Koryos

A week ago, the news covered a murder story. Victim was found in his home with claw marks on his chest, just torn to shreds and most likely bled to death. However the scene shows that it was more like his heart was removed from his chest and just exploded. Blood was splattered on the walls and ceiling. The authorities are suspecting it to be a plain old murder, however there were no signs of force entry and no dna evidence was present. If that was the case then they would not be asking us for help.

“Magnus, buddy you alright you look like you're zoning out?”

“No, I’m fine just focusing on the case, judging by what we got from the cops. It seems like we are dealing with a ghost, or some kind of spirit. But what I can't figure out is the connection. The victim, Arthur Smith has no priors, has never done time in prison, dude is clean as a whistle.”

“Okay, so rule out the basic vengeful spirit. Then it's gotta be some spirit tied to an object that he had, or some sort of family curse, like a Banshee.”

“Maybe either way, get your kit Logan. We gotta go.”

“Want me to grab the others?”

“Sure might need the whole group for this.”

The group consisted of Haru the deer, a man from Japan who specialized in research and identification as well as our more swifter friends. Logan the wolf, an American with roots in the Navajo tribe, one of the wiser and more tempered individuals. Eztli the eagle, a man from Mexico, a vigilante individual and the most aggressive. And Anton the honey badger, a slavic guy who like his beast, is insane and fearless. As we were getting ready to leave our base in the old subway tunnels we did one last final check on our gear. Sage, wolfsbane, nightshade, holy water, salt, exorcisms, spellbooks, silver knives and bullets, rock salt shells, talismans, totems, charms, oils, blessed weapons and relics, and tried and true firearms. With our final checks out the way we drive up to the victims home. He lived down in Brooklyn, New York. In some old rent controlled apartment on the fourth floor. Room 432.

“Logan, can you pick the lock?”

“Of course I can, simple five pin lock. Just give me a minute.”

“We got a limited amount of time to work so better…”

“Done. Now what were you trying to say, Ez?”

“Can we please just get to work?”

Once inside, the investigation begins. Like I suspected, no force entries. But now it's time for the nitty gritty. Just from a brief smell of the room, there are no traces of sulfur. But there is an overpowering smell of iron, most likely from all that blood.

“Okay, so there's no hint of sulfur. Which means we are not dealing with demon possession. So it's definitely some kind of spirit. But what?”

“Hey, maybe the umbrella did it. Or maybe it was the walls. What do you think Haru?”

“Don't you joke about yokai Logan. They can be very dangerous and they are everywhere.”

“Guys, can we just for once do our jobs seriously and not poke jabs at each other?”

Now that they are under control, let's see what other evidence we can scrounge up. Nothing in the room is giving off an evil presence so it's not a cursed object. Hang on a minute.

“Guys, I think I got something.”

“What is it?”

“A note taped to a framed photo of our vic and a woman.”

“Okay but what's on it?”

I can’t stay here right now.

I’ll be staying with my sister, don’t come looking for me.

“Alright, now we know that the vic had a girl, and that must be her in the photo. So the next move is to look for her.”

Just a single sniff of the paper was enough to get her scent which made her easy to track.

“Alright Ez and I will go after her. Haru, go see what you can dig up on Arthur. Logan and Anton go through the building to see what you can get from the neighbors. Call if you find anything.”

Arthur Smith, a guy who managed to go his entire life without causing a ruckus. Why were you targeted by a yokai? Who exactly did you manage to piss off? Lets see what records the government keeps on you. Looks like Art has a brother, Jason Smith. Went to Yale and then law school. Member of a law firm with two other people, one Mary Thompson and Dan Thompson. A married couple who created the firm with Arthur, and all were classmates. Okay, but something else is there. Maybe his partners might be a part of it. Dan and Mary Thompson married for eight years till Mary died in a car accident, drove right off the Brooklyn Bridge about a month ago. Body was recovered and buried. Better tell the others before heading over to see Jason.

