Vengeance to Gain

"Good morning, sir," An officer nodded as Jeremy walked by, carrying two coffees. He nodded somerly and walked into the interview room, where a young lady sat, playing with her hands. He closed the door and placed one in front of her before sitting down across from her.

"Thank you for coming in," He smiled weakly. She nodded and sipped the coffee. "Can you tell me what happened to Ivan?"

"He w-was your partner right?" She asked. He nodded. "I'm sorry. My pimp killed him when he realized he was an undercover cop. He was trying to help me,"

Jeremy frowned deeply.

"I didn't mean for him to die," She gasped, wiping her eyes as tears fell.

"It's alright. With your testimony, we can nail the guy-"

"B-but he's gone,"

"We'll find-"

"No. I mean.... he just disappeared right before my eyes. He was about to kill me then suddenly... he just vanished..." She gasped. Jeremy rose an eyebrow.

"Can you remember any details before then?" He asked, frowning deeply. She bit her lip then one came to mind.

"Yeah! He got a red envelope given to him. He opened it and then he disappeared," She gasped. He frowned deeply and got up.

"Finish your coffee then get yourself a decent meal, alright?" He said, placing a couple of bills on the table. "You've been very helpful,"

She nodded then he left and headed straight to the records department.

"Hey there, Shelly," He smirked, leaning on the door. The woman looked up and rose an eyebrow.

"What do you want?" She asked, looking under-impressed.

"I need some files on unusual disappears that involve witnesses mentions a red envelope. Got any?"

"Which decade?" She asked, unamused. Jeremy blinked.

"Decade?"

"Yeah. 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, or modern times?"

"Um... just how many cases of these are they?"

"My guess... over 6000 cold cases... and that's only the ones been recorded,"

"I'll take a few from each decade then,"

(***)

"Spencer," A voice made him look up from the files that Shelly had given him. He swallowed the mouthful of sandwich he had and nodded to a chair.

"Thanks for coming, Hook," He replied as the other officer sat down. "Ok so we have all heard the oddness of Ivan's case but turns out there's been similar cases from decades,"

"Ok?" Hook rose an eyebrow as Jeremy landed out the eight files.

"Read them," He ordered. Jason picked the files and carefully read over them as Jeremy finished his sandwich.

"This is odd. There's similarities to each of these cases," Jason mumbled. "Are they recent?"

"Those two are but these ones are from 1946, that one is 1952, 1966, 1973, 1984, 1990 and 2005,"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Only thing that connects them is the red envelopes and the suddenly and literal disappearances of the victims," Jeremy confirmed.

"Theory?"

"Serial killer. It's gotta be,"

"For this long,"

"Probably passed on through family,"

"So like great-great-grandfather started it then passed it on to his son and so fore?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, I guess we've heard weirder shit,"

"Yep,"

(***)

"What's this regarding?" The lawyer asked, crossing her arms as Ryan played his hands. Jeremy sighed.

"We're looking into the disappearances of Louise Campbell and her son, Corey," He explained. "Ryan, you stated that you met up with Louise in a coffee shop in the middle of the mall and then she disappeared in thin air. Several witnesses agreed on the same thing but several of them mentioned that you handed her a red envelope that disappeared after she opened it. Why did you give this to her?"

"Don't comment, Ryan,"

"Her son was also delivered a red envelope and then completely disappeared from his cell. We were able to trace this back to you but like his mother, the envelope disappeared. What was in the envelope, Ryan?"

"Are you suggesting my client set u-"

"There was nothing inside it. Or at least not, physically,"

"Excuse me?"

"It was a curse that marked their souls so that Vengeance and his crew could find them,"

"Vengeance? Who's that?"

"The man who made them disappear," Ryan replied. "And I'm glad he took them,"

"Took them? Took them where?"

"To their justified punishment," Ryan smirked before frowning. Jeremy rose an eyebrow. "But... it wasn't cheap,"

"Are you saying you hired someone to kill Louise and her son?"

"Kill? No. He didn't kill them. He took them both body and soul but yeah, I made a contract with him,"

"Then what did you mean by it wasn't cheap?" Jeremy asked. Ryan pulled his wristband off and showed him a weird burn mark on his inner wrist, which was shaped like a skull with wings.

"He didn't want money. Demons don't have a need for that but he made it clear what the price was,"

"Which was?"

"When I die, my soul joins them,"

"Join them? Join them where?" Jeremy asked. Ryan's lips curled into a sadistic smile.

"Hell,"

(***)

"Ok so this kid, Ryan, sold his soul in order to get Revenge?" Jason asked. "Man, that is fucked up,"

"Yeah. According to him, he had to go to an occult shop that only appears at Midnight in a certain area and can only be seen by those who seek revenge,"

"Wait... isn't that an urban legend? It's called The Wicked End right?"

