Irwan brought one leg up onto the bed and faced Nadia, who was kneeling on the bed, looking at him. Irwan told her what had happened to him. His stepfather often brought different women home. One day, when Irwan came home from school, a woman his stepfather had brought home approached him. She pulled Irwan onto the sofa and began to force him into sexual relations with her. Initially, Irwan refused, but the woman forced him, even to the point of raping him.
This continued for over three months until his stepfather finally found out and kicked the woman out of the house. But after that, the woman returned and forcibly took Irwan away out of revenge against his stepfather. The woman drugged Irwan, and when Irwan woke up, he felt intense pain in his genitals, almost causing him to faint. When he looked and examined it, it turned out he only had one testicle left; he had been brutally half-castrated by the woman until he was finally rushed to the hospital by residents who found him in an empty house.
After being discharged from the hospital, he was immediately locked in the warehouse by his stepfather, who was afraid that the woman he had brought home would turn her attention to Irwan, without knowing Irwan's true condition. Nadia, hearing Irwan's story, immediately covered her mouth with both hands.
"Surprised, huh? My story isn't pleasant to hear, is it?" Irwan said.
Nadia shed tears and moved forward to hug Irwan, who immediately hugged Nadia back.
"You... you're like me. We're truly in the same boat," Nadia said.
"Haha... that's why I wanted to die," Irwan replied.
"Yeah, we should be dead by now, but why are we still alive?" Nadia replied.
"All of this is strange, starting from this house, the marriage certificate, our body changes, everything is strange," Irwan replied.
"True, everything is strange and terrifying," Nadia replied.
"Have you met Brian and Riana yet?" Irwan asked.
"Not yet, I just woke up too and haven't left the house because I'm scared," Nadia replied.
As they both stood up, a very pungent incense smell suddenly wafted through the air, hitting their noses. Irwan immediately felt weak and sat back down, as did Nadia.
"W-what is this?" Irwan asked.
"Hrrhh... hrrhh,"
Irwan turned to see Nadia groaning beside him. He immediately turned her body around and held her shoulders.
"Nad... are you okay?" Irwan asked anxiously.
"I... have a strange feeling... my body is hot... I'm... aroused," Nadia stammered.
Nadia's face immediately looked alluring and sexy in Irwan's eyes, but just as their lips were about to touch, Irwan realized and "plak," he slapped himself. Only then did he see a very thin purple mist swirling in their room. He turned to look at Nadia, who was looking down.
"Nad... snap out of it, Nad, this is an illusion. Your feelings aren't real, snap out of it!" Irwan shouted.
"Irwan... I want my husband," Nadia said.
"Snap out of it (raising his hand) sorry, Nad,"
"Plak," Irwan slapped Nadia hard until Nadia turned her head away. Nadia held her cheek and glared at Irwan, then her hand went up, "plak," Nadia slapped Irwan back, but after that,
"W-what's wrong with me, Wan?" Nadia asked.
"Thank goodness you're back. Cover your nose or hold your breath. Don't inhale that misty scent," Irwan said, covering his nose with his arm and pointing upwards.
Nadia covered her nose and looked up at the thin purple mist above her. Irwan immediately pulled Nadia's hand, then ran out of the room and then out of the house. As soon as they were outside, Irwan's and Nadia's eyes widened. They saw a lush, green village. The village was so beautiful, like being in heaven, with a truly rustic atmosphere. The houses in the village were sparsely located, interspersed with shady gardens.
At the back of the houses were banana and bamboo groves. The village's hilly terrain had dirt and stone roads without asphalt. Beautifully arranged terraced rice fields were also visible. Irwan, holding Nadia's hand, was stunned and looked around. Nadia, being led by Irwan, also looked around.
"Where... are we?" Irwan asked.
"It's so beautiful... Is this heaven? Are we already dead?" Nadia asked.
"Committing suicide probably wouldn't lead to heaven. We're not dead yet," Irwan replied.
"Good morning,"
Both immediately turned forward. They saw a pair of teenagers roughly their age walking past them, but their attire clearly looked like villagers, and the wife appeared to be pregnant.
"Good morning," Irwan greeted.
