Pain
My heart! Whats wrong??!
Hours had passed but it seemed like it was taking forever for Yu Bin to reach the amusement park. Darkness had already dominated the sky and the moon had taken its rightful position. Yu Bin was glad to have gone before the police arrived. Though glad, she was still worried, for Hyo-Jin could have been harmed in some way. She had a premonition that something terrible was going to happen.
------------------------------------------
I opened my eyes slowly as it was difficult for me to fully awaken from my slumber. It felt as if i had been asleep for days but i knew it couldn't be true. Now that my eyes were open, i realised that my hands, legs and feet had been binded tightly to the sturdy pole i was leaning against. I was standing. I wondered how i was able to stand while i was unconscious. I struggled to release myself but the rope was too tight. I twisted my wrists in hope of loosening the rope's grip but it only caused my skin to burn from the friction. I gave in after a few tries as i was tired. I couldn't even sit! The place was pitch black and i was getting irritated as i couldn't see a thing! I remembered that before i had passed out.... Changjo was with me! He had gotten his driver to put a cloth on my face so that i would pass out! And he just stood there grinning to himself while he watched me struggle. Tears started to flow down my cheeks on that thought. To think that i actually trusted him. But why would he want to kidnap me? Why me? What feud do we have?
Then, a stream of dim light flowed into the place i was kept. I squinted my eyes as they adjusted to the light which had just entered. A figure appeared but i couldn't see who it was. It was just a dark figure.
------------------------------------------
The police squad van was on its way to the abandoned amusement park. AJ had not been allowed to go along with the police squad in the van as he was not officially reinstated as a police officer but this didn't stop him from riding his motorcycle there. He easily overtook them with his smaller- sized vehicle, swerving around bigger ones. Soon enough he was far ahead of them.
AJ arrived before them. He slowed down upon reaching the entrance to the amusement park. He saw a car parked opposite him and recognised the lady standing in front of the car. He approached her and asked, "Why are you here? Its dangerous. Your sister's kidnappers could be armed."
"But its my fault that she got kidnapped. I wanted to go in but i have a phobia of clowns and that amusement park there, has dozens of them." Yu Bin replied pointing to the park. Her face was serene but her frightened eyes betrayed her.
"Alright, you stay here until the police squad arrive. I'm going in first." AJ instructed, his tone serious.
"If you're not part of the police squad then, who are you?" Yu Bin demanded an answer forgetting that they had ever met before.
"I am a police officer but was not told to go along with the squad. Enough questions. I need to go now." AJ said entering the amusement park.
Yu Bin stood there, confused. She did not understand why a person who was not related to her sister wanted to join in on the rescue when he was not needed. She stared at his back as he made his way in.
AJ walked stealthily, afraid of attracting unwanted attention from the kidnappers. He even rejected the use of a torchlight to help him find his way as it might alert them. With danger lurking in the darkness, it made AJ feel more nervous. The scattered remains of the rides under the moonlight made the atmosphere eerie. The head of a clown mascot laid on the ground, its lopsided grin facing the cold hard ground. The two eyes painted on the clown head were wide, reminding AJ of a horror movie. The encounter with the clown head caused AJ to waver but he was mentally strong, giving him the advantage of focusing on his priority– finding Hyo-Jin.
AJ heard a defeaning scream before his surroundings turned silent once again. His heartbeat had doubled by the minute. That scream could only belong to Hyo-Jin. AJ needed to find her immediately.
------------------------------------------
I was struggling to keep my eyes open, to keep myself conscious. I had to stay awake. I couldn't give in to the sleep which was so inviting. I could still feel the pain swelling on my cheek. I could taste the red fluid which flowed in my body continuously. I was getting weaker with every strike directed at me. That man was ten times stronger than me but my will was so much stronger. With all the strength I had left, I managed to scream to get help. I heard a laughter from the right side of the room.
"Oh my dear Hyo-Jin. Would you please stop trying? You should save your energy for more 'activities' to come. No one will hear your voice. There is only you, me, and that man. Got it?" Changjo glared at me while pointing a finger to his driver.
