WOMAN IN BLACK

The sky is starting to turn red when a car pulled up on a deserted street at the end of a village. In a few moments, the sun will set. An hour ago, these four people should be in their inn. However, the car broke down. The journey to the inn is still about an hour by car from the end of the village where their car stops, while the nearest car repair shop is quite far away.

A girl in a red shirt puts her hands on her waist while looking at the car in front of her. “Does it work?” she asked her two friends who tried to fix what is wrong with the car.

“Perhaps we have to change our plan.” A boy with glasses wipes his sweaty forehead. He shakes his head as a sign that the car is still beyond repair.

“Since there is no signal here, we should look for the nearest inn and borrow a landline phone to contact a mechanic.” The other boy suggested.

“Yeah, it’s not a bad idea. We have no choice either.” A curly haired girl replied.

“Can you help me unload these cases from the car, Naura?” The boy in the plain black shirt whose name is Gala opens the car door and unloads the cases.

“Okay.” The girl in a red shirt approaches Gala and helps him to move the cases. Their two friends, Trisha and Ezra, take their cases out of the trunk.

“Alright, where will we go then?” Ezra looks around and starts to notice that it is getting quiet and dark.

“Maybe we can stay in a villager’s house just for one night.” Gala gave a suggestion.

“Don’t you think that we will trouble them?” Trisha commented.

“It’s better to look for another inn near this village,” said Naura.

“You decide.”

They walk down the street, looking for the nearest inn. As time goes on, the scenery around them begins to be surrounded by lush trees. The sun has disappeared over the western horizon. Ezra turns on the flashlight because it is dark around them. There is only the dim moonlight illuminating their steps.

“Look! There is a light!” Naura points to a large old house near a bridge.

“Are you sure that we’re going to go there?” Trisha grimaced. She feels horrified to see the house that looks neglected.

“It’s better than freezing to death in the forest. Besides, it’s rainy season now. We didn't prepare tents for this kind of situation,” said Gala.

The old house looks scary when viewed up close. Lots of shrubs and weeds grow in the yard. The lights on the side of the garden don't work anymore and no one takes care of them. The four of them sigh. The voice of their breath is heard clearly accompanied by the sound of crickets and other nocturnal animals. They stare at each other.

“What are you doing here?” A voice made them tiptoe in shock.

There is a man standing behind them. That man is holding a flashlight which shines on the faces of these four people. A few minutes later, the man pushes the flashlight away from their faces after he saw they were dazzled.

Ezra explains to the man what happened to their car and what their plan was. Then, he says, “Um… We’re looking for an inn. However, we only find this… house.” Ezra hesitated slightly when he said ‘house’.

The man looks angry. He kicks us out of here. Ezra tries to persuade him. After negotiating, they were finally allowed to stay in the house for a night by paying almost the same amount of money as the inn they were supposed to stay in.

The man takes the key out of his trouser pocket. He seems to always carry the keys with him wherever he goes. Then, he opens the padlock that locked the tall fence which the paint was peeling off.

“I am the keeper of this house,” he said when he opened the door.

The house is quite tidy inside. The man said that he cleaned up the house this day. He usually cleans up the house once in two weeks.

“You can use the rooms on the second floor. The bathroom is at the end of the room,” he explained.

The man walks away. However, he stops after walking a few steps. He looks back and says, “Ah, I almost forgot to say. Don't touch anything in this house. And don't go into any room other than the bathroom, kitchen, and your own room. Watch your words and your actions.”

“Or what?”

“Or the Woman in Black will kill you.” The man chuckled. They get goosebumps hearing the man's innocent laugh. Then, the man leaves the room.

Ezra goes straight to the living room to get a landline phone. Naura says that she will go to her room earlier. Meanwhile Trisha and Gala sit on the sofa.

“Yes, I left my car there.” Ezra is still talking with the mechanic.

“What?”

“Okay, thank you.” Ezra ends the call.

“Is there something wrong, Ezra?” Trisha realized that Ezra was a little annoyed when he hung up the phone.

“The mechanic can only come tomorrow morning.”