“Hello ma’am, my name is Logan and this is my friend Anton, we are looking into the death that happened a few doors down. I hope we are not bothering you but we have some questions about your neighbor Arthur Smith. Do you know what happened to him?”

“To be more accurate, do you know why someone would want him dead, did he rub some people the wrong way, what dirty little secrets did he have?”

With a quick motion I gave that fucking jackass a smack to his head.

“Sorry for my friend, Anton can be a bit insensitive.”

“It’s alright, look Arthur was a good guy. He helped around the building and was just a pleasure to be around, same thing went for his girlfriend Angelia. They could make a room a little brighter.”

“Went? As in past tense. What happened to her?”

“She left him a few days before he died. Apparently she caught him making out with some other girl at a bar…”

“I fucking called it!”

“Anton, shut the fuck up.”

“Look, that's all I know. I'm sorry.”

“Don’t worry, you gave us some new information. Thank you.”

“Okay, now that we know I was fucking right, we better tell the others, but first I’m gonna try and get that girls number.”

“No Anton, we got work to do. So let's just get through the rest of the neighbors and then we leave.”

Just one more block till we get to where the girlfriend is living, maybe she has some answers.

“Magnus, dude you really need to stop that shit. It's freaky, you look like you're about to kill someone when you zone out like that.”

“I’m sorry I can't help it, it's just… a little clearer in my mind, keeps me focused, keeps me in check. Stops me from going off the rails you know.”

“You're telling me that the big grumpy bear is afraid of flying off the rails. Why?”

“Well you know how the shamans and druids merged our souls with an animal's soul to make us stronger, faster, tougher, and heighten our senses. That's why. My soul was merged with a bear, an animal that likes isolation and can go from zero to a hundred real quick. Because of that I’m more emotional, and if I’m not careful I can kill someone just for saying one word when I’m in a bad mood.”

“Okay, but that really shouldn’t stop you from being somewhat normal. The chief wants us to live our lives. You know, I heard that Jenny, that new shaman was asking about you, maybe you should take her on a date once this is done.”

“I’ll think about it. Anyway, we are here.”

Knock, knock, knock.

“Yes?”

“Hello ma’am, my name is Magnus and this is my friend Ez. We are looking into the death of Arthur Smith and heard his girlfriend was staying here, are you here?”

“No, I’m her sister Wendy. Look, she's not really in the mood to talk. Maybe you can come back another time.”

“Sorry, but that's not possible at the moment. Can you please just tell her that it's urgent.”

“No, I’m sorry…”

“It's okay Wendy, let them in.”

Well, that was a little more difficult than I expected but at least we can finally start asking questions.

“Thank you for letting us in. I’m Magnus and this is Ez.”

“Hi, I’m Angelia. What do you guys want?”

Hm, wearing sweatpants. Hair is not brushed and eyes are puffy and red. And smells of vanilla ice cream.

“We came to speak with you about Arthur Smith, we heard you were his girlfriend.”

“I am, or I was.”

“Do you mind explaining what happened? We know he was found dead, but one thing we can't figure out is this note you left him. Care to explain?”

“It was just after Mary's funeral, Arthur was feeling depressed and started to drink till he could barely stand. I saw him making out with another woman at the bar and left him that note.”

“Okay, but judging from your eyes. It seems like you have done nothing but cry since Arthur was found dead, seems a bit much for someone who cheated on you.”

“It's a bit more complicated than that. Just a day before he died, he sent me a text apologizing. He said that the girl he was with was an old friend from law school who also knew Mary. They used to date back then and well they were both grieving over their friend and ended up drinking till one thing led to another. He told me that he just wanted to talk to her about Mary, but she was the one who made the first move. She even sent me a message as well telling me that she was sorry, that it was her fault. Talking about Mary brought back some old memories for her.”

“Alright, well is there anything you can tell us about Mary?”

