Joe rolled off of his brother and got to his knees as a university police cruiser came to a stop near them. Frank moaned and blinked a few times before leaving his eyes open. "I feel like I got run over by a truck," he groaned.
"If he hadn't knocked you down, you would have been," stated a young woman who had witnessed the incident. "He saved your life."
"Thanks, Baby Brother," Frank said, starting to rise.
"Better stay put," one of the officers advised. "An ambulance will be here shortly."
"I'm fine," Frank said. "I just wish I knew who owned that truck," he added, getting to his feet.
"Elie Whitlock," Joe and the officer replied at the same time.
"It was stolen earlier this morning," the officer continued.
"Shouldn't you go after it?" demanded Joe, turning on the officer.
"My partner radioed it in," the officer informed Joe, swallowing nervously as he mentally prepared to defend himself although he wasn't sure why since Joe had made no move to act on his anger. "The Bayport PD will look for it. We don't have authority to pull a vehicle over once it has left campus."
"I should file a report with the Bayport PD instead of with you then?" inquired Frank.
"That would be best," the officer answered.
"I'll do that," Frank said smiling. "Come on Joe," he added, taking his brother's arm and pulling him across the street.
The boys arrived at the science building a few minutes later and made their way upstairs and stopped in front of Dr. Mayhem's lab. "He's not here," one male student informed the brothers.
"We know," Joe acknowledged the youth with a charming smile. "But Dean Ravelson gave us permission to go inside."
The student looked at the two suspiciously until Frank pulled a set of keys from his pocket and inserted one of them into the lock. With a shrug, the boy continued on his way down the hall as Frank and Joe entered the lab and closed the door behind them.
"The wolves are gone," said Joe, seeing the section of the room where their cages had been and going over to inspect the area.
Frank bit his bottom lip as he watched Joe. Perhaps searching for Mayhem wasn't the best thing for his brother to do. He had been obsessed with the man since their first meeting and Frank wasn't altogether sure Joe meeting up with Mayhem while he obviously still thought he might be a werewolf was a good idea. Then again, my meeting Mayhem right now isn't such a good idea either, thought Frank grimly. What had Mayhem done to Joe to get him to act this way? Frank's scowl turned into a heavy frown. Mayhem and Anderson were working together! his mind screamed at him.
"I think I should question Anderson," Frank said.
Joe looked over at Frank in surprise. "Why?" he asked, standing up.
"Mayhem did something to you to make you think you were a werewolf," Frank explained. "And what Anderson did to you obviously reinforced that belief which means they are working together."
"On what?" Joe asked, desperately wanting some kind of logical explanation.
"I don't know," Frank admitted. "But after we finish up here I will drop you off at home and head down to the police station."
"No," Joe said, shaking his head. He didn't want to see Anderson and was grateful Frank didn't want him along but he had other plans. "I want to find Elie and talk to her," Joe explained before Frank could argue. "Maybe I can come up with a lead about who stole her truck and tried to run you down."
"Good idea," approved Frank with a smile. He was glad he wasn't going to have to talk Joe out of going to the station with him.
The two boys set about sifting through the items in the lab. Finding nothing, they headed into Mayhem's office. "Not much left," commented Frank as he rifled through homework assignments.
Joe never acknowledged Frank's observation. He had found a dissertation that a grad student had left for Mayhem to peruse and was giving it his full attention.
"What's that?" queried Frank, his forehead wrinkling as his face took on a curious expression. He moved to Joe's side as Joe shut the notebook.
"Just something someone left for Mayhem," said Joe holding the cover up where the written request had been taped. "Find anything?" he asked doing his best to look innocent.
Frowning, Frank took the notebook and opened it. The Werewolf: Myth or Legend? "Joe, I thought we covered this," groaned Frank.
"Sorry," replied Joe with a sick grin. He wanted to believe Frank. He wanted to believe he had been brainwashed but deep down he knew the truth. Would Frank have to see his transformation to believe him?
"Joe!" snapped Frank drawing Joe's full attention to him as he snatched his arm. "Look! It's still red. A fresh scratch. Werewolves heal."
"They do?" asked Joe grinning impishly.
"If they existed," Frank clarified, pleased to see a trace of the old Joe. "All the myths say werewolves can't be hurt except by a silver bullet."
"No," disagreed Joe, shaking his head. "They say a werewolf can't be killed except by a silver bullet. But what if the myths are wrong?" he continued. "No one believes in werewolves so of course no one has done any research. But if they do exist, what if they can be hurt in human form?"
"Blast it, Joe! You're not a werewolf!" Frank snapped. "Stop being a moron. You can't be a werewolf because there..is...no..such...thing," he ended with blazing eyes. He had to make Joe see how ridiculous he was being.
