Marked By The Devil

:Knock, Knock:

The old man arrived absolutely sharp at 8:00 PM on that day. I knew I was potentially an opening door to a grim reaper, but now that things had come this far there was no backing off. After all, if the old man was half as good as Miho - and from their dinner together before the old man did seem like some sort of a mentor to Miho - he'd have no problem just picking the door open, coming in and killing me, and get out in less than a minute. 

"Hi."

I opened the door and greeted the old man, who was dressed in a black suit with a black tie, with his hands in his pockets. 

This attire wasn't a good sign for me. 

The man said nothing and just walked into my flat, and I instinctively stepped away, distancing myself from the approaching danger. 

He paid no attention to me though, and proceeded to open the shoe closet.

"What… what are you doing?"

The strange man scanned around as if to check my modest shoe collection, then threw a pair down the floor. I was too frightened to protest. 

He then stuck the closet and brought something out of his pocket, which seemed to be a small torch as I could see the light escape. 

"Sigh… that fool."

The old man sighed and shook his head. 

"What is it?" 

My curiosity overtook my fear. 

"Come have a look."

I took careful steps to approach and looked at where the man was pointing the light. 

It was faint, and I had to squint my eyes to see it, but there was a small X mark with a circle around it which seemed to have been carved with a knife. 

"This is Miho's mark."

"What does it mean?"

"It means this place, and everything that's in here - including you - is hers. Territorial marking. It's your lucky day."

The man then politely took off his shoes and impolitely marched into the living room, sitting down on the couch. He took out a couple of knives from his pocket and a few that were strapped around his ankles and wrists. He set them neatly in a row on the coffee table. 

He motioned to me to grab a chair and sit across the table with him.

"Mind if I smoke?"

He asked while taking out a pack of cigarettes and a Zippo lighter. 

"Absolutely."

That made him put the cigarettes back in. 

"So what do you want?"

He wasted no time to ask me. 

"I want Miho."

"You are putting a contract on her? That's not possible."

"No. I'm putting a contract on myself."

He leaned forward and chewed on his cheek from inside. 

"Excuse me?"

"And my request is that Miho does the job."

"That's not possible. She's dead."

"Let's stop the act here."

The man pulled out the cigarettes again, saw the disapproving look on my face, and put them back again. 

"Right, listen carefully, young lady."

So I listened. 

"She's as good as dead."

My heart sank. 

"You mean… she… became paralyzed or something?"

"No. Her body's fine."

The weight on my shoulders lifted. 

"Then what's wrong with her?"

"She's no use to anyone anymore. Her… mind isn't working right."

"I don't understand."

"She remembers some things but doesn't remember others. She can't take on any job, let alone even protect herself."

"Has her brain been damaged?"

"I guess you could say that. But it's not like she's pissing herself or drooling like a dog. She's perfectly fine. She's just not what she used to be."

"The cheesecake. Did she really tell you to give that to me?"

"That was real. She told me before all this happened. The night you ran away."

I felt a knot in my throat. 

"Listen, just forget about Miho. I've known her for a very, very long time. This is for the best. You don't know Miho in the way you think you do. You are gravely mistaken."

"I know she killed three men with a chopstick."

The old man chuckled. 

"She loves telling that story."

"And she burnt my friend alive in front of me. She also killed my boss right in front of me."

"And what did you do?"

"I fixed her tie."

"You are one crazy lady.", the man grinned. 

"So I know what kind of a monster she is. I'm not afraid. Let me see her."

"Do you know what she did after killing those three men with a chopstick?"

It didn't occur to me that she would do anything after she killed someone.

"No."

"She took their eyeballs out. All of them. With a chopstick."

My stomach turned just by imagining it.

"Why do you want to get killed?"

"I don't. Not now at least."

"So you were lying, just to get me to bring you to Miho. I don't appreciate that. That would have been enough reason for me to kill you right now. You are lucky that you've been marked by her."

"But I mean it. I want her to kill me. She actually promised."

"You know what? Once you agree to a contract, Miho really WILL kill you, IF she ever gets back to who she was before. Nothing and no one can stop her."

"So be it then."

"Why are you doing this? You've known her only for a few months at best. You are infatuated. That's all. Just let it go. You will forget about it all after a few months. Move on with your life. Do something fun. Get married. Have kids. Live your life. What's wrong with you?"

I dreamed of the extraordinary. 

Something magical. 

Something fantastic. 

I never knew my longing was for something disastrous. 

And when disaster struck, I broke down. 

Like a little baby, a weak girl, crying, pathetic. 

I knew it wasn't my fault that Miho came to Minji, but it was my fault that I didn't report Miho. I harbored her in my heart, in my house. I raised a monster, a monster who was always going to kill. I did all this knowing the consequences full well. I chose to ignore them out of my fascination with the devil. I fell in love with the knives that cut up people. I fell in love with the flame that burnt my friend. I fell in love with the absolute lunacy that sparked in Miho's eyes. 

I was no better. As disgusted as I was by the violence, as heartbroken as I was by Minji's death, and as terrified as I was of the vivid memories that will stay with me forever, those were the scars that Miho carved in me - I let her do that to me. 

She was tattooed on the surface of my heart. Beating and stretching with every thump. Invisible, but inseparable. 

When I thought I killed her, something in me changed. Something in me broke, and I was liberated. The guilt I would have lived my whole life with, and the bitter-sweet taste of revenge that would have tainted my mouth forever - there was never going to be a closure. 

When I found out that Miho was alive, I found my savior and my doom. I found a thread of life to hold on to and the same thread would tie a knot around my finger and lead me to hell. 

I couldn't go back to the life I lived. It was hardly a life. A life that was insignificant in every sense. 

I wanted to soar into the sky like a flaming jet plane.

And crash and burn. 

Crash and burn. 

"I can't live without her. And I can't die without her."