Red Threads

Red Rope Bracelet

No one has spoken in Anggita's car since leaving the hospital area. The three of them were immersed in their thoughts. In the slightest, they never thought they would meet Alana under such conditions.

Mika just stared blankly at the street beside her. The bright sun this afternoon, was completely unable to eliminate the cloudiness in his head and pair of eyes. He is still confused by the many surprising facts he has discovered lately. It was only when her phone rang loudly from inside the bag that Mika regained her consciousness.

"Why, Kai?" Lazily, Mika raised the call.

"Where's lo?"

"On the road. Wanna go home. What's up?"

"An hour ago, Anggita invited me to meet. But now, that son I'm calling is not answered. Are you the same as him?"

Mika keeps the phone away from her ear. Then, he touched Anggita's shoulder. "Lo ngajak Kai to meet?"

"Ah, yes. Tell me, I'll be there soon."

After saying according to Anggita's request, Mika disconnects the phone. He took a breath back. The end of the phone call, made him think back to Alana.

An hour after that incident, Mika still could not get Alana out of her mind. Every place he visited, as if bringing him back to the hospital. Alana's matted and tired face was reflected everywhere. The girl's scream echoed in his ears. Plus Raga's statement today. Mika was dragged to a place she did not recognize. There, hundreds of similar questions seemed to shout loudly in his ears. Who is really guilty here?

Nagra is guilty of Alana. Raga defending Alana. And, he defended Nagra. Like a chain bond that is interconnected, and does not make it free just like that. Mika is almost crazy by this bond. He is thrown into a strange world, which only exists him, Alana, Raga, and Nagra. Kill each other, but not literally.

He did not even realize when Anggita's car pulled over in the parking area of a cafe. Mika flinched as Anggita elbowed her waist.

"Come, get off." Anggita down first after saying that. Mika just walked behind the girl without saying anything. His feet just walked away, with half a consciousness. Half his consciousness was still left in the hospital. In fact, the crowd in the cafe was increasingly making it disappear. Making it more and more eliminated into the world of the middle-of-the-fighting.

Mika sat herself in a chair, at the end of the room. His eyes went through every corner of the minimalist room. Many visitors enjoy their own activities. The sound of music and the sound of a song from a singer in the opposite corner of him was unpretentious to the fanfare of the visitors. But, those sounds were as if they were not caught by Mika's hearing. It was like seeing a silent movie scene. His ears suddenly buzzed. And, the only voice he could hear was a series of questions in his head.

Mika turned her attention to a guy who was walking quickly from the direction of the entrance. Kai waved at him, whose reflexes he responded with a faint smile. The guy's wearing a black jacket. Just like Kai used to go to Nagra's apartment that day.

“Gue late. Sorry.” The guy's breath was panting. Kai sat on an empty chair, in front of Mika. The guy immediately drank Anggita's ice soda, without asking for sex. So that makes Anggita scratch, and ask Kai to buy a new one.

"Yes, I bought it. Jeez, why do you become a young man who is not given a monthly allowance, anyway?"

"Damn lo, yes!" Anggita shouts Kai's head, upset.

It wasn't until five minutes, Anggita's order arrived. The atmosphere of the table that was originally filled with debate is not important Kai and Anggita instantly quiet. Kai dropped his gaze on Mika. Because, only Mika who has been silent since.

"Lo why, Ka? Satan's guinea pig waiting for a chili tree?" Kai waved his hand in front of Mika's face.

"We met Alana." Raya's statement answered Kai's curiosity over the mute attitude shown by Mika.

"Seriously lo? Where's she?" Kai boughtak could not believe it.

Raya nodded. He leaned his head forward a little. Then, he said in half a whisper. "He's in a mental hospital."

“Ha? Why is he there? She works there? Or, now that her boyfriend lives there?” Raya was worried about Kai's question. He stomped on the guy's feet with his shoes, making Kai grimace while rubbing his toe.

“Dia again—” Anggita makes a gesture with her index finger. The girl tilted her index finger forty-five degrees, and stuck it on her forehead.

"No way." Kai laughed in disbelief. "You guys must be kidding me, right? It's not good to know how to accuse someone carelessly."

"Kai, according to you, what good is lying to you about Alana for us? You're not gonna give us a commission, are you?" Anggita starts to get upset because Kai doesn't believe her.

Kai silent. His eyes threw probing glare at Anggita and Raya. Mika became an exception, because from the beginning of the discussion the girl there did not follow their conversation.

“Lo know, what happened between Alana and Nagra? Why did Alana get like that?” ask Anggita.

Kai tapped his fingers on the table. Seemed like thinking hard. However, the look of his eyes was fixed on Mika who was still silent. Trying to ask the girl for permission to tell her something has happened between Alana and Nagra.

“Gue already knows, that Alana was pregnant with Nagra's child. Mika told me a story. What do I want to ask, what happened before? As far as I know, Nagra has never loved Alana.” Aggita knows the look of doubt in Kai's eyes. Finally, he says it when Kai doesn't open his mouth for a minute. Although it sounded relaxed, his voice trembled slightly when saying those words.

“Gue sure, this has something to do with the incident in the villa,” muttered Kai.

"Villa?" Anggita and Raya suddenly shouted, making Kai have to let out a hiss because now almost all pairs of eyes stare dislike towards them.

Then, Kai again dropped his eyes on Mika. “Lo yesterday found out something in Nagra's apartment, right? What did you find there?”

Without saying anything, Mika took out Nagra's diary that she always carried. He handed the book to Kai.

