

The Last Bastion of Ingei

Day 3

by Aammton Alias

Copyright © 2016 Aammton Alias

All Rights Reserved

Cover design by Aammton Alias

Photo credit to 'Shavez'

Please visit my website at http://www.b1percent.com

Permission to reproduce or transmit in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, must be obtained by writing to the author via email:

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Contents Page

THE LAST BASTION OF INGEI: DAY 3

Acknowledgements

Preface

Selym: Why

Rahman: Tuah

Serigala: Price

Manis: Dawn

Adib: Boat

Nurul: Plastic

Manis: Resolve

John: Null

Adib: Bunian

Manis: Tenggiling

John: Friend

Nurul: Waterfall

Manis: Crash

John: Eyes

Adib: Calling

Nurul: Hurry

El-Kapitan: Succeed

Adib: Others

Nurul: Followed

El-Kapitan: Together

Rahman: Azan

Nurul: Kebayan

Adib: Haven

Jawad: Home

Adib: Dorothy

Manis: Bujak

About The Author

My Other Books

Dedicated to the crushed who continue to defy even in Death.

We continue to respond to your deaths in silence, condemned to wait for the right moment.
Acknowledgements

My loving wife and my daughter continue to go beyond inspiring me to complete this novel - which was initially a NaNoWriMo challenge. They gave me continuous feedback and encouragement to complete my book, even when they would rather I stop and spend time with them by the beach.

Many thanks to my good friends Dr Jawad K and Ms Adrina Agus Din who allowed me to relentlessly bounce ideas and forward my 'freshly baked' chapters direct to their mobile phones, with no regards to the unsocial hours in anticipation of their immediate and nurturing feedback.
Preface

This supernatural sci-fi thriller is the third book in series. I am so excited about the series that I could not wait to tell you about it and have decided to release the book bit by bit, 'day by day.' as the events in the world of 'The Last Bastion of Ingei' reveals itself. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have relished writing it. This book was self-edited and proofread, which means you may find some mistakes. Please feel free to contact me  tony@b1percent.com and I will reward you with a gift!

If you like I can send you updates and offers on the next book release. All you have to do is simply register at http://www.b1percent.com email list.

I must warn you that in this day 3 book, horrific events will unfold.

Day 3

3rd December

Selym: Why

Location: Hilaga City Locked Archives Hall, Hilaga City. Ifrit.

***

There are six rooms in the sleeping quarters, all of them are empty. I walk into the first bedroom on the left, its door creak loudly revealing a neat and yet bare room. The wooden bed has been set like a military bed, crisp square folds of the blanket. I could not expect anything less from them: The Keepers of the Locked Archives were former warriors who served with the different regiments, and in spite of decades of non-violence and their solitary life, their military habits die hard. Why did they decide to choose this path? Was it by choice or by instruction from their commanders?

I throw myself onto the bed, hard springs barely absorb me, I know this bed is too regimental for me to have a comfortable sleep. Let lethargy be my sandman, but this would be mere wishful thinking. There is an unsettling feeling, brooding, unseen and unexplained. Although, I am not moving in my bed, my heart is caught in the full onslaught of the storm winds. My eyes search wildly at the plain ceilings, trying to explore and seek refuge in the hairlines cracks, but to no avail. Tired of the ceilings, I start staring lower at the wall in front of me.

A silhouette stands at the end of my bed.

Who would dare? Does he not know that I am a great warrior, I can strike him easily even from where I lay on this bed?

I push myself further up onto the bed, I will see him better, or for the worse. I know him, I know his face. Distorted, his eyes have popped out halfway - just the way I had left him before his body was dropped, slamming back into the boat. I grin in reflex.

It's just a dream.

The dead fisherman starts to speak, crying in tears from eyes that do not meet mine, white-out irises of the dead, "Why did you have to kill me?"

Is this real?

"Why did you have to kill me?" Pleading for an answer, with a wail of despair.

What is happening? Don't worry, I must be tired. It will disappear.

The dead fisherman yells out "Why did you have to kill me?"

I jump out of my bed, hurling myself in perfect symmetry and form towards it - Kerambit dagger in one hand, I stab it with no mercy, in reflex I smile as I watch the reverse blade dagger dig deep into its chest. To my surprise, both the dagger and my own hands passes through his chest. In my follow-through action, even my whole body passes through the dead fisherman.

He's not there. A figment of imagination, my tired mind in disarray.

I turn round and meet face to face the dead fisherman yelling, " WHY! WHY!!"

I frantically horse-kick him in the head and start throwing wide swinging punches towards him, but nothing. Nothing, but air, and yet he stands. Nothing connects.

I contemplate on leaving and shout for help, but at the same time, I can't risk anyone thinking there is something wrong with me. I am a leader; I am a master. I am supposed to be a ghost in the human world and here am I haunted by a ghost in my world. What such terrible irony of war between the two worlds. I look at my execution victim, it is nothing and nothing will disappear back to whatever it came from.

"Answer me now: Why did you have to kill me ???"

I must rest, it will disappear on its own. I walk back towards my bed, ignoring the spectre.

"Don't you dare turn away from me, you killer?"

My hands start to burst in flames, spreading quickly onto my chest and head. I scream in pain and agony, as the dead fisherman shouts back, "All crimes must be paid for, in this world and the next!"

I gasp for breath as the smoke and flames suffocates me, desperately trying to smother the fire burning my face and hands with the bed. The flames are gone, as quickly as it appeared, and I find myself sitting up on the bed once again, staring at the empty space at the end of my bed. I look at my hands and feel my face, there has been no fire. To my relief, it was merely a bad dream. I rest back on the bed, and close my eyes. I really need to sleep.

"You didn't answer my question: Why did you have to kill me?" the same voice asks me.

I sit up calmly and see the ghost, the dead fisherman at the end of my bed.

"You are dead. I killed you, you are product of my tired mind trying to sleep," I answer very calmly and slowly.

"Why did you have to kill me?" The dead fisherman's foul breath fills the room, semi-choking, I breath through my mouth - holding back the regurgitation of my stomach contents, "You already asked me. I am not going to answer you."

"Why did you have to kill me?" it insists on getting its answer. I cannot keep my calm any more.

"Do you have any idea who I am? Stay quiet dead human - you are the enemy - you and your kind have taken everything from my people," I should have known better than to reply back in anger.

"I am nobody's enemy. I have taken nothing that belongs to anyone. Everything belongs to everyone!" it yells back.

"You are nothing, a mere nothing in a world where you understand nothing! Only caring for your immediate needs, your life and the lives of other humans who have no value. You are a mere bundle of wasted emotions and petty yet destructive desires. Why were you created in the first place, who knows?" I shout back at it. it does not reply and I assume it has its answer, "I am going to sleep - bother someone else, you pathetic man."

The dead fisherman wails in agony, crying loudly the names of his loved ones. I start to see shapes on the bare plain white walls, shadows and it turns out to be more than shadows. I see the 'others', the other ten. One of them: a young girl, her broken neck still bears the crushing marks of my hands, her face with frozen tears, and permanently rolled up eyes - revealing only the white sclera. She is the first to walk towards the edge of the bed. I refuse to be afraid of her.

"What about me? Why did you have to kill me?"

I refuse to answer her. I owe her nothing, I owe her no explanation. Why should I tell her that in the heat of the moment I snapped her neck because she happened to be with the rest of them? Oh maybe, I could not resist her.

"You know my mom is still praying and waiting for me to come home to her," the young girl sobs continually. "Were you fair to her and me? Is the world going to be fair to you?"

"Why did you have to kill me?" There are many other voices, all of which I recognise - even if I had only been 'acquainted' with them for a short while.

The nine others step forward: three brothers who were illegal 'Gaharu tree' loggers, their torsos deformed and limbs mangled; three bird trappers whose arms I had broken into three parts before crushing their hearts with my bare hands; two trespassers whom I kicked and trampled to their deaths, they deserved it, they were snapping away with their tiny photographic recording devices, too busy to see the signs of their impending deaths; last and strangest, a sinful man who had sought redemption deep in the jungle, in my jungle. He was very different; he did not show how frightened when I revealed myself to him. I recall how he started confessing his sins to his society - he was special. He held himself back from screaming for as long as he humanly could when I started breaking every bone there was to break in this tiny but condemned man. All of those I had executed in the name of Justice, in the name of War, in the name of Peace, for my people. And yet, here their ghosts chant with the same last look on their faces, their faces of death, "Why did you have to kill me?"

I scream back, "Because you are the enemy, you are the killers, you are the destroyers of our worlds. I will kill more of your kind!"

Moving closer, surrounding the edge of my bed, they continue to chant, "Why did you have to kill me?"

"It is my right to kill you, you are all mere vermin!"

"Why did you have to kill me?"

"Quiet! Get out of here! You have no right to be here!"

"Why did you have to kill me?"

"You were all legit kills! I had execution orders from the highest command!"

"Why did you have to kill me?"

I desperately punch, push and kick each and every one of them, but it makes no sense, they are like shadows and I hit nothing but air.

"What can you do? Haunt me all night? You can't touch me. You can't even kill me," I spit in anger at the three bird trappers, there were the ones who upset me the most, they had no right to complain about their ends, they deserved it every single injury, crushing and kicking. I watch as my spit passes through their non-existent bodies and fall down onto the floor behind them.

"Why did you have to kill me?" Persistent. They all look at me, as though I can bring them back through some twisted redemption.

"I am not afraid of any of you! I am not even afraid of death, and that is why I will never be afraid of you," I stare at the spectre of the young girl who keeps crying and asking me the same question over and over again.

"I am a warrior! This is my way, when your people is in my way!" I beat my chest in defiance, and then shake my clenched fist in the air, staring back at their faces of death.

"I am not afraid of death, you hear!" The muscles in my neck tighten stiff and become numb, "The way of the warrior is the resolute acceptance of death."

The ghosts pause and I breathe a sigh of relief, bringing my clenched fist down, and then the small girl starts to cry and so do the others. And they ask me again, "Why did you have to kill me?"

Why do they all appear before me now? Why now? Was it because of the Amanah book I found? I give up and throw myself on to the bed. Grabbing the hard pillow, I cover my face with it.

"Why did you have to kill me?"

They lean closer as their horrendous stench of their rotting flesh and foul breaths pass through the pillow along with the barely muffled murmurs of their chants. Pulling and stretching the pillow, I cover my ears, pressing hard and doing my best to ignore the constant murmurs and the occasional shouting of the same question. I start to wonder if I have started to lose my mind.

Why am I having these hallucinations? I am not a murderer, I am a hero to my people, I am a soldier, I am a great warrior, I am Master Selym the Saviour of Hilaga, the sole son of the slain Lord Ramesh, I bear the weight of avenging his death, even if I lose my soul.
3rd December

Rahman: Tuah

Location: Tuah's house, The Capital. Bumi.

"Father, are you sure we have to go today?" my son asks insistently but he already knows the answer, and hence I do not reply and simply respond with a nod. Yesterday was a warning, delivered by an unknown spirit that has always chosen to be in contact with me when there is a storm ahead. I cannot ignore this warning.

Rahmat drives me to my former mentor's house, Master Tuah. He used to live in a small wooden house, until recently his son, a successful real estate developer, bought him a beautiful modern bricks-and-concrete house in the suburbs of the Capital. As we pass through the gates and the driveway, I notice there is a gardener tending to his pink and orange Bougainvillea flowers. Mr. Tuah has really upped his standards since the last time I saw him. His Filipino maid opens the door and ushers me into his living room. Rahmat kindly excuses himself from entering the living room. I can see why. It is dark, the windows have been taped and covered with aluminium foil, blocking the sun. I see there is a large LED TV screen mounted on the wall, showing today's some soap drama from Indonesia. Mr. Tuah sits in the corner, both feet on a stool, wrapping himself with an old blanket. I greet him and hoarsely he welcomes me to his house.

"I like your house Master Tuah," I compliment him.

"What use is it to me? I have all this but I don't have my health. Rahman, the real wealth of life is health, not money. I keep telling my son that. Take care of his body. I hate my body. I know I should be grateful; my body has taken the wrath of having too much sugar!" Master Tuah barks, almost shouting at me.

"You have diabetes, Master Tuah?" I ask.

"Yes, at first, those foreign doctors the government hired used to tell me to cut down on my sugar, which, of course, I did. But now, I just found out from one of the local doctors, my cousin's nephew - it's the rice. It's the bloody rice that is the sugar."

I stay quiet and tentatively listen.

"Of course, rice is sugar. I wish the local doctors had graduated sooner, and told me this earlier. Now my feet are in constant pain, even when there is nothing seemingly wrong with my feet," Master Tuah complains.

We both stay quiet as he strokes his lower legs.

"Master, are you still aware of anything new?" I ask him cautiously.

"Of course, I am aware. I am ALWAYS aware of what happens in their world. I fought three generations of their kind, those bloody Hilagaans!" Master Tuah pauses, picking up a glass of water from a nearby table.

"Their colours may be different, but the story is always the same, seeds of hate and destruction are always sowed to create a divide between those who know and those who have yet to know."

"What does that mean, Master?" I am puzzled, I promise myself not to give cryptic lessons to my future students.

"Rahman, the politics and the power struggles in their world, is designed to naturally create a clash between the two worlds."

"What power struggle? How do you know these things, Master?"

"Rahman, what have I taught you all these years? Was it all like pouring water on yam leaves and watching it all drain away? What happens in their world is happening in our world too! This is the 'Dunia Akhir Zaman' - The Era of the End of the World!" he smacks the soft fabric arm of his sofa-chair.

I am unmoved by his dramatism and decide to stay quiet. I have been trained, not to talk back to elders, in particular a Guru.

"I am too old to spoon-feed you, and you are too old to be spoon-fed. You go figure it out, Rahman."

"Did they come to you, Master?" I ask.

"Of course, not. They simply can't enter this house anymore. I have made sure of that using a special protective spell, my very own 'Guris'. You can say it's a 3D guris, they can't even enter from the roofs. But I do see glimpses of a future so uncertain and so bleak, I would be so grateful if I could die early."

