It happened on a backpacking trip to Indonesia. Five of them went in a group, Pamela, Martha, Linda, Ben and Tee. Their group, consisting of five of them, was on a backpacking trip to Indonesia. They had spent the past few weeks driving all over Sarawak. Their journey had ended with an overnight's accommodation in one of the colonial houses in Saba, Sarawak. That night, all were tired from the weeks of travelling but as if to make the most of their time together, it was spontaneously decided that they should have a party.
They lounged around the living room, encircling a half eaten feast bought from the supermarket. Two roasted spring chickens, cold now since it had been sometime since bought from the street hawkers, a potato and tuna salad and packets of chips and nachos scattered among bottles of coke. A tall lone bottle of Wild Turkey stood next to Martha, half empty. The music from the portable stereo system, belonging to Pamela, played music softly in the background, a repetitive synthesized sound that was unmistakably techno music. The living room's lights were off, but the adjoining kitchen's lights were left on, so that they could see. Among them, the tea lights and pillar candles cast flickering shadows against the walls, and a soft glow against their faces. Martha, totally red faced, held up a paper cup filled with two shots worth of bourbon coke, without the coke. She thought she had never laughed so hard as she did in the past half an hour or so. 'I... I propose a... a... ah! A toast! I propose a toast!'
'Oh dear,' said Pamela, starting to laugh together with everyone else. Martha and alcohol had an understanding... The latter had always been to strong for the former. 'So what's your toast?' 'I don't have one, but I have always wanted to say that!' She burst into peals of hysterical giggles and sat back down as everyone started to talk at the same time. 'It's such a pity that tomorrow, we would have to go back,' Linda started. 'This trip was really such fun.' everyone nodded, as they were all too clear that the good times must come to an end. Come the next day, Linda would fly back to Singapore, en-route to Sweden. Pamela, Martha and Ben would head straight to Australia, in time to catch the opening of the new school term. They had all met in the students hostel in Jakarta, and hit off immediately. It was not long that they decided that they would travel all over Indonesia together. Tee, an Indonesian student, was Martha's friend and joined the group in Bali. 'But we will keep in touch, right?' Pamela smiled. She had already taken down all their contact numbers.
'Still, I will miss you all,' she said, looking in Ben's direction. Linda and Ben had got close in the past few weeks. However, they both know that when the holidays were over, both would return to home, she to Sweden and him to Australia. 'We could arrange to meet up in another country next year,' Tee suggested. He spoke with an accent that was common to the other Indonesians. 'Yeah, we can even do Nepal next year!' Martha added, giggling away. 'Oh no,' Ben objected. 'Not with you again! You take forever in the shower.' Everyone laughed, even Martha herself. Pamela got up to change the music, and started to dance. The others joined in and impromptu dancing was on the way. Soon, all thoughts of leaving were forgotten as everyone threw themselves into the spirit of the party. As the bottles were being emptied, everyone was busy getting high. Linda felt a little warm in the room, and stepped out to take a breather. Standing on the veranda, she tugged at the neckline of her T-shirt, feeling flushed all over from the alcohol. There was a light breeze, causing the trees around the house to rustle. The crickets were singing their nightly song. Still she, coming from Sweden, was unused to the weather on the Equator. Wiping her face with the back of her sleeve, she smiled as she saw Ben stepping out to join her.
'Hey there,' Ben grinned as he stopped next to her. 'Hey,' Linda smiled. He looked so cute. 'Great party, huh?' 'Oh yeah,' he agreed. 'One of the best. They don't have such great parties in Australia.' She laughed, knowing that he did not mean it. She remembered the parties he would describe to them throughout the journey. However, her laughter soon stopped as his hand covered hers and he stretched over to kiss her. The alcohol in her blood had made her bold. Throwing all caution to the wind, she kissed him back. She turned, so that she was facing him and ran her hands up his arms and into his hair. His arms went around her, and pulled her close.
All this while, she did not notice that an unnatural silence had descended around them. The crickets stopped singing, and the light breeze earlier had died away. She was only too conscious of Ben, and nothing else. Screams tore through the night. Linda tore away from Ben, feeling a little dazed. It took her a while to realize that the screams were coming from inside the house. Ben ran in, pulling her with him. Inside, Pamela and Martha were screaming. Even Tee looked a little white faced. The kitchen's lights were off, and the room was unreasonably dark. 'What happened?' Ben asked. Just as he had asked, all of them heard a faint drum beat, coming from all around. 'What's that?' Linda asked. 'It sounded like a war cry,' Martha whispered. Her eyes were wide in terror. Tee heard something whizzed past his ears. Before they knew it, the whole room was alive with flying objects, whizzing past their faces. Ben yelled, as one of them had struck him on the face. The others gathered in fear. All of them froze, not knowing what to do.
Just then, a coarse male voice spoke in a language they did not understand. Linda had the feeling that he was talking to her. The lights had come back on, but were flickering as if spoilt. In the flickering light, she thought she saw a tall dark figure in a corner of the room. 'Let's get out of here!' Ben yelled, as he pulled Linda to the door. The others, upon hearing it, broke out of their paralysis and started to rush for the door. They ran out of the apartment, relief that the chanting war cry did not follow them. Quickly, Ben got into the driver's seat as the others huddled in behind. As they drove off, Pamela and Martha could be seen praying that it did not follow them. It was three kilometres later, that Ben finally slowed the car and stopped it in the well lit lobby of a hotel. He turned around to look at his passengers. 'Let's just stay here tonight,' Tee suggested. None argued with him. Linda looked at Ben and saw something protruding from the skin of his cheek. She reached out and touched it, as the others gathered close.
'Ouch!' Ben winced as he pulled it out. As he did, the wound opened and he started to bleed. Linda started to look for tissues. 'It looked like some kind of dart,' Pamela said. 'Let me see it,' Tee said, as he took it from Pamela. He looked at the dart closely for a while. 'Hmm... Do you know what this is?' Ben asked, nursing his cheek. 'Pamela is right. It is some kind of dart that the native used in their hunting,' Tee said. 'Normally, they would use it with poison.' Ben looked stunned. 'You're very lucky. There's nothing on this one,' Tee continued. 'Do you know what he said?' Linda asked. They looked at her, stunned. 'What?' Tee asked. 'He said something. Didn't you all hear it? I saw him too, he was standing in a corner of the room.' They looked at each other, the confusion clearly written on their faces. 'He was there? What did he say?' Den asked.
'I didn't see anyone,' Martha added. 'I don't know, but it sounded something like this,; Linda tried her best to recall what he said. 'It sounded like the Dayak language,' Tee said. 'The language of my people.' 'You are a Dayak?' Pamela asked. 'Yes,' he nodded. 'Anyway, I'm not too familiar about what he said. I think it is...' Tee broke off, not sure whether if he should say it. 'What?!' The suspense was killing Linda. 'After so many years, you're back,' Tee stopped. 'That's what he said to you.' Linda felt chills running down her spine when he said that.
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