Page 31 of Innocence

“My fear is very specifically a fear of cobras,” he said, visibly shaking. “When I was a child, my parents traveled to India, and I saw a snake charmer. Except he didn’t charm anything. The snake bit his face, and we watched as the man died a horrible death. It’s been my nightmare ever since.”

The campus police and city police arrived, taking the statements of everyone. As they started to leave, Gaspar cleared his throat.

“Hey. Someone has to take control of the snakes,” he frowned. City police looked at the campus police, shaking their heads. Dr. Gates just smiled at the men.

“I don’t blame you, really, I don’t. Perhaps call our veterinary school and see if they might be missing two residents,” he said. One of the campus police immediately called the school and nodded, smiling at them with a thumbs up.

“Someone will be here shortly, Dr. Gates. They said they thought the snakes got out on their own and had been combing the facility for them. Good news is their venom production had been disrupted. They might have bitten you, but you would have lived.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” he smirked. “I’d only die of a heart attack.”

“Did you hear anything, Dr. Gates?” asked Ian.

“No. Other than someone entering the room, I heard nothing. I did admit my fear in class several times this week. More than two hundred students would have heard that.”

“Did you have a student Gifford Macklin?”

“Yes,” he smiled. “What a wonderful, loving young man. Probably the kindest heart I’ve ever seen in my life. He was always helping his fellow students, animals, anyone really.” He stared at the somber faces and shook his head, backed up to take a seat at a desk.

“We’re sorry.”

“No. No, not that sweet young man. How? No. No, don’t tell me. It was a fire.” They all nodded at him. “He admitted it last week. Said he’d given it a lot of thought, and dying in a fire was his fear. For him, it was the closest to hell he could be. I think it was why he’d chosen divinity as his path. He didn’t want the fires of hell. What a loss. What a tragic, tragic loss for all of mankind.”

The doctor was visibly shaken by the news, tears in his eyes as he grieved for the promising young man.

“Professor Gates, we believe that someone in your class is hearing the fears of their classmates and making them come to life. Is there anyone, anyone at all, that comes to mind when you think of that?”

“No. Not even my disrupters in the room. I don’t see them as capable of that at all. I’m very fortunate that my classes are full of students who actually want to be here and learn. That may seem naïve to you, but it’s the truth.” He turned, seemingly noticing Noah for the first time.

“Hello,” he said in his deep baritone voice.

“You’re new,” he said, smiling up at the man. “Viking, if I had to guess. What is your fear young man?”

“I have no fears,” he lied. His biggest fear in life was that Tru would leave him one day. It was an absurd fear, as she was as much in love with him as he was with her.

“We all have fears,” said the professor. “I try to teach my students that by facing them, they can overcome them. This was one I had never overcome.”

“Someone knew that,” said Nine, “and they were forcing your hand.”

“This must stop. If all this is based in my classroom, perhaps I cancel classes for the rest of the semester.”

“No!” said the room of men. Ghost shook his head.

“No. If you cancel classes, we lose any opportunity to find this person or persons. We have to figure out who is doing this, and we need this class to do that.”

“Alright. Alright, then.” He nodded, staring at the trash can. “I believe I might be over my fear now. But I don’t believe I’ll test it.” The others just smirked at him. Gaspar stared at the men, then nodded.

“I have an idea.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The funeral for Gifford Macklin was held on a rainy Wednesday in his hometown of Pascagoula, Mississippi. There were more than six hundred people in attendance. A hundred of those were students from UNO who had been touched by his kindness.

The eulogy spoke of his goodness, his decency, his giving nature, and his desire to help others find their way. Deeply rooted in their faith, his parents and other family members were saddened but knew that he was in heaven watching over them.

For Nine, Gaspar, Ian, and Ghost, it was miserable to watch. The thought of losing someone so young, so senselessly, was more than they could handle. When Gifford’s mother walked toward them, she reached out and touched their hands.

“I understand you’re trying to find who did this to my son,” she said.

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