6. Meet

"My life is filled with darkness. I didn't expect that I would find you among the darkness that has locked you in it."

- Laura Chintya Bella

***

The sound of gurgling came from footsteps on a fallen dry leaf. The calm, tense atmosphere made Vikram's hair stand on end. His eyes scanned the deserted surroundings. As far as the eye could see there were only large towering trees and an old, faded white-painted building with vines clinging to the walls.

"Ra, let's just go back! This place is scary." Vikram said quietly but Laura didn't respond.

They finally arrived in front of the old building they had seen before. Laura looked around, her brow furrowed in deep thought. "Are you sure it's here?"

"I'm sure this is the place because it's exactly the same as what I saw." Vikram swallowed his saliva roughly. Although he was horrified by the building in front of him, he couldn't help but feel confident that what he saw in his dream was never wrong.

"Hmm." Laura muttered as she stepped to the right of the building, looking for clues about the building. Her eyes immediately rounded when she saw the gate that read 'Hope Mental Hospital.'

"Vikram! I ask again, is this really the place?!" Laura's voice suddenly rose, her eyes fixed on Vikram who nodded confidently.

Seeing Vikram answer confidently made Laura turn around and immediately ran down the tightly closed main door. Vikram was shocked for a while but he finally caught up with Laura.

Laura enters the hospital which is supposedly the place where the man Vikram saw in his dream is. Her hand tightly gripped the paper with the face of the man who would become her destiny in the future. Laura must find the man before something untoward happens to him.

The halls of the Mental Hospital seemed deserted, making Laura confused. Is the hospital no longer operating or is it like this? Laura's hands clenched tightly, no matter what Laura had to find the man.

Laura opened every room door in the hospital halls. But, inside there was nothing, not even a bed to sleep in. Almost all the rooms are empty, not filled with a single item.

"Where? Where exactly are you?!!" Laura screamed in anger, her teeth chattering with anger. She was angry with herself for not having found the man.

Unexpectedly, Laura's scream was met with a scream of pain that could be heard from the end of the dark hallway.

"Argh!!!"

"That voice..." Laura was about to run to the end of the hall, but Vikram grabbed her hand. Laura rebelled brutally, her patience running low.

"Ra, calm down! We don't know what's at the end of the hall." Vikram glared at Laura who was still stubborn.

"I can't! I just heard his voice, he's in pain! And I don't want him to be hurt!" Laura hit Vikram's arm with all her might, she finally freed from Vikram's grip and ran to the end of the hall.

"LAURA!!!" Vikram snorted in annoyance, since when was Laura so interested in the opposite sex? Usually she is only interested in Laras, to the point of making Vikram uncomfortable.

Laura's eyes lit up when she found a door at the end of the hall. She tried to open it, but immediately realized that the door was locked. "Tsk, dammit!"

Laura couldn't find the key, she finally banged on the door screaming. "There's someone inside? You can hear my voice, right?"

There was no answer, Laura put her ear to the door and she heard a faint cry of pain. The sound made Laura even more nervous, she ran through her hair and found a hairpin to unlock the door.

Many times Laura failed, cold sweat ran down her temples but her spirit never subsided. "Come on, open up!"

The door finally opened, the first thing Laura saw was darkness. The room was very dark and felt dark. Laura faintly smelled the rancid smell with someone's low-pitched groan of pain. Laura admitted that the atmosphere was horrifying, but Laura even considered herself scarier than ghosts.

Laura reached into her pocket and turned on the flashlight from her cell phone. Unexpectedly the flashlight managed to make Laura see the figure of the man she was looking for. Laura's body immediately cooled, the man in front of her looked pathetic and neglected. The man was wearing a worn-out hospital gown. His hair is long, I don't know how long it's been shaved. Fine hairs filled his chin. His hands and feet were even chained in a standing position.

Laura walked over, she pointed her cell phone at the man's arm which had some pretty deep bite marks and bleeding. His wrists and legs turned blue who knew how long he had been chained like that.

Laura accidentally caught several injection marks around the man's neck and shoulders. "How dare they do that!" Laura growled angrily. Her eyes glanced at Vikram who was already behind her.

"Vikram, find out about this man's identity and what happened to keep him here for so long! I want to hurry!"

"Okay, Ra. I'll prepare the car first." Vikram turned to drive his car to the front door of the hospital so Laura wouldn't have to walk all the way to his car.

Sensing Vikram had moved away from her place, Laura raised her hand to caress the man's partially covered face. "What happened all this time? Why are you in a place like this?"

Laura took a deep breath. The man seemed to feel a caress on his face, his eyes slowly opened and found a woman who was looking at him affectionately. His dry lips slowly parted as he was about to say something, but he realized that only a hoarse voice escaped his mouth. His eyes immediately showed panic when he realized that the touch on his face was no longer felt.

"Don't panic. I want to find something that can break the chain." Laura stroked the man's hair. She circulated her cell phone to every corner of the room and found a baseball bat in the corner.

Laura took the stick and intended to hit the chain to break it. However, Laura managed to catch the man's eyes filled with fear thinking that Laura would hit him the way they had hit him all along if he continued to rebel.

"Relax, okay? I'll break the chain." Feeling the anxiety that hit the man made Laura try to calm him down.

Crack!

The chains finally broke, Laura carried the man's body in her arms. The man's body seemed weak and powerless so he could fall at any moment if Laura didn't hold him properly. Laura carried the man out of the room. Laura turned to the man who had been staring at her.

"What's your name?" Laura shook her head when she realized that the man couldn't answer her in his current voice. She turned her gaze forward to continue walking. However, the man rubbed his head against Laura's neck as if he wanted her to see him again.

"Why?" Laura looked back at the man. The man looked like a small dog that his master wanted to pay attention to. Ah, Laura didn't think the hunt for her pet turned out to be successful.

The man's lips opened again saying one word silently. Laura watched him intently. "Ang...ka...sa? Angkasa? So, your name is Angkasa?"

The man winked in response. Laura smiled lopsidedly. "Okay, Angkasa. Starting today you are officially my pet."