I turned on the stove to warm Ajeng's chicken soup this morning and then cooked fried eggs as a side dish. I can hear my little sister's nagging voice in my head if I don't eat her cooking until there's nothing left.
I turned on the television to dispel the silence, then ate my dinner trying to relate the odd events of the day. Ajeng's words that the white girl ghost will not appear again were unfortunately missed because the girl in the backyard still appeared even though Ajeng had left. Isn't it that the appearance of this creature is because Ajeng came to this house? Then why? What have I done to invite that creature? Is there a rule that I violated? Like saying a word I shouldn't? Or something else?
A loud knock came from the door, unsuspectingly I got up from the dining table. I walked past the television that was broadcasting news about serial murders, then opened the door.
"Hey, kid!"
"Oh, Uncle Surya!"
A middle-aged man in a tattered leather jacket stood in front of the door. I closed the door again in annoyance but the old man held him back with the toe of his shoe.
"Wait a minute! I brought your pocket money Aji!"
"Where have you been for three months, uncle?"
I had to let my father's only brother in, I let him sit in the guest chair. Then without my permission, he immediately lit a cigar from his pocket, then leaned his legs on the table.
"UNCLE!"
"Come on, this is your house Aji! Your little sister has returned to her dorm right?"
"Yeah, just this morning she left!"
I prepared a cup of coffee and an ashtray from the cupboard then sat beside him and waited for him to finish burning his lungs. Without me asking, he threw the brown envelope on the table. Quite thick apparently, did uncle just get good stuff for sale? I didn't feel the need to ask, and I just thanked him quietly and took it without counting the contents.
"I thought uncle was caught by the police or died in Kalimantan!"
"Hey, even though I don't look convincing, I'm also your father's little brother! Matters like that are easy peasy. Besides, you should be happy that I haven't been home in months, right? So what have you done with Ajeng while I was gone?"
"The fuck did you just say to your nephew? We are siblings, are you out of your mind? Besides that, how come uncle has the heart to let me take care of the house alone?"
"It's your fault! Why do you think your mother decided to sell this house? I don't want to take care of this place myself, do you think there's a reason why your father made an unseen fence from yellow bamboo behind the house?"
"unseen fence?"
I briefly remembered the events of this morning, and that explained why the girl couldn't attack me. But that doesn't explain why the girl has been there since last night, if she knows that there is an unseen fence at my place, doesn't that mean she should have left?
Ignoring my uncle, I got up from the guest chair and ran to my room on the second floor. I peeked at the banyan from the window. Then slowly I saw that the girl's figure was still there as if keeping an eye on my bedroom window without taking her eyes off.
"What are you looking at?"
My heart almost stopped when I heard my uncle's voice right behind me. I shook my head and took my uncle back downstairs. Suddenly I remembered something I might ask my uncle. I led him into Dad's study, where the old computer was.
"Nirvana? Hmm… Never heard of it."
My uncle turned on my father's old computer, asked for the password then laughed loudly when he heard it
"That old man still loves your mother Wati."
I paid no heed to my uncle's words, I was more interested in the pictures that appeared on the cathode screen. Uncle's face changed when he saw the content on the web page on the computer. Just like me, my uncle tried to open it with his cell phone. But nothing, as if the web page came from a forbidden server.
"I suspect your father's computer is connected to the Nirvana server or whatever. I have a demonic artifact hunter acquaintance who is more senior than me, maybe I can ask. Considering the content on this site is suspicious.
Even better, if only I could sell my stuff to the people who run this site. Look boy, these guys seem to be looking for other demonic items to support their research."
"Did you ever actually sell the real thing?
"Oh, of course, I have. To the right person, I guess?"
I took a deep breath because I knew how cunning my uncle was because he had sold fake demonic artifacts several times to innocent people who were new to the world of shamanism.
My uncle turned off my father's computer, asking my permission to stay the night alone because tomorrow he has to go to Madura to meet the buyer of his goods. Before going to bed, my uncle asked me if his demonic items would be okay if he just put them in his jeep unattended. I answered yes because I had never heard of a theft case in this place, even if there was an incident it would have something to do with supernatural things.
The only criminal case in this place is the case of a missing child who was found in the village of Kijing bathing in mud or crying on a waru doyong tree. This is usually found in victims of a supernatural creature like genderuwo, a creature like a giant ape with jet black fur. Or wewe gombel, a woman with messy hair, with hanging monstrous shagging breast to her feet. And sometimes the woman can turn into a bat whose breasts hang when she flies.
Usually, people from outside Kijing village will ask the local people for help to find their children. Because the villagers of Kijing are used to this kind of incident. So they can find out where the creatures are hiding the children.
I turned off the light in my room, trying to get up the courage to sleep in the dark. My eyes briefly glanced at the girl's figure from behind my bedroom window, hoping that my father's unseen fence could hold her. So that I can sleep well tonight, without worrying that the white girl will attack me at night.