Murder In The Old Castle
338. Caught

The car that Niken was driving slowly approached the castle building that looked magnificent. The night was very quiet and dark, for there was no light to light the way. The moon is not seen tonight.  The only light came from the light beam of the Niken car. The policewoman saw a circular clock on her wrist.

"At 23.34. It'll be midnight soon, and I'll be at the castle. May I have a good welcome," muttered Niken.

He parked the car into the castle courtyard, under a large tree. The wide and large castle gate is seen open unguarded. This is indeed common because the gate was never locked, so anyone can enter the castle freely. After getting out of the car, Niken looked at the castle building in amazement. Previously, he had almost entered, but was rejected outright by Dimas. Now, he has equipped himself with an official duty letter from the police. No one else will refuse.

Unfortunately, it came too late. The atmosphere of the castle was quiet and silent, so Niken felt confused about where to enter. It's impossible to get through the front door, because it must have been locked. The side door is too. All the doors seem closed. He was forced to walk to the back of the castle connected to the swimming pool. Niken walked while dragging his backpack through the block paving road that divides the park. He was actually tired and wanted to rest, but he was unable to enter the castle for now. The shadow to be able to immediately enjoy the soft bed, slowly faded.

To relieve his fatigue, Niken sat in the gazebo near the pool. Perhaps if he could not enter the castle, he would sleep in this gazebo until the morning. The weather outside was quite cold, not to mention dozens of mosquitoes scattered to find a gap to suck his blood. But Niken doesn't care. He just wants to stretch his back that feels stiff because it takes too long to drive a car.

Just as he was about to plunge himself, suddenly in the darkness of night he saw a shadow that settled out from the back porch towards the warehouse area. At first, Niken wanted to call the figure, but he undoed the intention because the figure he saw looked suspicious. Niken felt this was not a good thing. Surely everyone will think the same, when they see there are people with suspicious movements before midnight blind like this. Niken was moved to follow the suspicious figure.

He walked over the tiptoe carefully, so that the figure he followed did not catch him. The figure also walked snuggled along the wall, towards the warehouse building behind the castle. The warehouse building looked large and spacious, like it had been renovated. The warehouse was burned down by a previous tragic incident. Apparently, the figure's purpose was the warehouse. He tried to open the door of the warehouse with suspicious gestures, but seemed to be in trouble.

"There's no way it's a thief" murmured Niken.

Niken thought, if indeed the figure was a thief, then it was impossible for him to break into a warehouse that only contained used goods. After all, why would a thief patronize a castle that was as remote as this? Niken watched the movements of the mysterious figure from behind the wall. Suddenly, something strange happened. The figure disappeared quickly, either already entering the warehouse or switching to another place. Niken didn't see very clearly, because it was dark. The lights behind the castle were inadequate, making it difficult for her eyesight.

"Well, how did he suddenly disappear? Where ya?"

Niken dyedukan's. He stepped forward, approaching the warehouse door to check whether the warehouse door was still locked or even open. Turns out the barn door is still locked. So where did the mysterious figure go? Niken was confused. A moment later, he felt like he was being framed, as if being lured to follow the figure that had suddenly disappeared. Realizing what had happened, Niken hurriedly took a thousand steps away from the place that felt unsafe.

Unfortunately, just a few steps away, he felt his mouth smothered by a cloth, then his body was slammed backwards. Not until there, he had not realized what had happened, a stick of metal hit his head until unconscious!

Duuk!

Niken remembered nothing more as her body was slowly dragged into the castle through the back door. Then, slowly, Niken's sagging body, was swept down the basement. Then down the dark alley, towards a room that is located somewhat hidden. The door of the room opened, then Niken's body was thrown into the room whose floor was damp and cold.

Blaam!

The figure then locks the door of the room, leaving Niken alone in the room. Meanwhile, Niken is still unconscious. He did not realize the bad thing that was happening to him.

***

Rosita wakes up from her sleep, finding her husband out of place. He was afraid of himself in the room. Moreover, the atmosphere of the room was so quiet and cold. He was confused, wanted to wake up, but was afraid because he was still traumatized by the incident. Then where did Edwin go, murmured Rosita. Or maybe he's out for a moment?

"Edwin, where are you?" call Rosita.

In a state of fear, Rosita got up from her bed, then walked towards the door, to lock it. He does not want to repeat bad things. His condition is still unstable, he does not want to take any risks.  Rosita picked up a sweater, put it on and walked back to the bed. However, just sitting for a while, he suddenly heard the door of the room being knocked. Rosita's heart seemed to have heard that knock. He was so traumatized by the little things in this castle.

"Who?" ask Rosita.

Tok .. tok .. tok!

Rosita's voice was not so loud, apparently not heard by the knocker door. The door was knocked even harder. Rosita's getting restless. He really didn't want to open the door to his room. He does not want to be careless anymore.

"Rose! Why is the door locked? Open door! It's me!"

Suddenly a man's voice came from outside the room. At first, Rosita was still hesitant about the voice, as it sounded a bit different from the voice of Edwin, her husband.

"Rose! Open door! You're okay, right?"

"Edwin? Is that you?" ask Rosita to convince me.

"Yes Ros! It´s me! I was eating in the kitchen because I was starving. I also brought it for you, quickly open the door!" said the voice claiming to be Edwin from the outside.