Joe headed for the door. "I'm going to find Elie," he said. "I'll find my own way home," he added, not turning around. Joe left the science building wondering why he had been so short with Frank. Frank had just been trying to help him. "Of course I'm not a werewolf," Joe muttered but his words did not convince him. He resisted the urge to look at the scratch Frank had given him and continued on his way across campus. Fifteen minutes later, he reached his destination and headed up the steps into the building housing the English department. Joe had looked at Elie's file along with the other students involved with Aliem's project and had memorized her schedule. She should be finishing her class in less than ten minutes.
When Elie's class let out, Joe was waiting across the hall leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as he watched a spider spinning a web above an upper corner of a picture frame.
Elie saw him before he spotted her even though her perfume had reached his nostrils as she exited. "Joe! What are you doing here?" inquired Elie with a smile.
"I was looking for you actually," he answered pushing away from the wall as she approached. "Got time to talk?"
"And how!" she agreed. "I've even got a mystery for you," she added.
"Let me guess," Joe said. "Someone stole your truck."
"How did you know?" she demanded in surprise. "It just happened this morning."
"Because whoever stole it used it to try and run Frank down earlier," Joe informed her.
"Oh no! Is he all right?" Elie gasped, her eyes going wide.
"He's fine," Joe assured her. "I was wondering if you could tell me where your truck was parked when it was stolen?"
"Here on campus," Elie replied. "It was parked at the campus post office. I was going to get my mail and go straight back to the truck but I bumped into Dr. Mayhem and he convinced me to have breakfast with him at the Sweet Shop so we walked over. Then I went to the library and dropped off a couple of books that Dr. Mayhem asked me to before I headed back to the post office. It wasn't seven am so I didn't think it would be towed or anything," she explained. "But I checked before reporting it stolen and well, it hadn't been. Towed, that is."
When she quit speaking she noticed Joe was looking a bit excited. "Did you leave your keys in the truck?" he asked.
"Of course not," Elie snapped. "I'm not a moron."
"Do you still have your keys?" Joe asked.
"Of course," she replied. She unzipped the small outside pocket of her backpack and reached inside. Her forehead split into wrinkles as she rummaged around. "They aren't here!" she declared in shock, looking back at Joe. "But I know I put them in there."
"Mayhem took them," Joe stated with certainty.
"That's the craziest thing I have ever heard of," Elie erupted. "I may not have him for a class but I have heard of him. He's a genius! He's...."
"He's been missing for three days," Joe said, silencing her.
"If he hadn't knocked you down, you would have been," stated a young woman who had witnessed the incident. "He saved your life."
"Thanks, Baby Brother," Frank said, starting to rise.
"Better stay put," one of the officers advised. "An ambulance will be here shortly."
"I'm fine," Frank said. "I just wish I knew who owned that truck," he added, getting to his feet.
"Elie Whitlock," Joe and the officer replied at the same time.
"It was stolen earlier this morning," the officer continued.
"Shouldn't you go after it?" demanded Joe, turning on the officer.
"My partner radioed it in," the officer informed Joe, swallowing nervously as he mentally prepared to defend himself although he wasn't sure why since Joe had made no move to act on his anger. "The Bayport PD will look for it. We don't have authority to pull a vehicle over once it has left campus."
"I should file a report with the Bayport PD instead of with you then?" inquired Frank.
"That would be best," the officer answered.
"I'll do that," Frank said smiling. "Come on Joe," he added, taking his brother's arm and pulling him across the street.
The boys arrived at the science building a few minutes later and made their way upstairs and stopped in front of Dr. Mayhem's lab. "He's not here," one male student informed the brothers.
"We know," Joe acknowledged the youth with a charming smile. "But Dean Ravelson gave us permission to go inside."
The student looked at the two suspiciously until Frank pulled a set of keys from his pocket and inserted one of them into the lock. With a shrug, the boy continued on his way down the hall as Frank and Joe entered the lab and closed the door behind them.
"The wolves are gone," said Joe, seeing the section of the room where their cages had been and going over to inspect the area.
Frank bit his bottom lip as he watched Joe. Perhaps searching for Mayhem wasn't the best thing for his brother to do. He had been obsessed with the man since their first meeting and Frank wasn't altogether sure Joe meeting up with Mayhem while he obviously still thought he might be a werewolf was a good idea. Then again, my meeting Mayhem right now isn't such a good idea either, thought Frank grimly. What had Mayhem done to Joe to get him to act this way? Frank's scowl turned into a heavy frown. Mayhem and Anderson were working together! his mind screamed at him.
"I think I should question Anderson," Frank said.
Joe looked over at Frank in surprise. "Why?" he asked, standing up.
"Mayhem did something to you to make you think you were a werewolf," Frank explained. "And what Anderson did to you obviously reinforced that belief which means they are working together."
