Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Jina was trying to get her aunt's attention but Mina seemed not to have noticed her despite standing only a few feet away.     

"Aunt, I'm here!" she yelled. Mina was still looking elsewhere when Kanji entered and instantly froze. Did he see me? She hoped.     

"Uncle Kanji!" Jina cried out but Kanji was also not responding. However, he seemed to have sensed something strange about the place. He was saying something to Mina and whispered something to Mina who looked shocked. She also glanced at the spot Jina was at but it looked as if she could not see Jina at all.     

"I'm here!" Jina called out and she tried to loosen the knots on her hands and feet but they only tightened. The more she moved, the tighter the binds wrapped around her. The witch Anna must have put some kind of spell on it to subdue her and also hide her from existence so that people could not see her.     

Jina tried to hear what Kanji and Mina were saying but to her horror, she could not hear them at all.     

"Save me…" She sobbed. "Mom...dad…"     

Meanwhile, Mina stepped forward towards the place Kanji pointed. She continued to walk until the very end and then came back.     

"I don't feel anything," she whispered but Kanji was thinking hard. He raised his hand to touch the place where he felt the slight electric drizzle from. A slight shock made him jump and step back.     

"That place is enchanted," he concluded. "You're human so you can't feel nor see anything. But spirits have high senses. Which is why I can sense the spell. But I can't enter because it's too powerful. I might end up hurting Haejong's body in the process."     

"What do we do?" Mina asked, thinking hard. Then an idea hit her.     

"I know!" she exclaimed and rushed outside. Within a few seconds, she sprinted back with a scoop of salt in her hands.      

"I picked them up from the spot where you were locked," she explained. "Salt weakens spirits, right? What if it can work against spells too?"     

"It's worth a try…" Kanji said with uncertainty. He stepped back while Mina began to sprinkle the salt at the spot he pointed at.      

To their surprise, sparks of electricity erupted as soon as the salt touched the barrier but did not break it down. But Mina kept on sprinkling until she realized that the barrier was put around a particular spot. A salt border was created, showing a rectangular area which indicated that something was there.     

"That's where Jina is," Kanji deduced. "She's been hidden from view somehow but she's there. I can feel her energy. It's her."     

Mina nodded and turned to that spot. "Jina," she began. "Don't be scared, okay? We're here. We'll have to wait until your parents find us…"     

She rubbed the ground to hide the salt particles until they were gone. Kanji was analysing the place around him. There was an eerie sensation which had been bothering him ever since he woke up in the forest. The fortress reeked of death but that was not all. He was familiar with death but the fortress was...evil.     

It was hard to pinpoint the exact reason why he thought like that. All he knew was that the fortress somehow felt as if it was breathing. There was life in it and it was simply like a sleeping dragon which was waiting to be awake.     

"Mina," he began. "Do you sense anything weird about this place?"     

Mina thought of his words and scanned the place. At one glance, it was like any old ruin with broken walls and mouldy floors with fungus and weeds. No doubt it was a symbol of grandeur at one point in time but now, it was seemingly just an old rundown building.     

However, now that Kanji mentioned it, Mina was also feeling that eerie sensation as if the place was alive. She felt eyes on her, watching her closely and these did not seem to be from spirits but rather a feeling that the walls were spying on her. As if they could literally hear everything she was saying, seeing all her actions.     

"This place is a gateway to Hell," she whispered. "What if...what if the demons in hells can somehow see us? I know it's insane but that can happen, right? If there's a World of the Dead which looks exactly like our world, then who knows? Maybe the demons are invisible to us but we're visible to them here?"     

"That's not all…" Kanji said but trailed off.     

Suddenly, there were footsteps approaching their way. Mina and Kanji panicked, thinking about what to do.     

"It must be Anna!" Kanji muttered. "We'll have to hide!"     

"But she'll sense your presence!" Mina reminded him.      

