21st December, Year 2005, Massachusetts

"Time impacts us in strange ways, and as a result, it's a bit of a paradox. We often dread how it can hold us captive when we lack the right amount of stimulation in our lives. So, we turn to doing various activities in an attempt to kill time. When time drags on in a snail's pace, it brings upon us an unbearable boredom; and when it seems to slip through our grasp, we become acutely aware of the inevitable end that awaits us. All things come to an end eventually. All of us must depart this world at some point. That's what makes every single day we have precious. The certainty that we have only a finite time is what endows life with its priceless value.

"Jonghin, my best friend, your untimely departure has left an unfillable void in our lives. We fondly remember the times we spent together - laughing until our bellies hurt, supporting each other through thick and thin, and dreaming of a future full of endless possibilities. It is devastating to accept that you are no longer physically with us, but your memory will forever live on in our hearts.

"We may not have done enough to give you with the love you deserved, Jonghin, but our hearts are full of hope that you're happier now..."

Mason didn't wait. As soon as his speech ended, he made a beeline to the end of the rows and sat there. He spent the entire time watching Dani and her twins closely. His own son, Tobias, sat by the twins, consoling them however he could. Tobias had lost his mother too and who could understand the kid's grief better than him.

It was an eerie night that followed. The funeral was over, the condolences were offered, the family was in car, and Mason was back at the attic. His quest for truth had led him here. To an unpacked, forgotten room that held secrets within.

Mason had barely slept since the night his best friend Jonghin had passed. At first, everyone thought it was a heart attack, but something about it bothered Mason. The way Jonghin had been acting in the days leading up to his death, the cryptic messages scrawled in his journals. Something was off. And Mason was determined to find out what.

Contrary to his tiredness, Mason couldn't comprehend with what he had seen at Jonghin's room back at the University. He had broken down the door with the help of a fellow student, but did the boy really see what he had perceived? He saw that himself too. He saw him right there staring at his friend with eyes open wide, in a sense of relief and success.

Not heeding to the unnecessary chaos dripping behind him he made his way back to the mansion, his feet in frenzy as he made his way up the stairs to the room up in the attic. Finding the truth wouldn't be easy, that was for sure. Then there was the question of whether or not Mason really wanted to know the truth. That's the thing that bothered him most. It wasn't the difficulty of actually finding out what happened that was the obstacle, but having to live with that information once it was found.

Jonghin would always think beyond the horizon, and his little home to every other notion was Mason.
Clenching his eyes in horrid defeat he accepted that all that he saw in the room was just him mid, Jonghin had died of a heart attack, nothing more, nothing less.

It took him a mere few minutes as he combed the key out of his deep trench pocket and unlocked the door closing it behind him. The attic was a mess, a mess the family had brought alongside them. Boxes, and webs and secrets, demanding, puny little secrets. Shovelling the carcasses of dead memoires his tired mind fell scattered, there was so much yet so less to turn anything back, he knew that yet he couldn't give up. One box past another and nothing but clothes, and pictures and nothing, nothing that could even solve any dilemma.

"Listen up, buddy! Rule number one: You gotta keep those peepers wide open. Shutting your eyelids won't magically erase the chaos around you. Trust me, things will only escalate when you dare to crack 'em open again. Welcome to the real world, Mr. Green. It takes guts to face it head-on. Any dolt can play hide-and-seek by closing their eyes and stuffing their ears. But newsflash, darling: time ain't gonna freeze just because you can't handle it."

So he did, he did what Jonghin always told him, his rampaged through the trunks and heaps of papers, and boxes and cottons and silk until he reached right beneath; a rufus enamoured velvet wrapped around the scarring terror, the old shiny needle coated in blood, fresh blood.

He sorted through old photos and yellowed letters, his tired eyes scanning for anything out of the ordinary. Until he found it. A velvet wrapped bundle at the bottom of a dusty trunk. Unwrapping it with trembling hands, his breath caught in his throat. It was an old, bloodstained syringe.

"Jonghin... What have you done?" Mason whispered, his voice shaking.

He thought back to their conversations, all the nights Jonghin had begged him to try it, to give in to the temptation of a hidden power. "Imagine if we could fly, Mason! Break free from all this earthly nonsense!" Jonghin would say, his eyes wild with enthusiasm. "You feel it too, don't you? That's not just a fantasy, it's a secret we're meant to uncover!"

But Mason had always refused. Secrets like those sounded like foolish notions to him, comic book fareish. He had a life to build, a future to plan for. Joghin's obsession only grew more intense though. And now, staring at the blood slicked syringe, Mason feared the worst.

"You shouldn't have touched that, none of us does that. None."
A weary voice, a voice for speaking long after midnight, a voice to be used when all paths are blocked, when castles have fallen to ruins, when morning will not come again.

There are different types of secrets. He had held onto plenty of them during her life, but this one was different.

"Y-you? I-I wa-as-s right-t!" For what Mason saw wasn't his favourite, no. He wanted to be wronged this time, that his intuition was misplaced. Alas, his instincts had never led him astray before. They wouldn't now.

The boy's glazed eyes locked onto Mason's face, confusion and dawning horror slowly filling them.

"You aren't ever wrong, never..." A blemishing little cackle trailing behind those words.

"But-"

"It was his gift, he chose it..." The voice spewed tales.

"Please, it isn't you!" Mason cried over the spilled milk, letting the needle fall he walked up to the twin trying to pull him out of the trance. How could his own flesh and blood do such a thing? To his own father, no less! He knelt and shook the boy's shoulder. "Snap out of it, dammit!"

Mason wasn't exactly sure how he had ended up in this predicament. He ran through all the events that had led to this current situation and it still didn't make sense. He wanted to spend some time to try and make sense of it all, but he had higher priorities at the moment. He had less time, too less.

A needle, and a copper bounded one. Jonghin was allergic to copper.

Mason's stomach plummeted as understanding crashed over him. The twin had chosen a copper bound needle, knowing Jonghin's lethal allergy. The price for their freedom was his life.
Jonghin. Gone, because of him.

Mason abruptly grabbed the twin, slamming him against the wall. He squeezed the boy's throat, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. "You little monster! What have you done?!"

"For fuck sake...sssh," the twin barely smiled yet held a salvaging aura all around him, a scathed temperament as he enacted his words with the finger grazing his lips. It was like Mason's hold had no effect on him.

"Don't forget that gifts often come with costs that go beyond their purchase price," the twin muttered bitterly.

"Price? You call that a price? He's DEAD because of you!" Tears streamed down Mason's face, blurring his vision. His own flesh and blood, the boy he'd raised as a son, had just murdered his father. And for what?

"When you purchased Tobi the latest smartphone, you also committed to a monthly phone bill. When you purchased the latest gaming system, you're likely not going to be satisfied with the games that come with it for long and want to purchase new titles to play. When you buy gifts it's important to remember that some come with additional costs down the road that can be much more expensive than the initial gift itself. He bought my safety, uncle Mason, it costed him his own life..."

Mason lunged again, fisting his hand in the boy's shirt. "Shut up! This isn't over, you hear me? You don't get to win here!"

"Oh, but I already have," the twin purred, eyes glinting with malice. "You just need to accept it, uncle Mason."

__________

Do you think exorcism is okay for a five year old?