As for the windshield, astonishingly, it was simply no more. Jagged shards of glass lay all over the front and back seats, forming only a slightly broken pattern where they lay, indicating a clean break as the thick windshield yielded to a radiated tremor of force that sliced the glass from the inside out. I picked up a triangular piece of glass. The edges were smooth, very sharp and nearly straight.
Anger suddenly boiled inside me. If they had gotten this much enjoyment out of wrecking my car, how much glee did they feel when they murdered Truck? Surely, they fed off his fear as much as they had his blood. Had I been human, they would have killed me with the same relish. With the same relish as when they had murdered their other victims.
Butwho were they?
And where had they gotten datura with which to dose that woman?
And what had they planned to do to her?
More recollections washed over me. There was that sorority girl who had disappeared. There was that trio Nicole and Maggie had identified as fraternity brothers, who had slapped the woman at the Cardinal Bar and dumped a pitcher of beer over her head.
"I will see that you receive the best of care," I said to my car, as I attempted to brush the glass from the driver's seat. Under close inspection, some of the shards were dappled with droplets of blood. The trio had not seemed to care; more blood would always be readily available, always there for the taking.
Having cleared the driver's seat, I drove off, a hidden piece of glass stabbing my thigh. I did not care about spilling a little of my blood either, for there would be more formy taking.
A sharp breeze ripped through my car as I drove homeward. As expected, they had revealed themselves, and it would be a simple matter of sifting through the night's call slips to find their address. Without that information, it was best to wait on the oncoming morrow to commence the hunt after seeing to repairs of my trustyToyota . For the time being, there was nothing to do but tolerate the rushing air, this wind a beast of a thousand teeth, a thousand pairs of unsheathed fangs, a thousand hungry, merciless -
- vampires!
Not merely vampires, but sadistic, evil little trolls who also happened to be vampires, possessing all that raw power while totally lacking any sense of ethics and morals, let alone respect for the mortals who so kindly provide sustenance. And completely lacking responsibility toward their fellow vampires.
Much to my disgust, I could empathize, knowing full well what it was like to feel Earthbound and soulless, with all faith ripped away.
Through the smashed windshield, the moon glowed brightly aboveLakeMonona , plump, pregnant, almost full.
The moon would be full tomorrow night. And had not the woman from Dawn Stevens's sorority said that Sigma Chi throws a party the weekend of each full moon?
More coincidences.
Had not Dawn Stevens disappeared shortly after attending a Sigma Chi full moon party? What was the address of that fraternity? Whatever the address, intuition said it would be the same as that on my call slip.
A hypothesis is like a bridge. It begins with a theory and a conclusion, but needs evidence to connect the two extremities. Indeed, a visit to the waybill office would be the next step, and once receiving confirmation of certain theories, I would attend that Sigma Chi party, even though no one had seen fit to send me an invitation.
As the Americans say, this party was a must go.
****
When the telephone rang at six the next evening, I had already arisen, was dressed and ready to report to work, two hours early. In fact, I had only just returned from the body shop where they had assured me that myToyota would be "good as new" by Tuesday.
It was Maggie calling from the cab company, wanting me to come in early. She said they had a gross preponderance of time calls and needed some extra help. She also said she had received a cordial but somewhat distant post card from Nicole. Apparently, her friend was bored, but doing satisfactorily.
Little did she know that their need for drivers was consistent with my plans. I told her my vehicle was being repaired and asked her to send me a cab as quickly as possible.
****
By the time I had arrived at the cab office, there were twenty calls on the board, all downtown,