Doctor Demon

Jina and Hobin rushed to the hospital with Junho. They ran towards the paediatric section where they found Jiwoon and Siwan outside Hana's room. To their relief, Jiwoon was safe.

"The demon-" Jina began.

"It attacked us but at the last minute for some reason, it left," Jiwoon told her. "It created a huge havoc though."

Jina let out a sigh of relief and Hobin was also glad. He hugged his brother much to the latter's surprise.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I thought I was going to be late in saving you."

"I'm fine!" Siwan reassured him. "Look."

He let go of Hobin and smiled at him. "I'm fine. Just relax, okay?"

Junho stepped into Hana's room. The girl was sedated but there was broken glass and china all over the floor. He knew that the demon had attacked them and left only because Aina died. Otherwise, it would have done even worse things.

"Why did the demon leave?" Siwan asked.

"Its summoner died," Junho said. "So it left with Aina's soul."

"Did you kill the demon?" Jiwoon asked. Jina shook her head.

"As soon as Aina died, the contract was over. So the demon was no longer tied to the object and was free to take her soul away. We couldn't kill it and honestly, it wasn't needed. It may have killed people but the real murderer was Aina. Without her website, those people would have been alive."

"But what did the demon tell you?" Hobin asked. "You saw it didn't you? When it came to take Aina's soul away?"

Jina was hesitating to reveal the conversation. The demon had warned her to figure out some things on her own and find the Brethren. Why was it being so benevolent? Was it a trap?

However, she did not think it was a trap. The demon could have just left without telling her anything or hidden the bit about the Brethren. 

Instead, it chose to warn her about the True Prince, the one who was trapped somewhere. She needed to find out more information about this guy and where to find him. His followers must be using demons to free him and that symbol was linked to the True Prince. 

What did that symbol mean?

"The usual bullshit," she lied. "How it was going to come back and create more havoc. But the connection between the object and the demon broke so even if I had killed the demon, it wouldn't have died."

Hobin raised his eyebrow but did not say anything. Junho was busy checking the room to see if the demon was still active anywhere.

"It's not here," he declared. "The demon is gone."

Siwan was glad that one nightmare was behind them. But he was still troubled. He glanced at Hobin who was now talking to Jina about the case. 

"His human side will die and the demon dwelling in him will take over his life!"

The demon's words were still echoing in his ears. Was it true? Will Hobin really turn into a demon someday?

His heart was alarmed and he knew that having a soft heart was not going to help him nor his brother. The demon was right. He must harden himself to carry out an exorcism which would throw the demon out of Hobin.

I have a lot more to learn, he realized.

…

Over the next few days, the Blue Fish case was being wrapped up. Aina's death was officially declared an accident while trying to escape. Her computer system was confiscated and the website's IP was decoded. It was traced back to her computer, proving that she was the guilty one. The website was promptly shut down and anyone who has logged into it was contacted. 

It turned out that there were more victims of the website. People from within and outside the country had been found dead under mysterious circumstances which were written off as suicides. Several precincts had recorded the cases but the problem was that since the murders took place in various locations, there were different teams from each region working on them. That made it hard for the police precincts to come together and connect the dots. 

Moreover, many of the police officers did not check too deeply into the cases and simply saw a simple suicide case rather than look up on the site. Hence, the connection to the Blue Fish was not established in those cases.

"So many murders by this damn site!" Woohee complained one day, throwing aside a file. "And the dumb officers didn't even figure out hte connection!"

"There were too many suicides but it's not unusual," Chanmi replied. "The suicide rates in this country are sky high anyway."

"Still. You'd think that the police are smart enough to figure this out."

"Figure what out?" Jina asked as she entered the room, heading towards her desk.

"The different precincts who did not look up the connection to the Blue Fish website," Woohee replied.

"Not every officer wants to think deep," Jina sighed. "Many just want to wrap up a case quickly and move on."

