2

Shinabutr

The day after Shin"s fight with Da, nothing was out of the ordinary.

He woke up in his bed, ate breakfast, took a shower, drove to present his work, and came back with indifference. He didn"t feel sad, guilty, or empty. Without Da, his life flowed as usual, as if her disappearance wasn"t anything major.

Women are all the same. They would ask for a breakup after a quarrel. When they calmed down, they would come back eventually.

That"s right. He"s not in the wrong here.

Da was the one who made him lose a good sum of money from selling the Angel"s Corpse. If he had more time to negotiate, he would be able to raise the price. He didn"t know why, but he had a feeling that whatever number he named, the buyer would pay it to get his Angel"s Corpse.

But now… that chance slipped through his hands.

The call was not recorded in his call log. He didn"t know where to contact the mysterious buyer or had any clue leading to that man. All he had was a name.

"d.a.m.n it!"

As he walked through the hallway at dusk, he cursed under his breath. When he reached room 308, he reached for his keys to unlock the door.

But it wasn"t locked.

"What? Did I forget to lock it?"

Shin thought back to the morning whether he really forgot or not. It was a habit, so he didn"t remember every single day when he locked the door.

He slowly opened the door and peeked inside.

It was silent. No sign of anyone.

The Angel"s Corpse lay still as usual, but…

"What the heck!?!"

Shin exclaimed.

The pure white dress of his Angel was stained red from top to bottom. He thought it was paint, but upon closer inspection–the stickiness and the smell–it was definitely blood.

"What"s going on? I changed your clothes yesterday."

Shin tried to reason with the situation. Someone might be in here.

But who?

Or… did someone open the door from the inside?

"Because this b.i.t.c.h is a Pop!!! It eats when n.o.body"s looking, so you didn"t see!"

Stupid! There"s no way that"s true!

Shin shook his head.

Somebody was trying to mess with him.

Yes. The only one who could do this was Da. She had the spare key. Maybe, she wanted him to believe in her fantasies that his Angel was a Pop. He shouldn"t be unsettled by her stupid trick.

His indifference towards Da became rage.

"You went way too far for a prank!"

Shin fished his pocket for his phone and scrolled for Da"s contact. After a few beeps, Da"s joyful voice entered his ear.

[h.e.l.lo?! Shin?]

Hmph. So Da really used the prank to make him call her.

"Da, you know what? You"re the worst. How could you splash some pig or chicken blood on my Angel? You think I"m going to fall for your shallow plans?"

That moment, her joyful voice turned into sobs.

[Da…Da..didn"t. Da… what would Da do that for?]

"What would Da do that for? How could you ask that? You want me to abandon my Angel and make up with you! You think I"m so stupid to not realize that?"

Da started crying, but Shin did not care.

"Honestly, we"re doomed if we"re together. Cancel the marriage."

[Right! Whatever I do, I"m in the wrong!!! I"m envious! I"m obsessed with revenge! I don"t have a single good quality, unlike that corpse!]

The other end screeched so loud Shin had to pull the phone away from his ear.

[Be with that b.i.t.c.h"s corpse for an eternity, then!!!]

Beep… the line cut as soon as she finished the sentence. No matter how he called, she didn"t answer.

"Huh. She had no excuses, so she turned her phone off."

Shin muttered. Calling Da was a good way to vent out his frustration, but when he thought about the price of the Angel"s dresses he had to buy, Shin felt angry.

He glanced at the clock. It was almost 9 pm. The malls would all close by the time he got there.

Since there was nothing else he could do, Shin had no choice but to leave his bloodstained Angel as she was. He carried her over to the coffin and closed the lid tightly.

After his daily bedtime routine, Shin went to sleep as usual. The moment he closed his eyes was the moment the woman in the coffin opened her eyes.

The night was silent. Noises from the TV woke Shin up.

Shin rubbed his eyes and covered his head with his thick blanket, but could not tune out the static from outside the room. The annoying beeps and static haunted his ears.

"Hmm? d.a.m.n, Da! Mute that TV!"

Shin shouted, but there was no sign of the volume decreasing.

"s.h.i.t! Are you even listening!?!"

The young man got up and stomped his way to the door. Looking to the right, he saw a 40 inches screen displaying black and white dots, which usually happened when the station had nothing else to broadcast.

