lamalah tak tulis dlm bahsa inggeris. kakunye tangan.
Nobody knew the exact name of the spa. Even the sign at the front shows The Spa. Despite this, nobody showed real curiosity on its name or even approached the owner to ask about it because nobody really knows the owner.
The Spa appeared posh with a serene air around it; beckoning women of all ages to its bosom. Stepping past the doors of The Spa was like being cut out from the hustle and bustle of a busy town and transported to the suburban. It was like being teleported from Bukit Bulan to a location in Bungsar.
During its opening, people paid no heed to it. There was a Turkish restaurant on the left, a store selling musical instruments on the right as well as a huge shopping complex right smack in front of the beauty parlour. The surrounding area was full with restaurants offering different cuisines that made Bukit Bulan a haven for people who looked for fun, not really a place to sit back and relax.
The situation changed abruptly, without anyone able to explain why. One day, nobody paid any attention to it and a total 180 degree turn the next. The lobby became pack with women and next thing people know, neighbouring stores started to close down, The Spa has taken these stores over.
The place was reaping good profit, so it seemed. One of the people who saw this transformation was a woman working in the area.
Aisha was one of the women who always walk past the place since she was working in the area. Usually, she her choice was a spa in KLBB and it has been years since she had an account there. Normally, Aisha did not have much confidence in spas or beauty parlours in the area. There were too many scam cases reported that turned her off. Unprofessional beauticians, suspicious looking outlets, dirty spas; the list goes on. At one time, a friend and Aisha spent about 15 minutes to tell the masseuse how they like to be massaged because the woman could not understand what they were trying to tell, both in English and Malay. It was frustrating and took up so much of their lunch hour that they had to call fast food delivery instead. It was not a good business for a busy city with people busy taking part in the Rat Race.
The reason why Aisha was becoming more interested in the place was when the Turkish restaurant was closed. She discovered this when she visited the place one day and found a notice on the door. It was her favourite restaurant and it came as a surprise when Aisha discovered that The Spa bought the place.
' Business must be very good for this place. Its service must be top-of-the range.'
Aisha the visited The Spa one next day. There were women sitting at the lobby. There were either deep in discussion with the beauticians or just sipping their drinks; obviously just finishing their treatment. Aisha just stood at the front door, as if rooted to the tiles. The serenity embraced her so tight that she was taken aback.
' Miss?' a voice called her, bringing her back to earth. Aisha turned to face the owner of the voice, nearly twisting her neck in the process.
A face greeted her with a smile. A woman with jet-black cropped hair greeted Aisha. She looked like a local but yet her eyes betrayed her look. It was grey.
' First time here?' must be contact lenses, thought Aisha.
' Yes.'
' Would you like a tour?' the woman now stepped in front of Aisha, dominating the situation. Aisha just nodded, as if she had lost her tongue. It was Friday and the traffic will be terrible at this hour. Everybody will be rushing after work so Aisha decided to kill time here. The women seemed to have the ability to read Aisha’s mind.
' This way, please,' the woman gestured for Aisha to step towards a corridor. ' My name is Elly.'
' Hi, Aisha,' Aisha brushed her hair. She must looked ridiculous now, what with the shock and forgetting to reapply her lipstick. It was so unlike Aisha to appear in such a way.
Aisha cannot remember whether she was brought for a tour during the first time she visited her usual spa. It was as if Elly was reading her mind, which was thinking what made this place so special.
The light in The Spa was dim and in certain places, it was almost totally dark. There were many treatment rooms including rooms with bath tubs. There was a locker room with electronic locks and a spacious changing room on one side of the premise. The Spa appeared to be quite huge and the whole of it featured the same thing. The corridors may be dark but the individual rooms were not. These rooms appeared to be very clean. The beds were covered with white sheets while the machines were stacked neatly at one corner. The walls were only accompanied with a single picture.
‘Very neat and very chic,’ thought Aisha.
It was as if Aisha was doing an inspection in the premise. If it was not the fact that Aisha was a bit too tired, the discussion may have continued. Instead, Aisha left the premise with a brochure about The Spa.
During Aisha’s journey back home, she kept thinking about The Spa. The cleanliness of the place really caught her eye and ignited an interest. She had enough experience of spas that used yellowish lighting to cover the real state of the place. It was easy to hide the imperfections on the tiles in such lighting. However, The Spa was bold enough to cover the floor with thick carpet and even have bright lighting. It was a joy to walk on the floor. There was nothing for The Spa to hide.
It was a blessing in disguise to have to go back late in a big city on a Friday night since Aisha got the chance to explore the premise. For the brochure, it had the same look of a booklet. The Spa apparently offered services like facial and also body treatment care, not much of a difference compared to other premises. But the premise was brave enough to be putting their charges on the brochure. It was; at least for Aisha, an extremely confident move. There was nothing to be afraid of and The Spa was ready to be in the competition. It was like coming head-to-head with a competitor. The one with the most advantage will have nothing to be afraid of.
