Patra tapped again, the pen he was holding onto the brown wooden table where he rested his right oily cheek.
His five friends were still silent, busy with their own thoughts.
"Tsk!" Tasia's click broke the silence, making the eyes of her five friends who were sitting in a circle with her, turn to the girl with thick eyelashes.
"Nothing good," Tata added before returning her eyes to the phone she was scrolling a whole time.
"Gods Island?" Mark made an idea, pointing his finger like an elementary school kid who wasn't cute at all.
"Again? Boring.." Marya replied lazily, followed by the same nods from the other friends.
"Then what? Don't you have any other suggestions? Patra? Jordi?" Mark called his two guys, and of course, no one responded.
Jordi looked reminisced, all his friends staring at his smart-looking face expectantly. They already knew what Jodi's face looked like when he started to work his brain which was as resourceful as crows.
"There is.. I could tell.." He mumbled with a distinctive voice that always went high at the end of a sentence.
They asked no more, but the look in their eyes that explained how curious that group of teenagers that smelled like sweat mixed with perfume and deodorant, were about the next sentence that would come out of Jordi's thin lips.
"Scales Beach. Not too crowded, the mystical story is pretty good..." Jordi explained.
"Then let's go!" Patra quickly stood up with enthusiasm, interrupting Jordi's words. He was the figure of a half delinquent child with an athletic body and a handsome face. Idolized by almost every girl in the school. But he was very ignorant and likes to test his guts... And a bit stupid.
A tragedy ever happened some years ago. When Patra forced Jordi and Tata to play an Ouija board secretly in the school warehouse. Until when the flag ceremony came, whether they were indeed talented or the school was already haunted from the start, there was a mass trance in the school field. Finally, when it was revealed what the three kids did, their parents received a warning letter and they were not allowed to go to school for one week.
"How about you guys?" Jordi asked the others.
"I'm okay." Tasia nodded.
"Yeah, me too. There's no problem with the mystical story, as long as we don't be rude and disrespectful there;" Tata added to quipping Patra who had dragged her into the previous trouble at school. Her eyes looked very sharp to him. Made that guy shuddered.
Patra smirked uncomfortably. He had apologized a thousand times to his two friends. But still, at the end of the day, they received a very severe punishment from their respective parents.
"Okay! So that's clear now, we're going to the beach.. what was the name again? Scales Beach?" Tata started busy with her cellphone again to quickly find lodging online.
"Yup. Scales Beach, it located in the eastern part of the province," Said Jordi and was immediately responded by a nod of Tata's head.
At that time they agreed to spend vacation time at Scales beach.
Tata, as usual always wanted to be busy and just wanted to take care of all the needs there. Lodging, finance, destination locations, culinary locations, and more. She was like a mother to her friends.
***
It was Wednesday. Tata, Marya, Tasia, Jordi, Patra, and Mark had gathered at Mark's house since early morning. Their excitement had made Mark's neighbours angry.
After packing their things into the car trunk, the car they were travelling with finally drove on a city street that was still empty and dark.
"Music on!" Exclaimed Patra who was sitting in the middle seat with his hand reaching out to the car tape that he had attached to a flash drive that contained a list of his favourite songs that were often played at the nightclub.
"Don't play it too loud! Patra!" Said Jordi in a high tone as he tried to focus on driving, while his friends were like a group of drunken monkeys in the back.
"Okay, okay!" Patra said.
Tata was busy with her phone and focused on The GPS to guide the way. Because she was the sanest, so she was sitting next to Jordi.
"Have you guys heard yet? The mythical story on Scales beach?" Patra opened the conversation after being able to sit still. His head was a bit bumped because Tata hit him with a bottle of water.
Jordi shook his head tiredly at Patra's attitude which often frightened his female friends, especially Tasia who was the most paranoid girl ever.
"Not yet," Tasia answered quickly. Stopping her activity of combing her long black hair which was a bit damp.
"Hem.. But don't cry later, or ask me to accompany you to the toilet!" Said Marya. Tasia could only grimace while hugging her bespectacled friend.
Tasia was the most cowardly person among her friends. However, she was the one who extremely loved to hear stories and watch scary movies.
"So this is it. People said, in the middle of the sea, there was an occult kingdom! There were lived so many demons and spirits. The kingdom was ruled by a very scary snake prince. The local said, we should not walk alone on the beach in the middle of the night when the sky has no stars!" He continued in a lowered voice.
"So what would happen if we walk on the beach alone?" asked Mark who sat in the back seat.
"We would be dragged into the middle of the sea, to be used as food or slaves in the kingdom."
"Was there any evidence? How did you know it was true?" Ask Tata who didn't believe in mysticism. That was the reason why she was interested in proving the truth of the Ouija game.
"It was true, Tata. It's a story from the local. They said there had been something like that before. I searched them G**gle and Y**Tube yesterday." Nod Patra seriously.
Tata laughed sarcastically, "Patra, we live in the modern century now. The proof is that along the coast many resorts have been built. Then, there have never been stories of mystical experiences from the resort guests. don't play on the beach at night. Because it 'is' actually dangerous."
"Gosh! What did you think, Patra?! Momma's right!" Mark mocked him, which was actually to show Tata that she had been too serious.
"Okey.. Okey.. I'm sorry mom .." Patra replied pretending to be afraid, interspersed with his and Mark's laughter. Tata could only shake her head in annoyance.
***
====> East Sea Kingdom <====
"Pardon me, My Lord. I have come with a message!" Bowed a big demon with a body fully covered with black hair and two fangs that pierced out of its mouth, to a strong man sitting on a golden throne.
Prince Hadyan Jasma Kuwaka, known as Prince Hadyan. He was the seventh prince of queen Lasminah Nitisara who was still related to the greatest demon queen of the ocean called Dewi Roro.
Prince Hadyan obtained his imperial position from Dewi Roro who was now his foster mother. He has been chosen as the leader of the East Sea which had an anchorage centre on the Scales Beach, after he won a great war against the Oswasa Commander to seize the area of East Ocean.
"What's that message?" Hadyan asked quickly.
"The humans, My Lord. They build the buildings on our shores again." Told the black demon without raising his head, even a bit.
Hadyan nodded, "Did they forget to give the offerings?"
"They didn't, My Lord."
"Then leave it be for now. As long as they still know their limit, we don't need to reprimand those humans."
"Yes, My Lord, Prince Hadyan. I will excuse myself." The huge demon respectfully walked backwards out of the large gilded room.
"When will Prince Rangin come?" He asked a human-faced but scaly-skinned bodyguard who was standing guard beside his throne.
"This afternoon, My Lord." He answered.
Hadyan nodded, "I'm going to take a bath now."
Then five servants immediately escorted him to a magnificent bathroom with a large round pool decorated with gems that had been filled with fragrant water and seven kinds of flowers.
There Prince Hadyan bathed and cleaned himself before his brother came this afternoon. He sat and leaned against the edge of the pool, his eyes staring blankly at the bathroom ceiling engraved with four large warring snakes. Against his will, he took a deep breath. Perhaps his body thought that by doing it, would ease his troubled heart.