Kai opened the book sheet by sheet. Despite seeing the contents, Raya and Anggita still try to peek. Maybe there is something they missed.

Kai felt the contents of the envelope, and found a small key. Mika frowned. Raya and Anggita looked at the thing more and more curious. Kai twirled the thing in his hand.

“Lo already know this?” kai asked Mika, who Mika replied with a headband. Mika does not know if Nagra still keeps one more key. “Then we go to Nagra's apartment. Now!”

Without waiting for the second order, Raya, Anggita, and Mika follow Kai leaving the cafe. Out of curiosity, Mika finally chooses to go with Kai. At the very least, going by motorcycle can take a lot faster in rush hours like this. They will not be stuck in traffic on the road.

♥

Mika never thought that the key would lead her to a mysterious little box in Nagra's closet. The box was only 20 x 15 centimeters in size, and was placed under a pile of clothes. Somehow Kai found the box very easily. It seems, the guy already knows the ins and outs of Nagra's apartment.

“Gue is always curious about the contents of this box. But, Nagra never wanted to tell,” said Kai. His hands were able to open the box.

Not like Mika's mind. He thought that the box contained all sorts of Nagra secrets. Or at the very least, it contained gold-worthy objects. In fact, the box contained only Nagra's cell phone. He did not know why Nagra had to keep the phone in a box that was difficult to find.

Mika immediately picked up the thin object, and connected it with electricity. Too long to hide in the box, making it difficult to light up. They had to wait for five minutes, until the phone could turn back on.

Mika held her breath while waiting for the object to boot. His heart is beating fast. For years, this was the first time he tampered with Nagra's phone. During this time, Nagra had never allowed him to touch the object in an inch.

A minute later, the screen of the phone featured a photo of Nagra and Anggita. They smiled at the camera. Anggita wore a blue-white uniform, and Nagra wore a white-gray uniform. From the background of the photo, it can be seen that the photo was taken on the closing day of MOS. Seen from Anggita's hair that has been scratched. In the past, female MOS participants were required to wear ribbons, except on the last day.

Looking at the photo, the pain hit Anggita again. The girl immediately ran outside the room, after seeing the photo. Mika was about to catch up, but Raya immediately held her back. The girl asks Mika to continue the investigation. So, Raya must follow Anggita.

Just a few seconds after Anggita left the room, the flat object shook. Multiple messages, coming in simultaneously. Messages from Mika, Mama, Papa, Kai, Raga and an unknown number. Mika decided to open the message from the nameless number first.

From: 085232276xxx

*Gue is not a problem with Alana.

But I'm not going to let anything happen to him.

Inget Gra, I won't stay silent until something happens to Alana*

Mika chooses to ignore the message, and immediately switches on the message sent by Raga. The guy only texted once. It was only fifteen minutes, before Mika found Nagra curled up in the corner of the room. The message contained a photo of Alana, with two sentences underneath.

Space Raga

I wait for your responsibility.

Or, I don't hesitate to kill you!

Mika turned her gaze from the phone screen to Kai. They stared at it for, a few seconds. Before finally, Mika ended the silence in their midst with one question, “So really, Raga who killed Nagra?”

“We can't be as impulsive as that. You still want the same CCTV footage I gave you, right? Have you seen that video?” Mika shook her head in response to Kai's question. “In that case, we'll take a look at the tape first to make sure of one thing. You bring a laptop, don't you?”

“There is a car Anggita.”

Without wasting any time, they immediately returned to the parking area. In the living room, Raya is still trying to calm Anggita. The view looks pretty fucked up. It seemed, the photo had completely destroyed it. What's more, it was Anggita's last photo with Nagra, before Alana came.

There is no time to entertain Anggita. Mika hands the affair to Raya, while she and Kai go downstairs to retrieve the laptop. The sooner the case is over, the sooner the culprit is caught, and the sooner his feelings calm down. His brain was already too tangled because of this case.

♥

The video was no different than the video Raga showed her that day. It's just that if Raga's video ends when Kai faces the CCTV camera, then the video still continues to the next scene. Kai deliberately approached the CCTV. The guy was curious about the reason Nagra closed the thing with plastic. Then, Kai walked over to Nagra towards the kitchen. Help Nagra to make tea. Nothing happened. However, right after they turned around to step back into the living room, Kai paused the video. It magnifies the view, by up to twice. His index finger pointed towards the window just behind Nagra. “Lo see, right? There's someone else here.”

Mika sharpened her gaze. His head went two centimeters forward to see the video more clearly. His breath was restrained, when he saw the shadow of someone in that window. He can't see clearly. The glass of Nagra's apartment was too dark, and the distance of CCTV with the glass was quite far. He could only catch the reflection of that person's shadow. Although it was not very clear, Mika was able to catch the red circle on the person's wrist.

“That's the same bracelet as Kak Nagra's, isn't it?” ask Mika. His gaze could not be separated from the silhouette of that person.

Kai frowned, with the look of his eyes sharpened. Then, the guy said with a barely scream, “Totally! Not wrong again.”

“What?” ask Mika. He looked at Kai with a clueless look, as well as demanding.

"We're the only ones with bracelets like that."

"But, bracelets like that are sold a lot in stores, Kai."

Kai shook his head quickly. “Ngak, Ka. The bracelet was never sold in the store. There were only three people who had the bracelet. We purposely made the bracelet ourselves as a bond of friendship. And who has a bracelet like that is just me, Nagra, the same.” Kai paused his sentence. He did not believe in the name he was going to say. However, the entire conjecture now led to that person. “Raga.”

Instantly, Mika felt the sky collapse above her head.