Goddess Bless You From Death

Case File 23.

"Who is that kid?" A deep voice sounded from behind, causing Thup to take his eyes off the big brother and turn around.

"Hello, sir."

"You're back, honey? He's a police officer."

Thup wanted to deny it so badly, but he didn't know if denying it would cause trouble for Singha.

"Police officer?"

"Yeah, he's here for Orn's case." The father's eyes immediately darkened at the mention of his daughter's name.

"Have you caught the criminal yet?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Then why are you here?!!! Why aren't you out there looking for the criminal who hurt my daughter?!!! Why are you here?!!!" The furious shouting and the sudden grab at Thup's collar startled him.

"!.."

"We're doing our job, and it would be better if you cooperated, starting with letting go of my man."

A cold voice spoke up before the man's wrist was firmly gripped. Singha looked at Orn's father impassively. He understood the anger, resentment, dissatisfaction, and grief, but taking it out on others would only lead to more trouble.

"Running around like a mouse but haven't found a single lead on the criminal, yet you have the nerve to come to my house!!"

"Calm down, honey! The police are trying to help," the mother tried to soothe the situation.

"We are doing everything we can. If you have any clues about her behaviour before she disappeared or anything about Orn, it would be very helpful."

"Hmph." The furious man let go of Thup's collar just as Singha stepped in front of him. "Clues? Isn't that the police's job?"

"My daughter had been ill recently. She vomited often and didn't eat much. In the few days before she disappeared, she had lost a lot of weight. I told her to come back quickly when she went to visit her friend because I was going to make her favourite food, but..." She covered her face, crying bitterly.

"I told her to stop hanging out with those friends. They were only leading her astray. I feared she would get into trouble one day." The father's scornful voice made Thup purse his lips. Was this why P'Singha...

"Did Orn go out with her friends often?" Singha continued questioning.

"Recently, she went about once or twice a week. But in the past couple of months, she went to her friend's house more frequently, sometimes even staying over."

"Was there anything else unusual?"

"She became quiet. Some nights when I went to the bathroom, I could hear her murmuring in her room."

"W-were they prayers?" Thup asked when he saw an opening in the conversation.

"Probably. I couldn't hear it clearly."

"That's all for now. If we find anything more, I'll let you know." Singha bowed slightly before heading back to the car.

"P'Singh, aren't you going to tell them?" Thup asked once they were alone.

"We'll tell them when the case is closed. Telling them now would only make them blame themselves." Singha threw two evidence bags onto Thup's lap. One bag contained the Sia-Kaban Doll with a buffalo head, and the other contained Orn's notebook and a pregnancy test.

"P'Singh, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I called my uncle back home."

"Go on."

Thup recounted everything he had learned. Singha occasionally asked questions but only nodded in response.

"That's all I've got."

"A police officer?"

"Yes, that's what my uncle said."

"We'll need to verify with the police to see where he requested a transfer twenty years ago. Without a name, we can't do much." Singha stared ahead; his expression unreadable. He needs to finish finding these dolls as quickly as possible so he can move on to investigate other matters.

Singha's car stopped in front of the same townhouse they had visited before. Although they had a search warrant in hand, there was no need to show it to anyone, as the homeowner was not present. Singha opened the gate and walked inside. Thup followed closely, clutching Singha's shirt hem, still shaken from their previous encounter with the ghostly woman here. As soon as they opened the door, a foul stench hit them, making both of them cover their noses.

"Wait in the car." Thup shook his head as Singha turned to shoo him away.

"I can help you find the doll."

"Don't come crying to me if you see the ghost again."

"Then.." Thup shifted from holding Singha's shirt to clasping his hand. "Like this, the ghosts can't scare me."

"But it's cumbersome." Singha lifted their joined hands and swung them, looking annoyed.

"Just for a little while until we find the doll, please." Thup squeezed Singha's hand gently and smiled until his eyes were almost closed.

"If you become a burden, I'll shake you off." Singha sighed and pulled Thup along into the house.

The house was neat, with all the furniture in place, but the source of the stench was unknown. They scanned the surroundings cautiously. No matter where Singha walked, he dragged the young man behind him.

A creaking sound from above made them look up. Singha glanced at Thup before heading upstairs, step by step. The stench grew stronger, making them both grimace. As they reached the top step, a previously closed door slowly opened as if inviting them in.

"Wait here." Singha released Thup's hand and walked towards the open door on the right.

The bedroom, which should have been cosy, was filled with yantra clothes and dolls, and there were bloodstains on the floor. Singha took out his phone to photograph everything, including the streaks of blood drawn in patterns on the floor.

"Thup, come here." Singha turned towards the door, but as Thup was about to enter, the door slammed shut. 

"Thup!! Thup!!!"

Singha kicked the door hard, but it didn't budge. From Thup's side, he was also pounding the door, trying to help his big brother, but unaware of a pair of eyes watching him from the stairs.

The sound of nails scraping against wood and laughter made Thup slowly turn his face. A female ghost with white eyes stared at him with a grin stretched wide to her ears. Her long, thin tongue licked the stairs. Each time she crawled up, Thup felt a chill of fear pierce his heart.

"Thup!! Thup!!" Singha's voice and the banging on the door kept Thup from letting go of the doorknob. Not only was he in danger, but just before the door closed, he had noticed the Yantra clothes and blood patterns on the floor. They weren't just ordinary Yantras. They were ghost-summoning Yantra!

Scritch, scratch! Scritch, scratch!

The sound of nails scratching on the stairs grew closer and closer. The ghostly woman crawled up, drawing near until she was almost at his feet. 

