The next day Nathan went around the village examining villagers for signs of demonic possession.
The first family he examined was the Sholes. A family of two who were unlucky at childbirth. Their lack of children made them suitable suspects.
The other suspect was a chief priest who worshiped a pagan god. Nathan believed he might have been possessed in a botched ritual.
Last on his list was one of the healers. Nathan felt the order in which the children fell ill was unusual. Children fell ill right after another, he felt the coincidence unsettling.
All of a sudden, Nathan heard a thud and woke up. He saw Felix slowly opening the door.
Felix walked in and picked up the book. He noticed Nathan was awake when he got up.
"The Lore of Alba, how did you find the story?" Felix said as he handed the book back to Nathan.
"Can't say, I seem to have fallen asleep before I finished it," Nathan explained.
"Where are you? You have read two-thirds of the book. Just guess," Felix said after glancing through the book.
"The couple?" Nathan said looking at Felix for confirmation.
"Why the couple?" Felix asked, surprising Nathan with the question.
"They don't have a child they obviously kill it," Nathan explained.
"Okay, but most creatures do not move in groups. Except for vampires, werewolves, and a few others," Felix said.
"Okay, then it is the priest," Nathan said and once again Felix asked why.
"Because, the healers will have access to the children and will not need to sneak in at night," Nathan explained.
"Besides, a priest will have the knowledge of how to summon a spirit," Nathan added.
"First you need to identify the creature. To do that you have to rule things out," Felix advised.
"A spirit will not need to use a window," Felix added.
This time he did not say anything. He stared at Felix as his mind wandered. He noticed the wall clock behind Felix. He had slept away most of the day.
The curtains and windows were closed, and he felt difficult to tell the time of day. Nathan walked to the window and opened it.
The wind blew through the curtains. Nathan was taking in the view when his nurse walked in.
"Mr. Payne, what are you doing? You should be resting," she said as she walked over to him.
"I just woke up," Nathan said as he was being guided toward his bed. She checked his temperature and some other vitals and walked out taking Felix along.
The question of who was killing the kids plagued him. Nathan stayed up all night thinking and researching.
The next morning Felix entered Nathan's room and it was a mess.
"I figured it out. After you told me about the window. I rethought everything," Nathan said arranging paper on the floor.
"Monsters do not usually move in groups. Unless they do but what is they want to look less suspicious?" Nathan said and kept rambling.
"What if a monster can compel a human to do its bidding. I know vampires can compel but what acts like a vampire and a spirit," Nathan asked.
"A shtriga," Felix said.
"Yes, learnt about that recently. Never mind, shtrigas are witches, hence the woman," Nathan said with a satisfying smile plastered across his face.
"Do you get it now?" Felix asked.
Nathan was confused by the question.
"Which of the nurses is the Shtriga?" Felix asked.
Immediately, Nathan realized they were there only to hunt a shtriga.