I really wanted to go over to him and give him more than a mere tight slap. I could even punch him and disfigure his pretty face! I was seething with anger especially after hearing his 'glorious' explanation.
A door had been opened and the pitch black room; as i assumed, was lighted by the dim light. A dark figure entered and approached me. My guts told me that it was Changjo; the b*****d who kidnapped me but behind the figure, a taller dark figure followed. My brain was not working well then but i had much more important things to think through and i couldn't guess who the other mysterious figure was.
The second tall dark figure shut the door close and the room went pitch black again. I was startled when a lamp was all of a sudden and revealed one of the figures who entered the room – Changjo; just what i had expected.
"Changjo, why am I being kidnapped? I believe we don't have any feuds." I reasoned, emphasising on the 'I'.
He held the lamp close to his face, spreading light onto his features. He smirked and shook his head calmly. "Hyo-Jin, Hyo-Jin. Are you really that oblivious? Your sweet grandma must have told you something about what my family has against yours."
I was confused. I creased my eyebrows as i tried to make sense of what he said. "What are you seriously talking about? I don't understand. She never told me anything about that."
"Well, looks like you're going to die without knowing the reason why. How sad." Changjo put it simply.
I never knew how heartless he was. In the last few months i spent with him, he was never like this. He was a cheerful person, whispeing sweet nothings to me. Looks like i was mistaken. I only looked at his outer self and failed to notice his inner self.
"Why would i have to die? Even if i have to, you would never get away with it. The police would find you and....and you would be jailed!" I spat out the words.
He laughed slightly. "Oh, i'm so scared. What if they never find out? I will make sure nobody ever finds your body. Never."
I shivered at the thought of being buried in the dirt. My skin rotting under the soil and nobody would ever know that i had died such a pathetic death. I shook the thought away and attempted to shout. Changjo didn't flinch but instead slapped me hard on the cheek. The strong impact made my head turn all the way to the side. I turned back to face him, glaring at him.
"Don't be stupid Hyo-Jin. No one can hear you from here. But you are just a source of noise and i hate noisy people. I had to slap you to shut your mouth." Changjo said raising his eyebrows and tilting his head slightly to his left.
Once I broke off from my thoughts, I saw Changjo turn around to face the man who had been inflicting physical hurt on me. He nodded to his underling and that man moved closer to me, grinning as he did so. I panicked, I was scared. I was scared I would die if I received another blow from him. I wanted AJ to save me as he always did and bring me away from this horrid place. Wait, why did i think of him? As i struggled with my own thoughts, that man grabbed a handful of my hair forcefully and pulled hard on it. He knocked my head on the wall next to me. My head throbbed as if an electric bolt had passed through it.
I really felt weak. My legs were failing me. My sight was getting blurred.
---------------------
AJ ran towards the source of the shout he had heard. He ran past broken rides, left to corrode without a care. He tripped on a metal piece on the ground and stumbled down, spraining his ankle. He didn't bother. He gritted his teeth and stood up. He limped as he tried to run. At long last, he found a closed room which was once used as the control room for operating the rides. He opened the door hastily and limped in. He saw a man who was about to punch Hyo-Jin. He withstood the pain and ran towards him. He blocked the punch. AJ pushed the man away and checked on Hyo-Jin.
"Hyo-Jin ah! Stay with me. Don't close your eyes!" AJ said, holding her face with both his hands but Hyo-Jin was only able to catch a glimpse of him before she faded away.
"Noo!! Hyo-Jin! Wake up! Wake up!" AJ shook her face, only to be greeted by a lifeless Hyo-Jin.
Changjo's man pulled AJ from behind, catching AJ by the neck. AJ was caught by surprise and lost his balance. He fell to the ground and the man kneeled over him, punching AJ over and over again. AJ grabbed the man's hands and turned him over with much force. AJ was now over him and punched the man. Tears gathered in his eyes as he saw Hyo-Jin leaning on the pole, motionless. He kept hitting the man with all his strength until Changjo who had been standing at the side, witnessing the whole thing, came over and pulled AJ up by the collar.
