Rizal's absence had lasted for days, his disappearance as mysterious as it was unsettling. Sarah had feared the worst, but just as she was beginning to lose hope, she received a message—a cryptic, hurried text from Rizal's phone. 

The message simply read: “Help me.”

Sarah didn’t hesitate. She raced to the police station, but when she arrived, it was clear that something was terribly wrong. The station was eerily silent. The officers she had once known were nowhere to be found, their desks abandoned, files scattered on the floor as if they had been interrupted mid-task.

A cold shiver ran through her as she entered Rizal’s office. The door creaked open, revealing the detective sitting at his desk. But he wasn’t the man she remembered. His eyes were hollow, his face gaunt, and there was a strange, sickly glow in his pupils. He slowly turned to face her, a twisted smile spreading across his face.

“Sarah,” he rasped, his voice hoarse and distant. “It’s so nice to see you again. I’ve been waiting for you.”

But there was something wrong—so wrong—about his smile. The Rizal she knew was gone. In his place was something... else. The Penunggu’s influence had seeped into him, a dark corruption that had turned him into a vessel for its malevolent will.