Chapter 10: Chapter 9: The Lost Doll

Thup was standing in the ring with two white gloves on his hands. In front, there was another man with black gloves who was watching him carefully.

“Phi, I… I’ve never hit anyone before.”

“At first it is simple, even if you don't fight, you will face hell. Are you ready?" said the young man.

He could do nothing but put the gloves on both hands and nod to the young inspector: “Okay, then put your guard up and cover your face. He gets punched in the head and it's over. Understood?"

"Yeah." Thup raised his hand and stood on guard, as instructed. The more he saw the other person approaching him, the more nervous he became.

“Don't close your eyes,” Singha said quietly before starting to tiptoe.

His feet swayed back and forth, then he lunged forward and threw a punch at the young man in front of him with great speed. The force was reduced by more than half. But even then, the blow went straight to Thup's cheek, and the young man fell. “Damn Thup, I told you not to close your eyes.”

"I'm sorry." Thup gently stroked his cheek and shook his head slightly to clear the dizziness from the blow he had just received.

August squatted down in front of the young man before using his hand to lift his chin. “If you close your eyes, you can't see the movements in the ring, when you can't see it, you can't help it. You can't dodge it. The only thing left is to feel when the punch hits you in the face. Do you understand?”

"I understand."

“Again,” Singha stood before standing and watching the young man regain his posture. His black gloves hit each other twice and then threw a punch to the opposite side like before.

"Oh!!" Thup screamed loudly before falling to the ground, his nose held high as blood began to flow from his nostrils.

“Kid, I told you not to close your eyes. I didn't tell you to stare at the blow without dodging it. “You’ll drive me crazy.” Singha took off his gloves and threw them on the floor, then crouched down, not looking for a tissue to press against the young man's nose. “Don't look down, keep your head up.”

Thup let the person hold him as he expelled blood from his nose without backing away, clenching his beautiful eyes, shining even though he had just been punched. Even though he had gloves on, he held her hands, worrying about her condition.

Singha is really great.

“I really wonder sometimes, how do you live your life?” Singha asked, handing him a handkerchief to try to stop the bleeding.

“I've never had a good fight with anyone.”

"Never?"

"Really." Thup sat cross-legged and looked at his elder with admiring eyes.

“So, what do you do every day?”

"I am a student. Sometimes I go to clean the monks' room. When I go to university, I just study, and when I'm at home, I usually draw.”

"That's all?"

"Yeah."

"You do not have friends?" Thup shook his head, but August was locked in his gaze, unable to move. “Why don't you find some friends? “Who gave you the necklace you use as an amulet?”

“Hmm… When I was a child, I couldn't tell the difference between a ghost and a human. Because of this, he often accidentally talked to ghosts. People thought I was strange, and they stayed away from me, because they were scared... all they did was walk away. At first, they just wouldn't approach me, wouldn't let me play with them, and then saw me as something they shouldn't have around. They usually threw my bag outside, or threw it over my head when I wasn't paying attention. For a long time I forgot to talk to other people. And once I got used to being alone, then I no longer sought to start over. “I think that’s why I don’t have friends.”

“And when you talk to a client about making a drawing, how do you do it?”

“Orders are mainly online, so you don't have to see the customer's face to order. As for anything they ask me to draw, I just ask them to wire me the money and then they send me the image.” He told everything in a calm voice. To be honest, he realized that too. I had never been able to talk to anyone in many sentences since Luang Pu passed away. The first person turned out to be the person in front of him now: “Today in the temple I met a ghost.”

“Hmm?”

“He was wearing a blue uniform that was completely torn. The body is distorted and deformed. The skull collapsed almost halfway down the face. The other half of his lips reached his ear. He was talking, I think, about motorcycles and money. I know you don’t believe in these things, but let me prove it to you, you may not believe me, but… try it, will you?” One of Thup's eyes was dark brown. But the other side is slightly clearer.

“The bleeding has stopped.” Singha stood up and looked at him again. He walked out of the ring before turning to look at Thup, who was still sitting with an expression on his face. “Do you want to go show me your ghost story? If you want, just come down.”