Master Tuah continues with rather ungraceful hands, dancing stiffly in the air, "I know you want me to guide you but as you can see I am too unwell to travel into the jungle with you. I am not afraid of death, as you well know the Hilagaans have tried to kill before - last time I checked, I still have a bounty for my death. I think before I die, my greatest pain for them is to ensure that I die naturally without them being able to do anything about it."

Taking another sip of water, Master Tuah points to a photo of a young man on a coffee table. "I want you to take my late sister's son with you and that would make you a team of five men. His name is Azan, he's green, but I am sure he will learn fast. I promised his mother on her dying bed that I would teach him our ways. You can help me keep that promise, won't you?"

I nod quietly, knowing that I cannot refuse Master Tuah. He is my true Guru.

We stay quiet for a few minutes, and then Master Tuah reveals some more to me.

"A few nights ago, I had a dream of a young man, who has many shadows with him. He is now with a woman who is much more than she looks. They both have no idea what is really happening. You must protect them. I fear they will be lost from our world. Travel to the ancient well of the 7 Kings near Belabau Village of Tutong District and I pray that everything will fall in place on its own. We must have faith in fate, Rahman. That's all to it, just faith in fate."

We are interrupted by Master Tuah's maid bringing in some cold refreshments.

"Rahman, your time is up - take the drinks and you can keep the damn glasses too, bring it home and tell your kind wife that it's a petty gift from me to your family. Now, go Rahman and leave me alone. Don't forget what I just told you." Master Tuah demands, pointing his index finger at me. I can't tell if he is scolding me or rewarding me. I dare not answer, I dare not interject, even though I have so many questions. There are so many disadvantages of being in a subservient society. I guess I must play my role and just nod and smile. If only we were free, maybe I will leave that to my grandchildren to figure it out.

"Oh, here's a final lesson from me before you go. Never promise anyone anything when they are dying. You'll end up regretting it."

As I wonder about that final piece of advice from Master Tuah, I nod agreeably and kiss his hand, bidding him farewell. I hope it would not be the last time I see him, for both our sakes.
3rd December

Serigala: Price

Location: Red Building, Hilaga city. Ifrit.

The team seems jubilant at their first kill mission in the Ingei jungle. After traveling back to Hilaga via the MATA Portal, everyone heads to the briefing at the top floor of my late grandfather's ninety-nine storey building, the Red building. The benefits of being released from life incarceration is being given back all my properties including my late grandfather's building. He did not want me to have the building, but had no choice as he had no other heirs.

"I can't wait to get back. They all screamed back on how soft their bodies are, just begging to be squashed!" say Andrew, a new member of my team, standing in the middle of the room, pretending to be an old soldier with war stories to share.

The whole team laughs with him. There is patting of each other's back.

"Who took the video recording? I want to see the pathetic look on that human child as we yell at him!" says another in the team.

Unsophisticated thrill-seeking amateurs. I will need to harden them. Before someone starts showing the video around, I call for everyone to sit down and start the debriefing.

"I am glad that you all found today very entertaining. I would like to point out that we initially had nine targets. That's right, count it nine. And the bodies only tallied up to eight." I jest to the group, most of them will know the gravity of the situation.

"I was pretty sure, I got her. I threw my dagger towards her. I am pretty sure it hit her. In any case, she fell down the waterfall and must have hit her head. Damn humans, so soft and fragile. Also FYI Master, the waterfalls are strictly beyond our jurisdiction, isn't it?" Andrew laughs uncomfortably to himself, as the mood in the room turns very serious - all eyes glare at him.

"Andrew, you hail from the village of Kapak. Very brave people. I know the villagers there very well - one of my great grandparents established that village. Now it has thrived with fine groups of fighters. Like you, they have balls. Balls to be open and truthful to their superiors. I have been waiting for someone like you. Maybe someone to lead as my second in command."

I stare at the others in disdain. "You put the rest of them in shame. I had questioned a few others earlier but no one dared to tell me what had happened. How do you expect me to show I have good governance within my unit?"

I walk towards Andrew, look at his bright eyes. There is so much potential in him. I smile and reciprocates. "A future personal apprentice, perhaps. Come, let's talk privately."

I open the doors to the vast balcony - at this height the winds tend to blow hard at times, whistling in between the other buildings. I show off to Andrew the magnificent night view of the Hilaga city.

"My late grandfather was a great warrior, he started from the bottom of his team, working his way up, through hard work and determination. He became the leader of his group and then his clan. He was so powerful and rich, he ended up owning this building. Now through mere inheritance, I own this building. I see so much that is common between you and him and me. You have great initiative." I smile and put my hand on his shoulder. It could have been mistaken for a father-and-son moment.

"However, there is one difference. Just one small, big difference," My hand moves from his shoulder to his neck, grabbing and squeezing his neck. His face that was only a few seconds ago brimmed with hope, now in total fear, knowing that all hope has been extinguished.

"Neither he nor me, allowed our targets to escape. We always, always, always, make sure that all our enemies are dead. You allowed the girl to live. Empires collapse because of a single careless mistake. All in my unit must leave no stone unturned!" I shake him vigorously as his face turns pale and blue. I loosen my grip so that he does not faint and he breathes a sigh of relief.

"I apologise, Master Serigala. I will take responsibility and I will not make this mistake again," he chokes on his words, desperate to show repentance.

"That's good. You will take full responsibility for your actions. And you will not make any more mistakes from now on." I let go of his neck, and he drops on to my feet and starts kissing my feet for forgiveness. At least he is loyal.

"Andrew, stand up, there's no need to grovel before me."

Andrew stands up before me, his eyes are red and teary, "Thank you, Master." I hold his neck gently, "No need to thank me, all is forgiven."

He smiles appreciatively, I do not react to his smile, merely gripping his neck again hard and I fling him over the balcony. I watch him fall, he is looking up at me, in the beautiful and yet tragic facial expression of disbelief of his impending doom until I could not see him at all, hitting the pavement on the ground floor.

I look up beyond the horizon, start admiring the beautiful skyline of Hilaga, whilst pondering upon the sacrifices we made to make Hilaga great again.

"Kapak residents need to improve their mental training," I make a note to myself.

I walk back into the debriefing room, where the nervous team members await - the newer members are the most anxious and guarded, whilst the older team members are laughing off Andrew's latest downfall.

"I hope we all learnt a valuable lesson today. There is no room for failure. Those who wish to continue to be in this unit must ensure ZERO survivors. Of course, you all know I am a dynamic and adaptive leader, and very open to suggestions to improve my quality of leadership. If you don't think you can perform in this unit, then you are more than welcome to fall," I pause and correct. "Sorry I meant 'leave'. Any questions?"

Nothing but silence. Good, just the way I like it.

"We will head out again soon. Find the girl. She can't stay protected in that waterfall for too long."
3rd December

Manis: Dawn

Location: Ingei Jungle. Bumi

I am woken by the violent clattering of my own teeth.

Was it a dream, a nightmare that had happened?

I look around me to comprehend the events of last night. Here I am taking refuge at a rock shelter behind a curtain of falling water. The dawn sunlight penetrates through the water and I wonder if I will be safe when I leave the rock shelter. I must wake up and get out. Get out of this horrible, horrible jungle. I pray those monsters are not out in the morning as I cautiously wade through the waterfall. The dirt and grime wash off all my tears, as I remember my mother, her last words - You must live for the rest of us and my father's last stand. Oh my brother, my sister and Andie and his siblings. I choke with tears, and clutch my chest as a sharp pain pierces through my heart.

"What will I do now?" I swim away from the waterfall and head towards the river bank.

"What's going to happen to me?" I say to myself.

OK, I must survive, I must live. My head starts to ache. I feel my skull and find a bump that was not there before, probably from the series of falls last night.

"Priorities. Get some food first, then decide how I'm going to get out of here."

"Do I head back to where my parents were? Who is going to bury them?"

I am too scared to see what had happened. I can't go back there. Not alone. I am a coward, running away from all of them.

The reality of last night's events hits me like a train. My feet wobble on the soft cool river mud, I fall down on to my knees, wailing and crying, knowing that I have lost everyone and everything, I am truly alone. How can I live on after this?
3rd December

Adib: Boat

Location: Melilas Village. Bumi.

The village muezzin wakes me up from my slumber with his melodious call to prayer. I must have fallen asleep sitting up. I turn round and see the doctor by my side. I still can't believe she was walking out there in the middle of the night. She should have better common sense than that. A Pontianak. That was what it was. We came by in the nick of time.

I hear John's horribly loud snoring. John, gosh! You are such a baby, when you are drunk.

I don't join the villagers for prayers. Instead, I start taking a walk towards the weeping willow tree by the river. As I walk closer, I see the wooden jetty, and a man tending to his longboat. I approach him.

"Hi Mister, what are you doing?" I ask the stranger.

"You must be Adib," I notice this man's grey hair and his face creased with wrinkles and yet a warm smile. He puts his hand out to greet me.

"Yes, I am - have we met before?"

"Yes, well, it is a small world," he laughs.

"I'm a bit curious, what exactly are you doing?" I ask, watching the man painting a resin at the bottom of the wooden longboat.

"Oh, just making sure it doesn't leak, you got to be prepared for the worst, you know."

"How long have you had this boat for?" I ask.

"Oh no, it's not mine. I'm just helping out." He answers.

"Okay, that's good of you. Are you joining us later for the trip to Ingei?"

"Oh yeah, I have to. Got to watch over you and make sure you're safe, you know," the man seems very focused at his job, now appearing indifferent to me.

"Hey Adib, you got to help out with setting up breakfast!" I hear Simon shouting out to me.

I ignore Professor Simon Muller for a while.

"He's an asshole, isn't he?" the boat-fixer laughs, still transfixed with his repairs.

"Yeah he is."

"You know people like him don't last long in the real tropical jungle. If anything bad happens, you must trust your heart, your gut feeling. Ever had anything strange happen in Ingei?" the boat-fixer asks.

"No, my previous trips has been all good. I just follow whatever the guides tell me to do."

I hear Simon calling out for him to attend to him. He is heading out towards me.

"OK Mister, I'm gonna go now. Hey, I didn't catch your name?" I turn around but the boat-fixer is no longer there.

Where did he go?

I search around the boat and the jetty but there is no one there.

That's creepy. A chill tingle down my spine and then a heavy hand grabs my shoulder, I spin round ready to punch whatever it is.

"Hey what the hell! Come on, Adib what the f- are you doing here? Go help out with setting up breakfast and get everyone ready for our river trip to Ingei. Got it? Comprende?" A startled Simon slaps my raised fists down and then slaps me again on the shoulders. He walks back up to the hut and I follow him slowly.

"Asshole," I mutter under my breath.

"I told you so," I hear the boatman say softly behind me. I turn my head round but no one is there. I start walking faster, overtaking Prof. Simon.
3rd December

Nurul: Plastic

Location: Melilas Village, Labi. Bumi.

I am woken up by Sally Walls. I got introduced to her last night, she is a college student doing a biology project for her international school.

"Sorry Doctor, but you did ask me to wake you up at 5am."

The light blurs my vision as I take my time to refocus to see a keen and youthful bright orange-hair student. I remember those days when I was sweet and tender sixteen. Back in those days I can do anything and everything. Nothing was impossible. How much time has passed since those days?

"Sure, let me just freshen up and let's get a good cuppa coffee." I am careful not to show the real me, a spiteful morning person, usually groaning when woken up. Let orange Sally see the good in people, untainted by any bad experiences. I wish someone could have done that with me.

Sally and I stand around by the makeshift mess tent, sipping our freshly-brewed coffee.

"We're going to have a team presentation by Ana," Shikin, the expedition second in command announces as she goes round to everyone.

"Grab breakfast and head out to the meeting tent now," Shikin clearly enjoys bossing people around.

Breakfast is very American, fried eggs - sunny-side ups and omelettes, toasted bread, baked beans and fried sausages. I wonder where is the recommended dietary fibre in this diet. I start craving for some oatmeal or at least Weetabix cereal. I sit down next to Adib at the meeting tent.

"Hey Adib, thanks for last night. I got to ask you... Did you see anything peculiar last night?"

"Yeah, I did. Doc, here's a tip: Never be alone at night OK, especially here."

I nod and squeeze his forearm, my own gesture to thank him again.

"So who's that girl?" I point to the freshman adjusting the portable projector for her 'PowerPoint' presentation.

"That's Ana Sulaiman, she's a freshie doing research on jungle cats in the Ingei area," Adib replies.

"Hmmm, cat woman - cats are like pangolins, aren't there?" I tease Adib.

"Are you being serious? Coz' you know that will just piss me off big time. I mean for one, pangolins are Pholidota: anteaters. Pangolins have got hard scales, whilst cats have fur, and..." Adib gets very serious.

"Hey hey, I'm just pulling your leg!" I pat Adib on the shoulder.

"I'm just thinking maybe you should hook up with cat woman there," the idea just came out of nowhere, but I reckon I might as well play matchmaker with Adib.

"No no, I am not a big fan with women with too much makeup - especially early in the morning," Adib scowls.

And then it hit me, Ana is wearing a layer of thick foundation makeup with a shocking pink lipstick.

"You don't like plastic girls then?" I tease Adib.

"Definitely no! I got better things to do than that."

Ana, the plastic girl, starts her presentation titled 'Welcome to the Sungai Ingei Conservation Forest'.

"Adib, she said Sungai - that means river. Isn't it supposed to be a jungle that we're going to," I whisper, making sure I am not offending the presenter Ana.

"Well, the Ingei Forest reserve is special because of the confluence of several different ecosystems like wetlands, peatlands, tropical rainforest and hill land. Of course not to mention the Ingei hot springs," Adib replies.

"Hot springs, there? Really?" I might actually learn something today.

"Let plastic girl talk and learn, Doc."