"That's the one," Jeremy replied, pulling into Huntington's Home for the Elderly. He killed the engine and walked into the receptionist. A young woman looked up with a bored expression. "Hi, I'm Detective Jeremy Spencer and this is Detective Jason Hook. We're here to talk to Mrs Suzy Haner?"

"Um... sure but I should warn you. She has dementia," The receptionist sighed, sadly before leading them down to her room. "Mrs Haner, you have visitors,"

The two detectives waited patiently as the elderly woman looked over with a glazed look on her eyes.

"You're not Brian,"

"Brian?" Jason asked but the young nurse looked at them.

"Brian was her late husband. He died a few years ago," She replied. "These nice policemen want to ask you questions,"

She turned to them.

"I'll leave you to it," She smiled. "If you need anything, don't be afraid to hollar,"

"Ok. Thank you," Jeremy smiled before sitting down. "Hi, Mrs Haner, I'm Jeremy and this is my partner, Jason. We want to ask you about the suicide of your daughter,"

"She didn't kill herself," She gasped, looking at them. "Brian believed me,"

"Brian? Your husband?" Jason asked but she laughed a little.

"No, no. Not that Brian,"

"What Brian then?"

"His ancestor. Brian's family moved here after the salem trials but sadly, not all of them made it," She sighed, using her remote to lift her bed slightly as Jason sat down.

"Tell us more,"

"The Haner family was a rich family back in the 1600s but when the salem witch trials began, the elder son of the family was accused of witchcraft and hung without trial," She sighed sadly. "Brian was his name and in his honor, the Haners named a few sons after him,"

"Was he a witch?" Jason asked.

"He was gifted," She replied. "He could see the dead,"

"Like a medium?"

"Yes,"

"But you talk of him like you know him? Like he's still alive,"

"Oh, Brian's dead. We both know this but that doesn't mean he went into the light. He followed his family here before finally finding his place,"

"Finding in his place?"

"In the Wicked End," She smiled. Jason and Jeremy looked at each other.

"The Wicked End? What is that exactly?"

"An occult shop that provides a service," She replied. "That's how I met Brian, when I was seeking revenge for McKenzie,"

~1st December 1945, California

Suzy stumbled down the street, despite the air raids going off. She had spend the night down in a pub, drinking away her sorrows. She didn't care if a bomb took her life right now. She would get to see her daughter again if that happened. Everyone said that she took her life but she knows she didn't. Some bastard killed her and she would find a way to make him or her pay. She took a turn down an alley and wondered down towards the exist, only to find herself repeating herself. She frowned and saw a neon sign, lit up. She frowned deeply. It was supposed to be a black out but in the darkness, the light burnt brightly. She sighed as she walked over to check it out. She looked through a window but it was completely dark inside. She turned to the door and tried the handle. It opened and she walked inside, closing the door behind her. She looked round. Despite it been dark on the outside, it was dimly lit by oil lamps. She moved around and saw weird things on display like a rotten hand or a golden apple. She walked past them and noticed a noose on display. She stopped and frowned. Her husband, Brian, had mentioned that one of his ancestors was hung for been a witch during the salem witch trials.

"It was in the beginning of the trials," A voice made her jump and turn round. She swore and backed away. The very ancestor she had just been thinking about was sat by a table, shuffling tarot cards.

"Aren't you dead?!" She gasped as he placed three cards down and picked one up.

"Yes. You're married to one of my descendants," He stated, looking at it. "A happy marriage. Two children and a nice fortune,"

He picked up the second card.

"But then tragedy struck. Your daughter is gone," He frowned softly as Suzy sat down. "Lies surround her death,"

"They say she killed herself but I know her. She wouldn't take her life," She frowned deeply. "Even my husband doesn't believe me,"

"I believe you," He stated. "My great grandson should believe you too. The fact that he doesn't disappoints me deeply,"

He slid the final card to her and she turned it over, gasping softly as she looked at it. It showed a man burning in the pits of hell and herself looking over at him.

"Come back when you know his name," He stated then the lights went out and he was gone.

~Time Skip~

"Suzy! She took her life!" Brian shouted.

"No! She didn't!" She screamed back before taking out the card she had been given. "Your ancestor... he gave this to me!"

"What non-" He picked it up but went silent as he recognized the card. It was the hanged man card from his Ancestor's deck of tarot cards. The very cards he was buried with. "This is Brian Haner Jr's card!"

"Yes. He gave it to me! In that shop,"

"You took this from his grave?!"

"No. He gave it to me!"

"Impossible. Ghosts do not exist,"

"He was a medium himself!" She shouted, snatching the card. "I will go back when I know who killed our daughter!"

~End of the Flashback~

"Did you find her killer?"

"You tell me, detective," She smiled, showing him her inner wrist. Upon it was the strange mark that Ryan also had.