Author's Note:

Oh my goodness...I have never written so much in one sitting in my life. 

I wrote over 11,000 words for this final chapter so I will be splitting it into two parts. 

I am literally sore after writing so much but I'm so proud of myself for getting it done. 

I really do hope you enjoy this chapter at the expense of my sleep, ruined wrists, and cramped up fingers. 😂😅

Also, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY or 4TH OF JULY TO MY FELLOW AMERICANS! 🇺🇸🎇🎆

WARNING: CREEPY GIF, VERBAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE TO A CHILD, AND PHYSICAL ASSAULT TO A WOMAN.
 

Enjoy!

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"Chaeyoung..." Jimin whispered, body trembling as he rose from the ground. Jimin was panting heavily, his heart beating erratically in his chest. "Chae..." He slowly moved his body towards the girl who only stood in silence as she watched him. Chaeyoung observed as Jimin staggered his way over, something in her resonating the closer he got. "Don't...Don't get any closer..." 

Jimin heard Chaeyoung say but he didn't listen and continued moving. He could see something was happening to her the closer he got so he picked up the pace, standing just a few feet away before he was suddenly sent flying to the closest wall. He fell onto the floor with a loud thud, landing on a pile of bones that dug painfully into his back.

"I said don't get any closer!" Chaeyoung's voice was distorted with a mix of anger and desperation. Jimin attempted to get up but his movements only managed to trigger the angered girl further. He was flying towards a different direction this time, body slamming multiple times before he was finally released. His body was in horrible pain and he could feel something flowing down his forehead. He lifted his head up and glanced at Chaeyoung's direction, eyes widening in horror when he spotted the giant mass of black located directly behind her. "LeT ThE aNgEr CoNsUmE yOu." He heard the voice say, a dark chuckle of delight following after when Jimin was levitated off the ground and then thrown into a different area.

It was becoming insanely difficult to keep conscious let alone say something due to the immense lack of air from all the blows he had taken. Despite that Jimin still moved around, blurry eyes locating the smaller mass of black. Chaeyoung was surrounded by a prison of black smoke so she wasn't visible but he knew she was there. It was all around her like a cocoon hiding a beautiful butterfly. 

"W-Why are you doing this? W-Why are you playing a-around with her?" Jimin's voice was so soft it was barely audible but he knew he had been heard when a distorted laughter made itself known. "Killing her just like that is no fun, Park Jimin. What better way to watch her suffer than by making her kill the one who she cares for the most? Breaking her little by little until she loses all light in her eyes and her deliciously weak and twisted soul finally becomes mine for the taking." More laughter erupted filling the whole room.

Jimin clenched his bloodied fists and weakly pulled himself up, eyes glaring into the demon's direction. "S-she's not a toy! C-Chaeyoung is stronger than that! She will o-overcome this!" He did as best as he could to run towards the ball of black smoke that had consumed Chaeyoung after she slammed him onto the ground. "Chaeyoung! You have to fight it! Think about me, think about Jin hyung, think about Jungkook! He wouldn't want you to do this to yourself! Whatever happened wasn't y-your fault!" Jimin's words seemed to break something in Chaeyoung as a piercing scream filled the whole room followed by a tremble so strong the walls, floors, and ceilings of the mansion started cracking.

"DAMN YOU!" it was hard to hear the demon's voice over Chaeyoung's painful screaming but he managed and it was easy to tell that the demon was infuriated. "JEON JUNGKOOK DIED BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE AND YOU LET AN INNOCENT BOY GET IN THE WAY OF THAT...HOW SELFISH!" The black smoke covering Chaeyoung solidified and pulsated, becoming even bigger than it had been before. "IT WASN"T YOUR FAULT, CHAEYOUNG! LISTEN TO MY VOICE! JUST FOCUS ON ME! EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED WASN'T YOUR FAULT! IT WAS YOUR PARENTS! YOU ARE JUST A VICTIM! PLEASE FIGHT!" Jimin's voice cracked multiple times as he screamed his lungs out to overpower Chaeyoung's own voice. Her screams were endless and it broke Jimin's heart to hear the absolute pain in them but his voice seemed to be working as he watched the cracks forming on the solidified black smoke. "SILENCE!" Jimin gasped when he was suddenly swooped up by a large hand. Two sharp nails dug onto each side of his face, piercing through his temples. Jimin grunted in pain, his head feeling like it was about to pop from the pressure of the demon's fingers.