"The Sungai Ingei Conservation Forest is a protected forest reserve with an area of 18,491 hectares, with a huge number of faunal species including: 35 species of fish - six being recently discovered species, 38 species of amphibians, two new species of frog-biting midges, 12 reptile species, 14 species of birds and 97 mammal species including 28 species of bats." Ana starts off her presentation but I notice she has not mentioned cats.

I stare at my empty mug. It is too early in the morning to absorb this information. Before heading off to the mess, I couldn't help from noticing the next slide with a large photo of a multi-stepped waterfall. It seemed to have a great bearing to me. I definitely got to take a lot of selfie photos there.
3rd December

Manis: Resolve

Location: Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

Lying on the soft river mud, I sob uncontrollably, I can't seem to stop. I know deep inside, I need to figure out how to get out of here, instead of being this wreck.

A small river crab walks sideways towards me; I stare at its bulbous small eyes. It pauses and then proceeds to walk around me. It does not know if my intentions are anything to do with eating it. As it scurries fast away from me, I recall a memory, a dinner with my family and my uncle's family a many years ago - well, before my father and him had that big fight about his new faith.

***

"Okay Manis, if you're so smart, then I want you to answer my question."

"Sure Uncle," as I scoop onto my plate an orange shelled crab cooked in the sweet aroma coconut-cream based curry.

"Now every single time, there is a plane crash - what is the one thing that immediately determines if the survivors will survive or not?" I catch the glint of Uncle's glasses, reflecting glare from the white florescent white lights.

His wife Serunai looks at him, "I hope this isn't one of your boring jokes."

My parents laugh as Uncle reassures with his ungraceful hands, yet insistent that everyone try their wits at this.

"Okay, anyone? Come on, anyone got the answer?"

"Getting the food?" My mom looks at the delicious large crabs.

"Close, but not really what I am getting at here. Anyone?" my uncle looks around.

"Oh come on, just tell us, the food's going to get cold, if we wait any longer," my father impatiently tells his brother.

"Okay, here it is: it is the first and most immediate thought after the crash." My uncle smiles broadly, expecting any agreeable gestures.

"What do you mean, Uncle?" I had to ask.

"You see when tragedy happens to people, the first thing most people ask is WHY did it happen? What could I have done to stop this from happening in the first place? Whose fault was it? Was it my fault? What if I had not gotten on the plane? They are stuck by the tragedy of crashing instead of resolving their current crisis I.e. surviving post-crash."

Everyone remains quiet, trying to figure out what he actually mans by this.

"On the other hand, those who survive always ask themselves these questions first \- what do I need to do first? Do I make a shelter; how do I find food? How do I get help?"

My father interjects, so that means if we are ever in a plane crash, I will make sure I have you by my side.

"Of course, eldest brother, nothing less."

In camaraderie, my father pulls my uncle's hand and grip in a testosterone-fuelled masculine handshake as their wives wonder what that is all about.

***

I remember that dinner lesson well, somehow ingrained in my memory, with the delicious morsels of white flesh crabs.

Back on the river bank, I sit up and make a small deep prayer.

"You are the only one true God, from you I beg for your mercy and help me out of this danger. Please protect me from Evil and keep me on the right path. Amen."

I have never prayed before; I have never prayed for my safety before. I shed more tears and as I stand on my feet, I can feel myself filled with great resolve. I convince that I am not really alone, for God is always with me, all the time from the beginning till now. He has not forsaken me. My tummy rumbles painfully. Food. Let's find food and then figure out how to get out of here.
3rd December

John: Null

Location: Melilas Village. Bumi.

"Last night, you were completely out of it, dude" Adib wakes me up, as I grumble and complain in expletives.

"Yeah, Mister John - yeah I saw and heard," Mahmud joins the conversation.

"Oh my poor head," my head is pounding hard as I try to orientate myself.

Clearly, I'm not at home.

"Come on John, wash yourself and then let's head for breakfast - looks like you're gonna need a good cup of Joe, and not a cup of John!" Adib pulls me out of my sleeping bag.

"Mahmud, did you see something last night?" Adib asks.

"Yeah I saw the woman doctor running and tumble down and you guys bump into her," Mahmud replies.

"Really? Did you see something else?" Adib asks slowly and pausing in the between the last words.

"Oh no, nothing. If you're asking me if I saw a ghost, then I'm the wrong person to ask."

Mahmud's words puzzle me, "Why is that, Mahmud?"

"Well, my mommy says I've got a seventh sense. So I'm all good," Mahmud replies grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry I don't get you, what do you mean by seventh sense? That simply does not make sense." Adib asks.

"It's kind of like a sixth sense, where you can sense 'things', but I have the opposite of that," Mahmud replies, again grinning sheepishly at the end of each answer.

"Please, just talk properly - it's too early in the morning for this, Mahmud" I complain, nursing my poor, poor head.

"Yeah dude," Adib agrees.

"It's simple OK, Ghosts don't see me and I don't see them. Actually, I never see any ghosts, I never feel anything, even when people tell me that the ghost chasing them. They usually disappear when I'm there. Ghosts just stop happening when I'm around. It's my seventh sense - a gift." Mahmud again grins sheepishly.

"Oh, okay that sounds weird, but hey I respect that," Adib clearly looks confused by the whole conversation.

I get up on my feet, scratch my bum and head off to the washroom outside the hut.

Seventh sense, my ass.

On the other hand, I did see something chase Nurul, didn't I? Maybe it was something in my drink. Am I going to say now I really believe in Pontianaks? That's just impossible.
3rd December

Adib: Bunian

Location: Ingei River. Bumi.

The bright morning sun has risen, and the light bounces on the clear light brown river, sparkles catch in my eyes, and I love it. Blue black butterflies flutter around in the air around everyone, as the whole expedition team lines up to get into the longboats.

The TV crew is busy making their money shots, whilst Yasmin does her coverage for the day. I see Ana with her posse of girlfriends taking photos of each other and then 'selfies' and 'group selfies' or 'we-fies'.

"It's no good to take a photo with only three persons, otherwise you'll get a 'fourth' person in the photo," Eddie says to Ana.

"Well, let's have a look, see there's still just three of us here, no ghosts," Ana justifies.

"But you know you should be in our photo, because you know you want to, right?" Ana winks back. Eddie blushes and starts to stammer.

"And he's cute too," Dina rescues Eddie and proceeds to have their vain session of self-photography.

"You know, here's a couple of interesting facts, these longboats are similar to the ones at the Kampong Ayer - you know, the Water Village. Although there are both open top boats but our boats are much longer - like longer torpedoes. Our boats are also different as they have flat bottoms, as the water can get pretty shallow here. From time to time, we might have to get out of the boat and push it to deeper water," Mahmud provides the tour guide narrative to the 17-year old Caucasian orange hair student Sally Walls, whilst with gentlemanly etiquette helps her get into the longboats. He catches me staring at him, he winks back and gives me a thumbs up. Gosh, he's still wearing that Taylor Swift t-shirt from yesterday!

"Life-jar-kat abery wan mus use life-jar-kat OKAY!" I hear the El-Kapitan chef shouting to everyone, barely making sense if he had not been showing everyone the orange life vests to wear when getting on the boats. No one will ever dare mock him, his face projects nothing but the coldness of a stone carving.

The river water is surprisingly cold. I start to shiver, as I wade into the water, and then step into the cramped longboat.

"Brrr, that was really cold," I say to myself.

"Looks like someone didn't take a shower today," Mo, sitting cross-legged in front of me, his long legs can barely fit in the boat.

Before I could reply to him, Mo says "Don't worry I didn't shower today too - you know save water thing."

"Me too!" Zul who is sitting behind proclaims loudly.

"Me three!" I hear Matt, the footballer shouts out from the end.

Laughter erupts in our boat. I can see Nurul and John in different boats, they all seem happy and excited at the same time. I'm so glad John is feeling so much better. I see him entertaining a first year university student by the name of Hannah. No one can resist her perfect smile, with a matching set of dimples. I must confess I did have a crush on her once, and I would not be surprised if John will end up very flirtatious with her. At least it will keep him from the other trouble he gets himself into. Behind us, two longboats steered by Mr. Ayang and the El-Kapitan bring our supplies of food, equipment and base camp shelter materials. I can't help from noticing a chainsaw in each boat. Mr. Ayang told me that a few days ago, they pre-emptively chain-sawed the fallen logs blocking the river - it's more efficient this way. However, there may be new fallen trees, which would mean we would end up doing some manual work along the way.

As the boat glides across the river, I appreciate the surrealness of the fallen trees that lie on both sides of riverbanks whilst river otters play around in the water, indifferent to us. Everyone realizes that it is a beautiful day for a great adventure.

I could not help notice by one of the large fallen trees, there's a half-naked man sitting by a large boulder. I can't see his face, his hair partially obstructing his eyes. He looks down and waves to me. No one else seems to see him. Not even Nurul. As we pass by him, I notice his half smile.

'Bunian': the hidden spirits that lives in the jungle. "I sure hope that was a friendly smile," I say to myself.

He raises his right hand and gives a thumbs up. I do my best to reassure myself that that must be a good gesture and mutter a quiet prayer in my heart.
3rd December

Manis: Tenggiling

Location: Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

Finding some low hanging 'Salak' fruits, I tear off the thin snake-like skin of the fig-like Salak fruit, its sweet nectar smell reminds me that I am alive. I bite on the sweet fruit, being so hungry I can't taste the usual mild acidic and sticky after-taste. Judging the sun's position in the sky, I figure out how to head north. Head north to civilization.

The sweltering heat of the tropical rain-forest dries up my wet clothes, only to wet them back with my sweat, as I fight flies and mosquitoes that relentlessly attack me. I wonder if swatting only seems to attract them to me. I jump across rotting and fallen logs, and do my best to ignore the numerous leeches that feed off blood from my lower legs. From time to time I would break low lying smaller branches, leaving it to hang down-wards and then snap the lower half of that to point towards the direction that I will be walking to. In case, there's a search party, not that I am expecting one, they'll know I was here. More importantly they'll know which direction I am heading to. I remind myself that they will also know when I was here, by checking the state of branch - how dry is it and from the colour of the leaves.

I will live for you, Mama. I will live for everyone.

The gradient goes up again, I breathe hard against the humid air, my clothes stick to me, slowing my legs. I wonder if I should tear the khaki cargo pants into make-shift shorts but the thought of mosquitoes, flies, leeches and all kinds of creepy-crawlies going up my legs kills that idea. I end up having to stop. Panting hard, I bend down and rest my palms against my aching knees. As I stand up, I begin to notice this gigantic massive hardwood, its trunk so vast, I wonder how many people it would take to wrap their arms around it. If only I could climb it and then fly back home. I recite a little prayer, to seek for protection and guidance.

I take the time to reassess the direction I need to head to. I look at the sun's shadow and plot along the path of the shadow for 15 minutes, and that would give me a rough estimate of the east to west line. From there, I could figure out where north was. Somehow that would take it close to Melilas village and I would figure out how to get there once I am nearby. I am so glad I regularly watch the Discovery channel.

As I prepare myself to endure a long walk, I notice there's a strange looking armoured-scale creature with a cute long snout crawling in front of me. It's a 'Tenggiling' or pangolin. This must be a good sign. Usually, a pangolin would roll itself up into a ball when you are near it or when you touch it but this pangolin seems to be indifferent to me. How strange. Looking at its path, it seems to be heading north as well. I follow the path of the pangolin, my companion saviour.

Following this small cat-size armoured ant-eater; the pangolin, I follow it through the jungle.

"I'm going to have to give you a name." The pangolin pauses and looks at me. Is it really doing that?

"Oh, I guess you do understand me." I am starting to converse with my pangolin friend. I ignore the absurdness of the situation. The only name I could think of is Andie's. No, can't use that name. Think of another name. Andie. No, please think of another.

Andie. Andie. Andie. Andie. Andie. Andie.

"Andie then." My eyes well up and I start to cry, noticing how sad the pangolin's beady eyes are.

Turning its head, 'Andie' scratches the moist dirt with his claws and starts moving on. He must be telling me to get myself together and move on.

"Andie, I trust you will keep me safe."

***

It has probably been several hours since I have followed Andie.

Am I really putting my life in the claws of this pangolin? I must be losing my mind.

"Andie, wait. I need a rest."

The pangolin stops and climbs a tree. I notice the giant ants on the tree. It starts licking them off and eating them, and then claws a piece of bark off to reveal numerous ants in panic.

"I suppose I could try your delicacy," I try to convince myself that this is doable. Think survival.

I grab a large giant black ant, its six limbs sprawling here, trying to escape from my clutches in futility. I look at the ant again, it's much bigger than our house ants, the size of a AAA battery. I squeeze its head, it's jaws are no match for my thumb, and squish comes out soft gooey mush. Its limbs still moving but I am pretty sure it is dead.

I can't believe I am doing this.

I throw the giant ant into my mouth, doing my best to think pleasant thoughts. Best to chew. No, no, no - just swallow. I could feel its legs still moving inside my throat as I do my best to swallow it. I pick some more giant black ants and ingest more than a dozen ants, hoping these ants won't poison me.

Think super-food.

Andie the pangolin jumps off the tree and looks at me and then starts moving the same direction, before our little break-time.

"Okay, Andie, I guess brunch is over."

I follow the pangolin, noticing we are going uphill this time. I feel safe with 'Andie'. I imagine that this is a walk in the park or a university sponsored walk.

Andie the pangolin stops, and starts walking around in circles. I look at it and wonder what is going on. I look ahead and only now do I notice that the pathway has ended. I can't see beyond the wall of vegetation.

"What is it, Andie? What's wrong?"

I go closer, and it rolls up into a ball.

What's going on?

I pick up Andie and it does not move, but looks at me as though smiling. Maybe I should just see what's on the other side of this tangled wall of vines. I can't see an opening through the vines. It is tougher than I imagine. I want to put Andie down on the ground, but he just seemed too comfortable in my hand.

"Shall I push through Andie?"

The pangolin winks at me. It winked at me! There's no possibility I imagined that. Or did I? I push my body against the vegetation wall. It holds in place.

