When the light revealed something she did not want to see, Phraemai, in her utmost fright, threw the lantern away and ran for her life, not caring what lay ahead, only knowing she couldn't stay there for even a second longer.
The sound of the Thai-dressed woman in red repeatedly echoing in her ears: "Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave!"
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Phraemai's scream echoed through the forest, startling the birds into flight from their nests. Simultaneously, Pharan, who was meditating with his eyes closed in a room lit by candles, opened his eyes abruptly.
It was almost midnight. While the villagers were asleep, suddenly there was crying and loud banging coming from one of the houses.
Bang bang bang!
"Open the door! Please open the door! Help! Help! Sob!" Chan, who was sleeping in a room near the door, was startled. The voice he heard now sounded a lot like Phraemai's. Realizing this, he quickly got up to check the situation and found that Uncle-Chai, Auntie-Kaew, and Mint, Phraemai's close friend, were also rushing out of their rooms to the front door.
Knock knock knock!
"Mint, Chan, Auntie-Kaew, Uncle-Chai, help me!" Uncle-Chai, who tried to sense if it was a ghost or some other entity, realized it was truly Phraemai, not an apparition, and quickly opened the door.
"Prae!" Mint's eyes widened, and she rushed out to meet her friend. Chan was fully alert when he saw Phraemai's condition, as if she had just run through a battlefield, covered in mud, her hair disheveled, her usually sweet face marred by tears and scratches, with bits of wood and leaves stuck to her clothes.
"Help! Help! I'm scared! Help!" Phraemai, her hands clasped in a pleading gesture to Mint, cried out as she slumped to the ground, shaking her head in a panic. Auntie-Kaew and Uncle-Chai exchanged concerned glances.
This wasn't the first time they had seen someone in such a state, but they were curious about what had caused it.
"Scared! Scared! Sob!"
"Prae, calm down, try to gather yourself. What happened!?" Mint knelt down to hug Phraemai, asking gently.
The more she was asked what happened, the more the previous events replayed in Phraemai's mind, despite her attempts to forget. The image of the woman in the red Thai dress and her shrill voice still echoed in her head.
The overwhelming fear caused Phraemai's eyes to roll back, her lips to twist, and her limbs to stiffen and convulse.
"Prae!!" Mint cried out in shock upon seeing her friend's condition, starting to weep out of fear.
"Oh no." Uncle Chai exclaimed, along with several villagers and students who had come out to see what was happening. Once almost everyone had gathered, the host of Kornkan, Lah, spoke in the local Isan dialect, looking around immediately.
"AiTud, I heard that my student said he was going to sleep at your place.
Where is he now?" Tud shook his head.
"No, he's not at my house. My kid also said he was going to sleep at your place."
"Yeah, that's what mine said too." Mek added. Hearing this, the village chief's face tensed up, a vein popping out on his temple.
"I think they sneaked into the forest to have fun. They told me they wanted to go up, but I didn't allow it; they must have not listened. This girl probably went with them." Mint, understanding the local dialect, quickly nodded in agreement, wiping away tears.
"Yes, Prae told me she was going to sleep with Te, the one staying at Uncle Tud's house, but I didn't know they would sneak into the forest. If I had known, I would have stopped her."
"village chief, can you take Prae to see a doctor? I'll fill up the gas." The club president said with concern, knowing if something serious happened to Phraemai, it would become a big issue.
However, many villagers, including the village chief, shook their heads.
"By the time we get to the hospital, your friend might be dead. Besides, doctors can't help with this; only a shaman can." The village chief said.
Chai then nodded quickly, instructing his wife to bring out their sidecar
motorcycle from the garage. Madam Kaew hurried to comply, as they would take this child to see Master Pharan.
"Come on, let's carry Prae up."
When Madam-Kaew brought out the sidecar motorcycle, Chan, who was nearby, helped lift Phraemai onto the bike, with Mint holding her close.
They all got on.
Chai started the motorcycle, letting his wife ride behind, and before driving off, he turned to tell the village chief,
"Village chief, go get Grandma-Si, take her to the master's house. This ghost girl is MaeYing, the master won't handle this himself."
"Alright, alright, go go." The village chief agreed and quickly headed towards Grandma-Si's house. Meanwhile, Chai drove the motorcycle with Phraemai towards Pharan's house. At that moment, someone else brought a pickup truck, and the students, too worried to go back to sleep, hopped on to follow the villagers.
