New Tenants and a Supernatural Showdown
The journey took about 30 minutes, crossing the new highway until they reached their destination. Upon arrival, Indra and Amanda got out.
"It's paid, sir," Amanda said.
"Yes, ma'am. Please check your belongings again," the online driver replied.
"Come on, Shin," Amanda urged.
The driver's eyes immediately darted to the rear view mirror and then to the passenger seat. "Creak... creak," the car swayed again as Shin shifted and got out. The driver started to get goosebumps because Amanda and Indra had already exited, but the car was still swaying.
"Hii... I'm outta here... spooky," the driver muttered, immediately stepping on the gas.
When the online taxi had left, Indra saw that Amanda apparently lived in a boarding house. He also saw a billboard in front of the door that read: "Detective and Paranormal Services Office."
"Oh, so your place is a boarding house. And who's the detective here?" Indra asked.
"I'm the detective who handles paranormal affairs. This is my private boarding house, but it's not doing well. I bought it cheap, though," Amanda replied.
Indra looked across from the boarding house, which turned out to be a cemetery. He also turned to his right, which was an empty plot of land, and realized the area was quite secluded, even during the day.
"Well, no wonder it's not doing well, it's haunted. Besides, is this really your boarding house? How can that be?" Indra asked.
"Yup. When I came to Jakarta, I read online about a cheap boarding house. So I went there. I hadn't been living there long when the landlady passed away, and I was the only one here. Then the landlady's spirit asked me to buy the boarding house. I wasn't old enough at the time, so I asked Shin to possess the uncle next door, and he handled the notary process. Once the transaction was complete, it was immediately gifted to me and renamed. It was indeed double the work and cost a lot, but it's safe, hehe," Amanda replied.
"Whoa, that's wild. So you invited me here to be a tenant, then?" Indra asked.
"Hehe, yeah... sorry," Amanda said.
"Ugh, next time say something! I almost got my hopes up; I thought you had a crush on me," Indra said.
"Wow, you're so full of yourself... Besides you, another weird person like me, who would want to rent a room here? Even though I've put up ads online and the location is close to the main road, and near offices too," Amanda retorted.
"Crazy, you were really determined to come all the way to the station just to get me to move into your boarding house," Indra said.
"Hehehe, yeah, of course! Besides, I know you were confused because it's your first time in Jakarta," Amanda replied cheerfully.
"Not really. I came to Jakarta for the entrance exam, but I went straight home again. Well, it is a good fit, not too far from campus. How much is the rent?" Indra replied.
"Don't worry about it. The first three months are free, for good luck charm. Just pay for electricity yourself," Amanda said.
"Seriously?" Indra asked.
"Seriously," Amanda replied.
"But a place like this really does need a good luck charm," Indra thought to himself.
Finally, they both went inside. Amanda showed Indra his room, which was right next to hers. It turned out that the inside of the room was quite decent and had air conditioning (AC). The bathroom was also inside the room, and there was a wardrobe provided.
"This room is pretty good... it's fine, but I really did get my hopes up initially. Haaah, it sucks to be single," Indra thought to himself as he lay on the bed and started playing on his smartphone.
Meanwhile, in the next room, Amanda, who had already changed, sat on the edge of her bed with Shin.
"What do you think of him, Shin?" Amanda asked.
"He's good, suits you," Shin replied.
"Hehehe, you're impossible..." Amanda replied, blushing.
"You know, I don't joke. I'm serious," Shin replied.
"Is that even allowed by you?" Amanda asked.
"Of course. I'm different from you. You're still human, I'm half-human," Shin replied.
"That's true. Thanks, Shin," Amanda replied.
"Ding dong," the doorbell rang. Amanda immediately left her room and ran towards the front door. Indra, who was in his room, also came out, following Amanda. When they arrived, Amanda opened the door. She saw a large and handsome man, and beside him, a girl with black hair wearing sunglasses, a mask, and a black jacket, standing in front of their door.
"Excuse me, are there still two empty rooms for us? Oh, my name is Alex, and this is Nara," Alex asked, introducing himself and Nara beside him.
Suddenly, Nara showed her smartphone to Amanda, who immediately read the text.
"Is this Putih's boarding house?" the girl asked.
Amanda and Indra looked at each other. Both smiled because someone wanted to move into the boarding house managed by Amanda. In addition, Amanda was happy because the girl in front of her must be her online gaming friend. But before Amanda could answer, both suddenly jumped backward and immediately took a fighting stance, ready to attack. Nara even drew two mandau knives and was ready to fight.
"What is that creature?" Alex asked, pointing between Indra and Amanda.
"Huh..." Indra and Amanda both exclaimed.
They both turned and saw Shin standing in their midst. They immediately looked at the two people in front of them. Nara took off her sunglasses, and her bright blue eyes glared fiercely at Shin. Indra immediately stepped forward.
"Wait a minute... calm down... Hey, tin-can ghost, get inside, you're causing trouble," Indra said, turning to Shin.
"But wait (turning to look at the big man and the girl in front of her), you can see Shin?" Amanda asked.
"Clang!" Before they could answer, they heard the sound of weapons clashing. Amanda turned and saw that Shin had attacked Indra using his samurai, and Indra, who had transformed into a skeleton, had parried it with one of his sickles.
"Hey, why are you attacking me, you tin-can ghost?!" Indra yelled in a terrifying voice.
"What kind of creature are you, huh?!" a girl's voice, sounding strange, shrieked.
Indra turned, and a mandau was already in front of his face, pointed at his neck. With agility, Indra bent his body backward, and the mandau passed above his face. Immediately, Nara attacked Indra relentlessly at high speed. Indra could keep up with his sickle, and the two continued to clash, even floating in the air. Nara disappeared and reappeared, immediately attacking again. She kept doing that in the air.
"Hey, what the heck is this?!" Indra yelled.
"Be quiet!" Nara yelled.
"Clang... clink... ting... clang!"
The two looked like they were dancing with flashes of mandau clashing with sickles in the air. Amanda, seeing the chaotic battle, became worried. She turned to look at Alex in front of her.
"Hey... please stop them..." Amanda said.
Her words were cut short because she saw Alex transform into a half-tiger human, ready to pounce on Shin next to him. "Grrr..." Alex, the tiger-man, growled as he saw Shin, who was also ready to face Alex in front of him.