'OK let's try that again," I am still holding Andie, we are doing this together. I take a step back, and propel my body with my left shoulder first into the wall.

The wall breaks, I hear instant snapping of branches and vines and instead of finding a jungle path on the other side, I realize that I have just pushed through and started to fall from a cliff to my certain end.

It is too late, there is nothing I can do, I cannot save myself. 'Andie' had tricked me. I should not have trusted a creature of the jungle. I wanted to live for you, Mama...
3rd December

John: Friend

Location: Drop-point Alpha, Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

After a good two hours, we arrive at Drop-point Alpha, a white sand river beach. On any other given day, I would love to lay down here and get myself a sun tan.

Simon had mentioned that the river porters will bring supplies here and other members of the logistic team will bring it up to our base camp, a good thirty minutes climb up. I look up and I don't know if my knees can take that kind of punishment. Better go slow and steady.

The jungle is daunting, trees grow with no rules, and vines like I've never seen before, thicker than fire-hoses, and defiantly tangle into everything - resistance is futile. What is most overwhelming is the jungle sound \- no, I shall correct myself, it is the jungle traffic noise. It is incredibly so noisy.

"You would think the jungle critters would stop in the presence of us people, but know one thing - this is their 'city'. I hear birds singing, cawing, shrilling, cooing, hooting, whistling, cackling, tweeting, chirping and...," I say out loud to myself, hoping someone would pick conversation with me.

"Oh, oh, I know that sound. That's a woodpecker pecking into a tree and listen," Vol cups his right hand to his ear, "Can you hear that squawk in the distance?" he continues.

"Yes, I do. What do you suppose it is?" I ask with intent curiosity.

"I think it might be a rare Bornean peacock-pheasant, or maybe even a crested fireback pheasant!" Vol's eyes light with so much enthusiasm, he sets me alight. I feel revived and keen to climb up and endure the pain of 49-year-old knees, worn cartilages will grind against each other without my immediate noticing.

A good ten minutes later, I notice how everyone seems to have zipped pass by me. Adib slows down and waits for me, stopping frequently as I try to catch up to him.

As I catch my breath again, my knees feel as though small daggers have been inserted into them. I tell Adib, "You don't have to wait for me, just go on. I can see the Base Camp from here. They need you there. Besides the porters, the logistics guys will be going up and down so I'm pretty safe."

Mr. Ayang climbs up past us whilst carrying at least 5 backpacks and a trunk, as though there's nothing inside them but fluffs of cotton wool in them. He just makes everything look so easy.

"Sure John, I expect to see you there in 10 to 15 minutes. Otherwise, I'll get the Special Boat Service to find you... and more importantly, NO, absolutely no... Partying on your own OK!" Adib waves his index finger to warn me.

"Well, I'm glad I drank the bottle dry last night," I reassure him.

Adib still has his youth, as he seems to leap from step to step on this uphill pathway. I start taking baby-steps this time, but looking at Adib so far away makes me envious and more importantly sad about how so much youth has left me.

"BLOODY HELL! They should really build a bloody escalator here." I scream to myself.

"There's no electricity, so that's going to be a bit hard," I turn to my right and see a man who is clearly older than I am, I notice his warm smile and crooked teeth.

"Who are you? I don't remember seeing you on the team."

Maybe I should not have mentioned that last part, not here, not when I'm alone.

"Let's just say I'm a friend. I think you should hurry up, John Proctor. Coz' that woman's not really a friend of ours," the stranger's hand goes up and points past my nose to a distant, on my left side.

He knows my name.

I turn my head to my left and see a figure in white, standing in between the trees and the majestic lianas vines. I can't seem to see it clearly, even though the trees seem quite clear to me. The figure just seems like a blur.

Must be this tiring climb, tiring my eyes.

As I stare at it, I notice its feet is not touching the ground, floating a few inches above the jungle floor.

"That's crazy, it's day time - at least I'm not alone," I turn my head to the right and see there is no one with me...

"Oh Lord!" With all my might, my body propels itself up, jumping in leaps and bounds uphill, taking me only 5 minutes to get the top to the Base Camp.
3rd December

Nurul: Waterfall

Location: Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

Our Base Camp has been built by the previous expedition groups, five wooden stilted longhouses as our state of the art jungle self-styled facilities, complete with its own zinc rooftops. Professor Simon and Shikin are busy designating the teams to their allocated work areas and delegating everyone's responsibilities. Now we've got to clean the place up and claim our sleeping areas - again on the floor. I start to miss my bed with its soft yet firm springy mattress. The logistics team is busy moving in the various but small research equipment into the longhouse in the middle.

"Hey Doc, can I bring you to the waterfall? It's beautiful there and we can take lots of photos there together," Ana comes up with her posse of girlfriends. I see Cindy and she's giving me the thumbs up. I simply find it hard to refuse anyone who does that.

"Ana, you've been here before?" It is my way of asking if she will get us lost in this jungle.

"Fourth time, actually. Will bring Johari as well, just in case." Ana, no matter how plastic she may seem, knows exactly what I am asking. She smiles and I smile back. I hope this isn't going to be like having high school 'frenemies' again.

***

We walk through an off-beaten jungle pathway. I watch my steps making sure there are no creepy crawlies on the brown leaves trodden pathway. This is when I realised the contradiction: I am awed by the beautiful tall trees, the persistent mesh of vegetation growing from tree to tree and down on the jungle floor, and yet I am terrified with each step I take forward. My thoughts drive me to imagine vengeful snakes waiting to strike my soft manicured feet and the secret union of spiders working together to jump off every leaf in a synchronized and coordinated effort to attack and subdue me - Doctor Nurul, the home spider swatter. I fear they will finally avenge their perished domesticated smaller spider cousins.

Walking through the pathway, we stop for a while. Johari points to an ankle-deep pool the size of a large bathtub filled with soggy leaves, "The water inside that pool is very hot water by the way."

"Wah, this is the Ingei hot spring, isn't it?" Cindy laughs and then proceeds to take a photo with her white Canon digital pocket camera.

"Yeah, I'd recommend you clear the leaves out first before you take a hot bath. And yes, all the pools and small streams here contain hot water." Johari seems quite keen to show off his local knowhow.

As we walk further up the pathway, it becomes steamier and hotter than usual. There is another clear pool of water, which is pretty devoid of life and steam is coming off the pool. This is definitely a much hotter spring, and yet definitely prettier than the one before. There is a large flat rock protruding above the surface, right in the middle of the pool. I wonder if we should get up there and let others take our photos. I look at the steam rising off the water and shelf the idea immediately.

"I should really give each hot spring a name, you know one of these days I am going to turn this place into a proper hot spring for tourists, just like the ones in our neighbouring country, Malaysia... What's the name of the hot spring? Roaring?" Johari asks himself.

"It's called Poring hot springs and it's on the Mountain Kinabalu," Ana corrects him.

"Well, I definitely want to be there during the opening - Johari's hot springs!" Cindy playfully rubs Johari's shoulders.

"You can't touch me like that - I'm happily married," Johari takes out a clove cigarette, lights it up, puffing away the sweet smell of self-destruction like nobody's business. Cindy is somehow upset that her shoulder rub was misinterpreted as flirting.

"Let's have a break here for five minutes - I hope you don't mind - the smoke, Doc?"

"To be honest, I haven't given up on getting to meet a non-smoking Johari, you know." I walk away from Johari and head towards another smaller pool, whilst Cindy fills up her water bottle with the pool water, and then tries to drink.

"Oh yuck, that smells of rotten eggs. I can taste the sulphur," she complains. "Doc, do you think this could be medicinal?" I pretend I did not hear her.

Soon enough, we head out back towards our intended sightseeing destination, determined to see the Ingei waterfalls.

It has been two hours hiking up. My legs are growing tired and I want to give up and turn back. And as soon as that thought materializes, I hear the loud sound of water falling down. Everyone is excited and we all rush towards it, it's a sprint to the end. I am keen to beat Ana to the top. Who will see the waterfall first?

I push through overgrown vines, although wary of the possibility of spiders dropping down on me, I convince myself that I am invincible.

Majestic. I stand awed by the view of white water flowing down from a cave stream above, cutting the dark grey and brown sandstone. The cascading white water flows down like a series of mini-waterfalls, landing on each step before falling down into a pool that then becomes a river. I've never seen anything like this before in my life.

Forgetting safety, we all rush into the waterfall and start playing and screaming like children. Johari refuses to join us, no matter how much we beg him to join us. He just lights his cigarette and starts chain-smoking away. Secretly, I wonder if I should push him down into the waterfall and hope his cigarettes become wet and useless. I calculate the risks of accidents versus my all too noble and yet compelling cause, and finally decide it is not worth the risks. Everything is perfect, rejuvenated by the waterfall of life, as pleasant childhood memories flood our minds.

Nothing could spoil this moment. I say to myself.

And then the screaming starts.
3rd December

Manis: Crash

Location: Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

How could I have wrongly trusted my instincts?

My body is spinning; the sun blinds my eyes. I feel sick.

The pangolin has disappeared from my hands.

This is the end. I wait till I hit the floor of this cliff. It feels like an eternity; I am falling from a great height. This will hurt. I hit the jungle floor, feet first.

Heat and the cold, more cold going up my legs, and then I hear it.

Splash.

Before I could open my eyes, a mixture of air and water rushes up my nostrils. I struggle to breathe but instead I swallow water. I 'crash' into the river bed, but it does not hurt me. Pushing off the river bed, I am gracious that I landed in water.

Where am I?

Gasping for breath. I look around. Water splashing everywhere around me, bouncing on the water.

Is this the same waterfall? Why! Why am I back here? The pangolin tried to kill me by either getting me to fall off a cliff or to lure me back to the demons.

I hear voices, from above. Is it the monsters or people? Adjusting my eyes, I can see what looks like people, girls like me. Is this for real? Looking round, I see 'Andie' the pangolin struggling to swim across to the river bank.

How I could have doubted you, Andie? I rescue Andie and let him climb onto my back; not caring if his claws hurt me, and swim back to the river bank.

"Who is that? Are you alright?" I hear a distant female voice echoing.

"Who are you? Are you human?" I shout, wondering if that is the right question to ask.

"What did you just say?" I can hear the puzzled expression in their voices, and realised there are not the monsters of last night.

"Help, help me!" I scream at the top of my voice towards them. I cry loudly, in disbelief, semi-choking in tears and breaths.

Someone jumps down from above and into the pool-river, and then another person jumps into the water. A man and a woman are swimming towards me. Up above, I hear intense voices, shouting and a few screams.

Is this a dream? Am I finally rescued? I lay down on my back and play victim. Andie curls up into a ball near my head.

Thank you Andie.
3rd December

John: Eyes

Location: Base Camp, Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

Adib is pacing up and down, he seemed shaken. Something had spooked him.

"Where did they go? When are they coming back?" Adib keeps asking me over and over again. He looks very worried. Something is just not right with Adib.

"Adib, hey, don't worry - they have Johari with them - remember the smoking man who caught that turtle who now works for us... saving the wildlife? Remember that? He knows this place like the back of his hand. His people lives in this area. They're in safe hands." I reassure Adib.

"John, something is just not right, since we arrived here," Adib looks at me intently, a crease appears on his forehead. Now I start to worry that it might end up as a permanent crease.

"I know you don't believe in this stuff but something happened last night," Adib looked around as though he was making sure he was not being watched. "Something came after Doc Nurul, you.."

I put my hand on Adib's mouth to shut him up.

"Adib, don't break the local taboo - I may be an Englishman, but I don't want any of this 'cabul' business here in this jungle. I did see it. I saw IT, the thing-whose-name-we-won't-ever-ever-mention-in-this-jungle that was chasing after her."

"Really, John? You know people say that would go after to kill you, right?" Adib's eyes lights up.

"I am still grasping this new concept by the straws," I explain to Adib.

"One other thing, as I was climbing the hill, on my own. I saw something and talked to someone who turned out to be not there in the first place," I confess to Adib.

"Adib, that's not even the worst thing, I saw a 'Ponti-you-know-what' staring at me, on the way up! Yes, in the day-time. I know it sounds crazy but it's what happened to me...today!" I continue, finding difficulty in calming the pace of my words.

"Oh my God, this is crazy - a series of unnatural events happening at the same time - John, something had happened just before they left."

"No, no...What happened, Adib?"

Adib pauses, unsure if he wants to share his new revelation. "When I was alone just now at our sleeping quarters, I saw a small boy hidden in the roof who told me that danger is coming. And then he vanished by floating through the roof!"

I nod and formulate a plan in my head - find Mahmud. He is the only other person, other than Johari who really knows this place.

"Have you seen Mahmud?" I ask Louise, who happens to bump into me.

"Yeah, he just left with Mr. Ayang and Mr. Patih, back on the boats to get more supplies from the village."

I curse out loudly.

"Why John?" Louise asks.

"We need to get to the other group quickly, the ones that went off to the waterfall with the doctor and our guide," Adib answers, getting more upset with every moment.

"I can bring you there, I know this place well enough to find myself blindfolded in the middle of the night. Is there a problem? Should we tell Simon?" Louise asks.

"It's hard to explain, we have to go now," I look at my watch - it's already 3pm. We leave Base Camp and onto the jungle pathway to the fated waterfalls.

***

Two hours later, we arrive to find Johari and his group at the second hot springs pool.

"What took you guys so long?" Adib is almost shouting.

It was then we all started to notice there was someone else new in the group. Her clothes seem dirty and torn. She had cuts on her cheeks and limbs. In spite that, I can tell she is quite enchantingly beautiful.

"Wow, she's got really large eyes," Adib says out loud, seemingly in a trance upon seeing the unknown visitor.

"We all can hear you, Adib" I tell Adib. He blushes but pursues to feed his curiosity, "Who are you? Who is this girl? Is she real?"

"Of course, she's real and her name is Manis," Doctor Nurul protects her new patient.

"I think she had an accident in the jungle. She's dehydrated and not very talk-active - let's just get her to Base Camp and figure things out from there." Nurul continues.

