GODDESSBLESSYOUFROMDEATH, Case File 21: The Suspicious Stiff New Guy

The atmosphere in the car all the way to the police station was nothing but silence, an uncomfortable silence that made Thup almost unable to breathe. When they got out of the car, the older guy led him into the building without even stopping. The wait made his heart wither even more.

“Say, what have you got?” Singha walked into the lab within the forensic department. He sat down on a chair next to his friend before placing three dolls on the table.

“Those are the test results from the stomach contents of the deceased, just arrived this morning.” Say was still busy peering through the microscope. He pointed at a file on the table without looking up, but he could tell his friend was not in a good mood today.

“Seventy-five percent match?”

“Yeah, when we checked the pieces of meat, the mucus from the stomach. We found similar additives and seasonings, but because some of the bodies have been dead for over two days, it’s hard to get results. The ones we could test are from the child named Kaew and Meen, whose bodies were still manageable.”

“No progress at all.” Singha threw the file back onto the table. “Where did they eat?” Say paused what he was doing to look up at his companion, “And where did that ghost-seeing kid go?”

“Probably out front.”

“Did you argue with him?”

“No.”

“Usually, he sticks to you like glue.”

“Stop asking so many questions, Say. Here are the dolls for examination too, fingerprints, soil residue, I want the results by this evening.”

“Not happy and you dump the work on me, huh?” Say kicked Singha’s chair leg before sliding his own chair to the table behind to grab a document and swiftly returning. “You’ll be shocked when you see this.”

“What?”

“Earlier, I checked the soil debris on the body and on the rope. And the soil sample you brought from under the monk’s quarters, I’ve checked that too. Guess what the results were?” Say raised his eyebrows at the person sitting in front of him, who simply stared back, waiting for the reveal. “It’s the same type of soil, from the crime scene.”

“Cemetery soil.” Singha murmured softly.

“Yeah, right. You said it was a graveyard there, opened my world, damn. What else are we going to find?” Singha and Say were of the same ilk, tough-minded like Khem, believing what should be believed, but not to the point of superstition.

“You check the soil from the doll too. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait, wait, Rin hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Where did she go?”

“To the temple, she said she’d be in soon.”

“Which temple?”

“The same one we went to last time. By now, she’s probably brought back every sacred item from the temple.” Singha walked out to the reception room and saw the statue of Lord Vaisravaṇa set on Say’s desk. But where was the person who carried it?

Beautiful eyes gazed absently at the morning sky. He sat hugging his knees, on the walkway where Singha and King had once stood talking. He sighed again, unsure how to apologize to his older brother, or what would happen next if Singha was still angry.

“Damn it!! All because of that Jump, I’m stuck here!”

“And you can’t contact his parents at all? Weren’t you two together before?”

“He told me his mom passed away long ago. His dad works out of town, comes home rarely. Still can’t reach him.” The woman’s voice was filled with frustration.

“And the bloody police said if we can’t contact his family, we can’t leave either. Are they crazy?!”

“Take it easy, do this, then you go finish your business and call home for someone to pick you up, I’ll stay here.”

“Are you sure, Bom?”

“Yeah, and where did that bastard Song go?”

“He went back this morning. After ranting for quite a while that he wasn’t at fault, even though he was the one who received that email.”

Sigh “Well, nothing can be done now.” Bom sighed before glancing at Thup, “Oh, it’s that gentleman.”

“Hello.” Thup stood up and greeted both of them politely, having overheard their entire conversation.

“Ah, the one Jump tackled, right?”

“Yes, and now… where is he?”

“The police said they took him to the infirmary. It’s for the best. Who knows what trouble he’d cause next.” Dear said, folding her arms with a look of annoyance. “Is he possessed or something?”

“Probably not.”

“Or could he be?”

“It’s possible, Bom. His behavior has changed, and what he’s been saying.”

“What… what did he say?” Thup asked politely.

