GODDESSBLESSYOUFROMDEATH, Case File 34: Secrets from Below

Darin’s body collapsed to the ground at the same moment Bom stepped out. He shook his head, looking at Darin gasping heavily with empty, emotionless eyes. No pity. No sympathy. Only emptiness and a lack of emotion in his gaze.

“Darin!” King rushed over, knelt down, and pressed his suit jacket onto Darin’s abdominal wound to stop the bleeding.

“Th-, ugh, it…”

“What? What are you trying to say?” King was anxious seeing blood seeping from the corner of Darin’s mouth.

“It… is, ugh”

“Ah, I think he wants to say I’m the murderer.” Bom’s words made the young detective instantly aim his gun at him. “Gonna shoot again? Oh, you might end up randomly hitting someone else.”

“Step back.” King laid Darin down before aiming at the seemingly innocent young man, who raised his hands above his head as if surrendering. But the smile on his face showed no sign of guilt.

“You’re under arrest for murder, assault on an officer.”

“Huh, do you know what’s the most fun?” Bom smiled at King, without a trace of fear despite the gun pointed at him. “When everything goes according to plan.”

“I don’t care what you say, and I’m not scared of your ghost nonsense either. Now, turn your back to the wall, hands behind your head, don’t try anything funny.”

“Not scared? If you really weren’t scared, that bullet wouldn’t have missed and hit… who was it again?”

“Told you to turn around!!” King glanced at Darin, who was lying on the floor. Bom chuckled as if it was all a big joke. He followed the police officer’s instructions in front of him, turning his back against the wall.

“People born on Fridays, they say, are tough, brave, level-headed. Seems like the old man before was just like you.” King, about to handcuff him, paused.

The previous victim was born on a Friday… was Thee.

“But just seeing his dead wife made him crawl like a dog. You should’ve seen him raving like a madman, begging to bring his wife back, haha, ha!”

“Shut up.” One handcuff was securely fastened, but as he was about to secure the other, a voice behind made King stop.

‘King’

   “For that old man, his wife seemed to be what he longed for the most. And you, what about you? Job, money, position, power… or love?”

‘…Singha.’

    Singha stood before him, holding a gun. His tone was devoid of anger, disappointment, or coldness. It was Singha, who still loved and obeyed him, like in the past. Yes… it was in the past. Their relationship ended long ago. King locked the other handcuff on Bom’s wrist before turning back to look, “Go play with the ghosts in prison then.”

“Hahaha, not falling for it, huh? And do you think the others won’t fall for this too?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know where the first sacrifice took place? Summoning spirits is very hard, especially vengeful ones, so a lot of offerings are needed. My father almost didn’t make it because that place was full of evil spirits. Anyone who accidentally steps in would be in trouble, quite a sight.” Bom turned his face to look at the person behind, his eyes sparkling again with the joy of toying with others’ emotions, “I’ll give you a hint… Sisaket.”

King’s eyes widened as he realized the hint pointed to Singha. By the time he was thinking about how to contact his former lover, it was already too late.

!!!A shadow passed behind, making him turn around.

The sound of metal hitting flesh echoed around, followed by the sound of a middle-aged man falling to the ground, with red liquid flowing from his head, spreading across the floor. Lower-tier ghosts eagerly rushed in to lap it up greedily.

“Heh, dad you are still as strong as ever, aren’t you?”

“Enough playing around. Finish this quickly, the ceremony is tomorrow.”

“I know, I know, we still have to wait for that kid anyway.” A wrinkled hand picked up the handcuff key from King’s pocket before unlocking it for his son, “Why not use someone else, there are plenty of people born on Saturday.”

“That kid… he has a spirit following him. I want it.”

“It’s just a kid who can see ghosts.”

“It can extend your life, then.”

“This time, it wasn’t me at all.” Bom said, using his tongue to push against his cheek before dragging the unconscious Darin and King towards the exit leading to the parking lot, “This time, it’s about extending my father’s life.”

Thup was sitting in the car, anxious. He squinted at the road ahead, fearful of what he might see along the way but still eager to see how far he was from his destination.

“Why are you so tense, just sit still.”

“Can you drive faster, Phii?”

“There are no street lights, the road is unfamiliar, we might end up flying off a curve and sleeping outside the road.” Chan replied before slightly increasing his speed, seeing how the kid next to him couldn’t sit still all the way, “So you’re saying, that cop is in danger, danger from what?”

“From…” Thup paused, if he said that those ghosts would trick Singha into killing himself, the guy next to him would probably turn the car around and call him crazy, “A killer, there’s a killer in that house.”

“Huh!? And how do you know that?”

“I just know, turn quickly here.” along the way there were spirits everywhere, but once they turned into the forest, everything was eerily quiet. He saw no spirits or ghosts, even though this was graveyard territory. If it wasn’t because it was a peaceful place, it must be because something scarier was keeping the ghosts away, and people too.

