The Silver Serpent Society. Chapter Three.

I slam my fist on the briefing room table, rattling the stale coffee cups and pastry crumbs littering its surface. This ragged bunch of misfits in rumpled dress blues is my so-called task force - assembled to share intel and finally solve the Nyx Vesperra case that has cast its dark shadow over my career for almost two decades.

I take a deep breath reining in my frustration and begin. Fifteen years ago, Nyx Vesperra was a talented up-and-coming painter and community activist - smart, idealistic, committed to justice. All that changed when her younger sister Ava, a star student at the city university, took her own life.

I pin grainy morgue photos to the dated corkboard - Ava’s body marked with lurid bruises clearly suggesting a violent end. The official autopsy said suicide but the signs point to much more. Whoever the monsters were that took this bright young girl’s future, they destroyed Nyx’s faith in the system. Consumed with rage and grief, she took justice into her own hands.

I slap down more photos, these of male victims, wealthy VIPs found tortured and executed gangland style. Nyx studied her targets - corrupt power players known to abuse women. Then she’d pose as hired evening ‘entertainment’ to gain access. What she did next...” I trail off and the cops in the room squirm under my gaze.

We had at least six incidents bearing Nyx’s signature MO - vengeance kills targeting repeated unprosecuted sex offenders. Those she couldn’t legally touch, she exacted punishment on as their personal terror. I shake my head angrily remembering. “We engaged Nyx in three separate armed standoffs over 14 months of bloodshed. She displayed almost supernatural cunning and physical power, shrugging off flesh wounds and tear gas even after multiple gunshots.

I meet each officer's nervous eyes. “Then came the factory. We received a tip Nyx had taken refuge in an abandoned warehouse. Twelve squad cars responded, over 40 officers.” Hanging my head ruefully I admit, “It was a bloodbath. Several cops were critically injured, but no remains of Nyx Vesperra were ever identified at the scene.

I pin up a final photo: this ritual murder we now believe after 15 years marks Nyx’s resurgence. “Note the differences and nuances - she has evolved her methods. But the target fits her victim profile.

I scan the room. I point to photos of luminaries at a secretive cabal known as the Phoenician Club. “Here are her likely next targets if connections to past victims are indicative. We get ahead of Nyx Vesperra this time or her vengeance won’t stop until the blood flows like wine at their soirees!

The task force trades uneasy but determined glances. We prepare, consider leads, burdened by past failure. This time I vow not to underestimate this unpredictable vigilante killer again.