CHAPTER EIGHT

While Ivan and Code secured cameras to the trees in the area, Sniff brought out Zeus and Monster to check the area further. So far, they couldn't find any traces of other victims or their killers. But they would.

When Ghost and Trak asked Victoria to go with them to UNO, she appeared shocked at first, then stood, her shoulders back, and nodded.

"We'll be right beside you," said Trak.

"I know. I'll be perfectly safe," she said, smiling at the two men. She grabbed her bag with her laptop and wallet and headed toward the car.

"That was much easier than I expected," said Ghost.

"Perhaps she's been doing her own soul searching," said Trak. "Either way, she knows that we will protect her."

Seated in the backseat of the SUV, she was quiet on the drive into New Orleans and to the campus of UNO. They knew that Tracy was a psych student, so they planned to visit that building and just look around. As they walked across campus, Ghost kept her between him and Trak.

"Look, honey. It's beautiful, isn't it," he said, smiling down at her.

"I don't know, Dad. It's not really my kind of place," she grinned. Trak let a grin slip from his lips, admiring her excellent acting skills. Then, in a whisper, she spoke to the two men. "I do have an idea."

Walking to the psych building, she went inside and found one of the lecture halls for Tracy's class. She entered, and the professor was seated at the front of the room.

"Can I help you? Class doesn't start for another fifteen minutes."

"I'm just wondering if I can sit in on the class," said Victoria. "This is my dad and my uncle. We're walking the campus today."

"Oh, of course," he said, smiling at her. "We love having interested students visit our campus. It's a beautiful place with a lot to offer. Do you plan to study psychology?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe something along the lines of computer engineering or programming, but I had a neighbor that was in this class. She recently died." His face had a terrible sadness to it, and he nodded.

"Tracy Bingham. I'm so sorry about what happened to her. She was a great student and a lovely young woman. A bright future was ahead of her."

"It's pretty sad," said Victoria. "She loved the school, though, so I thought I'd give it a chance."

"Well, you're welcome here. Please just take a seat."

The three of them took their seats at the back of the room and watched as dozens of students walked in, finding their place in the lecture hall. He didn't acknowledge the three at the back but began immediately talking about the subject for the week.

"We started talking about phobias and fears last week. Remember, there are three types of phobias. Social phobias are more commonly known as social anxiety disorders. This phobia is marked by a fear of social situations where a person might be judged or embarrassed. Then we have agoraphobia. This is an irrational and extreme fear of being places that we don't think we can escape from or leave, or even leaving one's own home. The third class typically listed is specific phobias, like being afraid of something specific. Snakes, spiders, needles, blood, that sort of thing."

There were moans and groans as people shivered from the thought or laughed at others for their seemingly silly fear.

"Mr. Rivers, my assistant, is passing out a form with common phobias. Take a moment to review it and make a mark next to any you feel you may have. You may have none, but I would assume if you're in this class, you're at least curious." The young teaching assistant walked up and down the steps, then walked toward Victoria.

"She doesn't need one," said Ghost.

"Actually, Dad. I'd like to just take a look if that's okay," she said, smiling at the assistant.

"Absolutely," he smiled, handing her the form.