“Mary was one of my old friends from highschool, she was the one who introduced me to Arthur. She died almost a month ago, her car went off the Brooklyn Bridge. Poor thing, she shouldn’t have been driving. Not in her condition.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was crying, and she was very angry. She sent me a text just a few minutes before she died, saying that she caught her husband Dan cheating on her with their secretary.”

So Mary is the one doing this, her soul was so filled with rage at her husband for cheating on her that she cant move on, and is taking it out on people who cheat on their partner. She’s a white lady.

“Thank you very much Angelia, I think we got all that we needed. We’ll see ourselves out.”

So, it's a white lady we got. That explains how Arhtur died, so who is the next target? It can be just anyone in this country who just can’t keep it in their pants.

“Magnus, check your phone. It looks like Haru pretty much came to the same conclusions as us. He was part of a law firm with Mary and Dan Thompson, she drove off the bridge. Logan and Anton didn’t really dig up much, just that Arthur cheated on Angelia with another girl. Want me to send them a message?”

“Just tell them what we found and tell them to head towards Dan Thompsons home, we got to end this now. But have Haru head to Mary's grave with salt, lighter fluid, and matches. Just in case.”

Dan Thompson, lawyer and a cheating son of a bitch who most likely deserves what's coming to him. But the chief would rather we save him and I can't argue with that.

“Anton knock on the door.”

Anton for some reason knocks on the door in the rhythm of a shave and haircut.

“Yes, can I help you gentlemen?”

There's that bastard's face. Resist the urge Magnus, resist it. Hm, fuck it.

Crack

“Magnus what the hell!?”

“This fucker deserved a punch to the face. Anyway your wife is killing people, more accurately her spirit is. The feeling of betrayal and rage is preventing her soul from moving on and is taking out her anger on anyone who happens to cheat. Now we are here to make sure that for some reason, you don’t die.”

We spend the next hour preparing, getting our weapons together. My iron axe, Ez’s macuahuitl with iron teeth, Anton’s iron saber, and Logan's iron gunstock club. We place salt at the base of each window and air vent and finally a circle around Dan, our bait. Four hours pass as we wait. Till finally she shows, the room grows colder and colder. Frost begins to form on the window and the moisture in the air freezes as well. Finally she is here. She finally shows her face, a lady dressed in a white gown, with shards of glass lodged in her head and one in her neck, all from the car crash. And blood dripped from her eyes.

She slowly floated closer to Dan. Ignoring us, till Logan striked first, and when he did her body disappeared from the room, now she was focused on us. She returned and without lifting a finger tossed Logan out a window. Ez and I attack next, first with his macuahuitl. Causing her to fade and before she can do anything I follow up with my axe and Anton pierces her frozen heart with his saber. We continued with this dance for thirty minutes, Logan with some strength managed to return to the fight. But soon none of us had any strength left in us. And she was still present in the room. She slowly walked towards Dan, who was full of fear and tears in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Mary. I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have died the way you did, it's all my fault. Please, end it all, you deserve to be happy, to be at peace.”

Dan proceeded to leave the circle of salt, with arms open accepting his fate. We only had one chance at this, to single Haru to salt and burn her bones, to kill her spirit and give her peace. But before I could reach my phone, Mary had forced her hand through Dan's chest. In one pull she managed to rip his heart from his chest, and I could still hear it beat. But Dan was smiling, he was happy to correct his mistake. Then Mary's body started to fade into light, and the room started to warm up. Mary had gotten her revenge and managed to move on. We leave Dan's home beaten and broken, and meet with Haru.

“We failed.”

“I’m not so sure, a white lady won't stop killing once it gets its vengeance. She was something different.”

“Maybe, but we still have to tell the chief what happened tonight.”

Then our phones all vibrated, and on it was a message from the chief.

Good work tonight, not every mission will end well, and you can’t always save everyone. These things happen, all that matters is that you keep fighting the good fight and protecting people. Now report back to the tribe, we got more work to do.