This will the the last chapter of BLISSFUL VENGEANCE. I would like to thank everyone for reading through this story and I hope that you all will like how it will end. So yeah... enjoy.

Oh! And pardon my typographical and grammatical errors. This was not edited so... yeah.

And a fair warning. There will be sexual scenes in this chapter. I didn't bother switching to M because I figured you guys can handle it. I think.

My eye lids fell, and when I opened them, I found myself tied up in a dark room.

"Red?!" I called out almost desperately. My eyes were still hazy and I could barely see through the dark and a wave of nostalgia overwhelmed me; the time when Red and I were inside April's basement, both battered from falling from her balcony.

I looked around and found a figure leaning on the wall close to me.

"Why is it always the basement?" Red's almost frustrated but mostly deadpan voice complained.

My nerves calmed down once I realized that it was him sitting there with me. Sure, it doesn't do any good that both of us were tied and locked inside the basement, but you can never say no to company when you've been abducted.

"So, it's May Devereux," I groaned when my head spun and stung from the after effects of the tranquilizer. "I guess I should've seen it coming…"

"You really should've, detective." May's voice sang from the stairs. The light that was previously there vanished as the door closed. Eerie footsteps filled in the uncomfortable silence. "I expected that from Red, but from you? You're getting rusty, Fletcher." She clucked her tongue in disappointment.

"But I did put on a good show, so I can't blame you."

May took the last step and came to view. She wore the same smile she showed me earlier at the funeral, but I knew better. The curve in her lips almost seemed psychotic as she tilted her head to the side. Her brown eyes were void of kindness; instead, it held pure and unadulterated insanity.

"Surprise!" she beamed. "Were you surprised? I sure hope you were! I put out a loooot of effort, you know!" she waves a finger. May was a borderline psychopath. "I even had to risk my life to hire some wack'o to kill my cousin, but it was woooorth it!" she sang.

Red snarled beside me. "You psychotic bitch."

Our captor clucked her tongue. "No bad words, Red. May is still too young to hear them! No, no, no!"

The sheer insanity if this situation made my skin crawl. What the hell happened to May?

"But really," she walked toward us. "You should've seen this coming, Fletcher. You did take my dad away from me." May leaned to me and caught my chin between her fingers. "I even had to kill April to get you to come out and play!" she shook her head like a mother would do to a disobedient child. "You've done bad, bad things."

"Don't put the blame on him, you insane psychotic bi-"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed then backhandedly slapped Red. "I told you to shut up, didn't I?!" she started kicking him relentlessly.

"Stop! May!" I yelled as I try to wedge myself between her and Red. She landed a sharp kick on my stomach.

She stopped. "Oh my, I'm so sorry, Fletcher." She crouched down to us. "I didn't mean to kick you." She muttered like a child. "You should really teach your pet when to hold his tongue,"

"What do you want?" I spat at her.

May pushed herself up and pondered over what I said. "Well, I really don't know." She answered. "I thought that it would come naturally once I have you two in here, but right now, I have absolutely no idea! None at all!"

"Then why are you keeping us here?" I asked. I was trying to keep my voice as level and as calm as I could. May's bizarre behavior might snap if I said one wrong word.

"Because!" she grinned insanely. "I'm going to kill you, like what you did to my dad!"

"Kill?" Red sputtered behind me. "We didn't kill your dad."

She pouted. "Well, of course you didn't kill him directly. He was in jail, but you did your fair share of driving him to committing suicide."

"Your father… killed himself?" I choked out.

May glared at me. "I just said so, didn't I? Don't make me repeat myself." She lifted a manicured finger and prodded on my forehead. "He killed himself right when his sentence was about to end." She traced the pad of her index finger on my jaw. "He left a note saying 'I'm sorry, May,', then he hanged himself in the toilet cubicle." She shrugged. "It's tragic, really."

Her fingers caught my chin and forced me to look at her face. "Maybe I should kill you the way my dad killed himself, but that would be too easy, right?" she slapped me hard on my cheek. "So, I thought," she prodded on, acting like she didn't slap me in the first place. "Why destroy the two of them, then kill them right after?"

