The smell of cold sweat still clung to my skin, the residue of the shootout in the narrow alley this afternoon. My heart was pounding hard inside this speeding train. I had managed to get away, leaving Surya sprawled alone in that dark alley.
My head leaned against the window; my reflection looked like a desperate person staring back at me. I should have felt relieved, but all I felt was guilt, as if I had just abandoned my own brother to be devoured. I knew I had no choice, but this feeling of shame still strangled me.
I got off in a small town far from Jakarta. I rented a boarding room that looked rundown and neglected, double-locked the door, and collapsed onto the musty-smelling bed. I had to hide.
The mysterious message I received after the explosion at the coffee stall kept looping in my head. Who was he? Not Rio, not Surya, but he knew everything about the locket and that key.
I closed my eyes, trying to calm down, but the memory of Surya being shot surfaced again. Maybe he deserved it, but he saved me. That sacrifice confused me — somewhere between hatred and an unpayable debt.
The next day I didn't dare go out. I ordered food through an app, hiding like a rat in a hole. The new phone I'd bought stayed on silent; I didn't want contact with anyone.
By late afternoon I started to feel a little calmer. I decided to be brave. I had to contact Aisyah. She was the only person left to me, the only one who didn't know how rotten my life had become.
I grabbed my phone, searched for her name in the old contacts I hid in my shoe. I held my breath as my finger pressed the call button. The phone rang once, twice, but no answer.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock at my room door, followed by a heavy male voice. "Excuse me, there's a package for Mr. Gamali. Open quickly, I'm in a hurry!"
I froze. Who knew I was here? My heart started racing again; the fear I thought had gone stabbed me anew. I walked slowly to the door and peeked through the peephole.
Outside stood a courier in a green cap and jacket holding a fairly large white styrofoam box. I exhaled, slightly relieved — maybe it was the food I'd ordered.
I unlocked, pulled the door a bit, and the courier thrust the package into my hand. "Sign here, sir. Quick," he said impatiently.
I took the package. It didn't feel like food and it was very cold in my hands. Before I could ask, the courier turned and walked away quickly, disappearing from view. His behavior felt suspicious.
I shut the door, locked it again, and put the package on the table. Curiosity mixed with fear pushed me to open it. I tore the tape with the tip of the folding knife I always carry.
As soon as the styrofoam lid came off, a strange smell hit me — fishy, sharp, and very foul. I swallowed; my bad feeling peaked. Inside, there was a chunk of ice and... it.
My eyes widened; I dropped the folding knife to the floor with a loud clatter and nearly screamed.
In the middle of the ice shards was a human heart. A heart that was no longer whole, bluish and haphazardly cut, sent to me like a grocery parcel.
"Bastard! Asshole!" I cursed, stepping back and hitting the wall. My breaths came ragged; my stomach threatened to empty. This was no longer a threat — this was the most sadistic, brutal message I had ever received.
I forced myself forward again, trembling, to look closer. Beside the heart was a small note placed inside a clear plastic bag.
With hands shaking violently, I grabbed the note and pulled it from the disgusting ice package. The handwriting was neat — printed, not handwritten — adding to its professional, cruel feel.
I read it, and the sentence hit me harder than a bullet: "Stop searching. Or Aisyah will be next."
Aisyah. Rio. Korpora. They knew about Aisyah. They'd made her the target. Panic seized my mind. This was no longer about a key or revenge — this was about Aisyah's life.
I immediately grabbed my phone and tried to call Aisyah again. My right hand trembled, pressing the wrong buttons repeatedly. Finally I managed to place the call.
Tuut… Tuut… Tuut…
No answer. Again.
Tuut… Tuut… Tuut…
Still no answer. My heart raced in a way I'd never felt before, overpowering every other feeling.
"Dammit! Aisyah, pick up!" I shouted, my voice cracking like a groan. I tried to send a message: "Pick up! You're in danger! Answer me!"
No reply. I couldn't stay still. I couldn't just wait like a coward. They'd sent a heart! They were serious!
I grabbed the keys to the rented automatic scooter from the boarding house owner. I no longer cared about hiding, or about Rio or Surya. Aisyah was my priority.
I opened the door, ran outside, and took the scooter from the quiet parking area. I started it, twisted the throttle to full, ignoring the landlady's puzzled stare.
On the way to Aisyah's house, dark thoughts spun wildly in my head. Who had sent it? Rio? Rio knew I loved Aisyah. He could exploit my biggest weakness.
Rio's betrayal, which had felt vague before, now felt real and disgusting.
