SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 16

Four days had passed since the death of Majdi. Hamzah's daughter Zainab, had no tears left to trickle down her sobbing face. Everyone in Lane Street were still mourning and grieving for what had happened to Majdi. Besides his death, everyone feared that they would be the next victim. A normal human being could last three days without water due to thirst. But the thirst of a sundal bolong - nobody wanted to crack their heads to think about it.

During the past four days Hamzah had felt uneasy. As soon as Majdi's funeral was over, he felt as if he was being watched. He can't move about without having that feeling. Hamzah became restless, and he couldn't get a good night's sleep since then. His heartbeats went faster than usual, especially when he was alone.

That night Hamzah went to see Imam Samad. He couldn't bear the feeling of somebody watching him. It was a strange and unwelcome experience for him. Slowly, he paced down the narrow path heading towards Imam Samad's house. He wanted to let Imam Samad know about what was happening to him. At least, if anything happened Imam Samad would know how to react.

Hamzah brought out his old torchlight from his lose jacket. He pressed the on button, hoping it would produce light as usual. But that night the torchlight didn't give it's cooperation. Hamzah shook it several times, hoping that it would just a matter of unadjusted battery. But still, there was no light.

Hamzah began to feel scared. He knew the torchlight was as old as his own age, and the battery had most probably expired. Hamzah turned his head, and the only thing he saw was the dim shadow of the long path which seemed endless from where he stood. He was indeed in the middle of his journey and that meant he was exactly in the middle of a large, unattended orchard.

Going either way was the same thing because he was right in the middle. Having no choice, Hamzah closed his eyes for a second and inhaled a long breath. He whispered some of the holy versus which he knew at heart and continued his journey forward. He wanted to reach Imam Samad's house as quickly as possible, what more with no light in hand and he only had to use his instinct and a little mercy from the half heartedly glowing moon.

Suddenly, Hamzah's heart beat faster. Hamzah knew somebody was still watching him in the darkness and only God knew how scared he was. But there was nothing else to do, but surrender to God's will. Hamzah only hoped God will save him from the evil.

"Hamzah!" A shrieking voice appeared suddenly, trailed with a long, evil laugh.

Hamzah was shocked to hear the voice and the laughter. He thought he knew the voice. He had heard the voice somewhere and sometime in the past but he couldn't remember. He looked everywhere, trying to search from where the voice came from. Half of his mind was scared to death, but the other half told him to think and find courage. His instinct told him he must face the owner of the voice or else, his life would be in jeopardy.

"Who are you!" screamed Hamzah as loudly as he could. He collected all his courage and determined to face the evil thing, whatever it was.

"I am Malika!" said Malika with an arrogant aura. She opened her mouth and a blaze of fire escaped from the opening. Her fiery eyes were full of revenge and hatred.

"Malika?" Hamzah uttered in amazement and quietly to himself, beginning to realize where he had heard the name before. Then he nodded. He recalled the time when Daud had spoken to Malika on one of the wedding ceremonies in Lane Street. Now Hamzah understood. Daud was the master of Malika, and now he was dead. Malika was left without a master, and without a master a sundal bolong's existence would be the worst disaster Lane Street could have.

"Surrender yourself! I've waited this moment for ages. Now... you're completely mine! Mine!" yelled Malika in the most disgusting yet terrifying voice.

Malika stepped forward towards Hamzah. She opened her sharp jawed mouth and ready to attack.

Hamzah had nowhere to turn to. He closed his eyes and waited nervously.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 15

In the pit of the darkness, Malika crept out from her bottle. She no longer needed it, because the bottle didn't give any comfort to her anymore. Since the death of Daud, her master, Malika had to find her own prey and it was not an easy thing. Getting in and out from the bottle was just wasting a lot of her time and energy. It would be better if she was free, forever free from any ties of the last master she had.

It was already past midnight. The coldness of the surroundings didn't have any effect towards Malika. In fact, the eeriness provided joyfulness to her evil spirit. From far away, the howling of the wild dogs which cried for a piece of warmth and protection from the cruel coldness of the midnight air made Malika smile.

"I shall forever hunt you, and you shall never live in peace!" screamed Malika, breaking the silence of the darkness. What she meant was both the lives of Hamzah and Imam Samad. Both of the men had brought many sufferings to her. Because of them, Daud had become weak and couldn't provide her with what she wanted. Because of them too, Malika had to kill Daud, and now she had trouble finding her new prey.

Human blood is a necessity and couldn't be compromised with anything else. Malika couldn't accept chicken and goat blood with several trickles of human blood anymore. This was nonsense. Malika would do just anything to get the human blood.

Malika smiled again when she recalled about Majdi's death. Her hunger for human blood which she had abstained for quite some time were fully satisfied when Majdi met his death. Malika didn't waste any of the blood. Even the cords from Majdi's stomach were chewed to drain all the blood out. It was indeed a very satisfying meal for Malika.

"Just you wait. Soon, both of you would be mine..." whispered Malika, spreading her arms wide to her side with her head facing the sky and her eyes wandered trying to search for the glowing moon. Then, as quick as the lightning Malika transformed herself into the green grasshopper and flew back to Hamzah's house to see what was next to happen.

Malika reached Hamzah's house in no time. She landed perfectly on the open window and saw Majdi's body in the middle of the house. His body was covered with a piece of large cloth and many people had already arrived. Hamzah and Imam Samad were both busy, preparing for the burial ceremony while at the same time attending to questions from the others.

Malika was satisfied with what she saw. She flew back to her place and retransformed.

"Soon... soon." It was the only word that played in Malika's evil head. The picture of Hamzah and Imam Samad being dead and useless rewinded again and again. The cries from the dogs chilled the already shivering night and Malika took her place beside her bottle.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 14

Hamzah and Imam Samad had just arrived. Quickly, both of them raced to where Majdi was lying down. As soon as they reached the bedroom they saw Majdi was squeezing his stomach, ignoring the disgusting scene of his bursting belly.

Zainab was already unconscious at the corner of the room. Hamzah ignored her because at that time Majdi's life was in a dangerous state. Hamzah was afraid if it would be too late to save Majdi. Slowly, Hamzah paced towards Majdi and his pace was trailed by Haji Samad from behind.

Hamzah looked at Haji Samad to ask for his help. Haji Samad understood and he nodded as a sign. Without wasting time, Haji Samad recited some of the religious versus and hoped that whatever evil spirits which haunted and disturbed Majdi would escape and let Majdi free. However, his effort seemed to be useless. Nothing happened even though Haji Samad had recited the holy versus for five minutes without stopping.

Now, Majdi's hands had entered into his own stomach and he reached for its contents. Everything from his stomach came out and blood bathed all over the bed. Majdi pulled the cords from his stomach and took it to his mouth. He ate them with a big appetite, as if it was very delicious.

Hamzah and Haji Samad tried to stop Majdi from eating his own cord. But Majdi's energy was amazingly strong and he pushed both of them to the wall as if he was blowing off a piece of feather. He continued eating until a few minutes more. Hamzah and Haji Samad vomited because they couldn't stand the disgusting and frightening sight, but they couldn't do more than that.

