Satan's Gift

Chapter Fifteen: Untold Tales

"Well, sir. I don't know how to explain this. I kinda saw a vision in which I saw this place, most probably in its early stages," I saw the man's expression changing as I begun to explain.
"I know, you may find this absurd. At the time, the man in charge was selling potteries and had a jewellery section of some sort but they weren't for sale he had said," I added on as he listened with his eyes squinted and fixed sharply at me.
"Ahm... do you happen to know anything about it? See, whatever I saw in my vision have had a direct impact on my life. This store was a big part of that vision," I concluded as the old man took off his spectacle and sighed.

"Well, that's quite extraordinary... son, you'll have to tell me more in order to help me help you better here," the man prodded. His face was slowly turning into a picture of concern. It took me quite a lot of thinking in order to present my story in a way that it didn't sound absurd to the guy. I begun telling him the story without mentioning about my powers, supernatural occurrences or the catastrophic outcomes that followed. I did mention our Hanks research and some things that I may have added were false. After listening to the story... well, whatever that I told him of it, he stood up again.
"I advise you to drop this research and go back to wherever you came from!" The man said sternly as his expression was a mixture of anger and fear.
"Wait, why!?" I questioned the man, urging him to spill what he knew.
"You don't know about this place. You're in danger!" The man growled as he took a step back.
"We already fought with danger!" A familiar voice said from my left. I saw Xenette taking charge.
"Sir, there's no such thing as safe in our lives right now as long as we do not get to the bottom of this," Xenette worked her influence as the man stared for a while.
"You don't understand! There are people who'll come after you! There are dark secrets associated with this town," the old man muttered.
"We've already seen it all. There's no going back for us... if you can't help us by telling us what you know then that won't drive us back. It'll only make our quest harder but we aren't stopping," Xenette replied stubbornly, standing sternly on her ground with confidence. The old man took a few steps back and took a seat on an armchair as his face turned into a picture of sheer concern.
"Alright...," the old man said taking a deep breath. I didn't know his name, so let's just go with 'old man'.
"My great grandfather used to be a collector of ancient artifacts. Today, it might not be worth much for most people but for some people, it is worth killing for... and they did," the old man stood up and walked toward the entrance, closed the door and flipped the open sign to "closed". He turned around and slowly walked to the counter area and opened a door that led to the office area.
"Follow me," the old man instructed and walked as we followed. He took a right from the office area into a dark, small corridor. He then took a left and turned on the lights of a room which looked like a stock room. He opened a drawer and pulled out a dusty old book and thumbed it on a table nearby.
"Come here," he commanded. He flipped few pages before my eyes. It had ancient information. Some before Hanks but most certainly related.
"In the past, many have tried to crack this sinister mystery and many have failed and suffered the consequences," he said and flipped through some more pages nervously.
"Gary Malcolm, an author of a series of books inspired by serial killers, made a mistake of getting himself into the case of Hanks," he said flipping another page.
"The result? His death...!" My eyes opened wide as I looked into his cold eyes as if I could see everything transpire.
"In 1989, Malcolm died under mysterious circumstances. He committed suicide after leaving a note saying 'I couldn't live knowing of its evil'," the man said and flipped few more pages.
"This is my great grandfather. He was one of the first owners of this store," he pointed at a black and white picture which appeared blurry but it was enough for me to recognize that he was the same man from my vision.
"He died simply because he had something that could kill Hanks..." I looked at the man with a furrow after this statement.
"That's correct, son. Hanks was no ordinary man anymore. He was invincible... only reason he escaped English soil was because he knew that this country held something that could destroy him," he started flipping the pages again.
"Before he left the country, he came to pay my great grandfather a visit... and it didn't end well for him either. Far as I know, the thing could only destroy Hanks by taking away his powers. It only made him vulnerable. It was the only thing that could have the Satan's powers in its grasp!" He added as my mind processed every bit of information.
"What was that thing called?" Xenette asked the man as he made a long face.
"They called it Vedra. But I don't know what it is or what it looks like. All I know is that it's sold long ago from here," the man concluded and pulled out a thin book which also looked old.
"This is the best I can do for you kids. This book has nothing about Hanks but it has everything that Hanks was after. Maybe it could be of some use," he handed it to me and adjusted his eyeglass.