GODDESSBLESSYOUFROMDEATH, Case File 41: The Curse of the Hunt.

“Heh, ha, ha, hahaha, go on, do it, shoot, if you’re slower than this, that one will kill someone!”

“Darin, put down what’s in your hand.” Merk looked up before locking the handcuffs onto Bom’s hands securely, “Hey, Singha, do something, will you!” Singha looked at Darin, who was tilting his head and smirking back,

His sharp eyes glanced at the spirit before aiming the gun barrel down, right at the forehead.

“Summon your ghost out.”

“No!! Hahaha, how’s that? And now, even if you do anything else!!. Even if the ritual fails this time, there’s always next time. Whether it’s outside or inside the prison. There’s nothing that can stop me altogether.”

Thup noticed that the older man was slipping his finger into the trigger guard, the young man then approached to hold Singha’s arm.

“Phii.”

“Where’s your amulet?” Singha asked without taking his eyes off the person in front of him.

“It probably fell near where the others were tied up, I used it to throw at her before.”

“Go fetch it.” Thup nodded before looking past Darin to the back where Merk was guarding himself, then he ran to find the amulet as Singha instructed.

The leather shoes stained with blood, mud, and dirt, walked towards the altar set up there, Singha looked at it with a flat, calm gaze before turning to look at the spirit that was already staring at him.

“Do all these witch doctors have stuff like this?” The gun barrel touched a misshapen clay doll, similar to what he had seen, from the seven dolls in this case, “Are these what they worship? What happens if there aren’t any?”

“What do you plan to do with those sacred-”

Crash!!!

Before the sentence was finished, the young inspector swept everything to the floor with his foot, including skulls, Thup’s candles, and offerings, all gone, before Singha took a seat where only

“What the hell did you do!!!!” The former abbot’s composure snapped instantly; his playful, teasing demeanor vanished without a trace, his face and eyes filled with unprecedented rage.

“When you became the abbot here, did you ever think you’d strike again?”

“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you in the most torturous way.” Aisuan’s face trembled, his eyes red with fury.

“Guess you used your connections to find out about that Uncle Khuean guy, huh? Both a gambler and fresh out of jail with nowhere to go, so you convinced him to stay at the temple as a caretaker, ready to be the scapegoat once you’ve done your deed, right?”

“I’ll gouge out your eyes, I’ll cut you into pieces.”

“The method you used to choose your victims is probably the same as five or ten years ago when you were a monk elsewhere, huh? Pretending to be a virtuous monk, alleviating the villagers’ suffering while actually just being a perverted old man with foolish ideas about extending life.” Singha elbowed his own lap. He needed to distract this bastard so Thup could safely find the amulet.

“Which method?”

“Look for people who come to make merit at the temple? Those who’ve just lost someone important? People with troubles in their hearts? Those needing help? Hmm, or those who drop coins, making merit according to their birthday?” Singha raised an eyebrow in question, and when the other fell silent, he chuckled, “Seems like since the incident twenty-five years ago, you’ve gotten better at this, huh?”

“What have you done… What have you done… What did you do?”

“Oh, want to know?” Singha gave a smile before standing up because his wound started to hurt, guessing the anesthesia was wearing off. He dragged his feet across the symbols on the floor until they were smeared and unreadable, “I destroyed everything, just like now.”

“You… you destroyed… you destroyed the sigil.”

“Destroyed it all.” Singha turned to face Aisuan with a sneering smile, just like the one he had once received.

Without the sigil, there’s no containment.

If there was no confinement, the accumulated vengeance from the people he killed and sewed up would be unleashed.

Thup, who is searching for his own amulet, has to feel around on the floor because when the candlelight disappears, it becomes completely dark again here; only the candles surrounding the ceremonial courtyard remain lit, but their light doesn’t reach here.

“Where could it be?” Thup turns left and right, worried about the others, worried about Darin, and worried about Singha.

‘Thup’

   “Mom? Is that you, Mom?” A faint call comes from behind a pillar.

