Goddess Bless You From Death

Case File 37.

Singha glanced at the young man next to him, who was reading something on his phone with a serious expression. In just an hour, they would reach Bangkok, and he still couldn't figure out what to do with this kid.

"What are you reading?"

"I'm trying to find a way to stop the ritual."

"Just arrest those father and son. Beat them up a bit to get rid of the annoyance."

"How do we even get close to them if those two ghosts are still around?" Thup looked up from his phone at the man steering the car with one hand

"Then what do you suggest? Turn into a shaman or something?"

"I've never studied this kind of thing before. I've only ever worshipped Luang Pu, and I don't even know what to do." Thup spoke before sighing in frustration.

"So, what are you reading?" Thup showed his big brother his phone screen. "How to exorcise ghosts.. from Google?"

"I really don't know what else to do," Thup lamented before locking his phone screen. "P'Singh."

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"About Maysa?" Thup's mouth fell open at Singha's perceptiveness, then he nodded lightly. "I had a younger sister, four years younger than me. One day, when we were at the temple, Maysa suddenly said she wanted to play with her friend. But when I looked around, there was no one there. After that, Maysa started talking weirdly, talking to someone no one else could see. When mom took her to the doctor, they found nothing wrong. The doctor assumed it was just her imagination at a young age and that she'd outgrow it. But a year later, Maysa was still talking to someone. At that time, my family had issues. My dad, a cop, got fired for being drunk on duty, and our house turned into a living hell. My mom and I were verbally abused and beaten daily."

"So, the reason you said you wanted to help your mom... was because of this?"

"Yeah," Singha replied, continuing his story. "One day, my dad came home drunk and started hitting my mom for something stupid, like bad cooking. Huh. That day was the first time I stood up and threw a vase at him. Chaos ensued in our house, and it was then that Maysa came and pulled me away, saying some kid had invited her to play. Do you know what I did?"

"What did you do?" Thup asked, his voice gentler.

"I yelled at my sister, called her nonsense, and said that whatever she was seeing wasn't real. Then I told her to go wherever she wanted." Singha stared ahead, as if reliving that day. "After I called the police to take my dad away, thinking life might get better, I tried to find Maysa to bring her home. Then I found he..."

"P'Singh.."

"I found her drowned in the canal behind our house. The funny thing is, the neighbours were gossiping about how a few months ago, another kid drowned there too." Thup tightly pressed his lips together. If what Singha said was true, it was a spirit looking for a replacement. "Do you still think it wasn't my fault?"

"Is that why you believe me?"

"I just wanted to give it a listen. I failed once because I didn't listen to Maysa." Singha looked at the young man, whom he initially distrusted. He had replaced his anger with frustration at being reminded of his sister's tragedy. But seeing Thup suffer at the things he didn't want to see, part of him decided to give it a try. "I don't want to fail again."

The sun was directly overhead when they reached the hospital. Singha walked straight to the room where his injured friend from this case was resting.

"Hey," a raspy voice greeted him as soon as he entered.

"Hey." The young inspector approached the bed. From head to neck, arms, and legs, Sei was covered in injuries, making Singha sigh.

"You okay?"

"Well.. Still alive," Sei gestured to the bedside table. Singha opened the drawer to find a dark-coloured bottle labelled "Isun."

"The... ugh, the name...

"

"I know. Mek found a record of name changes fifteen years ago.

The father and son changed their names to conduct business without problems. Every time they committed a crime, they found a scapegoat or hid the bodies before moving. They built new identities, gained trust from people, and then started the sacrificial rituals again." Singha explained. He had just learned that Isun was the current abbot who had changed his name to Anuphap, while the real Anuphap was Bom, who had changed his name to Isun. The door opened, and Mek, an intelligence officer who hadn't been in the field for a long time, walked in.

"Hey, battered folks. Is this the kid named Thup?" Mek pointed at Thup, who was standing quietly in the corner.

"Hello, sir."

"Yeah, yeah. This is the state of your station, Singh." Mek handed over a file from the crime scene investigation.

"Any leads on Darin and the others?"

"Not yet."

"What about the suspects?"

"You mean the temple manager named Khen and the brat named Bom? We now have a confirmed address for the old man. Officers are preparing to surround the place. But we don't have any info on Bom yet. The CCTV system is disabled, communication devices are down, and all systems are vulnerable if a virus were to affect them. The IT team is working on it."

"No, I mean the abbot."

"The abbot? Isn't he a scapegoat?"

"No." Singha handed Mek a photo frame he took from the abandoned house in Sisaket.

"Holy cr*p! He's been a monk for fifteen years, but has been killing people like it's nothing. Do the villagers even know what they've been worshipping?"

"Find out everything about these two. I know they're planning to act in the graveyard tonight. But before that, we must find the captives."

"Can't we surround them at the graveyard?"

Singha shook his head, standing up straight. "If we go there by that time, no one will have survived."

Singha, Sei, and Mek discussed their plans seriously, prompting Thup to step outside to give them privacy. As he waited, Thup thought about how to deal with the two ghosts. If he just chased them away, they might find new victims, repeating the same tragedy. He needed to exorcise them, even if it seemed impossible.

"What should I do?"

"Thup." The voice from behind startled him. "I need to talk to you."

"What's the matter?" The young man noticed the serious expression on his big brother's face and knew it wouldn't be an easy conversation.

"We need to find Darin and the others as soon as possible. In the past, they've killed their victims before taking them to the graveyard for the ritual, so we don't have much time left."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Be the bait."