Slowly, Majdi who was still eating his own cords became weak and finally he closed his eyes. Majdi was dead, at last.

Zainab who woke up by her own. As soon as she opened her eyes, the only thing which caught her attention was her dead husband. Majdi's body was full of blood, and so was the bed. Hamzah and Imam Samad who were still in puzzlement took a piece of large cloth and covered the body. Then all of them waited for the others to come.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 13

Zainab waited nervously beside Majdi, her sick husband. If she followed her heart, she would have run away from there. The horrifying grimace which Majdi gave him made Zainab tremble in fear. She felt as if almost sure that Majdi's body had been entered by another entity from the unknown. His rotating eyes, fierce and full of demand when he glared at Zainab. What he wanted, Zainab didn't know and she didn't dare to ask because she feared Majdi would ask for things she couldn't possibly give.

Majdi kept glaring madly at Zainab. Trying to declare peace, Zainab stepped forward slowly and calculatively towards Majdi. She saw what was squirming on her husband's skin. The giant maggots had roamed almost everywhere on his body.

"My dear husband, if you can hear me please blink your eyes twice. You have to be strong. Father is on the way to seek help. He's calling Imam Samad to come over. Please, darling. You have to hang on. Don't let the evil spirit control you. You have God and He will always help you. Please, blink twice if you understand," pleaded Zainab almost to the verge of tears. She pitied her husband and at the same time very scared of what she was seeing. Never in her life before something as strange and frightening like that happened to her nor her family.

Majdi didn't shift his glare towards Zainab. Nor did he blink twice to show he understood. Zainab became more trembled when he saw Majdi's eyes turning into burning red, and slowly little tiny drops of red liquid resembling of blood trickled down from those pair of eyes. Now concern and worry began to replace her fear. Majdi's condition alarmed a somewhat dangerous signal to Zainab. She began thinking whether Majdi would be able to survive with his condition at that time. And she began thinking of death, and what would happen if her husband died.

Suddenly there was a sound from the wall nearby. Zainab turned around. There, on the wall of the bedroom Zainab saw a green grasshopper landing his feet and was swaying its wings. At first sight, Zainab knew she was in deep trouble. She instantly recognized the grasshopper because it had a pair of red eyes.

Zainab had seen the grasshopper with her own eyes at Daud's house on his funeral day. An emergency thought appeared into her head, telling her to protect her husband. Her instinct told her the grasshopper was there to attack her husband.

Before she managed to think about what to do, the green grasshopper flew straight towards Majdi and bit him on his eyes. Majdi who was already weak couldn't do anything but scream and cried in pain. Then the grasshopper attacked for the second time, and bit his stomach.

Zainab ran protectively towards her husband, ignoring her own fear and safety. She didn't care if the grasshopper bit her. She blocked her husband's body from the grasshopper, but it was too late. Two bites had already been done.

Seeming satisfied, the grasshopper flew out from the house and was gone almost instantly. Leaving Majdi with extreme suffering and pain. Majdi groaned and cried and he held on to his stomach. The pain was too great that he wasn't aware he was pressing too hard on his stomach. Within a minute, his stomach had swollen and it became like a balloon filled with gas. Majdi continued pressing on his stomach until it burst. Instantly, blood spilled out from his stomach and bathed his bed.

Zainab screamed out loud. She didn't know what to do. Panic attacked her and she met a dead end. Her mind was jammed and she saw nothing upfront.

Zainab fainted and fell to the floor due to the extreme fear and pressure. Majdi was left alone, crying for mercy and hoping for an end to his suffering.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 12

Hamzah took a holy book with him before he went out of his house. He put the book into his front shirt pocket just in case if anything happened in the middle of his way to Imam Samad's house.

"Hopefully Imam Samad would be able to help me this time. There's nobody else I can rely on except for him. Majdi is real sick and he is the bravest man so far. Please God, please save him," uttered Hamzah while striding his steps carefully through the small path heading towards Imam Samad's house.

Lane Street was still not very modernized even though it was situated near the main road. Most of the paths that led into houses were not tarred and there were also many unkempt orchards because many young men had went to town to work. Here and there people could see messes of bushes and long, untidied grasses. Dried leaves were everywhere.

Hamzah turned his head around when he heard a strange noise from his back. He had noticed a couple of minutes before that a grasshopper with red blaring eyes was following him from a distance. He also noticed that the grasshopper had tried to land on his shoulder, but Hamzah managed to avoid it.

In his heart, Hamzah knew the appearance of the grasshopper was a sign of bad omen. He thought about previous incidences, all of them involved a red eyed grasshopper. Hamzah recited several of the holy versus and took out the holy book from his pocket. He blew out hard towards the grasshopper as soon as he completed reading the versus and he chased the thing away using the holy book.

Hamzah's effort succeeded. The red eyed green grasshopper couldn't get near Hamzah and it flew away.

Hamzah felt relieved. He continued his walk towards Haji Samad's house in a hurry. But there was one thing which Hamzah didn't know.

The red eyed green grasshopper didn't just fly away. It had a new destination to go. And Hamzah didn't know where the grasshopper was heading this time.

As the night became darker, Hamzah walked straight without thinking even more.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 11

Satisfaction overwhelmed throughout the body and soul of Malika. She was really excited knowing that both of the people whom she hated most had died in her own hands. Proud mixed with arrogance lingered in her mind, and the feeling intoxicated her until she felt almost floating in the air.

Malika had succeeded to kill Daud and Pawang Pahar. Both of the men had made her suffer. She had to obey Daud's orders, even though the rewards given were not satisfying enough for her. She needed more human blood, as chicken and goat blood started to taste bitter to her tongue.

Malika killed Pawang Pahar because the shaman had an intention to destroy her. She couldn't wait any longer and let the old man vanish her from the surface of the earth. If she followed Daud's order, Malika was convinced it would be too late. Malika never believed that Pawang Pahar could be persuaded with bribery. It was wise for Malika to take her own actions. And it had been proven correct. Malika had chosen the right path.

She killed Daud because her master was useless. Daud only gave her a few drops of human blood, and nothing more. Her thirst for human blood became so great, and she couldn't tolerate it any more. By killing Daud, she could use her own master's blood to the full extent. Malika was indeed satisfied. She sucked Daud's blood until there were not a drop left in his decaying body.

Now Malika was free. But suddenly she realized that she was no longer being kept by anyone. She had been pampered before and now she had to find her own way. It was going to be tough but because of that she was determined to destroy every human being in Lane Street. She would kill them mercilessly and left their body unattended, frightening to look at and shameful.

She knew, Hamzah and Imam Samad were just waiting for the right moment to kill her. Due to that, Malika promised herself to attack them both first before attacking other residents in Lane Street. And she also included Majdi, the brave young man who had saved Hamzah and Imam Samad during her attack at Daud's funeral day.

That night, Malika decided to attack Majdi first. She silently crept into his house. At that time, Majdi was sitting at the dining table together with Hamzah. Majdi had just wedded Hamzah's daughter, because Hamzah insisted Majdi to marry her. Hamzah said it was a reward for saving his life from the sundal bolong attack the other day.

