Sherlock Jeager.
On his journey back when he was finally calmer Alexander recounted what he heard from the old man.
'Faster than the human eye can track and excellent stealth?'
'Came at night when they were asleep.'
'Nocturnal?' He guessed. 'Unlikely.'
'The old man's recounting suggests it knew its way around the house. It knew where the parents were and got there quickly and silently.'
'I don't think that was a coincidence.' He surmised.
'It knew they would be asleep. It was most likely watching them, studying them. Before the attack.' He imagined.
'It didn't break the window or the door but unlocked it minimizing the sound it made, preventing them from being alerted to its arrival, till it struck. This could mean that it possesses some level of intelligence.'
'But it's actions don't make sense.' He stopped in his tracks to think.
'It went through all that trouble to avoid waking them. So why not kill them as fast as possible and then drag them off? There would be less noise and handling the bodies would be easier. So why? Why take them alive? It doesn't add up.' Alexander pondered, rubbing his temples.
'Or, am I overestimating its intelligence? No, that isn't it. Even normal animals know a dead prey is easier to deal with than living ones.'
'This thing is an amazing hunter, it stalks and studies its prey waiting for just the right time when they are vulnerable to strikes.'
'The articles show that it's capable of hunting multiple people in a night yet leave no bodies.'
'With that, it stands to reason that its goal is to feed and it probably has a huge appetite. So why not kill the parents? Why drag them off? Why risk making noise? Heck, why not start eating them then and there? For such a skilled hunter why take such a risk?'
"For thrills?"
"No." He disagreed.
Alexander stood there stuck in deep contemplation staring pensively at the ground.
Suddenly realisation struck him. 'Unless it needed them alive.'
'Of course, that's the only plausible reason it would do what it did.'
Satisfied with his realisation Alexander continued his walk back.
'But why though? Why does it need them alive?'
'And then there's the old man. Why leave him alive? There have been so many attacks but never any survivors. So, why now? Why the old man? What's so special about him? Clearly from the scar it left him he had no great feelings for the old man.'
'So why leave him alive?'
'Was it running out of time? Was the sun rising? Did it prefer to hunt at night? Is it possible a vampire? No vampires move in packs and patterns of missing victims don't match. I guess it could be a vampire. You know pull up every 20 years for a new feed bag then go back into hiding. No there's no way a vampire is keeping multiple feed bags alive for 20 years, nah.'
'Could it really be a werewolf even?'
'I mean speed and stealth are their bread and butter but a werewolf has no qualms with eating the dead. And if it were a werewolf there would be a heartless body left behind.'
'These attacks don't match any of the usual suspects M.O. (Modus Operandi). It's too illogical yet it has obvious hints of intelligence.'
'And no way it's a demon either. They have no need for such complexity. They like their work to be grand and showy to create fear and panic. If a demon did this it would be all over the news and the bodies would have been found a long ago.'
'So what is it?'
'Most puzzling mystery is the frequency of attacks. Why every 2 decades? Why wait that long?'
"Ughhh, this case makes no sense. I can't figure out anything." Alexander groaned aloud. "I thought hunting was going to be a breeze. Just me chasing down and killing some monsters. But if my last hunt was any indication, if I'm not careful I could really die. I seriously underestimated this world." Alexander sighed looking up at the sky.
Realizing that he couldn't make heads or tails of what he was dealing with. Alexander decided the best thing he could do was to head back to his room.
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