The next night Zea had planned it out. She was going to sit by Corrine and asked the not-so-shy woman to meet her privately outside and, bam, she will take her out! Hunters were bad news. She had some run-ins with those hunters and had tangled with a few of them in New York City a few weeks ago. She hated to admit it, but the hunters nearly took her head off.

The vampire entered the math class with a gym bag slung over her shoulders. She saw that Corrine was in exactly the same seat as last time. Quietly, she sat right next to Corrine.

“How are you?” Zea asked, leaning toward Corrine.

The professor was at the podium getting ready. More students entered. The sounds of backpacks zipping open, papers rustling and small talk among students filled the auditorium.

“Thank you for asking. I am fine. How about you?” asked Corrine like she was reciting a script. She then awkwardly twisted her body away from the vampire.

Zea took note of that. “I am enjoying the night,” she said monotonically. “Do you want to meet after class and exchange notes?”

“Can I join the party?” asked Selene as she plopped into the seat right next to Zea. “I am going to need some help with this class.” 

Zea’s nose flared and she grinded her teeth. The annoying sorority girl had returned and was wearing a strong perfume. She had turned her head when she saw Selene take her gym bag and tried lifting it up. 

“What is in here? A machine gun?” cried out Selene.

Zea snapped her gym bag back from Selene and placed it between her feet. Her gym bag held her sword in case Corrine decided to attack her. “Don’t touch my stuff,” she barked.

“Take a chill pill, nerd, it was in my foot space,” said Selene. She leaned back into her chair and then kicked up her feet onto the seat ahead of her.

“I don’t think I can. I am leaving class early,” said Corrine who dogged Zea sharply. “Perhaps, you and Selene can exchange notes.”

“No,” said Zea. “I very much prefer we do it today, after class and just the two of us.” She side eyed Selene with a warning to back off.

Then she frowned when she saw that Selene's cheek had a cut. The cut would be the right height where her pen knife had landed on the tool shed of the garden if Selene were there. What is she thinking? There’s no way because she had Corrine’s gold necklace she found on the ground...Zea eyed the golden cross necklace around Corrines neck. Did this hunter replace her own necklace? 

“I have to go,” said Corrine suddenly. She stood up and hurriedly left the row.

Zea’s eyes followed Corrine exit the class quietly.  She started to reach for her gym bag and go after Corrine, but Selene tapped her knee with a notepad. She pulled back and pursed her lips. Selene was increasingly annoying and getting in her way.

The thought of using her vampiric speed to get away crossed her mind, but doing so may set off suspicions and she didn’t want to give Selene one more reason to keep pestering her. She ignored a guilt tainted inner voice that spoke in her mind: “You could be faster.”

“I am not sure that’s how you make friends,” smirked Selene.

“I wasn’t. I just needed to compare notes,” said Zea, frustrated. Her window of opportunity was passing. Who knows where Corrine, so obviously a hunter, has gone and if she will bring back up. Hunters usually don’t work alone.

“How about we compare notes?” asked Selene while batting her eyelashes seductively.

Zea eyebrows shot up. It can’t be that Selene was hitting on her? She watched Selene move her feet off from the seat ahead.

“Ah, I see, I have finally gotten your attention,” chuckled Selene. “How about it? A kiss for,” she placed her notebook on Zea’s lap, “say tonight’s homework?”

Zea narrowed her eyes and shoved the notepad back onto Selene’s lap. “No. Do your own homework,” she said. She made sure Selene heard the disgust in her voice. She stood up and scooped up her gym bag. “I suggest again that you go to the many tutoring services if you’re having trouble.”  Then she left the row and ultimately the classroom.

Once outside, Zea tried to pick up Corrine’s trail. She spent an hour searching for Corrine or clues of her, but it was to no avail. Corrine, like all good hunters, had covered her tracks. She finally gave up when she found herself at the dormitories. She contemplated returning to class to look for possible more clues, but Selene was there and she certainly didn’t want to deal with her at the moment. 

She had passed a dorm building when her nose picked up blood. Fresh blood. She reeled around, following the blood scent. She slowly walked to the side of the dorm building she had just passed. The dorm was next to a brick building and formed a pseudo alley way.

There was a fence or more accurately there had been a fence that covered this pseudo alley way. Someone had cut and pulled the wires of the fence apart. Zea noted how clean of a cut.

Zea was already anticipating a dead body from the sheer amount of blood she was smelling as she entered through the opened fence. The pseudo alley way was darker than the current night, so she used her vampiric night vision to see. Not many things in her everlasting life so far could take her breath away, but she inhaled sharply upon seeing the line of human entrails and blood on the hard ground that lead to a naked body. Eyeballs hang out of the sockets, soullessly staring at her.

The victim was a young man. He had his nails plucked, slashes that ran up and down his body, hair torn from his scalp and, unfortunately, had his manhood ripped out. Whoever did this wanted the young man to suffer before being killed. 

Zea’s jaw hardened when she noticed in a pile of the victim’s clothes between her and the body was an opened backpack. A partially crumbled paper poked out of the backpack. Blood had spattered on the top page but she could recognize the picture of Professor David Anderson. Afterall, that picture was of her math professor and he had put his image in all of the syllabus he handed out yesterday.

This young man was Zea’s classmate.

Something was up and Zea recalled yesterday that another classmate, Roberta Langley, had also died in these dormitories. Two deaths from her class in a span of two days. That can’t be a coincidence. 

Carefully, Zea searched the victim’s belongings but could not find anything that would identify the victim. She needed to know who he was and see if he has a connection to the student who died yesterday. She looked at her watch. Math class had ended but perhaps she could figure out who this man was from the professor. 

Zea returned to her math class.

  When she entered the auditorium there were only a few stragglers of students conversing with each other. She didn’t see Selene and was thankful as she made her way to Professor Anderson who was in the process of shoveling thick packets of paper into his briefcase at the podium.

The professor was your typical old, white haired, beanstalkd framed and vest wearing doctorate. He looked up at her upon seeing her approach and pushed back his glasses back on the bridge of his hawkish nose. “Ah, I saw you leave class earlier. Are you here to get the homework assignment?” he asked. He then squinted his eyes at her. “Ms. Hiltebrant?” He took out a sheet of paper and handed it to Zea who stopped in front of the podium.

Zea took the paper and forced a smile. “Yes and also could I get another one for, sorry, I keep forgetting his name.” She faked a chuckle. “I just met him yesterday in the dorms, but we made an agreement to be study buddies. He’s a young man, brown hair, freckles, about this height--” 

“His name is John Ackerman. Has to be because he was the only one to not show up at all today. Please tell him I need him to show up next class,” said Professor Anderson, annoyed. He handed Zea another sheet of paper. “I would hate to have to drop another student for a no show.” He eyed Zea to indicate that also meant her as well. Technically, even though she was there in class, she had left before the lecture actually started.

Zea nodded. “I will tell him that, Professor. Thank you.” Obviously,  she couldn’t because Mr. Ackerman was dead but the professor had given the information she needed. 

She was head to the exit but, as she passed by the row where she sat a few hours ago, a smell had frozen her for a moment. Selene’s strong perfume had dissipated enough for Zea to pick up the scent of blood. A blood she had smelled not too recently. She walked down the row of seats, pretending to be looking for something she had left behind, and stopped by the seat where Selene earlier had put her foot on. 

On the top of the seat was partially a footprint made from John Ackerman’s blood.