Aliff's consciousness slowly returned, a throbbing pain in his head making him groan softly.
"Hm... it hurts..." he whispered with a hoarse voice.
His eyelids felt heavy as he forced them open. Thick darkness greeted him. He blinked several times, trying to focus his blurred vision. After a while, his eyes began to adjust to the dim light, but he could still only see hazy shadows around him.
"Where is this?" he murmured, his voice barely audible in the eerie silence.
Aliff attempted to move his stiff body. His brain was spinning, trying to remember what had happened. "I was clearly in the park below my apartment, but I can't really remember what happened,"
"Was I kidnapped?" he thought in a panic. "But who did it? And for what purpose?"
As he tried to move, Aliff felt something rough binding his wrists. His heart raced.
"Huh?! My hands are tied?"
Panic enveloped his mind. With quick and desperate movements, he wriggled his hands, trying to free himself from the coarse rope bindings. Surprisingly, instead of tightening, the bindings slowly loosened until they finally came off completely.
"Wow, I'm really lucky," he whispered in relief, rubbing his chafed and sore wrists.
Without wasting time, Aliff quickly shifted to the bindings on his legs. His trembling fingers struggled to untie the knot. The bindings on his legs were far more complicated than those on his hands.
"Damn, why is this so hard?" he muttered to himself.
After several minutes that felt like hours, he finally managed to free his legs. He flexed his stiff and sore ankles. Blood began to flow normally again, causing an uncomfortable tingling sensation.
Aliff took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. A damp, musty smell filled his nostrils. He could feel the cold, rough floor beneath him—like concrete or cement. The sound of dripping water echoed faintly from a distance.
"It seems like an old warehouse or something," he thought.
Aliff paused for a moment, sharpening his hearing. Silence. There were no signs of his captors around. Had they left him alone? Or were they watching him from somewhere?
"What should I do now?" he whispered to himself.
Slowly, Aliff tried to stand, but his legs were still too weak to support his body. He crawled again, trying to feel around the area.
Suddenly, his hand touched something soft and warm. Aliff jolted in surprise, nearly screaming when he realized it was someone's hair. His eyes, now more accustomed to the darkness, began to catch sight of several figures lying nearby.
"Huh? There are other kids tied up next to me too!"
His heart raced again. It turned out he was not alone. There were others who had suffered the same fate as him.
"Are they also kidnapped like me?" he wondered. "But why? What's the motive?"
Cautiously, Aliff crawled closer to the nearest figure. As he approached, he recognized the neatly tied long hair—it was Aina, one of his friends. The girl lay on her side, with her hands and feet bound, just like he had been.
"Let's free her first," Aliff decided.
With trembling fingers, he began to untie the bindings on Aina's hands. Just as his fingers touched the knot, the girl began to stir and let out a soft groan.
"Shh," Aliff quickly warned, covering Aina's mouth with his hand. "Please speak softly," he whispered right into the girl's ear.
Aina's eyes widened in fear and confusion. As she recognized Aliff's hazy face in the darkness, the tension in her body relaxed slightly.
"Aliff?" she whispered in surprise, her voice trembling. "Where are we now?"
*She looks very scared right now; I'm scared too, but I'm trying to be brave. For now, I don't know what to do...*
"I don't know either," Aliff replied, continuing to work on Aina's bindings. "What's certain is that we are in another place. In other words, we have been kidnapped by someone. I think our other friends are here too, so let's find them and help me free them."
"Yes," Aina nodded, her body shivering a little.
After freeing her completely, Aina moved her fingers, restoring the blood flow that had been hindered. She followed Aliff as he crawled in the darkness, searching for their other friends.
In a corner of the room, they found Naim, lying in an awkward position, his breathing heavy and labored. Next to him were Ravi and Jimmy. Not far from there were Bima and four boys Aliff didn't recognize, lying helplessly.
"Who are those four?" Aina whispered, her hands deftly untying Naim's bindings.
Aliff shook his head slightly. "I don't know. I've never seen those four boys before."
With swift but careful movements, Aliff and Aina worked silently, freeing their friends from the rope restraints one by one.
After several minutes, Aliff and Aina finally managed to untie all the ties binding their friends' hands and feet.
"Finally," Aliff sighed in relief, rubbing his reddened wrists from the friction of the ropes.
*My hands hurt a little.*
The skin on his wrists was scraped in several places, leaving painful wounds when they came into contact with the air. However, he tried to ignore the pain and focus on their current situation.
"Are you okay, Aliff?" Aina asked, noticing Aliff's reddened palms.