I am not the only one who notices that this new girl, Manis is holding a curled up pangolin in her hands. Adib looks at the pangolin, touches it and then takes a few steps back. "Why is this pangolin with you?" he asks, but no one answers him.

Together, we head down to the Base Camp. I begin to wonder what the apparition had forewarned Adib. The boy ghost said that danger is coming. Maybe it meant the love of his life has arrived. I feel an itch where my wedding band used to be on my ring finger. Yes, for a woman to reappear in a man's life, this could really be dangerous times.
3rd December

Adib: Calling

Location: Near to Base Camp, Ingei. Bumi

"I barely know him, but I think El-Kapitan's a great guy," Cindy blurts out.

"How would you know that, Cindy?" Ana asks.

"Well, simply take a deep breath and smell that delicious food cooking."

"We all love the chef!" The women in the group declare in unison.

Mr. Vol appears from the shrubs and calls out to Louise, "I need to show you something quickly - something very interesting for us photographers. Can I grab you now before it gets dark?" I see Mo is with him.

"Sure thing," Louise nods and follows Mr. Vol downhill - possibly towards the river. I take little notice on how Mr. Vol seems quite fidgety.

Cindy looks at Nurul. "I think I will just go straight ahead with the girls, if that's good with you, Doc?"

"Sure Cindy, we'll be fine. just go ahead but spare us some food alright," Nurul stays close to Manis, knowing that although Manis needs to get to Base Camp, but it should not be at her expense.

"Yeah, don't worry I'll stay," I volunteer.

Everyone else except the kind doctor, Manis, Johari and myself flee off, rushing to Base Camp for what looks like an early supper. I start to notice how dark it is becoming. Manis seems a bit agitated. I reassure, telling her that she's safe and that she is no longer alone. I could tell from her large eyes that she is not reassured, she must have been through a horror. All alone in the jungle, with no one to comfort her but perhaps the pangolin.

We head slowly towards base camp, at casual-stroll-pace. I want to ask her what happened to her, but I resist. Sally, the A-level student, runs towards us and accompanies the group into the Base Camp.

"Aren't you guys late? It's gotten dark already," Sally looks quite concerned. I have never noticed anyone who seemed to be more caring for others than herself, a little angel.

And then that it starts.

The jungle starts shaking, and a loud cackling fills the jungle. Rumbling and banging, so close, so near. I feel the pit of my stomach vibrate, twisting and turning. Is this an earthquake or worse?

Manis starts to cry, covers her ears and screams.

"Hurry, we must make it back." We all start running towards the Base Camp, dragging screaming Manis with us.

"We must find safety! Not there. Away from here!" Manis screams hysterically.

We arrive outside the Base Camp, our presumed safe haven and to our bewilderment, the jungle foliage and the towering trees around the Base Camp shake violently. A force of harm is heading towards Base Camp. There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
3rd December

Nurul: Hurry

Location: Base Camp, Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

A tall dark entity appears in the middle of our Base Camp, barely visible from the distance, the dusk light masking its movement, its limbs long and thin and to my horror, it has no face, no eyes no mouth - just plain and pure evil. And then it shrieks an ear piercing cry.

"Johari, come with me. We must save the others. Nurul stay here with Manis and Sally." Adib runs towards the danger with Johari. I could see the disbelieving of his own actions, courage has taken over his entire body.

Both Sally and I hold on to Manis, whose limbs are ice cold.

"No, not again. Did I bring these monsters to them?" Manis keeps muttering.

"Manis, what are you talking about?" I rub her arms vigorously to keep them cold, but in reality to keep myself calm.

"They killed my family. We must leave this place - the only safe place I know is behind the waterfall. We must go now!" I can see Manis is mustering all the courage in her.

"What about them? What about our friends?" I grip Manis' hand, begging her not to leave.

"They're already dead - it's the same thing that happened to my family. We didn't stand a chance. There's nothing we can do but run. We don't all have to die here. We must decide to live," I can hear the sadness and desperation in her stammering voice.

I cannot believe her words, I want to stop her, reason with her, but nothing. I am dumbstruck with this unreal reality.

"Come on, we don't have much time. Follow me back to the waterfall, if you want to live!" Manis beckons us, but we cannot make up our minds, as we are unable to fully comprehend our new reality, a horror that should only happen in myths and horror stories. And with that Manis wastes no more time and starts running. She is sprinting for her life and heading back towards the waterfalls. I hear screams from our Base Camp, and more faceless shadow demons arrive, completely surrounding the Base Camp. To my horror, they start picking up people, my new friends, throwing and hurting them. I shudder at the thought of the carnage that is happening. Is this for real?

"What are those things, Doc? It can't be real?" Sally's voice trembling. I turn to Sally, who is frightened beyond words. She asks me, "What do we do, Nurul?"

"Run..."

We both run after Manis, the survivor of an unexplained ordeal. Questions fly through my head. Why is this happening? What is happening?

Sprinting to catch up Manis, I shout to her "We're coming with you, Manis."

"What are those things?" I ask, in between gasps of breaths.

"I don't know. All I know is that they killed everyone, everyone in my family. They must be demons from hell!"

The jungle is a horrible place to be in. It isn't safe, it never was safe. I think of Adib, John and Johari, praying in my heart they will be protected, somehow.

Was that a comfort thought? How could I run away from them, merely to protect myself? I know I would live a life of guilt, never being able to forgive myself, no matter how many times I can justify myself? I shouldn't run away. What am I doing?

Tears flow down my cheeks, and as I wipe them with my fingers, running through this jungle, the light dimming, I see something from the corner of my eyes. Something is watching and following us.
3rd December

El-Kapitan: Succeed

Location: Base Camp. Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

Dinner plans have been interrupted. There is screaming and shouting coming from outside the kitchen area. There is a familiar, uneasy feeling, almost a sickening blood-curdling stench in the air. I pick up my parang, the same blade I had when I was in the army.

A dark ten-foot figure with long thin arms and legs, stands in the middle of our Base camp. I shout "Orang Tinggi!" which literally means tall people, but no one is really listening, everyone is mesmerised. Professor Simon is out with the others, unsure at what they are looking at. To them, this is not possible - this is the impossible. It, the 'Orang Tinggi' screams out a loud long cry, destroying any reason to believe it is a mere illusion. The panic sets in, and everyone starts yelling and screaming, running around aimlessly, trying to find shelter in the Base Camp. Some run towards the longhouses, seeking shelter under the stilted longhouses. If only they know.

Professor. Simon Muller and his best friend; Rani the forestry officer, scramble to hide themselves but it is too late. The demon picks them up by the heads. Struggling to escape, their feet frantically scramble in mid-air, desperately trying to pry off the demon's large hands, I hear their shouts for help. It unfreezes me. I move towards the demon, parang in hand.

I have fought them before. I will succeed. I will rescue them this time.

I hear the sound of bones cracking and then screaming from all around Base Camp. A liquid mush splatters on my face and over my chest. The two captives are no longer struggling; the demon crushed their skulls with its bare hands. Bored, it drops the carcass of both Prof Simon and Mr. Rani on the dirt ground. A surge of anger and then rage consumes my heart.

Never again!

I did not hear Adib and Johari, and the others shout for me to run away. I will succeed. I charge forwards and jump up towards the demon. Chanting a few sacred words, I slash its torso with my parang.

I will succeed.

My body passes through the demon, just like passing through a shadow. My attack connects as I hear it scream in pain.

"How dare you, human? Who do you think you are?" the demon cries out.

I turn round to attack it again, moving side to side to avoid the demon's multiple and deadly kicks and punches. An upper cut slash on its torso, and a slash on its leg. The demon winces in pain, but my attacks are not stopping it.

I can hear the team members, hidden under the longhouses shout out and start cheering, "Kill it El-Kapitan!"

It seems they can all see this 'Orang Tinggi' demon. They think it's a game. I will succeed. I will rescue them this time. Let me try something else.

The demon keeps trying to attack me, stooping down to throw punches and kicks but it is no use I am too fast for it. I run towards one of the longhouses, and it starts to chases me. As soon as I am near the stilt beam, I jump up against the beam, twisting my body and propel myself, parang first to the demon chasing me. My parang connects with its neck.

The demon falls back on the ground. There is no sound from it. I look at its head, it is nothing but a blank - faceless and pitch black. Its body starts fuming and burning in small red flames.

"Hey demon, at least show me your bloody face when you die?" I watch its body burn; not into ash, but into a red vapour that disappears without a trace.

"Everyone, it is over!" I raise my parang, and hear cheers from around the longhouse. I deserve this.

"HA HA HA, it is not over, human!" I spin round and prepare to attack, upon seeing a much larger demon. Before I could launch an effective move, this new demon punches my chest with its arm.

"HA HA HA - human, it is too late. You are now dead!"
3rd December

Adib: Others

Location: Base Camp. Ingei. Bumi.

We all thought the demonic intruder was dead. Killed and vaporized into flames. And then another reappears, this time a much larger demon. And we watch it punches our saviour, El-Kapitan into the chest. More of these faceless demons appear, completely surrounding the Base Camp. I can hear everyone gasp, whilst a few cry loudly. Our own hopes of salvation burst into flames.

We will all die here, in the forsaken jungle.

The demon pulls its hand out of El-Kapitan's chest. El-Kapitan does not move, but he does not fall. The demon starting punching furiously into his chest, each time its giant hand and arm passing through El-Kapitan. El-Kapitan turns round quickly, and slashes his attacker with his parang. This new demon dodges the parang in the nick of time and jumps up onto the roof of one of the longhouses.

It starts to laugh, cackle beyond madness. "Welcome back Roslan! Roslan the crying captain! HA HA HA!" The faceless demon laughs euphorically.

Captain Roslan or the El-Kapitan does not reply, he is silent, his facial expression does not change in the 'senja' light.

"It looks like you have forgotten what you have lost! We are going to make it hurt again! ATTACK them! Roslan is mine!" The demon maniacally screams his commands to his subordinates.

"Run, Run!" I hear Shikin screaming, dashing out from under the stilted long house and into the jungle. Her team mates follow behind her, whilst the demons try to catch them.

Zul and I had been smart to lay down from beneath the stilted longhouse. We lay on the dirt of the ground, breathing erratically as we watch the events unfold before our very eyes.

"Why would she run out?" Zul asks me. I turn to him and see a long dark hand, pass through the wooden longhouse floor above us and grab him. I pull Zul to free him from its clutches, only to see his spine and entrails ripped out from behind, blood dripping all over his body and on to me. This time, the wooden board floor cracks and bursts open. Another dark faceless demon is above us.

I look at Zul's face frozen in horror, he drops down onto dirt ground, his hand still gripping tightly to mine. The demon drops down to the ground, and stands up. Terrified, as I look up, I feel its evil intent penetrate into my head and every single bone in my body.

"Adib, run!" John shouts at me.

I jump away from the spot where I was frozen, missing a fatal kick from the evil demon.

"Run, Run!" I shout out.

"Where to? They've surrounded us!"

"Run the gauntlet," John screams out to everyone.

"What?" I scream.

"Just run in between them," Johari shouts out.

"No F-ing way!" I scream back.

I can see Shikin and her group is on the other side of Base Camp, dodging attacks from the numerous demons. As she approaches the edge of the jungle, a group of demons appear before her, strike her with such might her body flies off and impacts onto a nearby tree, disjointed and broken. Instant death. I can see Dina screaming before another demon kicks her from behind. Her body tumbles down on the ground several times. Silent.

The three others in that group split, two running to El-Kapitan whilst Ana runs towards me, nimble as a cat, sliding on the moist dirt floor to dodge the demon attacks.

Dark projectiles with black flames start coming out from some of the demon's hands.

Oh, just great \- they can shoot us too!

On my right, I see the whole TV crew slaughtered, cameraman splattered body crushed with his own video camera. I cannot make out the rest of the crew, limbs severed and blood everywhere.

What do I do?

Mr. Biru is now by El-Kapitan's side, as two others Yusri and Eddie join him.

"John, our best chance is to join them. Stick together!" I don't know if John heard me.

"We got to get back to El-Kapitan. Captain Roslan is the only one who knows how to fight them," I yell out again to everyone, just as Ana heads towards me, panting and hugging me as though I could provide her protection.

"That's a bad idea," I hear a voice behind me, a voice I am familiar with.

I turn around and see an old man, sporting a white shirt and green pants, with a very warm smile and crooked teeth.

"Mister boatman repairer!" I shout out and the same time as John blurts out, "The ghost friend at the hill!"

"Who are you?" Johari asks.

"A friend. A guardian." The boatman repairer smiles.

"Can you really help us? Can you save us?" Ana begs to the old man.

"I will try my best, but we can't join them there, and we definitely can't help them. Don't worry he'll figure it out," The old man points to the group with El-Kapitan, smiles again. Demons start attacking us, but the old man blocks their physical attacks with his bare hands.

More demons head towards us.

"Run into the jungle, head towards the waterfall," the old man gives us our 'game plan'.

Hannah, who no longer has her perfect smile, did not realise what had happened. One minute she is standing next to John and the next minute, she feels an ice cold sensation pierce through her abdomen. John turns round to help her, but becomes helpless when he sees she is becoming pale and unable to breath, as she desperately holds her abdomen to find a warm wet sensation on her tummy, and then everything just pours out from her.

"John, run..." Hannah's body slumps down hard on to the dirt, eyes unblinking staring at the nothingness in between the trees of the jungle. Her killer, a demon, its hand clutching on to her bloodied liver stands before us, cherishing the moment. Our protector shoots out a bolt of white light from his hand, and with that Hannah's killer dies immediately, bursting to red flames.

The other demons respond in rage, and begin their onslaught. Without further hesitation, we run for our lives, as they relentlessly swarm and attack us. The old man blocks and shield us from the incoming demons. Dozens of black fire projectiles start flying towards us. There is no shielding us as I notice that these attacks are different, even the old man is avoiding from getting hit from these 'arrows'.

