Well, as grisly as the deaths had been, animals rarely stay in settled areas for long. It was probably just people that had frightened it. I figured I could just barricade
my house at night for awhile, and then the animal would move on. That day I postponed my usual chores as I set myself to the task of fortifying my abode. The
doors were heavy wood, and they had held last night, so I didn't do anything to them except put heavy-duty hinges and locks on them. My windows all got closed.
I bought thorn bushes and planted them under each of the windows. These were all things that I could live with after it had moved on, I made sure. I went to the
market once again and bought a large side of meat. Once the sun began setting, I hid it far out in the woods behind my house to distract the animal, keep it
occupied. Then, exhausted, I fell asleep in my armchair. I must have gotten up, changed into nightclothes and moved during the night, because I woke up in my
room. I didn't remember getting up during the night, but it didn't matter, I had had some sleepwalking episodes earlier in life. Somehow, I just felt nasty when I sat
up. It felt like something had died in my throat. My muscles were sore, like they are when I've worked hard. I didn't think I had done that much work, but that must
have been it. I went downstairs and tuned in to the tv. More killings had happened, many of them at or around my neighborhood. The authorities were definitely
starting to lean towards a wild beast now, but they couldn't figure out the species....