Broken • Choi Yeonjun

Like you

I felt the knife going in me, I felt my own heart slow down, I felt my head swimming as I lost blood, I even felt my last strangled breath before everything went black.

"You did die, yes." He answered as if we were talking about the weather, to casually for letting someone know they had died.

"Then how am I here?" I look down at the spot I had been stabbed, there definitely was no hole, no blood running down my stomach, nothing but a torn shirt with old blood. "Am I dreaming? Is this my own hell?"

"Oh, this is far from a dream and it's no hell. Hell is a lot worse then this. It seems it wasn't your time. When I killed these demon tainted people, your soul returned to your body and you came back, simple really." He shrugged as if it was all so simple, like he said.

"Simple? How is any of this simple?" I throw my hands up as I turn away for a second trying to gather my thoughts, nothing has been simple since I had stepped foot into this part of town, somewhere I knew I shouldn't be.

"It's simple when you've been around it for many years, everything about life and death becomes simple."

As I think over the past few hours I start to feel like he was lying, how was all of this simple? These people were tainted by demons? They killed me for some reason and then I came back because this crazy man killed them? How was that simple? How was this not a dream?

"Why did they kill me if it wasn't my time? I thought no one died if it wasn't their time?"

"Many people die before it's their time, really. You just got lucky they were trying to sacrifice you to the demon that possessed them, your soul was in limbo because I killed them before they could send it off to their demon 'boss', then when that demons presence on earth was gone, your soul returned to where it came from."

Again how was this real?

"But how is my body healed?"

The man sighs as he pushes off the wall and walks towards me. "You really have a lot of questions."

"And you wouldn't?" I ask, crossing my arms as he stops a foot away from me, the smell of blood hitting my nose again as he stirred the blood that was slowly drying on the floor.

"I would just be happy my soul didn't end up being sacrificed to a demon."

"I guess we're different in many ways then, because if this is real I want to know everything about what's going on." I wiggle my nose a little to try and ease the sting from the strong metallic smell.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. But, no way can I explain everything to you right now, I don't have the patience for that and I have to clean this mess up."

"You expect me to just walk home like this, covered in blood and not knowing why I'm even alive?" I wanted to grab him by the front of his shirt and shake him, but I didn't have the balls to do that.

"Yes, just know it wasn't your time and that you have a second chance at life, use it well." He waved his hand at me as if dismissing me.

I open my mouth to protest, but stop when he gives me a look that shut down any complaints that were about to leave my mouth.

"Leave now before I decide it is your time to die."

I take a step back and ball my fist as I fought the urge to say something, maybe I should just leave and forget about tonight, maybe it was all a bad dream.

I turn and head for the door of the abandoned warehouse, only stopping for a second at the door before shaking my head and continuing my way out to the streets that had led me here.