“So, you don’t think it’s a werewolf doing the killings?” Kai asked, trying to shoulder the large bag.

Her master looked up from the ground, wiping his hand slightly. “Positive. For starters, none of the killings happened during a full moon. Werewolves may be monsters, but they typically follow a routine. They rip out a heart, and eat it on a full moon. That keeps them sustained for bout a month until the next full moon.”

“Couldn’t they, I dunno, kill a cow or something?” Kai asked.

Randal shrugged. “I mean, they could. But given the fact they’re overwhelmed by bloodthirsty instincts, it’s hard to stop. But, another thing. These bodies were all torn to shreds, but no hearts are missing.”

Kai wrapped her hands together with some cloth to try and warm them up. “So…what killed them?”

“Ain’t that the million dollar question of the night.” Randal muttered. He suddenly got an idea, but it would be super gross. “Kai, I’m gonna need you to look away for a bit. I’m gonna check and see what organs this guys still got.”

“Eww!” Kai gagged. She promptly looked away, and covered her ears to prevent hearing any sounds. Randal stuck his gloved hand inside the chest of the latest murder victim, and began feeling around. Despite the obvious disgusting nature of it, it was also the most insightful.

He pulled his hand back out and began washing it. “Well, good news and bad news! Good news is, I’ve narrowed it down and it’s not another werewolf, Vamp, or monster hunter.”

Kai looked back, her face scrunching up at the smell. “Okay, I’m going to guess the bad news is that you know what it is?”

“Oh yeah.” Randal began drying his hand. “His liver is missing, along with any organs next to it. Only one creature is that picky. A Striga.”

Kai gulped, and grabbed her staff. She seemed terrified now. “A striga? I thought those were myths! Like myth-myths!”

“They’re incredibly rare. Rarer than Julai smiling these days.” Randal replied. “Only way to make one is via a curse. So we got two avenues, the monster itself, and the self centered son of a-“ Randal stopped, as he saw Kai trembling in fear.

“-gun. Son of a gun.” He finished, covering up his prior foul language. “Tell you what, why don’t you go into the tavern and start asking questions to the people about this? Stay indoors. Striga hate light, so you’ll be safe there.”

“What are you gonna do, master?”

Randal looked outside. “I’m gonna go see if this Striga wants to talk.”

Two hours later

Randal is thrown into a brick wall, his ribs utterly shattered, his leg missing, and his arm broken. He coughed up some blood as a monster in the dark shrieks. “Well, fuck me.” He commented. “Oh I just hope when I get revived I’m not in that things belly.”