She clapped her hands gleefully. "It was such a great plan! It worked out so well too! May is such a genius!" she turned toward me. "Don't you agree, Fletcher?" her eyes shone in excitement and pride.

I decided to just please her while we're in her mitts. "Yes, that was a well laid plan."

May chuckled happily. Had we not been tied down in a dark basement by her hands, it would've passed as an innocent, happy giggle. "Look at that Red! Fletcher said my plan is brilliant!" she was immersed so much in her world that she didn't acknowledge my sarcasm.

Once she got off from her high, she flashed us one last insane smile. "Now behave, you two. If I heard so much as a noise from you," she pulled out a gun from her back. "I might just pop a bullet or two in your heads." May stared at the heavy black weapon in her hands. "I haven't shot one of these before, but I think I won't miss if I did this," she pushed the nuzzle straight on my forehead. My body froze as she did.

The insane doll in front of us pulled the gun back and walked away. "Bye bye!" she chirped, then slammed the door close.

"What now?" Red groaned from behind me.

I leaned back and slid down the floor. My bones were still jelly from her pointing a gun to me. "What happened to her?" I whisper.

Red shrugged. "I don't know, and I honestly don't care." He shifted from his position, then groaned. "I sure got more than I bargained for. My stomach hurts like a motherfucker. I'm gonna have bruises for sure," he moaned.

"You should've listened to her," I said. "She's going borderline psychotic by the looks of it. Aggravating her further is just digging your own grave."

He weakly kneed my back. "Thanks a lot, genius. I could've used that trivia a couple of minutes ago." He snarled.

I sighed, and laid down completely on my back. Red did the same.

"It probably runs in their family, that mental disorder thing." He absent-mindedly said. "I mean, look at April. That psychopathic power maniac was insane even when she was a kid." He scoffed. "She and her little groupies tried to kill us with freaking golf clubs! I'm still having nightmares 'till now, you know." I tried to suppress a chuckle, but it came out anyway. That certainly was a nightmare. Maniacal ten year old girls armed with golf clubs, all of them hungry for blood.

"Then, there's May's old man who assaulted you, burned the little house, and attacked those people just so his daughter would win the freaking talent contest!" He sighed dejectedly. "It's hardly a surprise that May follows the suite."

I could tell that this ramble was Red's form of telling 'It's not your fault,', but still, I felt responsible for pushing her to this path. I shook my head. "Thanks, Red." I whispered. I could picture Red ruffling my hair if we weren't bound.

"Geez, so sappy all of a sudden," he was smiling by the tone of his voice.

"Idiot," I muttered, then relaxed on the cold concrete. "Red?"

"Yep?" he replied coolly.

I clenched my hands hard.

"Why did you disappear, all those years?" I dared to ask.

Red didn't answer me immediately; instead, he allowed the two of us to dwell in uncertain silence. Soon, though, he took in a deep breath and sighed.

"I lost my phone."

What?

"What?" I said my thoughts out loud.

Red groaned, obviously uncomfortable with the chosen topic. "Someone nicked my phone back when I was a freshman. I didn't have a back up list of contacts and I lost your number and email along with my phone. I couldn't find you via social media. I can't remember your email address, and when I managed to get back in our town a few years after moving for high school, you and Hazel already left. I couldn't ask your parents because they hate my guts." Red was basically babbling. "I didn't know where to find you and how to contact you. Even dad's informant was nowhere to be found when I got back."

I was quiet. I tried to process all that Red said.

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

He huffed in indignation. "Because…" his voice was barely above a whisper.

I kept quiet, silently urging him to continue.

"Herod laughed at me when I told them that I lost my phone." He mumbled. "I'm a Sharkey that had my phone stolen."

Again, I didn't reply at first. His situation was like a con artist being conned. I merely felt helpless as the years of wondering and worrying flashed in my memory.

"Red," I kept my voice as plain as I could. "You're an idiot." Still, I couldn't help myself but to forgive him. He sure was egoistic, and all around bundle of stupidity, but he was Red. How the hell can I hate him after that confession?