"Huh?! I'm fine," Aliff replied quickly, hiding his hands behind his back. *That's a lie; my hands hurt a little now, but I don't want to worry Aina more than she already is.*
One by one, their friends began to regain consciousness. Naim blinked several times, trying to adjust to the darkness. Ravi and Jimmy helped each other stand, their bodies still weak from being tied up for so long. Bima coughed, his throat dry.
Around them, Aliff counted the number of kids present. Ten kids, including himself. Beside him were Naim, Ravi, Jimmy, Bima, Aina, and the four boys he didn't recognize.
They all sat in a circle on the floor.
Aliff briefly recounted what he knew about their situation. How he woke up tied up, how he managed to free himself, and how they all seemed to share the same fate—kidnapped by someone, for reasons unknown.
"So, in other words..." Naim spoke, his voice hoarse and trembling. "We've been kidnapped." He swallowed hard, trying to push away the fear that was choking his throat. "Why did they kidnap us, I wonder?"
That question hung heavily in the air. The kids looked at each other with fearful expressions.
"I don't know either," Aliff replied, trying to sound calm despite his racing heart. "What's certain is that we need to find a way out first."
Although Aliff's face looked calm, he actually felt scared—fear was natural given his young age. He also didn't know what to do now, but his instincts told him they needed to find an exit quickly.
Strengthening his resolve, Aliff stood up, even though his legs still felt weak and shaky. His gaze swept around the room, searching for any gaps or signs of an exit.
Carefully, he felt along the wall and walked slowly around the room. His sensitive fingers felt every rough texture, every crack on the concrete surface.
Suddenly, Aliff's fingers touched something different—not rough concrete, but a smooth plastic or metal surface. His heart raced faster.
"Huh?! That seems like a button," he whispered.
Aliff tiptoed, stretching his hand as high as possible, trying to reach the button that was located above the wall. He jumped slightly, his fingers almost touching the surface of the button, but he always failed to reach it. The button was too high for his small frame.
*It's too high; I can't touch it.*
"I need to find something like a chair," he muttered, his eyes scanning the room in the darkness. "Hah! There it is!"
Strangely, Aliff could now see clearly in the darkness. He didn't know why he could see in the dark like this, as if his eyes had perfectly adjusted. In front of him, he could dimly see an old wooden chair leaning against the wall. Its shape was imperfect, with some parts looking fragile, but still strong enough to climb.
Quickly, Aliff ran and dragged the chair to where he had been standing. The chair squeaked as it was dragged across the floor, its sound breaking the silence and surprising the other kids.
"What does Aliff want to do?" whispered one of the unfamiliar kids; they couldn't see too well because the place was so dark.
"Just wait and see what he wants to do," Aina said, her voice softening. Aina now trusted what Aliff wanted to do.
Carefully, he positioned the chair right under the button he had found earlier. The wood of the chair creaked softly as Aliff climbed onto it. The chair wobbled a bit, almost causing Aliff to lose his balance. His heart raced. His hand reached up, and his index finger pressed the button with a little pressure.
*Click!*
Suddenly, the room was filled with blinding light from the neon lamps on the ceiling. The kids instinctively covered their eyes.
"Argh, my eyes..." groaned Ravi, blinking repeatedly. His hand shielded his face, trying to fend off the sudden onslaught of light.
Aliff also shut his eyes for a moment, letting them adjust to the sudden brightness. The white flashes slowly faded from his vision. Gradually, he opened his eyes and looked around.
"Oh... so this is the light switch?" Aliff whispered, feeling a bit foolish for not realizing it sooner. "Alright, now it's clear." Although Aliff could now see in the dark, he actually preferred it like this, with light illuminating every corner. At least now they could all see where they were. Aliff carefully stepped down from the chair, placing his feet back on the cold concrete floor.
For the first time, they could see clearly the room in which they were being held. The old wooden walls were peeling in some places, exposing the rotting wood beneath. The dirty and dusty concrete floor made their footprints clearly visible. In one corner of the room stood an old wooden door, sturdy yet worn. There were no windows, just several wooden chairs scattered haphazardly.
"What kind of room is this?" Aliff looked around, observing every detail that might help them understand the situation.
"Look, there's a door over there," Naim pointed to the old, worn wooden door in the corner of the room. He stood up, dust flying from his pants as he patted them. "Can we open it?"
Aliff nodded slowly and carefully walked toward the door. His steps were cautious, his heart pounding louder as his hand reached for the cold, rusty doorknob.
"Huh?!" Aliff was startled when he turned the doorknob. It turned easily in his hand, offering no resistance at all. "It's not locked!"
"Not locked?" Aina whispered in disbelief, "Does that mean we can get out?" Her voice trembled between fear and hope.
Very cautiously, Aliff opened the door slightly, just enough to peek outside. Before him stretched a wooden staircase leading upwards. The stairs were old, with several steps looking rotten.
