd rather find a way to show yourself in front of them and sacrifice your own child. You bastard, Jeffrey! Bastard!” Sera banged on Jeffrey's chest, and the man made no attempt to fend him off. He was fully aware that the punches meant nothing compared to the wounds he had inflicted on Sera, Raya and her two sons who were forced to fall victim to his fatal mistake.

As if her tears had run out, Sera did not cry at all. Three more punches he aimed at Jeffrey's chest, then he pulled away. No. gabe. Not that his emotions had died down. Not at all. The thing is, his head is getting more and more like it's exploding—and he needs to do something to calm him down.

Sera walked up to her room, leaving Jeffrey, who was just silently staring at the chaos in her house.

Shortly afterwards, Sera returned, carrying a larger handbag with hers that she had left on the sofa.

“Where are you going?” ask Jeffrey.

“Nyari Basque. Because you won't care enough to find where my son is. Well ... what's in your head right, it's just an illegitimate child.” Ketus Sera while reaching into her bag on the sofa, removing her phone, wallet and car keys from there and moving it into the bag she was carrying.

“Where do you want to find him at dawn?” Jeffrey restrained Sera's arm, but the woman immediately brushed him off violently.

“To any. To the end of the world though, I will search. Baskara only has me, so I won't tell her alone.”

Then Sera passed from there. His steps swung wide, while Jeffrey had no more power to prevent his wife from leaving.

In fact, finding Baskara was a reason he made Jeffrey unsuspecting. He did not have to bother to exert effort to find where his son was, because he had already assigned two experts to follow wherever the child went. Baskara was the most precious treasure for him, clearly he would not let it go

danger threatens his safety.

The car that Sera was driving recklessly finally stopped by the side of the road, across from a house with a towering fence. He had not expected to be in this place again, after so long since the last time he visited to make a deal with Raya.

Sera did not remember exactly when she asked Abraham to buy her the firearm. Maybe 13 years ago? I don't know. What is clear is that the revolver has been stored long enough in a place that he believes will not be touched by anyone other than himself. Initially, Sera asks Abraham to buy the revolver because he feels he needs something for protection. Because who knows, he will be faced with a situation where he has to defend himself and the revolver can be a weapon to save his life.

Who would have thought that the object was finally useful as well, after a long time just sitting in the storage box?

"My patience is over, Jeff. My son's been hurt too much, so we're all ruined together." Sera murmured while staring at the revolver in her hand with cold eyes.

Then, Sera got out of the car. He walked through the slightly open gate, down the courtyard of the house while humming, muttering the song of death to deliver the inhabitants of this house to a long deep sleep.

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

Jeffrey drove his car like crazy. But no matter how well he drives, he still lags far behind Sera's car.

When the woman said she was looking for Baskara, Jeffrey obviously didn't believe her. Moreover, when he accidentally saw a suspicious object appear to pop out of the bag that the woman was carrying. The lighting in the living room was dim, but Jeffrey was sure that what popped out was a gun.

After losing track, Jeffrey finally finds Sera's car. Sure enough, the woman went to Raya's house.

Without wasting any time, Jeffrey got out of his car, broke through the slightly open gate and ran off the ridge before anything untoward happened. Earlier, on the way here, he had called the police just in case. They might still be on their way now, so Jeffrey should do his best to keep Sera from hurting anyone as soon as the police arrive.

But, not until Jeffrey's feet in front of the door of the Kingdom house, his steps were forced to stop when a gunshot broke the silence. Jeffrey's body shook violently, guessing whose body had been targeted by the hot bullet Sera fired.

With a tight chest, Jeffrey broke through the door. And in a moment, he was made to look at the moment when he discovered that the Kingdom had been lying on the floor. Blood seeped into the woman's clothes, while Sera with the revolver in hand, still stood haughty not far from where the Kingdom lay weakly. On the side of Raya, there is Fabian who looks vibrate when touching his mother's face. The young man whispered softly, asking that his mother keep her eyes open because she was so afraid of being left alone.

Tears that came out soaking Fabian's face and groans that sounded softly from the lips of the pale Kingdom made Jeffrey speechless long enough in his place. Until then, he was brought back to consciousness when the sound of Sera dancing the trigger again, ready to shoot one more bullet.

Not thinking much, Jeffrey ran over. He hit Sera's body, just before the woman removed the trigger so that the bullet that had been directed at Fabian, missed the wall behind them.

As much as possible Jeffrey snatched the revolver from Sera's hands, then threw it out of his wife's reach. Sera's body then he hugged tightly from behind, at all he did not relax so that the woman did not have a gap to back hurt Fabian.

"Deliver!" Sera. "That kid has to die, Jeffrey!"

"Don't, Sera. I beg...." Jeffrey pleaded with humility. With the realization that all these disasters started from him, and he was the one who had to take responsibility for everything. "Don't dirty your hands again, I beg you."

"You don't care about me! You're like this because you don't want that bastard to die!"

"Deliver!!!"

While Jeffrey tried to calm the doomed Sera, Fabian half-deadly held tight as her mother's eyes grew more and more visibly closed. The more blood came out, making the hue on the woman's face slowly disappear.

"Open his eyes, Ma. Please ... don't go." Fabian patted Raya's cheek gently, trying to keep her mother conscious. "Defend me, Ma, let's go get some help."

"Bi.." lirih Raya. I think he can no longer. His chest hurt, his breathing was already wheezing and his eyes had refused to keep him open. But, he could not let himself go without saying anything to his son. So with very little energy he still had, Raya tried to move her hand to touch Fabian's cheek.

"Ma-sorry Mama, Bi. Mama ... Ma-mama can't be a good mother to you yet. Ma-mama...."

Fabian shook his head strongly. "Don't say much. You have to save your energy. We'll get help, Fabian call an ambulance right away." Fabian's mistress reached into his pants pocket. With trembling hands, he called the emergency services.

"Hello? Please ... please send an ambulance to my address now. My mother was badly hurt. Quick please. I am afraid ... My mother ... My mother is bleeding."

"Bi," said Raya again. "Ma-mama love you. Mama ... dear .. you, Fabian."

"Ma..." Fabian couldn't hold back his tears anymore. Someone from across the phone was still talking, muttering something out of nowhere. Fabian could no longer focus himself on the phone. Because now, on his lap, his mother is really dying. "Fabian also loves Mama. So, please don't go. Stay here, okay?" whispered. He rubbed Raya's cold cheeks using his bloodied hands.

"Sa-sickness, Bi. Mama is not. ng-no strong." Fabian's cry broke even more as he felt the hands of Kingdom still on his cheeks slowly felt limp, then completely drooped along with the eyes of the woman who was completely closed tightly. Dada Raya no longer up and down, there was also no sound of the breath of the woman who said, Raya has died.

Fabian shouted loudly. Hugged the cold body of Kingdom, held tightly close because she still could not believe that her mother had truly left her for good.

That dawn, another life was lost, only because of Sera's ambition to form a happy little family—which in the end will still not be realized because the cold iron bars have loomed right in the eye.

Seriate