SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 3

Almost a month Daud didn’t feed his sundal bolong with chicken and goat liver. The leftovers from what Badar gave him had long ago being finished up by Malika. Daud still remembered how greedily Malika ate. She took less than a week to finish all of them, even though her body was just as small as a soft drink bottle. After three days, the liver had begun to rot and maggots started to appear, but Malika’s appetite never went down. She gobbled whatever was left hungrily.

“Finish up all the liver before I give you a fresh one,” ordered Daud to Malika who was still chewing and swallowing the liver full of maggots. Malika didn’t utter a word. She only let out a hysterical laugh which would make every hair of human being stood on ends. But Daud was not scared of Malika.

The $300 given by Badar on the day of his daughter’s wedding was getting less. Daud had spent most of the money and now only a few dollars were left with him. He knew he couldn’t survive if he didn’t have a job soon. Then Daud started to think about performing his second possession. In his heart, he only saw the face of Anita, the daughter of Samad.

Daud knew Anita was not his own daughter but she was adopted. Samad was married to Hasnah based on love with each other, but they had not been blessed with any child. That was the reason the couple decided to adopt Anita. It was also based on the urge from their extended family members.

The couple had taken a child from a Chinese widow who had seven other children with her. She couldn’t afford to take care of her new baby, and that’s why she was given to Samad and his wife. Samad gave the Chinese lady some money to show his gratitude and appreciation.

Samad was known as a stingy person. He never gave any money away for donation or as a gift. But when he gave $500 to the Chinese widow, everyone in Lane Street was surprised. Incidents could never be hidden in Lane Street.

Badar and his friends gossiped about Samad for a few days. Several of the regular customers at the coffee shop also talked about the same thing. Daud who was there most of the time had also talked about it too. If Samad was willing to spend $500 on Anita, it could mean he loved that baby very much.

When Daud thought about how Samad was not stingy when it was about his daughter, Daud guessed he surely wouldn’t mind to spend more if something happened to Anita.

“This time I am confident I’ll get more payment,” whispered Daud to himself.

That dusk, Daud sat at the middle of his house, at the living room. He wore his old sarong without any shirt on. He closed his eyes while his lips recited something which only he understood. Outside, the dark clouds was beginning to darken. The smooth blowing wind had now turned harsh. Several trees around Daud’s house shaked, as if being touched by the hands of a giant.

White, cloudy smoke filled the air in Daud’s living room. The kemenyan was now burning and the smell dominated the small space of the room. Sometimes, the small shabby house shook when the wind became too fierce.

A minute afterwards, Daud opened his eyes widely. His eye sockets almost protruded out. His eye balls were red as the flame, and his face turned fierce. He looked exactly like an evil, mad ghost.

“Go to Samad’s house and enter his daughter’s body, Anita. Before you succeeded in doing it, don’t you ever dare come home to me. I am no longer your master if you fail in your job, or if you disobey my command,” warned Daud.

“Yes, master,” replied Malika, full of obedience.

“When you succeed this time, a better reward will be waiting for you. This is my promise for you. And I have never betrayed my own promise. Now go!”

“I want more human blood this time…” demanded Malika. A few drops of human blood is no longer enough for Malika. She had tasted it and she wanted it more to satisfy her strange and disgusting appetite.

“I’ll arrange that for you. Don’t you worry a bit about that matter. Now go and do as you are told to. Never look back after you are out of my house. Never return, unless you have done your job successfully. Go!”

Malika flew upwards in a matter of seconds and as quickly as the speed of lightning, she vanished into thin air. Only traces of black smoke could be seen on the spot which Malika disappeared. Daud followed the movement of the black smoke until it was no longer within his site. He knew Malika would do her job as she was told. Now there was nothing else to do but to wait.

At Samad’s house, Anita was at the kitchen. She was helping her mother preparing the dinner. The kitchen’s window was open wide, and she could feel the wind blowing fiercely outside the house. Anita felt a shiver running up her spine, and she felt spooky. Suddenly she saw the movements of faint, blackish smoke entering the window.

Anita became frightened and walked towards the window. She closed them immediately. She felt so cold and her body shivered. She had never felt that way before.

“Anita, what’s wrong?” asked her mother. She never saw Anita acting strange like that. She saw her daughter was shivering really hard.

“I feel like I am going to catch a fever, mom. The wind outside the house is too strong. That’s why I closed it. I can’t stand it. It’s too cold,” told Anita to her mother, Hasnah.

Hasnah walked towards the window and opened it. She was convinced no wind was blowing when her daughter closed them just now. She didn’t feel anything, nor did she felt cold.

“See. There’s no strong wind outside our house. The weather is just nice. And I can’t see any traces of blowing wind. You are just imagining things, Anita,” Hasnah said.

Now Anita felt really cold. She could no longer tolerate the shivering of her body. She ran to her bedroom and lay down. She grabbed her blanket and covered her whole body with it. Hasnah quickly followed her daughter to her room. When she saw Anita’s condition, she felt weird. Anita had never been like that. It was strange.

Hasnah quickly went to the musolla to tell her husband about their daughter. At that time Samad was at the musolla to perform the night prayers. As soon as he finished with his prayers, he followed Hasnah home. Several young men from Lane Street offered themselves to come along.

The young men wanted to come along because they had met with a ghost a couple of nights before. They were on the way back from work when a pocong disturbed them. They thought it was possible that the same ghost had disturbed Anita. They wanted to tell Samad about it. Who knows the information might help them to cure Anita.

When they arrived at Samad’s house, Anita was still in the same condition. She was covering herself under the blanket, but her expression had changed into a weird look. Her face was too scary to look at. Her eye balls were red, and she kept smiling awkwardly towards Samad, Hasnah and the two young men.

Samad asked the young men to call Daud. He was the only person that Samad knew could cure the possession of a ghost. Quickly, both of them went to Daud’s house.

Meanwhile, Anita became more aggressive. She sweated a lot, as if it was too hot. Suddenly, she screamed with a voice so terrifying. Neighbors started to come over to help. Everybody was shocked to hear the voice of Anita’s screaming.

Just now Anita was lying down, but now she sat up on her bed. She pushed her mother away, and Hasnah fell down hard on the floor. Everybody who watched was amazed to see how strong the energy of Anita. Samad took over the place of Hasnah. He held her daughter’s body tightly.

“Get out of my way!” screamed Anita. She looked very angry.

Many people were already filling up into her bedroom. All of them looked at each other without uttering a word. The room was silent. Anita began to kick and struggle.

“Where’s Daud?” asked Samad in an impatient tone. He had waited for almost half an hour but Daud had still not arrived. He had depended on the two young men, but now he started to doubt them.

Anita had turned into a strong and fierce girl. Six men who was now holding her was panting for air. Anita was too strong for them to hold on. One of the skinnier young man who held her was kicked away by Anita.

Everybody was convinced that pocong that entered in Anita’s body. But now they can’t do anything. They only hoped Daud would arrive soon.