Chapter 21: Chapter 20: Stories from the past

The darkness and cold were the first things Darin noticed. The wetness of his feet made him look down and he discovered that he was not in his room, or even in his building. Now, where he was standing, there was a lot of dirt and his feet were slowly sinking into the mud, the more he tried to lift his toes the more he sank into the mud puddle.

"What is this?" Darin looked around. He was in the middle of a dense forest filled with many tall trees. The atmosphere was familiar and he felt goosebumps rise on his skin at the same time.

"Here it is."

Darin's eyes widened when he saw a shadow of a human figure in front of his body, on the ground, illuminated by the light of the moon, shining in the sky, and when he looked up, he realized that the shadows that He saw seven human figures hanging from the branches of the trees. As much as he wanted to open his mouth to scream, no sound came out. Darin tried to raise his hand to touch his lips, but found that his lips were sewn shut and he couldn't open his mouth. His tears began to flow slowly out of fear, but in reality, what was above was not as scary as what was crawling in front of him at that moment.

It was a young woman with a pale green face. The skin has sporadic green to purplish-black bruising. The lips were sewn with red thread, he moved his hollow eyes revealing the purple flesh inside, he moved his own twisted body and crawled closer, his face tortured, but when he stopped in front of Darin for a moment, those expressions disappeared. , and was replaced by a cold face. His hand came up to caress her lips, and as she tried to open her mouth, the thread that had been sewn began to cause blood to appear where there wasn't supposed to be. After spilling out, the laughter began to flow slowly, louder and louder. Until Darin's tears ran down his cheeks. fearfully

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday

The same words were said hoarsely over and over again, Darin's face hid from the long tongue that stuck out from his lips wide open to his ears. The moisture on her face made tears run down her cheeks non-stop. His heart is beating. The body is so striated that I could feel it.

BAM!!!

Darin opened his eyes and gasped so hard that suddenly, the images of the dense forest, the seven hanging corpses, and the ghost, disappeared. Only the soft, comfortable bed remained in his medium-sized condo room. The alarm clock began to ring, causing Darin to jump again. He raised his hands and buried his face in them. Nightmares haunted him to the point that he could barely sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, the image of that young ghost always appeared, making him doubt whether he was asleep or awake.

“Hello,” Darin picked up the phone and answered the call.

[Why do you sound so tired?]

"Nightmares."

[Will you come to the station today?]

“Yes I will go, but I will be late. I will pass by the temple first.”

[Why will you go to the temple?]

“I'm really asking you, Say. Aren’t you afraid of being chased by a ghost?”

[A little, but you can't live in fear forever. If you can find the cause of that fear, it will disappear much faster.]

“Yes, bastard. Then go live with that ghost.”

[If you want me to come pick you up, call me, let me know and I'll buy you a coffee.]

“Are you on your way to work yet?” Darin turned and looked at the clock at the head of his bed. "It's just the morning Says."

[Not on the way, I'm still here, I stayed all night reviewing evidence. When you come, could you go examine the boy who was in the cell? You are a general practitioner, I would like you to see him, last night I took him to the infirmary.]

“Oh, hey, so… you two are really going to continue working on this case, really?”

[Do you think Sing would let a ghost stop him?]

“This thing didn't hit him, it attacked you and me. I 'm coming!!" Darin sighed before getting out of bed and going straight to the bathroom to wash his face and eyes. “As soon as I finish making merits, I will go quickly, is Sing already there?

[Not yet.]

"OK, see you later."

Darin hung up the phone before looking at his tired reflection. He was very afraid of what he would find, but he wouldn't let his friend face something so dangerous alone. That alone seemed too selfish. “At least Say can protect me, and he won't be easily fooled either. ”

…

Inside the simply decorated bedroom was a wide king-size bed that used to only hold one person, but at this moment it seemed narrower since there were two people sleeping next to each other. The youngest of them, who has the habit of waking up early since childhood, slowly opened his eyes and felt sleepy. But what really opened his eyes this morning was his tiger tattoo, which was less than an inch away, as was a beautiful, thick, tanned chest in front of him. He looked at August with bright eyes, before smiling to himself. It had been a night where he was able to sleep deeply and comfortably. It was a night in which nothing strange was found. and he didn't even hear anything other than the sound of the older man's constant breathing.

