Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Minho was patiently observing the demon in front of him. Anyal was also smirking at him, not flinching from his site. They were locked in a silent battle, each trying to read through the other's thoughts. The place was completely empty. Not even a single spirit was roaming there and for some reason, Minho did not even spot a reaper.     

He had been locked in there for hours and it was probably the fifth day already. Only a few hours remained for the ritual and Minho still could not figure out what Anyal was really planning.     

"You're not afraid at all, Hwang Minho," Anyal commented. "As if you're not afraid of losing."     

"I won't lose to you," Minho said as if stating a fact.     

"The mighty Hwang Minho!" Anyal sighed. "The richest man in the country is helpless against a poor demon like me. How interesting…"     

"Yes, you are quite poor," Minho commented. "Spending so many years after a futile dream. I get it that what happened to your girl was terrible but why didn't you just go back to hell instead of wasting so many years here? Could have just merrily burned there with her."     

"Once a demon is cast out of hell, he's not allowed back in," Anyal revealed. "The Devil wants only those who can serve him. Demons like me who fall in love with humans are weak. We are weakened by our feelings for them. But the mortality of humans prevents us from being together. They'll live and die one day. Even if they reincarnate, they'll forget us and find new love whereas we are stuck in our endless existence. The grief sucks out our abilities until one day, we're reduced to nothing but empty shells of our old selves…"     

"And taking out your girlfriend from hell is going to guarantee what?" Minho shot back. "Even if you pull out her soul, you do realize she's no longer human! Just a wandering soul with no body, no life and no meaning! If there's one thing I've learnt is that when someone dies, whether they go to the Afterlife or not, their souls no longer belong to this world! They won't be happy with a lifeless existence. Seeing others happy and alive will make them suffer even more! They deserve to rest in peace, not be pulled into more misery!"     

"That's for us to decide," Anyal said quietly. "Not you."     

"You really think your girlfriend will be able to live amongst the living?" Minho sneered. "Get real! You've killed so many people for a woman who probably doesn't even want to come back!"     

"Anyone who's been in hell would want to come back!" Anyal claimed.     

"They'd want to get out," Minho agreed. "But not return to life. They'd rather move on peacefully! That's the cycle of life and death. No one can change it. Not even a demon like you!"     

Anyal did not react to Minho's goading. He knew that Minho was trying to rile him up and provoke him into doing something stupid but the demon was several steps ahead.     

"It doesn't matter if her existence isn't the same as before," Anyal stated. "As long as we're together, nothing else matters. But if I were you, I wouldn't worry about anything else other than my daughter."     

Minho raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked in a cold tone.     

"Where's your daughter, Hwang Minho?" Anyal taunted him.     

"With Gayoon and my father," Minho replied but there was uncertainty in his voice. Jina was safe at home. He was sure of it. They had put-     

"Protection?" Anyal finished his thoughts for him. He paused for a moment before letting out a hysterical laughter. Minho was now scared but tried to keep his cool.     

"What do you mean?" Minho slowly demanded.     

"Oh you fool!" Anyal sneered at him. "Those amulets and charms work on spirits and demons, not on humans! You see, Anna is a human. A witch but still human. She can easily cross those charms with ease. Why else do you think I keep these servants? For pleasure?"     

He let out a wheezing laughter. Minho let out a sharp breath but Anyal went on.     

"You really thought that I kept you here without leverage?" the demon laughed. "As long as I have your daughter, I know that you'll be forced to do my bidding. I'll make sure that you open the gates otherwise you can say goodbye to your daughter!"     

….     

Jina was very scared. The place she was kept in looked like a fortress of some sort with decaying walls. She could smell a foul stench of sulphur from somewhere which was making her nauseous.      

The sun had set already which meant that she had been there for a few hours.      

"Mom…" she sobbed. "Dad…"     

What were they going to do to her? Could her parents find her on time?     

Just then, she heard someone calling out her name.     

"Jina!" It was her aunt Mina's shrill voice. Mina entered the fortress and looked around for her niece.     

"Jina!" she yelled but there was no response. Jina saw her entering the fort and she let out a sigh of relief.     

"Aunt, I'm here!" Jina called for her but to her surprise, Mina was not looking her way. She was glancing here and there as if Jina was invisible.     

"Jina!" Mina called out but there was no response. The fort was completely empty and there was no sign of life at all. Kanji came in and was carefully examining the place. He was sure that he could feel Jina's presence…     

"Kanji, where is she?" Mina cried. "I can't find her!"     

"She's here," Kanji said firmly. "I can sense her. My spirit senses are tingling. Whenever Jina is around, I can feel a strange magnetic pull. When I died and became a ghost, I saw that every living person had a dull greyish color but Jina was different. She had this white light which attracted ghosts to her! I can feel the warmth of that light. She's here."     

"But where?" Mina asked in dismay. "Where is she?"     

Kanji was still examining and was frowning until his eyes fell on an empty space a few feet away from them. There was something strange about that place. Even though it was empty, he could hear a buzzing sound as if the air in that particular spot was somehow...distorted.     

"That spot," he said, pointing at a seemingly empty hall. "There's something there."