It was a tense night in the factory. I struggled to keep Fahri quiet. His breathing was truly labored, and I could feel his body trembling violently. I whispered to him to be quiet. They weren't ghosts, they were criminals in disguise.

Fahri began to listen to me and nodded slowly. I was sure he understood now.

The woman's laughter, like in a horror movie, was still audible, ki ki ki ki. It was exactly like the sound of a kuntilanak in movies, but is that really what ghosts sound like? Haven't we all been fooled by the joke that those sounds were created from the imagination of people who pretend to be guessing what ghosts sound like? Ah! Seriously, those were definitely the sounds from the cassette tape. They must be the people who had been talking in the bathroom earlier. I had to seize the right moment, or we'd run out of money.

They must be after our money by scaring us all and taking it easily. They're so easy! I was angry now.

Fahri had started to calm down, and I helped him sit down. The giggling sound of the kuntilanak ghost could still be heard. The glare of the light was still visible, and two figures began to enter from the direction they had appeared. At first, they only showed their heads from the left and right sides of the entrance. Now they jumped in through the door.

What the hell, why are the ghosts jumping on the ground and being heard again? It must be the work of criminals. The room was dark, and we were still behind the long chairs. We remained silent. I found an iron handle as I felt the floor. I thought I'd find wood, but it turned out to be heavy metal. It was a large wrench, usually used for repairing machinery.

I reached for it and gently held it with my right hand. The light suddenly came on, quite bright. It turned out to be someone carrying a fairly large flashlight.

He seemed to be turning the flashlight on and focusing on several areas. He was coming from the direction the two ghosts had entered. Hopefully, that person was a security guard, I thought.

"How is it? Is everything all right?"

The giggling sound of the kuntilanak ghost died down. So it was true, was the ghost the voice of the kuntilanak? The other foremen had all fled, all in a panic. Another person was visible from the shadows as the flashlights came in. The ghost music had also died down.

So, four people had come in. They weren't security guards; they were all part of a gang. Fahri looked a little pale and trembling from the bright lights, more than one shining here and there. You hid neatly to avoid being seen. Perhaps Fahri felt trapped in a crime and was at a loss for words.

Would they die if they were caught? That was probably what Fahri was thinking, shaking all over.

As they shone their lights on the table, I peeked through the gap between the chairs. They shone their lights, and it was empty; the bundle of money was gone. They passed the lights around and found a plump man standing at the end of the chair, close to Tama's boss's office. He was clutching a fairly large package.

"Over there!"

Two lights pointed in the direction where the plump man was clutching the package containing all the money. He had already secured the large bag and the money. It was Boss Tama himself. So, while the others were terrified, he grabbed all the money and held it against the wall near his own room.

The criminals were startled, thinking everyone had probably fled. Only then did they realize that the factory boss still didn't care about the ghost and only cared about the money he was about to distribute to his employees.

"Let's get the money quickly before the others come in!"

One of the men commanded, lunging forward. Meanwhile, the two men wearing shrouds began to untie the ropes above them. As the two men moved toward Boss Tama, I immediately stood amidst the dim lights of the lanterns. I immediately struck the one holding the shroud with all my might in the back.

I had signaled Fahri to follow me, hoping he would be the one with the two men wearing shrouds. They would have difficulty moving, making them easy to subdue.

I managed to hit the one holding the shroud in the back, and he immediately fell forward, nearly lunging at Boss Tama. He fell in front of him, his shroud falling to the ground. Another person holding a cane was startled to see me, our eyes meeting. His cane pointed at me, and I jumped and collided with him.

On the other side, the two ghosts were also immediately startled. Luckily, Fahri was alert and pushed one of them, causing it to fall backward. The other, before he could remove his shroud, fell to the ground due to the bindings around his legs.

I crushed the fallen figure, his hands reaching for my face in the dim, dark light. The spotlight was blinding everywhere. At least, I was someone who used to be a diligent student of the pencak silat martial art, Pagar Jiwa.

I can fight, friend, don't forget that. When it comes to this, I'm pretty good. But that wasn't my problem right now. The man's legs couldn't reach me, even though I was holding both of his legs. His knee kicked me in the back.

Damn! I rolled forward. But I quickly got back on my feet and found the right stance.

Luckily, in the darkness, Boss Tama grabbed two fallen santer and shone a light on us. Good! Now I knew how he moved.

He was wearing a jacket and a mask.

"Boss Tama! Aim the santer properly!"

I shouted at Boss Tama, who understood and aimed the gun correctly even though his money bag was still in his lap. This is truly hi, he doesn't care about life or fear, and money is everything.

The man began to hesitate; perhaps he was too late and had been caught. He pulled something out from behind his back.

Meanwhile, Fahri managed to subdue one of the shrouds and gag him because he was having trouble moving. The other shroud was somewhere else. It seemed he ran out because of the commotion.

I was still on guard, but a black object was released and aimed at me. I dived down and ran. He was confused about how to aim the gun at me because I was already beneath him so quickly.

He didn't expect me to hit him, hitting him hard in the chin with my right hand.

Crack!

A sound like a bone being hit. He fell backward, the gun falling beside me. I sat limply as the criminal fell. I was really fast. What would have happened if I hadn't acted quickly?

I grabbed the gun and threw it away. The man was frantic, clutching his jaw, which must have been in excruciating pain.

I reached for him and clamped both of his hands shut. Boss Tama aimed his rifle accurately. I found a rope beside me, but it was raffia, the kind used to tie a kandi to hold something or sew a kandi.

I grabbed it and tied the criminal's hands tightly behind his back, still groaning in pain.

"We did it, Mr. Adnan!"

Fahri's voice rang out, still treading on the back of the shroud he'd pushed. He begged for help because he was having trouble breathing in the shroud.

"You know what? You're trying to scare us with a shroud, and we're scared. We're brave people, you know!" Fahri shouted, now acting brave. I smiled, though my breathing was labored, as the adrenaline of the fight was exhausting, my friend.

Boss Tama quickly stood up. One of the men I'd hit had fainted beside him. Just then, several people arrived. Who else could it be?

Security guards! They're here. Where have they been?

"Sorry, Boss! We were just entering the security guard room when suddenly we were locked from the outside with a padlock. We were only able to get out through the window and come here, Boss!"

The two security guards immediately saw the mess, with their bright lights on. They were holding the person I had tied up, and another shroud that Fahri had gagged.

"Please! Don't take us to the police station. We're just errand boys!" Boss Tama saw the shroud being held by the police.

Boss Tama, now feeling his authority returning, approached the shroud, "Who ordered you!"

"I'm Dandi, Boss! I'm your employee!"

Everyone was shocked and took a closer look. Sure enough, it was one of the employees in another division, or under the command of a foreman other than me. But I didn't know whose command he was under.

"Who ordered you!"

"Boss Andi, Boss! I was only told to scare you, Boss!"