Chapter 26: Chapter 25: Kalo Sukha

Singha opened his eyes because he felt uncomfortable, the cause was none other than the boy with whom he shared the bed, who was hugging his waist tightly, with his face buried in his chest, making his warm breath felt. Last night after the messages, he lay down and finally fell asleep next to Thup.

“Hey Thup.”

Singha turned to look at the clock and found that it was only five in the morning and it was still dark outside.

"MMM." A soft moan escaped the young man's throat, but he refused to wake up, causing Singha to sigh. He grabbed the young man's arms to let go of his waist before standing up to relieve the fatigue.

“When you wake up, you will hear me.” Singha gently hit him on the forehead, but the person who was hit simply frowned before burying his face in the quilt.

The owner of the house went downstairs and looked around, everything was unusually clean. When he opened the refrigerator to get water, he saw that there were ingredients and food arranged neatly, where before there was only beer and frozen food. August took out the now cold beer, before walking over to sit on the couch. A pair of sharp eyes looked at the papers piled on the table.

The two sheets of paper in his hands were portraits of two young women. The first page is a rather old woman, just like a real disaster. His eyes were white, dull. His lips were torn up to his ears, so open that his molars showed. The face was long and slender, but his face looked angry. The other sheet was a portrait of a girl, not very young. Judging by his age, he couldn't have been more than ten years old. Both eyes were gone, leaving only the hollow sockets. His face had a slight hint of sadness. There was a tear on both his lip and ear, but nothing else. He was smiling like the first image. He didn't know if it was because Thup put his own emotion into each drawing or not, but he knew that was the image the boy had really seen. On another sheet on the table, outlined in pencil, there was another drawing, but it was only half of a girl's face. His eyelids had lines drawn like threads and the bottom half had only unfinished pencil marks.

“Is this the ghost Thup saw?” , Singh muttered under his breath.

He took photos of the drawings, and sent them to Lieutenant Khem, asking for more information: 'Try to find out if there was any case where this happened.'

…

They were more of the morning Says. The light was beginning to shine through the curtains. The sound of footsteps from the stairs made August turn to look.

“Why did you wake up so early?” Thup approached the older man who was on the couch, still sleepy.

“Because there was a boy who wouldn't let me sleep.”

"Hey? I?"

“If it wasn't you, who else? A ghost?" Singha looked at a young man with spiky, messy hair. Thup sat on the floor in front of the older man. His fair face still didn't seem fully awake, so he decided to tease a little: “You hugged me so tight that I couldn't breathe.”

"Oh me? I hugged you!!?" Thup spoke in shock, and hugged August's legs. The color on his face began to make August couldn't help but want to continue teasing him.

“Yes, you snuggled on my chest too.”

"Oh I'm sorry. Please do not be angry. From now on, I can sleep down here, or if you want, I can sleep on the floor.” Singha looked at the young man, who was hugging his legs and resting his chin on his knees.

Day by day it becomes even more shameless!!!

“If you keep holding me like this, does that mean you will be my wife?”

"Don't know." Thup raised his eyes and looked at him, before having to move away from the older man because he didn't dare make eye contact, “I won't talk anymore. What do you want to eat?"

“Minced pork with basil.”

“I think there are pork chops. But first I will go look at the basil leaves and see if there are any.” Thup got up, went into the kitchen and started preparing everything to cook, he handled himself in such a familiar way, as if he had been here for a long time.

August looked for a long time at his broad back. He had lived alone for a long time. Every day I just worked, ate packed lunches, and went back to sleep and then woke up to go to work. Having someone to talk to before and after waking up... wasn't bad either.

After eating breakfast, showering and dressing, the two left the house and headed to the station to attend to various matters. Once that was done, they would go look for the two remaining dolls.

“Sergeant, where is Lieutenant Khem?”

“The lieutenant went to eat, inspector. But he left him some documents.” The young police officer handed one of the documents to Singha.

“The young man named Two returned home, but the family reported that earlier in the evening, he went out again. We corroborated this through the home security cameras, and through the traffic cameras we were able to see the vehicle until we lost sight of it.”

The officer stood in front of August as he read the entire report in his hand. Traffic CCTV footage detailed a location where the vehicle was last seen. And his instincts told him that he would not return.

“Ask for the CCTV camera footage from the shop in front of the Shanti Thammadi temple.”

“Yes, inspector.”

"Kuan, when you get it, check and see if you can find this car."

“Understood inspector.”

At that moment, King arrived and entered the station. The two looked at each other in silence. Thup watched them, noticing that King's face was so bruised and cracked, he wanted to know what had happened the night before between them.

“The boy named Two disappeared after returning home. This is a traffic camera image showing the last location of your vehicle. “I sent someone to check if he went to the temple.”