Majdi was actually in love with Hamzah's daughter for quite a while. That's why he didn't refuse the offer. That night at the dining table, Majdi felt dizzy. He had lost his appetite, but because he didn't want to give a bad impression in front of his new father in law, he controlled his pain and sat quietly on his chair.

Majdi felt there was something wrong happening to him. His face suddenly turned pale and not a trace of blood could be detected from the veins on his cheeks. Hamzah and her daughter, Zainab, looked at each other in puzzlement.

"What's wrong, Majdi?" asked Hamzah in a concerned tone. He had never seen Majdi reacting the way he did that night.

Majdi could no longer speak. He closed his mouth with his hands and tried to get up. He wanted to go to the toilet because he felt too nauseous and he wanted to vomit. But Hamzah blocked him and asked him to sit.

"Zainab, take a basin here. Your husband is too weak to get up. It would be better if he just sit here," said Hamzah to his daughter.

Zainab quickly went to the kitchen and took a basin. She put the basin in front of Majdi. Majdi could no longer retain whatever was inside his stomach. On that instant, he vomited everything out. Zainab massaged Majdi's back a few times softly to enable Majdi to vomit everything out. Once in a while she massaged her husband's temple to make him ease the pain.

Majdi continued vomiting but this time it was no longer a puke of food but it contained several worms the size of a thumb. The worms crawled actively inside the basin, and swam through the puke of Majdi. It looked very, very disgusting.

Majdi's vomit didn't stop. It became more and more. Everytime when he puked, more worms came out. Up to now he had vomited half a basin of living worms.

Then Majdi vomited even harder. Now it was no longer worms, but large green maggots. The green maggots eagerly ate all the worms in the basin. Majdi vomited more and more maggots came out. He became very weak and couldn't do anything at all. Hamzah carried Majdi into the bedroom and lied him down.

"Let him rest. I have to go to Imam Samad's house to inform about this matter. I want him to help us solve this serious problem," said Hamzah to his daughter.

Zainab didn't answer but she only nodded her head. Even though she was very scared she had to obey her father's request because there were nobody else in the house. She had to be responsible, furthermore it was her husband who was in trouble.

Hamzah left soon afterwards, and Zainab was left with her sick husband. The house became too quiet and it made Zainab's hair stood on ends. She prayed hard, wishing her father to return home as quickly as possible. She looked at her husband's face, and it had turned green.

Zainab closed her eyes, and prayed for nothing worse to happen.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 10

The news of Pawang Pahar's death spread quickly among the residents of Lane Street. Hamzah who was one of the respected person in Lane Street became more worried about it. He intended to ask Pawang Pahar's help to get rid of the ghosts, but now the man had already died. He didn't know from whom else he could seek for assistance.

Still dealing with his disappointment, Hamzah felt it was his responsiblity to get rid of all the ghosts from Lane Street. He didn't have the heart to see all the residents live in fear. Something have to be done quick.

"Before it became worse, I must do something. I can't stand it any longer. Too many spirits are residing here, not to mention about the pocong, hantu raya and the sundal bolong. If I knew who is the culprit behind all these, I swear I would kill him. I am not scared of evil spirits. It is only to Allah that I surrender my soul," whispered Hamzah to himself, trying to calm himself from worrying even more.

Meanwhile, Daud was no where to be found. Nobody knew where Daud had disappeared. Some of the residents said Daud went to visit his son, but some others didn't want to believe. They felt it was impossible for Daud to travel that far, since some of the times he couldn't even afford to buy his own food.

Personally, Hamzah started to feel strange about Daud's disappearance. Due to that, he gathered the residents of Lane Street and divided them into small groups. They were assigned to search for Daud. The search was done for a whole week, and Hamzah's prediction turned out to be true. Daud's body was found lying dead under a banana tree. His face was unrecognized but fortunately people could recognize him by his clothings.

Everybody came for Daud' burial ceremony because they wanted to see in detail how terrible his dead body looked like. Suddenly, just after the prayers ceremony ended, Daud's body was fully awake and he sat up straight. Everybody ran cowardly and left only a few brave individuals at the scene.

It was only two persons left at that time. They were the chief of prayers, Imam Samad and Hamzah. They couldn't leave Daud's corpse just like that because they pitied him. Furthermore, they couldn't run away from their responsibility. Daud must be buried, no matter what.

Hamzah and Imam Samad recited all the surah that they knew by heart. Imam Samad was a very religious man and Daud's corpse seemed afraid to go near him. He went straight towards Hamzah.

Daud's face looked fierce and full of revenge. He pinned Hamzah towards the wall and his rotting hands reached for Hamzah's neck. Hamzah couldn't do anything since Daud's energy was too strong for him to fight back. On the other hand, Imam Samad could do nothing too. He just continued reciting every surah he knew in hope that Daud's corpse would collapse.

Suddenly, Majdi who had run away felt he shouldn't run. He returned and ran into the house as quickly as he could. He grabbed a sword which was hanging on the wall and swung the sword towards' Daud's neck. Daud lost his neck within seconds. Before he fell down he gave out a loud scream. Then everything was silent.

Hamzah blew out a relieved sigh and smiled gratefully at Majdi. He owed him his life. Haji Samad patted Majdi on his back as a sign of appraisal. Majdi smiled back, feeling outrageously proud of himself. Indeed, he had saved Hamzah's life, and he was going to be called a hero.

"Now we better call back all the residents so that we could bury Daud's body as quickly as possible," said Hamzah to Majdi, asking for his favor to call upon all the residents of Lane Street.

That evening, the burial ceremony was done as simple and as quickly as possible. Nobody wanted the scene to happen again. After Daud's body was safely buried, everybody felt a huge relief and assumed everything had returned to normal.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 9

Pawang Pahar was getting ready to go to Lane Street that day. It was approaching dusk and suddenly the wind blew fiercely out of nowhere. All the coconut trees in front of Pawang Pahar's house shook tremendously and it gave a cold shiver throughout Pawang Pahars' spine.

Pawang Pahar was indeed a renowned shaman, and he could guess immediately that something dangerous was approaching him. His enemy was just within reach and was already residing inside his home compound.

"This shouldn't be," uttered Pawang Pahar while shaking his head in denial. He knew by the way the wind was blowing, it was the doings from a sundal bolong. The only thing he didn't know was the owner. He tried to guess, but found nothing to grasp as a clue.

Pawang Pahar's wife had just put on her prayer's dress. She wasn't excluded in noticing the difference of weather. It was absolutely different from the ordinary signals of upcoming rain. The sky was clear and blue, with no traces of dark clouds. The moon which had appeared within a few minutes before had shone clearly and was then hiding bits of its existence behind some of the bright clouds.

"What's wrong, my dear husband?" asked Hawa, Pawang Pahar's wife in a worried tone. She felt it was strangely odd and she must know something soothing to make her doubt go away.

"Someone is trying to test me," replied Pawang Pahar in a lowered tone. He gazed at Hawa and gestured her to start her prayers. He didn't want his wife to worry more.

