That night, the atmosphere was eerily silent. Only the sound of crickets and the whisper of the wind could be heard around the secluded luxury housing estate. Marlina sat in her living room, gazing at her beloved cat, Kelabu, who was fast asleep on the sofa. Her mobile phone lay beside her, displaying footage recorded a week ago by the tiny GoPro camera attached to Kelabu’s collar.
The recording showed something that had disturbed her since the first night she watched it. Inside Tenuksia’s house, Kelabu’s camera had captured a chilling sight, a ritual involving witchcraft, with frogs that had bloated stomachs, carefully arranged on the floor. Tenuksia was deeply engrossed in chanting incantations while waving a small white bundle over the dimly burning black candle flame.
That morning, Marlina spotted a bird she had named Buyung, a black bird with a shiny beak, perched on her fence. Buyung often stole shiny objects from the area, carrying them back to its nest in Tenuksia’s ceiling. Marlina watched the bird with great interest. An idea began to form in her mind.
As she stepped outside to water the flowers in her garden, her eyes landed on something strange. At the entrance to her house, she saw numerous dried frogs scattered across the concrete, some already bloated. Marlina immediately recalled the dark ritual she had seen in Kelabu’s recording. She knew this was no coincidence.
Marlina retrieved a pair of plastic gloves from her kitchen. Carefully, she picked up each dried frog, suppressing the urge to gag from the awful stench. The frogs seemed to have been preserved, clear evidence of sinister sorcery.
Once finished, Marlina went inside to find some shimmering thread she had kept for a craft project. She began tying each frog with a short length of thread, ensuring the strands reflected light beautifully.
“Buyung loves shiny things, he’ll surely take these frogs,” she whispered to herself.
She didn’t stop there. The small white bundle she had seen in Kelabu’s recording came to mind. Determined, she walked around her property, searching carefully for anything suspicious that Tenuksia might have hidden.
Just as she suspected, Marlina discovered ten small white bundles tucked between flower bushes and beneath the outdoor stairs. They were tied with red string and emitted a pungent, herbal scent. Marlina knew these were Tenuksia’s charms.
She tied the bundles with the same shimmering thread, ensuring they sparkled enough to catch Buyung’s attention.
By dusk, Marlina had hung the dried frogs, bloated frogs, and the small bundles in various spots around her garden. The glowing threads reflected the setting sun’s light, creating a strangely beautiful scene.
Before long, Buyung arrived. The bird landed on one of the threads, its eyes glistening with excitement at the sight of the shimmering objects. With its beak, it began picking them off one by one, carrying them all back to its nest in Tenuksia’s ceiling. Marlina watched from her window, a small smile on her lips.
“Well done, Buyung. Take everything back to where it belongs,” she murmured softly, as if giving the bird a command.
Buyung didn’t leave a single frog, bundle, or glittering object behind. It carried everything into the ceiling of Tenuksia’s house.
Marlina noticed that she hadn’t seen Tenuksia or her family that day. Their house was eerily quiet, the windows tightly shut, and there were no signs of movement. But she knew something was happening inside.
As night fell, Marlina opened the small kitchen window, allowing her cat to slip outside. This time, she wanted to ensure that the cursed objects truly reached Tenuksia.
Grey leapt through the window, and Marlina monitored his movements via her mobile phone. The footage showed Grey effortlessly jumping over Tenuksia’s fence before slipping through a slightly open window.
Inside the house, the atmosphere was unsettling. Dim orange lights cast eerie shadows across the living room walls, which were covered in strange symbols. The air was thick with the scent of burning incense. Grey moved cautiously, the camera capturing every sinister detail.
Above, faint noises echoed from the ceiling, something was moving. It had to be Buyung, storing Marlina’s ‘gifts’ in its nest.
As Kelabu ventured deeper into the house, Marlina saw something shocking. Tenuksia was standing before her ritual table, staring at something with a look of distress. On the table lay several mystical objects, unfamiliar to Marlina. She held her breath.
She realised that Tenuksia had noticed something was wrong. The bundles that were supposed to be hidden outside Marlina’s house were now inside her own home. Tenuksia began chanting, her voice a hushed whisper, like the wind in the night.
Suddenly, the black candle on the altar extinguished on its own. The room was plunged into darkness, save for the faint glow of a small ceiling light. Marlina could see Tenuksia’s expression twist into fear.
Through Kelabu’s camera, she saw Buyung growing restless in the ceiling, its anxious chirps filling the air. Moments later, a loud, heavy thud echoed through the house, as if something had fallen from above.
Tenuksia cautiously stepped towards the source of the noise, holding a freshly lit candle. Kelabu slinked behind her, capturing her every move.
As Tenuksia opened one of the bedroom doors, something tumbled from the ceiling, bloated frogs and the enchanted bundles Marlina had tied with shimmering thread. They landed in a chaotic heap on the floor, creating a truly horrifying scene.
“Who dares to do this?” Tenuksia shrieked, her voice laced with rage and fear.
But before she could react, a sudden, powerful gust of wind howled through the house, flinging doors and windows open. The air filled with the cries of crows, hundreds, perhaps thousands, circling the house in an ominous frenzy.
Marlina switched off her mobile phone after confirming that her plan had worked perfectly. She knew Tenuksia would be haunted by this night.
With a satisfied smile, she stroked Kelabu’s head as he returned home.
That night, Marlina slept soundly.