When the car stopped in front of the house, both felt the same chilling sensation, a cold shiver down their spines, a feeling telling them to retreat and never return.

“Why the hell is it scarier than before?” Charn said, rubbing his arms.

“That’s Phii Singha’s car.” Thup pointed at the car parked in front before swallowing hard. Before he could even step out of the car, he saw white eyes staring at him with a creepy smile. It was waiting for him, it really was, “Phii, you can wait here.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I had no intention of getting out in the first place!”

Thup took a deep breath to muster his courage, though there was little left. No matter what he would face or see, his goal here was for Singha. Before Thup could open the door, Chan grabbed his shoulder.

“Well… I don’t really know what this is about, but Uncle-Chai told me to give it to you, so here you go.” A Buddha amulet was handed to Thup. It was just an ordinary amulet, with a jet-black string. No silver frame, no gold frame. Nothing expensive, just a clay Buddha in a clear frame, but Thup recognized it well because it was just like the one he always wore before it disappeared. “Uncle said that the old monk left it for you, and said you had to get it on a holy day. You forgot when you left home, so he asked me to deliver it.”

“Thank you.” Thup said, taking the Buddha amulet, reciting a chant to invite the Buddha’s presence, and then he wore it around his neck.

“All the Buddhas, all the Dhamma, all the Sangha,

Achieve enlightenment, for the lonely ones, by their own power,

For the Arahants, with their pure victory, unbind the chains, all of them

I place my faith in the Buddha, I place my faith in the Dhamma, I place my faith in the Sangha.”

Thup stepped out of the car and walked firmly into the house. Even though his heart was pounding, he couldn’t back down now. Because if he retreated this time, he would be the next ghost.

The house was quiet and filled with dust floating everywhere because no one had lived there for a long time. Thup used the light from Charn’s car to see, as he had nothing with him now.

“Phii Singha, where are you?” The young man called out to his elder, scanning around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a ghostly woman with white, blank eyes smiling at him. “What have you done, what have you done to him?”

‘Dead, the giant must die.’

   “Because you can’t touch him, you want him to kill himself like that, right?”

‘Saturday.’

   “No, the Saturday you want is me. Not him.”

‘Hee Yii Sii.’

   “You’re not Mae Sue. You’re not Chaba, you’re just a vengeful ghost that was summoned. Just taking other people’s lives won’t make you a god, nor will it make you master.”

‘Screaaaaaaaam!’

   The scream was so loud that the house shook, causing Thup to cover his ears. His playful demeanor vanished, replaced by pure anger. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and the face of the middle-aged woman twisted grotesquely. A slash appeared on her face, dripping with bright red blood onto the floor, her limbs twisted unnaturally, everything was so terrifying that Thup dared not look.

‘I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!’

   She lunged at Thup immediately, at the same moment he started to run away, up the stairs. The sound of crawling followed him, forcing him to look back. Her hand, bending unnaturally, grabbed his ankle; her sharp nails dug into his flesh making the young man bite his lip from the pain. He tried to crawl up to the top floor but was held back, unable to move. He recited every prayer he knew to exorcize the ghost from her, but to no avail.

‘Mommy… can I eat now?’

   Thup looked up to see a girl sitting and swinging her feet at the top step. Her body was charred from head to toe, skin cracked revealing red flesh contrasting with the burnt black skin. Her eyes were still hollow as he remembered, but in her hand, she was tossing an eyeball like a toy.

That face leaned down to look at Thup before laughing out loud. Now, it seemed he would truly die here.

“Help, ugh, help me.” if he didn’t get free.

The pain at his ankle vanished, giving Thup freedom once more. He turned back to see another female ghost intervening between him and the ghost below.

“Th-thank you.” Thup turned to look upstairs, seeing emptiness, he quickly crawled up. “Phii Singha! Phii Singha!”

The young man tried to stand up and walked to open the nearest door, the pain in his ankle and the seeping blood from his bandaged hands made Thup want to cry out loud. He had never been hurt like this before. He had never faced a ghost like this, nor had he ever confronted her, that one, like this.

“Phii Si-, Phii Singha!” Thup hobbled to the innermost room. He saw Singha sitting on the floor, holding a rope in his hand, his sharp face expressionless, unreadable. “Phii Singha, are you okay?”

“I once had a sister.”

“Yes?”

“I once had a sister named Mesa.”

“Whatever you see, it’s not real, it doesn’t exist, Phii, do you hear me?” Thup held the older man’s face, trying to bring Singha back to his senses. Until now, Singha was not someone afraid of ghosts or the afterlife, but this time what he encountered wasn’t a ghost or a spirit, but a confrontation with memories and inner conflicts. No, it was strange for the older man to be this disoriented, “Phii Singha. We need to get out of here, can you stand up?”

“My sister died because of me.”

