Free Vampire U by Hannah Crow

entries and selected the first Beta event, a formal party in the Spring.
    "Bingo," I said as a list of names appeared, who had brought whom.  Small black and white photos accompanied each couple, their names and majors listed below.  In each photo, a handsome Beta had an arm around a slender, pale woman who clung to him as though for dear life.  Hollow eyes stared above white smiles.
    I jotted down the names of the women in the photos, women who should have graduated by now.  When I had a few dozen names, I went back to the alumni database.
    My search was easier this time.  I knew which needles to search for in the haystack.  I wanted women who were still known by their maiden names and still lived in Baton Rouge.  Out of nearly fifty names on my list, I found three: Jennifer Kerner, Jessica Davis, and Kara Thompson.
    I took down their phone numbers and called the first one.  It was a beautiful fall day, and I wondered if I was wasting my time.  But the phone picked up on the fourth ring.
    "Hello?"  The woman's voice sounded flat and dull.
    "Hi, Miss Kerner.  My name is Danielle Archer.  I'm a journalism student at Romanus University, and I'd like to..."
    Click.   She hung up.  I redialed the number, but it rang and rang.  Miss Kerner wanted nothing to do with me.
    I tried the second number and got the same response, a wordless hang-up from a woman who sounded sapped of life.  I stared at the third name on my list, the last woman who had stayed in Baton Rouge after graduation.  Kara Thompson.  I clicked back to the events calendar and looked at her picture.  It was hard to tell from the black and white photo, but her dress sagged on her slender frame as though she'd lost weight.  Hollow cheekbones reminded me of Morgan.
    I dialed her number, but hesitated with my thumb above the Send button.  If she hung up on me, I would be out of leads.  I needed more.  I tapped her address into my phone and stood up.
    Jacob had once again lost himself in something on the computer, but now his neck craned up.  "Where are you going?"
    "To talk to someone," I said.  "I'll be back in an hour."  My stomach growled.  "Want me to bring back lunch?  Fried chicken, my treat."  I'd only been in the south for a little over a week, but I'd learned to  love  fried chicken.
    Like most young men, the thought of food distracted Jacob from whatever he'd been thinking about.  "Absolutely!  Make sure to get biscuits and honey."
    I smiled and left before he could remember my promise to tell him everything.
     
    ***
     
    Kara Thompson's rental house was in a shabby section of Baton Rouge north of Florida Avenue.  Low bungalow-style homes with cracked siding sat on narrow lots with patchy lawns beneath the sagging branches of unkempt trees.
    I eased my Civic to a stop in front of one of these and killed the engine.  Rap music blared from speakers somewhere nearby, and I heard a woman screaming at her children in a shrill voice slurred by a deep Cajun patois.
    Steeling myself, I locked the car and hurried to the front door.  I knocked and waited, looking around at the house.  Dark, heavy curtains hung in the windows, and a faint, unpleasant smell made me think of decaying flowers and unwashed dishes.
    I knocked a second time, louder this time, and finally heard a woman call out from inside.  "Keep your pants on, I'm comin'."  The ragged voice sounded more like a fifty-something smoker than a recent college grad.
    When Kara Thompson opened the door, I tried not to recoil, but this sallow woman with skin like yellowed parchment looked far worse than the still-beautiful girl in the photo.  Thin, lank hair hung around hollow cheeks.  Her mouth pursed in irritation as she glared up at me with dull eyes sunken too deep in their sockets.
    "What do you want?" she said.
    "To talk about what happened to you," I said.  "Can I come in?"
    Kara's eyes narrowed, and she cast a suspicious glance over my shoulder.  "Better get inside,"