I sighed for the umpteenth time that afternoon. "What do we do now?" I asked, deciding to go back to the problem at hand.

"Dunno," he replied, his cool now back. "Maybe it's time to end the charade and just let nature do its work."

I frowned. "It's not nature if a mentally deranged girl is going to kill us in the most horrible way possible."

"Point made." He nodded. "Don't you have anything in that massive head of yours?"

I tried struggling, but my ropes were tightly bound. "Is your rope tied tight?" I asked.

"I wouldn't be held down if it was loose now, would I?" Red Sharkey: the only guy that never failed to make a sarcastic comment even in a life or death situation. I kept quiet, trying to let the message across. He groaned, then shifted around. "I've got plenty room to breathe," he said, his voice a bit more optimistic than usual. "May didn't tie it tight enough to choke me. She is a girl after all."

A wild idea popped in my mind.

"Breathe real deep from your chest, Red." I frantically said.

Red struggled to sit up the concrete just so he could shoot me an incredulous look. "What will that do? This place is pretty airtight. Are you planning on leave us dying from asphy-something?"

"It's asphyxiation, and just do as I say," I struggled to sit up myself. "I'm the brains, right? You're the handsome guy that does all the work?"

My red head friend, now a ravenet snickered. "I'm gonna pretend that you didn't just call me handsome," he winked. "I'm gonna do it, but if I die, I'll haunt you to your tomb." He breathed in deeply, held it, then exhaled.

His eyes brightened. "Holy… it loosened just a bit." He eagerly did the same, once, twice, three times.

"Hurry up," I hissed at him, wary whether May would suddenly pop out of the blue.

"Shut up. I'm not Rambo, for god's sake." He said in one quick exhale.

The door clicked open. Red's deep breathing got caught in his chest.

"Here comes the evil tyrant." He whispered as he released his built up oxygen.

"Aren't you loose yet?"

"Shaddup." He said hurriedly.

"I'm back!" May sang from upstairs. Along with her were the suspicious and stomach wrenching sounds of metal. Her feet soon came to view, then her thighs, then her torso. The last one to be seen was her face, which was contorted into a terribly innocent look. She lifted her hands, both busy holding mysterious pointy weapons. "Let's play?"

It was like she's Chucky's bride. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't scared shitless.

The look on Red's face told me that he thought of the same thing.

May placed her materials down the nearby table and made her way to us. "You haven't been disobedient, have you?" she asked me.

Red groaned quietly behind me. He was trying really hard not to be the sarcastic man that he was.

Our insane captor smiled when her question was answered with silence. "I'll take that as a yes," she turned around and I vaguely heard Red breathed in deeply. She plucked one of her blades and swiftly twirled around, her dark dress lifting along with her movements. "Red and I will play first." She smiled at Red, who uncharacteristically paled at what she said.

"No," I said, again, trying to keep my voice level. "I was the one that did this to you, May. I deserve to be first."

She raised a curious eyebrow at me, then shrugged. "Well, since you're so enthusiastic, I guess it won't hurt to play with you first." May trudged toward me with a corkscrew in hand. Don't tell me she plans to…

The maniac grinned… well… maniacally.

Red… you better hurry the fuck up.

May skipped her way to me as she caressed the menacing kitchen tool in her hand. "You've gotten quite handsome, haven't you, Fletcher?" she noted as she pushed me down flat on my back and straddled me. "Maybe I should have sex with you first, then I'll kill you?" she leaned over, close enough for her breath to spread on my face. Her breath smelled sweet, almost sickeningly so. "I'm getting all wet just watching you like this," to emphasize her point, she deliberately rubbed her crotch on top of mine.

I shivered.

Her eyes shone in the dark. "You're liking this, aren't you?" she grinded harder. "Should we fuck in front of Red?" she whispered against my ear. "I bet he'd hate that. Me, fucking his most important person."

"Stop this, May." I said, steeling my voice. "This is not right. I-"

She placed a finger on top of my lips. "You talk about what's right?" she pulled back and extravagantly extended both hands beside her. "I practically am about to kill you. What's so moral about that?" Her hands fell dangerously close to my zipper. "Why not add one more thing to the list?"

