Laboratory - Red

Chapter 11 Maria Aggy

The hot sauce spilled when I tried to stir it. It didn't feel like throwing away the bowl of noodles I just threw away.

I rubbed the spilled red sauce with a rag. It was hot when the broth hit my hand. Luckily, there is still half a cup that is not wasted. I enjoyed it while reading the novel with the red and black cover.

Usually, covers like this symbolize the category of horror or mystery novels. Because most of my novels are horror, murder, psychopaths, and the ones I love most about cannibals.

I'm alone in this house. Nightly. Silent. Darkened. The wind blows into the bone. Chilly. I don't live in the city. Here is very minimal settlement or you could say I have no neighbors. So, if I go to school, I need to walk far enough to go to the bus stop. Then go to school.

I put the thick novel back. How very tired of reading it over and over again, because indeed I have not bought the latest series.

I made some money in my backpack. Daily money gave my brother who works in the city to be a factory worker. Never hugged me, just gave me a lot of money a day. And I think that's enough for me.

My bike paddled very quickly across the towering trees with a rather dim lighting. Slender. Hopefully, the pirated bookstore isn't closed yet.

I parked my bike in front of the stall that belonged to Great Uncle. She seemed busy arranging the books on the shelf meticulously as I opened the door of her stall. A round wall clock, which is attached to the wall, shows at half 9 o'clock. I'm sure once Uncle Agung only takes a few more minutes to close his illegal bookstore.

"Aggy. What are you looking for?" Great Uncle came to me. The intonation is pretty polite.

"Books edited in my room. Is there still? Max me season 2."

"You just have to walk to the left side of the romance bookshelf and a few more steps. Maybe the series isn't over yet".

I nodded then followed his advice. Now the horror books are neatly lined up in front of me, making my eyes sparkle because seeing them is quite fun. And here it is! The book I was looking for! Season 2 covers are blood red with blood-soaked human cartoon images. This book is getting thicker. I checked the cover. Not very memorable, but I have to explain if this is the copy of Uncle Agung himself.

I ran towards the cashier. It turns out there's only me and my great uncle here. The shop will be closed soon. Uncle wrapped my book in a plastic bag and didn't forget to change it, with a piece of candy. Don't envy. I'm a loyal customer of this stolen bookstore.

I'm h-home. The door of the house is open. I forgot to close it in a hurry. I hope no wild animals get in here. Or maybe a thief? I don't think so. Which thief dares to break into the spooky corners of my house.

The noodle soup in the bowl was already cold. There is no other way but to throw it away. Without tidying up the living room, I went straight into the room. Sleeps.

***

It's still 4 in the morning. But I had to hurry to take a shower and go to school. It's weird, which kid took a shower in the morning this early? But fine. My school is a long way from here, and I'll be walking to the bus stop to get there early.

As I ran towards the classroom, my shoulder hair was blown in the wind dancing. It's cool, but soon I have to sit on my bench to read my book last night. I'll need a few days to finish it.

I stared briefly at Agam, my classmate. I don't know since when this started happening, but I think I like Agam who is also liked by many girls. It's also hard for me to get her heart, if I'm just a quiet kid in class. Prefer to be alone with my thick books, rather than discussing other things that I think are not important at all.

A fella? I don't have any friends. Everyone thinks I'm a weird, autistic, creepy, suspicious kid. Maybe they think I'm a little crazy just because I rarely talk. About bully? I sometimes get bullying from my friends. The question remains the same. That's because I'm more interested in the world of books than in showing off charm.

Agam sat down, still with the tail of my eyes that followed him. With her grey jacket, she looks really cool.

***

Supermaket crowded with visitors. Each of them is chasing discounts. I casually passed through the crowd jostling for discounts. My intention is to buy food. The stock just so happens to be over. I'm pretty practical because I usually only eat instant noodles or other instant foods. Vegetables are also quite simple.

I'm having a hard time grabbing a can of sardine on the shelf. Even though I jumped, my hand did not reach. While glancing to and fro looking for someone who could help, one had picked up first before I asked.

"How many cans do you want?" Agam asked to pay attention to me who was shorter than him.

"Two".

The sardine can was given. In the crowd, he casually left. I chased. I don't know what to do, but at least "thank you" should come out of my mouth.

My bad taste returned when it was ten minutes I did not find the man's body. I decided to pay for my expenses, then went home.

***

I entered the house running. My stomach is empty and wants to be filled. My footsteps halted in the kitchen and I started the stove. Put in instant noodles and some green vegetables. I waited for the food to ripen while turning on the laptop. Explore some online shop websites that usually provide the items I want.

Times are getting more advanced, and also of course with technology. From the website we can buy goods, sell goods, and many other exciting things.

I search everything that goes into my brain. I don't know, now my hand movement stopped when I found a website with the title "red room".

As the name implies, red is red, my favorite color. And the room is the room. So when combined, the red room becomes a red room.

Because of my curiosity, I traced first what is there about this website. Youtube, google, and others, all explain if the red room is a website that has entered the deep web (Website that can not be searched easily because it is not included in the world web). But I am more curious why my laptop can access this deep web.

I cheered happily when I managed to join, despite having to pay with money. It's not much. My daily money is enough to pay for live streaming with the torture of the people in the red room.