“He kept saying ‘Tuesday… Tuesday,’ but I have no idea what he means by that.” Bom answered, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Wait, but wasn’t he born on a Tuesday, Jump?” Thup pursed his lips, then approached to bid farewell to both before heading to the infirmary, which he remembered the way to perfectly.

Upon arriving, Thup paused in front of the infirmary door because of the sounds coming from inside. It wasn’t the sound of conversation. Not the sound of medical equipment, but the sound of muttering… a chant.

“Ji… Nip… Teekhang… Aakaj…”

“This chant is…” Thup, who was pressing his ear against the door, muttered to himself when he heard it. He had read about it in a book by the old monk; it was a chant to summon…

Ping!!!!

A loud bang on the door echoed, blood splattered across the other side of the door, staining it red, causing Thup to stagger back, his beautiful eyes trembling at the sight of a figure standing behind the frosted glass door, banging his head against it with full force once more. Blood slowly flowed, spreading widely, but this time, Thup didn’t just see one shadow; another appeared behind the first. The owner of this second shadow had long, sleek hair but oddly, it wasn’t appealing at all; instead, it added to the terror as a shadowy hand reached towards the unfortunate man’s head, yanking his hair and slamming it against the door again.

Ping!!!

‘Desecrating me, desecrating me, desecrating me.’

   Pung!!!

‘Desecrating me, desecrating me, desecrating me.’

   He’s going to die! If this continues, he’ll definitely die, Thup thought, holding his breath before he rushed to open the door. The body of Jump, with a broken forehead, broken nose, and split lips, fell onto his chest, and both collapsed onto the floor.

In a split second, Thup’s neck was gripped tightly, leaving him breathless. His eyes wide with fear as he tried to pry the hand away to prevent further pressure.

“Nightmares, nightmares, nightmares.” Jump murmured, seemingly lost in a nightmare from which he could not escape.

“Ugh! No…” Thup tried to find a way to breathe, but it seemed the person on top had much more strength. Not because he was weaker, but because on Jump’s neck sat another being, looking down at him with dissatisfaction.

‘I want to eat more, don’t interfere!!’

   Her white eyes bulged out, almost falling from their sockets. Not long after, a force seemed to hit her, sending her flying off. Thup used this moment to push Jump to the side. Once his neck was free, he gasped for air immediately.

“Just a cough!!!. Just a cough”

“Thup!!” Singha ran in to support the young man who was coughing violently, his face turning red, along with Say who rushed to check on Jump, who had already passed out on the floor, “Call Darin.”

“Okay”

Singha bent down to look again at the person resting against his lap, his thick hand gently stroking Thup’s head when he saw that the other was tightly closing his eyes and trembling.

“Phii, uh, Phii Singha… it, it’s…”

“Speak slowly.”

“Hello, Rin. Where are you? Come to the station immediately, there’s an emergency.” One of Say’s hands used a handkerchief to press on Jump’s facial wound, while the other held the phone.

[What? I’m at the temple about to pour some water, what’s up?]

   “Can you come quickly? It’s urgent.”

[Yeah, yeah, I’m on my-]

   “Hello, Phii! Darin.” Say looked up to meet Singha’s eyes when suddenly the line went silent.

“King, go to the Santitham Temple immediately, search everywhere until you find Darin right now.” Singha picked up his phone to call King, who was out investigating the last known location of the deceased in the case.

[What’s the matter?]

   “I’ll explain later, just do as I say first.”

[Okay, turning back.] King’s voice came from the other end, giving orders to his subordinate. Once the instructions were clear, Singha helped Thup up from the floor, just as Say supported Jump, draping him over his shoulder, and carried him into the infirmary immediately.

“Wha… what’s happening?”

“What’s going on?” Both Bom and Dear ran over, looking alarmed, when they heard the commotion as they were walking back.

“Both of you, don’t go anywhere yet, stay here, and contact the relatives of that kid too.” Singha told them before helping Thup inside as well.

