Broken • Choi Yeonjun

Memory

Just a warning, this part and the next does have details of murder/suicide. Don't read if you are sensitive to these things.

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My breath comes in quick shallow pants as I spin around, taking in my surroundings. 

My dad's house...?

"Dad?" I feel my throat close as I see him, he was on his couch watching the news. It was the same report of me I had seen before. "Dad...?" I step closer as I hear the sounds of him crying, his shoulders jerking up and down. 

I reach out, not feeling surprised at all when my hand went through him. 

"Why am I here?" I call out, feeling anger washing over me. He was playing with me, my father had died over a month ago. This was just something he had made up, trying to make me break down. 

"Patience is a virtue..."  His tone was mocking, I knew this was a trick. It had to be...

My head snaps up just as my fathers did, someone was knocking on the door. 

I follow my dad closely, to caught up in the moment to listen to the rational voice in my head, telling me to stop and not play along. I freeze a few feet away from the door, my breathing was uneven as I watch the door open. A city cop was standing there, his hat in his hands, his eyes full of sorrow as he looks at my father. 

Somethings not right. I could feel it in the air. 

"That's a demon?" I ask the air, knowing Rerek would hear me. 

I suck in a breath when the "cop" looks at me, shooting me wink before his face falls back into it's sorrowful state. 

"Dad, shut the door, now!" I rush forward and try to close the door. My hands going through it like it did my dad. "No! Stay away from him!" 

I was feeling sick as my dad invites the "cop" in, them both heading for the living room. 

"Stop this, I don't want to see anything else. Stop this!" I scream out to Rerek, this was twisted, this was fake, "It's fake." I breath out desperately. 

"This is a memory, from the demon that's here. This is how your father really died." 

No, he's lying. He has to be.

I stand frozen behind the couch as the "cop" speaks to my father, letting him know there was still no trace of me. That they would have to start pulling people from the search, everyone needed to get back to their normal jobs, focus on crimes that were happening now. 

I flinch back as my father stands, yelling at the "cop". 

I didn't know what to do, I didn't know if I should believe this was real or not... 

The demon stands, facing my dad with its hand raised. My fathers body went rigid as the demon took control over him. I try and move towards them, I had to do something. My feet stay glued to their spot, I wasn't able to move, open my mouth, blink, anything at all. 

My eyes water and my throat burns as I watch the demon circle my father. He was checking his prey over, sizing him up. 

"Your daughter is well and alive. She has something my master needs back but, she's hiding with soul collectors..." The demon turns my father to face where I was, as if he knew I was really there. Did the demon know I would see this memory? 

Was this all planned? 

"I'm here to send a message to her." The demon stepped right behind my fathers shoulder, peeking over it and sending me a wicked smile. 

I felt as if my heart was being squeezed to a pulp as I meet my fathers eyes, he didn't see me but, I could see the raw fear and panic rushing through them. I had never in my life seen my father scared, and it was killing me. 

Please, don't do this! I beg in my mind, knowing it would do nothing to change what was about to happen. 

My heart was being ripped open once again as my eyes unwillingly follow the demon as he makes my father grab a pen and paper. 

"This is what you'll write, "I can't keep going on, not knowing if my only daughter is still alive and well. This pain is eating me alive, knowing I'm not able to help her, is killing me. I've tried to hold onto hope but, I don't feel any hope anymore. Everything is black and empty. I'm sorry to everyone that I will leave behind, just know I love you all, and I will see you all one day". I think that's a good end..." The demon smiled, he was content with himself. 

As my father sat there, hunched over, unmoving. The demon all but pranced over to me. 

"The fun is about to begin." He said as he pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. 

I wanted to scream, curse, lash out. I wanted to pin the demon to the ground and rip its throat out with my bare hands. But, I was stuck, not able to stop anything from happening. 

The demon turns back to my father with a laugh. He brings his hand back up, my father following it as if the demon was a puppeteer, and my poor father the puppet. 

My stomach felt like it was trying to turn in on itself as I watched my father leave and then come back, a thick rope in his hands. My heart beat was now in my ears, it was fast and erratic, its beating was so loud it was blocking out the sounds of the world around me as my father handed the demon the rope. I wanted to scream so bad, I could actually feel my vocal cords stretching and breaking as I fought to make a sound. 

My vision started to narrow as my father placed a chair under where the demon had tossed the rope over one of the many low beams in the house. I knew if I wasn't being held up by Rerek's powers, I would have thrown up by now. My insides were a mess of emotions, the contents in my stomach were begging to be let out. My head was swimming as my father stepped up onto the chair, bringing the noose around his neck. 

No...

Everything shattered as the demon kicked the chair out from under my fathers feet. The demon letting his hold on my father go, no longer needing it. 

I stood there, unmoving, unblinking, as my father fought to get a hold of the rope around his neck. The sound of him gasping for air was haunting, the sight of his feet flailing in mid air as he tried to find anything to help him loosen the hold on his neck. 

The only thing the demon was not controlling was my breathing. It was fast and frantic, making me feel light headed as I fought like my father to bring actual air into my lungs.