Mr. Wiryo stood frozen inside the shed.
A long strand of hair still lay in his palm.
Laras's hair.
He recognized it without a doubt.
Ever since she was little, Laras had had long black hair that she always tied back simply. Even when she was still a baby, Mr. Wiryo would often stroke his daughter's hair while carrying her. Now several strands of that hair were in his hand, appearing from nowhere after his first night as a night boar.
“How is that possible?”
His voice trembled.
Mbah Ranu sat calmly near the door.
“Because the pact already knows your family.”
“No.”
Mr. Wiryo shook his head hard.
“I never mentioned Laras's name.”
“You didn't need to.”
“Then why is her hair here?”
Mbah Ranu looked at him.
“Because the person you love most will always be the easiest path to destroying you.”
Mr. Wiryo took a step forward.
“I want to cancel everything.”
Mbah Ranu let out a soft laugh.
“I told you, it can't be done.”
“There has to be a way!”
“There is.”
Mr. Wiryo looked at him hopefully.
“How?”
Mbah Ranu pointed at the black bracelet around Mr. Wiryo's wrist.
“Return everything you've received.”
Mr. Wiryo looked at the five gold coins on the floor.
“Just five hundred thousand?”
“No.”
Mbah Ranu shook his head.
“What you have to return isn't the money.”
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
“Then what is it?”
“Your chance.”
“My chance?”
“Your chance to become rich.”
Mbah Ranu stood.
“That creature didn't give you money. It gave you something that made you want it more and more. The more you receive, the stronger your desire to get even more becomes.”
Mr. Wiryo clenched his fists.
“I don't want any of this.”
Mbah Ranu gave him a sharp look.
“You could have stopped last night.”
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
“You could have let yourself starve. You could have let Mr. Seno take your house. You could have accepted a life of poverty.”
Mbah Ranu pointed at the five coins.
“But you chose to bring these home.”
Mr. Wiryo looked at the coins.
He couldn't deny it.
Dawn was beginning to break when Mr. Wiryo returned home.
Laras was sweeping the yard.
The moment she saw her father, she stopped.
“Dad, where were you?”
Mr. Wiryo fell silent.
“Where were you, Dad?”
“The shed.”
“Last night?”
Mr. Wiryo nodded.
Laras stared at him for a long time.
“You left after I fell asleep?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Nothing happened.”
Laras lowered her head.
Then she said softly,
“Dad, I saw a pig last night.”
Mr. Wiryo froze.
“Where?”
“At the end of the road.”
“What did it look like?”
“Black. Big.”
Mr. Wiryo tried to keep his expression under control.
“Then what?”
“I don't know.”
Laras rubbed her own arm.
“But when I looked into its eyes... I felt like I'd seen them before.”
Mr. Wiryo couldn't answer.
Laras then asked,
“Do you know that pig?”
“No.”
The answer came out too quickly.
Laras stared at her father.
“You're lying again, Dad.”
Mr. Wiryo turned his face away.
“Enough. Go inside.”
Laras didn't argue.
But before she went in, she stopped.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“My hair felt like something was pulling it last night.”
Mr. Wiryo turned around.
“What?”
“When I was asleep.”
Laras touched her hair.
“I woke up for a moment. It felt like someone was standing behind me.”
Mr. Wiryo felt the blood drain from his body.
“Why didn't you wake me?”
“I thought it was a dream.”
Laras went inside.
Mr. Wiryo remained standing in the yard.
There was only one thought in his mind.
**The first sacrifice has begun.**
That day, Mr. Wiryo took the five gold coins to the market.
He intended to sell them.
A gold dealer examined the coins.
“Is this gold?”
“That’s what I was told.”
The dealer scratched his head.
“The shape is strange.”
“Can you buy them?”
The dealer tested the surface of a coin.
Strangely, the testing device didn't show any clear gold content.
“If I buy these, I'll lose money.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Mr. Wiryo took the coins back.
As he was about to leave, the dealer called out to him.
“Sir.”
Mr. Wiryo turned around.
“Don't sell them to anyone.”
“Why?”
The dealer stared at the coins fearfully.
“Things like this usually aren't meant to be sold.”
Mr. Wiryo didn't ask anything else.
He slipped the coins into his pocket.
On his way home, he passed Mr. Seno's house.
The man was sitting on the porch.
“Wiryo!”
Mr. Wiryo stopped.
“Tomorrow is the deadline.”
“I know.”
“If you still don't have the money, I'll start sending people to take the house.”
Mr. Wiryo nodded.
Mr. Seno smiled.
“Don't disappoint me.”
As Mr. Wiryo was about to leave, he heard a voice behind him.
“If you need money fast...”
Mr. Seno paused for a moment.
“...I can give you another loan.”
Mr. Wiryo turned around.
“With interest?”
“Of course.”
Mr. Seno laughed.
Mr. Wiryo continued on his way.
His thoughts were a mess on the journey home.
He had five coins.
But the coins couldn't be sold.
The debt was still waiting.
And the second night was almost here.
Night came sooner than he expected.