"Let go!" AJ screamed in Changjo's face. AJ knew how Changjo was afraid of him despite Changjo's daring front.
Changjo flinched slightly as he saw the rage in AJ's eyes. AJ pushed him away and kicked him on the chest. Changjo stumbled back holding onto his chest with one hand, breathing hard.
"Police! Everybody put your hands behind your head or we will not hestitate to shoot!" AJ heard and looked towards the door where the police squad had arrived. He breathed out in relief. But the man who had been hit badly by AJ had gotten up, not because he wanted to run away. Instead he had reached out for a piece of wood and striked AJ on the head. Time seemed to have slowed down. AJ looked at Hyo-Jin before rolling his eyeballs and closing his eyelids. He dropped sideways to the ground, resting on his back. Blood flowed from AJ's head, staining the floor with its bright red colour.
At the moment AJ passed out, a bullet had been shot into Changjo's underlings's abdomen. He dropped to his knees putting his palm over the wound. His eyes were wide from shock, his mouth slightly ajar. A police officer with a hand gun in hand moved forward in the formation they were trained in. He checked for weapons before he went over to Changjo to handcuff him. Changjo readily surrendered, with his hands behind his head. Three officers had moved over to the injured casualties. Two more ambulances had been called in to take the three of them to the hospital for treatment. Hyo-Jin was the first one to be taken on an ambulance which had been put on standby near the scene in case there was an emergency. She seemed to be the most heavily injured among the three. Her head was bleeding. The corner of her lip was red from the dried up blood. Her wrists were red from the tight grip the rope had on them. She had slight bruises on her arms and face. Her school uniform was stained with blood and dirt. She was still unconscious and had to be carried on a stretcher.
When Hyo-Jin was being pushed into the ambulance, Yu Bin saw her. Yu Bin looked horrified at the sight of her sister. She insisted on following them on the ambulance to accompany Hyo-Jin.
"Hyo-Jin ah, be strong. You managed to stay alive. I am grateful for that. I won't let you leave grandma and me alone." Yu Bin said between tears, holding onto Hyo-Jin's hand. She sniffed and wiped her tears away.
"I will not let those a*****es off. I will make sure justice goes through." Yu Bin dropped more tears but with a more than determined face.
Once the nearest hospital was in sight, the paramedics told Yu Bin to be prepared to give way for them to push Hyo-Jin out.
"Get ready to sit back and let us to our job. Okay?" A female paramedic smiled reassuringly to Yu Bin.
Yu Bin replied with nod.
The back door to the ambulance was flipped open and they swiftly pushed Hyo-Jin out for a doctor in a white robe to attend to her while on the way to the emergency room. Yu Bin could only follow from behind. Tears fell uncontrollably as she saw her baby sister being attended to. She couldn't bear to look at the injuries on Hyo-Jin. Yu Bin was only able to wait outside while they treated Hyo-Jin in the emergency room. Hyo-Jin required an operation due to the injury on her head. Yu Bin paced about the entrance of the operating theatre only to be joined by her grandma shortly after.
"How is Hyo-Jin? Is she in there?" Grandma asked Yu Bin.
Yu Bin nodded. "Grandma i'm really afraid. I don't want to lose her too." Yu Bin hugged her grandma tight, bursting into tears.
"Shhhh. Don't think too much about it. We should think and hope for the best. Understand?" Grandma assured her.
Yu Bin let go of the embrace and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She nodded a few times and sat on the waiting chairs.
Time passed by slowly. Hyo-Jin was still not out from the operating theatre. To make things worse, Yu Bin could hear a lady wailing upon hearing about the death of her loved one from the doctor. Yu Bin got nervous as she was afraid that the same thing would happen to them.
Hey there! Sorry for not updating frequently. It is the holidays for me now but I'm not allowed to use the computer everyday. Maybe only twice a week? Well i've been wanting to thank the people who had subscribed but I always forgot. This time i remembered! Thank you to those who subscribed!
Do comment what you think about my story so far and do subscribe! It will be encouragement for me to continue writing! ^^
Comments