‘You don’t have to come in, you’ll be scared.’

   “I… I’m not scared. I’m not scared anymore.”

‘Sorry I couldn’t help you, son, sorry this is all I could do, sniffle.’

   “Mom.”

‘My son, you’ve really grown up well.’

   Thup feels his eyes burn because what he hears is filled with sobbing, every time. He once was almost scared to death of the ghost woman in front of him, but now he’s the one walking towards her without any fear.

“Can I talk to you first, mom? I’ve never seen you up close… never even called you mom once.”

‘That’s the amulet you’re looking for, right there.’

   Thup looks at his amulet under a rope, and when he turns back to look behind the pillar again, there’s nothing but emptiness. The shaman told him that the one who has been following him all this time wasn’t out to take his life, wasn’t haunting him, wasn’t trying to keep him in fear, but was a spirit who has been looking after him with concern, that ghost… was his mother.

“Darin, it’s me, I’m Merk, can you hear me? I’m Merk, the one you love to curse at. Put the shard of glass down first, it’s cutting your hand.” Merk tries to soothe Darin into putting down the glass shard in his hand, confused by the situation but still doing his duty, both as a policeman and as a friend.

“No, there is, Darin. There is no Darin!!!”

“There’s no Darin, what the hell. Are you hallucinating? If you’re not Darin, then who are you!!” Merk shouted out in exasperation. He pointed and cursed at the person approaching with confusion, “I’m about to die and you’re still playing some incomprehensible game!!”

“Just a fucking ghost.”

“Don’t you dare talk back to me!!”

“Go to hell you fucking ghost.” This time Merk had to quickly back away as Darin suddenly charged at him, brandishing a sharp piece of glass above her head, “Fuck you ghost, go to hell and fuck yourself, you fucking bitch.”

“Damn it!” He couldn’t shoot back, nor could he hit back as Merk was too ashamed to hurt a woman. He had to dodge by swaying back and forth, but even so, the person in front seemed much faster than usual, tearing his fine clothes, blood beginning to seep from the wounds, because while cursing and dodging the swings of the sharp object, Merk didn’t watch his back. He tripped over King’s body before falling flat on his back, “Fuck karma, really! This is why I preferred working at my desk in a nice air-conditioned room!”

As the sharp piece of glass was about to stab down at Merk, Thup ran up from behind Darin, slipping a sacred necklace over his neck and pulling Darin away from the others.

“Phii Darin, listen to me, this isn’t you, you’re much kinder than this, you would never harm your friends no matter how scared you are.” Thup tried to dodge the sharp glass swinging in the small hand, “And you have no right to be in this body. You have no right to harm the living.”

Thup held onto Darin’s neck until the necklace constricted his windpipe, Darin’s labored breathing was a good sign; a ghost in a human body is no different from a human. If the host dies, the ghost can’t remain. He had to take the risk.

“Yanitha Phutani Samakatani Phummaniwayaniwa Antalikhe Sappe Wabhuta Sumana Bhavamattu Athopi Sakkajjasunantu Phasitang.” Thup recited the Ratana Sutta chant that his venerable grandfather taught him since childhood accurately. Even though it was a shortened verse, its power to dispel ghosts and spirits was still effective.

‘Screeeeeech!’

   The final scream came out before Darin collapsed onto Thup’s chest. The young man quickly loosened his grip to lay Darin flat on the ground and began checking for breathing movements in her chest. Thup licked his dry lips. He turned to Merk for help.

“He’s not breathing, Phii Rin is not breathing anymore!”

“Damn it.” Merk quickly got up to check his symptoms before feeling for a pulse. He began performing CPR on Darin immediately as he had been trained, “Hey, Rin, you owe me a new suit!!”

“Wake up now!” While they were trying to save his life, on Singha’s side, things were no less tense. The more the young inspector pressured and coaxed, the closer the former abbot, Aisuan, was to losing his mind.