"I'm going to break you...just like I did with your eomoni, son." All the things happening in the room were suddenly happening in slow motion as Jimin glanced upon the spitting image of his father's face coming forth from deep within the massive mass of darkness. A part of him didn't believe it. That part of him believed that the demon was just using his father's image to wind him up. But there was the other part that stared deeply into the thing's eyes and knew. Something about him was familiar. Too familiar. There was a wicked grin on the man's face showcasing a set of razor-sharp teeth, his lips spread out unnaturally ripping through the skin of his cheeks, eyes were bloodshot and glaring straight at him, and his hair was a disheveled mess of tangled black strands.

(A/N: WARNING: CREEPY GIF BELOW)

Jimin's whole body went limp, memories of living with his father resurfacing after having forgotten all about them. Then, memories of his mother crying while holding onto a child version of him emerged. Finally, the memories ended with the horrific scene of his mother's blood adorning the floor and walls of the tattered hospital room. Rage consumed him little by little, his usually radiant glow becoming as dark as coal. "That's it...let the rage cOnSuMe YoU, sOn~" Jimin's insides twisted with feelings of disgust and pure hatred for the man in front of him.

He could feel the intensity of his negative emotions take control over his body but an anguished scream and the rumbling of the ceiling brought him out of his rage. "J-JIMIN!" he heard his name being called with such a strong emotion of need that the rage he previously felt and the smoke consuming him had vanished. "CHAEYOUNG!" All the darkness turned to light and before he knew it the demon was screeching in pain and he had been tossed a few feet from Chaeyoung. Jimin was dazed and unsure of what had just happened but quickly let it go as he noticed a hand reach out from the cracking shell of dense black. "Chaeyoung!" He instantly got up, yelping when pieces of ceiling started falling all around him. It took a bit for him to get his footing right but when he managed he was running full speed ahead towards the outstretched hand.

"NO!" The demon lunged towards Jimin who had already managed to latch a firm grip onto Chaeyoung's hand, pulling her out of the shell that was disintegrating into dust. Chaeyoung was breathing heavily, grabbing onto Jimin like her life depended on it. She was shining like a bright light, all the previous darkness completely disappearing from her body. She was back to being the pure semi-transparent and shining girl. Jimin held onto her protectively, flinching every single time a piece of ceiling crashed onto his back. They didn't have much time as the building felt like it was going to collapse at any moment. It wasn't that the mansion was still quaking but the trembling it went through before had been so strong that it was all coming down for good this time. Within a few seconds Jimin had located Chaeyoung's body but before they could reach it in an attempt to put her soul back in they were stopped. Both Chaeyoung and Jimin were sent tumbling out of each other's grasp.

Jimin watched in horror as a recently recovered Chaeyoung who was holding onto her head was suddenly swooped up by the demon, both fighting it out until they were headed straight towards Chaeyoung's body. "NO!" Jimin jolted up, forgetting all the pain his body was going through and ran for his life after the pair. Both Chaeyoung and the demon were being swallowed into the girl's body who still lay motionlessly on a bed of dead red roses. 

He didn't know how exactly he did it but he had been overcome with a feeling of determination and sudden lightness. He took a quick pause, ignoring the rumbling noises the mansion was making so he could quickly look behind him. There he saw his body lying still on the floor with a stoic expression on his face. He had somehow managed to rip his soul out of his body like Chaeyoung. Astral projection. He thought.