Inside the infirmary, a group of people was standing in front of the two occupied patient beds. One bed had someone guarding it. On the other bed, Say was dressing wounds, Dear was trying to contact Jump’s relatives, and Bom stood watching with a worried expression.

“I’m… fine now.” Thup said with a hoarse voice from being previously choked.

“I told you not to speak yet.”

“Head cut but not deep, broken nose, split lip which I’ve stitched. We’ll probably need to send him to the hospital.” Say said as he put down his tools. “Has King contacted us yet?”

“Not yet.” Singha wasn’t too surprised; his friend was anxious, and so was he.

“Phii… Singha.” Thup grabbed the older man’s hand and shook it lightly when Singha bent down to look at him, then tried to force out his voice to tell what he was thinking, “It… it will happen again.”

“What will happen again?”

“The… massacre, it’s… looking for someone… new.”

“Doesn’t it happen every five years?”

Thup shook his head vigorously before trying to sit up. He glanced around suspiciously. Seeing this, Singha sighed and walked over to close the curtains around the bed, leaving just him and the kid on the bed.

“The… charm… is weakening… can’t hold… need more offerings.” Thup spoke in a hoarsely nearly inaudible voice, but Singha could still understand somewhat. His sharp eyes looked at the bruise marks on Thup’s neck with a calm expression, his hand gently stroking the handprint on Thup’s neck.

“Sorry for leaving you alone.”

Thup paused, then smiled, leaning his face into Singha’s hand.

“I’m sorry… for asking what I shouldn’t.” Thup apologized while holding Singha’s hand, his eyes filled with guilt. He didn’t know what was happening with Singha, but he was just an outsider. If Singha didn’t want to tell, he wouldn’t ask again.

“Ah, whatever.” Singha’s phone rang, prompting him to pick it up, “What’s up, did you find her?”

[Found her, heading back.]

   “Is everything okay?”

[Not talking, you call that okay?]

   “Not talking?”

“Did you find her?” Say approached upon hearing the conversation.

“Yeah.” Singha replied before turning his attention back to the call.

“I am at the infirmary.”

[Why are you there?]

   “There was a small incident. Bring her here when you get back.”

[Okay.]

   After hanging up, King glanced at the person sitting beside him in the car earlier. When he arrived at the temple, he found Darin sitting at the top step of the church, silent. She looked up and then walked to the car without a word.

And she remained that way.

“Singha said something happened at the station, he is waiting at the infirmary.” only silence returned, “Is something wrong?”

Darin shook her head without looking at him, her eyes quivering from what she had seen earlier, her hands clenched together.

When the car stopped in front of the station, Darin jumped out before it even fully stopped. She rushed to the infirmary with burning eyes, the blood-stained door not distracting her from finding her friends.

“I’ll have the police follow up.”

“And what will you do next?”

“You guys, hic.” Darin started crying immediately when Singha and Say turned to look at her, “Are you okay?”

“Why did you suddenly go quiet, woman?” Say abruptly stopped speaking when Darin ran in to hug both him and Singha simultaneously. The sobbing and trembling made both young men just stand there, telling stories of what had happened until their friend would…

“I, hic, I saw, hic.” Darin released his friends’ necks. She roughly wiped her tears and pulled out her phone.

Singha and Say frowned immediately when they saw the image in front of them was of dog and cat carcasses in a pit on the ground, some dried up, some still looking fresh as if they had just died not long ago. The video, shaky to the point of dizziness but still somewhat watchable, showed their bellies slashed open with guts spilling out. When scrolling to the next picture, they found…

“Another one dead, this is really bad. The abbot is using a hoe to dig a hole, then throws the black cat’s carcass in before covering it completely. Then he walks away as the image fades out.”

“You guys, hic, I read that when people make offerings to spirits, they use fresh things, animals, and rotten stuff. Like this… like this, the abbot might…

“Might be a new suspect.” Singha interjected before playing the clip again.

It looks like this time he must go back to the temple, and this time with a subpoena.

  

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