Gala replies, “It isn’t a big deal. We decided to stay here tonight. You were the one who negotiated with that man so that we can stay here. Then, what’s now?”

“The thing is... He said something ridiculous.”

“What is it?” asked Trisha.

“He doesn’t want to go here because he said that this house is haunted.” Ezra stops talking for a moment. “Twelve years ago, there was a woman who committed suicide in this place.”

“Do you mean…” Gala didn't continue his question.

“Woman in black.” Trisha replied.

Ezra agrees, “Yes. He said so.”

Gala taps her thigh. Then he stands up. “I will make some tea. Would you like some?”

“I want a cup of coffee.” Ezra ordered.

“I will ask Naura, what she wants to drink.”

Trisha goes to the second floor and knock Naura’s room door. Naura opens the door slightly and says that she wants a cup of tea.

“Oh? It's such an unexpected choice. She used to drink coffee.” Gala muttered as he stepped into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, a scream is heard from the second floor.

“AAAAAAAAA!!!”

Gala, Ezra, and Trisha run to Naura’s room. When they arrive at the door, they hear Naura is crying and trying to open the door, but the door cannot be opened. Gala also tries to open the doorknob, but it does not work either.

“Naura, please stay away from the door!”

“Please… help me. Please…” Naura is sobbing in the room.

“Stay away from the door! I will break down the door.” Gala is getting ready to kick the door.

Once Gala kicks the door, Naura runs into Ezra's arms.

Ezra tries to calm Naura down, “That’s okay. That’s okay. You are safe now.”

Gala goes to the window and looks around. There is no one here.

Trisha crouches in the place where Gala is standing now. She finds a tattered paper there, right by Gala’s feet.

“What is that?” Ezra asked Trisha.

Trisha reads the writing on the paper. It was written in capital letters using red marker. “KILL YOURSELF OR I WILL DO IT FOR YOU.”

At the same time, it is drizzling rain outside. Not too heavy, but it is enough to make the atmosphere more spooky.

“There was a woman out there.” Naura said quietly.

“You will be okay,” said Ezra.

“Yeah, we’re here.” Gala replied.

An hour later, the atmosphere has begun to calm down. Naura says that she wants to take a rest. She allows her friends to return to their rooms. Not long after, Gala comes back with a cup of tea that he had forgotten.

***

It is ten o’clock. Gala is sitting in the living room on the first floor. He is enjoying his cold coffee. As he looks towards the window, a flash of shadow appears accompanied by a strange sound. He can clearly see that the one who has just passed him was a person dressed in black. That person was wearing a broad sun hat made of palm leaves surrounded by black cloth. Gala sticks. He does not flinch or scream at all.

He tries to forget what he has seen by playing with his phone. He swipes the screen of his smartphone carelessly. There is nothing he can do with a phone without a network.

“What are you doing, Gala?”

Gala is shocked, but after he looks at the source of the voice, he feels relieved. It was Naura.

“Nothing. I'm just dealing with my insomnia or something.” Gala smiled.

“Um... Can you accompany me to the bathroom? I've tried knocking on Trisha's door, but she didn't answer. Maybe she's asleep.”

“Okay.” Gala walks behind Naura. He waits for Naura in front of the bathroom. Before Naura entered the bathroom, she said, “Don't go anywhere.”

Gala answers, “Sure.”

Naura is humming inside. Gala can hear that the girl is singing over the sound of the faucet turning on. He plays with her phone while waiting for Naura. He looks at the gallery on his smartphone which is filled with Naura's photos. In almost all photos, Naura holds a cup of coffee while laughing. Gala took her picture while they were at the coffee shop with Ezra and Trisha. Gala smiled.

Unfortunately, Gala's daydream has to be stopped when he sees Ezra sneaking into Trisha's room. The place where Gala stands is not illuminated by the light of the lamp. So, Ezra does not notice that he is three rooms away from Trisha's room.

Ezra opens Trisha’s room door. Trisha’s room is dark. A moment later, the light is on. Ezra screams, “NOOOOOOO!!!”

Gala runs to Ezra. As soon as he looks into Trisha's room, he does not move an inch. Trisha was found hanging by a rope around her neck.

