Vengeance: A Halloween Novella

Chapter 5

October 26, 2023

Calgary, Canada

Matthew Tkachuk leaves Johnny Gaudreau lying on the ground, pale and unconscious. Soon someone will find him and he'll live and be okay. He rushes through the arena, making his way down to the ground level, where the players and staff for both teams would walk into the locker rooms.

As he walks near the security clearance, he finds a pair of keys hanging on the key ring. He snatches them up, smirking to himself. Surely Johnny won't mind me borrowing his vehicle for a little mission...

Tkachuk dashes out of the player exit, into the private parking lot. He spots Johnny's famous silver mercedes. He presses the unlock button, hearing the click and a beep following it. Then he gets into the car, jamming the keys into the engine.

"Bingo!" He smirks to himself, his black pools of eyes shimmering back at him. "To Vancouver!" Using the Scotiabank Saddledome as his current location, he plugs in the Rogers Arena in Vancouver into the GPS of the car, finding it would take him at least ten hours and 32 minutes to get there.

Of course, he knew that there was always a chance that Elias wouldn't be at the arena itself, but he'd cross that bridge when he got there. He just needed the directions to get to Downtown Vancouver.

From there, he'd improv.

And on the way there, he'd figure out his best method for killing Elias. After all, he'd read from the book in limbo during the first year, that when he returned to Earth as a human, he could make it permanent by killing his mortal enemy (or another living soul). Essentially, killing them would allow him to return, while they, in turn, took his spot in limbo.

So, Tkachuk's plan is to track down Elias Petterson, kill him and force him to be stuck forever in limbo, while the Flame returns to his life, scoring goals and getting under opponent's skins on the ice.

October 27, 2023

Vancouver, Canada

Tkachuk reaches Vancouver with little to no difficulty. It's the next day, but a recently resurrected human from death doesn't need sleep. He is wide awake and energized. He rounds the Rogers Arena, looking for any sign of Elias.

Snow has fallen the previous night and the remains of the white fluff are blanketing patches of ground around the complex. But it is a bright, clear sunny day with no clouds in the sky. It's cold, for sure, but the cold doesn't bother Tkachuk at all anyway.

And no sign of Elias Pettersson.

Tkachuk drives Johnny Gaudreau's car into the vacant lot across from one of the entrances to the arena (and the hotel). He pulls across two spots and parks there. Cars race by on the interstate that runs around the arena as he discovers a convenient cell phone in the glove compartment.

Nice, leave the phone in the car, Johnny.

He snatches it out and pulls up a search engine. He searches Elias' home address. With no results coming up, he hatches a sudden idea! He types in 'Calgary Flames roster', which pulls up the 2023 season group.

He finds a few Swedish names that pop up, including Elias Lindholm and Rasmus Andersson. He figures one of them HAS to know Elias Pettersson. So he poses as Johnny Gaudreau and finds them in the contacts. He decides to try and bother Lindholm first, sending him a text.

"Hey, do you know Elias Pettersson's address in Vancouver? I need to bring him something that he left at the All-Stars."

Tkachuk hits send and smirks to himself. "I'm such a genius! It's too easy."