"Hmm," Aliff whispered softly, observing the situation. "It seems we are in a basement now." He could see the stairs rising up.
"Basement?" Jimmy whispered, "So what should we do? Should we go out now or wait here?"
"Don't rush, we don't know what's outside," Aina said, her fingers gripping her tattered sleeves. Her pale face seemed a bit calmer than before, but worry was still clearly visible in her eyes.
"My words can't be taken lightly," Aliff explained, his voice low and cautious. "I just feel that we are in a basement now, but whatever it is..."
Aliff turned to his friends,
*We can't stay in this room any longer...*
"We definitely need to get out now," he said. "If we stay here, we don't know what will happen to us."
*Yes... we need to get out now; I feel uncomfortable being in this place...* Aliff thought.
Naim nodded in agreement. "Right. They might come back and move us to a worse place." His usually cheerful voice now sounded serious and mature—the situation had forced them all to grow up in an instant.
"But we need to make sure there's no one above," Aliff added, his eyes fixed on the stairs with great care. He could imagine someone—maybe their captor—waiting up there, ready to catch them again. "Let's go out and ascend slowly."
The other kids began to rise slowly, their legs a bit shaky after being tied for so long.
"Remember, don't make a sound," Aliff warned, his index finger pressed to his lips. "If you hear something suspicious, stop immediately."
One by one, they began to exit the room. Aliff led the way, followed closely by the others in a neat line.
The air outside the room was colder and damp.
Aliff and his friends continued to ascend the stairs cautiously. Aliff moved like a cat, agile and alert, while the others followed behind him.
Suddenly, Aliff stopped. Before him appeared a wooden door that looked newer than the previous basement door.
"A door?" Aliff whispered, his hand hesitantly reaching for the rusty doorknob. His heart raced, counting every second that passed.
As Aliff began to slowly open the door, a foul aroma immediately assaulted their noses. A strong metallic smell mixed with a rotting aroma made their stomachs churn.
"What is that smell?" Aina covered her nose with her hand, her face pale. Aina felt like she was going to vomit; her stomach churned at the scent attacking her sense of smell.
As they all began to enter the room, the question was answered by the horrific sight before them. Aliff froze in place, his eyes widening. In the large white room lay a scene they could never have imagined, even in their worst nightmares.
"Huh?!... This..." Aliff couldn't complete his sentence. His tongue felt tied as he stared at what he saw.
Blood. Blood everywhere.
Dark red stains adorned the walls and white floors. Various sharp cutting tools—surgical knives of different sizes, bone saws, surgical scissors, and other terrifying instruments—were strewn across metal tables, some having fallen to the slippery floor coated with thick red liquid.
"Huh?!" Ravi stumbled backward, his legs seeming to lose strength. His body swayed and nearly fell if not for Naim's quick catch.
"Hey, calm down," Naim said, but his own voice trembled uncontrollably. His hand holding Ravi's body shook violently. His wide eyes were glued to the horrifying sight before them. "This... this can't be..."
"This is insane... This is so insane..." Ravi whispered with a choked voice.
In that white room, several children's bodies hung from the ceiling with metal hooks embedded in their backs. The small bodies were no longer whole. Some were missing arms, others missing legs. The most horrifying were their chests, wide open, showing that their organs had been taken. Their pale faces froze in a final expression of fear—mouths open in unfinished screams, eyes bulging with horror.
The metallic smell of blood mixed with the antiseptic aroma created a combination that made their stomachs churn.
"What is this?" Jimmy whispered, his voice trembling. His hands reflexively covered his mouth, trying to hold back the vomit that was about to escape. "Who... who did all this?"
Their bodies shook uncontrollably. The crushing fear, the nausea pushing up their throats, what they saw made their small legs weak. Jimmy leaned against the wall, trying to find support to avoid falling. Naim continued to support Ravi, who was now sobbing softly.
"They... they are still children," Aina whispered, hiding behind Aliff. Tears flowed down her cheeks.
*Why are they doing this?... Why...?* that question spun in Aliff's mind.
Aliff could feel something cold creeping down his spine. It wasn't just fear, but a horrifying realization hitting him: if they couldn't get out of here, or if no one came to rescue them, they would end up like those unfortunate children in front of them.
"We... we need to get out of here," he said. "Right now... We have to get out..."
"But how?" one of the unfamiliar kids sobbed softly. The boy hugged himself, his body shaking violently. "They... they will surely kill us..."
"No," Aliff shook his head firmly, trying to strengthen himself and his friends. "We will get out. We must get out. Together."
*I don't want to die here; I will get out of here, no matter what happens! I must escape this place safely!!!*