Seven Sisters and Seven Marks

Sisters Forever

1999

“Sisters forever.”

Arawinda Biru stared at her sad face in front of the mirror in her toilet. Her eye bags were enlarged, her cheeks were thin, and her hair was messy because she didn’t shampoo for a few days. During the week, she took office leave and chose to lock herself up in her small house. This week, she didn’t see the sun. She even locked all her window. Before she locked herself up, she had prepared one box of instant noodles and a dozen of eggs for her to eat.

Ara turned on the faucet on the toilet sink, hoping that the sound would make her feel less lonely. Ara opened the medicine cabinet tacked to the wall beside the mirror, took a few anti-depressants and tried to swallow them with a glass of water. In addition to anti-depressants, she also recently took sleeping pills due to severe insomnia that had been attacking her. Her head felt so heavy and full, she almost wanted to die. For a moment, she closed her eyes. Again, the memory flashed back.

A teenage girl opened her room’s door carefully after she heard the noises for a while. She stepped cautiously on the wooden floor. This house was quiet. There was only the sound of her own breathing. She walked to the room opposite her. As soundlessly as possible, she peered through the gap of the door. Her eyes widened when she saw thick red liquid that flooded from a man’s head lying on the wooden floor. On the chest of the shirtless man stuck a pair of scissors. Like the red roses, the blood also spread at several points on his chest and stomach. The man’s eyes opened. The fragments of the flower vas and the fake roses scattered on the side of his body.

The dark eyes of a black-wavy-haired girl turned to the black-long-haired girl who was wearing a worn maroon dress. The girl was about to get out of this place through the window. The long-haired girl turned to look at the man. Her gaze couldn’t be interpreted. Her eyes looked puffy. She smiled slightly at the man, then turned away and immediately jumped out through the window.

Ara opened her eyes again. She looked at a former incision about three centimeters away from her artery on her wrist. The incision formed a symbol of number one or ekaḥ in Sanskrit Numbers.

She touched it slowly, then she cried.

“Sisters forever,” she muttered to herself.

Ara looked back at her face in the mirror. She hit the mirror hard until it cracked. “STOP BOTHERING ME! YOU AREN’T MY BLOODY SISTER!” She yelled desperately at the reflection of her face in the mirror.

Knock… knock… knock…

Ara instinctively turned towards the toilet door. She turned off the faucet. She began to pant. Fear spread through her body. She quickly grabbed a scissors from the medicine cabinet. Then, it was silence instantly. No sounds. Ara waited. A few minutes later, there was a crackling sound of the wood floor outside the toilet, until the door creaked open and closed slowly. Her heart pounded along with her footsteps approached toward the toilet door. She gripped the scissors tightly, but her hands still trembled.

Cold sweat started to flow. There was no sound of knocking on the door or the footsteps. Ara peeked at the toilet door hole. There was nobody. Slowly, Ara’s left hand turned the door handle. She knew, there was another person in her house. s**t, she cursed in the heart. The room lights were still on, but a few minutes later, the lights in the entire room inside the house went out. Her fear was getting worse.

She moved closer to the door, groping the wall slowly with her left hand, looking for a small lantern she used to hang on the wall. After she got it, she put the scissors into her pajamas pocket and tried to find the matches she usually placed on her nightstand, not far from her. She opened the matchbox, took a stick, felt the match tip, then rubbed it on the rough side of the box. Because she was trembling, she failed several times to ignite the fire, but finally, she succeeded. After the fire ignited, she tried to light the lantern. Along with that, someone’s footsteps were heard again outside her room. The crackling sound of the wooden floor echoed.

Creak… creak…

Ara turned back to the door of her room. Quietly, Ara opened the door. She reached her scissors from her pocket. Ara’s left hand held onto the lantern and her right hand held up the scissors while trembling. The orange light danced softly as Ara walked through the room. Ara could only hear her breath and crackling on the wooden floor she stepped on. A large black shadow was drawn on the wall and followed where Ara walked. This room felt stuffy.

Ara felt even more frightened because she was only friends with her shadow. Ara turned her body to the left while aiming the lantern to the room on the left side. Orange light illuminated the small living room. The hollow brown sofa bit by a mouse, a fragile wooden table, and a pile of newspapers on the table actually made everything look tense. They were the silent witnesses who were busy watching a woman scared to death in the dark.

Suddenly a small black shadow rushed past her legs. Ara almost dropped the lantern. Damn mouse.

Ara thought about getting out of this house. She already started towards the door, but then stopped dead when she heard a crackling sound and running water from the open kitchen. Ara froze in place for a few moments. She looked back slowly, “WHO’S THERE? GET OUT NOW! DON’T HIDDEN LIKE A COWARD!” yelled Ara.

Ara was confused, where did she get that much courage? Supposedly, she had to ran quickly, but the curiosity attracted her to step toward her kitchen.

Ara gulped. She took a deep breath, strengthened herself, then moved again. She was sick of hearing the crackling of the wooden floor she stepped on. For a while, she had thought of replacing the floor with ceramics.

When she was in front of the kitchen, the night wind blew Ara's body. A small fire on the lantern moved irregularly. Ara looked at the open window in the kitchen. White curtains danced with the wind. There was no one in the kitchen. She froze a moment in front of the kitchen door. The water was still flowing out of the faucet in the sink near the window. Its voice broke the silence. She didn't even care about the sound of the water. Her left hand trembled to hold the lantern. Her eyes were wide open staring at the writing with the dark red liquid on the window.

The orange light from the lantern still helped her to be able to read the writing clearly. Ara didn't know what made her moved slowly toward the window. Maybe, she just wanted to make sure that she might be seeing it wrong. It might be a hallucination. But Ara wasn't mistaken. The writing was real. She could see it clearly within one meter.

