"I'll go into it. This is getting more interesting," Hendra said as he stepped into the square hole.
The young man quickly disappeared into it. Leaving Lusia who began to feel anxious because she was left alone.
"Hen, don't stay long. I'm afraid!" Lusia screamed from outside.
"I won't belong. Just you wait ...!" Hendra replied from inside. A voice echoed, the sign that the hole looked like a room.
Lusia took a deep breath. He wanted to stop Hendra from entering the hole because his feelings were starting to feel bad. But on the other hand, he felt that he had no right to control the young man because he was the one who forced him to follow the young man into this forest.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes, up to four minutes, Lusia was waiting worriedly, Hendra had not seen the bridge of his nose.
"Hendra ...?" Lusia called out into the hole. His voice echoed through the mysterious passage.
But there was no reply from the young man. Lusia furrowed her brows. Where is Hendra? Was that young man deliberately frightening himself by not responding to his summons?
Lusia smiled wryly. If that was the case, it meant that the young man had little attention to him. Aha!
Lusia's anxiety eased up a little with that thought in her head.
"Hendra! Uy, don't stay there too long!" He looked into the hole.
Again, there was no reply. His heart began to waver. Maybe Hendra didn't hear for some reason, not because he wanted to make fun of him.
He was confused by himself. Gradually the girl retreated and sat languidly on the grass beside the stone building. His gaze looks restless.
"What happened to Hendra?" he hissed.
The tame deer approached him and sat beside him. Licking the girl's arm, until the girl laughed. And in return stroking the deer. "You are my solace. Will you be my best friend forever?" he whispered, churning out the animal's head.
Strangely, the animal laid its head, which had long horns on Lusia's lap, as if she wanted to be spoiled.
Lusia was amazed.
"Who are you? I'm not sure if you are the original inhabitant of this forest. You're so tame unlike most wild animals," he hissed. He stared into the eyes of the deer with a look of amazement.
From the start, he felt strange about the deer. The one with an attitude that couldn't be if the animal was a forest animal.
The minutes passed, making Lusia even more restless. Over and over again he walked to the hole in the stone structure and poked his head there. He repeatedly shouted Hendra's name there, but there was still no response.
"Where are you Hendra ?! Answer me! I'm getting scared!" Lusia was getting frustrated.
He sat languidly leaning against the wall of the hole where Hendra plunged himself.
Strong wind blows again. Bringing dry leaves and twigs. The lightning in the sky suddenly boomed, the clouds looked cloudy.
It seemed like it was going to rain a lot.
He wants to come back to
riverside, to ask Martinus for help, but he was afraid to walk alone in the forest.
Just entered the area because it was with Hendra. The girl finally sat there in resignation, accompanied by the tame deer.
He pulled the nearest grass to give to the deer who faithfully accompanied him. The deer ate some clumps but refused others because they were full. Lucia tried to smile amid her confusion.
"If you can understand my language, I want to ask what's going on with this forest? Where has Hendra gone, and... why do you want to accompany me?" Lucia asked as she looked into the clear eyes of the deer who continued to sit, unwilling to move away from her.
The girl kept trying to communicate with the wild animal that behaved strangely to dispel her anxiety.
The deer lifted its head as if it understood what Lucia was talking about.
And the girl was flabbergasted when she saw the animal's eyes were filled with tears, like tears. Then looked down as Lucia looked at him unblinking.
"Are you... crying?" The girl stared in disbelief. "Fine, fine! I don't know who you are. But at least say something useful for me at this time," Lusia then patted the animal's cheek lightly. "I have to make sure that Hendra is okay, and get out of this forest. I'm starting to get scared..."
The deer moaned softly. He looked up for a moment, then slowly walked toward the square hole.
Lucia followed him in astonishment. Animals are not only tame but also can communicate in their way. Maybe this animal is a stealth countryman, he thought.
The animal kissed the square stone supporting the open hole.
Lucy furrowed her brows.
"You want me to follow Hendra inside?"
The beast sat beside the pit.
"Okay. Maybe that's what you mean. I'm scared. But I want to make sure Hendra is okay," after saying that Lusia slowly climbed the lip of the hole, then went down the steps in the form of stairs. His heart was haunted by a feeling of trepidation. What's down there? Why doesn't Hendra come back?
With a pounding heart, he descended. His wide eyes swept across the gloom in the hole.
"Oooh!" Lucia was taken aback. Down below, which is a narrow square room, you can see Hendra sitting leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. It didn't move, while in the middle of the room there was another object in the shape of a square 2 meters long. It was also made of stone.
Lusia ignored the object in the middle of the room but quickly approached Hendra who was leaning on it.
"Hendra...!" Confused mixed with anxiety he shook the young man's shoulder.
The young man didn't move. "Hen... wake up, Hen! Wake up!" he continued to shake it until the young man opened his eyes slightly.
Lucia squealed in relief. "Thank goodness you're still alive! Hen, why are you like this?!"
He grabbed the young man's arm. Hendra looked very weak. His face was also very pale. "Sorry I can't tell you my situation, it's a good thing you came here...." Hendra said softly.
"What happened?" Lucia whispered in fear. He looked around him.
Hendra vigorously raised his hand to point at the box-shaped object in the narrow space. "Don't you go near that thing...! I... have been trying to open it... until I'm like this..."
Lucia quickly turned her head towards the pointed object. Then looked at Hendra with confusion mixed with fear. "What should I do, Hen? And what's in that thing?"
"All my blood seemed to be sucked in when I opened it, luckily I quickly closed it again, uh..." the young man tried to lean his head back against the wall because he almost fell to the floor.
"Oh..." Lucia was getting scared. "We have to get out of this forest! It turns out that what people say is true. This forest does have a curse," Lucia hissed while holding the young man's arm.
Between fear and curiosity, he glanced back at the square stone in the center of the room. "What do you see in that thing?" she whispered.
"The figure of a naked woman looks like it, but it's not very clear. It looks like it's just a body but still intact... I only had time to see... the legs" Hendra grimaced because his head was getting dizzy.
"Hold on, Hen! I'm trying to get you out here. It's all my fault," Lusia tried to support the young man.
"Thank you, Luis. But if you can't afford it, just leave me here. You look for Martinus, ask him for help," said Hendra in a low voice. The young man drooped, even more, his eyes starting to dim.
"Hen? Hendra...?!" Lucia patted the young man's cheek. "Ouch! What is this? Even though he's my only hope to get out of this forest!" he complained.
The beautiful girl kept trying to wake Hendra. He also tried to support the young man's body, but it was too heavy and fell to the floor again. "Oops! Sorry, sorry...!" Lusia tried to stretch Hendra's body that fell face down.
The girl was confused. He paced for a moment, then looked up toward the outside of the hole. "How do you get Hendra out? Geez! This is the god-level difficulty!" The girl grumbled.
After waiting for a long time, Hendra did not wake up and he decided to get out of the hole. Previously he was staring timidly at the square stone that was inside.
Slowly he climbed the stone steps. "Hold on, Hen... I'm looking for help," he whispered.
With trembling legs, he continued to step out of the hole. When he was outside a thick cloud greeted him.
The tame deer were still there. "You're loyal, too!" said Lucia in a trembling voice.
Aksara