The tree line into the jungle is within grasp, and just as I enter into the safety of the foliage, I hear anguished screaming. I look back and see Ana. She has been hit by one of the black fire projectiles. Ana continues to scream as her back burns ferociously. The demons surround her and rip her head from her burning body. One of them chucks her head towards me. It lands near me with a soft thud and splash, then rolls a bit further to my feet. I dare not look at it.

I immediately look around me, it's just the four of us left: me, John, Johari, and our old man protector. More demons head towards us. We cannot outrun them.

"Everyone, please stand closer to me," says the old man.

Is this our final stand?

I look at Ana's head on the floor, her eyes closed, her face contorted in demise.

The old man's shirt glows bright white, and then turns green, becoming brighter and brighter.

I shield my eyes from the bright green light. My head starts to hurt, like a sledgehammer pounding on it.
3rd December

Nurul: Followed

Location: Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

Dusk has turned into night. The only light we have is the LED torch lights Sally and I have. Running and holding them the light beams dance in front of us as we take each step towards safety and the intention of living. I have lost track on how long we have been running through the now slippery and muddy jungle pathway but we are nowhere near the waterfall. We have not even reached the midway hot springs.

Manis is leading us, Sally and I can barely catch up with her. I am pretty sure she was the injured and dehydrated one. My body desires so much to stop and rest but I am so scared. Scared of the monsters, the demons that I have must have seen somewhere before. But where?

Keep moving.

The night jungle can conceal whatever is hunting us and aggravates my fear of the hidden. There is a constant rumbling behind us, and the loud siren of the jungle night critters, a jungle city with its own deadly night life.

Soon enough, I start to smell the air has changed, is it the sulphur? Spinning round to my left I see the 'bathtub' hot springs Johari was showing off earlier?

"Hold on, what is that?" I say to myself.

There is a lady sitting inside the 'bathtub' hot springs. I cannot see her face. I stop and blink my eyes, and focus my light beam to the 'bathtub' hot spring. There is no one there.

Sally does not stop for me. I sprint onwards to chase up after the two, fighting cramp-like pain in my calves.

Up ahead, something stumbles down. A short scream, followed by a moan. Sally stops and searches the pathway ahead to see what lies ahead of us. The spotlight shakes as her hand jitters in terror. I finally catch up to her and use my torchlight to focus on what is ahead of us.

We see Manis prone on the floor, her body covered with leaves and mud. She is writhing in pain. I come up to her and assist her. She tripped on something and now has hurt her knee. I quickly examine her right knee and feel it with my hand as Sally provides me light.

"I am sure you've not broken anything." I reassure her. This is not a time to have a fracture.

"Can you stand up?" Sally asks.

Manis stands up and walks with a limp. She knows she must continue the journey onwards.

"Pain is just in the mind," she mutters to herself.

She'll slow us down. Don't abandon her too. I won't abandon her.

We arrive at the second hot springs pool, but we cannot forward any further, we cannot seek shelter at the waterfall as a sinister old lady stands before us...
3rd December

El-Kapitan: Together

Location: Base Camp, Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

"Everyone stay together! If you can grab a pole or stick, do it but make sure these monsters don't touch you!" I shout to the five of us.

We turn our backs against each other, forming a defensive circular formation.

"I've got your back, El-Kapitan!" Cindy shouts out, she managed to get hold of a long piece of bamboo.

We are going to make it through. I will save everyone this time.

The demons surround us; they outnumber us at least two to one.

Mr. Biru taunts them, waving his parang in the air, "We're not afraid you. We will kill you all if you come nearby."

One of demons charge towards Eddie, who is on my right and before it grabs him, I swing my parang towards it. Mr. Biru quickly leaves the formation to join the attack, parries with his parang. Both attacks connect. We hear the demon scream in agony, but it does not die, merely retreats.

The demons close in on us, even though they have no faces, we can feel their evil and blood-thirsty grin.

A larger demon taunts me, "Roslan, oh Roslan - you are going to hurt so bad, you'd wish you'd die a thousand deaths!" This time five dark demons, jump towards us. Cindy repels the demon with her bamboo pole but it passes through. Yusri joins the attack by throwing a stone at it, but that too passes through. As it tries to grab Yusri, I see Mr. Biru attack the demon, swinging his parang at it with all intent to harm.

The other demons go after Eddie and me. Opportunistically, I attack both demons simultaneously, preventing Eddie from being attacked. They land a few punches on me, but these punches pass through me with no effect. They realise they can't really attack me. The demons take a few steps back.

"Oh Roslan, we can do this all night you know. You humans don't have the stamina, you are weak and we will crush you. Crush you like straws-dolls with our bare hands! Let's play around a bit more," the larger demon cackles out loud and then screams.

We return back safely into our defensive formation. We will not falter.

Suddenly, we are all pushed out by a great force from the centre. As I turn around, I see a demon appear from the middle of our defensive circle! It grabs Cindy, who tries to attack with her bamboo pole, but to no avail. I see Mr. Biru, rushing to save her. But I know she does not stand a chance. The demon pulverises Cindy's head with one blow, neck snapped and what was a whole head is easily smashed like a broken watermelon; blood and brain matter everywhere. The stench of raw human tissue makes me nauseous. A mix of tears and rage fills me as I attack the demons with all my might.

Trying to gather everyone back into the circle formation, I rush back to our original spot, "Stay together!"

But no one listens. The demons kill us off one by one, a group of demons pounce on Yusri, ripping him limb by limb apart - his tortured screams echo in my head, whilst Eddie is plucked by a demon and thrown high into the air like a ragged doll, crashing onto a longhouse roof, impaled by a broken supporting pole inside. Mr. Biru did not stand a chance either. The demons jump on him, his parang could not get them in time. They kick him, they kick the life out of his body, a human football being kicked from one demon to another. Eventually, he breathes and moves no more, broken and unfixed. The demons lose interest in soccer and turn towards me. I prepare my final stand.

And then it was just silence. Just me. And the twenty or more demons staring at me with no eyes in their faces. The demons start laughing.

"You see Roslan, your gift of immunity is actually a curse."

Who is that? What is that?

Behind the gang of demons, steps out a gigantic demon. Different from the one that was taunting me from the beginning. It is a true giant demon compared to the others.

"Let's see how you hold up to this, Roslan the crying captain," booms the voice of the boss demon, pointing at me with its giant tree size hands. Black flame projectiles shoot out from both hands and head towards me. The other demons rush away from me, leaving me with all intent and purpose to simply die.

Just kill me. I do not move. I accept my fate, my final end.

I feel the intense heat from the black flames as the projectiles hit me. All seven projectiles hit me dead spot on the chest. I writhe in pain as they pass through me, striking nothing but the earth behind me, black flames dying out and vaporizing on its own into nothing. I could sense the boss demon and its minions were disappointed.

"You may have survived, but the pain of living will be greater!" And with that the boss demon fades into nothing, and all around the other demons disappear.

My parang blade slips out of my hand, and I drop to my knees. I look around and see the bodies of those I could not save. I start sobbing loudly.

Not again, I could not save them.

I slap myself hard on my right cheek.

Slap harder.

Why?

I slap my left cheek as hard as I can, but I do not wake up from this nightmare.

You should be dead like the others.

Why are you alive? Why are they dead?

I keep slapping myself, each single time much harder than before, to a point my body cannot take any more and collapses on the blood-stained earth.
3rd December

Rahman: Azan

Location: Perwira High School, The Capital. Bumi.

"It's late, father. Can this not wait till tomorrow?" My son pleads, and makes a case about having to send his \ son to school tomorrow. The truth is I know that he feels out of place when it comes to my work-related acquaintances. The true nature of my work, my life mission.

"Rahmat, be a loyal son and be my driver. Someday, you'll be the man of the family and I do expect you to grow some balls by then." I angrily scold him. I do not do more, for he is too old for me to smack in the head. It is enough that I have put him in his place. Maybe I should not have been so harsh on him. I get out of the car and before I close the door, I apologise to him, my own way, which is a contradiction of myself, "Just wait here. I know you are strong and brave. I want to see that someday, preferably before I die."

Heading to a local school hall, I have been told that Azan would be here. He runs a night school of martial arts for the despondent. This should be interesting.

I walk through corridor into the dirty and run-down school hall, paint peeling off and the flickering of the occasional fluorescent light bulbs, the synchronized shouting of martial art 'Silat' instructions and drumming become louder. The school hall cum night gym has cigarette smoke lingering, with groups of boys, men and girls playing cards in one corner, whilst another group of rowdy lads in tomfoolery, loudspeaker pumping heavy bass rhythms - lyrics of fast sex, repugnant behaviour. In the middle of the hall, stands a young man teaching a ragtag groups of men on how to use aggressive 'Silat' moves to strengthen attacks. Not the way how Silat should be taught.

These students don't look like they need any defending, they look pretty stock, steroid-induced muscle bursting and bullish. All eyes stare at me. If I had known this was not such a reputable place, I would not have worn my white skullcap and white 'jubah' - the traditional white gown. I would have worn a pair of my old jeans and maybe a baseball cap. Of course, I wouldn't fit in either, as I'm too old to wear jeans, let alone a baseball cap.

"Dude, what do you want?" says the leader of the pack, a crew-cut hair smoking stocky man who seems to be watching his gang learn and train in Silat.

"I am here to talk to Azan," pointing at their instructor.

"He's busy - can't you tell?" the gang leader shouts out to me, flexing his chest muscles.

"It's OK, I'll wait," I reply, walking closer towards them.

Why is my body moving on its own towards them? Can't I just be patient? Just find a seat and watch them.

"Hey old man, are you deaf? I said he's busy. He works for me. I own him so he can't talk to you tonight," the gang leader starts marching aggressively towards me.

What is wrong with him?

I look around the hall; a sadness fills in my heart - have we lost our next generation?

Where did we go wrong? Where did I go wrong?

"This is my F-ing school gym, my training ground, you bloody old man!" the gang leader swings his right fist to my face.

At this point, time and everything slows down. I look at his face, and wonder why - why is he like this? I ask myself: Where did HE go wrong? I dodge his swing, leaning backwards and as his elbow passes in front of my face. I push his elbow towards his face. His momentum spins him out of control and he falls on the worn cement floor. I can hear a hundred startled eyes stare at me, gasping in horror.

I am too old for this. "I don't want any trouble. I need to talk to him, it's urgent," I try to reason with the angry gang leader.

Humiliated, he stands up, throwing kicks and then punches towards me. Recalling from body memory, I move side to side, countering each punch or kick, with punch to his limb. My centre stands, my stance is solid, my legs do not move except when adding momentum to each counterattack.

The crazy gang leader falls down onto the rough floor. He takes a bit longer to recover and stand up, there is blood on his forehead. Other gang members start to close in onto me.

"You're going to hurt so bad, critical-care bad, old man," a skinhead gang-member screams at me, wielding his metal chain menacingly.

The gang leader signals to the crowd to start their frenzy.

"I should really teach all of you your individual lessons, but I don't have time for this!" I snap punch the gang-leader in the neck, and he starts to choke. As he falls down on to his knees, I grab his right arm, twist it behind him.

"You should have been taught this a long time ago. If I was your father, I would have been ashamed of you. I would have taught you this important lesson!" I shout calmly at my new captive. I grab his pinkie finger, extending it to the limits of his range of movement. He screams in pain.

"First lesson, always respect your elders," I extend his pinkie finger further to a point I can feel a crunching sound. He yells in pain, profusely begging forgiveness. The other gang-members are unsure of what to do next. They must be asking why is this old man so calm even in the face of overwhelming danger.

"You see you'd always think the shortest finger that you have is the most useless. It is actually the most important. You lose the strength of your grip if you lose this finger, especially if you want to ever wield a parang, or a dagger, let alone for your self-pleasures," I must calm myself and not enjoy this moment, do not take pleasure in this.

"Silat is never meant to attack people. It is always a defensive martial form. We don't really kick in Silat, everything that we do is like in Life. It must be grounded to the Earth, to our Bumi, to our beliefs," I point out to the floor, widening my stance. The gang leader is on the floor, holding on to his precious broken little finger.

"Next lesson, everything we do should be driven by good intentions, not this. Not for hooligans. That's all of you here," I point my finger authoritatively at all of them, as they take steps away from me.

"I'll make you pay for this, old man," The gang leader is now back on his feet, pointing his index finger defiantly. Then he yells out to his gang to attack me.

"No one is going to attack me. I have not finished my lessons," I slide towards the bully gang leader, twist his body around, grabbing his offending finger, his arm behind back again. He is locked in the kneeling position again. "Please Sir, forgive me. I don't know what I was saying!"

"Please don't interrupt the free lessons I am giving. Listen, you see God gave us this finger for a reason and definitely the index finger was not created so that we could go round threatening people especially your elders," I warn them, staring into the eyes of the gang members and straight into their timid and deviated hearts.

Without warning, I snap his index finger broken. He writhes in pain, screaming and crying with shamelessly. The sight of him in such a pitiful state, demoralizes the gang and they start to leave the hall, leaving their 'glorious' leader without a gang to rule upon.

Azan comes up to me, "Who are you? And did you really need to do that? I had a good arrangement here. You're spoiling everything."

"I'm Rahman, your uncle Master Tuah has asked me to take you in and train you," I introduce myself.

This 19-year-old boy with mild acne dons a printed T-shirt "Keep Calm and Learn Silat" and I can't help from judging him. I judge him for his associations; I judge him for his choice of clothing; I judge him for the amount of hair gel he plasters to create gravity-defying hair spikes, hair-style.

It was easy in my time. You just part your hair on the right or the left. Or if you felt optimistic, you comb your hair by parting it in the centre. Why is life becoming complicated with each generation?

"I got nothing to learn from you or from my uncle, none of that mumbo-jumbo has got anything to do with me," Azan rejects my handshake, packs his 'gym-bag' and starts walking out of the hall.

I could foresee how this conversation would end up, so I say to myself to try something else.

"I notice you can't even teach them proper Silat, all the forms are like copied from the Internet..."