‘ They know what they are selling and they know they are top of the game,’ Aisha said before throwing the brochure to the passenger seat and hit the pedal to speed back home.
The Spa was so bewitching that after dinner, Aisha sat in front of her laptop to find more information regarding the place. She looked for reviews,;mainly, and also tried to look up who owned the place.
Reviews on The Spa appeared to be sporadic. However, most of them gave extremely good reviews. Actually, all of them. There were a few blogs that reviewed The Spa. Weird, all of the pictures on the blogs appear edto be in poor quality. Some of the pictures had very bad lighting while others looked as if they were taken in motion.
‘ Weird,’ thought Aisha but that totally slipped her mind when she looked at the other reviews and The Spa’s official website.
There were no mention of who owned the place but by then, Aisha was captivated by The Spa. The brands used at the place were of the top range and this was what mattered most to her.
Aisha made a note to cancel her appointment at the usual place and try to get one at The Spa instead.
* * *
The next day, the first thing on Aisha’s list was cancelling her appointment and making another one at The Spa. It was almost like in a movie when her mobile rang right after she called to cancel an appointment. Elly was on the line, asking whether Aisha was interested to come in on Saturday. Two days away and The Spa actually had a slot for Aisha. This was beyond good.
Aisha was glad that she left her card during her visit.
* * *
The Spa greeted Aisha with the sound of the waterfall and birds chirping. It was very calming. The tension, stress and the frightening amount of paperwork on Aisha’s table all ebbed into nothingness, like those things did not matter anymore. That was the same emotion she felt every time she went for an appointment but this was special. This was Aisha’s first intimate date with The Spa. It felt almost sacred.
Elly and Aisha discussed on what the treatment would be. The ambiance was all very calming that Aisha was in the danger of saying ‘Yes’ to everything. Instead of warm water, Aisha was offered with fruit juice. For this, The Spa gained her approval as this was something different.
Everything was going very smoothly. It seemed too good to be true for Aisha when everything that she asked for seemed to be available at the premise. But then again, she wanted the basics only like facial and also the usual skincare brands that she used like Derm-logic. Instead of pushing Aisha to take up this package and that, The Spa allowed her to match and mix whatever she wanted with a condition that they will have to charge her and she had to attend specific treatment visits.
‘ Unless you can add body scrub after say five treatments,’ Aisha added jokingly.
‘ I’ll see to it,’ replied Elly, with a poker face. On cue, Aisha swallowed saliva that tasted like wood chips. It was as if Elly was promising something sinister to happen to her.
What happened next was almost uneventful. Nothing was out of ordinary that Aisha felt she was able to totally relax. She changed into a robe and next went into a room with light just enough for the beautician to work on her face.
* * *
‘ Hi, my name is Jane,’ said the girl; almost whispering actually. Aisha uttered an almost half-hearted ‘Hi’ and Jane went on to proceed with her task. Aisha seemed to be in a haze; all she could see was Jane with her face covered with surgical mask. The sound of Jane mixing chemicals for her treatment and even the massage she received almost did not happen. Aisha plunged into a totally relaxed state that she did not seem to notice much anymore. This never happened to her.
The last massage given to Aisha finally woke her up. Two and a half hours just passed by. It was rejuvenating and Aisha felt energetic again.
The treatment ended with a drink in the lobby. This time, Aisha was left alone to finish her drink.
Aisha continued to visit the place and the visit became more frequent as The Spa added manicure and pedicure services for loyal customers. One of such lucky customers was Aisha.. From one every fortnight, the visits turned into a weekly event. Customers; women and men, entered and left the premise at a steady stream. There never seem to be a full room at any given time.
It was unlike Aisha not to share anything good with her friends. But not this. The Spa was like a hidden jewel that Aisha just discovered. It was too precious to be shared and Aisha really did not want anybody to find out about it. She knew that she was entitled to more perks if she bring in more people but she did not care. It was hers. The greed was illogical and cannot be explained.
Aisha had enjoyed the massages and The Spa’s special bath. The special bath took place in another section of the place that consisted of rooms with bath tubs and a restroom. This was also brightly lit where the light will only be dimmed based on customers’ request. There were flower petals in the bath and the smell was truly superb. According to Elly, the essential oils available were made in the premise.. Aisha did not know what was actually in the essential oil but once she stepped into the room, the curiosity vanished. It was replaced by such wanting for luxury of being pampered.
Elly and Aisha were now friends, a natural thing to happen when a customer visited the place for nearly six months, frequently. Stories were exchanged but it was mostly on Aisha’s part. Elly seemed to be on guard every single time.
Thinking about Elly, Aisha noticed that the woman seemed to be surrounded by an air of mystery. She was like a hawk that circled the area, more of a warden rather than someone who acted as the Relationship Manager of The Spa. And Aisha could not determine whether Elly was the owner, a worker or anyone important at the place. Not that it was of the utmost importance. This was only driven by curiosity. It was natural to be curious on who owned a successful spa like this.