I cursed inside my helmet. "You bastard! You won't touch her! You won't!"
I rode over the speed limit. My vengeance had multiplied — not only for Andaru, but now for this vile threat. They would pay dearly for every drop of spilled blood. I swore it.
After ten minutes that felt like hours, I arrived at Aisyah's housing complex. Her house looked dark and quiet. I turned off the scooter, parked across the street.
I walked slowly to Aisyah's house; each step felt heavy, as if I were walking on the sea floor. The closer I got, the sharper the stabbing fear and sense of loss.
I stood at her iron gate. The gate wasn't locked. That was strange. Aisyah always locked the gate. I pushed it and ran to the front door.
I saw something wrong. Very wrong.
Aisyah's front door was ajar, not locked, as if it had just been forced open.
My heart felt like it left my chest. I pushed the door with shaking hands.
The lights inside were off, but the streetlamp's glow through the window revealed a scene that made me want to throw up.
On the living room floor, near the small table where we used to study, was a large dark smear of blood — disgusting. Nearby, the small windowpane by the door was shattered into shards. The blood wasn't fresh, but it clearly showed signs of a struggle.
My eyes scanned the room for Aisyah. Nothing. No one. Only blood, glass, and a killing silence.
I stepped in, crushing glass underfoot. The sound felt deafening in the silence. My breath stopped; my throat tightened.
"Aisyah!" I cried, my voice hoarse and desperate.
I ran to the kitchen — nothing. To Aisyah's bedroom — the door was open, empty. The bed was messy, as if a fight had taken place there.
I went back to the living room and looked at the bloodstain, then at the small table nearby.
There, among the glass fragments, I saw Aisyah's locket — the one with the initial 'A' she always wore — lying alone. The locket felt cold, like a lifeless body.
My hand went up to pick the locket, but as I bent down my eyes caught something else beneath a toppled stack of magazines. A strange glint, like metal.
I pulled the magazines aside and found a bloody kitchen knife hidden underneath. On its handle was an odd engraving. Not Aisyah's initial.
Suddenly I heard a faint sound — a small groan — coming from the direction of the bathroom. The noise was so weak, almost imperceptible, but it gave me hope.
I ran down the hallway to the bathroom, turning the handle with shaking hands. The door opened, and I saw her.
Aisyah. She lay on the floor in the corner behind the sink. Her face was pale, eyes half-closed, and there was a gaping wound on her arm. But she was still breathing.
I knelt beside her; tears fell. "Aisyah! Oh God, Aisyah!"
She opened her eyes slowly and looked at me with a blank stare. Her mouth moved, trying to speak, but only a groan came out.
As I lifted her frail body, I looked behind to the shattered bathroom mirror. There, among the broken pieces, I noticed a symbol — the same one I had seen in Andaru's diary: a strange carving shaped like a coiled snake.
I froze, my arm sticky with blood. This wasn't Rio. This was Korpora. They were here; they had taken her, and Aisyah... Aisyah had tried to fight them!
Suddenly my phone vibrated again. I saw it — Aisyah's number.
I pressed answer, and a woman's voice came through — not Aisyah's, but a woman's. Cold, cruel, mocking.
"Gamali. Too late. Who do you think you are, running from us? Now, your favorite toy is in our hands. You want her to live, right?"
I gripped my phone tightly. "Who are you, you dog?! Tell me! Don't you touch her!" I shouted, my voice raw with anger and fear.
The woman laughed — a laugh that cut to the bone. "I am the one who will make your life more painful than death. Listen carefully, little rat. Come to the address I give, alone. Bring that key, and forget Rio. If you tell anyone, or try to run again, Aisyah's heart will follow the one in your package. And yes, I sent it. I am the true Shadow."
She said Shadow. Not Korpora, not Rio. But Shadow! I had just escaped from Surya who tried to protect me, and now I faced an enemy far more cruel.
I looked back at Aisyah's pale face, kissed her forehead. "I will come back, Aisyah. I promise. Wait for me."
I stood, leaving Aisyah on the bathroom floor with the wound on her arm, knowing I was walking into the hell I had avoided all this time.
I had to find out who this woman was. I had to crush the Shadow.
A message arrived on my phone — an address. I didn't waste time. I knew if I died, I would die taking them down with me.
I ran out of Aisyah's house, leaving bloodstained footprints and ruin behind. I didn't care anymore. I would kill them all.
Aisyah's locket clenched tightly in my left hand, as if it were my last charm. I started the scooter, twisted the throttle, and headed for the address that had just been sent.
I had one goal now: save Aisyah, and kill the Shadow.