Thup tried to get out of bed as gently as possible so as not to wake the other person, when he suddenly saw the older man turn around, he immediately stood next to the bed before walking over to cover him with a blanket and then went down. to prepare breakfast.

When he got down to the bottom of the stairs, he turned to look at the door of the house. The doubt that arose from last night's call had not yet dissipated. It was not the hoarse or mocking voice he had heard before, but a soft and light voice, which seemed strangely familiar. But I didn't know where I'd heard it before. A pair of beautiful hands opened the curtains causing sunlight to shine on her face. He didn't know what he would have to face today, but one thing is for sure, August must continue. They definitely had to find the next doll.

The ringing of the phone caught Thup's attention, causing him to look away from the sunlight outside. Normally there weren't many people who called him, so there was no need to guess who it might be.

“Hello, Uncle Chai.”

[How are you boy? How are you? Aren't you coming back yet?] An old man's voice greeted him so friendly that Thup let out a smile.

"I'm fine. And I'll probably be back soon, man. And you are well?"

[Sure kid. I am an older person but I don't suffer much. We went with aunt to Luangta to pray for the funeral at Ta Soi Ma's house.]

“I have something I would like to ask you uncle.”

[Of course, of course. Tell me.]

“Twenty years ago, Luang Pu had to hold a funeral for the families of the seven deceased, remember that uncle? “Luang Pu didn’t let me go out to see.”

[Hmmmm, I think I remember because at that moment Dasak and Grandma Phum cried so much that they almost collapsed. A few days later, Dasak was admitted to the hospital, and later died following his wife and grandchildren.]

“Uncle, can you remember what the people who died were like at that time?”

[I remember, because they sewed their eyes and mouths, they did the same with the 7 people. The villagers who came said that it was because they had been chosen to perform a sacrifice.]

"Sacrifice?"

[Yes, at first some villagers told them that they should not burn the bodies, because it was not good, but Luang Pu suggested that they cremate them and that the others sit and pray all night. He then sprinkled holy water and spread the sacred thread around the pavilion. The ritual could not be completed because they did not have peaceful deaths.] Thup listened as he took out the ingredients to prepare breakfast from the refrigerator. [The villagers thought it was the work of the policeman who lived behind the forest, because they said black magic was practiced in that house.]

"A policeman?" Thup stopped suddenly.

[Well, the father was a police officer. The mother was a nurse. Everything seemed to be going well, but it was learned that the couple's children were seriously ill. One night, a villager who went to look for things in the forest once said he heard muffled screams coming from the house around 2:30 am. After a few months, only the boy returned normally to school. Then it was believed that they could have used black magic to save his life.] Thup just listened attentively.

“And because of this, Luang Pu never said anything? Or did you ask him if he couldn't say a prayer to them? Although, if the mother was a nurse, she could have cured her children herself, right?”

[Actually, I do not know. That was also said by the villagers. But after about ten years or so, they discovered that the house was deserted, no one lived there anymore, and it was unknown where they had moved.]

"Ten years? So, didn't some incident similar to the bodies found happen?”

[I'm not sure. During that time, Luang Pu went to the hospital due to illness. You probably remember this.]

“Yes, I remember.” Thup remembered that at that time he attended high school, and that he always walked past other schools, temples and hospitals, and from time to time. He met all the wandering spirits. “Then uncle, please ask the villagers about me, ask if they can tell me if in the last twenty or twenty-five years anyone has found a corpse with its eyes and mouth sewn shut.”