“What should we do, abbott? No, Aisuan, the ceremony has failed, your child is still lying there, handcuffed and gasping, you’re not in much better shape. Let’s just say it ends here.”

“If my child and I don’t make it out of here…” I-Shoon, with his hands locked in cuffs, picked up a knife from the floor behind him and stabbed his own arm, dripping blood onto a doll whose neck was already broken. Then, one by one, the remaining nine candles slowly went out until only one was left lit in the darkness. Singha focused his gaze where Aisuan was no longer standing alone. On his neck clung the ghost of a young girl, her body burnt black like charcoal, her skin cracked revealing the red flesh inside, the smell of burnt flesh wafting through the air, just like her bulging eyes that were now staring at the creature, “Then no one will make it out alive.”

The once bright candle extinguished completely, plunging everything into total darkness. Singha raised his gun, aiming forward and squinting, before the candle went out, he was sure he saw Thup walking towards them. If that kid encounters the mad, bleeding monk with a knife, it wouldn’t be good.

Click!

The sound of handcuffs being unlocked broke the silence, making Singha swear softly. He tried to move as quietly as possible, fearing it would reveal his position to the attacker, and he knew that kid would be doing the same.

Thup was also trying to be as silent as possible, not wanting to accidentally hurt Singha again. As he was sweeping his hand through the darkness, suddenly a cold hand grabbed his. It wasn’t Singha’s hand, nor the assailant’s. Not a living human, but from the gentleness in guiding him through the dark, he guessed this hand belonged to none other than… Thup’s chest bumped into someone’s back, and from the time spent together, he immediately knew who it was.

“Phii Singh.”

“Quiet.”

Thup sighed in relief before tugging at the back of the older man’s shirt to keep from getting lost again, even though in his heart he wanted to hug him as well. But from their previous encounter, he already knew that Singha’s body was now covered in wounds. Anything that would cause the person in front of him more pain, he wouldn’t do, not anymore. “Find a match, I saw it drop around here.” Thup nodded in acknowledgment even though the older man couldn’t see. He slowly crouched down and used his hands to search the ground; whatever passed through his hands, he didn’t want to think about what he was touching.

‘Here it is.’

   The familiar voice and the matchbox in his hand made Thup smile. He stood up to his full height again, then took out a match and lit it. The light, just a small point, was enough for them to see not far off… but it was enough to see dozens of ghosts standing around them. Judging by their appearance, none were ghosts that died naturally or in the cycle of life; all were vengeful spirits bound and used by the father and son duo. Each looked hungry, pained, tormented, either from lingering desires or from not following their own path.

“Phii Singha, do you trust me?”

“What are you going to do?” The light from the match slowly went out, returning them to darkness. Singha tried to shield Thup from the front because the light just now had revealed their position.

“Trust me, please.”

“…Whatever you want me to do, just say it.” His own chest, the warm breath, Singha could feel an arm wrapping around his neck, not making him retreat but instead, he focused on listening to what the kid behind him would say.

“Repeat after me: Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato SammaSambuddhasa.”

“Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato SammaSambuddhasa.”

“Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato SammaSambuddhasa.”

“Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato SammaSambuddhasa.”

“Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato SammaSambuddhasa.”

“Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato SammaSambuddhasa.”

“Itipiso Bhakawa Yammaraja Tao Vaisravaṇa.”

“Itipiso Bhakawa Yammaraja Tao Vaisravaṇa.”

“Maranang Sukhang Ahang Sukato Namo Buddhaya.”

“Maranang Sukhang Ahang Sukato Namo Buddhaya.”

“Not yet.”

Singha furrowed his brows slightly, not understanding what the kid behind him was trying to convey, until Thup lit another match, making everything clear to Singha. The ghosts that had surrounded them before had vanished. Left was just Aisuen, holding a butcher’s knife above its head, charging straight at them.

“Thup!” Singha called out before aiming his gun forward. If he didn’t shoot now, they would surely die.