Laras went to bed early.
Mr. Wiryo sat in the living room.
He placed the coins on the table.
He stared at them for a long time.
Then he picked up one coin.
Strangely, it felt warm.
Very warm.
He dropped it.
**Ting.**
The coin spun across the floor.
Then it stopped.
The pig's head was facing up.
A scream came from Laras's room.
“Dad!”
Mr. Wiryo ran at once.
Laras was standing on the bed.
Her face was pale.
“What is it?”
“Someone's at the window.”
Mr. Wiryo looked at the window.
There was no one there.
“You had a nightmare.”
“No!”
Laras pointed at the glass.
“He's there.”
Mr. Wiryo moved closer.
There was a handprint on the windowpane.
Five fingers.
But they were far too long to belong to a human hand.
Mr. Wiryo stepped back.
Laras began to cry.
“Dad, I'm scared.”
Mr. Wiryo hugged his daughter.
“It's okay.”
But a sound came from outside the house.
**Hrrr...**
Mr. Wiryo froze.
A snorting sound.
Laras raised her face.
“Dad...”
“Don't leave the room.”
“But what is that sound?”
“Don't come out.”
Mr. Wiryo grabbed his machete.
He walked toward the yard.
Outside, the moon was covered by clouds.
The air felt cold.
And near the fence, he saw something.
A black pig.
The pig stood perfectly still.
Staring at the house.
Mr. Wiryo tightened his grip on the machete.
“Go away!”
The pig didn't move.
Then it raised its head.
Its red eyes stared at Mr. Wiryo.
And for a moment, Mr. Wiryo saw Laras's face inside the creature's eyes.
He flinched.
The pig turned around.
It walked toward the darkness.
But before it disappeared, the creature stopped.
It left something on the ground.
A strand of hair.
Mr. Wiryo moved closer.
Laras's hair.
Again.
He ran back inside the house.
The night grew later.
Mr. Wiryo didn't dare sleep.
At eleven o'clock, the black bracelet began to pulse.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Heat spread throughout his body.
Mr. Wiryo knew.
The second night had begun.
But this time, he didn't want to leave.
He took his machete.
Then he sat in the living room.
“I won't do it.”
He said it to himself.
“I won't change.”
The clock showed 11:45 p.m.
The bracelet grew hotter.
11:50.
Mr. Wiryo began to tremble.
11:55.
A snorting sound came from the kitchen.
**Hrrr...**
Mr. Wiryo turned around.
There was nothing there.
11:57.
The sound came again.
Closer this time.
**Hrrr... hrrr...**
11:59.
Laras's bedroom door opened by itself.
Laras wasn't inside.
Mr. Wiryo stood up at once.
“Laras?”
There was no answer.
He ran to the bedroom.
The bed was empty.
The window was open.
Mr. Wiryo stared outside.
There were small footprints in the yard.
Human footprints.
They led toward the backyard.
“Laras!”
Mr. Wiryo ran outside.
The tracks became clearer.
One.
Two.
Three.
But in the middle of the garden, the human footprints suddenly changed into pig tracks.
Mr. Wiryo stopped.
From far away came Laras's voice.
“Dad...”
Mr. Wiryo ran toward the voice.
“Laras!”
The voice came again.
“Dad... help me...”
He ran faster.
But when he reached a large tree, Laras was nowhere to be seen.
Only a black pig stood behind the tree.
Mr. Wiryo froze.
The pig opened its mouth.
And in a human voice, it said:
“Choose.”
Mr. Wiryo couldn't move.
“Choose your money...”
The pig stepped forward.
“...or your daughter.”
The black bracelet on Mr. Wiryo's hand felt like it was burning.
His body began to change.
He fell to his knees.
His hands shrank.
His bones shifted again.
Mr. Wiryo fought against it.
“No!”
But his body continued to change.
Within seconds, he had turned back into a black pig.
In the distance, Laras was crying.
“Dad!”
Mr. Wiryo turned around.
And among the trees, he saw his daughter standing alone.
But behind Laras...
three black figures stood.
Two were shaped like humans.
One was shaped like a pig.
Mr. Wiryo ran straight toward them.
But the closer he got, the farther away Laras became.
As if the forest would never end.
Then one of the human figures raised its hand.
It held five gold coins.
“Take them.”
Mr. Wiryo stopped.
“And you'll get even more.”
The figure laughed.
“More than you ever imagined.”
Mr. Wiryo looked at Laras.
His daughter was crying.
“Dad, don't!”
Mr. Wiryo turned away.
He didn't take the coins.
He chose to chase Laras.
But when he reached the place where his daughter had been standing, Laras had disappeared.
All that remained was a sheet of black hair ribbon.
And on the ground was writing that looked as though it had been made with claws:
**ONE MORE NIGHT.**
Mr. Wiryo let out a roar.
For the first time, he truly understood Mbah Ranu's words.
The wealth-pact sorcery didn't want his money.
The wealth-pact sorcery wanted something far more valuable.
His family.
And the third night would be the night the pact demanded its true price.