[I can ask, but it's been a long time, and probably many of the people who lived at that time have already died, hahaha.] Uncle Chai laughed amused, but it was typical of an old person. [By the way, why are you asking about this, kid? I already told you not to get involved in those things. You know that the red thread is used sewn in the eyes to not be seen and in the mouth to prevent speaking. It means that the person is afraid that the spirit will find him, because if he does, he will be so cursed that he will have to be sewn shut. From the looks of it, he's probably not a student of white magic, Jothup.]

“I just need to know man. When I go I will tell you in details.”

[As you say. Well, if you come let me know, you can stay the night at home. Aunt misses you too.]

"I miss you too."

[That is all for now. I will go to the temple to worship the Buddha.]

“It's okay uncle. Please take care of your health.”

After saying goodbye to Uncle Chai, Thup hung up the phone, but before starting to prepare breakfast, he went to take a shower and get dressed.

…

When everything was ready, he went upstairs but stood in front of the bedroom door for a long time, because he didn't know whether he should go in and wake up the eldest, or just let him sleep. When he was about to turn around and go downstairs, the door to the room opened and he was startled.

“What are you doing standing there in front of the room?” August came out with a bare torso and messy hair, which didn't make him look any less attractive.

“Well, I came up to wake you up.”

“It wasn't necessary, I already got up.” Singha walked towards the bathroom before getting ready to brush his teeth. Thup returned to the door and waited for him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thanks."

"You have showered?"

“Yes, I already took a shower.”

“Other than that, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ye ae khao” (What did you do when you woke up?)

“I woke up and went to prepare breakfast, don't you prefer to talk after brushing your teeth?”

August frowned before removing the brush from his mouth and pointing at Thup's face, “do you want to have trouble with me?”

“Who would dare to have a problem with you?”

He knew it very well.

“I have to go to the station to see what Say could find out about the doll. Then I will go to Khun Orn’s house.”

“Please take Thao Wessuwan with you. “Put him in the forensic room, so Dr. Say can work safely.”

“Come in and take it. Hold him carefully, if anything happens to him, my mother will kill you.” Singha went back into the bathroom to finish his business.

"Yeah." Thup entered the room before raising his hands to worship the entire Buddha image and the beautiful image of Thao Wessuwan. He sang the worship song, and then took the image. But at that moment, he saw something from the corner of his eye. There was a display case in the corner of the room full of diplomas, coins and badges of various things, but the most striking of all was a painting that framed a photograph, where you could see a boy and a girl hugging with smiles on their faces. . He thought the boy was definitely August, but he didn't know who the girl next to him would be. As Thup was about to leave the room, he stopped in front of the bathroom. “Phi, I got it. Can I ask you something?"

“Every day you ask something, now what do you want to know?” Singha shouted from the bathroom.

“Who is the girl in the photo with you?” The sound of the shower water stopped as soon as he finished asking the question. Seeing that the interior had been silent for a long time, the young man became worried: “Phi Sing, are you okay?”

"Do not say anything. I can’t hear it at all… Don’t bother me,” a harsh voice shouted, making Thup jump a little.

“Yes, Phi, I'm sorry.” He suddenly felt bad in his heart, as he didn't know what he had done wrong.

The bathroom door opened and he saw the older man with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair was still dripping with water, which made Thup feel worried. Singha looked up and made eye contact with the young man in front of him. Seeing Thuppasan's beautiful pair of eyes, Ramkham Singha could only sigh.

“Wait for me downstairs.” He had never seen this kind of attitude from this person since they met.

Before leaving the bedroom, he grabbed a towel and placed it on the older man's jet black hair.

“Dry your hair, please. You will end up getting sick. ” Thup walked towards the living room. before placing the statue in his hand on the table in front of the TV. Then he sat down on the couch. She raised her beautiful long eyelashes and looked at the stairs again with concern. I have never seen such an attitude from Singha.

I had never seen a pained face like that.