And the workers; they seemed to be of the same build and with faces that were almost similar. Either The Spa was a family business or it purposely employs people with the same features.
Six months of becoming The Spa’s customer, Aisha has turned the place into her sanctuary. By now, the place has taken over another store on its right. It was renovated into a café with a chic and elegant look with places for selected customers to hang out. Aisha earned the spot, of course.
A phone call arrived on Tuesday, right after an important meeting with Aisha’s future client. The contract that Aisha was trying to secure was an extremely tricky one. The investors were very thorough, they had tons of question. The phone call was all that Aisha needed.
‘ Hi Aisha, Elly here. Are you coming in today?’ Elly’s voice was in its usual crisp and business-like tone.
Aisha thought for a bit. The last meeting was tiring, like the rest of the previous meetings. Some questions have been raised before but the investors kept firing the same ones apart from new ones that nearly drove her up the wall. With this, she decided that a nice relaxing massage was what she needed most.
‘ Yes, I will be popping in,’ Aisha answered, her hand busy flipping through several thick files. Tricky tender and the approaching end of year; never a good combination.
‘ Any requests?’ it was a standard script.
‘ What about body massage?’ it was not something that Aisha had to had but it would nice to have one of those at this time.
‘ Sure. And what about a free special bath?’ Elly threw a question that made Aisha’s day.
‘ Ah thank you, Elly! You just made my day.’ And now, the rest of the day seemed bearable although Aisha regretted a bit that she was not too chatty with Elly today.
When Aisha arrived; right after she left the office at 5.30pm, there were already a few people in the lobby. It was not something that she usually see happening in The Spa. And it did not make her happy. It has been a very stressful week and Aisha preferred to be in a place that was not packed with people.
Aisha turned her head to the right, bring the VIP cafe to view. The café appeared to be quite full too. Aisha sighed. This was not something ordinary.
‘ Hi Aisha!’ Elly materialised from nowhere. ‘ Are you ready?’ Aisha was greeted with a motherly smile.
‘ Yes.’ Aisha answered with relief. Lucky she did not have to wait any longer. All the stress for today have been piling and anything as small as someone accidentally stepping on her shoe can make her explode.
‘ This way.’
Perhaps, Aisha never visited The Spa on Tuesday. That or this was an extremely busy day for the premise but there seemed to be more people at The Spa. When she was about to enter the changing room, Aisha noticed several boxes tucked in one corner. Elly followed Aisha’s gaze.
‘ Renovation,’ Elly volunteered with an almost eerie smile.
Usually, Aisha did not have to walk far to get a massage or facial but not today. There were eight rooms in a corridor, sitting opposite each other and Aisha had to walk to the end of the row. These women sure were having a hard day or week.
There was that calming or rather numbing sensation again. And Aisha could never tell whether it was Jane, Anna or Susan that was in the room since all of them have the similar mask on. It did not matter whether she was having a massage or facial, they will be wearing the mask.
An hour later, Aisha was escorted to another room for a session. Again, there were many people since all the doors were closed. But for some strange reasons, it was pretty cool in the area.
However, Aisha refused to dwell on it any longer. Enough on thinking about stuff, all that was left to do now was to relax, she thought when she stepped into the tub. One of the workers was sitting beside here and chatting about something. It must not be important or Aisha would have remembered it.
As soon as the worker left the room, smoke filled all the spaces. That was what Aisha remembered last.
What happened next was so confusing that Aisha could not make the head and tail of it. First, she felt a sharp pain on her right side. Then, she felt a sudden coldness all over her body.
‘ …conscious….ambulance…yes.’ Aisha heard a guy’s voice. There should not be a guy in here, Aisha wanted to protest but she could not. It was a struggle to even open her eyes. Her breath came in jagged fashion.
A woman or someone pulled her hand and handed her a piece of paper.
‘ ..help…you need help,’ the voice said. And all went blank. Just before Aisha fell into unconsciousness, she could see ice in the tub was pink. Some one turned her back on her holding a container, which looked like a cool-box.
Nobody knew how long time has passed but this time, the cloud in Aisha’s head was gone.
* * *
At a hospital in an unknown location.
‘ The same thing...’ a paramedic called Zarina said onto the mouthpiece while sipping coffee.
‘ Seriously?’ the voice on the other line asked.
‘ Yes. One missing right kidney. Also happened to the other eight women that we found,’ Zarina flipped through several documents that looked like medical records. One of those belonged to Aisha, a survivor. Barely but she survived the ordeal.
‘ Wow. And the building was deserted?’ the unknown voice asked again. The Voice heard the story of women that were left half dying in bath tubs in buildings alleged to be spas but this was the first time the case happened as close to the city center.
‘ No one and nothing was there. Everything was stripped bare. There was no evidence of the building ever been a spa except for the bath tubs.’ Zarina massaged her left temple.
‘ And the method used to put people to sleep?’ asked Zarina, almost to herself.
‘ I know.’ The voice on the other side went silent.
This was the fourth case. Who knew if it will happen again?