Thup rubbed his thumb along the sharp jawline before he remembered something. He took off his amulet from his neck and carefully put it on the person in front of him.

“If she were your sister, she wouldn’t blame you like that. She would help you, support you whether she’s alive or not.” Singha looked up into the brown eyes of the kid in front of him, from a scared child always ready to cry to someone with such determined eyes, when did that happen?

Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!

The sound of doors and windows inside the house slammed open and shut loudly, even though the iron that should have held the windows should have rusted to the point of immobility long ago.

“Why are you here?”

“If not for you, who would save me from ghosts?” Thup said before smiling, seeing that Singha’s eyes had regained their spark.

“Will you stay with me or go wait in the car? I have something to check.” Singha stood up, rolling a thick rope over his shoulder.

“Stay with you.” Thup looked at the older man before reaching out to hold his hand. Even though it hurt a bit, it was better than letting one of them disappear again.

As both stepped out of the room, the noise and screams inside the house quieted down. Thup turned to look at something before tightening his grip on the older man’s hand.

“The ghost I saw wasn’t Chaba and her daughter.”

“What do you mean? The picture you drew…”

“She and her daughter were the first victims here, killed by her husband to summon the spirit of the ghost to possess her.”

“Since she’s already a spirit, why does she need to summon another spirit?” Singha said before shining his flashlight up the stairs, where bloodstains made him look down at the wound on Thup’s leg before firmly gripping the young man’s hand.

“She has been a lingering ghost for a long time, consuming offerings and the lives of those who practice black magic. When the practitioner dies, she waits for someone to perform the ritual again, calling spirits like this repeatedly. And the reason she needs someone to summon her spirit is because she’s a ghost, a Cambodian one, where they don’t collect bones for further rituals after cremation. Without a ghost’s summoning, she wouldn’t have this much power.” Kruanoy said.

“So what now?” Once they reached the ground floor, Singha led the way to a room with a dining table set with four wooden chairs, shaking his head slightly, thinking it should have been a normal happy family.

“When investigating the shaman’s case, Aisuen must have been involved too, right? He probably touched something he shouldn’t have, and that’s why those ghosts followed him. Have you ever heard the elders say that when someone does something strange or commits murder without any prior indication or history, they say it’s because a ghost instructed them? I think those two ghosts might have ordered him to start worshiping and sacrificing to them. That’s why he started acting strangely.”

“If those were the first two bodies, it makes sense.” Singha said, pushing the dining table aside to clear the way before bending down to pull up the rug, sending dust flying all over the house.

“After that, he began studying black magic and probably came across the story of Mae Suea combined with human sacrifice, thinking it would work.” Thup looked at the floor, his lips pressed together, where red talismans were plastered all over as if to keep something from coming out. Seven victims equaled a full seven-day tribute to Mae Suea to look after her own child, but actually, he was only sacrificing to his wife and child ghosts. As time passed, their demands grew, forcing them to find a new victim every five years.”

“Sacrifice.”

“That’s crazy.” Singha walked over to open a cabinet under the sink, pulling out a hammer. “Are those wounds what you got from the cursed shaman’s house?”

Thup quickly hid his hands behind his back, though it was pointless since the older man had already seen those wounds.

“Don’t do it again. There’s no need to get hurt; there are other ways to investigate.” Singha glanced slightly at the person beside him before scanning around the house once more. “And how did you get here?”

“I had Charn drop me off; he’s waiting outside.” Thup looked outside, then back at Singha. “We’re out of time, Phii Singha, it’s just me now…”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m the last victim.” Singha looked up at Thup before using his tongue to push against his cheek in frustration.

“Stand back, far away.” Singha ordered the young man before starting to hammer down on the wooden floor in front of him. Each strike was followed by screams and the house shaking, indicating whatever was here was not pleased.

‘You all mock me!!’

   “Phii, we need to hurry.” Thup warned Singha as the ghost of the woman who had disappeared was now standing before them.

A vase flew towards them, crashing into the wall, scattering glass shards everywhere, luckily not injuring Singha.

“Damn it!!” Singha hammered down on the wood, which started to crack, revealing that beneath was not soil as one would expect. “Thup, go wait in the car!!”

“No way, how can I let you stay here alone!!” His words and actions contradicted each other, leading Singha to curse profusely. Thup stood sweating profusely, blood seeping through the bandage on his hand. Singha stopped hammering, took off his amulet, and went to put it back on the young man. “No, you need to wear it.”

“You wear it, don’t take it off, this is an order!! No matter what you see, don’t run off, stay here, get it?” Seeing Thup nod reluctantly, he returned to the floor. The wooden planks slowly broke apart, revealing a wide hole, and he was sure whatever was underneath was definitely not good.

!!!

The sound of wood scraping against each other made Thup look up, his beautiful eyes widening as he saw the wooden table moving towards Singha. Before he could help, a pale hand emerged from the hole and pulled Singha down.

“Phii Singha!!!”

 

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