Ablutophobia : Fear of bathing

Achluophobia:Fear of darkness

Acrophobia : Fear of heights

Aerophobia: Fear of flying

Algophobia: Fear of pain

Agoraphobia: Fear of open spaces or crowds

Aichmophobia: Fear of needles or pointed objects

Amaxophobia : Fear of riding in a car

Androphobia: Fear of men

Anemophobia : Fear of air

Anginophobia: Fear of angina or choking

Angrophobia : Fear of anger

Anthrophobia: Fear of flowers

Anthropophobia : Fear of people or society

Aphenphosmphobia: Fear of being touched

Arachibutyrophobia :Fear of peanut butter

Arachnophobia : Fear of spiders

Arithmophobia: Fear of numbers

Astraphobia: Fear of thunder and lightning

Astrophobia : Fear of outer space

Ataxophobia: Fear of disorder or untidiness

Atelophobia: Fear of imperfection

Atychiphobia: Fear of failure

Automatonophobia : Fear of human-like figures

Autophobia: Fear of being alone

Bacteriophobia: Fear of bacteria

Barophobia: Fear of gravity

Bathmophobia: Fear of stairs or steep slopes

Batrachophobia: Fear of amphibians

Belonephobia: Fear of pins and needles

Bibliophobia: Fear of books

Botanophobia: Fear of plants

Cacophobia: Fear of ugliness

Catagelophobia:Fear of being ridiculed

Catoptrophobia : Fear of mirrors

Chionophobia: Fear of snow

Chrometophobia : Fear of spending money

Chromophobia: Fear of colors

Chronomentrophobia: Fear of clocks

Chronophobia : Fear of time

Cibophobia : Fear of food

Claustrophobia: Fear of confined spaces

Climacophobia : Fear of climbing

Coulrophobia : Fear of clowns

Cyberphobia: Fear of computers

Cynophobia: Fear of dogs

Daemonophobia : Fear of demons

Decidophobia : Fear of making decisions

Dendrophobia: Fear of trees

Dentophobia: Fear of dentists

Domatophobia: Fear of houses

Dystychiphobia : Fear of accidents

Ecophobia:Fear of the home

Elurophobia: Fear of cats

Emetophobia : Fear of vomiting

Entomophobia: Fear of insects

Ephebiphobia: Fear of teenagers

Erotophobia : Fear of sex

Equinophobia: Fear of horses

Gamophobia : Fear of marriage

Genuphobia : Fear of knees

Glossophobia : Fear of speaking in public

Gynophobia : Fear of women

Haphephobia : Fear of touch

Heliophobia : Fear of the sun

Hemophobia: Fear of blood

Herpetophobia: Fear of reptiles

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia : Fear of long words

Hydrophobia: Fear of water

Hypochondria: Fear of illness

Iatrophobia:Fear of doctors

Insectophobia:Fear of insects

Koinoniphobia: Fear of rooms

Koumpounophobia: Fear of buttons

Leukophobia: Fear of the color white

Lilapsophobia: Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes

Lockiophobia: Fear of childbirth

Mageirocophobia:Fear of cooking

Megalophobia: Fear of large things

Melanophobia: Fear of the color black

Merinthophobia: Fear of string or being bound

Microphobia: Fear of small things

Mysophobia: Fear of dirt and germs

Necrophobia :Fear of death or dead things

Noctiphobia: Fear of the night

Nomophobia : Fear of being without your mobile phone

Nosocomephobia: Fear of hospitals

Nyctophobia : Fear of the dark

Obesophobia: Fear of gaining weight

Octophobia: Fear of the figure 8

Ombrophobia: Fear of rain

Ophidiophobia : Fear of snakes

Ornithophobia : Fear of birds

Osmophobia : Fear of smells

Ostraconophobia : Fear of shellfish

Papyrophobia: Fear of paper

Pathophobia: Fear of disease

Pedophobia:Fear of children

Philematophobia : Fear of kissing

Philophobia: Fear of love

Phobophobia : Fear of phobias

Podophobia: Fear of feet

Porphyrophobia: Fear of the color purple

Pteridophobia: Fear of ferns

Pteromerhanophobia: Fear of flying

Pyrophobia: Fear of fire

Samhainophobia: Fear of Halloween

Scolionophobia: Fear of school

Scoptophobia : Fear of being stared at

Selenophobia: Fear of the moon

Sociophobia: Fear of social evaluation

Somniphobia:Fear of sleep

Tachophobia: Fear of speed

Technophobia: Fear of technology

Thalassophobia : Fear of the ocean

Trichophobia : Fear of hair

Tonitrophobia: Fear of thunder

Trypanophobia : Fear of needles/injections

Trypophobia : Fear of holes

Venustraphobia: Fear of beautiful women

Verminophobia: Fear of germs

Wiccaphobia: Fear of witches and witchcraft

Xenophobia: Fear of strangers or foreigners

Zoophobia:Fear of animals

Zuigerphobia : Fear of vacuum cleaners

They could hear students laughing, joking about the fears listed on the sheet of paper.

"Seriously? A fear of beautiful women? What the hell is wrong with someone that fears a beautiful woman?" said one young man.

"Fear of vacuum cleaners. That must be my mother's problem," said a girl.

"Merinthophobia. Isn't that what that girl was afraid of," said a young man. "The one that was killed. Tracy. Wasn't she afraid of being tied up or something?"

The professor stared at the young man, then slowly looked up at the three visitors in the back of the room.

"I believe she did say that was one of her fears," he said quietly. He cleared his throat and continued.

"The fears are real to the individual and can be debilitating, even paralyzing. People often find themselves in the middle of what they fear the most and cannot move, cannot think, or find a way out of their situation. It is not a thing to make light of."

"How do you overcome the fears?" asked a girl.

"For some people, medications can help. Others need therapy to find the root cause of the fear. It could have been an incident as a child or perhaps an accident that caused it. I've met individuals who have their fear due to a movie they watched or a piece of music they heard.

"What I want all of you to do is be honest with yourselves and your classmates. Is there something on this list that you can identify with?"

The lecture hall was quiet. Ghost noticed that Trak was watching everyone, taking in their faces, their mannerisms, anything that he could use later to identify someone.

"You're going to force me to call on someone," chuckled the professor. Still no volunteers. "Alright, Beatrice. Do you have a fear that you identify with on this list?"

"I. I, uh."

"Sounds like fear of speaking," said a young man.

"Mr. Potsdem! Enough. Go ahead, Beatrice."

"Scoptophobia. Fear of being stared at."

Ghost, Victoria, and Trak stood outside the lecture hall and watched as the students left. When the young woman, Beatrice walked by, Victoria touched her hand.

"Hey, that was very brave of you," she smiled. "I don't like it when people stare at me either."

"But you're beautiful. That's why they stare at you," she said.

"You're beautiful, too," said Victoria with sincerity. She only shook her head.

"They were right about that girl, Tracy. We talked about fears last week, and she spoke up about her fears. The guys all thought it was funny."

"Which guys?" asked Ghost. The girl looked up at him, clutching her book bag to her chest.

"The same ones that laughed at me."