“Thup!!”

'Saturday! Saturday! Saturday!"

The taunting, ear-piercing voice made Thup cover one ear with his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see anything more.

'You see me, don't you?'

'Help me! Please help!

'M...miss...I miss my father."

'Hee! hee! Ghosts everywhere! Ghosts everywhere!

"Go away... Please go away."

The sound of more than one voice made Thup's hands tremble.

Now, there was more than one ghost before him. They might even be watching him at this moment. The foul smell, the oppressive atmosphere that made it hard to breathe, the nausea welling up, the coldness running through his bones, goosebumps rising all over his body-this wasn't good. This was very bad.

Bang!!!

Thup jolted in fear and inadvertently opened his eyes. In front of him was a hauntingly familiar woman. One of her eyes was sewn shut with red thread, while the other one, though partially covered by fraying thread, still allowed a glimpse of her eyeball. Her lips were stitched shut, though the stitches were about to tear apart. She stood between Thup, shielding him from the horde of ghosts.

"Damn it! What the hell are these ghosts?!! Thup, move!" Singha's voice snapped Thup back to his senses, and he quickly moved away from the door.

Bang!

Bang!!

Bang!!!

The door finally burst open with a powerful kick.

"Annoying," Singha said as he left the room, pulling Thup by the hand to get him up and quickly led him downstairs. The two of them left the house as soon as they reached the bottom floor. Staying there even a minute longer wasn't a good idea.

"P'Singh"

"Let's go home. We'll find the other two dolls some other d….."

Singha suddenly stopped walking and speaking when the child in front of him collapsed to the ground and hugged his leg.

"Th-Thank you."

"Are you going to sit here, or are you going home?" Singha squatted down in front of Thup and lifted his chin gently to make him look up

"H-home... let's go home."

"Then get up. I'll take you back."

Thup didn't move right away. His legs were numb to the point of feeling nothing. Instead, he just rested his forehead on Singha's knee.

"Just a moment, please. I just need a moment." Singha didn't push him away or show any irritation as he had before. He simply placed his large hand on Thup's soft hair and stroked it gently.

The earlier incident shouldn't have happened. There wasn't even a breeze, but the door shut tight and wouldn't open, no matter how hard he tried. The trembling voice at the door made Singha try again and again to open it. What worried him more were the shadows from under the door that entered the room. There wasn't one shadow as it should have been; there was something else with Thup.

After calming Thup down, Singha immediately drove out of the village. If he had come alone, finding the next doll wouldn't have been hard. But dragging the trembling boy beside him along wasn't a good idea.

"P'Singh"

"What?"

"Wh-What about the doll at Ms Meen's house?"

Singha glanced at Thup. Despite being so frightened by ghosts, he was still worried about that cursed doll. Singha pulled out an evidence bag from his jacket and threw it onto Thup's lap.

"Is it the one? Meen had several, so I wasn't sure which one." The young man looked at the item in his lap for a long time before nodding slightly. His beautiful eyes stared at the Sia-Kaban doll, which had a human body and an elephant head twisted backwards, with a long trunk extending from it and beautiful tusks.

"Yes, with the elephant head, her name is Lady Samolthat, Mae Seu of Wednesday."

"What about the yantra cloths and the symbols on the ground?"

"The yantras were for summoning spirits. I've seen Luang Pu keep them in a chest after villagers asked for help. As for the symbols on the ground... I think they're not much different."

"Why would Ms Meen do this?"

"I think... they might not know."

"What do you mean?"

"All the victims might not know what they're worshipping, not knowing what they're paying respect to." Thup turned his gaze from the doll on his lap to Singha, his expression sombre. "Not knowing that what they're bowing to for peace of mind.. is waiting to devour them."

Singha stopped by the station again to bring the two dolls to Sei for examination, along with the notebook and pregnancy test from Orn's house and the photos of bloodstains from Meen's house.

"Get out." This time, Singha refrained from instructing Thup to remain in the car, as the previous incident demonstrated that a mere moment and a few steps could potentially result in the boy's death by a ghost.

"Sei, Rin, I brought more stuff."

"Three dolls weren't enough? You even brought more, Singh!!" Darin shouted immediately when she saw her friend carrying four new evidence bags.

"Yeah." Singha was too tired to argue and just responded dismissively.

''Yeah? What do you mean, 'yeah'?! And what did you do out there? You look like you've been running a marathon."

"Yeah, I ran from ghosts."

"What?!"

"Trying out new experiences?" Sei asked, not seriously.

"Save it for later. I'll take Thup home first. He's in the worst shape."

"Wait, Singh. King came by and told me to remind you when you're back."

"Remind me about what?"

"Tonight's meeting is at his condo."

"His condo? Why can't this jerk choose another place?"

"Because he's a jerk, that's why he chose that place. Anyway, be careful."

"Yeah."

"Minor injuries are okay, but don't seriously hurt him. You'll get investigated again," Sei warned, picking up all the evidence bags and placing them on the table.

"If I call you, it means he's seriously hurt. See you." Singha and Thup walked out of the forensic department unhurriedly, but they hadn't gone far before Thup tugged at Singha's shirt.

"Are you really going?"

"Where?"

"Going... to see Mr King"

"Yeah."

"But..."

"You said staying home was fine, didn't you? There's a Buddha statue."

"I'm not worried about that..." Thup mumbled to himself.

"I'll be back soon."

The status between the two made Thup feel a small worry in his heart. He didn't know what it was, but he definitely didn't want his big brother to go. He didn't want him to meet Mr King. He didn't want them to be alone together. He didn't want to see Singha go back to that person at all…