“Um.”

King took the document from August's hand and walked away, feeling dizzy. He acted like they didn't really know each other.

August walked to the forensic department room and found Darin curled up on the couch. Say came in after them, he had a towel on top of his head and was wearing a black t-shirt and sweatpants under his robe.

"Already arrived?"

“Didn't they go home?”

“Well, I'm waiting for the lab results and he's afraid of ghosts.” Say used her foot to kick Darin without consideration.

"What is your problem? What's the matter? Why did you want to know the days of birth of those boys?

“Well, it's still just a guess. When I confirm it, I will give you more answers.”

“Well, Darin always complains that he was born on a Wednesday.”

“So, have the lab results arrived yet?”

“Yes, they have arrived. The samples from the seven corpses, the sample from the pottery machine, and the five dolls…” Say said before looking into his close friend's eyes with a serious look… “is from the same type of soil. “They all come from the area where the incident occurred.”

“Cemetery land. If it is used in a ceremony, its effect is even greater,” Thup said after listening for a while.

“I think it's starting to get difficult.”

“I want to ask you to take a look at Darin, Thup and those three kids. Don’t let them leave the station.” Singha was about to turn around to leave the room, but was grabbed by the wrist.

"No, I'll go with you."

“Don't be stubborn, okay Thup?”

"What day were you born?!"

“Is the time right for that? I must hurry!!”

“First tell me what day you were born!!” Thup grabbed Singh by both sides of the shoulders and raised his voice at him for the first time, leaving the other person silent.

"Saturday."

“No… I can't let you go alone. If you want to go, we will go together.” Thup looked into Singha's eyes with determination. He knew that the murderer chose his victims based on their days of birth, furthermore, the ghost girl already mentioned her birthday, and this filled him with fear. If she chose August, she would trade places with him. “I will obey in everything. “I promise not to do anything to put myself in danger, but please let me come with you.”

"So come with me." August turned to look at Say's face. When he saw his friend nod in understanding, they immediately walked towards the car.

…

There was only silence in the car. There was no music or conversation as usual. Although he felt guilty and uncomfortable, Thup also felt relieved that the older person had let him go with him. After all, he felt like part of a gang of ghost hunters with the three oldest, including Darin.

It could probably help them get more clues.

“Phi Sing.” Thup mustered up the courage to speak to the person behind the wheel, but when there was no response, his full lips pursed in determination. “I know you are angry because I didn't listen to you, but I don't have a father and mother who have taken care of me. Furthermore, Luang Pu passed away. “I just don’t want to lose another loved one.”

After expressing his opinion, they continued the trip, the young inspector said nothing.

Finally they arrived in front of the fence of a warehouse. The place was a car, truck and other rental company. The owner had a large transportation business that requires this type of vehicle. Inside there are warehouses with dozens of trucks. The owner's home was also located on the land. August got out of the car and walked towards the guard in front.

“Hello, I am a police officer. I would like to go see Mr. Praphat to discuss the case of his son's disappearance. Also, I have an order to search the inside of the house.”

“Oh, he's not here officer. The man and his wife, after the death of their son, said that they could no longer stay in the house because of the sadness that being there caused them. They left yesterday, they will probably come back tomorrow,” the old man told Singha before opening the door for him. “But he can come in. The house is at the end. Just after passing the old vehicle storage area.”

"Thank you." After receiving the instructions, August enters, followed at a short distance by Thup, who did not want to cause problems for the older man. On the way, they passed several types of trucks.

In some, there were people loading things, or parking and getting everything ready for work. But as they moved forward, the vehicles became older, more worn, all parked side by side. The atmosphere would not be so terrifying if it were not for the fact that there was now a sky that was once clear, but now, it was being obscured by clouds. Now, the sky is darker and it looked like it would rain. The wind was blowing so hard that it seemed like a storm was approaching. Thup quickly turned his head to look left and right when he heard the sound of a car horn from time to time. But I couldn't find any car with the engine running or ready to go.

Was someone playing a joke on them?

Hearing the sound again, Thup immediately looked at August. Then, he quickened his pace, fearing that something would happen in front of him.

They arrived at the owner's house. It was one story, somewhat small. The atmosphere was cold, and this made Thup know immediately that the Siakban doll must definitely be inside the house.

August shook a door handle a couple of times, and it opened easily. Once inside, they observed that the house did not have many objects and there were only two separate rooms. It wasn't complicated to check, while the older man began to inspect the house, Thup stood in front of the door. He felt a light breeze fly past him. When he turned to look, he saw a young woman who still had red threads sewn into her eyes and mouth. He was wearing a shirt with torn fabric. His skin was pale and decomposed. His hand slowly rose and pointed to the right where a car was parked waiting to be destroyed.