He looked at the clock. 3 am…

Hey, isn"t this a bit too much?

"d.a.m.n it, Da! Did you fall asleep watching TV? It"s 3 am!"

Shin yelled at the woman on the sofa. Since the sofa turned the other direction, he could only see the tip of a woman"s light colored hair.

"Have some respect. I have work to do…. Tomorrow…"

Suddenly, Shin was at a loss for words. His mouth gaped open in realization.

Da never stayed for the night…

Da"s mother was conservative, so she never stayed over at Shin"s room. She came here every evening, but that was only to cook and go back home.

Then who"s that?

Who…is on the sofa?

As if to answer his questions, the head with light colored hair slowly turned around.

Crack!

A sound like rigid joints moving.

Crack…crack…

The sound echoed throughout the room every time the woman moved her neck. The head jerked like a broken wind-up doll.

Crack…crack…crack…crack…

She already turned ninety degrees, but her long hair only made her nose visible. The woman continued turning her head as if to see his face clearly.

What would happen if she saw him?

Crack…!

Shin could not wait for the answer. As soon as the joint cracks, his gut feelings warned him of the danger if he saw her face.

Shin sprinted back into his bedroom, locked the door, and leant on the wall. Panic coursed through his entire being.

What was that? A ghost…?

Or…

"Because this b.i.t.c.h is a Pop!!!"

Impossible!!!

A corpse can"t move!!!

But Shin could not move away from the door. He hugged his knees in fright, listening to the static TV and footsteps that sounded like someone dragging their feet for the whole night. He didn"t know when he fell asleep.

Shin woke up in the morning from his phone alarm. He stood up and snoozed it, his body aching from sleeping in the wrong posture, but that was not the problem. The first order of business was that woman on the sofa last night.

It definitely was not a dream.

What was that?

Was it the Angel"s Corpse?

Or a Pop?

Impossible!

Shin shook his head. Something like that could not exist. The only way to prove it was to see it with his own eyes. That Pop story was Da"s delusions.

The young man raised his trembling hands and opened the door slightly. He peeked outside, then turned to the right, which was where he put the TV. The large LED screen was off. n.o.body was on the sofa. It seemed nothing happened.

Shin looked at the room and sighed.

Da"s supposed to be the delusional one, not me…

Suddenly, his phone got a message. The man picked up his phone and read it.

It did not show the sender"s name, but Shin smiled at the contents. He needed to buy a new dress so his Angel could be ready.

Shin left his bedroom in a good mood, but when he pa.s.sed the kitchen, he saw someone at the dining table.

"What?!?!"

Shin"s knees gave out. His eyes widened and stared at the Angel"s Corpse on a kitchen chair. Her eye was closed. No reaction whatsoever.

But…

Last night, I put her in the coffin, did I?

Then how can she be sitting here!?!

His head spun with questions, but all led to the same answer.

Maybe… the Pop story was true?

Shin was paranoid. He could only look at his phone and read over the message one more time.

"In two days, we"ll talk about buying the corpse

Tadphum

Flashlight shone left and right over the third floor parking lot instead of the neon light which were turned off to conserve energy. Tadphum was on patrol while collecting carca.s.ses into a garbage bag.

"Sigh…"

The young security guard lets out a long sigh as he picked up dead pigeons that were torn to sc.r.a.ps. These days, dead animals would pile up this parking lot. Even though it wasn"t as much as the first day and the animals were much smaller, like mice or birds, but Tadphum could not help but feel uneasy.

Many guards were in the same situation. Moreover, the times when the corpses were found would be times when no one was around, like early afternoon or late at night. A night shift guard already resigned.

When he got into strange situations or saw the woman"s legs in the parking lot, Tadphum was scared, but he never thought of quitting.

Tadphum grew up in a village where spirits and ghosts was part of life. When he went to school, he would have to go past a temple, so he was resilient to supernatural events.

He knew ghosts do not always hurt people. People are scarier than ghosts.

These dead animals might be the doings of some psychopath that hated them.

That was the reason the boss ordered for frequent patrols in the parking lots, in case they come across someone suspicious.

As he walked around, the young guard heard footsteps. He followed the sound before meeting the man who made that noise.

He lived in this condominium.

"Oh, h.e.l.lo."

