That morning, Bisma was already standing in front of his house, looking up at the slightly cloudy sky. The neighborhood where he lived felt busier than usual. Several schoolchildren walked along the narrow street, joking around, while the sounds of breakfast vendors began drifting in from the end of the alley.
Bisma put his books into his bag, then glanced at the clock on the porch wall.
"Crap, I might be late again," he muttered as he hurriedly put on his shoes.
Before he could leave, someone's voice rang out from in front of the gate.
"Bisma! You took forever. I've been waiting this whole time!"
Bisma turned and immediately saw Rian standing there, holding his old bicycle. Rian was one of Bisma's three close friends. They had been friends since childhood and often did all kinds of things together.
"I just came out. Relax," Bisma replied with a laugh.
"We can't relax. If we're late again, Ms. Rina is definitely going to give us a long lecture," Rian said.
A short while later, the other two arrived and came over to them. There was Dito, who always had plenty of weird ideas, and Aldi, who was usually the calmest of the four.
"Are we all here?" Dito asked.
Bisma looked at his three friends.
"Everyone's here. Let's go."
They headed to school together. Along the way, they talked about all sorts of things, from school assignments to their plans for after school.
"Hey, did you guys hear? Apparently there's an empty place behind the school that used to be an old warehouse," Dito suddenly said.
Rian immediately turned toward him.
"So what?"
"They say there are old things in there. I'm curious. I want to take a look."
Bisma sighed.
"Don't tell me you want to go inside."
Dito gave a small smile.
"We'll just take a quick look."
Aldi immediately joined in.
"Whenever you say you're just going to take a quick look, you end up causing trouble."
They all laughed at Aldi's comment.
But Bisma was actually curious too. There was something about that place that kept occupying his thoughts. Over the past few days, he had often heard stories from his schoolmates about the old warehouse.
Some said the place hadn't been used in years. Others said there were lots of strange things still stored inside.
When they arrived at school, they went straight to class. The lessons went on as usual, but Dito kept bringing up the old warehouse.
"Bis, come with me after school, okay?" Dito whispered while the teacher was explaining the lesson.
Bisma gave him a suspicious look.
"Are you seriously going there?"
"Yeah. I just want to find out what's there."
Rian, who had overheard them, moved closer.
"If you guys are going, I'm coming too. Don't go doing something without me."
Aldi also raised his hand slightly.
"I guess I'll have to come too. If no one keeps an eye on you guys, things are definitely going to get out of hand."
The four of them finally agreed to go after school.
When the dismissal bell rang, they immediately met up behind the school. The path to the old warehouse wasn't very far, but the atmosphere was different from everywhere else. Tall weeds grew around the narrow path, which was rarely used.
"There it is," Dito said, pointing at an old building.
Bisma stared at the warehouse with an uneasy feeling.
The door looked faded and worn. Parts of the walls had also begun to crumble from years of disuse.
"Why do I feel like this place is creepy?" Bisma said quietly.
Rian tried to joke around.
"Don't tell me you're scared."
"I'm not scared. It just feels weird."
Dito walked toward the door.
"Come on, let's take a quick look."
As his hand touched the doorknob, the door suddenly shifted slightly.
They all fell silent.
"Hey, did you push it?" Aldi asked.
Dito shook his head.
"Not yet."
The wind blew past them. The atmosphere, which had been lively just moments before, suddenly felt silent.
Bisma looked into the dark interior of the warehouse.
"Maybe we should just go home."
But Dito had already opened the door wider.
"Just for a minute. Let's see what's inside."
The four of them entered slowly. Dust floated through the air as their footsteps landed on the old floor.
There were all kinds of old things inside the warehouse: broken chairs, wooden boxes, dusty books, and several objects they didn't recognize.
Rian picked up a small box.
"I wonder what's inside this."
"Just open it," Dito said, curious.
Bisma moved closer as Rian opened the box.
Inside were several old photographs and a small notebook.
Aldi picked up the notebook carefully.
"Looks like it belonged to someone."
Bisma opened the notebook's first page. The writing inside had already begun to fade.
"Could this have belonged to whoever owned the warehouse before?" he said.
They began reading the parts that were still legible.
The longer they read, the more serious their expressions became.
"What's wrong?" Rian asked.
Bisma held out the notebook.
"It says here that someone hid something in this warehouse."
Dito immediately became interested.
"What kind of something?"
Bisma turned to the next page.
But before they could read any further, they heard something fall in the back of the warehouse.
Crash!
They all turned at once.
"Is someone there?" Aldi whispered.
There was no answer.
Even Dito, who was usually brave, began to look uncertain.
"Weren't there only four of us?"
Bisma stared at the dark hallway behind them.
That strange feeling returned. It was as if something had been watching them ever since they first entered.
"We're leaving now," Bisma said firmly.
This time, no one argued.
They hurried toward the exit. But when they were almost there, Bisma stopped.
"We left something behind."
"What?" Rian asked.
Bisma looked at the notebook still in his hand.
He knew they should have left it there.
But for some reason, his heart told him the notebook held something important.
"I'll take it for now," Bisma said.
They finally left the warehouse and quickly moved away from the place.
Not one of them realized that the moment they carried the notebook outside, they had opened an old secret that would slowly begin following them through their lives.