Sisters forever.

Ara's tongue felt stiff. She could not scream or move her body as if the writing had hypnotized Ara. Ara started to get cold and overwhelmed by fear. She stopped her breath for a moment.

Ara hoped she could die now.

***

“Sisters forever.”

The twenty-four-year-old woman has just left her workplace in a nightclub in the outskirt. She worked as a paid singer. Her name was Fulmala Rosa Merona.

She smiled bitterly when the memory was present without permission, perhaps the effect of alcohol. She couldn't think clearly anymore.

"Sisters forever," she muttered unconsciously.

Rona leaned her body against the wall in front of the club. It was three o'clock in the morning. Some people started to go out and chose to go home. Some men offered her to go home together, but Rona refused. She just wanted to sleep at home, instead of hanging out with a perverted man.

Rona massaged her dizzy head. She took off the fifteen centimeters high heels which made her feet blister, then staggered toward the nearest payphone. She tried to focus her blurred eyes to pressed the number button and waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Rudy? Why haven't you picked me up?"

"I'm sorry, Miss. Something came up in my house. I'm already on my way now."

"Don’t be too long."

"I'll try my best."

Rona sighed and stepped back, waiting for a taxi. The night wind slapped her face. It also began to touch her body softly. Rona tightened her jacket, but it was useless because her long legs were not covered by a cloth. Her feet were cold when stepping on the rough asphalt surface. She had no choice but to get along with the dancing wind tonight.

Rona stared blankly at the street lamp that looked blurry in her eyes. The dawn sky looked bright. Stars were still scattered, but Rona just felt lonely, even though some people were still passing by out of the club. She hugged herself who began to shiver. The faint sound of music and the noises from inside the club slowly disappeared from her mind. The memories appeared again without permission. Rona sank into her thoughts.

"Let's make a mark to show that we are sisters."

Rona smiled bitterly again. Sisters? Nonsense, she thought.

Maybe the other six of sisters were still keeping in touch with each other. Only herself felt embarrassed to send a letter to her sisters. Or maybe, she really had no intention of contacting them at all. After all, they are not real sisters. Rona touched an incision on her left wrist. The incision was a symbol number four or catvāraḥ in Sanskrit Numbers. Teenage madness, she thought.

Number four showed that she was the fourth sister in seven sisters. They had no blood relations, but they decided to make a mark of sisterhood before they actually left the damned orphanage. A sign that indicated that they were seven teenage girls aged sixteen or seventeen who had the same fate, living in a 'prison' for almost seventeen years. They fought together and strengthened each other because they were sisters. Someday, they will reunite.

Nonsense. But, this 'tattoo' is cool enough.

A horn awakened her from the daydream. A blue taxi had been parked not too far from the street lamp. Rona walked unsteadily, still with her dizzy head and blurred vision. She shook her head several times and tried to focus until finally, a middle-aged man got out of the taxi. He led her into the taxi.

***

Rona massaged her head, then tried to find the key. Her feet accidentally kicked something. It was a cardboard box with her name written on a little paper taped on the box. Rona frowned, she turned her head around, trying to find who might have sent this. Who sent a gift at night like this?

Rona shook the box slowly. There was something quite heavy shook inside. The road of her home was deserted, no one was seen passing by. Rona reached into the bag and finally got the key. While holding the box, Rona inserted the key and turned it to the left, but strangely the key didn’t move to the left. Rona frowned. She tried to turn the door handle. The door opened. She was a little hesitant and suspicious.

Did I forget? She thought. Or maybe she was too drunk and hallucinated if this door was not locked. Rona tried not to care.

Rona stepped inside while staggering. She propped her hand against the wall and turned on the light switch that was located behind the door. She sat on the floor, then slowly opened the box.

Her eyes widened completely. She shook her head. No, she must have been so drunk that she saw something crazy. Her breath began to pant. For a moment, she was stunned.

The human hand covered in the half-dry brownish red liquid with the fibers of chewy flesh torn and the hard white bones sticking out of the meat, was placed inside the box. On that hand, the protruding skin appeared symbolized number one in Sanskrit Numbers. She was very familiar with the sign of that incision. But there was a new incision scar that said, ‘Sisters Forever’.

Rona threw the cardboard box. She slapped her face repeatedly. “It's hallucination,” she muttered the sentence continuously. But, her eyesight was now turned to the blood spots on the floor led to the inner room. Rona's heart beat faster. She had difficulty breathing as if all the air had been taken away from her. Her house felt very quiet, but the terrible atmosphere had succeeded in controlling the whole house. She pulled an umbrella placed not far from where she sat as a weapon to protect herself.

With difficulty, she stood up and shouting, "WHO IS THERE? THIS IS NOT A JOKE! I CAN SCREAM NOW!"

No answer.

With a little courage and awareness remaining, she staggered and slowly followed the blood spots. She let out a wooden creak sounded. For some reason, she hoped to be deaf for a moment. Rona felt the air in this house became very cold even though her blood warmed after consumed the alcohol. This house was bright but felt dark and suffocating.

Rona continued her steps carefully and apprehensively until she stopped and stood still. She opened her mouth slightly while dropping her umbrella. Someone had forcibly pulled her consciousness. Rona finally focused on what she saw in front of her. She slapped her face several times, afraid of being mistaken about what she saw. But it didn’t change.

A shoulder-length wave-haired woman looked at her with wide rounded eyes. Her tongue stretched out of her mouth. Her body floated. A rope tied her neck while holding her weak body. Her head was tilted to the right. The soft red flesh meat that had its fibers stretched down and covered in brownish red liquid, adorned her left hand which disappeared to the elbow. Underneath, Rona's wooden floor had been tinted with a brownish red color.

"AAKKKKKKK!" She shouted as hard as she could.

Sisters forever.

***