The president of the volunteer club wasn't confident in Pharan's father's abilities at all. He didn't even know the man, but what the villagers said made some sense. The hospital was nearly a hundred kilometers away from the village, and without preliminary treatment now, she might not make it there in time.
"What should we do, Kit? Should we call her parents?" Som, a fellow staff member, asked. Kit, the club president, quickly shook his head.
"Let's not call yet. It's too late. Let's wait and see. The master might really be able to help." Som bit her lip, hoping Kit was right, before they both followed the others to another truck heading to Pharan's house.
At that moment, the lights around Pharan's house were already on, as if anticipating the arrival of many people. Jett, sensing something was amiss, woke Khem from his sleep, and they went to find the master at the central ceremony area. They saw Pharan lighting incense and candles, paying respects to the Triple Gem, so they quickly crawled in to pay their respects as well.
Ekk and Thong stood waiting at the bottom of the house stairs, some noticed, some didn't. Soon, Phraemai was carried up by Chan, followed by Mint, Uncle-Chai, and Auntie-Kaew, along with nearly all the villagers and students present.
"Prae!" Khem couldn't help but shout, trying to get up to go see his friend, but was held back by Jett.
"Don't go near her." Khem swallowed hard, sat back down next to Jett, but kept watching intently as Chan laid Phraemai down in front of the master, who was seated higher up, following Uncle-Chai's instructions, then sat back next to Khem.
"Chan, what happened?" Khem asked with a pale face, but Chan shook his head, having not understood the villagers' earlier conversation, so he just reported what he had seen.
"I'm not sure, but it looks like Phraemai went into the forest, and when she came back, she was like this." Khem turned even paler. Jett, upon hearing this, could only think 'Oh no' repeatedly in his mind.
"Master, it seems this young lady and three other guys sneaked into the forest, but only she came back, and in this state." Chai explained with his hands clasped to Master Pharan. They had brought her to see the Master first because the forest was still dangerous. It wasn't safe to go in carelessly, so they came to consult Master Pharan on what to do next.
Master Pharan looked at Phraemai, who was still twitching, and spoke calmly,
"It's good they let her return."
The students, who had gathered in the house until it was packed, exchanged looks upon hearing this. Some, observing Phraemai's condition combined with Master's words, got goosebumps and rubbed their arms.
"Where's Grandma Si?" Master Pharan asked Chai. Before Chai could answer, Grandma Si walked into the house with a white shoulder bag and a bamboo container of sticky rice, followed by the village chief. Grandma Si sat down and raised her hands over her head to pay respects to Master Pharan, who was younger than her. Master Pharan, in return, clasped his hands in respect as he always did when meeting her.
Master Pharan considered Grandma Si as a senior relative because she was friends with his grandfather. When he was young, Grandma Si had helped raise him when his grandfather was out working. His grandfather was a shaman, and Grandma Si was a soul healer, the best in the village.
"Master, how should we proceed? Can we go up the mountain? If we don't call back her spirit, it might get worse." Grandma Si said, having prepared everything necessary for the ritual after hearing from the village chief, ready to act if Master Pharan gave the go-ahead.
Master Pharan nodded, replying in the same dialect but with a softer tone,
"We can go. It's fine. Take many people with you to help find the other three children."
Grandma Si raised her hands over her head once before looking around.
"Anyone close to this young lady, come with me, I'll perform the soul-calling ritual to bring her spirit back."
The soul-calling ceremony, also known as the spirit-fetching ritual, is an ancient rite among the Isan people. It's believed to cure ailments caused by accidents or shocking events that might cause someone to lose consciousness, like Phraemai.
Mint, who had just finished crying, quickly raised her hand and crawled towards Grandma-Si. Then, the village chief explained the current situation to the students. The atmosphere grew tenser when they learned that three of their club members were missing.
"Right now, the forest is quite dangerous. I'm looking for men who are confident they have strong luck, born on Saturday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Sunday. We're going into the forest to look for your three friends. We might be searching all night until noon."
One of the male students raised his hand, puzzled.
"Why before noon?" The village chief hesitated, not wanting to answer, but had to tell the truth.
"If we haven't found them by noon, it means they're dead."
A collective gulp could be heard from the back, fear and anxiety gripping the students. The club president, born on a Tuesday, quickly crawled towards the village chief to join them first, not wanting to delay any longer, followed closely by the other nine men.
