Black Wolves

The seventeen-hour air journey from Jakarta to Oslo has over when Bayu drags his suitcase to the taxi stand. Meanwhile, Heidy walks languidly beside him while carrying her favorite black duffel backpack on her shoulder. "Choose one," says Bayu. His forefinger points straight at a row of black sedans.

"It's up to you, Dad, anything is fine," says Heidy lazily.

Bayu exhales slowly. He feels quite disturbed by his daughter's unfriendly attitude. In the end, Bayu chooses the one closest to him. He knocks softly on the window pane. A few moments later, the window is slowly lowered by the driver. The middle-aged man who still looks handsome smiles kindly when he sees the look on the driver's face who is no less friendly. "Hello," says Bayu.

The slightly fat driver with a round face raises one hand to greet Bayu with a big smile. "Hello, Hvor vil du gå? La meg levere (where do you want to go? Let me take you)," the man greets.

"Nordstrand," Bayu answers as he opens the passenger door and signals for Heidy to enter first. Meanwhile, the driver rushes out of the vehicle to bring Bayu's suitcase without being asked. He puts it in the trunk.

"No skal du ha (thank you)," says Bayu, nodding. Without further ado, the man sits next to Heidy. While the girl still doesn't say a word. She just sits quietly with her eyes looking out the window.

"No problem. You are my first passenger today. So far, people prefer to use online taxi services," says the driver, who keeps a big smile on his face.

While Bayu only responds to the man's chatter with a smile. "It's sunny today," he says, glancing at Heidy.

"Oh, Nei (no). A few days ago, it rained so hard that visibility was not more than ten meters. Oslo is like being covered in a thick white fog, Herr (Sir)," the middle-aged man explains again with a voice that sounds so friendly and warm.

"Oh?" Bayu leans forward, as the car starts to leave the airport area.

"Ja (yes). I was also surprised, even though according to the weather forecast on my cellphone, it should start to get sunny over the next few days," says the man. "But luckily it's so warm today. We've missed the sun," the driver chuckles softly.

"Hm," Bayu nods. Norway's geographical location is close to Alaska, making the temperature in that country never really hot even though it is summer. Moreover, at that time, spring has just begun. Bayu is not very suitable for the climate in the country which is too cold, where the snow season can last for almost eight months. However, Norway was the only place he had in mind when he wanted to leave Indonesia. Until now, Bayu does not understand why he chooses Norway.

"Sorry, Herr. Looks like we have to take a detour," says the driver suddenly, after they have driven about fifteen minutes.

"What is it?" Bayu asks curiously.

"There seems to be an accident ahead," replies the driver, whose name Bayu does not yet know.

Hearing the word accident, Heidy immediately looks forward. Several policemen are seen directing vehicles to take the left lane.

"It's okay, we're not in a hurry," Bayu smiles faintly as he glances at his daughter.

"Okay. The left path is famous for its extraordinary views. On the right side, you can see cliffs, but it's really beautiful. While on the left side, you will find a steep gorge with a glacier river flow," says the man.

"We know that. My daughter and I have lived here for more than twenty years. We have even become Norwegian citizens," Bayu says with a smile.

"Oh yes?" the man looks surprised. "I'm sorry because your faces look different. I thought you were tourists," the driver explains embarrassedly. At that time he does not direct his gaze forward, but towards Bayu. Unfortunately, the hospitality makes him ignore it. A medium-sized mountain rock slides down from the top of the cliff and continues to roll towards the highway.

"Watch out!" Heidy shouts.

Unfortunately, the driver turns around too late. The boulder reaches the highway when the car they are traveling in is passing. Reflexively, the driver swerves to the left while stepping on the gas pedal. The vehicle goes out of control until it crashes into a steel safety barrier that runs along the side of the road, and borders a ravine.

The car continues to slide down and stops for a moment when the tire is caught in a tree branch growing on the slope of the ravine, then falls back into free fall when the branch breaks. Hard collisions are unavoidable. At that moment, the last time Heidy sees before she lost consciousness is the face of her father which is covered with blood.

But, Bayu can still help remove the seat belt that is wrapped around her slim body. "Dad ... ." Heidy sighs softly before she finally falls completely unconscious.

A few hours have passed. Heidy wakes up in a hospital bed. She sees several bruises on her body. And then she notices the hospital room that has a weird atmosphere she couldn't explain. Her beautiful eyes catch a figure of a black cat standing in front of the door room.

However, the gaze of a black cat that she saw while in Indonesia, has piqued the girl's curiosity. Heidy gets off the bed. She walks out of the hospital room to follow the graceful steps of the giant cat. She does not know where else the animal will take her now.

Heidy keeps walking. While her gaze is only fixed on the black cat earlier. She does not realize that she is now outside the hospital area. Heidy has just stopped walking when the cat freezes and turns to look at her. The animal's round and glowing eyes seem to have hypnotized a cute girl who suddenly feels the light so bright that she has to block and protect her eyesight with her arms. For a moment, the bright light continues to hit until it went out by itself.

Heidy pushes her arm away from her face. However, the girl is suddenly wide-eyed with incredible disbelief. She looks around, even having to turn around slowly, just to make sure she isn't hallucinating. Heidy does not know where she is right now. The surroundings are just a sea of ​​giant, towering trees. Trees that look like they come from thousands of years ago. "Where is this?" Heidy mutters. However, her question has been answered with something that gives her goosebumps. Faintly, there is a shrill sound of wolves calling each other. As time goes on, the sound of the beast becomes clearer and seems to be getting closer to where Heidy is. Nervous and of course scared, the black-haired girl doesn't know what to do. Before she could move her feet, three big wolves with black fur appear not too far away from her.

Heidy's pair of dark eyes, wide open to perfection when the beasts smirk at her. She immediately moves back. The instinct for self-defense has immediately present, especially when a wolf with a size much larger than the three comrades appear again. The predatory beast steps forward and grins showing a row of sharp teeth. Without much thought, Heidy turns and runs as fast as she could, even though the path she has to follow isn't a flat yard or a freeway. The girl has to penetrate the sea of ​​plants with large roots and also some fallen tree trunks. In addition, some shrubs look strange and like Heidy never find in her world. "Where is this?" she mutters as she continues to run as fast as she could. She ignores the pain of the wound caused by the accident a few hours ago.

The wolves are still chasing her. Heidy doesn't stop running even though she is tired. She doesn't know where she is going either. The forest is completely foreign to the girl. "Dad ..." Heidy laments in her heart when she arrives at a place that is not too crowded with towering trees. At the same time, a woven net manages to grab hold of her slender body, then lifts her several meters off the ground. Heidy tries to break free. She doesn't know what else it is, because now she is in a net that seems to be a trap. Heidy looks like a shoal of fish caught in the fishermen's catch. "Oh my, what's this again?" the girl sighs. However, at least she could feel relieved because the trap has managed to save her from being chased by the four wild wolves earlier.

The wolves stop right under her, then look up. At first, they form a circle while grinning and seem to want to devour the girl. Not long after, the wolf with the largest body size suddenly stands on two legs and jumps to grab the net that wraps Heidy's body. Heidy closes her eyes, frightened. She is sure that it is the end of her life before she realizes that the net is moving higher and it is as if someone has pulled her up.