Hawa obeyed her husband's request and went inside her room to pray. While praying, she could hear a loud stump on the roof. It seemed like falling from upwards, probably the sky. As impossible as it sounded to be, Hawa ignored the sound and continued her prayers. She knew her husband was able to take control of it. She always had faith in that.

Pawang Pahar sat with his legs crossed in the middle of the living room as soon as he completed his own prayers. He had heard the stumping thing but tried to calm down his anxiety and anger. He recited some versus from the holy Quran and after that confidently jumped down from his house, and landed mercifully in style on the land.

"I am the one and only Pawang Pahar. Nobody has ever had the guts to confront me. Don't you ever start a play tonight, or else I would not be doubtful to destroy you and all your associates. As long as I am the descendant of Adam and Eve, I am not afraid of evil spirits such as you!" yelled Pawang Pahar with all his might.

The angry wind suddenly stopped. It was stopped exactly like an electrical fan which had a power failure. Sudden and abrupt. Pawang Pahar immediately felt he was winning one point over his enemy. He quickly ascended his house and sat with crossed leg again in the middle of his living room. But this time he left the door ajar.

Pawang Pahar took out his kemenyan from his bag. He reached for his burning pot and sprinkled the kemenyan over it. Smoke appeared, thick and cloudy. A strong smell came together with the burning. Pawang Pahar then reached for a skull which he had long kept with him. The skull was aging more than a hundred years, and Pawang Pahar recited something while holding on to the skull.

Suddenly, the skull started to move. Slowly, it raised to the air and floated there for a couple of seconds. Then, like a burst of urgency the skull flew out of the door and circled Pawang Pahar's house. Completed a circle, the skull then flew out from the house compound and disappeared from Pawang Pahar's eye sight.

Pawang Pahar sat patiently, waiting for the skull to return. He was confident the skull would come back to report to him.

Unfortunately, his guess was a mistake. Pawang Pahar didn't know what had happened a few minutes before while the skull was hunting for information. Suddenly, the skull flew back and fell off in front of Pawang Pahar. It brought back with him a disgusting smell and a horrifying sight.

The skull was full of blood and it was coated with large, living, green maggots. The faulty smell was terrible and it dizzied Pawang Pahar on his first inhale of breath. The maggots attacked Pawang Pahar with no mercy and they breeded almost instantly. Within seconds, Pawang Pahar's body was covered with disgusting, green maggots. Pawang Pahar screamed in agony and tremendous pain.

Hawa who was cooking in the kitchen at that time heard her husband's cry. She ran to the living room to see what had happened. She saw her husband was no longer in the form of a normal human being, but had turned more into a living skeleton.

The skull had returned into its original condition. There were no maggot nor traces of blood. It looked clean as if nothing had touched it before. It lay peacefully on the floor.

Hawa saw her husband struggled to get free from the maggot attack. He tried to pull out the maggots from biting his flesh, but his flesh came out together with the pull. More blood spilled out from all over his body when he tried to pull more maggots. Pawang Pahar trembled fiercefully for the pain was unbearable and after a long fight he surrended his life to the maggots.

Hawa could do nothing else but to run to his husband and cry her heart out. Even though she was scared she braved herself to lift up her husband's head and put it on her lap. Gradually, the maggots disappeared and within minutes all of them were gone. So did the blood and the faulty smell.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 7

Meanwhile, another strange thing happened at Lane Street. While people were busy talking about the sundal bolong and pocong, Siti had another matter which was more important to think about.

Siti was a new bride. She was the second wife to Zahid, which had another wife at the next village. That night, Siti waited for her husband to come home. It was going to be the night of her turn. Her husband must come back to her home tonight because he had promised her. In fact, Siti had cooked a lot of food to welcome her husband home.

After cooking, Siti had put on her best clothes and put some perfume on her body. She missed her husband very much. She only had three days in a week to spend with her husband because the other four days belonged to the first wife. It was not fair, but because she knew she was only the second wife, she accepted what she got and tried to be happy and content with it.

Even though Zahid was a lot more older than her, Siti still loved her husband. Zahid was around 65 years old at that time, while Siti was in her early 40's. Siti was an 'old maid', a title which was used by the neighborhood when a girl didn't get married when she reached 30's. Even though she had carried the title long enough, she was not an ugly woman nor a woman with ordinary face. When she was young, a lot of young men were attracted to her but because her parents were too selective, they were not aware that they were wasting their daughter's time. At last, Siti was getting older and she still was not married. Siti's parents were rich and they thought they wanted to keep their good name and status.

When Siti reached her 40's her parents regretted because they were being too choosy. So, when Zahid came to their house to propose Siti for a marriage, they accepted without thinking too much. Fortunately, Zahid was a good man and he tried to be fair to his wives as far as he could.
Zahid's another wife was named Sara. She was a resident from the next village. Zahid and Sara were gifted with three children.

Siti had counted many times, and she was sure Zahid had already spent four nights with his first wife. And because of that, Siti knew Zahid would come home tonight. Furthermore, Zahid had never broken his promise if he had made it. However, Siti started to worry when the weather outside the house became darker but her husband was still not home as expected. In her heart, she started to think. Maybe Zahid had started to forget about her. Siti felt annoyed thinking about it, and she thought of doing something to her husband so that he would forget his first wife forever. Siti was not going to give way to Sara just like that. She had her rights on her husband too.

"I will entertain and treat my husband with love and affection. And I would cook only his favorite food whenever he is here with me. By doing this, I am sure he would forget Sara because Sara can never treat Zahid that well since she had three children to attend to," said Siti to herself, trying to calm herself down.

Siti loved Zahid and Zahid loved Siti too. Zahid was an ordinary man. He started his career as a food stall hawker. Because he was hardworking, eventually he had managed to put aside enough capital to open a mini market. Siti knew Sara was one of his regular customers and because they met almost every day when Sara went there to buy daily groceries, they fell in love and got married.

At first, Zahid's intention to marry Sara was not accepted by Sara's parents. They didn't like Zahid for reasons of the unknown. Zahid couldn't accept the rejection and he felt humiliated. He met one of his close friends, and his friend advised him to keep a 'hantu raya' in his effort to get Sara.

However, owning a 'hantu raya' was not easy. A lot of things must be followed thoroughly, and if one thing was forgotten it would bring a bad consequence to the owner.

"You will face bad omens if you can't control your own 'hantu raya'. This ghost is very loyal, yet you must make sure you never break any promises with anyone. The 'hantu raya' will represent you everywhere is needed and will never fail to do so. It would bring prosper to you, but if you don't manage him well, it will eat you up back.

At that time, Zahid was madly in love with Sara and didn't think long about the consequences. To him, he was willing to do anything as long as he could get Sara.

Because of that, the shaman whom Zahid went to showed him how to get the 'hantu raya'.

"You have to go into the nearby jungle. Make a path into the jungle using a piece of sword. You must make the path towards the east, and only begin when the sun is rising. You must stop as soon as your shadow shifted toward the west. At that time, change the destination of the path so that it is going to the west. Keep on making your path towards the west until the 'hantu raya' appears in front of you," said the shaman.