Tadphum greeted the man, who was unlocking his car. The man glanced at Tadphum and nodded curtly with cold expression, but that was a lot of friendliness for someone like him. Tadphum could not remember his name, but he was familiar with the man"s girlfriend.

He then remembered something.

"Umm… I heard your girlfriend had a cat in your room? Please take care not to let it come outside. There happens to be a psychopath who likes to kill animals on the loose around here."

Tadphum warned, but the man made a hesitant face.

"What…whatever. The cat is dead."

He replied before getting on the car and rushed off. The young guard watched the car sped away and thought:

They broke up, huh…?

He hadn"t seen Miss Da for a few days, and the man usually left for somewhere. Every time he would carry bags with logos of expensive clothing brands. He was sure the man met a new woman.

I wonder how Miss Da is doing…

Tadphum was worried about the girl. The last time he saw her, she walked out of the condominium with reddened eyes. He wanted to ask her what was going on, but judging from her reactions, he knew he should not mention it.

If this was his hometown, he would ask without a second thought. But here, people had distances between each other. Tadphum could not accept that distance, but soon he was swallowed by this "urban society" too.

Since when did the phrase "not my business, don"t stick my nose in" became a recurrent thought?

As his thoughts wandered, he Tadphum heard a woman"s voice. He followed the noise.

"Ah…A…Ariya…"

The voice was calling someone.

"Who"s there!?! Do you need help!?!"

Tadphum shouted as he flashed his light around, but only saw the hem of a white skirt in between the doors.

That"s…?

Tadphum thought it was the female ghost he saw the other day, but he wasn"t so ready to believe that. He followed her.

If he didn"t find her, then she would be a ghost.

As he opened the doors, he saw the back of that woman in white walking slowly.

Not a ghost…?

The young security guard felt relieved. He didn"t see her face, but he remembered her as the mysterious woman from the third floor on that rainy day.

Worse, her clothes were stained with blood.

"Ma"am! Wait!"

Tadphum shouted with worries, but the woman did not turn around. He thought she did not hear, so he called out again. She did not care at all.

As if she was floating in her own world n.o.body could reach.

Then he heard her mumble.

Tadphum listened carefully.

"Ah…Ariya…kill…kill…"

Kill…?

Tadphum was confident he heard it right, but who is this "Ariya"? What did "kill" mean? Kill who or what?

Or those animals…?

"Ma"am!"

Tadphum caught up with the woman so he could ask her, but she turned and disappeared into a room.

Tadphum slowed down before stopping in front of the room that just closed its door.

Room 308.

The security guard looked at the golden plate hesitantly as he raised his hand to pressed the bell, but the door wasn"t closed.

Something was stuck there.

"What the?!"

Tadphum exclaimed and stepped back.

The thing stuck between the door and its frame was a b.l.o.o.d.y lump of meat. Light colored fur was coated in red fluid. He didn"t know what it was. It could be a dog or a cat.

But he knew someone killed it.

Whose room was this? It might be the woman"s room. Judging from her demeanour, she"s not right in the head.

He tried to look through the small gap, but could not see anything, so he pressed his eyes to the small s.p.a.ce.

The faintly illuminated room suddenly turned black.

Black…pitch black…

The security guard got gooseb.u.mps when he realized…

It was the woman"s black pupil staring back at him. A eye like a predator watching its delicious prey.

"Ah…Wah…"

Tadphum could only utter a word before a white arm plunged through the gap and grabbed his neck, then tore his Adam"s apple right out.

"Ugh…gagh…"

The young man tried to scream, but his voice sounded like a deflated balloon.

Tadphum fell to the ground. His upper half was yanked inside the room while his lower half was left protruding outside.

The man used his remaining strength to cover his arteries which were gushing blood.

Some…somebody help!

Tadphum begged. If only someone came here, he would live.

…Someone. Anyone.

His tears fell.

He didn"t want to die…didn"t want to die…

Then a hand patted on his shoulder as if to console him.

He looked up and saw a sweet face with blood smudged on her lips.

She smiled an elegant grim reaper"s smile.

The protruding legs writed. It was a last struggled that lasted a few minutes before stopping entirely.

Then the man"s legs slowly disappeared inside the room, making sc.r.a.ping noises in the process.

When nothing was at the door, it closed softly.

As it closed, the lifeless hallway was as silent as a graveyard.

[Comment: NOOOOOOOO ME NO WANT DIS]

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