The Demon In You

Shin Minah exited the pub with her colleagues. They just completed a major project. Everyone had been working on it for months and finally, they managed to make a breakthrough with the deal. Minah, who was the project head, invited everyone from her team to celebrate. After hours of drinking and partying, it was finally time to go home.

"See you, ma'am," one of the interns bid her bye.

"Take care, Minah," come of her co-workers waved at her.

"Goodbye everyone!" Minah waved back as she made her way towards the subway station. She felt a little tipsy as she got on the last train for the day.

Once inside, Minah slumped on one of the seats. Minah's head was hurting; the alcohol was going to give her a bad hangover the next day. She could feel the bile sliding up to her neck. Beating down the nauseous feeling in her, Minah looked around.

The compartment was almost empty except for her and a man in black attire and a bowler hat, sitting at the end of the row. Despite her drunk state, Minah's sixth sense was in full alert. The man kept on glancing at her every now and then, abetting the dreadful feeling in her.

Minah consciously pulled her jacket over her and kept her head down, ignoring the stranger's scrutinizing look. Something about him unsettled her. He was not even hiding the fact that he was observing her. Minah drew a sharp breath.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked in a loud voice.

Startled the stranger looked away. Good, Minah fumed. He probably got scared that he got caught. That should teach him.

Nonetheless, Minah was ready to hit him back if the situation required it. Even if she was a little drunk, she was strong enough to defend herself. The man did not look at her for the duration of the journey. They rode on in silence till the train reached Minah's stop.

She got off the train and started to walk home. Her house was only five minutes away from the station. As she walked towards the main road, she felt a chill down her spine. A nagging feeling of being followed crept up in her.

Minah turned around but there was no one. Shrugging off the nasty feeling, she slowly walked along the road.

*Creak*

A sudden noise of broke twigs made her turn again. However, she still could not see anyone. The road was deserted at that time of the night and there was not a soul in sight. Suddenly, Minah felt afraid. She was not scared of walking home alone, but for once she wished the road was a little crowded. The eerie silence was too overwhelming.

"Don't be silly!" Minah scolded herself. "You've been using this road for years! It's perfectly safe."

Taking a deep breath, she continued to walk on. Her heels clanked at each step, breaking the silence of the night. Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps behind her. Instead of stopping to look back again, Minah slowly took our her compact mirror and saw through the reflection.

A black hooded figure was following her. It seemed as if the man from the train was tailing her. Panic set in her heart. The man was adamant on stalking her and she had to think fast. Quickly scanning through some escape plans, she decided to stop by at the convenience store nearby to fend him off and get help.

Minah quickened her pace and felt the man behind her was speeding up too. He was tracing her steps as Minah almost ran to the store. She was about to enter the store, when two hands grabbed her from behind.

"AHHHHH!" she screamed out loud closing her eyes in fright.

"Minah, calm down!" a deep voice ordered her. The voice was familiar. Her eyes flung open. Standing in front of her was Kwon Jonah, an old acquaintance from college.

"Jonah oppa?" she was startled. "Were you following me?"

"You looked familiar on the train," Jonah said in a sheepish tone. "But I wasn't sure. Then you dropped this and I saw your ID. That's when I realized, you really were Minah."

He held up her purse. In her panic, Minah did not realize she dropped her purse.

"Oh my god," Minah felt relieved. "Thank you oppa! And I'm sorry for yelling at you. I thought you were some pervert..."

She felt embarrassed at the entire situation. Her mind tended to overthink a lot.

"It's okay!" he assured her. "I probably freaked you out as well. So how's life?"

They chatted pleasantly for a while, reminiscing their college days. Jonah even showed her the pictures of his wife and son. Minah squealed at the sight of the cute one year old boy, waving his chubby fists at the camera. After a few more polite words, they finally parted ways.

Minah headed into the convenience store. The cashier greeted her with a warm smile.

"Welcome ma'am," she greeted. "How may I assist you?"

Minah dropped two bottles of lemon soda on the counter. "I just need these," she said wearily. The night felt long and tedious. All she could think of was going home and sleep.

"Understood ma'am," the cashier nodded and processed the bill. She then handed over the receipt to Minah and packed the drinks in a paper bag.

"Goodnight ma'am," she bowed as Minah exited the store.

Upon reaching home, Minah took out one of the cans and drank the entire soda in one go. Her headache was decreasing and she felt a little clear headed. Slowly, she made her way to her bedroom, before something made her stop. The bathroom's light was turned on.

Minah frowned. She was always careful of turning off all lights and fans before leaving the house. In fact, she clearly remembered turning off the lights of the bathroom after she came out of the shower that morning.

Someone is in there, she thought. Her mind was alert with fear. She quietly grabbed a baseball bat from the closet next to the bathroom and made her towards the door. Turning the lock as quietly as possible, she opened the bathroom door.

To her surprise, the bathroom was empty. There was no one in there. She pulled apart the shower's curtain. Empty.

"Maybe I did leave the lights on," she muttered to herself. How careless!

Lowering the baseball bat, she turned around only to come face to face with a dark figure. Startled by its appearance, Minah screamed.

"AHHHHHH!"

Her scream tore through the silent night, as the last thing she remembered was a sharp pain in her abdomen, before everything went dark.

.....