He had read that under circumstances people who could astral project could have their soul leave their body during sleep. That was the safest way to have the soul leave the body and would allow for ultimate protection. However, he had also read that on rare occasions a person capable of astral projecting could have their soul involuntarily expelled from their body when the body and soul were unbalanced due to intense emotions or other intense circumstances. That was the most dangerous because the person hadn't been in control so making their way back in would be extremely difficult. Their souls were left exposed, unguarded, and in danger of encountering evil entities that could ultimately take over them and kill them. Jimin shivered but he shook the negative thoughts out of his head, turned back around, and grabbed onto Chaeyoung's hand before darkness completely consumed him.

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A groan escaped Jimin's lips as his hands gently massaged his aching temples. He weakly opened his eyes greeted with complete and utter darkness. "W-What?" The memories of the last few minutes reemerged and he immediately sat up. "Chaeyoung?!" He heard his own voice echo around multiple times until it finally came to a stop. "CHAEYOUNG, WHERE ARE YOU?!" He shouted just to be answered back with his own echo again. He quickly stood from the ground and began to take a few steps forward. He had his arms outstretched in front of him, hands feeling around for anything at all.

It was pitch-black and dead silent, the only sound being his own panicked breathing. There was a lump in his throat, his blood was rushing, and his heart was about to explode. He remembered that in the final moments he had left his body and had grabbed Chaeyoung's hand as she re-entered her own body along with the demon. A chill ran down his spine when he recalled the demon's face that was previously shown to him. The demon had referred to him as "son" while sporting his dead father's face. He still felt mixed emotions about the fact, whether it be uncertainty, disbelief, or resentment. One thing was clear and that was that the demon made him terrified. Just thinking back to that close encounter made his breath labor and his knees wobble from fear.

He couldn't focus on that now though. He had no idea what had happened for sure back there but he figured that if he had managed to make his way in along with Chaeyoung then he was somewhere in her. He was also unsure of the effects an extra soul and a demon could possibly have on Chaeyoung's body but he didn't want to wait around to find out. He needed to leave Chayeoung's body with the demon as soon as possible. He wasn't sure where to start but he had to at least keep on walking and keep trying to call out Chaeyoung's name until he could make some sort of contact with her. Once together maybe they could figure something out and deal with a way of expelling the demon and himself out of her. He just hoped that as he wandered around Chaeyoung wasn't having a battle royale with the demon herself.

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After what felt like a year of walking and endless shout outs of Chaeyoung's name, Jimin could finally see a bit of light at the end of this endless tunnel. It wasn't the brightest of lights, in fact the light was flickering, but it was something he hadn't seen before so he ran like a madman to try to reach it. The more he ran the closer the light got and it made him immensely happy that it wasn't his mind playing cruel tricks on him. It only took a few more steps to visualize where the light was coming from and what it lighted underneath. In front of Jimin stood a tall white wooden door with a beautiful white wooden frame surrounding the outside of it. Above the door was a flickering light that was pointing downward. The only thing it lit up was the door and seeing as Jimin had no other options he reached out toward the doorknob and slowly turned it.

As soon as the doorknob turned Jimin moved away while watching in surprise and amazement as the door led to another door that opened by itself. The other door led to yet another door that also opened by itself and the pattern continued a few more times until all doors were finally open.

The last door was far from where Jimin was standing but he could see some light so he didn't think much of it and continued his journey towards the final door. He walked and walked until he made it to the final open door with a deep breath he gained some courage and walked straight through, jumping in surprise when the door behind him slammed shut. Jimin turned forward again and his mouth opened in shock when he glanced upon the extensively long corridor decorated with doors among doors on each side.

Each door was the exact same design as the previous ones he had walked through. They all had the white wooden frame along with the one flickering light directly above them. The only difference between the previous doors and these were that these had fading gold nameplates with what appeared to be different words on them.