Rosita was a little scared. Isn't this early in the morning, why did Edwin bother to bring food for himself? He dared to go back to the door, although he still doubted that the one who was calling him was Edwin. To be sure, Rosita intends to ask questions to the figure who knocked on the door.

"September 13th, it's Thursday, you're wearing a white dress with a rose on your bun. You said that time your shoes were small and asked for a change. Don't you?" answer Edwin.

Rosita smiled a little. He did not expect that Edwin remembered small things that even he had not thought of. She wanted to test her husband again.

"What is my zodiac?" ask Rosita.

"Libra, a thoughtful man, is somewhat stubborn, but wise. However, sometimes haughty and annoying, so for people who do not know you well, consider yourself a figure of disgust. You are a warm, caring, friendly woman" replied the voice across the door.

Once again, Rosita smiled. There is no reason not to open the door. She opened the door to the room, finding her husband carrying two pieces of doughnuts in a dish. He smiled at his wife.

"We're going to party tonight! I want to celebrate your recovery!" edwin.

"Not to overdo it Edwin. You know, donuts contain a lot of calories and are not good to eat at night. We better take a quick rest so that tomorrow morning we can wake up refreshed!" advice Rosita.

"Oh, come on, Ros! I'm not sleepy, after all, it's early in the morning. We don't have to sleep anymore. I'll get you a drink in the kitchen. I just happened to see some bottles of cola in the fridge. I brought it here, didn't I?"

Rosita could not bear to see the efforts of her husband in such a way. He felt that sometimes Edwin was a romantic figure, but sometimes he was also indifferent. Rosita did not want to waste the opportunity, she nodded approving of the proposal. Paras Edwin seemed to sparkle instantly. He immediately went out to the kitchen to pick up the cola in the fridge. However, he had not had time to take Cola, suddenly his ears heard a strange sound.

"As if there was a cry for help. Whose voice in the early hours is this?"

Edwin stopped taking the carbonated drink from the refrigerator, then further sharpened his hearing, in case he misheard. For a moment, the atmosphere sounded silent. Edwin shrugged, muttering, "I may have heard wrong. It's just the sound of the wind."

But just as he opened the refrigerator door, a scream was heard. This time it was clearer. Of course, this makes the hair bristles. He did not feel drunk or hallucinating, The voice sounded clearer, making him more curious.

"It looks like from the ground mule room. Do I have to check it?"

In fact, the voice Edwin heard was neither a delusion nor a hallucination. It was Niken's voice from the basement. Apparently, Niken was starting to wake up. He found himself in a stuffy and dark room, there was no one in that place. Of course, it made him very afraid. He tried to stand up, and opened the door of the room, but it was locked.

Panicked, Niken finally cried out for help, hoping that someone would hear her scream. Unfortunately, to the rasp of his voice, no one came. Niken was upset, then hit the door made of steel while swearing.

"Damn!"

He tried to remember the previous events, before he was trapped in this room. He remembered that he still left his suitcase bag in the gazebo near the swimming pool, then he saw a strange figure that settled in the pool. However, apparently he was trapped and paralyzed by a figure who is completely unknown to his existence or identity.

Niken was really upset and angry. Slowly, he recalls being held captive in an abandoned house with Rani, Renita Martin's sister. His condition is no better now. He is now trapped in a dark and isolated space, unable to see the outside. Of course, the chances of escaping would be much more difficult. The only good thing about this captivity, his mouth was not taped to duct tape like that time. However, he still felt very uncomfortable in that place.

***

Miles away from the castle, Dimas still had not returned to his residence. He is still struggling with the data he dismantled from the police station while matching the data he found on the internet. He began to record one by one anyone who still survives in the castle. Though the day had gone to morning, but Dimas still forced himself to work.

The first name he wrote was Aditya. He did not manage to find any data on the internet about this man, only he found general data in the police data base. He was never involved in crime and was always on time to pay taxes. He married Lidya, not yet blessed with a son. They live in a pretty elite house on the outskirts of town. Dimas carefully observed the data.

Then, he turns to the High School Yearbook given by Mariah. He managed to find Aditya photos, along with personal data. In addition, he can see in the yearbook, Adit's hobbies are football and basketball. Dimas is still in the stage of collecting data, not yet in the stage of checking more deeply about each inhabitant of the castle.

Later, Dimas switched to browsing data from the internet. He is very interested in the blog site written by Mariah. The blog contains writings on tips in the world of romance. He did not expect that the wife of Ammar also liked the world of writing. In one of his articles entitled The Power of Friendship, Dimas found a photo that was quite interesting because he had never known before. Dimas finds a photo of the High School girls taking a picture together, with the caption The Girl Squad below. Dimas was a little surprised, as he thought that these girls were not from the same high school, but apparently they had known him for a long time.

In the photo uploaded a few years ago, there are photos of cute girls, wearing high school uniforms and some plain clothes. He can recognize Mariah who is so beautiful when sitting in high school. His hair is still bangs, while others even have his hair still braided. Then Dimas also found photos of Lily, Rosita, Nadine, Stella, and Maya!

"God! Apparently they have been friends for a long time!" mummified Dimas.

Dimas is getting curious. He continued reading the blog, until he found a large enough letter at the end of the article.

WE ARE ONE TILL FOREVER!

***