Finally, in the intellectual-sounding room, there was mention of All Saints Campus and vampirism.

“Bingo,” Kristi whispered as if she were afraid the other chatters could actually hear her. Fortunately, her laptop mic and camera were disabled. She couldn’t believe her good luck. Someone by the name of Dracoola lived nearby. Or at least had connections to the school.

She lurked. Waiting. Tried to read between the lines, even going so far as visualizing the different characters, many of whom supplied their own icons. Blood drops, snarling fangs, and flying bats seemed to be the favorites. People came and went, but some of the chatters seemed in for the night. One was JustO, who eventually mentioned Dr. Grotto’s class.

Kristi felt a tingle of anticipation. Things were coming closer to home. “Now you’re talkin’.”

Several people responded, all agreeing. Kristi quickly scribbled down the screen names for Dracoola, JustO, Carnivore18, Sxyvmp21, Deathmaster7, and Dmin8trxxx. “Sheesh,” Kristi said to the cat, who stopped short, skittery, halfway to his bowl. “Who are these people?” Houdini pressed himself to the wall, all muscles tense.

Kristi tried to think of a way to bring up the missing girls, but the conversation wasn’t segueing in that direction and she wanted to buddy up to the weirdos who spent their nights virtually talking to strangers about blood and vampires and otherworldly beings. She let the others guide the conversation, all the while trying to find out something, some little hint about vampire cults on campus, or some connection to the women who had gone missing. One of the latecomers to the conversation had a screen name of DrDoNoGood and there was something about his questions, something a little bit familiar, that disturbed her.

Did she know this guy?

Or was it a woman?

A medical doctor? Wannabe? PhD? A James Bond/Ian Fleming fanatic as his name might be a play on words for Dr. No?

He asked another question and she froze. She’d seen that very question before in her study notes for her class with Dr. Grotto.

Could DrDoNoGood be a cybernet alias for Dr. Dominic Grotto?

Her mind raced. What was the meaning of his name? Or was she just jumping to conclusions in the dead of night? Or…

Her pulse jumped as she read only the capital letters in the screen name. DDNG or DrDNG.

Didn’t Grotto’s middle name begin with N? Or, again, was she forcing a connection? Making something out of nothing? Hadn’t she seen Grotto’s name somewhere? From something she’d gotten from the school?