“When he starts everything, he must end everything he has done.” Thup said, pulling out a glass bottle from his hoodie pocket and throwing it at the Aisuen with full force.

“Ji Jeruni Chittang Jetasikang Rupang Nibbhanang Tapanam Tejodhatu Tikhang Waka Sacha Pha Akacchami.”

As soon as the bottle broke, the smell of blood spread everywhere. The candlelight came back to life, blood trickling from the head down the face, and Aisuan’s body was covered in thick blood. Thup urged Singha to step back from that area. He hadn’t planned to do this because it wasn’t beneficial for anyone, and that bottle he had traded with his own blood from the shaman’s house. The spell was something he got from a forbidden book of the old monk when he visited the temple, the same spell all the victims had chanted to summon ghosts into their homes. All of this to deliver karma to one person.

“Wha… What is this!”

“Menstrual blood.”

“What?! No. No. No. No. No. No.” The demon tried to wipe the blood off its face, inadvertently dropping the knife.

“You took their lives.” Thup pressed his lips together, looking forward. The spirits of those killed stood surrounding Aisuan with vengeful faces. When the dark magic wore off because of virgin blood and the chant, there was nothing left to protect him. “They’ve come to take the life span you took from them.”

“No, no, no, no, aargh!!”

Thup turned his face away from the scene before him.

Singha watched as Aisuan ran around as if fleeing from something invisible. He tripped over items used in the ritual, falling to the ground. The person, struggling to crawl away, was dragged back to the same spot. His body began to show torn and bloody wounds, his eyes slowly being gouged out, his chest cavity looking as if it was scooped out by an unseen hand. Red threads stitched across his screaming lips, the sound of agony echoing throughout the mill. Soon, the lips that once screamed fell silent, leaving only a muffled noise in his throat. The eyes that once were used to see were ripped out and fell to the floor. The last thing Aisuan saw was the furious pain and anger of the spirits he had taken, the torment returning to him in equal measure. Red threads pierced into his skin all over his body, crisscrossing until his original skin was hardly visible, his bright red blood flowing over the floor, much like the blood of the animals killed for the ritual. Aisuan writhed in agony until his final breath.

A final breath that meant nothing to anyone.

A thick hand gently stroked the arm of the man hugging himself before resting his head on Thup’s shoulder, exhausted. Finally, the long, enduring case that had taken countless lives was over. From now on, he will sleep soundly.

As they were about to check on Aisuan’s lifeless body to ensure he was truly dead, the distant sound of sirens relaxed him.

“Thup, take Darin out first. Merk, take King out. I’ll handle the rest here.”

“Yeah, yeah, you bastard, now we gotta carry people after getting hurt.” Merk grumbled as usual.

“Phii, wear this for now in case there are any spirits left that I summoned.” Thup approached the older man, placing a sacred necklace around his thick neck.

“You wear it.”

“I’ll take it back later, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Thank you for coming to help me, for helping all of us.”

“Uh.” Singha responded shortly. He looked at Thup and then walked towards him, his strong arms reaching out to wrap around the young man’s neck before gently stroking his soft brown hair. “I heard you called for mom.”

“…Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

Thup paused before cautiously returning the hug. There were no words, only a warm embrace that spoke for them at that moment.

Singha watched the retreating backs of Thup and Merk as they led Darin and King away from there. Those two were quite badly injured, especially Darin; it wouldn’t be good to leave him waiting here. Once everyone had left, the inspector, the young man, walked around to survey the damage, including his lifeless close subordinate.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant Khem.”

Singha sighed before something came to mind. He turned to look at the body of Aisuan again and realized it was really there… the handcuffs were still on, so how did these come off?

“Because of… you.”

“Because of you alone.” a faint, sobbing voice made Singha look up.

Bom, who was standing near a haystack by the wall, tears streaming down, holding a lighter in one hand and a gallon of gasoline in the other. The gasoline had been poured out, flowing to his father’s corpse. He threw it down, and the flames blazed up, burning everything before the lighter was flicked on.

 

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