95 4.19 The Abandoned House and Wandering Spirits

Our rented van had stopped right at the first house that had been marked as abandoned. Even though the entrance of the driveway had an enormous walled archway, there seems to be an electrical line going through it. The walls really need a fresh coat of paint while mosses and other creeping plants were lined at nearly every inch of the wall. Two bronze electrical lantern was affixed on each corner of the archway that stood out among the disrepair and under-maintenance of the wall.

The SPI team who drove the van stopped and parked alongside the dirt road before deciding to let it park there instead of driving towards the house.

"Pornsak, can we move by foot because the space between the archways is too narrow for the van to pass through and I don't think it's a good idea to drive since we won't know if there's any sinkholes or whatever along the road that leads to the house."

He spoke that under one breath while he looked at Pornsak for approval. He should be asking the team leader of the SPI team and not the Narrator but after seeing and believing several incidences of Pornsak and me, the level of respect seems a bit higher than usual.

"if you guys don't mind carrying the equipment around, I think we can leave the bulky axillary batteries and other stuff behind. Just carry whatever mobile we can get our hands on and if we need a recharge we can continue back to this van anytime."

The team leader of SPI team spoke up after confirming with Pornsak about leaving the equipment behind. Seeing there are some 3 hours of daylight left, they felt that they could cover up the documentary within an hour or so.

So they picked whatever equipment that was needed, distribute it among the team members and my two office colleagues and we all left on foot walking past the archway. The plastic bag that was filled with offerings were carried by me. As I passed under the archway, I saw a familiar object that was embedded in the ground near the walls and I went to pick it up.

"What have you found there? Oh... It looks rather rusty and old. What do you wanna do with it? Part of your memorabilia?"

Pornsak asked me while I examined a rather rusty and slightly crooked nail about 6 inches long. It's a nail meant to drive through the wood rather than concrete by looking at its tip. I smiled and placed it in the back pocket of my jeans.

**********

My mother used to say, "I'd you meet a pretty lady or a lady in white or a screaming banshee; stick this nail through the back of its neck and it will transform her into a normal person. But in no circumstances should the nail be removed or she will return back to its form and fly away. You could even make a wife or concubine, a domestic helper or cook for you."

YOU GUYS BETTER DON'T GIVE A SHIT OF WHAT MY MOTHER SAYS OK?

If you think you saw a lady in white and somehow you stuck that 6-inch nail behind her neck and she screams and curses at you and falls down next to your feet, don't you go around and blame me for it. It's all your fault! Not mine! Because you just killed a human being!

Lady in white in other folklore:

Indonesian: Kuntilanak / sundel bolong

Philippines: tianak / pokpok*

Malaysia: Pontianak / Langsuir

Thailand: ladyboy wannabe* (aww aww aww)

Singapore: minah motor* (bike chicks)

*describing them lightheartedly

The lady in white do not hunt kids or adult but rather babies in their cradles or in some cases, babies that are still in their mommy's womb.

The lady in white would fly around at night and if they were to announce their arrival on top of people's roof, the occupants of the house can hear flappings from a large bird. While sounds of scratches would be heard all over the roof like scampering cats, provided your roof was made from zinc and not like the genting tiled roof set.

Either that house or your neighbouring one has someone that was about to give birth.

Another distinguishing scent would be their sweet sickly flowery smell when they are far away followed by dog's howling and it would be the stench of rotting meat followed by dog's whimpering whenever they are nearby.

During childbirth, in old strap houses, this lady in white loves to sit under the raised platform of the house and lapped up blood that seeps through the loose floors. In this modern day, they even disguised themselves as nurses or midwives and would kidnap the baby as well as the placenta soonest the mother had given birth. So I let you have the wildest imagination roam free for this episode.

**********

After some minutes of trampling over overgrown plants that obscured the well-trodden path towards the abandoned house, we reached a clearing a majestic single storey concrete blue and white coloured bungalow house stood smack in the middle. The electrical cable that we saw was strung across a pole and a few wires seemed to be connected inside it.

The exterior of the house looked really worn down, with half of its roof being damage through ages of decay. A half crescent grand staircase led to the main ground of the house and its main door was barely hanging from its hinges.

Cracks had appeared on some parts of the wall while being adorned with Thai graffiti. The elevated space between the house and ground was about half a meter high and could be used to store lots of stuff during its glory days.

As we neared the entrance, a flock of pigeons flew from inside the house right to where the decaying roof was. The sudden flutter made us jumped abit. The whirring of the video camera, as well as the clickings of the cameras, were non stop, as it covered every inch of the house's exterior and surroundings.

