As soon as we got to the airport, Brad called.
“Ashley, you did this on purpose. You knew!”
I pretended I didn’t know what he was talking
about. “What? You should watch what you
say. If you don’t have proof, I’m going to send
you a lawyer.”
“Fine!”
Dad was already in Thailand, and he had a
car waiting to pick us up.
“Someone played a trick on Ashley. I looked
at all the temples, and nobody heard of it.”
“One of the businessmen said that the guru in
Thailand knew about it.”
“I’ll see him tomorrow.”
I nodded.
Once we got to the hotel, it was time for bed.
I started scrolling through my phone.
One of the music people I followed made a
video about Chelsea.
The Youtuber said that Chelsea didn’t go to
music school.
She went to a fake college where you paid
money to go.
“I looked at her social media, and she never
wrote about music. She just posts about
hanging out with rich people.”
“I think she copies songs.”
There were thousands of responses.
“I knew she was a liar, but nobody listened!”
“I was in high school with her. She didn’t even
get good scores on her test. She doesn’t even
know music theory. She’s fake!”
I was so into it that I didn’t notice it was
morning until someone knocked on the door.
Dad came in with a man in white with tattoos
on his face.
He looked me up and down and stopped at
my ring.
He spoke in Thai.
The translator said, “Where did you get that
ring?”
“My boyfriend gave it to me. Why?”
The guru put a necklace on the ring.
The jewel turned black.
Dad’s face changed. “There’s something
wrong with it, right? Guru, can you save my daughter? How much money do you want?”
The guru said a few things.
“That ring is made of a Kuman Thong. It’s just
the part of the original item.”
“It can read her thoughts and put them into
the real Kuman Thong. The Kuman Thong will
have it’s host follow what it wants.”
“In time, she will lose herself and be under the
control of the Kuman Thong. It’s dangerous.”
Brad gave me the ring for Valentine’s Day.
He said he’d made it by hand and wanted me
he had endorsements and didn’t wear it
himself.
The ring wasn’t on him.
It was on Chelsea.
Mom kept crying, and almost kneeled.
I helped her up.
“Please save my daughter!”
The guru reached out, and I gave him the
ring.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be alone for two weeks to
perform the ritual. As long as you don’t leave,
you’ll be fine.”
My parents thanked the guru.
He left and didn’t look back.
I read what he said for two weeks.
On the tenth day, I got a call.
Someone released my song online.
Brad posted in support of Chelsea, trying to
make it look like I was a copycat.
Nobody listened.
My dad said something on the company
website.
“Ashley’s the boss of the company?”
“She doesn’t need to copy you. She sounds better than you, what can you do?”
Brad was furious and started calling me from
different numbers.
I blocked him again.
On the fourteenth day, I was reading a book
when I heard a man yelling.
Brad was covered in spots and screaming my
name.
“Only one day left. Don’t go outside!”
I started laughing and went back to reading.
I didn’t see Brad again.
His face was ruined, and he had to quit.
Chelsea asked for a Kuman Thong because
of Brad.
He took her to Thailand and made her put it
on me.
Chelsea was jealous of me, and she worked
with Brad.
She put it on me, so I would quit.
Fifteen days passed.
I walked around the yard.
It felt so good.
That feeling went away, and I felt good.
Then, I got a call from Jen.
“Chelsea’s in trouble!”
“She’s been insane and has been biting
people while saying ‘Don’t leave me. I was
wrong!‘ But, from yesterday, she was quiet
and didn’t say anything. She’s not alive. I think
something has her.”
She was getting haunted by the Kuman
Thong.
“Hey, do you want to come back?”
I started thinking about it.
peking music!!!
“Hey, do you want to come back?”
I started thinking about it.
“Go! Come back to making music!”
My parents were behind me. “I can work for
decades. You’re fine!”
I smiled like the sun.
A year later, I stood on stage.
“Congratulations to the best artist of the
year- Ashley!”
My moment has finally came.