Jimin gulped and clenched his fists at his sides, deciding to explore each door as a good place to start in order to find Chaeyoung. He didn't know how long it would take given the fact that the end of the corridor was pitch-black making it impossible to see the actual end but he knew he had to make it quick. He walked towards the door on the left of him, reading the nameplate that said 'ASHAMED' with mild confusion. He didn't ponder on the meaning behind the word on the door as he just turned the knob and walked straight in. After being in the darkness for a long time being hit directly with a bright light was like an attack towards his sensitive eyes. He had to turn away immediately hands rubbing at his eyes to try to calm the burning sensation. After the feeling went away he finally opened his eyes to scan what the door had led him to.

What in the world? He thought when he found himself in a children's playground all in grayscale.

Not only that but all the people had blurry faces and all the noises surrounding him were distorted. Everything also seemed much bigger to him for some reason. The trees were taller, the adults were larger, and his point of view was lower. He slowly looked down at his hands, eyes widening in shock when he saw tiny kid hands and tattered clothing. What's going on? As soon as his mind started rushing his body started moving. He couldn't control his tiny body as it ran around towards a crowd of unrecognizable children. "H-Hello...I-I'm P-Park Chaeyoung. M-Mind if we play together?" The high-pitched voice was coming from him and it was then that he realized that he wasn't a kid version of himself. He was actually Chaeyoung as a child. If that was true then he was reliving one of her memories, which would explain why he couldn't control himself as soon as the memory started. He could feel Chaeyoung's nerves deep within him, the tiny body trembling with anticipation as the blurry faced children stared at her.

(A/N: TRIGGER WARNING: VERBAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE TO A CHILD BELOW FOR 4 PARAGRAPHS)

"I-I'm good at hiding...w-we could p-play hide a-and seek!" Jimin could feel a bit of confidence as Chaeyoung's voice got a little louder. Despite her suggestion the kids still remained silent, just staring as if she was some kind of freak. It wasn't that he could see it but he could feel it. He could feel their eyes, piercing through him like knives. He felt the little bit of confidence she had built fade and as a last hope she raised one of her hands, reaching out towards the children in an attempt to touch him. Both kid Chaeyoung and Jimin flinched when a much larger hand swooped in and harshly smack her tiny hand away.

Jimin felt the shock, the sadness, the tiny child heart breaking piece by piece. Chaeyoung had raised her head and Jimin could see a blurry faced woman standing right beside the children Chaeyoung had asked to play with. "GeT yOuR fIlThY hAnD AwAy FrOm My ChIlDrEn!" The lady yelled distortedly and Chaeyoung took a step back. She lowered her head so she could stare at her now swollen hand. Jimin was angry internally but Chaeyoung's emotions were sorrow and shame. He hated that he was living this but it helped him understand first-hand what Chaeyoung had lived through. No child should be treated that way nor should they feel ashamed for just wanting to play.

"I j-just wanted t-to play...I-I'm sorry." Jimin felt the tears well up in Chaeyoung's eyes just to overflow and roll down her cheeks. He could hear the woman from before let out a sarcastic laugh before shoving Chaeyoung away and scoffing. "No. No OnE wOuLd WaNt To PlAy WiTh A fIlThY rAt LiKe YoU." Jimin could see as the world spun for a few seconds followed by a loud thud and a stinging sensation. Chaeyoung had fallen painfully onto the rocky ground, a soft hiss coming from her lips when rocks embedded themselves onto her hands and knees. Jimin was seething but all Chaeyoung felt was ashamed.

Chaeyoung lifted her body off the ground and bowed at the woman before she hurriedly ran away. All around Jimin could hear whispers of the people that had witnessed the scene. He could feel their eyes burning into him as if they were truly just looking at a filthy rat; it was suffocating. There was no pity, there was no sadness, there was no anger, there was no sense of justice. They just stared completely ignoring the fact that a young child had just been physically assaulted by an adult woman. A child who's knees and hands stung from the rocks that had been embedded onto her delicate skin. A child who was silently calling out for help. Desperate for anyone to listen to her silent signals. Yet no one cared.

