Karin walked into the alley that led to her school. Her right hand held a phone pressed to her ear. She was talking to someone. Earlier, before entering the alley, she had crossed paths with someone wearing the same uniform as hers. Karin thought there might still be many people at school.

"Yes, it has to be now. The money could be gone if I don't get it," said Karin to the person on the other end of the phone.

In the time approaching evening, Karin came to school to retrieve the money she had left behind. The amount of money was not small. So, she feared it would be lost if she just left it there.

"At least until I get out of this school, keep talking to me, okay?" A pleading tone escaped from Karin's mouth. "I feel lonely if I go to school alone."

"Yes, yes. Hurry up and get the money and then go home. It's almost Maghrib."

Karin walked quickly. "Yeah, I know. Who would want to stay here any longer anyway?"

"Be careful. Around Maghrib, there are usually a lot of ghosts lurking around."

"You jerk. Just wait until I see you at school later." Karin felt a bit of a chill after hearing her friend's words. "I have strong faith, so no ghost would dare come near me."

"Yeah, whatever you want."

"I'm serious. I'm not afraid of gho—" Karin's words were cut off when she accidentally bumped into someone.

 Karin fell, and the person she bumped into was only jostled, but the bag that person was holding fell near Karin. "Oh my God, I'm sorry, sir." Karin picked up the bag and handed it to the person. "I didn't mean to."

Judging by the person's height, Karin assumed they were a man. She couldn't be sure because the person was wearing thick clothes and also a hat and mask, revealing only his eyes. The person just nodded and walked away. From the direction he was heading, it seemed he had just come out of the school.

Karin picked up her phone, which had fallen, and wiped off the dirt. At that moment, she smelled a strong scent of blood on her hand. Karin confirmed it by bringing her palm closer to her nose.

Sure enough, the smell of blood became stronger. She inspected both hands, remembering that she had touched the bag that person was carrying.

"Blood smell," Karin murmured. She continued on her way and didn't dwell on the blood scent sticking to her. Perhaps that person was injured somewhere on his body and that's why they smelled of blood. It wasn't her concern whether they were injured or not. Right now, what was more important was her money.

However, unbeknownst to Karin, the person heard Karin's words. he stopped in his tracks and turned to gaze at Karin, who was walking further away. He just stood there silently, continuously observing Karin.

The person sniffed their bag. Indeed, there was a smell of blood, but it wasn't very strong. How could a child like her notice this smell? The person opened their bag and took out a bloody knife. Their original intention to leave the school now turned into approaching the teenage girl.

***

Karin opened the school gate and then entered without closing it. Since the gate wasn't locked, it meant Mr. Budi was at school. Mr. Budi was an elderly man in his late 60s who worked as a school janitor.

Karin checked her phone and found that the call was still connected. She activated the speaker button and heard her friend rambling.

"I've been calling you, didn't you hear?"

"Yeah, sorry. I accidentally bumped into someone, so I dropped my phone." Karin explained calmly.

"You scared me, you know? I thought something happened to you."

Karin laughed at her friend's words. "No, nothing happened."

Karin entered the school, heading to her classroom. While talking with her friend, she walked through the empty corridor. As it was almost Maghrib, the place started to feel dark. Karin thought Mr. Budi might have forgotten to turn on the lights in the school.

She headed to class XII IPS 3 on the second floor. This school consisted of three buildings. The first was the IPS building on the left, the IPA building on the right, and the central building was used for purposes such as labs or storage. The school formed a U shape.

Entering the classroom, she immediately ran to her desk. She checked the desk drawer and found that her money was still there. Karin could breathe a sigh of relief now. She pocketed the money and quickly left the classroom. As she descended the stairs, she felt something.

Karin looked around the school. The unlit lights and the still-open gate made Karin think. Where was Mr. Budi now? If the gate was open, it meant someone was inside, and the person with the key was Mr. Budi. So, where was he? Karin didn't sense any signs of life other than her own in this school.

" Karin, what are you doing? You've already left the school, right?"

"Blood smell." Karin looked around the school, trying to guess the origin of the scent.

"Huh? Blood smell? Just go home already, Rin."

Karin thought for a moment. The person she had encountered also smelled of blood, and they were from the school. What could they be doing here? Why was the smell of blood still lingering and growing stronger?

Karin pieced together all her memories from the moment she met that person to the strange things happening in the school. Driven by an unknown impulse, Karin headed towards the source of the smell. She walked towards the warehouse. Indeed, the scent grew stronger.

"Rin, don't be ridiculous. It might just be the smell of blood from a cat or another animal."

