Bella Gautama was eighteen years old. She was a relative of Rachel, Marsya, and Cak Dika.
While Rachel was guarded by a Queen Khodam from her ancestors, Bella was followed by two Dutch spirits—"Londo" who had been brutally killed by the "Yellow Skin" soldiers, the Japanese, whom the Dutch referred to as Nippon.
For about seven hours, Bella's friend, Rio, had been running back and forth across a steep incline, carrying dry branches. He ran shirtless.
To any onlooker, Rio's actions were pure madness. They were almost at the peak of Mount Lawu, but Rio's behavior had been increasingly bizarre.
Last night, when Bella and her group decided to stop and rest, many strange things occurred before Rio lost his mind and stopped speaking.
"Sir, what is happening to her?" asked a hiker who was heading down the mountain, mistakenly addressing Bella.
Bella remained silent, her eyes fixed on Rio's erratic movements.
"I don't know, man. He seemed fine last night! This morning he just woke up like this. He won't talk; he just keeps running up and down this slope over and over again," explained Petra, one of Bella's group members.
"This is serious. Try to contact the Basecamp! Maybe they can help!" suggested another hiker named Gibran.
Petra nodded and pulled a phone from his pocket. Unfortunately, at that altitude, there was no signal at all. The connection was dead, and Petra's hope faded instantly.
"There's no signal," Petra said.
"If we leave him like this until nightfall, I'm afraid something bad will happen," Gibran warned.
Bella, who had been leaning back silently watching Rio, decided to take out her favorite camera—the one that accompanied her on all her explorations. She aimed the lens at Rio.
"Whoever you are, whoever is here! Please, show yourself!" Bella whispered. The first shutter clicked as she aimed at Rio.
There was no one with him in the frame. She took a second shot toward the top of the incline. Still nothing. It wasn't until the third shot, as Rio ran back down the slope, that she saw it.
Three monkeys, as large as human legs, were running alongside him, clawing at Rio's legs. Bella snapped several more photos.
To the normal human eye, the wounds from the scratches were invisible. But through her supernatural lens, Bella saw that Rio's legs were covered in blood.
She didn't know the purpose of making Rio run while carrying dry branches, but she looked at him with pity. He had been running for nearly two hours. Normally, a human would be exhausted, yet Rio wasn't even out of breath.
"Cak Dika, I am sending a message through the veil. What should I do with my friend, Cak?" Bella closed her eyes, using her spiritual gift to try and contact her older brother. She hoped the message would reach him wherever he was.
"What do you see, Bel?" Petra asked, noticing her focus.
"Nothing, I'm just puzzled," Bella replied, keeping her eyes on Rio.
Petra stepped closer and tapped her shoulder gently.
"Tell me if something is wrong. Rio's behavior isn't natural. I know you can see things like that, right?"
Great, who leaked my secret? Bella thought. She had tried hard to hide her abilities.
Connecting with the "Other Side" was exhausting. Like Rachel, Bella didn't want to use the supernatural powers attached to her; she tried to distance herself from them. In the Gautama family, only Cak Dika's skills were currently equal to their Great-Grandfather's.
There were four successors in the family: Cak Dika, Rachel, Marsya, and Bella.
They had all gone their separate ways for personal reasons. Bella was Cak Dika's younger sister. They had moved away from Rachel because their mother was seriously ill and needed treatment in a different city.
Cak Dika was the one who truly delved into the ancestral Kejawen teachings. Their ancestors were traditional leaders and mountain guardians, or Kuncen.
Those roles were deeply tied to spiritual knowledge. Most of their ancestors possessed "astral eyes," a gift passed down to their descendants.
"You see something, don't you, Bel?" Petra pressed again.
Good grief, this guy talks too much! It's already getting hot and the situation is dire! Bella thought, trying to suppress her annoyance.
"Just stay calm. Rio will be fine, God willing," Bella replied.
"What do you mean he'll be fine, Bella? Your friend is being tortured by the offspring of a Genderuwo. You can see his legs bleeding, can't you?" a faint voice whispered.
It belonged to a Dutch youth, about thirteen years old.
He was handsome, but he had died by decapitation during the Nippon era. Albertus Van Colline—or Albert, as Bella called him—had died at the docks, his severed head swarmed by flies. He was a victim of the era's brutality, where the massacre of white people was encouraged.
Their heads were often tossed into lakes, left to rot without a proper burial.
"Yes, I know! But what am I supposed to do? I'm not Dika! I can't do much. But do you know why Rio is like this?" Bella whispered to Albert.
The translucent figure smiled. Bella knew Albert knew the truth.
"Of course I know," he murmured.
"Then tell me, why is he like this?"
Damn it! Bella felt a surge of negative energy pressing against her back. The air turned searing hot against her skin.
"Is your back feeling heavy? Do you know why?" Albert asked.
Bella was startled. The spirit knew her back was growing heavy and the heat was spreading.
"Yes, it's hot and heavy," she answered.
"The father of those creatures is watching you all. He is much larger than them—huge, with long fangs and piercing red eyes. You haven't reached the peak yet? You should head down before dusk. Because if you stay, Rio's condition will only get worse," Albert explained before vanishing.
Bella turned to Petra, who had been watching her talk to thin air.
"What is it?" Petra asked.
"Petra, we need to go down. Now. Rio needs help," Bella said firmly.
The group consisted of three people plus Rio. The others looked at Bella in confusion.
"I know it's urgent, Bel, but if we head down now, we'll be caught in the twilight. We should avoid being on the trail during the sunset," Yono interrupted.
Yono had a point. Hikers usually avoided moving during the sunset or "Maghrib" hour, believing that supernatural interference grew strongest at that time. Bella fell silent, then remembered something.
"Guys, you were in the same tent last night, right? What did Rio do?" Bella asked. She knew a person didn't just lose their mind without a cause. He must have done something.
"I don't know, Bel. Pram and I were asleep. You and Tyas were in the other tent—didn't you feel someone pelting the tent with sand?" Yono asked.
Bella was shocked. Why hadn't they woken her up? She looked at Tyas.
"Sorry, Bel. I was too scared last night, so I didn't wake you," Tyas admitted. Bella understood; Tyas had been paralyzed by fear.
"So, Rio didn't do anything fatal?" Bella pressed.
"Around nine, after we ate, we went to sleep. Two hours later, Pram and I were still awake, but Rio was fast asleep. After that, we fell asleep too. When we woke up, Rio was just silent, and then he started doing this on the incline," Yono explained.
"It's impossible for Rio to be like this if he didn't do something!" Bella snapped, her frustration growing.
"I heard someone open the tent last night, Bel," Tyas added.
"After the sand hitting the tent stopped, I saw a shadow walk toward the right. Isn't that the direction of the shrine? I didn't dare open the tent, so I just watched the shadow pass us and fade away."
Bella's thoughts turned dark. Their supplies were low, and she remembered Rio's joke when they first started the climb.
He had looked at the offerings at the temple and said:
"Our food is running low. Maybe I'll just be brave and snatch some of the 'ghost food' in this forest tonight!"
Bella realized that he might have actually done it. Rio had eaten the offerings.
You idiot! Bella thought, watching Rio continue his mindless, bloody run.