Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Chapter 364: One Last Memory of Her

"Oi you!" 

Kanji looked up to find a cop calling for him. "Your bail has been granted," the cop stated. "Come out."

He immediately scrambled to his feet and ran out of the cell. Jason must have secured bail for him. After the bodies were burnt and the arrest of Youngdo, the case against him fell apart so it was only a matter of time.

I'm coming, Mina! He thought excitedly. Please be safe.

"Dad, I-"

He paused when he saw the woman who sat near the police desk, signing some papers. She glanced around and smiled.

"Ms. Anna?" he frowned. He recalled the woman from one of his meetings. She was the secretary to the CEO of D&D Corps., one of their clients.

"Hello Mr. Jang," she greeted politely. "I've heard about what happened and reported it to my boss. He pulled some strings to have you bailed out."

"Why would he do that?" Kanji asked suspiciously. He never met the CEO himself, always dealing through Anna instead. Why would a stranger be so generous?

"He is actually worried about the tender," Anna confessed. "You see, he needs your signature on the final papers which will be drafted by tomorrow. And with you in jail, it would have been disastrous for the company. You know how much he cares about his business. So he had to bail you out for his own gain. I've already informed your father. He's waiting for you."

Kanji sighed. Whatever the reason was, the man had bailed him out and Kanji was thankful at least.

"Thanks, but I have to go to the hospital," he told her. 

"I can drop you off," she offered. "I'm already done here. Besides, I have a car. You can get there faster."

"Thanks!" Kanji exclaimed. Anna smiled and picked up her jacket. She led him to her car which was parked outside the precinct. They got into the car and Anna started the engine.

"The main road is jam packed today," she said. "Apparently some protests are taking place. We'll have to take the route through the forest."

"As long as we get there quickly, it doesn't matter!" Kanji said. "I...I just have to get there."

His mind was full of thoughts about Mina. The cops had informed him that she was taken hostage and was currently at the hospital. He reached his pocket only to realize that he did not take his phone from the cops.

"Shit!" he cursed. "I forgot my phone. Do you have yours?"

"Oh no!" Anna lamented. "My phone is out of charge! I was hoping to use your phone instead"

"Doesn't matter now," Kanji replied. "We're going to the hospital anyway. I'll learn everything there."

Anna was quiet for a while. They just entered the road to the forest, driving away from the main road.

"Why are you in such a hurry to reach the hospital?" she queried. "You just got out of jail! Shouldn't you go home to your family?"

"I have to meet her," he said with determination. "Mina."

"Who is she?" Anna asked. "She seems to be very important to you."

"The love of my life"

He trailed off, thinking about her. They had been hiding their feelings for each other for so long that he could wait no longer. He had hurt her and himself for too long and it was time for him to own up to his actions.

Anna drove through the desolated road. There was not a soul in sight and an eerie silence engulfed the area but Kanji was too worried about Mina to care. He was so engrossed in his thoughts, that he did not notice a strange fog setting in.

"I know someone who was in love just like the way you are in love with Mina," Anna mused. "You're lucky that you'll get to confess to your loved one. He never got the chance"

"What happened?" Kanji asked.

"Let's just say, the girl he was in love with made a deal with the devil and sold her soul," Anna said cryptically. "And in the process, when she fell in love with my acquaintance, she wanted out of the deal. But it was impossible. When you make a deal with a powerful person like that, no one could break that contract. My acquaintance actually worked for that powerful person. When the girl tried to break the contract for the sake of love, the love of her life was ordered to capture her and bring her to his employer."

Kanji shifted in his seat. For some reason, the story unsettled him and he was reluctant to hear any more of it. But Anna continued with her tale.

"But he couldn't do it," she said. "He couldn't do that to the woman he loved. So they planned to run away. Far away. But the man they were running from was too powerful. He caught up and in front of her lover, killed the girl."

"I think I've heard enough," Kanji said. He was feeling very uncomfortable with the story and Anna's car was speeding up. There was a manic look in her eyes now as she sped through the empty road.

"The girl's soul was damned to hell," she went on. "Literally thrown into the unending hell where she is tormented everyday. Her lover was forced to watch her torture for centuries. So close and yet so far. He watched as she became a shell of herself, losing her worth and soul. And that was when he decided."

"Anna, stop the car!" Kanji yelled but she was driving at maximum speed.

"He decided to break open the gates of hell and release his lover," she whispered. "But for that, he had to find the key. The one who could open the gates for him. Tear open the divide between the living and dead to unleash the monster on earth. As long as he has his love, he does not care about the world. And to lure that person, he needs the body of someone who can lure her to us"

The car was now zigzagging like a maniac.

"STOP THE CAR!" Kanji demanded. To his shock, Anna had disappeared. He tried to gain control of the steering wheel but it was uncontrollable. The car sped into the forest towards a ditch with no signs of stopping as if it had a soul of its own.

"AHHHHH!" he screamed as the car fell into a deep ditch and somersaulted.

Kanji hit his head against the dashboard. There was a crack sound as his ribs fractured. The car spinned with him in it, falling deeper into the ditch before it stopped.

He lay inside the car, grunting in pain. Blood oozed out of his wounds and he was barely conscious. Opening his eyes a little, he saw a pair of feet approaching his way.

"Help" he moaned in agony. The person slowly walked towards him and wrenched open the door. He felt someone pulling him out of the car and laid him on the ground. Trying to look up, he could not make out the person's face. 

"Help" he begged. "Min...a"

"Young love is tragic," a cold and steely voice rang in his ears. But it was not simply an emotionless tone. Even in that state, Kanji could sense the sinister aura hidden in it, waiting to come out. 

Suddenly, his throat was grabbed by invisible hands and he wheezed. His eyes were popping out of his skull, the unseen hands throttling the life out of him.

"In order for my love to return," the man said. "Yours have to die. This body...this one won't last long. But your one will be useful in luring those two to me."

Kanji was in a daze. He felt his soul leaving, his life flashing by his eyes. It was just one image, slowly projecting in his mind as he saw the face he sought the most.

The last image he saw was Mina's teary eyes as his life was being slowly sucked out of him.

If I get one chance...just one chance

Can I just see her smile once again?