Think fast, what's that Internet TV thing your grandson talks about.

"...from YouTube! You are nothing but a joke for a Silat teacher, I can't even call you a Silat instructor. You are nothing but a loser, and you will always be a loser. Your mother would be rolling in her grave, knowing that she had sacrificed herself for nothing, a loser son." I taunt him. I don't mean this; I hope the spirit of his mother will understand.

Azan stops, turns round to face me, the muscles on his arms tighten as his fist are locked, clenched and his breathing is deep. In spite his desperate need to stay calm, I could feel the storm of the century whirling in his hand. "Don't you dare talk about my mother?"

"I can talk about anyone I want to. Including your dead mom. It is now a free world, isn't it?" In my heart, I beg forgiveness from his mother's spirit yet again.

"Hey Mr. Rahman, do you believe in the Truth of Fists?"

"The Truth of Fists? Not really, but if it means I beat you silly and you end up listening to me, sure no problem. What's the chance of a 'Nothing' like you beating me?" I taunt him further, wondering - maybe I should talk to my son Rahmat this way - Will it change anything in him?

As Azan drops the bag, time slows down, I look at his hand letting go of his bag and I see it falling to the ground and just before it reaches the ground, a mighty kick lands onto my torso. I fall down hard on the cement floor. What was that? I am pretty sure he was still standing at the same spot. I look up and recover into my usual stance. He has moved but did he really move that fast?

Azan attacks me with a number of punches but none land on me as I block them, whilst other punches, I dodge with ease. He is fast but not too fast for me. I will wait for him to tire before I start my counterattacks. Let's tire him out and then teach him a good lesson. I can predict his movement, his attacks, counterattacks and the rests that he takes before each movement.

Azan takes a few steps back. He looks tired, I smile. I show him I'm not even breaking sweats on this. Without warning, Azan lands a powerful flying kick on my chest. I did not have time to restraint myself and end up absorbing the full force of his attack. I wonder how he achieved that kick. I saw nothing. I did not see his flying kick at all.

Something is not right about this, I feel a strange sensation in my tummy. Taking a few steps back, I whisper a short prayer, quickly lick my index and middle fingers of both hands and then rub both fingers against my eyes.

I open my eyes; my vision seems blurry. No, it's not blurry. The school hall gymnasium looks clear. It is Azan, it is he who looks blurry. I walk closer towards him and it all makes sense. Where for others this would have been a wonderful accomplishment, but for me, for Master Tuah's legacy, this is the ultimate failure. I cannot help but sigh deeply in great disappointment. He has been using his 'shadow' to help him to improve his Silat.

Oh Master Tuah, how this apple has fallen so, so far away from the tree.

"I bet you couldn't do that a third time, not from this distance. Not even if I close my eyes," I close my eyes and motion him to attack me.

I don't know how I know the 'shadow' or the 'Karin' is about to hit me, it's simply instinctual. I immediately open my eyes, see his 'Karin' in mid-attack and grab its neck.

"No, please don't," Azan shouts begging me not to hurt his Karin.

"Please don't. I can change. I can do good things too," His Karin begs me. A doppelganger meant to watch and deviate him.

"There is no place for Karin who help perform the wrong deeds," I chant a short prayer as Azan rushes towards me.

"I pass judgment, may God show mercy on you," I crush the neck of the Karin with my hands.

Azan's Karin die immediately and fades away, burning in tiny red flames. Azan himself tumbles down trying to catch the fading red vapour flames.

"Why? Why did you do that? I needed him. He is my only true friend. I really needed him - now I am a bloody loser!" Azan starts swearing, yelling profanities. He gets up and starts kicking and breaking the chairs and the benches around him.

He really thinks he lost more than just a tool.

I allow him to vent. When he calms down, I approach him. "Keeping a Karin knowingly is wrong, it is against our ways, our beliefs. You already know that. It is your family that has been upholding this law for generations, correcting those who deviate from this."

"I will take you in as my apprentice, and set you in the right path," I put my hand on his shoulder, but he brushes it off.

"Enough. The gang you hurt was my ride home, so please just take me home. I never want to be an apprentice to anyone. Let me throw my life away," Azan sulks.

He really thinks that Karin was his friend. Oh man, he got it in real deep.

I wonder what is going to happen to the Unit, we need five men to be part of the team. I visualize sad and grumpy Master Tuah and his diabetic feet, grimacing in pain.

Master Tuah, why did you leave things to rot to such a point?
3rd December

Nurul: Kebayan

Location: Ingei second hot springs, Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

A rather large breasted old woman with an inappropriate sinister smile block our path to the waterfalls.

Manis murmurs, "Kebayan!"

No, this is not possible.

The 'Kebayan' lady giggles with all evil intent as she glides effortlessly towards us. We run and scramble, screaming as she chases after us effortlessly.

I hear a voice in my head. "You were born from water, and it is water that will save you."

Yes, the Penan reminder.

"Head into the hot spring pool!" I yell out, missing by inches the grasp the Kebayan demon lady.

The water is scorching hot, much hotter than in the morning when we first arrived. Putting up with the pain, we clamber on to the large rock in the middle of the hot springs pool. The Kebayan lady does not go across the pool towards us. Instead she goes round the pool, trying to find a way to get to us, but she does not succeed.

"I just need some help. Won't any of you help a poor old lady like myself?" The Kebayan lady is a horrible actress, she points her finger at me, and then smiles.

All I want to do is scream at her, taunt her that she won't get any of us, but the fear clamps me down.

"We will need to stay here till dawn," Manis suggests.

"At least that's better than being with that thing out there," I could tell Sally is glad she is finally able to rest and stay put instead of running around in the dark, dark jungle.

I look at the pool, and wonder if I should drink the water, no matter how horrible it tastes.

"What are you doing?" Manis yells at me, as I stoop down to scoop the water into my hand. As I touch the very hot water, the smell of sulphur clears my sinuses and I could feel a sudden coldness by my feet.

The next thing I know is that the three of us are flying off the rock. I land onto the edge of the pool, soaked wet in hot water. I yell in pain, next to me, Manis is screaming. I turn around and see the same demon that was at Base Camp standing on the rock, yelling profanities.

There is another scream behind me. Sally! Where's Sally?

She had landed outside the hot spring, and the Kebayan demon lady is coming after her.

"Run, Sally!" I yell out, as Manis and I run to rescue her. Sally is injured, she limps away from the imminent danger.

The Kebayan lady grabs her hand, Sally hits the demon lady with her other hand, kicking and screaming, but she does not get away. The Kebayan demon lady laughs as she pulls Sally in between her large breasts, and starts to disappear inside. I grab Sally's other hand.

"Don't let go, Sally!"

Manis grabs her shoulder and both try to pull her out, this sadistic tug of war. Sally goes deeper and deeper into the Kebayan lady's body.

I start kicking her captor but the Kebayan just smiles, concentrating on her task of swallowing Sally into her chest. Sally's head is now inside 'it'. Her screams become muffled and all that is left is her hand, now limp and lifeless. The demon standing on the rock, starts laughing together with the Kebayan lady.

Is this a game to them?

This time, the Kebayan lady grabs my arm.

"Your turn to join Sally!"

"NO, NO NO!!" I struggle to force myself from being pulled into the chest cavity of this demon lady. Manis has got my other hand and is puling with all her might.

I want to live.

Those were my last thoughts before I shield my eyes from a blinding light.
3rd December

Adib: Haven

Location: Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

One moment we were at the Base camp with our 'boat repairer ghost', the next thing I remember is a really bright green flash of light.

My head hurts and starts to spin, as I feel my body lighter and lighter and then suddenly heavy. My feet crash into solid ground, and sinks a bit. It feels wet and muddy. There is a mild hint of rotten eggs in the air, and the feeling of fear, anger and anguish surrounds me.

I look around, it is dark, but I see Nurul and Manis dance their death struggle against something I can barely make out what it is - an elderly large breasted lady. A Kebayan demon!

"I don't think so, granny," says the old man, our saviour boat repairer.

With a gentle swipe of his hand, the Kebayan's lady hand is severed and drops on the floor. She screams, holding on to her injured arm. Nurul is free, as Manis pulls her away from the evil Kebayan.

Where's Sally?

A dark demon jumps in front of the boat repairer.

"Die traitor!" it screams.

The demon starts throwing punches at the old man, but none touch him as the old man, dodges them, moving to side to side and then slides under its legs. The demon is wondering where the old man went. It arches its back, clearly in agony and then its chest bursts open, as I see the old man's arm goes through. The old man's arm glows white in comparison to the darkness of the demon's body. The demon goes limp and drops dead on the jungle floor, burning up in tiny red flames, and finally disappearing into nothing.

"We won't let you get away, Jawad!" the Kebayan lady charges towards us, but more importantly towards 'Jawad' the old man saviour. As she nears, Jawad raises his knee, swivelling his hip and kicks her square on the neck. The Kebayan demon's neck breaks and she tumbles down onto the ground. A strong bile-inducing stench of rotting meat surrounds her as her body decomposes right in front of our eyes.

"How come her body does not burn in red flames, like the other demons?" I ask of all the questions to ask, at this time and in this place.

"She was human, or at least at one time in her life," Jawad answers me, turns round to count how many of us are here in the dark jungle. Night has set and although Jawad's body seems to glow green and white, Nurul uses her torchlight to see who has made it.

Once human, how is that possible?

"Me, John, Nurul, Manis and Johari - is Sally here?" I know the answer to that question but I have to ask again. I see Nurul clenching her fist, tears welling up and she is tight-lipped. I know Sally is gone.

Poor Sally. Poor everyone.

"Your name is Jawad and you are one of them, aren't you?" Manis asks our saviour, the look on her face shows sheer confusion. None of us here understand what's happening.

"Why is this happening?" I ask before Jawad could answer.

"Yes, I am Jawad, you should have asked my name first when we met and not before I had saved everybody here. That's just a bit rude, you know," Jawad answers.

Johari squints at Jawad and places his hand on Jawad's shoulder, "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere? I met you at a Chinese restaurant once and we had an argument about, I forgot what."

Jawad brushes off Johari's hand, "Sorry we've never met before. But I know you, Mr. Pangolin-killer. In fact, other than Adib and John, none of us have met before. We don't have much time to chat. I need to get you all out of her and into safety."

Johari frowns, "I'm not a pangolin killer. Not anymore."

"Shall we head to the waterfall?" Manis suggests.

"No, they'd catch us before we can make it there," Jawad replies.

"Why don't you do that thing that moved us from the Base Camp to here?" John is pretty sure that is the answer to everything.

"You are right, John Proctor. I have to move everyone to somewhere safe. To the safety of your home. To be precise: Adib's house." Jawad gestures for us to move in closer together.

"My house? Why my house?" I ask Jawad.

"Yes, why his house, I want to be in the safety of my own home now!" Manis protests, fighting sobs in between her words.

"It's the only human house that I have ever been to."

The hairs on my back stand up, as a chill goes down my spine.

"We've been watching over you for some time now, Adib," Jawad puts his hand on my shoulder. I can tell from his eyes that there is so much he wants to say, and yet so little time.

"Once home, you will all be safe. Just stay away from the Ingei jungle. There's a war between our worlds. And this place here, it no longer belongs to man. This is their last bastion; they will not bow down to any reason from any of you."
3rd December

Jawad: Home

Location: Ingei Hot springs, Ingei Jungle. Bumi.

It is hard even for me to believe that I have finally allowed Adib to see me. He must have a lot of questions about his past and his future. There is so much at stake.

Making sure everyone is standing behind, I start the spell to transport us to Adib's house. I concentrate and recall from my memory a picture of Adib's house, the white paint, the wooden tiled floors and those horrendous cats that keep staring at me every time I am there. I remember a time when his parents were still alive, memories of him happier. I wish I could have protected his parents.

I pause the spell and turn to Adib. "When the time is right, I will tell you everything, the preparations you must make for things to come. You are the key to everything."

"What will come? Why am I the key?" Adib asks.

"The key to what kind of everything?" Manis asks curiously.

"Our salvation." I answer calmly.

At that instant, I feel an ominous presence, there is something coming.

"They're coming. I can sense them," I say to my human companions. I usher the humans to stand behind me, gesturing them to hold on to each other tightly and to stay close. I turn around and my feet automatically move into a defensive stance as I raise my arms ready to attack whatever is coming.

Doing two things at the same time is so much harder.

Concentrate - recall Adib's house.

A dozen demons materialize in front of us. They charge and start attacking. I close my eyes as they attack and find their attacks physically nullified by me. Although I cannot see with my eyes, I can tell their movements by reading upon their evil intentions. I sense an opening. Straighten the palm of my right hand, and focusing my strength into it, I jab through to an attacking demon at its chest. I push through the outer layers of its chest; the outer shadows that protects its heart, and crushing the beating sensation enveloped within it. I open my eyes and see that the demon is dead and burns to oblivion.

"I got more of that coming," I shout out. The other demons scream in rage as they furiously continue to attack me, trying to grab the humans behind me. I have trained devotedly all my life for this. I close my eyes again, I recall Adib's house in my head whilst at the same time, I karate chop a demon's neck to a point that it breaks.

Remember Adib's house. Remember his porch.

The demons continue to attack as I repel them; I find it hard to concentrate. This is more difficult that I thought it would be. I better kill them off first, and with that I cast a quick spell that materializes an old rusty spear. The demons do not stop, taking no notice of my spear.

Jabbing into their chests, as they pile themselves towards me, I ensure that one by one, the demons die. One larger demon, a sub-commander, slashes me in the shoulder, but not before I poke my spear into its faceless face and then pushing through beyond its head. It screams in agony, shouting profanities before burning in red flames.

"Finally, silence." I look back at the humans, who are terrified and yet awed by my ability to protect them. I look at my shoulder wound. It is not fatal, but it needs proper healing care. I stick the blunt end of the spear into the ground and close my eyes again.

Transporting myself is always easier than with a group to a far way distance.