Karin ignored her friend's words. She continued towards the source of the smell, which seemed to be at the back of the central building. She walked slowly, feeling a chill in the large, empty school.

The closer she got, the stronger the sharp scent of blood became. When she arrived, the sight before her was truly terrifying. There, near the mango tree, was someone lying in a pool of blood. The blood even flowed to the back of the warehouse. There were also splatters of blood smeared on the wall.

Karin felt her body go limp. She no longer held the phone to her ear. Her hands felt weak, but at least she was still gripping the phone tightly. Her heart raced rapidly, and her legs trembled so much that she could barely stand.

Karin took a deep breath to calm herself. She thought about what she should do.

She shook, trembling with fear.

She needed to calm down quickly. If she panicked, she would just waste time.

Realizing she was still holding her phone, Karin said, "Lin, quickly call the police. There's a body here." Karin's voice was shaking with fear.

Selin, hearing Karin's words, also panicked. She was worried about her friend. "Karin, get out of there quickly."

Karin tried to rise from her seated position. Her whole body was shaking. She attempted to stand but fell again due to her trembling legs. She looked at the person lying in the pool of blood.

It was Mr. Budi, the janitor of Cakrawala High School.

Karin dared not approach the body. From where she was, she could already see a lot of blood and smell its strong odor. If she got closer, she might end up vomiting. Suddenly, Karin heard footsteps from a distance. The startled was what she felt.

The police arrived very quickly, Karin thought. Could she finally breathe a sigh of relief? Karin peered around the corner of the warehouse to see who was coming.

Someone walked slowly towards the scene. However, it was not the police. It was the man Karin had accidentally bumped into earlier. Karin was completely shocked. He had come here.

Karin was scared, truly scared. What was she going to do now?

Karin ran towards the back of the IPS building. She didn't realize that the tip of her right shoe was stepping into the pool of blood, leaving a visible trail. She hid and tried to calm her chaotic breathing. Meanwhile, Selin continued to call out to Karin to get out of there.

Realizing that Selin's voice was quite loud, Karin turned off the speaker and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Rin, get out of there quickly. What are you doing?"

Karin peeked from behind the wall. She saw the man who had arrived. He was silently watching the body in front of him. He dared to approach Mr. Budi's lifeless form. From this, Karin was certain that the man must be Mr. Budi's killer. She needed to leave quickly before he noticed her.

Just before Karin turned to leave, she accidentally saw a trail of blood leading towards her. Karin covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock at the sight of the blood trail. Karin looked at her shoes. Sure enough, there were blood stains on the tip of her right shoe. Karin took off her shoe, intending to leave it there. As she tried to leave quietly, she accidentally glanced back at the killer.

He was standing near the body, looking towards the IPS building where Karin was hiding. From his position, Karin was visible. Realizing she had been spotted by the killer, Karin abandoned her plan to leave quietly.

She ran as fast as she could, ignoring her bare feet.

She accidentally stepped on a pebble, injuring the sole of her left foot. There were indeed many small stones scattered behind the IPS building. However, since she was focused on escaping, she didn't feel the pain, even though there was blood left as a trail.

The killer was left far behind. He was walking leisurely, following Karin, who was starting to tire from running. Exiting the back of the IPS building, Karin headed straight for the front gate.

When she arrived, Karin's heart felt like it was about to stop. The gate was locked with a large padlock. Karin pulled at the padlock, hoping to open it without the key. Of course, the padlock didn't budge. Karin began to panic, crying.

"Selin, if I don't make it back safely, tell my parents that I love them." Karin wiped her tears.

Karin stepped back and looked behind her. There were no signs of the killer coming after her. Karin could relax a little, but what was the killer doing that he wasn't pursuing her?

Karin stared at the wall in front of her. She needed to climb over the wall if she wanted to get out of there. In her panic, Karin swore loudly, something she rarely did. She took a few steps back to prepare herself, then ran as fast as she could to jump and grab the top of the wall.

Her first attempt failed. Karin cried, her heart feeling like it was about to burst. She glanced back again. The killer still hadn't appeared. She stepped back and tried to climb with all her strength.

This time, she succeeded. She strained with all her might to pull herself up. Once she was on top, her feet lost their footing, causing her to fall to the outside of the wall.

The bad news was that Karin's body and spirit were not in good shape. The good news was that Karin had managed to escape from the school. She tried to stand. Her foot hurt, seeming to be twisted. Her body also ached. Karin walked towards the end of the alley. She looked back.

There, the killer stood in the field, staring at her. Karin was startled and quickly turned around, trying to leave as fast as she could. Unbeknownst to Karin, the killer waved his left hand, while his right hand held Karin's phone.