He hesitated. "I can't tell you..."
I arched my eyebrows and approached him. Unlike before, he flinched when I got closer. Seeing his reaction, I had a suspicion that the story behind his wedding was much more complicated than being forced to marry by his family.
But, whatever the story was, he had made it clear that he couldn't tell me, that I shouldn't know about it.
Too bad, telling me that I shouldn't know about it only made me more curious. I peered into his eyes, trying to figure out what was happening. I could see his eyes filled with anxiety and guilt. I could understand the guilt, but the anxiety? Where did it come from?
"Is there something you haven't told me?" I asked, refusing to budge from where I was standing.
"No." He shook his head in hurry. "It's getting dark. You should go home." He said and without waiting for my response, he turned around and walked away in a haste, as if he was afraid I would pressure him to answer my questions.
Well, I was about to do that, so...
But now that my target has gone, it's best for me to go home.
The sky was beautiful at that time; it was grey with the streak of red and orange. The sun was setting and the wind turned even colder. Fastened my pace, I walked towards my dormitory. I was pretty sure Tom was waiting for me.
After exchanging greetings with my dorm mates, I quickly ran towards my room. I needed to tell Tom about what happened today, especially about Senior Rizal. He wouldn't be happy that I met him again –and I had been hiding the fact that Senior Rizal had always tried to talk to me –but I still thought that he needed to know.
"Don't come in!" A shout was heard as soon as I opened my door. My step was halted, my eyes scanned the pitch black room.
"Tom?" I called out for him, half-whispering.
"Stop right there, Jane!" He shouted again, his voice filled with urgency.
"What's wrong?" I asked anxiously.
Then, an eerie laugh was heard, a familiar one, the one that I always heard from horror movie. My eyes widened in shock and my body turned rigid. I had goosebumps all over my body. Something inside my mind told me to run, but my feet were glued to the floor.
"T-Tom?" I called again, this time my voice was shaking my fear.
"It's okay, Jane. I'll take care of it. Just stay there." Tom's voice was heard again, soothing my frightened heart.
"Are you sure you can take me down?" That strange high-pitched sound was heard, challenging Tom.
"Why can't I?"
"Oh, this is awesome!" The scary laugh was heard again and I thought I almost fainted from fear. I closed my eyes in fear. "She is a cutie. I've been wondering about her since the first time I saw her with that boy."
My ears twitched when I heard that. Which boy? Senior Rizal?
"Don't worry, I come in peace. I don't mean harm to her." The high-pitched voice changed suddenly, a soft and melodious voice was heard instead. It was nice hearing her voice.
"H-how would I know you tell the truth?" I stammered.
"I came to inform you something about the boy." She said calmly, and with her new and beautiful voice, I couldn't help but trust her.
"You can open your eyes, cutie. I promise I won't bite." She chuckled and I heard her voice got nearer to me.
"Don't come too close to her! We will see about that after we hear what you want to say!" If I guessed right, Tom must be standing in front of me now.
"How rude! I have never appeared in this beautiful form in front of just anyone! Are you questioning my integrity as a Kuntilanak[1]?" She protested in annoyance.
I opened my eyes slightly, took a peek to the situation in front of me. Standing right in front of me was Tom's transparent body. Through his body, I could see another translucent body was floating not far from me.
The body belonged to a fair woman in white clothes. Her long and dark hair covered her back and what surprised me was the smoothness of the hair. The image of this female ghost in my mind was long, dark, and messy hair, covering her hideous face. Some of them even had a hole on their back, showing their spine and bloody insides. Their white clothes had soil stained and looked strangely frightening.
But, the woman in front of me was far from hideous. Instead, her complexion was so fair it made me a bit envious.
She wasn't boasting when she said 'beautiful form' just now.