I desperately turned my head to the side and found Red looking horrified at what was happening. Even I'd be horrified if I was in his position. I was distracted enough to not notice that May yanked my pants halfway, leaving me in my boxers.

"Fuck!" I yelped when I felt cold air hit me.

May smiled appreciatively. "Nice package you got here," she trailed her finger on the outline of my shaft.

I struggled my legs, trying hard to cover myself up. May merely giggled at my effort.

"Don't tell me you're a virgin, Fletcher?"

I choked.

"Oh me, oh my!" She laughed like the crazy woman she was on top of my lap. "That's soooo adorable!" She slid down until her face is aligned with my member. "Maybe I should pleasure you. It is your first time after all." Her nimble fingers hooked on the garter of my undergarment and forcibly ripped it off my hips.

Fuck! I'm not about to lose my virginity in front of Red of all people!

I gritted my teeth and snapped my foot on her shoulder and kicked her away, immediately regretting it when I heard a dull yet painful thud from below. I forced myself up to see what happened to May. She was lying on her side, seemingly dazed about my attack.

Wasting no time, I stood up and dashed towards the table where she placed her 'torturing materials'. Before I could grab myself a knife, something sharp and dull ripped the skin on my thigh. "Goddamn you, Fletcher." May growled from behind me. She reached for the butcher knife and shoved it on my neck. "I was being fucking nice to you, you ungrateful son of a bitch."

I heard May yelped and when I turned around, I saw Red with his ropes loose across his torso. On the ground was our captor, glaring daggers at him. "How the fuck did you get out?!" May screeched like a banshee.

Red knelt on the ground beside her and grabbed her face with five long fingers and his feet pinned her wrists beside her. "Potty mouth, you sardonic whore." His eyes gleamed with anger as he growled dangerously, dangerous enough to sound like he was going to kill May. He grabbed the discarded knife and crossed it with May's throat, just like what she did to me earlier.

Alarms blared in my mind. Red was actually going to do it. "Red! Stop!" I pushed myself to him, and caused him to tumble away from her. He cursed at me when May stood up and attempted to run up the stairs. Out of impulse, I locked her ankle between my feet, completely tripping her. A loud crack snapped Red and I back to reality and we saw May unconscious; her head on the first step of the stairs.

Blood started to stream down her nose.

My vision started to blur. Everything felt dreamlike as I watched the crimson fluid pour from her breathing orifice.

"Red," I said; my voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?" Red uncertainly asked.

"I think I just killed May." I was being brutally honest. I couldn't think of anything to say at the moment. Euphemism was out of the question.

Red kept quiet. Both of us sunk into a dizzying momentum.

"I don't think so," he finally replied. He reached two fingers on May's throat and felt her pulse. He sighed in relief when he felt faint, yet present heartbeat. "We didn't." He confirmed.

"Red?" Again, my voice fell into a monotone.

"Yeah?" Red replied, again with his uncertainty.

"Get me my pants."

He paused.

"Right away."

-.-

All is well, that ends well.

I phoned the police while Red tied up an unconscious May. They arrived in no more than five minutes, and soon, she was charged with multiple crimes. Red and I stared into space as we perched ourselves on the back of the ambulance with towels on our shoulders and hot cocoa in our hands.

Murt approached us with a plain old face.

"You two boys okay?" he asked.

"I'll be fine once I got home and drink some beer. You have shitty chocolate here." Red groaned beside me. We were gradually regaining our senses and returning to reality.

"I wouldn't be able to look at a corkscrew for a while," I murmured absently.

"Corkscrew?" Murt frowned in puzzlement. He shrugged it off and decided to go ahead with his report. "Well, good news is that you two are both clear, May is in custody and we're already on the look-out for Christopher Ward." He spat his name, obviously angry about being tricked by a spy into joining the force.

He rubbed his graying head. "I'm still in trouble for lending you the evidence, but all is well that ends well." The police officer placed his hands on mine, and Red's shoulder. "Thank you for a job well done, you two."