"I doubt it," he said. "This place...it has an uneasy energy. Several souls are probably wandering around here. She might not be able to sense my energy among these souls."     

The footsteps were getting closer and they had little time. They quickly scrambled towards a staircase and hid beneath it, keeping an eye on the entrance. Anna entered the place with Kanji's dad who followed closely behind. She seemed to be walking straight for the place where Jina was kept and to Mina's surprise, as soon as Anna stepped into that place, she disappeared.     

Kanji was right. There was an invisible place there and Jina must have been kept there. Also, it really did seem that she could not sense Kanji inside that fort because she did not look their way at all.     

"What is she doing?" Mina muttered     

"Preparing for the ritual," Kanji muttered back. "I'm sure she's readying Jina up for the sacrifice. But how are we going to inform the others? We can't leave Jina behind! And going back to the mansion will take several hours. It'll be too late by the time we reach here again…"     

"Shhh!" Mina shushed as Anan stepped out of the portal where Jina was kept. She was now addressing Jason.     

"Have you checked on our prisoners?" she asked him in a cold tone.     

"Yes, ma'am," Jason said in a hollow tone. "They are still there."     

Kanji and Mina glanced at each other. Jason was lying! Did that mean he was out of the spell?"     

"Keep an eye on them," she ordered. "The exorcist, Junho, must not reach here. And if that other woman, Gayoon, comes with him, she'll be able to break her daughter out of there. Only a Seer can enter the temporary portal I have created. Since she still has some of her powers, she'll be able to enter it."     

"Yes, ma'am," Jason said and bowed. He was confused by what the woman was saying but kept on pretending to be under her spell. He just wanted the truth about his son.     

"I'll go back to the Jang Mansion," Anna told him. "There are only two hours left for the red moon eclipse and I'll have to let Master know that he'll need to bring the Transporter here. He already has Hwang Minho in his grasp. Once the ritual starts, Hwang Minho has to do exactly what we want. He'll do anything for his daughter…"     

She turned back to the portal and smirked, knowing that Minho would only push Jina to the hands of the Devil himself.     

"Once she has been sacrificed to the Lord of Hell, I'll get what I want…" she murmured. The damn Devil made a deal with her and she unknowingly put her own soul on the line. Her time was running out and it was her only chance to bring back her soul from his grasp. Anyal had promised her many things and even though she did not trust him completely, she had no choice.     

With that, she snapped her fingers and disappeared. Jason, who was still bowing, got up and looked around.     

"Dad?"      

He spun to see Haejong standing there with a confused look on his face. Mina crept up behind him with a confused expression on her face.     

"Junho and Gayoon are on their way," Jason told them in a shaky voice but his eyes did not leave 'Haejong'. He was still in a fix, wondering what to believe. His son was dead and now, this man was claiming to be possessed by Kanji's spirit. It was a bizarre turn of events and hard to believe. He was a rational man and yet, there was a pull he felt towards the person who was claiming to be Kanji.     

Was it his grief? Or was it his hope to see his son again which made him believe even the most ridiculous nonsense?     

"Dad, I-"     

"I...I don't know if you're telling the truth or not," Jason said. "But I don't think your intentions are bad."     

"Uncle, this really is Kanji!" Mina told him. "I know it because he-"     

But Kanji held her back and shook his head. Jason was already too confused by the turn of events and revealing too many things at once would only increase his confusion. The last thing Kanji wanted was for his father to be confused in his grief stricken state.     

"My son will never come back," Jason said in a heavy voice. "And even if I can't completely believe you, I'm sure you have your reasons to make that claim. I'll try to help you in any way I can in getting out of this place-"     

"No," Kanji said. "We can't get out of this place now. We'll have to wait for uncle Junho and Gayoon to get here!"     

"Why?" Jason frowned. Kanji pointed at the spot where Anna stood only moments ago.     

"Jina is in there," he revealed. "And they'll kill her if we don't save her!"