Doctor Demon

Chapter 319 – The Cleaver (6)

Hobin was in his apartment with the door closed. He studied the board he had created for the case and traced the murders by the Cleaver. 

"The first murder was in Yorkshire," he muttered. "Then in Manchester and the third one in London…"

He pinpointed all the places the Cleaver had attacked. The places had no pattern but the victims seemed to have one: summoning a demon. But how? How did they do it? 

"This Brethren seems to have connections everywhere," he said to himself. His thoughts were interrupted by his phone's ring. To his surprise, it was one of his old colleagues back in the UK.

"Hello Brendon," he greeted his colleague.

"Hey, Hobin!" His friend's voice came from the other end. "I have a small update on the information you were looking for. Alicia told me that you're looking for Richard."

Richard…Doctor Richard Alexander was his former psychiatrist and a close friend. When Doyoung and Siwan discovered Hobin's powers, they took him to Richard who treated him for years. Richard was patient and stern but a good teacher who managed to help Hobin realize that his powers were a gift. He trained Hobin into controlling his powers and thanks to his training, Hobin was able to become a psychiatrist himself.

One day, Rochard left the country and never returned. Hobin searched for him but it was as if Richard did not want to be found. That was when Hobin realized that he knew very little about his mentor because he had no family nor any friends. It was as if he was just there to train Hobin and then leave without any clues to his whereabouts.

At first, Hobin thought that the doctor would return but when years passed, he let go of his pursuit. If Richard were to return, he would do it on his own accord. But now Hobin needed him and he had asked his old colleagues about Richard in case they found useful information.

"Where is he?" He demanded. 

"He was seen in your country," Brendan revealed. "You know one of our old friends, Mark? He went to a conference last week and he spotted Richard in the audience. Before he could call him, Richard left."

Richard is here? Hobin frowned. Then why isn't he meeting up with me?

"Thanks Brendon," Hobin said. "I'll look him up."

He hung up the phone and was lost in deep thought. Richard was in the country and still did not contact Hobin. Why? 

"You really think that he can help you?"

Hobin gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. The demon in him was taunting him, its voice echoing in his head. The image of the demon flashed in front of him, a red hue emitting from it. The demon's long hair was flowing in the wind, his lips curved into a sneer.

"You think that he can help you?" The demon taunted. "He can't stop me!"

"What do you want?" Hobin asked warily.

"Make a deal with me, Ohm Hobin," the demon offered. "Give up your body to me and I will save your loved ones."

"And you will throw me in Hell? No thanks."

The demon studied him for a while before bursting out in laughter. "You really don't know, do you?" he slowly asked. "Do you think that the Brethren will let you go? They won't spare any of you. Those people will come for you and they will kill everyone you love. Especially…"

The demon took a dramatic pause before adding, "The person you care for the most. The one for whom you will die for."

Hobin felt a chill down his spine as the images of his mother, brother and Jina popped in his head. The Brethren was going to hurt them and he would not let that happen.

"You need my powers, Ohm Hobin," the demon went on. "You need me to defeat the Brethren and their Lord. You can't win on your own…"

In a flash, the demon was gone, leaving Hobin confused and bewildered. Make a deal with that demon? Never!

"What a way to ruin my mood," he muttered. He massaged his head and went back to analyzing the chart. 

Ding! Ding!

The doorbell rang and he walked towards the door to open it. He had expected either Jina or Siwan but to his surprise, it was Jiwoon.

"Detective Kim!" He greeted and stepped aside to let her inside. "Er…"

He felt a little awkward. Even though he had worked with Jiwoon in many cases, they never had a one to one conversation like this. Jiwoon, however, looked unbothered by the awkwardness.

"Doctor Ohm," she greeted. "I want to know something."

"Okay…"

Hobin frowned, waiting for her to talk. Jiwoon took a deep breath and said, "Doctor Kang told me about your powers today."

Hobin was surprised. Siwan told her about his powers?

"I know that it might be shocking to you but Doctor Kang really cares for you," she went on. "He doesn't want you to investigate the Cleaver case because he's afraid that the demon within you will try to dominate you again."

Hobin let out a sigh. He appreciated Siwan's protectiveness but sometimes it could get annoying.

"I won't become a demon's prey," he said warily. "I just want to find this killer! He's been out there, killing people for years and I must stop him."

"I'm not telling you to stop investigating the case," Jiwoon said. "But can you honestly claim that the demon inside you is not becoming powerful? What if this case only triggers him into becoming more dominant?"

She spoke straight to the point, not mincing her words at all. Hobin looked away from her, feeling a little overwhelmed by the detective. 

When he did not answer her, Jiwoon said, "Your brother also told me about the mirror experiment you did with him. He narrated what he saw that night. The demon was overwhelming you, wasn't it?"

"I-"

"I know you won't back out of the case," Jiwoon stated. "But don't worry your brother any more than he already is."

She knew about the things Siwan was doing to protect Hobin and she was also aware that Hobin would do anything for his brother. If he learnt that Siwan was learning how to exorcise demons, Hobin was going to put his foot down. 

None of the brothers would back out from protecting each other and that was going to end them.

"I'm not going to make him worried!" Hobin exclaimed. "Once this case is over, there won't be anything to worry about! All we need to do is catch the Brethren and it'll all be over."

"Will it be? Can you really believe that?"

Hobin had no answer to her question. He could see the worry and care Jiwoon held for Siwan. She was not going to hesitate to confront Hobin if it was for Siwan's good.

Thankfully, he was spared from answering her by the phone. Jiwoon took out her cell phone and answered it.

"Yes, Detective Hwang," she said over the phone.

"Jiwoon, come to the address I just texted you!" Jina's voice came from the other end. "The Cleaver has murdered again!"