"Wisnu."
"Wisnu."
Who is that? I don't recognize that voice. It's deep, hoarse, as if censored. But somehow, it calls my name so familiarly.
"Wisnu."
I'm still comfortable in my sleep. My eyes refuse to open, ignoring the voice. I feel the cool air around me. I can hear the sound of grass swaying, blown by a gentle breeze. Wait?! Where am I?
Slowly, I open my drowsy eyes. This isn't the bunker. I'm standing in the middle of a vast, rolling grassland. The sky is gray, timidly hinting at rain.
"CARL! MRS. LEE! MURDANI!" I call out their names one by one. No answer.
"Wisnu." The voice echoes again.
"Wisnu." It comes from my four o'clock direction. But there's no one there. The voice keeps calling repeatedly.
I start running toward the source of the voice, following wherever it leads me. After running about two hundred meters, I see a door. A wooden teak door, standing alone with no walls around it.
I push the door open. A pitch-black room lies beyond, contrasting sharply with the bright landscape behind me. I step through and close the door behind me. It disappears. Then, a figure appearsâa woman, seemingly familiar. She wears a white coat, standing ten meters away, her back turned toward me, holding something in her hands.
"Wisnu." The voice is clear now. I recognize it instantly.
"Talia? What are you doing here?" I try to approach her.
"Wisnu." I'm just a step away. But my feet freeze. I stop moving. Talia keeps calling my name without turning around.
"Wis.. nu.." She starts sobbing. Then she turns around. Oh no. I'm shocked beyond words.
"What happened to you? What's going on?" Her upper body is covered in blood. Her beautiful face is streaked with red, and her eyes are streaming with tears. In her hands, she cradles a blood-soaked, naked baby.
"I failed, Wisnu. (Hiks). The operation failed. This baby... is gone. (Hiks). I have let everyone down." Her sobs intensify. I look at the baby. It's lifeless. I immediately pull Talia into an embrace, resting her head against my shoulder.
"It's okay. You did your best. Everything will be alright." Talia remains silent, tears flowing uncontrollably.
The endless black room is silent, filled only with the sound of her weeping.
Thirty seconds pass. Suddenly...
"Wisnu." Another voice calls out, breaking the silence. It's not Talia. She's still sobbing.
"Wisnu." It comes from behind me. It's so clear. A voice I haven't heard in a long time. A voice that once belonged to a woman I deeply loved. A voice that once belonged to a woman who also left me broken.
I release my embrace and turn around. She is wearing a white tank-top dress.
"Rachel?!"
Why? What's happening? Why is Rachel here? I was sure I had moved on. So why is she appearing now?
"Wisnu." Her sweet face gazes at me sorrowfully. A tear slowly rolls down her cheek. Then, between sobs, she speaks.
"I still love you."
Oh God. I didn't mishear that, did I?
"Wisnu. Do you love me?" Talia suddenly asks.
"Wisnu. I still love you." Rachel keeps repeating.
"Wisnu. Do you love me?"
"Wisnu. I still love you."
Their voices echo back and forth, over and over. It becomes unbearable. I kneel, clutching both ears, trying to shut them out.
What is happening? Where am I? This isn't real. This must be a dream. But I can't wake up. Someoneâanyoneâplease wake me up.
***
"Ahhhhh...!!!!"
Sweat drenches my entire body. My big toe throbs in pain. I've been woken up the old-fashioned way by Murdani.
"I'm sorry, sir. I felt I had to do it."
Mrs. Lee hands me a glass of water.
"Are you okay, Wisnu?" Carl asks.
I don't answer. I just sit there, catching my breath, trying to regain my awareness. Struggling to separate reality from dreams. The impact of the dream still lingers in my mind. Talia failing the surgery? No, I don't believe it. Rachel? Why did she appear in my dream?
"It seems your heart is still burdened." I shoot a glance at Carl. He quickly looks away, realizing he might have said too much. Carl knows a little about my romantic past from college.
I must have been talking in my sleep. That's the only way Carl could understand what I just went through in my nightmare.
The room falls silent. No further questions or comments. They give me time to collect myself. Then, I head to the bathroom to wash my face and fully wake up.
When I return, Carl, now sitting in his usual spot, resumes the main discussion.
"I've restored the stock system to its original state. By morning, your father's company's stock will be back to normalâthough still slightly down. But it will rebound significantly in two to three days. Who wouldn't believe in Tara Enterprises?"
Before I fell asleep and drifted into that nightmare, I had given Carl one more taskâwith an additional payment of two gold bars. He refused. Instead, he wanted one of the paintings from my apartment. I agreed to his offer. And in the four hours I was unconscious, he had completed the job.
"So, what's your plan?"
"I'm going to take this person to court."
"You sure? They're very powerful, Wisnu."
"They tried to bring my father down. It's time they got taken down instead."
"Okay. I'm in."
"..." I blink, surprised.
"You'll need my help, Wisnu. I'll see this through to the end. No charge."
"Thanks, Carl." I nod with a smile.
***
Carl and I dig deeper into the suspectâhis business, daily life, family, friends, even enemies. Some of his ventures were built legitimately, while others were gained through dirty and illegal meansâthrough threats, murders, even massacres. Again, it was always done through third parties. And not a single media outlet reported on it. He's incredibly skilled at silencing the press. He is truly the man behind the mask.
"Wisnu, this is getting interesting."
Carl pulls up a profile of a man with Eastern European featuresâan Interpol investigator who has been trying to catch our target for the past year. So far, he only has theories and weak evidenceânot enough to convict the maskman.
"We need him."
"..." I sip the hot coffee Mrs. Lee made for me.
"He's been in the international crime scene for over a decade, with an impressive record. He wouldn't want to tarnish it. Plus, he's the enemy of our enemy. What's that old saying? The enemy of our enemy is our friend."
"It's obvious we need his help. Alright, Carl, prepare the files to lure him in. Where is he now?"
"In Lyon, near Interpol headquarters."
"Hmm... Let's meet in the middleâDubai."
I check my watch. The hands form a perfect vertical line.
"Book the earliest flight for me and Murdani, Carl."
"Yes Mr. Wisnu."
"Carl, you're my friend, not my butler."
Murdani laughs as Carl teases me.
***
Fifteen minutes later, Murdani and I leave the bunker. We exit through a tunnel leading to a speedboat dock. I untie the ropes while Murdani starts the engine with the keys Carl gave us.
We're heading to Semarang to catch a flight from Achmad Yani Airport to Soekarno-Hatta at 9 AM.
Suddenly, that nightmare resurfaces in my mind. The past tries to reopen an old wound.
Rachel.