Doctor Demon

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….

Hobin and Siwan were sitting on the chairs, their backs turned to one another. Each of them had a mirror and a bucket full of water in front of them. Siwan was skeptical of the ritual and Hobin was not much keen to do it either. But he was eager to know what was inside him and there was no other way. 

Bomi arrived and chanted some spells over the water. He then drew a hexagon on the mirror. Bomi then repeated this step on Siwan's bucket and mirror, completing the first phase of the spell.

Siwan was ash faced, not trusting the shaman at all. Bomi sighed and bent down to whisper something in his ear. He frowned upon hearing those words.

"What?" he hissed. "That's-"

"That's the reason you're here," Bomi whispered. "Only someone who cares about Hobin deeply enough can bring him out of that state."

Siwan blinked but nodded. If what the shaman said was true, it was a nearly impossible task. He took a deep breath.

"If you screw this up, I won't spare you."

The gentleness in Siwan's voice was gone, replaced with a cold determination. He glared at Bomi whom he believed to be putting ideas into Hobin's head. His brother might be eccentric but he was not a monster. Siwan knew that well.

"You'll thank me later," Bomi said in a grim tone. He left Siwan's side and stood in the middle of the room.

"The spell I'm going to cast is very dangerous," he told them. "You must always remember that you'll be in the mirror's world. Mirrors are the window to our soul so you'll be peeking into your own souls. If Hobin truly has anything living in him, the mirror will show it."

"And now, we'll be putting your heads into the water," he went on. "We won't be pressing you down. You'll have to find the right moment to come out of the water otherwise you can drown."

"How do we know it's the right time?" Hobin asked.

"You'll see."

Bomi motioned at Junho who nodded. Junho took his place next to Hobin while Bomi stood next to Siwan. They grabbed each one by the head and slowly pushed them into the water.

Hobin felt the cold wave hit him as he was being gently pushed into the water. Something was not right. He was not feeling the wetness of the water but rather, it was like air. Cold, icy air. No bubbles formed in his mouth as he gasped for air. Strange visions were flashing by, most which he could not make out. They were simply flashes of random colors which were popping in and out of his mind as the icy air pulled him deeper and deeper into its realm…

"Agh!" He groaned. Hobin felt as if he landed on cold, hard ground. He was confused and dazed because he was no longer at Bomi's apartment. Instead, he was all alone in the strangest place he had ever seen.

It was that silence again. The gravely silence which had shrouded him at Purgatory. He could not hear a single sound but unlike Purgatory which felt like death, this was different. The atmosphere was lighter here than it was in Purgatory with no signs of a soul. No Mindless, no Reaper. It was just him.

And a room full of mirrors.

All the mirrors were the same size and shape, placed randomly around the room. And the room was not an ordinary one either. It was infinite. The room stretched to horizons beyond his comprehension, going on and on with no end in sight. There were probably thousands, no, millions of mirrors in that place.

Hobin stood on his feet, looking around. There was no sign of Siwan anywhere and he was alert.

"Bro?" he called out. Bro...bro...bro...his voice echoed in the Infinite Room, going far and wide. Everywhere he looked, only his own reflection looked back at him.

What am I supposed to do? He wondered. Hobin slowly walked around the mirrors, studying them carefully. All he saw were his own faces looking back at him. There was no sign of anything else which might be existing within him.

Was I wrong all along? He wondered. Maybe my powers are simply the result of a strange miracle.

CREEEEEAK!

Hobin jumped at the sound of something creaking. He turned around to see what it was but there was nothing in sight. But the creaking sound was getting closer. The sharp noise was causing the hair on his hands to rise. 

CREEEEEEEEAK!

Hobin's ears felt as if they were going to bleed. 

"UGH!" he exclaimed in pain. The sound was torturing him, inching closer and closer. He shut his ears and wanted to run but his feet were rooted to one place.

No. He could not run. This...this feels familiar, he realized.

Something was coming towards him and he knew that he arrived at this strange mirror world to look for him. Was this his soul? Just a bunch of mirrors where a mysterious creature was hiding?