"Human beings are the greatest creation of God and ghosts are naturally afraid of us. But we have to know their weakness because ghosts like demons hate us very much and their mission is to turn us away from believing in God. When you know their weakness, it would be easy for you to control it," added the shaman.

Zahid could still remember the day he fought with the 'hantu raya'. It was already dark and Zahid was exhausted after making a long path in the jungle. He was resting when suddenly the wind blew so hard and a ten-feet-tall creature appeared in front of him. Zahid was afraid, but he threw away all his terror out of his body. He knew the creature was the 'hantu raya' based on the description given by the shaman.

Zahid knew he had no choice but to fight the 'hantu raya'. If he didn't fight, he would die in the hands of the ghost.

"Take this!" yelled Zahid and he cut the creature's hand with his sword. But the creature was not harmed nor scratched even a little bit. It laughed out loud and challenged Zahid to make a second attack.

Zahid cut again at the creature's neck but nothing happened. The 'hantu raya' was so tall and strong. He was immune to every weapon. Without having a second to think, Zahid felt the hantu raya caught his body and lifted him up in the air. Then he was thrown down to the earth. Zahid fell down with a huge pain. He felt as if his waist was going to break.

When the hantu raya grabbed him for the second time, Zahid took the opportunity to grab the hantu raya's testicles. He didn't let go. The hantu raya screamed out of pain and he rolled on the ground because of the unbearable pain.

Zahid was forced to follow the rhythm of the hantu raya. But Zahid never let go of the hantu raya's testicles. The situation continued for two hours. Finally, the hantu raya became very tired and too painful to continue on struggling.

"You win. Let me go," pleaded the hantu raya.

"I can let you go but on one condition," replied Zahid. He was very proud because at last he had managed to overpower the strength of the hantu raya.

"I will follow all of your conditions. Just let me go. I will never break my promise."
"I will only let you go if you promise to be my servant for the rest of your life," urged Zahid with a fierce voice.

"I agree," replied the hantu raya in a very humble voice.

Immediately after the hantu raya said that, he disappeared from Zahid's view and left a cloud of smoke behind. A few seconds later, a thicker smoke appeared and when the smoke disappeared Zahid saw there was someone lying down on the ground. It was a body of a man.

Zahid came nearer to the man. He was shocked to see the face of the lying down man. The man's face looked exactly like Zahid's face. Zahid touched his own face and was very eager to know how he looked like at that time, but there was not a mirror available in the middle of the jungle.

"Did he exchange his face with mine?" asked Zahid to himself in complete horror. Zahid looked without a blink at the lying man on the ground in front of him. The man was beginning to wake up. He started moving his fingers and toes. Zahid felt afraid all of a sudden and was ready to attack the man. He held on to his sword as tight as he could.

The man did nothing harmful. He opened his eyes and sat up. He faced Zahid and looked straight into Zahid's pair of eyes.
"Who are you?" asked Zahid in fear, but trying very hard to conceal his true feelings.
"I am your servant, my master. Ask me everything, and I will obey you without any objections. But you must promise to feed me enough," said the man.

"Are you a human being or a ghost?" asked Zahid again.

"I am 'hantu raya'. I have changed my face so I can look the same as you. "

"What jobs can you do?" asked Zahid, feeling a thrill of excitement washing him down his spine.

"I am capable of doing everything. Just ask me to do it. I will do it."

Zahid was really convinced with what the hantu raya told him. Now he knew the man sitting in front of him was the 'hantu raya' which he wanted to keep. Excitedly, Zahid tried to test his new servant.

"I want to go home. Now take me home this instant," ordered Zahid.

Within a blink of the eye, Zahid was already at home. He felt a very strange and out of the world strangeness, but it was a very pleasant feeling. Zahid felt very glad and fortunate to own a very powerful ghost like the 'hantu raya'.

That night, Zahid was too excited and he forgot to eat nor drink anything. He only thought about how to get Sara in his hands. Sooner of later he would be able to marry Sara. He knew the hantu raya would do anything as he ordered, and if he commanded the hantu raya to bring Sara to him that night, he would. But because he was too tired, he was soon deeply asleep.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 6

Pawang Pahar who was invited by Hamzah to his house had no other choice but to accept the invitation. Even though he was busy, Hamzah was one of his best friends and he didn’t want to hurt his feeling. In fact, Pawang Pahar had been thinking. If he came over to Lane Street more often, his name would be more popular there day by day. In this way, it could be a good opportunity for him to earn more money from this neighborhood.

Pawang Pahar was too busy attending to the needs of his own neighborhood and that was why he did not have the time to spare in Lane Street. A few years back he was well known in Lane Street and he was sure his name was still popular as before. But he understood if people forgot about him. It was his own fault because he didn’t promote himself as frequently as before in Lane Street.

Before Pawang Pahar came to Lane Street, he was informed by Hamzah about the reason he was invited over. Lane Street was no longer calm and peaceful as before. At present, it was frequently disturbed by ghosts. So far there were two types of ghosts they were aware about, which were sundal bolong and pocong.

“We can’t do our normal activities as before, Pawang Pahar. Children are afraid to go to night classes at the mosque. We don’t hold any ceremony during the night, even if it is the ‘akad nikah’ for the wedding. We have to do everything during the day. We can’t even hang out at the coffee stall, because the shop owner closes his stall by dusk. We are afraid of the sundal bolong and pocong. It had attacked quite a number of people. It is not even that. The ghosts even attacked during the day,” explained Hamzah carefully. He wanted Pawang Pahar to understand the situation clearly.

“Tell me who was attacked by these ghosts…” demanded Pawang Pahar. He felt a chill suddenly running on his spine. It was indeed an awkward feeling.

“Sharifah, the daughter of Badar was attacked by sundal bolong on her wedding day. Anita, the daughter of Samad was also attacked by sundal bolong a few nights ago. A couple of men who returned from work at midnight was disturbed by pocong on their home. The last victim is Zainab, who is my own daughter. She was found lying unconscious under a tree. She said she was disturbed by a pocong on her way back home from town,” explained Hamzah even further.

Pawang Pahar nodded as a sign of understanding. He told Hamzah to be a little patient. He would be back next week to settle the thing. He had to postpone it to next week because there were a few things he must prepare before he got involved in the ritual of chasing away the ghosts.

Hamzah agreed and was willing to wait. In fact, he really trusted Pawang Pahar with his ability. Pawang Pahar had been a good friend to him for a long time and during that time Pawang Pahar had helped him many times.

Pawang Pahar then returned home because he had so many other things to do. On his way back, he thought about the reason why Lane Street was chosen by the ghosts to attack. Lane Street was not a very rural village. It was quite near from the main road. Pawang Pahar guessed maybe there were something special in Lane Street which had attracted the ghosts to reside there.

A few days later, Daud had known about the news that Pawang Pahar would come over to Lane Street next week to chase away his sundal bolong as well as the mysterious pocong which appeared from the unknown. Daud didn’t bother if the pocong was destroyed because it was not his, but he was worried if Pawang Pahar destroyed his sundal bolong.