"The victims are never going to get closure," Chanmi said bitterly. "Imagine killing off so many people only for a truck to squish the murderer instead of throwing her in jail to rot!"

Jina momentarily recalled where Aina's soul was and the fate awaiting her. She sincerely hoped that the crazy woman was being burnt in Hell with the hottest fire or worse.

"I think she's in a worse place than jail," Jina muttered. Woohee and Chanmi blinked but did not reply.

…

Junho was pacing back and forth in front of an abandoned factory. He checked his watch every now and then, waiting for someone. 

A car pulled up in front of the factory and Siwan came out of it. He approached the old man, feeling nervous but determined.

"You are late," Junho said.

"I got held back at the hospital," Siwan replied. "Hana was discharged today."

"Song Aina's daughter, right?" Junho asked. "How is she?"

"She's fine. We managed to make her believe that the whole episode with the demon was a nightmare and nothing happened that night. Jiwoon helped me to switch her room that night and we quietly cleaned up the messed up ward. It was hard to explain to the Board of Director what happened and I have to pay a fine for broken property but it's all taken care of. Hana has been taken by her uncle and she'll be safe there."

Junho nodded. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked as he led Siwan inside. "It's your first time and I know it'll be hard."

"I want to," Siwan replied. "I need to learn how to protect my brother from the demon dwelling within him."

Junho did not say anything but led Siwan into the abandoned factory. There was no one in there except for an Alpaca doll and a small circle drawn with white chalk.

"What's this?" Siwan asked curiously, pointing at the Alpaca doll. "Why is a doll here?"

"I'm not a doll, ya puny doctor!"

Siwan was so shocked by the talking doll that he nearly yelped and fell backwards. The doll hopped on his hind legs, crossing its arms.

"I'm the elite Vozakel Lord, Magrod!" Maggie claimed. "It's Magrod. Not Maggie. M-A-G-R-O-D!"

Siwan gaped at the doll. Junho chuckled and said, "It's a demon. Similar to the one you saw at the Cho mansion and also at the possessed girl's house. But he's harmless and doesn't try to make people sign contracts. He's annoying though and doesn't pay rent-"

"Oi! Stop maligning my name you old geezer!" the Alpaca exclaimed. "I'm the most dangerous demon class after the Jazrads! Speaking of demons, I will give you a hundred cookies if you sign a deal with me. One way ticket to Hell but it's a tropical place with warmth and a lot of hot springs-"

"Why the hell are ya tryna make people sign contracts?" Junho growled.

"I run a business too! Other demons will laugh at me if I stop taking contracts. I need my daily supply of cookies, ya old geezer!"

Siwan was in total disbelief. Seeing an old man argue with a toy alpaca was stranger than believing in ghosts and demons.

"I hate to interrupt but what are we supposed to do here?" he asked warily. "Am I supposed to exorcise the stuffed alpaca?"

"It'll take you a hundred years to exorcise an exquisite and elite being like me!" Maggie boasts.

"Shut it, Maggie!" Junho snapped.

"MAGROD!"

"Uhh…excuse me Mr. Magrod," Siwan began. "What am I supposed to do here?"

"See? Now that's a man of culture," Maggie nodded. "Calling me by my real name. Add a 'Lord' in front of it."

"No," Siwan stated outright. Magrod groaned but went on talking.

"You will have to purify a soul," he revealed. 

"Purify?"

Siwan was confused so Junho explained, "In order to properly exorcise a demon or a spirit, you need to learn how to purify a soul as well. Purifying means having to prepare a soul to move on to the Afterlife. You remember the three places I told you about?"

"Afterlife, Purgatory and Hell," Siwan nodded.

"First, you need to send a soul to the Afterlife," Junho said. He pointed at the circle and added, "There is a soul standing there and you must purify him."

"Whose soul is it?" Siwan asked.

"The soul of a fifteen year old child," Maggie revealed.. "And he is autistic."