Khem, seeing there were few volunteers, stood up to join, but the master was quicker. He swung a cane through the air in front of Khem, startling him back into his seat. Jett and Chan were startled as well.
The master's stern gaze seemed to tell Khem not to get involved, suggesting he would likely be more of a burden than help, as had been the case before.
Realizing this, Khem sat back down, looking dejected. Jett understood both the master's and his friend's feelings but could say nothing, only patting Khem's back to comfort him.
"You know why he can't go, and you...why aren't you going?" Pharan glanced at Jett, who was born on a Sunday and known to be quite tough-minded.
Jett quickly clasped his hands together, lying, but Pharan knew it immediately from just a look.
"Who will look after you and Khem if I go?" Jett gave a cheeky smile; the truth was he just didn't want to help. Those guys had loose tongues, they deserved whatever was coming to them!
Pharan frowned at Jett, seemingly aware of his thoughts, then turned to another bespectacled boy sitting next to Khem.
"And you, why aren't you going?" His sharp eyes locked onto the eyes of the boy, who looked slightly astonished.
Chan was born on a Wednesday night, which according to the village chief's rules, could have implications, but he was hesitant about whether to go or not. On one hand, he was worried about Phraemai, who was his housemate, especially since Mint had gone with Grandma Si. On the other hand, he also wanted to help search for the missing three.
Right now, Chan felt like a child caught hiding something by an adult, so he started to stand up to follow the village chief and the others.
However, Jett reached around Khem to pull Chan's shirt, making him sit back down.
"Master, Chan is very nearsighted and also very clumsy. If he loses his glasses in the forest, he'll just be a burden to others." Jett said. In truth, he just didn't want Chan to go help find those three, especially since Chan shouldn't be the one to go out of his way to help them.
Master Pharan immediately sensed that Jett had issues with the group of missing kids, which explained his reaction. He was surprised that Jett had made a new friend and was now preventing this friend from helping others.
This kind of extreme loyalty and dislike was something Jett had exhibited since childhood. Master Pharan sighed and nodded, not wanting to prolong the discussion.
"There's nothing more to do here. Uncle Chai, have someone take the rest back to rest. Lock the doors well, and don't go out until morning." Uncle Chai acknowledged the order with a bow before passing it on to another student who had brought a pickup truck, to take the rest back home to wait for news, making sure to emphasize Master Pharan's instructions.
Soon, only a few people were left in the house. Master Pharan closed his eyes to meditate, sending his spirit out to check on Grandma Si's situation.
From afar, he saw several lanterns slowly moving up the mountain.
Once Grandma Si reached the destination with help, she saw the scattered remains of civilization. Her heart sank, realizing why the three children were taken, but she knew she couldn't do much; this was beyond the capabilities of a soul healer like her.
Grandma Si took out her equipment from her shoulder bag: a banana, a boiled egg, a ball of sticky rice, and a garland of jasmine flowers, arranging them on a plate and lighting a candle, placing it near the extinguished campfire.
"Come, spirit." Grandma Si said before opening the bamboo container of sticky rice, now containing Phraemai's personal items like a face cloth, a compact of powder, and lipstick, which Mint had run to get from the house.
Grandma Si lifted the container and made motions as if scooping the spirit from the air, all while calling for Phraemai's spirit to return.
"Come on, Phraemai, do not stay among the crows in the fallow fields, do not stay among the chickens in the rice paddies, do not linger in the wide wilderness that is not home, come back, come back to our home."
When Grandma-Si called out, Mint, who was kneeling nearby with her hands clasped, also helped in calling.
"Come back to me, Prae, I'll take you home to your parents." This time, not only the village chief, but also the villagers and the male student friends started calling out. Something tried to approach the rice basket, but Grandma-Si quickly closed the lid. She frowned and shooed it away:
"Go away! I didn't call for you, leave, leave!"
The master opened his eyes at that moment, looking down at the piece of paper someone had given him with Phraemai's real name and surname written on it. He clasped his hands together and chanted incantations to ward off forest spirits, preventing them from scaring away the soul and taking its place.
"Buddhang, Vantami, Dhammang, Vantami, Sanghang, Vantami, by the power of the Triple Gem, please dispel the forest spirits, do not let them near, and call back the spirit of Phraemai, so that she may return home safe and sound."
Not long after, Grandma-Si opened the lid of the sticky rice basket, scooped something out, and quickly closed it, then said loudly:
"She's back, Phraemai is back, let's go home."