Actually Daud was not really worried if his income was affected when the sundal bolong is destroyed. Daud was used to being poor and he didn’t feel it was a huge burden for him to live in that way again if he had to. But he was more concerned about the consequences if Pawang Pahar and everyone else in Lane Street knew the actual truth about the sundal bolong. Daud was so worried, and he was unable to sleep for a couple of nights. He kept worrying what would happen when his secret was revealed to everybody.

Because he worried too much, finally Daud came up with a decision. He called upon Malika because he had another task for Malika to perform.

“I want you to go to Hamzah’s house tonight. There would be a meeting. I want you to investigate. Now go!” demanded Daud in a fierce voice.

Malika didn’t protest. She knew if she didn’t obey her master’s command, she would be the one suffering a terrible consequence. She knew the meeting was held to discuss about her existence. And she knew all of them wanted to kill her. Her life was in danger, and she had to protect herself. Malika transformed herself into a grasshopper and flew towards Hamzah’s house.

As soon as she reached Hamzah’s house, Malika saw there were not so many people there. Most of them seemed afraid to leave their house, and others who were braver and wanted to join the meeting were reluctant to leave their family behind.

A few of the men who were present at the meeting were Majdi, Darus, Soleh, Hamud and Aziz. Several of the other men who were not present were not brave enough to walk outside during the night, especially Sudin who was known as one of the most coward person in Lane Street.

Due to the discouraging number of people attending the meeting, Hamzah decided to postpone it to the next day. The meeting would be held during the afternoon so that people would not be afraid to get out from their house. Because the meeting was cancelled for the night, the representatives who were present that night took the chance to chat with each other.

“If I knew who kept the sundal bolong and the pocong, I would kill him and slice him into small pieces. He doesn’t deserve to live in this world. He had cause all of us so much trouble and fear. I would be very glad to smash his face so that it would never be recognized again on earth and hereafter,” said Majdi angrily. He was the bravest man in Lane Street so far. All the young men respected him for his bravery. He was hard working, kind-hearted and liked helping others even in hard and frightening situations. That’s why people liked him very much.

“I have a different approach if I knew who he was. I will drown him in the river so that he will suffocate before his life ends. Let him taste the suffering of those who had been attacked by his sundal bolong and pocong,” said Aziz, who was just adding up spice to the already heated discussion. However, he didn’t actually mean what he said. He was not that brave to do such a thing like that.

They didn’t know that only the sundal bolong had done a terrible attack and was being kept by a master. They didn’t know the pocong was just a story created by scared people. They didn’t know all the things were done by the sundal bolong.

“In you opinion, who is behind all these?” asked Hamud, trying to guess as he speak. His forehead wrinkled due to the thinking that he was doing. He looked at the faces of all his friends, waiting for answers.

“I think it is the doing of Daud,” said Darus suddenly.

“What is your explanation? Why do you say he is the culprit? I wouldn’t believe you if you don’t have any facts to back up your accusation,” replied Majdi. He didn’t want to believe anything without proof. He was indeed a good man, and smearing a person’s dignity and good name is not one of his habits.

Darus didn’t reply quickly. He felt strange because suddenly from far apart he saw a little grasshopper with a pair of red eyes was flying straight towards him. He waved his hands to scare the grasshopper away from him.

“I suspect it is the doing of Daud because I felt he is acting strange lately. Haven’t you noticed that he was nobody before. But suddenly now he is the most powerful shaman in our neighborhood and able to chase away sundal bolong. And before this sundal bolong and pocong had never entered our neighborhood. Just think about that. It’s strange, isn’t it?” urged Darus, asking them to agree on his statements. While he was talking, the grasshopper came again and stood on his earlobe. Daud chased it with his forefinger. The grasshopper flew away and rested on the nearby wall.

“It is confirmed. I blame Daud for all of this,” said Daud again without thinking. He was very sure there was nobody else to be blamed.

Suddenly the grasshopper flew fiercely towards Darus. It was speeding like the lightning of a thunder. The red eyed green grasshopper flew straight to Darus’s earlobe and bit it as hard as he could. The grasshopper had a set of very sharp teeth, and a second after that, Darus’s earlobe began to bleed terribly.

Darus cried in pain. He trembled because the pain was intolerable. Everyone present in Hamzah’s house became panic. They never saw a weird yet emergency situation like what was happening to Darus.

The green grasshopper was then flying away from Darus. It disappeared into the black night and was not seen anywhere by anybody. It left Darus behind with a seriously bleeding earlobe and crying for mercy. More blood flowed from his ear. The bite was not big, but the amount of blood was huge. It brought questions to everybody seeing it.

Darus continued crying and yelling out of pain. Hamzah took a pity towards him, and put Darus’s head on his lap. Hamzah held him gently and soothed him, trying to calm him down. But it was no help at all. Darus’s pain seemed to increase. Blood didn’t stop flowing but it became worse.

While blood continued flowing from Darus’s earlobe, the wind outside began to blow fiercely. Just then the blood was only flowing from Daud’s ear, but now it began to come out from his mouth and nose as well. Darus became weak and his cries began to slow down. He had lost all his energy.

The flowing of the blood then became more disgusting when a few dark green worms started to come out. The worms were the size of a thumb. The worms twiggled and wrestled with each other when they fell off to the floor.

More worms came out from his mouth, nose and ears. Hamzah had to ask for a basin to collect the worms. It was very gross. The smell was of decaying meat.

Darus panted for air. His chest weaved heavily as if it was very difficult to breathe. Too much blood had existed from his body.

“It is better if we bring him to the hospital,” suggested Hamzah to Majdi who was accompanying him right there.

Hamzah ordered Soleh and Aziz to call Badri because he was the only person in Lane Street who had a car at that time. Both of the men obeyed the order even though their heart was pounding real hard. They were afraid to walk outside in the night, but they had no other choice. Darus must get help from the hospital.

Hamzah looked down at Darus. Now Darus’s condition became critical. With the basin put under his head, the worms had filled the basin up to almost full.

“It is better to call his parents here,” said Hamzah to Majdi. Hamzah felt Darus had no hope to live. His parents should be informed about their son’s condition before it was too late.

Majdi nodded in agreement, and quickly went out to call for Darus’s parents. Before that he looked back for a second and saw the flow of worms had stopped. Majdi continued walking and prayed to God that Darus could be saved.

Gently, Hamzah put Darus’s head on the floor because now he saw the flow of worms had stopped. He got up and went to the bedroom. He took a pillow and put it under Darus’s head. Darus who had become too weak didn’t do anything. He just let Hamzah take everything under his control.

That night, everybody in Lane Street was very frightened. The story of how Darus was attacked by a red eyed, green grasshopper had spread around so quickly. Everybody was talking about the worms and blood that came out from Darus’s nose, ears and mouth. Many of them were already gathering up at Hamzah’s house to see the real situation. Furthermore they preferred to gather at Hamzah’s house with the other residents than staying alone at home. It would be much safer to be around a lot of people.

As soon as Badri came with his car, a few young men carried Darus to put him into the car. But Darus had become very weak. It was only halfway to the car that Darus passed away. So they cancelled the trip to the hospital and carried Darus’s body into Hamzah’s house again. Darus’s parents were waiting in the house and all they could do was cry.