"On what?" Joe asked, desperately wanting some kind of logical explanation.
"I don't know," Frank admitted. "But after we finish up here I will drop you off at home and head down to the police station."
"No," Joe said, shaking his head. He didn't want to see Anderson and was grateful Frank didn't want him along but he had other plans. "I want to find Elie and talk to her," Joe explained before Frank could argue. "Maybe I can come up with a lead about who stole her truck and tried to run you down."
"Good idea," approved Frank with a smile. He was glad he wasn't going to have to talk Joe out of going to the station with him.
The two boys set about sifting through the items in the lab. Finding nothing, they headed into Mayhem's office. "Not much left," commented Frank as he rifled through homework assignments.
Joe never acknowledged Frank's observation. He had found a dissertation that a grad student had left for Mayhem to peruse and was giving it his full attention.
"What's that?" queried Frank, his forehead wrinkling as his face took on a curious expression. He moved to Joe's side as Joe shut the notebook.
"Just something someone left for Mayhem," said Joe holding the cover up where the written request had been taped. "Find anything?" he asked doing his best to look innocent.
Frowning, Frank took the notebook and opened it. The Werewolf: Myth or Legend? "Joe, I thought we covered this," groaned Frank.
"Sorry," replied Joe with a sick grin. He wanted to believe Frank. He wanted to believe he had been brainwashed but deep down he knew the truth. Would Frank have to see his transformation to believe him?
"Joe!" snapped Frank drawing Joe's full attention to him as he snatched his arm. "Look! It's still red. A fresh scratch. Werewolves heal."
"They do?" asked Joe grinning impishly.
"If they existed," Frank clarified, pleased to see a trace of the old Joe. "All the myths say werewolves can't be hurt except by a silver bullet."
"No," disagreed Joe, shaking his head. "They say a werewolf can't be killed except by a silver bullet. But what if the myths are wrong?" he continued. "No one believes in werewolves so of course no one has done any research. But if they do exist, what if they can be hurt in human form?"
"Blast it, Joe! You're not a werewolf!" Frank snapped. "Stop being a moron. You can't be a werewolf because there..is...no..such...thing," he ended with blazing eyes. He had to make Joe see how ridiculous he was being.
Joe headed for the door. "I'm going to find Elie," he said. "I'll find my own way home," he added, not turning around. Joe left the science building wondering why he had been so short with Frank. Frank had just been trying to help him. "Of course I'm not a werewolf," Joe muttered but his words did not convince him. He resisted the urge to look at the scratch Frank had given him and continued on his way across campus. Fifteen minutes later, he reached his destination and headed up the steps into the building housing the English department. Joe had looked at Elie's file along with the other students involved with Aliem's project and had memorized her schedule. She should be finishing her class in less than ten minutes.
When Elie's class let out, Joe was waiting across the hall leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as he watched a spider spinning a web above an upper corner of a picture frame.
Elie saw him before he spotted her even though her perfume had reached his nostrils as she exited. "Joe! What are you doing here?" inquired Elie with a smile.
"I was looking for you actually," he answered pushing away from the wall as she approached. "Got time to talk?"
"And how!" she agreed. "I've even got a mystery for you," she added.
"Let me guess," Joe said. "Someone stole your truck."
"How did you know?" she demanded in surprise. "It just happened this morning."
"Because whoever stole it used it to try and run Frank down earlier," Joe informed her.
"Oh no! Is he all right?" Elie gasped, her eyes going wide.
"He's fine," Joe assured her. "I was wondering if you could tell me where your truck was parked when it was stolen?"
"Here on campus," Elie replied. "It was parked at the campus post office. I was going to get my mail and go straight back to the truck but I bumped into Dr. Mayhem and he convinced me to have breakfast with him at the Sweet Shop so we walked over. Then I went to the library and dropped off a couple of books that Dr. Mayhem asked me to before I headed back to the post office. It wasn't seven am so I didn't think it would be towed or anything," she explained. "But I checked before reporting it stolen and well, it hadn't been. Towed, that is."
When she quit speaking she noticed Joe was looking a bit excited. "Did you leave your keys in the truck?" he asked.
"Of course not," Elie snapped. "I'm not a moron."
"Do you still have your keys?" Joe asked.
"Of course," she replied. She unzipped the small outside pocket of her backpack and reached inside. Her forehead split into wrinkles as she rummaged around. "They aren't here!" she declared in shock, looking back at Joe. "But I know I put them in there."
"Mayhem took them," Joe stated with certainty.
"That's the craziest thing I have ever heard of," Elie erupted. "I may not have him for a class but I have heard of him. He's a genius! He's...."
"He's been missing for three days," Joe said, silencing her.