The figure immediately smiled. At least August decided to consider his words. The young man ran down from the ring before standing next to the older man. Her beautiful eyes were staring at the tattoo on his upper right arm that he couldn't quite make out, so he walked over and watched. He realized that it had the shape of a tiger among needles of red flowers.

“What does your tattoo mean, Phi.”

"Because?" August wrapped a gray towel around his neck before making his way to the shower.

“Is it a tiger and rose bush?”

“Hmm, is there a problem?”

"None. It is very beautiful." He didn't take his eyes off the tattoo. It is believed that both the flowers and thorns of red flowers can drive away demons and ghosts. He didn't know if everyone knew that fact, but he felt that because of it, he felt more secure by her side.

"I'm going to take a shower. Wait for me here."

“Phi, I have another matter I would like to ask you.”

“You have so many problems, what else?”

“Where will I stay tonight?”

“We will sleep in the room here. “Anyway, that damn bastard won’t let me go back to my house.” August seemed very upset with the appearance of that person.

“Does that mean… I can stay with you?” Thup said quietly, almost like a whisper.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can stay with you? I can wash the dishes and clean the house. I can cook rice. I can sleep on the couch. You can use me to do anything, but let me stay with you. If I don't have you, I will definitely be haunted by some ghost. Please, Phi Singha. I'll really be a good boy,” Thup said nervously because he was afraid she would scold him. But after finishing speaking, there was no response. Hearing nothing, he slowly raised his head and saw that Singha was leaning against the door with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at him with a calm look in his eyes.

"Yeah?"

“Okay, but if you bother me just once, I'll bring you to the station to sleep there.”

"Really!!"

“Yes, but there is one thing you must do.”

"What thing?"

“When King calls you for questioning, don't talk to him about ghosts, spirits or anything like that. It's a deal?"

"Because?"

“Because it will make my job more difficult.” Singha threw a bottle of water at the boy.

The young man in front of him entered the shared bathroom and smiled before sitting on the floor in front of the bathroom. He heard the shower turn on, and waited for the older man to come out, his heart racing.

As he sat and looked at the bottle of water that Singha left him, Thup felt that the air was getting cold for no reason. He could feel that someone was watching him. Looking up, he saw that, in the center of the gym, stood a young woman, about one hundred and seventy-eight centimeters tall. His skin was covered in blood and his raven black hair that reached the middle of his back was messy and matted. He swung his eyes, staring at him, his black pupils suddenly shrank and slowly moved upward until only white eyes remained. The original soft face began to distort as if it was angry. The body that had been standing still began to writhe, the back of its head slowly tilting to one side until it finally made a clicking sound. The soft sob began to fade, turning into a gurgle in his throat as if something was stuck. He saw her raise her hand to cover her nose. Then she knelt on the ground and it seemed like she was being tortured, her hair and nails fell out, and she saw how she threw something out of her mouth, and then there were worms, which crawled on the ground. Until finally, his body turned dark, as he cried piteously.

“Khun Min? “Is that… is that… Khun Min?”

Again, huh?

The figure began to cry, without stopping. Tuph gathered all his courage, because he wanted this matter to end, he wanted to know what was happening now and what had happened to the ghost girl more than twenty years ago.

“Do you want to tell me what happened to you? You can tell me?"

But when he was about to speak, a red thread slowly appeared on his lips, and his mouth was sewn up with the thread, which was pressed so tightly that it began to bleed. And the drops of blood began to stain the entire dream. Then, the thread also began to appear in his eyes, and he closed them completely. Then, Thup crawled towards the wall, scared, when Khun Min's spirit fell to the ground and another female ghost appeared, it was the one he had seen in Min's house. The female ghost was smiling with her lips wide open up to her ears. Another ghost's hand grabbed Khun Min's hair and pulled with all his might, and a mark began to appear on his throat. The sound of laughter caused Thup to hug his knees, trying to cover his ears, because he didn't want to hear those voices anymore.

