Doctor Demon

At the hospital, Hana was beginning to wake up. Jiwoon, who was sitting next to her, rushed forward to attend to the girl. Hana's eyes fluttered open and she seemed confused about the unfamiliar surroundings.

"D-Dad…" she mumbled.

"Hana!" Jiwoon gently called her. "Are you okay? Do you need something?"

Hana glanced at her and was trying to recognize Jiwoon but her mind was completely muddled. She was trying to speak but her voice was hoarse and broken.

"Dad…dy…" She mumbled. "Where…"

Jiwoon bit her lip. She did not know how to remind the child that her father was dead. Hana was scared and confused by what was going on. How was she going to deal with this blow?

"Hana dear, your uncle will come back soon," Jiwoon told her. "Your dad…your dad is with him. He will come and see you soon."

Seeing the child's state, she decided that it was best to keep the truth from Hana until she was well enough. The child would not be able to tolerate an emotional blow at this state and Jiwoon did not have the courage to tell her the truth either.

I should call Ilhoon, she decided. 

"Hana, I'll call your uncle and dad, okay?" she said. "Stay here."

Hana was too weak to respond but she stiffly nodded. Jiwoon stepped away from the bed, turning her back. She took out her phone and dialed Jina's number first.

"Hello, Jiwoon?" Jina's worried voice came from the other end. "I was about to call you!"

"Did you find the culprit?" Jiwoon asked.

"Yes! It's Song Aina! Hana's mother. She's the one who developed the demonic website to kill her husband and killed the others to cover her tracks! But the kids found her location code and we're heading that way."

Jiwoon froze in shock. But the shock was not due to the news of Aina's involvement. Her eyes fell on the window's glass.

A tall woman stood beside Hana's bed. Her eyes were lit with a menacing red hue and she was glaring at Jiwoon. The lips of the woman were curled in a cruel smile and she reached out for Hana, holding the child by the throat.

Hana was frozen in fear as the strange woman grasped her throat, her cold fingers tightening. 

"Jiwoon?" Jina's voice rang from the other end. "Hello?"

Jiwoon dropped the phone and leapt towards the woman but the latter's other hand reached out to hold Jiwoon's neck, almost strangling her. 

"AGH!" Jiwoon screamed. "Jina…the demon…"

The cellphone lay on the floor and Jina's panicked voice was echoing from it. 

"Jiwoon!" Jina yelled. She was in the car with Hobin and Junho. They were heading for the location Dahoon had told them about. The teen gang had insisted on accompanying them but their protests were overruled by the adults because they had put themselves in far too much danger. Jina had dispatched her other team members to the victims' houses to collect evidence from their laptops. 

"What happened?" Hobin demanded.

"Jiwoon is saying that the demon is there at the hospital!" Jina exclaimed. "We must save her!"

Hobin was about to turn the car around but Junho stopped him.

"No!" He ordered. "Keep driving towards Song Aina's house."

"But Jiwoon-"

"Just do as I say. If we try to fight the demon at the hospital, Song Aina will be alerted and she will try to escape. More people might die because of it."

"But Jiwoon is in danger!" Jina protested. To her surprise, her grandfather shook his head.

"Trust me, she will be fine," he assured her. Jina was dumbfounded. Why was her grandfather so calm? Jiwoon was attacked and needed help. Yet, Junho was not in a hurry to save her! Why?

Hobin was also shocked by Junho's attitude. "A person is going to die!" He said hotly. "We must save her-"

"I promise you, she will be fine," Junho reaffirmed. Unbeknownst to them, Junho secretly had Siwan on speaker phone. Siwan had heard everything from the other line and was already rushing to save Jiwoon.

"Just go and destroy the object tying the damn demon to this world!" Junho snapped. "If that's destroyed, your friend will be saved."

Jina was in a fix. She glanced at Hobin who was also in a dilemma but she finally nodded.

"Fine," she gritted. "But if anything happens to Jiwoon…I won't be able to forgive myself."

"Nothing will happen to her," Junho said in a cryptic tone. "I have an ace up my sleeve."

Hobin was suspicious. The old man was hiding something and he must find out. What did he mean by an ace up his sleeve?

"You better be right, old man," he warned. "If anything happens to Detective Jiwoon, her blood will be on your hands."

Junho did not reply but was inwardly praying that Siwan would be able to save her. This is your first test, kid, he thought. What are you going to do?

…

The demon slammed Jiwoon against the wall. Hana was screaming loudly but no one came to help her while Jiwoon was struggling against the brute strength of the demon. She glared at the sick thing which had possessed and taken the form of an avatar. 

The demon looked exactly like a human but its touch was cold and lifeless. From afar, it looked human but now that it was closer, Jiwoon could tell that the expressions were artificial and robotic.

She kicked the demon but it felt no pain. It was not a human but an avatar which never felt pain nor any desire. 

How did it manage to bring an avatar to life?

"L-Let go of her!" Jiwoon screamed. Hana was whimpering on the bed where the demon kept her captive. She was crying hard, unsure of what to do.

"Help!" She yelled but it was to no avail. The demon had cast a magic spell to stop all sound from escaping the room. Her cries were unheard by everyone outside the ward.

"It's futile to fight me," the demon claimed in a soft tone. "I'm not an ordinary demon. A Vurthramis like me isn't easy to defeat for a mere mortal like you."

Jiwoon tried her best to break free with one hand while her other hand was reaching for her pocket where there was a vial of salt. She took it out and was about to spray it but an invisible hand slapped it out of her hand. The demon had a third hand?

"You can't fight me," the demon stated. "It's over. Time to die-"

Suddenly, a handful of salt hit the demon's back and it screamed in agony. Its hand around Jiwoon's neck loosened and Jiwoon kicked her away. Hana cried as the demon let go of her as well as it writhed in agony. The demon hissed and turned around to find Siwan coldly glaring at it.

"Get out of my hospital," he ordered in a cold tone. "NOW!"