The Demon In You

Rian stirred. She felt the ground beneath her was hard. Her head throbbed and she tried to move her hands. But she felt them bound with ropes behind her back. Opening her eyes, she tried to register her surroundings.

She was in some sort of bas.e.m.e.nt, tied to a pole. The last thing she remembered was being hit on the head by someone. Was it Saion?

Instinctively, she scanned the area. It was remote but there were a few tables and chairs there. A plate of food lay on a desk, so the place was not deserted. She could hear music from upstairs.

I'm still at the club, she realized. If a demon brought her there, then Hyunjae should be able to sense it. But the guy was busy chasing Armiola's CEO. She cursed her luck for having such an useless protector.

Oh well, she thought. I'll have to rescue myself then.

Luckily, she was not as weak as people presumed; she had strong survival skills. During high school, she was trained in martial arts even though Rian never entered any tournaments. Moreover, she hid various useful items such as pepper spray and sharp objects inside her accessories. After being able to see demons for her entire life, Rian picked up some useful skills. She had a sharp blade hidden in her bracelet. Thankfully, her captor did not notice.

After a few struggles, she managed to take out the blade and used her right hand to cut the ropes off. A few minutes later, she felt the ropes loosen. Quickly discarding the ropes, she rushed over to the door, but it was locked.

She was not surprised by it. She stood back and thought hard, pondering her options. She can wait for Lambark but demons can be away from their master for up to 48 hours. Lambark is known to take long trips away from her in that time frame. If he was visiting one of its girlfriends abroad, then waiting for it to return will be too risky. What if her captors harm her by then?

Option two was to wait for Hyunjae to notice she was missing. But the guy would probably be busy putting on face masks. He would probably not notice her missing for the next twenty years, she thought, rolling her eyes.

Option three was to beat up her captors. Unfortunately, she did not know who kidnapped her.

Suddenly, she heard voices coming towards her. Quickly rushing towards the pole, she hastily tied her hands in a haphazard way and positioned herself, pretending to be unconscious.

She heard the door open. Footsteps were coming nearer until they halted. Rian was very still. She felt a dangerous gaze on her.

A cool finger touched her chin, sending a shiver down her spine. She did not dare to open her eyes.

"Is she the Demon Seer?" a cold voice asked.

"Yes, sire," another voice answered. "She is the one."

"He thought he'd keep her with him," the cold voice said, coming closer. She could feel its breath on her face. "But now...we have her."

Suddenly, Rian headbutted the demon. She opened her eyes to see the demon yelping in pain. The other demon was startled at first and it reached forward to hit her. But Rian was faster as she held its wrist and swung it forward.

The demons were in their human forms. It seems like these two already consumed their masters just like So Min's demon had done. Their d.e.s.i.r.e to be like humans are also their downfall.

Before they could gather themselves, she rushed towards the exit but one of them grabbed her foot. Rian kicked it hard on the face but it would not budge. The other one got up and grabbed her by the hair.

Rian kept on hitting its hand but it was too strong. The second demon hit her across the face, cutting her cheek. Rian felt blood dripping from it. She was dragged and thrown into a corner.

"This one is feisty," the demon with the cold voice said.

"Relax, Sejun" the other demon assured him. "One we hand her over to Boram, he'll take care of her. She's a precious sacrifice anyway."

Rian pulled herself up. She glared at the demons but they sneered at her. Whatever they were planning for her, was not good. She must escape from there. Fast!

The demons only laughed at her ferocity. They were astonished to see a mere human trying to fend them off.

"Little girl thinks she can outrun us," the demon named Sejun jeered at her. "Let's teach her a lesson, Jaeho."

"Yes," Jaeho agreed. "Let's have some fun with her!"

Rian did not scream but calculated her next move. If she was not wrong, their 'fun' meant something sinister. She did not even want to think about the consequences.

The demons began to take off their shirt and leaned forward.

"This will teach you, not to be so rebellious," Jaeho leered, flashing his yellow teeth at her. Rian clenched her fists and-

BANG!

The door burst open. A tall, long haired figure stepped in.

"Worry not, Ms. Oh!" Hyunjae declared. "I'm here t-"

But his words were drowned by a loud scream; Rian had punched the groin of the demon Jaeho with all her strength.

Jaeho screamed in agony as he held his crotch. Rian then turned to the stunned Sejun and kicked him at the same spot. Sejun too, let out an ear piercing shriek and doubled down in pain.

Hyunjae who witnessed the whole thing, stood there in surprise. Rian stood up and stepped on the crotches of both the demons. Their cries of pain echoed throughout the room.

"Demon or not, men always have one weakness," she gritted her teeth. She stomped on both of them. "Never underestimate me you idiots!"

Ouch! Hyunjae winced. He watched as the two unlucky demons writhed under her torture. He had hoped to do a dramatic entry and save the damsel in distress. But it seems that the damsel in question was a WWF fighter.

"Ms. Oh," Hyunjae timidly stepped forward but her angry gaze made him cower.

"What?" she snapped as she kept on stomping on the demons.

"Let me send them to purgatory," Hyunjae offered. They may find that place better by comparison, he thought. He actually felt sorry for them.

"Fine!" she agreed. "Send these damned things away!"

She got off them. The demons were still lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

Hyunjae stepped forward and began chanting.

"Oh, you who has escaped purgatory and led your human astray. I condemn you to go back to your real place and purify yourself through redemption."

A light appeared above them and began to shrink the demons till nothing remained. Despite her anger, Rian watched in awe as the two demons disappeared.

After they were gone, Rian and Hyunjae exited the club. They could not find Saion but the visit to the club was not a total waste.

Hyunjae was still scared of Rian. He made a mental note not to leave her alone with demons ever again. God knows what will happen to those poor creatures!

"Who is this Boram?" Rian questioned Hyunjae. "Why is he trying to make me a sacrificial lamb? And what is a Demon Seer?"

Hyunjae sighed. "I'll tell you everything," he said. "But let's go home first. You need to be cleaned up. Your wound is still bleeding."

Rian did not realize her cheek was cut. Touching it, she winced.

"Alright," she agreed. "Let's go."

Together, they got into Hyunjae's car and drove off. Unbeknownst to them, another pair of eyes followed them.

"Oh Rian…" the mysterious figure smiled. "Found you."