Seven Minutes to Midnight

17

To my surprise, when I opened the paper the next morning, there were no new disappearances. I scoured the entire paper looking for something, anything, that could be remotely construed as a disappearance. Nothing.

What I did find, however, was this tiny headline on page eight (I've included a clipping of the entire article here, although I am sure you have read it):

LOCAL FARMER BELIEVES

DISAPPEARANCE OF LIVESTOCK DUE TO WOLVES

"Middlebury, MA—Thomas Klaski, owner of Klaski Farms, has reported the loss of two young heifers over the past several weeks. Last fall, Klaski lost four cattle due to wolf attacks, as evidenced by the remaining carcasses. These recent losses, however, have left little evidence to go on.

"Klaski, 51, expressed certainty that the wolves were at fault, and vowed to 'keep his gun at his side' while he slept. He has also purchased two trained German Shepherds to guard his property. The Middlebury Police Department and Animal Control have a different theory.

" 'There has been no evidence of wolf attack in this instance,' stated Katrina Polanski, head of Middlebury Animal Control. 'We investigated the area and found no carcass, no animal tracks or droppings. All of these would be signs of an animal attack, and all these signs were missing.'

"The Middlebury Police Department is currently investigating the possibility of cattle thieves."

I folded the paper neatly and finished my coffee, staring off into space. I wondered if Lane had paid a visit to Frank last night.

It had been a while since I had seen Frank online in World of Warcraft, but there he was when I logged on. I immediately started firing questions at him.

Where were you last night?

I tapped my fingers on the keyboard, waiting for his response. Ever since I took a typing (or "keyboarding") class freshman year, my irritation at slow typers had only increased. Finally his response came through. At home.

Have you heard from Lane?

No. Y?

Veronica hasn't seen him since last weekend.

O.

I wished he would type in the full word for his monosyllabic answers, but clearly Frank was not in a chatty mood today.

Are we going to get together tonight?

Don't know.

Veronica's pretty sick.

Yeah.

Have you talked to her since last weekend?

No.

Do you think Lane... did something to her?

Like what?

I don't know. The ritual or whatever.

I don't know.

Well, they did something out there in the woods.

R u jealous?

Why does everyone think I'm jealous??

Cuz u r.

I'm just worried about Veronica. She's been sick for a week and when I went to visit her she looked all feverish.

Maybe she caught the flu from u.

She said she hasn't thrown up.

I don't know. I'm not a dr.

Neither am I.

I tapped the keyboard, but apparently if I wasn't interrogating Frank, he wasn't too interested in talking to me. I read over our conversation and realized he had effectively danced around what he thought had gone down in the woods.

Do you think Lane could have raped Veronica?

WHAT??

Out in the woods. Do you think he raped her?

NO

Why not?

Lane wouldn't do that.

How well do you really know Lane?

Did Veronica say Lane raped her?

No... but she was acting weird.

Weird like somebody raped her?

I don't know! She wouldn't tell me what happened!

Don't yell at me.

Sorry.

Maybe she wants some privacy.

We're best friends. She always tells me everything.

Everything?

She used to, until Lane came along.

U r totally jealous.

I am not!

R 2.

So what do you think happened?

I DON'T KNOW. STOP ASKING ME.

Well, you were there!

So?

I considered backing off, then typed, Do you think Lane is really a vampire?

Y don't u ask V.

Because I'm asking you.

The conversation went dead for long minutes. I actually picked up my book and started reading. Frank's avatar just stood there, looking stupid.

Finally, a response:

No.

And then Frank signed off.

I puzzled at this little word, "no." No, he didn't think Lane was really a vampire, or No, he wasn't going to answer my question?

Well, I wasn't about to sign off from World of Warcraft. I had only recently discovered that my weekend plans had entirely evaporated.