Live streaming has started. Likewise, spicy instant noodles with red sauce color in front of me. I sipped the spicy sauce, but it was warm.

Marvelous. I was shocked to see the comment telling the creator to do the kind of torture the audience themselves asked for. They just have to pay some money and the perpetrator serves the audience's request.

Then my fingers skillfully typed on the keyboard for further torture. My laughter was loud when the perpetrator actually served my request. Spicy instant noodles I forget. I'm busy with my laptop and the red room.

Slashing the neck, poking the eyeball, squeezing the victim's face, and everything was so satisfying.

The entire live stream in the red room made me laugh with satisfaction. After all these years, I rarely laugh. No matter what jokes at school, at home, in my neighborhood, I never laugh. I can remember when my father and mother were not divorced and our family was still very warm. That's where I laugh with satisfaction, smiling every morning.

All that fun changed when my dad made love to another woman. I never thought, my father who I consider to be the one who loves me the most, had been in a relationship with another woman for two years and had other offspring, besides myself and my brother.

Mom's stressed. She cried for a few days until her beautiful eyes were puffy. I, who was a little girl at the time, could only hug her. Trying to strengthen that great woman. My brother and I always tried to make my mother laugh, even though at that time I knew her laughter was fake. Reality cannot be changed.

A month of mental illness, my mother sued my father. The two of them had a fight last night until my mother came back crying while stroking her chest. Father fiercely shouted while occasionally physically abusing my frail mother. It's not just the sick mother. My brother and I obviously can't stand this terrible fight. We were both victims of our father's stupidity.

The next day, they were completely separated. They both got divorced. My sister and I followed my mom, stayed with my mom.

At first, the three of us started our new lives happily. It was with sincerity that our mother and my brother started looking for jobs in the city.

For several years, my brother worked as a very busy factory worker. My mother called many times, making sure her firstborn daughter was okay. Several times the phone was ignored. I understand that my brother is very busy. But my mother was more worried about her firstborn, no matter how busy my sister was.

Whether it's about work, or about brother issues, or maybe other issues out there, my mom is daydreaming a lot. Like having a message implied in her eyelids. She always looked at me with a sad look while I was eating at the kitchen table.

For a few months, his eyes became more and more sad. There was never a laugh from my mother. I'm sure he's really stressed out with a problem. Until now, I was treated in a mental hospital. His mind is falling apart. He's got a mental illness. That woman is crazy. I'm even crazier. I never got any more attention and affection.

***

My clock is ringing with ears. I cringed and occasionally yawned. I fell asleep at the dinner table last night, with my laptop running out of battery, and instant noodles that were already bad.

I got rid of both, especially those noisy hours. Morning sun is not visible. That means, I have to rush a shower before the sunlight is really bright and I could be late for school.

After feeling my appearance was good enough, I grabbed the hoodie hanging behind the bedroom door. The hoodie I wear. Hoodie gives mom with a million memories. The hoodie I still wear because of my tiny body.

Now I go back to swallowing my bread and warm milk as a breakfast menu this morning. I forgot about _deep web_ last night, and that rotten instant noodle.

I rushed to the bus stop. The beautiful landscape of nature with towering trees welcomes darkness. The sound of wild dogs howling collided with the sound of insects on top of the tree. My shoe steps also filled the silence in the middle of this forest.

I got to the bus stop. The highway was clear as usual. Only a few cars pass by, and even then it is not continuous like we are metropolitan, Jakarta. This stop has been built for years. But it is very rarely used, because it is very close to the forest. I'm the only one waiting every morning for the bus, sitting here alone. Or I'm lucky enough to have a chatmate like someone who accidentally found their car's tires leaking and then asked me where the nearest tire patch is from here. Or some of them might be afraid of me, because they might think I'm not human. Yes, understand it. How could a girl casually sit here?

The bus I waited for was finally there. I climbed it, saw the sight of some office workers and some students from different schools from me.

I sat down and saw the view of the tall trees on the bus window.

A few minutes passed, until the bus stopped at the next stop. I rushed to school. It wasn't too crowded when I entered the gate.

The dark sky covered by the dense clouds blocked the morning sunlight. A cold wind blew through my hair. This gripping atmosphere I suddenly felt. Red gaze. Everything is blood red. Whatever it is, trees, classes, corridors, people, everything looks like an edited photo with a red impression.

Not only that. My head became dizzy and my stomach felt like it was being torn apart. I fell down with my knees hitting the ground very hard. Spontaneously I covered both my ears with my hands. I was screaming, and my eyes finally became blurred, and I obviously didn't notice it afterwards.

"Thank God". The middle-aged woman was relieved when she saw me. Bu Ari's. My language teacher, who I think makes more sense than any other teacher.

The smell of oils and warm tea welcomed me. My head was still dizzy, but at least the red color disappeared. Everything just happened without me understanding. When I woke up, I was asleep in the UKS room.

"Your friend reported that you passed out in the middle of the field after screaming". His hands deftly tidied up the drugs then put them in a P3K box.

"Do you have a history of illness, Aggy?" .

I replied by shaking slowly.

"Can I rest here for a while?" I asked with a loud voice. I don't know, but my body doesn't feel good. My stomach is nauseous and my head is dizzy.

Bu Ari nodded with a smile. He offered warm tea and left the UKS. "Class is waiting" he said.