"Oh, are you new here?" the husband asked.
"Y-yes," Irwan replied.
"Oh, welcome! My name is Andi, I've only been here for five years. This is my wife, Rika. We live next to your house," Andi said, introducing himself and his wife while pointing to his house, which was slightly further away from Irwan's.
"Oh... I'm Irwan, and this is... Nadia," Irwan said, introducing himself and Nadia.
"We seem to be around the same age, how old are you two?" Rika asked.
"We're both 17," Nadia replied.
"Oh, same here then. Rika and I are also 17," Andi replied.
"You've been here for five years already, so you came here when you were 12," Irwan said.
"Oh no, no. We came here when we were in 11th grade, so we were already 17, and since coming here, we've remained 17. Isn't that right, dear?" Andi replied, putting his arm around his pregnant wife.
"Yes, that's right, dear. It doesn't feel like five years already," Rika said.
"Hehe, yeah, here we just eat and sleep. No worries about problems, school, and other things," Andi replied.
"I-is that so?" Irwan asked, surprised, turning to look at Nadia, who was also looking at him.
"Did you also come here through the forum?" Rika asked.
"Forum?" Nadia asked.
"Salvation Forum. We both had problems outside. I myself was kicked out of my house and ended up homeless. Then I joined the forum, and the admin invited us to commit suicide together. Little did I know, we ended up here, and now I live here. I also met Rika there. There were 12 of us who came here at that time," Andi replied.
"You two as well, right?" Rika asked.
"Y-yes, six of us came," Irwan replied.
"Oh, that's good then. Hope you like it here," Rika replied.
"Then if we're not doing anything, what are our activities here?" Nadia asked.
"Well, just like this. Walking around, all food and drinks are provided. We're going to the community hall to pick up groceries. Want to come along?" Rika asked.
"S-sure," Nadia replied, turning to look at Irwan, who nodded in agreement.
After that, the four of them walked down the path, descending the hill. Irwan and Nadia, walking behind Andi and Rika, observed them from behind. Irwan noticed that Andi's and Rika's skin looked pale, as if they lacked blood, and there were mottled skin patches around their necks, backs of their arms, and calves. Irwan and Nadia slowed their pace a bit.
"Nad, isn't that strange?" Irwan asked.
"Yeah, they... they're like corpses," Nadia replied.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Since you're new, it's usually fine, but once a month we have a health inspection by a doctor. We're taken to that tunnel," Andi said, pointing to a hill slightly far away and down to the right.
Irwan and Nadia turned towards where Andi was pointing. They saw a tunnel in the hill decorated as a red-eyed tiger's head with a wide-open mouth, as if to signify that entering the tunnel meant entering the tiger's mouth.
"Health inspection?" Irwan asked.
"Yes, usually pregnant women are prioritized for prenatal check-ups, and then others follow," Andi replied.
"Oh... I see. What kind of check-ups?" Irwan asked.
"Well, we don't know because we're sedated. We only get the diagnosis results read to us when we wake up," Andi said.
"But it's a shame, dear, I've had three miscarriages. I'm sorry, dear," Rika said, looking down.
"It's okay, dear. The doctor said your womb is weak, so what else can we do? Besides, I still love you," Andi said, embracing Rika.
"Yes, thank you, dear. I love you too," Rika replied, putting her arm around Andi's waist.
"Hii," Irwan and Nadia, seeing Andi and Rika's intimacy, shivered. Then they turned back to look at the tunnel.
"It's a shame about the miscarriages," Nadia said.
"Yeah, even though it was only one month until birth. Hopefully, it won't happen again," Rika said.
Nadia immediately stopped. Her hand, gripping Irwan's, pulled Irwan to a halt.
"What's wrong?" Irwan asked anxiously.
"Something's strange, Wan. That shouldn't be possible. I know for a fact, my mom experienced it twice. I should have two younger siblings. It's impossible to miscarry one month before birth unless it's induced," Nadia whispered.
"Seriously?" Irwan asked.
"Seriously, something is strange in this village," Nadia replied.
"I know, everything's strange, including Andi and Rika," Irwan replied, looking at Andi and Rika whose walking in front of them.