"How did they know that she was dead then?" asked Crescent as she read the last line where she was declared dead.
"Her body was never found, but there were blood traces on a huge rock. The identification was done through the blood."
Misty opened another site, not giving Crescent any more chances to speak. "In year 2000, another person was declared dead by the attack of wild animal. He, too, was a student of Chemistry. And even his body was never found again."
Crescent watched as Misty went to another site. "Michelle, in the year 2006, was declared dead. She was basically making out with her boyfriend in the forest. Her boyfriend had gone aside to pee when she disappeared."
Misty looked up. "And you know what? Even though she was twenty-two. Isn't it too much of a coincidence?" After that, Misty went on with her list of all the people who died in the forest, and their bodies were never recovered.
Crescent went quiet because, to a certain degree, what Misty pointed out was a good point. Coincidence, really? But it was still not a solid point for them to make any assumption. She leaned back, "What are you getting at?"
"Isn't it weird? If it was just some animal, shouldn't there be at least some remains left of the people?"
"Perhaps there is a serial killer involved, considering the pattern of deaths. Officials did not make a statement because they don't want to spoil their reputation." Crescent wandered out loud.
"I thought of that too but it seems very unlikely. If it were just a serial killer, it shouldn't matter to him what they studied, right? Because," Misty took a deep breath before saying, "all of them were the students of Chemistry belonging to Villias."
Crescent furrowed her brows.
At this time, she couldn't think it was just a coincidence. She scanned each and every site once more, verifying what Misty told her.
And it was all there. Twenty-two Chemistry students from Villias.
Suddenly, Crescent was reminded of what that person had said in the afternoon.
'When it comes to the third coincidence, I straightaway lunge forward to grasp the exact nerve.'
Villias.
Crescent had heard of the place. It was in the eastern part of the country.
"You get it now?" Misty was worried in case Crescent shoved the topic away. She couldn't sleep, and her entire mind was filled with thoughts.
There was a very strong intuition which was telling her that there was more to it. Misty was interested in getting to the root of it, but she couldn't do it alone.
Telling it to anyone else was just out of the question because no one would believe her. The only person she could even trust was Crescent. So just the thought of her calling her stupid was scaring her.
"What do you think then? What could have happened to them?"
"Honestly I am not sure. One thing I can say with surety is that it isn't the result of wild animals as they have telecast in each of the cases."
On the other hand, Crescent had an inkling. She had felt something that night, the night when that girl was killed. And she knew that it was not any wild animal.
It meant that it could be either of the two creatures of the night. Either werewolf or vampire.
It wasn't the full moon night though. So it was very unlikely for a werewolf to be there.
The vampires that existed centuries ago had too strong a bloodlust.
It could be true for today's time as well, but what does the age and the background of humans have to do with it?
Where were all the dots getting connected?
Also, since the time she came here, Crescent has not come across any vampires. She had initially thought that she would be able to feel them, but she couldn't tell them anymore.
Were they around? If yes, then why couldn't she feel them?
"What are you thinking?" Misty asked when more than five minutes of silence had passed.
"Thinking who could it be behind the deaths."
"So there was something else," Misty began, "If this question could pop up in my mind, wouldn't it have appeared in someone else's also?"
Crescent took a moment to reply. "It should have." Misty was not someone who could be called a lot more intellectual than average. If she could think of this, there was no doubt it would have appeared in the mind of others.
"I researched that as well." Misty took back the laptop and this time opened the screenshot. It was of someone's social media handle.
"He is Ezrah, probably in his thirties right now and an alumnus of this University. I spent the entire day looking for any hint of anyone who could have thought what I did."
Crescent took the laptop from her and zoomed in on the screenshot. "After searching a lot, I came across a very old site which mentioned how this person was arrested for spreading rumours."
"What were the rumours?"
"He gave an interview where he said that it was not wild animals behind the death. He didn't specify what he thought otherwise."
Crescent looked at the username and opened her own social media. She searched the name and clicked on it when it appeared. "He has an account but it was not in use anymore. The last post was about nine years ago. It was shortly after he had posted this."
The post contained a picture of the girl who was one of the victims. There was a long caption underneath the post which gave his thoughts on the whole incident. He narrated how it was all being done to form a cover-up by the university.
He mentioned how the incidents were due to something else.
"After he was released within two days, he was never seen again. He kept a low profile and never spoke a word again."