I nodded listlessly as I turned to my side only to see a familiar head of blond hair amongst the crowd. Police Officer Alexander Reed stepped away from the people and made his way to us. "'Sup, Fletch?" he greeted casually. He was still supported by the crutch and his skin was still bandaged here and there.

A cocky smile made its way across my face. "'Sup, rookie? Aren't you glad to see me?"

He scoffed. "As glad as me seeing my future mother-in-law, yeah."

I smirked. "You don't have to worry about in-laws; no woman is stupid enough." I felt Red shifted beside me. "Oh yeah," I turned to him and Alex limped his way closer. "Red, this is Alex. Alex, Red."

Alex raised a brow at us. "So this is the infamous Red Sharkey," he extended his free hand. "Nice to finally meet you,"

Red accepted the gesture. "You too," he said almost forcibly. I could almost feel the tension building up between these two.

"Er," I awkwardly muttered.

The blond officer released Red's hand and faced me. "Say, Fletch. Why don't we grab some drinks on the way home?"

I frowned at him. Since when did Alex become so courteous all of a sudden?

An arm draped across my shoulders.

"Sorry," Red said as he pulled me closer. "Fletcher and I already have plans."

Alex glared. "You sure about that, ex-con?" his voice seethed with sarcasm.

"Try me, squirt." Red bantered back.

I looked in a distance and found Murt Hourihan looking at our direction with a knowing smirk. I groaned, hating the fact that everyone seemed to know what was happening other than me.

A thought popped in my mind.

"Red?"

The two of them stopped exchanging banters and turned their attention to me.

"About that number thing, you should've just asked Genie." I shrugged dismissively. "She and Hazel have been in touch for quite some time now." though every time I asked Hazel about Red, she would just say that Red was away from Genie. Now that I thought of it, she never mentioned about Red losing his phone.

Red's face slowly morphed from surprise, to disbelief, then to sheer anger.

"Goddamnit GENIE!" Red screamed.

I could've sworn I heard his sister giggle nearby.

We've been played.

Epilogue:

Things went relatively normal after that massive incident. Red has been texting and visiting me whenever he has the chance. Most of the time, he would drop by just to annoy me, usually by hanging around in my office and lounging by the sofa meant for clients. I admit it was great to have him around again, though I would never say that out loud.

The incident did well to my business, that's one thing. Clients bustled ever since my name got plastered all over the telly.

Today was a lazy day at the office. Most cases handed to me has been solved and taken care of. I casually leaned back and propped my feet up the table; a position that I hardly ever do before and Red often did. Damn, he was rubbing off me.

The door opened, revealing a familiar smirking face that both annoys and amuses me.

"What are you doing in my office, rookie?" I asked, hinting as much displeasure as I could.

Alex made his way to me, his crutch long gone and now he was back to his usual 'cool swagger'. "Murt needs your help," he said. "It's a case about Fission Chips."

My interest piqued at the mention of the name. Fission Chips was a massive smart tech company, having the leading brands of various devices from cell phones to computers on a par with Phonetix. Rumor has it that the company made it to the top because of stolen research, and the IT billionaire CEO's shady past and accusations of selling military secrets was something that simply caught the eyes of the police, even the CIA. Despite the accusations, the owner of the company, namely Jon Spiro, still remained unscathed because there were no solid proofs to support their claim. The public was told that it was all massive misunderstanding in printed newspapers the following day. Of course, the population believed everything written on the paper, but I knew that there was something fishy about that company.

Another person intruded my office without so much of a knock. The second visitor frowned at the first.

"What are you doing here?" Red groaned, not bothering to hide his sneer at Alex.

I beat Alex to speaking. There was no stopping these two once they started bantering. "Alex is here to hire me for a case." I stood up from my swivel seat and casually slipped my coat on. "A case way too dangerous for just anyone to handle."

Red raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you trying to scare me off?"

"I might be." I smirked at their direction. "Are you scared, Red Sharkey?"

Red grinned. "Like hell I am."

And.. the end. Thanks everyone. Continue being awesome. Peace out.