Thup squeezed his hands together. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it, but he was still anxious. If Singha succeeded, he would find the other victims and save everyone. But if he failed... everyone would die, including Thup himself.

"I trust you," Thup said, reaching out to hold Singha's hand and smiling. "You're so skilled. You'll save everyone."

"Don't be too confident. We don't know what those two bastards have planned," Singha said, looking at the boy next to him, who seemed completely untroubled.

"I'll do my best to help."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then go get ready. I'll explain the whole plan to you." Singha led Thup to an adjacent room set aside for special operations preparation. The sight of clothes, weapons, and wireless communication devices laid out in the room excited Thup. When they reached the bed, Singha handed him a set of clothes, a bugging device, a tracker, and a knife.

"Change your clothes while you listen," Singha instructed. Thup nodded quickly, taking the clothes and setting them beside him. He slowly took off his shirt, then began unzipping his pants. But before he could pull them down, he glanced up at Singha, blushing.

"Uh... aren't you going to turn around?"

"Why should I?" Singha asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching the boy in front of him. Though Thup's frame was a bit slight, it wasn't hard to imagine him bulked up, given his larger build. Not bad at all. "Or do you want me to undress you?"

"N-No! I-I can do it myself!" Thup stammered as he slowly removed his pants, feeling embarrassed.

"Those guys probably aren't far from where the first incident happened. I've got officers quietly searching the area. What you need to do is go to the cemetery. I believe one of them will be there."

"Yes, sir."

"There will be two officers secretly following you, so don't worry. If they approach you, the officers will move in to arrest them immediately."

Thup finished putting on the black jeans, then the oversized black T-shirt, and finally the matching hoodie.

"And what about you?"

"I'll be giving orders from a van not far away," Singha said, moving closer and pulling something out of his pocket. "Take care of yourself."

The amulet necklace, which had nearly fallen into the grave that day, was once again placed around Thup's neck. His light brown eyes locked onto his seniors. He didn't know what would happen on this trip-whether he would survive or not. So, shouldn't he seize the opportunity he had now...

"P'Singh..."

"Only use this knife when necessary. Don't go slashing yourself again," Singha placed the knife in Thup's pocket. He then gently brushed Thup's ear and put on an earpiece to communicate with his little pup. 

"Check it. Can you hear me?" Singha put on his own earpiece and walked out of the room to test both his and the kid's earpieces.

"Thup, can you hear me?"

"Thup"

"The earpiece has a problem [I like you.]

Singha didn't respond. The shaky voice on the other end gave the impression that the kid had mustered all his courage to say that.

"Was that your way of testing the earpiece?"

[I don't know if I'll get another chance to say it.. S-So... please don't be mad.]

Singha chuckled softly before opening the door and going back inside. Seeing the kid, who had just confessed, sitting on the bed with his face covered and ears burning red, made Singha want to tease him more.

"What did you say just now? I didn't hear you."

"N-Nothing."

"Really? It sounded like you said something."

"I didn't say anything."

"Didn't you say you liked me?" Thup looked up from his hands and met Singha's eyes. Seeing that his big brother wasn't angry but was raising an eyebrow and smiling, Thup felt slightly relieved.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, what?"

"... I like you."

"Since when?"

"I don't know." Thup sighed and rested his forehead against Singha's chest. "I just realised it one day."

"Bad timing."

"I'm sorry," Thup said, starting to pull away, but strong, warm arms wrapped around his neck, holding him close.

"You'll make it through this, Thup."

"You too."

"Yeah," Singha replied softly, stroking the young man's head. They had to succeed with this plan because there was no other option left.

Once everything was ready, Thup was taken to a van heading to the scene of the latest incident. Inside the van were four officers, including Singha and Mek. They had managed to gather only a few people, as the others were either injured or involved in the operation to apprehend Uncle Ken, the temple manager. Singha was also concerned that bringing in more people might result in more casualties.

"Let's review the plan one more time. The officers will lead you into the forest before splitting up to hide and waiting for the culprits to come for you. Make sure they don't notice anyone is with you, understand?" Singha said sternly.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, let's begin. Start the mission clock for everyone."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir."

When the van stopped by the roadside, Thup and two officers got out. The young man looked back at his senior one more time. There was no hesitation or weakness. He wanted this nightmare to end.

"Be careful," Singha said, giving his final goodbye as he watched Thup walk away.

Once the van door closed, Singha immediately changed into new clothes and instructed the driver to hide the van in the dense forest. He put on black jeans and a black fitted T-shirt, holding a black hoodie and a gun.

"Are you sure those two are ready?" Singha asked, checking every part of his body.

"Yeah," Mek replied, sounding annoyed. "I hate your plan."

"Me too."

"Have you thought about what to do after they capture him? Have you, Singh?"

"I'll figure it out as we go."

"You said they're waiting for that kid because he's their Saturday target. But did you forget you were born on a Saturday too?"

"He's an artist, and I'm a cop. I won't send a kid to die." Singha put on a black mask and pulled the hood over his head, his fierce eyes showing no sign of worry.

"So, are you going to be the bait yourself?"

"I don't think so."

"Think?! You just think?! Singh! You idiot!" Instead of yelling, why don't you check with the search team on their progress?"

"We've checked ten places; eight more to go." Mek looked up at the screen, which displayed the search areas, including abandoned warehouses, cemeteries, and potential ritual sites that Singha had mentioned.

"Notify us if you find anything. If the culprits act first, make sure you find them before I die."

"Watch your mouth!" Mek shouted in frustration.

Singha looked out the window and sighed. He hoped the kid wouldn't realise that he wasn't the real bait for the killers.

It was him.