At home, Daud laughed in satisfaction. Malika was standing in front of him, grinning with her ugly face. Daud was very proud because Malika had succeeded to help him save his pride. Daud knew Darus must die due to his bad mouth slandering. He hated it real much if a person talked something bad about him, especially when the person started to tell everybody he was keeping a sundal bolong.

“After this you must watch out for everyone else who talks about me and you,” said Daud to his Malika. “We are now desperate and we have to do everything to save our name and dignity,” added Daud.

That night, Daud couldn’t get to sleep. Even though he had killed Darus, his heart felt uneasy. He knew killing is a big sin.

“Serves him right. Who asked him to mess around with me? He was the one who started it first,” said Daud to himself. He said that just to calm himself down a little bit. The feeling of guilt had started to invade into his conscious mind.

Daud recalled about Pawang Pahar again. Every time when he thought about Pawang Pahar, Daud became very scared. To him, Pawang Pahar should be bribed so that he would shut off his mouth.

“Only by bribing him I can prevent him from revealing my secret to the whole neighborhood,” whispered Daud to himself. Daud quickly counted the money he earned from curing the daughter of Samad that day. Samad gave him $600, and now the balance was $500.

“If I give him $300, I think he will like it,” said Daud to himself again. “Besides, Pawang Pahar is my good friend.”

Daud could smile again, thinking that Pawang Pahar could help him in saving his name and dignity. Daud thought he could count of Pawang Pahar, and believe that a good friend would never betray another good friend.

To Daud, the sundal bolong problem was not a big issue. But a bigger issue was about his name and his dignity. That was the only good thing that he had. Pride and dignity should be taken care very carefully as it was a very delicate element in life and very valuable. Due to the thinking, Daud could not wait to meet Pawang Pahar. If he could, he would have met Pawang Pahar on that very instant.

Tomorrow would come soon, persuaded Daud to himself. He smoothed his moustache and beard and tried to calm himself. Soon, he would be meeting Pawang Pahar. With that in mind, Daud closed his eye lids and tried to get some sleep.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 5

The pocong which was found by the residents of Lane Street a few days ago under the oak tree was now the most popular topic of discussion. The story of how Daud chased away the sundal bolong from the body of Anita, daughter of Samad was not a hot issue anymore. People were more interested to talk about a new thing that happened recently.

A week ago, Zainab, the daughter of Hamzah was found lying unconscious under the same oak tree. When she woke up she told she was being disturbed by the pocong. Due to her statement, everybody in the neighborhood believed that another ghost was then attacking in their housing area. It meant they had to deal with two ghosts then – the sundal bolong and the pocong.

Zainab was found by a young man named Zahar. At first he thought it was the pocong who was lying down there, but it couldn’t be because it was in the middle of daylight. So he approached the lying figure carefully and noticed it was Zainab. Without delaying he called upon her father to come over and pick her daughter up. He was not brave enough to carry Zainab home, afraid that the neighborhood would misunderstand his intention. He didn’t want to smear his name.

Hamzah suggested to call upon Daud. But many of the residents thought it was not the sundal bolong’s doing, so it would be a waste of time if they called upon Daud. They were convinced it was indeed the doing of the pocong, based on what Zainab told them.

A few days after that Hamzah’s family made a decision to throw out a religious ceremony to show gratitude that their daughter was unharmed by the pocong.

But before the ceremony was going to be held, one of the elderly in Lane Street which was respected by everybody advised him to call upon Pawang Pahar. Pawang Pahar was able to help Zainab get back to her normal condition. It seemed that Zainab had lost her inner strength due to the shock of seeing the pocong.

Daud was not seen anywhere. Most probably he stayed at home and distanced himself from other residents. Therefore he was not aware of what happened to Zainab. In his mind he only had one intention. He wanted Malika to disturb Sharifah again, so that her father and her husband would in return pay him more.

Moreover, Daud knew if it was really the pocong who disturbed Zainab, he couldn’t do anything about it because it had nothing to do with sundal bolong. It was better if he kept himself away from the problem.

That night, Daud prepared on his plan to attack Sharifah. In his mind, he had started imagining how much money he could get this time.

“Malika! Get ready. This is my instructions for you…” said Daud with a hideous smile.

Malika opened her red eyes and the rituals began. That night, Daud and his Malika stayed up until the first hint of dawn appeared from the sky.

SUNDAL BOLONG CHAPTER 4

Daud had started imagining how lucrative Samad’s payment would be. He waited anxiously if there were anybody coming over to invite him to Samad’s house. Daud was sure in not more than half an hour, somebody would come over to tell him about Anita’s illness. He just had to be more patient.

Daud knew he was already old. His skin obviously showed his age. In fact, he looked older than his age because he was never concerned about his own health and fitness. He was just a plain old man who had nothing. However, that night Daud had more than his age to think about. He was then imagining Anita’ pretty face which would turn into an ugly expression. Daud knew it was all going to be Malika’s doing. Daud smiled and showed off his empty jaws, except for the four teeth on the front rows which were still intact.

Outside, the wind blew fiercely and the sky started to turn dark. Daud knew a heavy thunderstorm would attack in just a few minutes from then. Lane Street would be in a chaos soon. Daud smiled again in satisfaction.

At Samad’s house, more people from the Lane Street’s neighborhood had flooded the house compound and inside it. All of them came due to one intention: they wanted to see with their own eyes the condition of Anita. It was a rare occasion where a pretty girl like Anita be possessed by a ghost. It would be the hottest gossip to talk about in Lane Street for at least two weeks.

Inside, Anita was still kicking and struggling. Not less than four young men were holding her, but Anita’s strength was too enormous. All the men could not stand more than five minutes holding on to her. That was why they took turn. Every five minutes, new faces stepped in to hold Anita.

Anita gritted her teeth. She failed to get free from the grip of the strong young men. Due to that, she got even more angrier. She stared fiercely at all the men as if giving them a warning. Once in a while, she drifted her gaze towards the open window. The flash of lightning was seen several times through the window opening. Then the sounds of thunder trailed a few seconds later.

“Shut off the window. It is going to rain heavily,” ordered Tuan Haji Ahmad, one of the respected man in Lane Street. He seemed to be in charge. He knew it would turn out to be hot and humid in the house if the window was shut off. But he was even more worried if suddenly Anita jumped out through the window.

Hasnah, which was Anita’s mother become more concerned and worried. She was worried about the safety of her only daughter. She hoped the spirit who disturbed and possessed her daughter would shift out and enter her body instead. She was willing to make a sacrifice if it was for the benefit of her daughter. It was the proof of love from a mother to her daughter.

Anita’s condition became worsen. Her eyes were now deep red like the crushed cherries. Her looks was undeniably frightening. She kept looking angrily towards the men who were holding her tightly. It was obvious she wanted to get free of the grip.

Samad’s expression had now turned anxious and pale. He was in panic when he saw his daughter’s condition became worse. He saw with his own eyes how Anita’s face turned from a soft expression into a horrifying and frightening one. Samad felt as if he wanted to run away. Due to the unstable emotion he was feeling, Samad asked another young man to replace him. Then Samad walked away from the living room and went outside.