A moment later, Naura comes. She screams loudly. “TRISHAAAA!” She cries until her face turns red.

***

An hour later, the police come. Ezra is still devastated, so do the others. They are questioned about the incident in detail.

“I know it is something unbelievable, but I saw a woman in black clothes.” Gala explained his experience. “But…”

A young man from the police comes to him. “But, what?” He saw the doubt on Gala's face.

“Maybe it's just my feeling.”

“Whatever it is, we need everything in your mind.” The young man said impatiently. “Of course it must be related to the case.”

Then, Gala told about the strange voice which was heard from the roof. Then, he glances at Ezra while telling the young man about that guy who was acting strange before Trisha was found died.

“Okay, we've asked each of you about your alibis. Ezra, you received a letter tucked in the door. In that letter, you were asked to come to Trisha's room quietly because Trisha was about to say something you didn't know what it was. Gala, when the victim died, you were accompanying Naura to the bathroom. And Naura, you’re supposed to be in the bathroom. Am I right, lady and gentlemen?”

“’You’re supposed to be’? What does that mean?” Naura is offended by the young man's words.

“You are not expecting that I will apologize, aren’t you?”

“I don’t understand.” Ezra said.

“From the alibi you have told us earlier, it is certain that Ezra's alibi is the weakest. No one can prove that you were in your room before the victim's death. In this case, Gala and Naura would not be suspected because they could testify to each other's whereabouts.”

“Mr. Ezra, please come with us to the police station.”

“It wasn’t me!”

The young man smirked. “Yeah, I know.”

“That’s what you want me to say. Isn’t it, Miss?” he added.

“Why do you keep pushing me?” Naura cried.

“I know that the victim didn't commit suicide. The forensic team found sleeping pills in her drink. From the time before you called Gala, you could have walked into Trisha's room with your drink. You put medicine in your teacup. Then you change your cup with Trisha’s. After that, you went back to your room. Then, you called Gala to accompany you to the bathroom. While Gala was waiting for you outside, you used the window in the bathroom to make your way out to Trisha's room by chance—or maybe you've intended to set Trisha’s room to align with the bathroom. Afterwards, you hung Trisha. That’s the reason why the cause of death is running out of air. After you hung Trisha and knocked down a chair to make it looked like suicide, you went back to the bathroom through the same window.”

“It’s just your assumption. How could you explain about the song she sang?” Gala seems angry.

The young man rolled his eyes. “You can use a kind of recorder. If you really want to know, you can check your friend’s phone. Then you will find some noises you hear in the bathroom.”

“But still… It doesn’t prove that Naura is the subject.”

The young man comes to Naura. He grabs that girl's hand. “Can you see this?”

“The glitter. There is golden glitter on her sleeve and on her face. I assumed that the glitter stuck to her face when she acted crying. You don’t realize it, don’t you? It’s the same glitter found in Trisha’s book. Trisha's book is a special edition. So, the cover is decorated with golden glitter. You got this glitter maybe when you got rid of the book that was in Trisha's hand at the time you wanted to hang her. Can you explain to me why did people who want to commit suicide read romance books that they actually like? Would she fill her head with fun scenes in the book? Certainly not. After all, people who were about to commit suicide would not use skin care on their faces. Did she want to look beautiful when she becomes a corpse? It's ridiculous.”

“Enough!” Naura shouted. “I did it.”

Naura tells the police about what she did. Then, the police take her go. Before Naura entered the car, Gala asked, “But why?”

Naura looks at Gala, “I am sorry.”

The police car which is carrying Naura has left. Gala pulls his own hair. “I still didn’t get it. How about woman in black and all?”

“Ah, that doll? We found it in the garage along with the robe that supports the trick. That strange voice you hear, maybe your girl was walking on the roof swinging a doll for you to see. About the letter, she might pretend to be haunted in order to dispel people's suspicions of her.”

“Why did she do it? I mean, killing her friend.”

 Ezra says softly, “Maybe it’s because of me.”

“What?”

“Naura said to me a few days ago before we went here. She said that she likes me, but I told her that I like Trisha. Finally, I understand why she said sorry when she hugged me few hours ago.”

THE END