The sound was becoming unbearable. Hobin felt his eardrums almost bursting but whether it was the power of the world he was in or something else, he was not bleeding from the ears. In fact, he was physically fine. 

He was being made to feel the pain in his head.

"Who the hell are you?" he gritted. "Come out, you fucker!"

The sound stopped. Hobin felt the torment in his ears lessen and he slowly looked up. There was still no one around but he felt a chill down his spine.

Someone was watching him. He was not sure how, but there was someone else in that Infinite Room. He could feel a pair of eyes observing him with an unknown emotion. Hatred? Guilt? He did not know.

His reflections on the mirrors showed his conflicted state. He was confused but remained calm. The air was now colder to the point that Hobin could see his breath. He was now determined to root out this creature from within him.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Why aren't you coming out?"

He did not expect a reply but a cold voice came from the deep terrain of his soul.

"I am you and you are me…"

Hobin's blood chilled at the voice. It sounds like me! He realized.

"I am you," the voice echoed around him. "We are one, Ohm Hobin. Kang Shinho...Wang Daesung."

Huh? Wang Daesung?

"A soul like yours is rare indeed," the voice said. "To come back for the same girl over and over again...You are tenacious."

Same girl? Jina?

"Where are you?" Hobin whispered.

"Here."

He turned around only to see his own reflection staring back at him. Even on his sides, there was nothing else other than his reflections. Was the creature messing with him?

"You still can't see me, Ohm Hobin?"

Hobin went from mirror to mirror, looking for the creature but there was nothing. No winged monster, no demons. Just his face on the mirrors. 

"Stop messing with me!" he roared. "Come out, you coward!"

"Ha haha haha...You are naive...Look carefully. I am here. I am there. I am everywhere."

Hobin was confused. The mirrors only showed his own reflection. What the hell was this demon talking about?

"Look again, son of Hell…"

Hobin looked carefully at one of the reflections. At first it was impossible to make out what the demon meant but within a few seconds, realization dawned on him. He stared at his reflection as if he was unable to believe his own eyes. 

"You…" he whispered. His own lips were moving but the reflection in the mirror was grinning in triumph.

"Hello, Ohm Hobin," it greeted. "We meet at last."

Hobin did not know what he had expected. Wings? Horns? An ugly demon which was hellbent on destroying everything?

Instead, all he saw was his own face. It was as handsome as him with the same auburn hair and chiseled appearance. They were even wearing the same gray t-shirt and jeans. Everything was the same.

Except the eyes. Unlike Hobin's dark ones, the demon's eyes were gleaming red. It was not evident at first but upon closer look, Hobin realized that the demon's eyes were slowly turning scarlet.

"What do you want?" Hobin demanded. 

"You," the demon replied. "I want you, Ohm Hobin."

"Why?"

The demon did not reply but was looking at his host with interest. "You're not an ordinary demon," Hobin said. "The other demons were calling you the-"

"Prince," the demon revealed. "They call me the Prince of Hell. I am a Prince. Now that Hell is vacant and there is no one to rule it, I have to take over as the ruler."

"Are you insane?" Hobin hissed. "Take over Hell? The fuck?"

"You really think that you can stay here?" the demon taunted him. Hobin could not help but wonder what kind of twisted game this was. His own reflection was talking to him. As a psychiatrist, he could not help thinking that it was all in his head.

"The demons will come for you," the demon went on. "And her. They will come for her. Do you really think the attacks by those spirits were random? No. They were not random."

"What the hell do you mean?"

The demon smiled at his naivety. "For a psychiatrist, you are not that smart, are you?" he sneered.

He tutted and shook his head. Hobin did not give into the bait but was glaring back at the demon.

"What do you mean?"

"Those spirits are controlled by another power," the demon revealed. "Something more powerful and dangerous. Unless you take your rightful place as the heir of Hell, they will not stop attacking her until…"

"Until what?"

The demon slightly leaned forward, meeting him in the eye.. "Until they kill her and her sister," he chortled. "Can you see them die, Ohm Hobin?"