“He had to have a name.”

“You’re sure it’s a he?”

“I haven’t got that close.”

Mai looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. She walked to the table that Kristi used as a desk, the space where Kristi had left her notes about the missing girls.

Suddenly Kristi felt uncomfortable with Mai’s prying eyes. “You’ve been here since last year, right?” Kristi asked to divert her.

“Uh-huh.”

“So you know a lot of people.”

“My share, I guess.”

“Have you heard anything about a cult, maybe on campus? One that believes in vampires?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Mai’s fingers touched the back of Kristi’s chair. A moment passed and Kristi got the impression she was giving herself time to think.

Kristi pressed, “Is it possible that the girls who went missing were involved in some kind of secret society?”

“That’s kind of a reach,” Mai said.

“Is it?”

“Do you know something?” Mai asked.

“You know something,” Kristi guessed. “Tell me.”

Mai glanced at the photos of the missing girls lying face-up on Kristi’s makeshift desk and she bit her lip. Shaking her head, she picked up the picture of Rylee Ames. “I don’t want to sound crazy.”

“I just want to know.”

She dropped the photo. “There’s always been an interest in the vampire thing, y’know? I mean, if you look it up on the Internet, you’ll find all kinds of parties and groups who purport to really be vamps. It’s this big counterculture. Some people get into it for cheap thrills, I think, but others, they have all these rituals and they sleep in coffins and drink blood, I think even human blood.”

“And there’s a group here on campus. People who are into it,” Kristi added.

Mai lifted a shoulder. “I’ve heard rumors, sure.”

“You think Grotto’s involved?”

Mai glanced away. “Grotto? It seems far-fetched. I mean, if it’s all so secret, why would he flaunt it? You know, call attention to himself? His class probably just adds to the interest, the allure of it all. My guess? At least some of the students who take his classes are part of the group. But I don’t think that just because kids show some interest in vampires and try to hook up with others that I’d call it a cult.”

“Maybe it’s just the extremists,” Kristi said, “a faction that takes things further. Maybe that’s the cult part.”

“If there even is one. People tend to label things they don’t understand.” She glanced again at the pictures on the desk. “What are you doing with these?”