The Holiday Killer ✔️

Ch. 1 Who is This Guy?

As a soldier, Daniel knows to be alert, but he didn't think he'd have to go this alert walking down the street in Washington D.C. The city has crime, but no one was prepared for a killer last month. Daniel was one soldier who opted to stay in D.C. rather than join the Autobots on a holiday vacation. Daniel and the other soldiers question would the Autobots even get involved if they weren't away? That was until a soldier, Aaron McDonald was attacked and is currently in a coma. Daniel remembers how troubled Optimus, Jolt, Ratchet, Red Alert, and Prowl were when they found out. No one thought Ratchet would blame himself for Aaron still being in a coma, feeling guilty that Aaron's family likely spent Christmas day at the hospital, hoping he'd wake up. Like everyone else, Daniel worries they'll lose a fellow soldier, but to Daniel, Aaron is also a friend.

Daniel is two blocks from the base when he hears a strange noise coming from the alleyway. He stops and listens for any sign that anyone is in trouble. Even if it's the holiday killer hurting someone, Daniel knows he must step in.
"You shouldn't have stopped," a male's voice claims. The man rushes towards Daniel and pins him to the wall, ensuring he can't move. Daniel sees a large knife with the small amount of light from the streetlight. Daniel swears that man is smiling though he can only see the man's eyes as they move the blade close to his forehead and cut, "that's right, scream bloody hell!"
To Daniel, this is the end, but rather than being beheaded, he's going to be left on the ground, taking bleeding from the head to a new level. Little did he know he'd pass out.

Daniel's P.O.V.
The beeping tells me I'm not dead before I open my eyes. The question is, am I in the medbay at the base or the hospital? Seeing Ratchet doesn't answer my question since he works at the hospital a few times a month. 
Ratchet sees I'm awake and begins his assessment. Dare I ask him the extent of my injuries? 
"What happened?" He asks as he does his assessment.
"I heard a noise from the alleyway, and done guy pinned me to the wall. All I could see was red eyes, scars, and I could see a little of his black new hair."
"Whoever they are, they didn't like you passed out or just wanted to give you a nasty cut, unlike with Aaron," Ratchet sighs.
It's been a month now, and I fear Jolt and Ratchet will have to talk about letting Aaron go with his family. Only Jolt, Prowl, Optimus, and Ratchet know how he's doing. Ratchet tells me I'm in the medbay and wants me to stay here for twenty-four hours.

Optimus Prime's P.O.V.
It's troubling seeing Aaron like this, and the doctors believe he'll have some kind of disability even if the EEG shows promising results. Rung has been doing his best to help the family and the hospital's social worker. 
"Have you been here all night?" Aaron's wife, Brittany, asks, "this isn't your fault. Even if this happened during a battle with the Decepticons. Aaron knew the military was a dangerous job, but he wanted to fight the cons," I can sense she's been crying, but she's not lying. This is when I know it's hard for not just humans, but I know on Cybertron, families struggled with loved ones choosing to fight in the war or hearing family or friends were killed in a Decepticon attack, "they believe he might fully recover, but the longer it takes for him to wake up, the longer his recovery will be."
Que might be able to help Aaron, but I don't want to get Brittany's hopes up.

Back at the base, I didn't expect to hear another soldier being attacked. We don't know if it's the same person who attacked Aaron, but this is concerning.
"Daniel said he saw the attacker has blonde hair," Ratchet points out, "now, who do we know that has blonde hair and hates humans? Who's eyes turn red when engaged?"
"You have no proof; therefore, you're accusing."
"Oh, come on, Prime! It's no secret Sunstreaker would love to kill every human on Earth!"
"Enough! You will not accuse Sunstreaker with no proof!"

Daniel refuses to jump to conclusions because Daniele saw red eyes and blond hair.
"I've never seen scars on Sunstreaker's face, and he definitely doesn't seem like one who'd cover scars," Daniel argues.
For now, we have a mystery; who attacked Daniel and why? Is the attacker the same person who attacked Aaron? Prowl has been helping the police with this holiday killer case since we returned from our vacation. I don't think the Decepticons are behind this.

Neither guard saw Sunstreaker leave the base this morning, and there's no other way out. Unless he can handle the pain from the barbed wire, but I didn't see any injury suggesting he climbed the fence as I watch him talk to Sideswipe. For now, I'm suggesting Daniel stay at the base until we can figure out if he's still a target.

Third-person P.O.V.
As the police investigate the ten recent attacks resulting in six murders, preparations for several more attacks are happening.
"Live in fear, D.C. I may have a hit list, but no one is safe. Do you think you're safe, Daniel? Oh, just wait. I will kill you!"