Hantu Gunung [On Hold]

Chapter - 8

Pocky was lying in the meadows. Her eyes were closed. But still they were seeing the sun when suddenly they felt a shade. She opened her eyes, it was Kahfi. Ever since she had arrived on the mountain, Kahfi had been with her, taking care of her and making sure the supposedly scary creatures of the mountain don't hurt her.

She sat upright and Kahfi sat right in front of her. "So, are you going to tell me what evil creature is going to hurt me here?" she fired the question she was curious about at once. It was her nth time asking but Kahfi kept ignoring it until then. "Lots of creatures. Scary beast like animal. Can't you see this place has such a dense forests. There are parts where even sun don't reach the surface, those creatures reside at such places."

Pocky gave a stern look to him. "Really?! I thought they lived at nicer places such as the near the lake or in the caves."
"Why are you asking me if you already know?" Saying this, Kahfi lied down in the grass trying to end the conversation.
"But I already met him. He helped me find dad. Another thing, I was too preoccupied earlier so I didn't ask, but what is he? "

"I don't know." Kahfi replied in a curt manner.

"How do you not know? Aren't you that as well?" Pocky ended her sentence hesitantly.

Kahfi got up and leaned into her a little. "I am dead my dear." Pocky felt a little chill when she heard him.

But again she had many questions. "Is he not dead? And what am I? I couldn't breathe when I tried to leave the mountain. Am I dead too now?"
"Your father was still alive wasn't he. Even after so many years, then how can you be dead." He smiled and continued, "You might not be able to leave the mountain, but you are very much alive. And we will find a way to get you out of here. I promise." His smiled reassured her. She suddenly felt a warmth spreading across her and for the first time after the was tied to this mountain, she smiled.

"But you haven't answered my other question. Is that guy not dead? The one in white kimono we met the other day?" Pocky asked him again.
"Mayeng, his name is Mayeng. No. I really don't know what he is, but I don't think he ever died" Kahfi answered honestly. "This mountain has many, like me. But him, I never met anyone like him until Rings."

"Rings!"

"Yes, Rings! She was like him. Not a ghost, I can tell that."

Hearing her name, Pocky was not in a mood to talk anymore. She looked down at the red cloths tied to both her wrists from one end. It's other end was free and long, always touching the ground. She sat sinking her head between her knees. "Would I ever be able to leave? What if dad comes back here looking for me?" Pocky was suddenly sad, a few tears might have left her eyes by now.
Kahfi was looking the other way, unsure how to say it to her, that her situation was hopeless.

"You dad might not remember this place." He said, almost murmuring. "What?" Pocky turned to him.
"He might find out about the mountain by listening to others, but he is not going to remember what happened with him on the mountain. He won't know where to look for you."

"But he knew the meadows. We used to come here when I was kid." Pocky argued.
"Yes, he will come here and see you. Then he would find out you are now tied to the mountain and can't leave, to save him. How happy would he be?" Kahfi started in a sarcastic tone, but by the end of it, even he felt sad.
"It's better you don't see him until we know what did Rings do to you and how to get away from it." Kahfi spoke reason.

"Maybe, we should cut it too, like you did for ..."
"And she appears here and do something worse again." Kahfi interrupted her before finishing.

"You are right." She said disappointingly and lied down again facing the other side. Then suddenly she turned towards Kahfi again. She had an optimistic smile. Trying to lift the mood, she asked "Do you have any friends here?"

"Of course, I have many. I love to wander around the mountain, meeting and finding new people." He replied with a big smile.

"You mean ghosts." Pocky corrected almost teasing him.

"Yes, I mean ghosts." He flared his nostrils.

Pocky chuckled. "It's boring here, let's go meet some of them." She said with a big smile. "Okay. Let's go. One of them would be nearby." Kahfi took Pocky to the mountain peak. "You have a friend who lives here." Pocky asked curiously, "but we have come here so many times before, never saw anyone."

"He isn't exactly a friend, but yes there is someone who lives here. But where is he?" Kahfi looked around for Blek but he was missing. "Maybe he went around roaming, he can get bored you know." Pocky suggested. "Bored?! No dear, nobody roams around here for without reason. He should be here." Kahfi replied.

"Really, See! it's Mayeng. Right?" Pocky said pointing towards the valley. Kahfi came ahead to look, and to his surprise, it was him. Going somewhere, through a path Kahfi hadn't seen before. For years he had been in these mountains, wandering, there was no place he hadn't seen, but these days he was finding new places appearing out of nowhere.

He asked Pocky to get up and left for the meadows. His pace was so quick, Pocky was finding it tough to keep up. In no time they reached the meadows and Kahfi asked her to wait, as he had to go check something. He asked Pocky not to go anywhere and if she had to then go only to the peak. Look for a man called Blek. He might not be a friend, but go only to him. Kahfi left in a hurry. Pocky was puzzled about what was going on. She just kept staring at him, trying to figure out the situation when he left.

Kahfi left the meadows almost running and reached the fork. To its surprise, the mountain had really changed. Instead of the usual two ways fork, there was a third way. One way went up towards the peak, another down towards the lake forest. But there was a third, very narrow path, going straight. He took it. He started looking for Mayeng, but he wasn't sure where he could have gone.

After wandering on the path for really long time, he realized they had seen Mayeng from top of the mountain. Je started walking on the path looking for the peak. Soon he reached a spot from where the peak was visible. Then he looked down and was surprised to see even the lake was visible from this point. He stated to descend the ground. Soon he reached another path, from distance he could see Mayeng  taking this path.

Kahfi remember this place to be home to the Kermit. There was a fall nearby. It was so huge anyone could get washed away if stepped into it. He had heard that ages ago the fall and the river into which it fell used to flow peacefully. But after certain events, they turned monstrous and stayed that way afterwards. He was confused on how Mayeng would cross the fall. As he walked further, to his pure surprise, the path started to entering the mountain wall, the wall had split open to give path it's way.

He had to bow down his head a little so as to not get hit. But he was able to walk. Soon he started to see the gigantic fall from a distance but Mayeng wasn't in sight anymore. As he got nearer to the fall, he realized the mountain behind it had split completely. The path went completely through the crack found while the water fell in front of it. He quickened his pace. He went through the path behind the fall and passed it. But Mayeng was still not in sight. In fact nothing was, the fog had completely taken over anything. He started walking slowly towards the mountain wall, instead of the valley, holding it with one hand to identify the turns. After walking for, what felt like an eternity to him, he felt a gust of wind coming from the wall. There was an opening into the wall, a cave. A shiver went through his spine, remembering Rings's cave.

He was unsure whether to go inside would be wise. "Get in!" He heard a voice. It was Mayeng standing on the entrance. "You have come all this way, why turn around now? Aren't you the wandering ghost." Kahfi was still hesitating. "It's alright. I can promise there is nothing, which might be dangerous, to you." Kahfi looked at him with doubt. But then, maybe on a whim, he walked in.