Jimin could see through Chaeyoung's eyes that they were walking towards a shop's window, her reflection slowly coming into view. What he saw left him utterly heart broken. Through Chaeyoung's eyes he could see the dirty and uncombed hair. He could see the trails of dried tears running down her hollow cheeks. He could see the horrible state of her clothing; shirt covered in multiple stains and ripped practically to shreds. Yet what broke his heart most of all was that through Chaeyoung's eyes he could see what the girl truly felt in that moment. It wasn't sadness like he would have thought. No. It was something he never would have thought any child would feel at such a young age. Chaeyoung was ashamed. She was utterly ashamed of herself and who she was and that completely shattered Jimin's heart.

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This is too much. How could this bastard do this to her?! Jimin was on about the 70th memory/door and he was furious. He was utterly infuriated at the current memory he was reliving. He had already experienced so many of Chaeyoung's memories, some told by the girl herself before and some he had never heard about. The current one made his blood boil and he wished he would have met her sooner to prevent this from happening. It didn't help that the emotion outside the door had read 'Empty.' When Jimin had first read the nameplate, he had been extremely confused. He wondered if the particular memory had yet to be labeled but now that he could feel what Chaeyoung was feeling while reliving her memory he finally understood.

(A/N: TRIGGER WARNING: PHYSICAL ASSAULT TO A WOMAN BELOW)

It wasn't that the memory had yet to be labeled; it was that Chaeyoung was feeling just that. Chaeyoung was feeling empty. Absolutely no emotion was running through her at the very moment a man was beating her to a bloody pulp. The memory had started with a much older Chaeyoung having stolen a loaf of bread from a nearby bakery. She had just been wandering the area and hunger got the best of her. She just snatched it and ran; the angry baker having caught sight of her chased her until they made it into an alley. There the burly man smacked the bread out of Chaeyoung's hands and then pushed her down onto the ground.

Jimin felt her surprise but Chaeyoung's hunger and determination was stronger. Chaeyoung reached out to the bread next to her on the wet floor from the last night's rain. She could practically touch it but a foot slammed onto the loaf, crushing it before her very eyes. The man then kicked the trashed loaf behind him and Jimin could see as two feet placed themselves in front of Chaeyoung's face. "ThIs Is WhAt HaPpEnS tO dIrTy ThIeVeS." The man then proceeded to repeatedly kick Chaeyoung wherever his feet would land on. He aimed for her legs, stomach, chest, arms, and even head. Each blow made Jimin want to lash out and rip the guy's throat out but slowly he could feel how Chaeyoung gave up and just took everything without even emitting a sound.

Through Chaeyoung's eyes Jimin could see how the man's blurry face looked down at Chaeyoung's barely conscious body. He could feel the disgust with which the man stared at her. He then felt as something wet landed on one of Chaeyoung's cheeks; the man had spit on her. After that he wiped his shoes on Chaeyoung's clothes and then walked away, whistling as if nothing had ever happened. Jimin could feel how badly Chaeyoung had been beaten but still felt no emotion coming from the girl herself. Slowly, Chaeyoung started to move, her broken body painfully crawling across the alley until she reached the soggy, stepped on bread. 

Jimin felt like crying as he witnessed through Chaeyoung's eyes how she reached out to the mush on the floor and carefully brought it closer to her mouth. Her breaths were short and shallow, wheezes leaving her shivering lips.

Jimin felt like throwing up when the mush was right in front of Chaeyoung and about to enter her mouth. The bread was covered in mud and pieces of other junk but despite the nasty state of the food Chaeyoung still put a chunk of it in her mouth and began to chew it. Jimin wasn't sure when it started but he could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. Despite the tears and the situation Chaeyoung had just been through he could still feel nothing from her. Chaeyoung was completely void of any emotion. Just like the nameplate on the door, Chaeyoung was empty.

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Author's Note:

That's it for Part 1! 

The next part will be longer (:

See you in the next and final part then! 

P.S. Please forgive any of the mistakes you might encounter. 🙏😅