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We went around the house to document it before stopping at the stone staircase that leads to the main house. Pornsak and I climbed up first and set up the offerings altar right before the main door and the steps of the staircase. The roast pork was placed in the middle. The pineapple stood right in the centre in front of the roast pork while the assortment of fruits adorned both sides of the meat.

I set up the 2 plastic drinking bowl on each side of the altar and poured some of the white liqueur in it. The balance about half of its contents I poured it sideways and let it dribble down the staircase, the strong smell of spirit permeating through the air as the soft breeze wafted it towards us.

I then lit the 3 red candles on the left side of the altar while 3 joss sticks on the right side. I slowly raised myself, clasped my hands under my chin and bowed slightly and I backed away down the staircase offscreen.

Pornsak clasped her hands under her chin and bowed while she muttered, "Dear spirits, please take this offering and do not be offended as we are here to document certain parts of the house. We would not take too long and do enjoy the little feast we have to offer."

With that, she turned her body and faced the camera while she began narrating," Are you familiar with the movie 'Final Destination'? No matter what you do, you can't escape your final fate. Imagine watching your friends die one by one in bizarre ways, and you can only desperately hope that your ending isn't too cruel. This true horrifying fate befell a group of 7 teenagers in Bangkok."

I am not sure if the words she chooses to narrate about the house and its contents were truly spooky or maybe the scene that stood before us that made everyone uneasy. No matter how even if it is daytime it is my responsibility to look after Pornsak just as her uncle had instructed to me.

Suddenly, as if there was a sudden draft of wind blowing from inside the house, a loud boom of a door shutting close was heard clearly. The video cameraman hands jumped a little and the camera in his hand shook and went out of focus. Despite the eerie booming sound that was heard indoors, Pornsak continued with the narration.

"One night, these daredevil teens set off for Thawi Watthana District. High on alcohol and adrenaline, they wanted to explore an abandoned house – one that was rumoured to be haunted. They drove all the way to the end of the road and saw two abandoned houses. But before they could enter, the lights in front of the house were suddenly and mysteriously turned off. Spooked, they decided to leave."

She paused and gestured the team to follow her inside the decayed state of the house. EMF signals were bouncing off its peak as it detected spikes of abnormal electromagnetic fields unseen by the naked eye. I felt a hand brushed my right shoulder but I can't even see a single apparition. It was like I'm trapped in their killing zones where my third eye was rendered useless for the moment.

Pornsak stood near one of the bedroom's entrances with it is down wide open and she continued, "Three months after, two of the teens were killed in an unfortunate motorbike accident. Witnesses claimed that they saw not only the two teens on the bike but also a lady in a white dress riding with them."

A chill went down everyone's spine as though the temperature inside the decaying house slid a few degrees down.

"A year later, another boy in the same group crashed his motorbike and died on the spot. When the police came to the crash site, witnesses told the police that they had seen a lady in a white dress riding with him. But the second body was never found."

"The following year, yet another two teenagers were killed – this time from a house fire. A witness from across the street reported that he saw a lady in white enter the house before the fire started."

Pornsak paused and took a deep breath while she looked around and the video camera followed wherever she gazed.

" Now here's the plot twist: Along the road, the group had driven to that night, the real abandoned house was actually at the beginning of the road. At the end of the road, where the group had seen two abandoned houses, was only empty land."

"Until this day, the two remaining teenagers are living in fear, hoping desperately that the lady in white would not come after them."

"Alright, that's a wrap guys. You can finish up taking photos and film the whole house and don't forget to ask for permission before you enter the rooms, bathrooms, kitchen and storage areas, understood?"

Everyone nodded and went in pairs while Pornsak and I went out of the house and down the crescent-shaped winding staircase. Once our feet had touched the earth, our hearts managed to lift up as if a heavy burden had been released.

After some 10 minutes of exploration, the team SPI came down the stairs when suddenly one of the guy's foot struck the offerings altar and sent the drinking bowls and some candles and joss sticks to be overturned.

He profusely asked for forgiveness and quickly brought the offerings back to its normal position. Little did everyone knows that this person, who is the vehicle commander of the van would befall such bad luck following the incident.

A worried and gloomy looked across the person who had accidentally kicked the offerings altar and we tried to keep the spirits up by saying its time to head back to the headquarters to do some editing and fillers to make the short 3 segments into a single one hour and a half coverage.

After walking and reaching the concrete archway, they soon reached their van. Their EMF counters had been switched off, cameras had been safely tucked away and their video cameras had already stopped rolling once they stepped out from the abandoned house.

Soon we boarded the van and reversed to return to the point where we had come from.