John returned.
He had brought Hume back with him.
Martha nervously ducked her head, trying to keep the passing police car from spotting her.
Little did she know that behavior only made her look more suspicious.
Fortunately, the police officers were already used to the people who frequented this area.
Once the police car passed, Martha breathed a sigh of relief.
Bam!
The hood jolted violently as Hume, the campus celebrity, slammed onto it.
Hume groaned, staring in terror at John as he approached.
"Don't! Aah!"
John grabbed him by the hair and dragged him off the hood.
His back kissed the ground hard, and his legs flailed as he screamed.
John walked over to the trunk and knocked on it, signaling for Martha to open it.
Martha was stunned.
When John said he was going to find Hume, she had assumed he meant something gentler.
She hurriedly opened the trunk, wanting to help but also terrified that someone would notice.
The partygoers seemed not to have noticed their host's departure. The thunderous music over there was loud enough to qualify as a public nuisance.
Once the trunk was open, John tossed Hume inside.
Hume still tried to fight back, so John drew his wand.
Make no mistake, he wasn't about to use magic.
The wand pierced Hume's palm, turning his fang-baring readiness to attack into even more agonized screams.
His screaming went on and on, as though he intended to compete with the party music.
"Martha, do you have a pen?"
"Huh? A pen? I have one." Like a little lamb that had stumbled into a wolf pack's hunt, Martha rummaged through the passenger seat with trembling hands.
She took out a spare pen and brought it over to John herself.
Seeing Hume's miserable state in the trunk, she