As soon as he was outside, Samad felt relieved. Only then he could think clearer. Suddenly he recalled about a piece of kemenyan which was given by Pawang Pahar to him. Samad quickly went back into the house. He remembered he had put the kemenyan in his bedroom. And Samad really hoped the kemenyan would be a help to get rid of the ghost.

“Burn this kemenyan,” ordered Samad to one of his grown up nephews. The teenage boy didn’t say a word but quickly ran to the kitchen. A few minutes afterwards, he came back running with a bowl of kemenyan already burned. Smoke from the kemenyan was thick and cloudy. The teenage boy held the burned kemenyan towards Samad.

Samad took the bowl containing burned kemenyan’s from the boy. He forwarded the bowl towards Anita’s face. He recited several religious versus then blew the smoke towards Anita’s face.

Suddenly Anita became extra aggressive. She looked very angry as if she could eat everybody alive.

“Let go of me! Let me go, you bastards!” screamed Anita as loudly as she could. All the young men who were holding on to her tightened their grip.

“You want to kill me? You really want me to die, don’t you? Speak up. Who are you? I want to know who’s the one! Tell me who wanted me to die!” Anita screamed again. Nobody dared to answer Anita’s question. They looked at each other and tried guessing what were inside each other’s chest. They hoped the kemenyan would be able to help Samad getting rid of the ghost.

But Anita’s condition became worse. The burning of kemenyan didn’t make Anita weak but it made her angry. She became more alert of her surroundings. She was just waiting for the young men to be tired or careless. As soon as she felt the grip were loosened, she collected all her energy and five of the young men were kicked off and fell down helplessly on the floor.

Anita ran towards the closed window and opened the latch. She pushed the window to open and was ready to climb up. She wanted to jump out. The falling men got up immediately and chased Anita as soon as they could. Fortunately they were able to catch Anita before she succeeded to jump out of the house. Anita was taken back to her bed.

“I guess this is the doing of a sundal bolong, and not pocong as told by our friends just now. Seeing from her condition, it is more likely that a sundal bolong has entered Anita’s body,” said Tuan Haji Ahmad to Samad. Tuan Haji Ahmad was a respected person in Lane Street and his words were trusted and respected by everybody in the neighborhood.

“If that is the case, it is better if Daud come over here quickly,” replied Samad. He was getting impatient because he had waited for more than half an hour for Daud to arrive. He was starting to think that Daud was not informed.

Five men were appointed to invite Daud. As soon as they reached Daud’s house, one of the men called for Daud.

“What is the matter with all of you? Why are you yelling at me at this hour? Don’t you think I have the right to rest peacefully in my own house?” mentioned Daud in an act. He knew why they were there but if he showed he knew, his plans would fail.

“Didn’t anybody tell you about Anita, Samad’s daughter? Samad sent someone to invite you over to his house just now. Didn’t he tell you?” asked the man.

“No. Nobody came over here. What happened to Samad’s daughter?” asked Daud, trying his hardest not to show a pleasant and satisfied smile.

“She is attacked and possessed by the sundal bolong. Help, Daud. You are the only person in our neighborhood who can help,” replied the man again.

“You go ahead. I’ll come later because I have to prepare something in order to cure Anita. Tell Samad and everybody there to be patient for a little longer,” ordered Daud.

The men obeyed. One of them saw several frightening figures were surrounding Daud’s house when they were leaving. He didn’t tell the rest of them about it, but he quickened his steps. Later, when the situation was right, maybe he would tell the others about it.

About fifteen minutes later, Daud arrived at Samad’s house with all his equipments. Then he asked Samad to burn the kemenyan and put it in a bowl. Samad showed him the already burning kemenyan in the bowl.

“Who’s kemenyan is this?” asked Daud, curious.

“Pawang Pahar’s.” answered Samad shortly.

“Pawang Pahar?” asked Daud in a different tone. He was actually surprised to hear the name of Pawang Pahar. Daud looked down for a while, thinking. Samad became worried to see Daud acting strangely.

“What’s the wrong with the kemenyan?” asked Samad. He began to doubt Daud’s ability to cure her daughter. He decided if Daud failed to cure Anita, he would call upon Pawang Pahar himself.

“Don’t worry. Everything is under control.” Suddenly Daud voice up again. He didn’t want Samad to lose faith on him. Immediately he took the bowl of kemenyan and ordered for some coconut oil, shallots and a bit of black pepper as well as rice. His request was fulfilled quickly. Daud took a handful of rice and brought his hand to his mouth. He recited some versus unknown to anybody. Then he threw the rice to four corners of the bedroom.

Daud spitted several times at the four corners, and then he sat back at his original position. While waiting for the kemenyan to burn more and produce maximum smoke, Samad lighted a cigarette.

“I am only trying to help, but because you have invaded the rules from my guru the effort would be much harder. I am risking my life to cure you daughter. However, I will still try to heal her. If I succeed, you have to give me goat and chicken liver because sundal bolong will only go away if she is fed with her favorite meal,” said Daud.

“I will give you whatever you want if you cured my daughter,” promised Samad. At that time he was only concerned of her daughter’s health. Money was not an issue to him.

“Take that poison away from me!” yelled Anita angrily. She was so upset when Daud took the smoke from the bowl to her face. The smell from the smoke made her difficult to breathe. She struggled to get free from the smoke.

“Oh… you are still finding ways to fight me, don’t you?” replied Daud in a harsh tone. Then he poured the coconut oil into a small saucer. He put the shallots and black peper on the saucer.

“If you are brave enough to fight me, come on now,” dared Daud while looking straight into Anita’s eyes. Then Daud pressed Anita’s toes as hard as he could.

Anita cried out of pain.

“Let me go! Let me go! I promise I won’t bother her again. But you have to promise to feed me well. Or else, I will come back. I will!” warned the voice which came from Anita’s mouth. It was indeed the voice of Malika, the sundal bolong.

“You are really stubborn. Now take this!” Daud picked up the black pepper and pressed it onto Anita’s toes. Anita screamed in pain.

“Alright! You win! I’ll go away and never return. But remember about your promise. I will return if you broke your promise!” Anita said again but with a lower tone. She sounded weaker.

“I order you to go back to where you live this instant! I know who you are and it is better if you obey my command. Now go back. Go!”

Anita didn’t say anything, but her mouth opened wide. A disgusting sound appeared from her throat, as if she was choked or something. Daud put his right hand on Anita’s mouth and ready to catch the invisible thing which looked like it was going through Anita’s throat to escape.

Everyone saw what Daud did. Daud seemed to catch something from Anita’s mouth and then he put the invisible thing into a bottle. Anita was seen to turn back to normal. Her expression turned back to soft and natural. Daud ordered everybody to vacant the bedroom so that Anita could have a rest.

“Come, let’s leave her to rest. She’s cured now and let her gain back her strength,” said Daud to everyone while he himself got up and walked towards the living room. Everybody in the bedroom followed Daud’s steps. In just a few seconds the living room was full of people. Everybody were surrounding Daud. He became more popular than before.

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.