“Thup…”

The two spirits immediately disappeared. as if they had been destroyed. Singha looked at the young man who looked a little scared. “I was only gone for a moment.”

“Phi Singha…”

"What's going on?" Singha secretly noticed the young man who kept looking in front of him without losing sight, but when he followed his sight, he only saw an empty gymnasium.

"The doll…"

"That?" Thup spoke so quietly that August had to ask again. “The Sia-kaban doll.” What Thup saw before, he remembered very well. What Khun Min had spit out was a Sia-kaban doll.

…

August left the gym and looked for his own subordinates. When he saw that Lieutenant Khem was sitting at the table eating a late meal, he immediately walked towards him. Thup followed him not far behind, with an attitude that had not yet recovered from the shock.

“Lieutenant, have we ever received a motorcycle accident case?”

“Many, inspector.”

“Please find out, the deceased is a man. He was driving a motorcycle, he had injuries to his body, a collapsed skull, torn lips, and a deformed body. “He was wearing a blue uniform, maybe a gas station attendant.”

“Wait a minute, why are you suddenly interested in an accident case?”

Lieutenant Khem asked, as he began searching the computer for information on motorcycle accident cases.

“Because I want to know something. And has the search warrant I requested been obtained?”

“I have it, inspector, but the head of the investigation team has already come to take it.”

“Hmm,” August snapped. He regretted that it was one step ahead of him.

“I found him inspector. It seems like it was at the beginning of the month. There was an accident at an intersection. A motorcycle was hit by a truck that ran a red light. The driver died instantly. The relatives have already taken legal action, eh? But how did the inspector know? The body was left just as he described it.”

Singha turned around and looked at Thup, who was also looking at him.

“What's wrong with your motorcycle?”

“It's in the evidence warehouse. “The relatives couldn’t get him back.” Lieutenant Khem handed Singha documents that included the pickup number and license plate of the vehicle.

“I'll go take a look. And please generate an inspection order for Wat Santithamwararam, and the report of both the monks and all the people working there.”

“Why would the inspector take it away? I also know the abbot.”

“Please bring it.”

"Yes Yes."

August walked towards the back of the station. There was a warehouse there connected to the main building, which stored evidence and items that were too large to store.

After opening the door, he turned and looked at the boy following him, who at first didn't say anything.

"Close your eyes."

"As?"

“Half the stuff in there comes from accidents where people died, so close your eyes.”

Thup saw her looking at him with pleading eyes. Then, he understood that Singha was taking care of him. The young man slowly closed his eyes and was slightly startled when he felt something covering his eyes. He could smell a light fragrance coming from the older man, that was a scent he was already familiar with. This was August's smell.

"Walk carefully."

August opened the door. The cold inside the warehouse didn't scare him, but the boy behind him was probably no less apprehensive. Reaching out to grab his wrist, Singha walked in with Thup following close behind. No matter where he walked, avoiding the boy, the young man followed him without any problem, which was a good thing. When he arrived at a place to store motorcycles, the young inspector was looking for the motorcycle in the image. And he found it parked inside the parking lot.

“You stay here and I'll go.” Thup immediately grabbed the wrist of the person holding her. “It will only be a moment, the motorcycle is inside.”

"Please do not leave me."

“I said I would come soon,” Thup pursed his lips first, and then let go of Singha. He kept his eyes closed so he couldn't see things. It was indeed terrifying, but the sounds of gurgling and wailing still echoed in his ears causing his hands to begin to move. A shiver down his spine made him realize he wasn't the only one there.

You are already dead?

It hurts much.

I want to go home

Should we go together?

Giant

Giant

Giant

Giant

The voices repeating the same words over and over made Thup frown until a pair of hands reached out to take his. The young man was surprised.

"It's me." Singha led the young man to the door before removing the scarf that covered his eyes. He then showed him the object he had in his hand, before taking him to the front.

"What's that?"

“Your salary.”

"As?"

“It's an envelope with the motorcycle owner's salary. He probably wants it to be delivered to his family.” Singha said nothing more, and simply looked at the boy's face.

This guy was right. He really sees things he shouldn't.