Meditating deeply, I recall Adib's stilted house, his porch, his wooden tiled floors and memories of him when his parents are around. I see my own children, my two sons playing with Adib. I recall my own house, my wife whom I have not seen since the day I fled my home to Bumi. I think of my family. I should really be there with them.

Oh no, stop... stop this. I got to think of Adib's house. What's wrong with me? Why can I just concentrate on his house?

I try once again, but a deep loud voice booms from across the jungle foliage.

"I'm going to make you pay for your crimes, Jawad. You heinous traitor!"

I open my eyes and see a giant faceless demon barely hidden amongst the tall trees beyond the other side of the hot springs. It points its hands to me and fires black flamed projectiles, flying at great speeds towards me.

"Serigala, oh you insane psychopath! I can't believe they released you! These must be desperate times!" I scream at my former protégé; Serigala, the giant faceless demon, pointing my hands at it and countering by firing white arrows tipped with green flames towards it.

The projectiles from Serigala and my arrows hit and nullify each other.

"I have progressed so much more since we last met, my former master. Now take this!" Serigala the giant demon shoots out a barrage of black flamed projectiles from both of his hands again, but this time the attack is continuous.

I must counterattack him and get the humans away.

I release from my hands a larger number of white arrows to destroy his barrage. I know these are not as powerful as the ones with the green flames.

We must get out of here now!

I meditate in desperation, distracted by the presence of my former student.

Why would they release him and put him in charge of operations again? Have their plans been accelerated?

A pain penetrates my chest, followed by a number of other stabs of pain. I open my eyes and see my body burning in black flames, as the projectiles have hit me.

I must save them, even if it's the last thing I do.

"What happened? You've been hit!" Adib can see that I am injured and burning.

"Just stay together." The spell must work. A bright, white light envelope us, protecting us from further attacks from Serigala. I can see the giant demon running towards us.

I calm myself as I try to extinguish the black flames on my chest. I recall memories of Adib's parents and my children playing with him when he was small. The pain of my injuries on my chest is horrific, the flames still burning away my chest. My breath is getting shallower, as I hear a loud rumbling of a giant storming its way towards us.

"We're getting out of here, Dorothy!" I shout to my human friends.

It looks like I will not make it alive, I cannot bring them to Adib's house. A deep sadness fills my heart. I see images of my wife and my two sons at my home, living their lives without me.

"Whose Dorothy?" I hear Manis screaming out, as the white light turns green and then much brighter than before, blinding everyone.

Our bodies become much lighter, and a feeling that our mind has floated away from our physical presence...

There is only one place to go. May be this is what has been fated.

Who am I to fight fate?
3rd December

Adib: Dorothy

Location Unknown

Bathed and trapped in complete light, my head spins again as my body feels lighter, floating. I could feel a warmness inside, feeling stretched without hurting. I don't know long this lasted for but it seems to go on forever. Eventually, my head starts to become heavy, my limbs feel as though weights have been attached to them. I can hardly breathe as the unseen surrounding squeezes my chest. I struggle to inspire, gasping for air and pass out.

It feels hot and bright, and I hear birds chirping. I wake up and find myself on a dry dirt road, it is bright, a very bright day.

Was it not night only just now?

I look at my Seiko wrist watch, it's hands still moving - the chronograph indicating we are still at night; 8pm to be precise, and not in the day time. I tap on my watch; it seems to going faster than usual. The others are lying on the ground near me. I am the first one to stand up, as the small tiny sharp pebbles stuck to my forearm start to fall off one by one.

"Is everyone here?" I ask.

Nurul, Manis, Johari and John are picking themselves up. A body lies in front of me, burnt. I think that is Jawad, or what remains of him. He is moving, barely, whispers softly and slowly, "Adib, you are a key, not the only key. Find out why."

He points his hand to somewhere further up the road "Tell her I'm sorry and points his hand across the road." Small red flames burn his hands and his entire body.

He saved us, and now he is dead. We are lost, completely lost without him. I watch to give my respect to our saviour, as his body burns and evaporates into nothing on this beautiful yet tragic sunny day.

"What now, Mr. Key?" John asks me. In spite of what has happened, he has not lost his sense of twisted sense of humour.

I look around and see on both sides of the road, tall golden grass being gently by the wind.

"I don't even know where we are? Anyone wants to have a guess?" No one volunteers an answer.

"I think we should walk and see where this road, takes us." I suggest.

Johari looks at me, "I guess that's a good suggestion. I'm with you, friend." He pats my back and then pats me again on the shoulder.

Manis puts her hand on her forehead, squinting in pain. "Wait, who's Dorothy?"

John takes a step back, and then looks back at us, "This can't be real. I guess we'll just have to follow the non-yellow, no-brick road."

John laughs and looks at Manis, "Come on, Dorothy. Let's go!"

We head out together on this path to wherever, in this strange unknown land as I keep asking myself the same questions: Why am I a key? Are there other keys? The key to what exactly?
3rd December

Manis: Bujak

Location Unknown

Walking on this hot bright day is a lot tiring, especially since none of us have actually slept. It was only night an hour ago. We have no water; we have nothing to eat.

"Anyone got the time?" I ask.

Nurul the doctor, looks at her Gucci watch, "It's now 11."

John interjects, "Yup, 11pm according to my Timex!"

Adib looks at his watch, "That's not possible. I looked at my watch before we left - it was 8pm, we could not have walked for 3 hours on this road."

"I don't have a watch but I usually count my steps and I'm pretty sure we've been walking for about 1 hour 4 minutes to be precise." Johari exclaims, gesturing with his fingers.

Everyone stops dead in their tracks.

"Where the hell are we?" I ask everyone.

"Let's not panic. For all we know, we might still be sleeping in our tents and this is all just a bad, bad yet so-real shared nightmare that we will wake up from. But in the meantime; if I may strongly suggest, we should all just play along and see where we go from," John fails to calms everyone.

"None of us were sleeping in the first place. We were supposed to have dinner. Remember, John?" The doctor reminds him.

"I have a theory, and its related to the Fermi-Hart paradox or popularly known as the Fermi paradox. What if those things that attacked us and the guy who saved us are ..... Hmmm, aliens, and what if this is their world. Their world is here on Earth, but just not visible to us and until now. Or maybe not easily accessible" John starts his elaborate explanation, getting excited with each sentence.

"Stop it, John. We don't need this now," Adib is clearly upset with John.

"Let's just head out and see where this path takes us. I am pretty sure Jawad wanted us to go here. He brought us here in the first place. I'm heading this way," Adib walks on, indicating he does not care if we follow him or not.

I run up after him, grab his arm and push him on the chest. "Hold on, Mr. Key. There's no need to be rude to any of us, you know. I can throw a tantrum too if I want to."

Adib pauses and tries to say something but doesn't. He stays quiet.

"We've lost so much..." I cannot finish the words.

"I'm sorry, Manis. We all need each other. This is not the time for any of us to fall apart. Come on, let's go," Adib waits for the rest to catch up.

The dry dirt road slopes down, and we see a number of houses down below. There is smoke coming out from the chimney of one of the houses. It looks like a small farm. Johari gestures for us to run to the field on the side. We lay down, hiding and watch the settlement below.

"It looks like a small farm," Adib then points out to the other houses, and on closer observation, we see the other houses are in rundown and abandoned.

"I don't think anyone lives in any of the other houses," Adib continues.

"Look, look, there's a woman coming out of that house," I point out, barely holding down my excitement and fear.

In the distance, we can see a middle-age woman bringing out a bucket of clothes to hang on some clothes line.

"I don't think she lives alone," Johari point out to the different sizes and shapes of the clothes.

"She doesn't look like an alien. What do we do now, Mr. Key?" John asks me.

Adib punches John in the shoulder, "Will you just stop it!"

We did not notice the golden grass behind us rise up until when two spears protrude from the mounds behind us.

The spears points nudge at Johari and John.

"Ouch, what the.." Johari and John yell out in pain.

As I turn around to see, the sun blinds my eyes, I can only see two large shadows, holding spears in their hands.

Is this the end?

"This is the end for you - we don't let trespassers live!"
About The Author

Aammton Alias is a practicing medical doctor. For the past 15 years, he has worked in a variety of hospitals, hospices and intensive care units. Eventually, he settled down as a family physician in a lovely, small town.

Although others only see him by the boundaries of the definition of a medical doctor, those who know him well know that he is NOT confined to that description. He is a passionate advocate for those who seek his help, and his compassion has made him an activist of various causes. He is also a writer, a poet warrior, an entrepreneur at heart and most importantly, he is a family man.

http://www.about.me/aammton

You can reach him via Twitter @Aammton
My Other Books

If you enjoyed this book, try reading my other books:

Did you miss the first book?

The Last Bastion of Ingei: DAY 1

Day 1: Set in a country in Southeast Asia, three conservation activists - who are unlikely friends - continue in their struggle to save endangered wildlife from being sold and exploited, including rescuing the enigmatic 'Pangolin'. They are unaware that they are being watched and face a great danger, an ancient enemy, once familiar to man, but now forgotten. At the same time, a Captain in the elite 5th Recon Unit is brought back to face an unspoken tragedy that no one believes happened, whilst elsewhere, recent supernatural events re-activate a secretive vanguard for human salvation: The LIMA.

http://www.day1.b1percent.com
Did you miss the second book?

The Last Bastion of Ingei: DAY 2

Day 2: Set in a country in Southeast Asia, three conservation activists - who are unlikely friends - continue in their struggle to save endangered wildlife from being sold and exploited, including rescuing the enigmatic 'Pangolin'. They are unaware that they are being watched and face a great danger, an ancient enemy, once familiar to man, but now forgotten. At the same time, a Captain in the elite 5th Recon Unit is brought back to face an unspoken tragedy that no one believes happened, whilst elsewhere, recent supernatural events re-activate a secretive vanguard for human salvation: The LIMA.

http://www.day2.b1percent.com

Be The One Percent: Unlock Secrets to True Success, Real Wealth & Ultimate Happiness

Bob is ONE of the 1 Percent, the ones who have found UNLIMITED WEALTH, TRUE SUCCESS & ULTIMATE HAPPINESS. I have known Bob since I was a child. There was always something about him, but I could not figure it out. He seemed liked any other ordinary person. In fact, he kept a low profile, except to close friends and family. It was only recently that I realized Bob is not just special, he is EXTRAORDINARY, knowing the Secrets of Life and much more.

There are many other 1-Percent persons who passed through my life and yet I did not notice until now.

Let us take that journey together.

BE THE 1 PERCENT

Ask yourself these questions:

Do you want UNLIMITED WEALTH?

Do you want constant stream of SUCCESS?

Do you want to be completely and truly HAPPY?

Learn the Secrets of the REAL 1 Percent.

The 1 Percent are far richer & powerful beyond measure.

They live amongst us unnoticed, with the Secrets of Life known to them.

Living with True Success in all forms, Real Wealth that neither taxes nor burdens & have achieved the Ultimate Happiness.

They live in full Abundance, whilst the rest of us 99% still live in scarcity.

Their hearts contain the secrets to nullify the intent and the anger of those who seek to harm them.

Life is easy & fulfilling, like a beautiful dream.

Would you not want to be one of them?

Included towards the end of this book are 12 SIMPLE PRINCIPLES to practice and uphold as you begin your new journey to your new life

http://www.book.b1percent.com
The King And The Minister

A beautiful children's book about a story of a wise minister who has some important advice for the King. Will the King listen? Will the advice prevail? Suitable for preschool children to read on their own and/or for bedtime reading. Illustrations are made from original watercolour paintings.

Kids age 6-8 will also love this book

Available at http://www.king.b1percent.com
The Vessel of Our Writing Dreams: Where Do Our Ideas Come From

We are the vessels of our dreams, our ideas and yet where do our ideas come from?

Is it simply a mesh of neurons blasting out until a printout comes out?

Do we even own these 'ideas' that we claim to originate from us?

How do we ensure that we continue to both learn and project new ideas?

Do we immerse ourselves in an inspirational environment?

Eat healthy supplements? Perhaps dress-up and speak eloquently with a posh accent?

Why do we bother to come up with something different, when in our current 'environment' it may be safe to simply linger in the shadows waiting...like everyone else, who happens to be waiting for you?

The keyword here is..........'brain atrophy'. How do you stop this brain atrophy?

Did you know that when you shine, you give others permission to do so themselves?

Dr. Aammton Alias shares his personal experiences and odd non-linear stories to help you find the answers to these urgent questions.

Available at: http://www.vessel.b1percent.com
LET ME GO! How to Get Off Unwanted WhatsApp Chat Groups For Good

Being in a social media chat group can be quite useful and entertaining. On the other hand, having too many groups can be quite a pain in the butt – everyone underrates the stress of maintaining a presence in social media chat App groups...

And what about those who you are keen to avoid are in the same chat group as you?

Leaving a group without saying anything is considered sacrilege. What if they won't let you leave? You leave the group and then they keep inviting you back.

You can check out anytime you want, BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE! Do you have to block every person in that group to have your peace?

Here are 1001 - funny, witty, intoxicating and annoying - ways to leave your social media chat groups!!

Have you heard of Nuke Options?

Do you want to know how you can Troll & Spam like a Pro?!

Available at http://www.wtfrak.b1percent.com
Now Everyone Can Write And Publish A Book In 3 Days

Everyone dreams of writing a book and having their book published.

Somehow, it seems like such an impossible dream.... hold on... here is a book to help you write your first book in 3 days!!

There is no hype about this. It is simply a tested and proven pathway.

If you don't believe me, simply check my other books and their publication dates.

In this plan, I will show you how to figure out what you can write about IMMEDIATELY!

You can choose to write an eBook and if you want you can convert this into your first printed book, with almost zero money down.

This express book writing and publishing technique involves writing your eBook for Amazon Kindle and then getting it self-published into a printed book.

It is so easy to write a book now these days, I keep telling friends, family and yes, strangers that if you can talk about something, you can definitely write about it.

What are you waiting for?

Available at http://www.write.b1percent.com

