The Red Thread of Destiny

Chapter 30: The first promise

"When you meet someone for the first time, that's not the whole book; it's just the first chapter."

Rain woke up, his body drenched in sweat. His hands were tied behind, and he was sure he was gagged. His throat felt dry, and his eyes gritty. There was complete blackness and silence around him, almost as if he had been forgotten. Tears threatened, but he refused to give into them. He was not a weakling. He was the son of Thara and Thiwat Kirigun, two of the best men he knew. He was Sky's best friend, the same Sky who had battled terror and emerged victorious. He was the boyfriend of Phayu Venice Theerpanayakul, the man who never gave up on love or honour. Rain moved backwards, till he could feel a wall with his head. He then struggled to sit up and took stock of the room.

He was in some kind of a basement place, one small window filtering a murky light that was hardly helping. Small pebbles and rocks littered the floor of the room, making Rain remember the pain from 3 years ago, when he had fallen while pushing P'Phayu. He smiled at the memory. 'Who would have thought?' he continued to smile despite the precariousness of the situation he found himself in. There was no fear in him now, none at all, because he knew that the Theerpanayakuls, especially his P'Phayu, would move heaven and earth to get his Rain back.

Rain tried to recollect his last memory. He remembered sitting with his whole family when Dad V and Papa K spoke about their past. He also remembered the planning with his friends. They had been very reluctant about his plan, but he knew that this thing had to be resolved and come out into the open, otherwise the threat that this Tawan guy and P'Lhong presented would be a constant thorn in their side. And Rain was having none of it. He wanted a good, happy life with his partner. Was that too much to ask for?

Theerpanayakul Resort, Chiang Mai, after the confession –

"What I don't understand is how P'Amy and P'Lhong ended up being in Chiang Mai around the same time as P'Phayu and P'Pai? And why did anyone not suspect this whole 'set-up'?" Sky asked, surprised. "When the Sermsongwittayas, Phayu and Pai's caretakers in Chiang Mai told us about the kids they were befriending, we didn't think much of it. And we did check into them after Phayu and Pai were kidnapped, although they were kidnapped in Bangkok, but we didn't find any kind of discrepancy. They were born to the Adulyadej family, and that was it. It was only when we came to know that Mrs. Adulyadej is from Phuket, that the kids were born there, that we started looking deeper, because Tawan is originally from there," Kinn said. "That's how we discovered the connection," he added.

"Wait a minute! P'Phayu and P'Pai were kidnapped? What? When?" Rain asked, shocked. "Yeah. When they were about 12. It was horrendous! Porche and I kept blaming Vegas and Khun Kinn, but the truth is, it was not even their fault. They were not kidnapped due to business rivalry, but by a human trafficking ring. Luckily, they were trained to get out of such situations. They managed to escape and got most of the other kids also out, plus managed to inform us so that we could help them," Pete said, sounding extremely proud of his sons.

"Oh My God!" Rain whispered brokenly. "It was him! It has always been him," he said, sounding on the verge of a breakdown. "Lukchay!" Type rushed to him. "Whatever is the matter?" he asked, worried that the memories of that long ago incident would destroy his son once again. Rain had never spoken to Tharn or him about his ordeal, and while he had tried to heal with the help of therapy, his mind had created a fortress around that terror and locked it in. So even though he had been an open book in front of them, that terrible horror had locked itself in his head, never to be spoken of. "I have never spoken about the time I was kidnapped, to anyone, including you both, Dad and Pa. I don't know why I never did, because while it was one of the most chilling experiences of my life, somehow, it was as if there was something keeping me sane and intact. But I will tell you now," he said, visibly steeling himself for the retelling.