Chapter 113

113 The Dream (2)

(Tom’s PoV)

“H-how do you know?” The old man hissed. His eyes flashed with dangerous glint as his body stiffened and went into alert, ready to pounce on me if I were to threaten his existence.

“Easy.” I smiled. “I had nothing against you. I’m just curious why did you sound so malicious when you told us the story. Especially when you mentioned the man. But when you mentioned the ex lover, you had a loving hint in your eyes. My first assumption that you are somehow related to her, but to say that you used to be her secret admirer, it doesn’t match with your expression.”

“So, it came to the second conclusion, which is you are her family. But, after hearing your point of view as a ghost in this story, I realized that you must have died before she did. You still lingered in this world because you couldn’t bear to part with your family, so you chose to stay to watch over them. But, you had to watch your daughter committing suicide in front of your eyes and you couldn’t do anything about it. Even if you searched the sea to find her, you couldn’t see her soul. That’s why you’re still here, drowning in your grievances over your dead daughter.”

“Even after the cause of her death had died, you still couldn’t accept it.” I took a deep breath after talking so much. I’ve just awaken from my deep sleep for several days, talking so much had tired me out. I was surprised but a frustrated feeling arouse.

The old man’s facial expression changed repeatedly as I spoke. After some time, he finally calmed down as his stoic expression softened.

“Indeed, she was my daughter, my one and only. She was the only one that her mother left for me. Her mother died after giving birth to her, but she made me promise to be a good father to her and to make sure she married a good man. Too bad I died before I could witness her wedding, so I refused to go to afterlife so that I could at least see her wedding. When I saw her got together with the man, I assured myself that he would treat her good. I had waited for a year, but he still didn’t have any intention to marry her. Even so, my daughter loved him and he had been treating my daughter so well.”

“But, I witnessed him cheated on her and had been so furious ever since. Too bad, I didn’t have sufficient energy to let her know that he was not a good man.” The old man dropped his head in self-blame.

It must have been hard for him to witness the person he loved the most was gone just like that. The good thing was the woman, this old man’s daughter, was nowhere to be found, which meant she must have gone to the ‘waiting area’; a better place than here.

.....

“Old man, I understand your point. But, it didn’t get us anywhere? What’s with the chain?” The little girl wore an impatient look in her face, but at least she was polite enough to let him finish with his story.

The old man cleared his throat. “What I meant is this chain is used to bind someone. The problem with that cheater is he made a vow that if he cheated, the sea would take him. His vow was heard by the King of the Sea, so it was granted so quickly. The mystic kingdom underwater is not to be trifled with. They are known for their authority over ghosts, souls, or the residents of another dimension which related to water. Water ghost, monsters, kappa, they are all under the authority of the King of Sea. Making a foolish vow when he knew he did cheat, he must have challenged the authority. And that’s what they despise the most. So, they spared no time and chained him up.”

“But, as I see it, the chain in your feet is slightly different with the one from the sea. The one that bound the cheater’s feet looked as if it was made of water, but at the same time it was so sturdy. Yours, on the other hand, looks like it was made of ...” The old man picked the chain and frowned a bit as he studied it for a while. “...I sensed fire, but it’s not pure fire. Rather, it is made from coals. There is still fire inside the chain, but somehow it’s not activated. I wonder why.”

“So, do you mean whoever put the chain on me is related to a place with fire?”

Who in the world didn’t need fire?

“It sounds absurd, but yes. It’s better for you not to think about it for now. Just get better first.” The old man said.

After that, the old man didn’t give me chance to ask as he drove the other two away from the room, leaving me alone again. The fatigue for speaking too much caught up to me now that they had gone and not long after, I fell asleep.

In that sleep, I dreamed.

I remember this dream because I thought my previous conversation with the old man caused the dream. But, after I finally returned to Indonesia, I knew it was not as simple as that.

In this dream, I was in a small village, far from cities. The houses were all made from woods and it was all high but not too big. It looked so traditional that I thought I had turned back in time. The houses were not a lot and there were some spaces as the yard in each house. Short wooden fences surrounded some of the houses. It was too short I had no idea what’s the benefit of putting such short fences around the house.

Usually people built fences to protect their house from burglary. But, if a house was using this fence that had not even reached my knees, what’s the point?

My train of thought about the short fence was soon interrupted by someone.

“Welcome.” A man with dark brown skin greeted me with a smile on his face. “We’ve been waiting for you.” He added. “Follow me.”

With that, he turned around and led the way. Only at this time that I realized I had been standing in their gate. As I had no other choice, I followed him.

The man brought me to a house with the biggest yard and longest fences in the area. After climbing the stairs to the upper level, I was surprised to see what had been waiting for me.