"I found her." The older man's voice brought him back to his senses. When he turned to look, he found that in Singha's hand, was a deer-headed Siakban doll. But when he looked back to look for the female ghost, she had disappeared.

“Phi, I saw her. He pointed in that direction.” Thup pointed to where the ghost had pointed. “She was the girl I saw when I was a kid. She appeared to me just now, and pointed in that direction.”

“Do you believe that ghost?” Singha raised an eyebrow and looked suspiciously.

“I don't know… but maybe she wants to tell me something.” Thup didn't know if what he felt was a hunch, since it never happened to him. Singha sighed before walking towards the entrance of the car graveyard as the boy had told him.

The smell of oil stains and rust permeated the area. There were many cars there. Some were parked waiting to be destroyed, and others were dilapidated with only parts left, which would probably be thrown away or resold to a factory. They seemed to be walking in the middle of a walkway with cars on either side, as far as the eye could see. But not only was there the smell of an old, rusty car, but soon, there was also a smell of fish mixed with it.

Thup grabbed Singha's hand and stopped him before he could take another step. In front of him, there was something that Singha could not see, there were ghosts and spirits of many different forms. These cars were not being sold just because of their old condition, but because… had they been part of some accident, which left them unable to be used again as before?

Some cars could be stolen, which had been sold, leaving their owners in various spiritual conditions to the point where they were distorted, broken, bent and mostly deformed.

Singha noticed from Thup's gaze, what the other party was probably seeing.

“If you want, I can go in alone.”

"Let's continue." Thup let go of the older man's hand, and continued walking behind him.

He had promised her the night before, he wouldn't be a burden to anyone.

As they drove further, August saw a car that looked familiar. When he looked closer, he discovered that the color, make and license plate matched the car he had asked at the station to be searched.

"That car."

“Oh, what's with that car?”

"Wait." The young inspector immediately took out his phone and called someone at the station.

[Yes, inspector.]

“Sergeant, call the forensic team and the evidence collection team. Let everyone come immediately to Thaweesap Tee Print Company.”

The sound of a car horn immediately made them both turn to look at each other.

[How do you say inspector?]

“Send someone to the truck rental company Taweesap Tee Print!!!!”

[What does inspector say? I don't hear it at all.]

"Shit!" August decided to cut the call first because he didn't know that on the other end, they weren't listening to a word he said. Then, the young man turned to inspect the condition of the car and shined his flashlight inside to check what was inside.

Crash!

It sounded like something fell and rolled on the ground. This made Thup look down, because there was a round object rolling towards him that caught his attention. Until he finally stopped at his feet, the numbness and cold took over his body to the point that he couldn't move, because what he has at his feet right now is not a tire. It was not a car part, but a human head, which was so charred that the underside of the skin could be seen. Then, a loud noise like a moan in agony was heard. Her eyes bulged and she looked at Thup through a veil of tears.

please help. It's so hot.'

Thup took Singha's hand and squeezed it tightly, before closing his eyes and internally reciting all the mantras he knew to try to calm his mind. He then moved slowly towards Singha.

No matter how difficult it was, he opened his eyes, saw that the person was crouching down, looking out the car window, but… what caused Thup to open his eyes and take what he was looking for in his arms? It was a large iron hook that swung towards them and crashed into the roof of the car.

CRUSH!!!

The roof collapsed to the seats. All the mirrors shattered. Fortunately, Singha was able to recover and use his own body to turn around and cover Thup.

“Hey!! What are they doing there!! They told me I had to take this car to be destroyed!!”

The loud scream came from the side, causing August to hurriedly stand up.

“Wait, I'm a police officer!! Please order an end to the destruction of this vehicle. “It’s an important piece in a criminal case now.”

“Oh!!!” The sound of the engine that they should have heard from the beginning stopped, along with the sounds of sighs of relief from both of them.

The young inspector reached out and helped Thup to his feet. If it had not been for this child, the iron hook would have hit Singha on the head. Thup turned to look around, his heart racing. A laugh sounded from far away. until he found the source.

It's almost over, Saturday, Saturday.

There was a white-eyed girl standing in the distance laughing, sticking out her tongue and licking her lips excitedly before disappearing into the midst of the passing spirits.

"Is something the matter?"

Thup turned around and looked at the person who had just spoken, his anxiety beginning to subside. Yes, even the ghosts around him stopped caring at that moment.

“No, the ghost that did this was the ghost that possessed the doll.”

“So this doll is the problem.” Singha raised the Siakban doll he was holding in his hand.

This one had a deer's head and a human body. Her name was Kalo Sukha, and she was Thursday's Mae.