Superstition

by Veronica Blake

When they were together, it was like a sexual frenzy stole away all their common sense. A shit-eating grin claimed her lips for about the hundredth time today…every time she thought about Mateo Two Moons. Once again, she forgot all about the little issue of birth control, and all she could think of was how long it had been since she had seen Mateo and how eager she was to get lost in that uncontrollable frenzy again.

  Making everything even more unbearable was that Chloe had taken the entire day off from school without even telling her. She stopped by the principal’s office to ask if anyone knew why Chloe wasn’t here, and was told by the secretary she left a message on the answering machine saying said she had to deal with a personal issue. Dawn’s repeated calls and texts to her cell had been useless.

  At first, her feelings were a little hurt Chloe wasn’t answering her calls, because even though they hadn’t known one another all that long, it seemed like they were already pretty good friends. By the time she got home late Monday night, however, she was more than a little worried about her friend and what sort of personal issue caused her to disappear on such an important day at their school.

  The first Open House of the school year was kind of a big deal, and she knew Chloe had been looking forward to it. Something major must have happened to cause her to miss it. Could her father’s condition have worsened? Chloe mentioned he was too sick to go camping or hiking anymore, but Dawn didn’t know how serious his illness was. All she could hope for now, though, was she would hear from her soon and everything would be okay.

  But Chloe’s call wasn’t the only one she was anxiously waiting for. She quickly got ready for bed, so she could wait for Mateo’s call. No sooner had she changed into her pink polka dot pjs, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and climbed into bed, when her cell began to play the enchanting guitar chords of a Joseph Red Feather song. She spent part of her lunch hour today setting her ringtone for calls from Mateo to play his favorite musician. Now, she would always know when he was the one calling, and the song she had chosen was a beautiful love ballad called In My Perfect World. It was just perfect.

  “Hello, I missed you so much today,” Dawn said in a rush. His deep soft laughter on the other end of the receiver made her heart feel like it was bursting open with happiness.

  “I missed you more. How was the Open House?”

  “Exhausting. I thought it would never end. How was your day? Where are you? Want to come over for a little while?”

  He chuckled and sighed loudly. “My day was missing you, and there is nothing I would love more than to come over, but unfortunately, I’m in Tucson for a couple of days.”

  “Tucson?” she moaned. That was so far away. Her previously happy heart dropped down to the pit of her stomach. “On business, I’m guessing?” She hated the idea of him being out of town. She hated him being anywhere other than with her.

  “Yes. It’s business,” he replied. “But I would like to see you tomorrow night if you aren’t busy?”

  Tomorrow night? Oh, hell yes. But that was twenty-four long hours away. “I would like that,” she replied trying not to sound too anxious and crazy. “How about if I cook dinner for you?”

  “Can you cook?” he asked in a teasing tone.

  She giggled. “Cooking is only one of my many talents, Mr. Two Moons.”

  “Well said, my love.” Mateo cleared his throat, and added, “I am already aware of some of your other talents, so I am definitely down for dinner.”

  Another giggle escaped from her. Oh, how she loved it when called her, ‘my love’. She wished she could gaze into his eyes right now, because she knew they were twinkling like ebony diamonds as he smiled suggestively at their conversation. “Anything I should not make? Like are you allergic to any certain food?”

  “I’m easy,” he said with another chuckle. “But then, you already knew that,” he added.

  Dawn laughed, but refrained from commenting on his remark. She had been rather easy herself lately where he was concerned. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night. I can’t wait.”

  “Me either,” he agreed. “Oh, and Dawn?”

  “Yes?”

  “I love you,” he said tenderly.

  “I love you,” Dawn said in an equally soft tone. A feeling of complete and utter bliss spread through her entire body, and lasted long after he was no longer on the other end of the phone. She physically felt the extent of his love for her, even now, when he wasn’t here with her, and she knew it was only going to grow. Love at first sight was just the beginning for the two of them. Forever echoed through her mind again.

  ****

  Mateo put his new cell phone down on the console in the center of his truck seats. He had gotten the phone the same night he bought this truck. All these things were necessary if he wanted to fit into Dawn’s world, even if it was for only a short time. He even rented a place so he could have somewhere of his own to take her when they weren’t at her apartment.

  The luxurious fully furnished condo was not far from where she lived. It was an expensive rental, but his family didn’t have to worry about money. Drago’s clan had an endless supply of gold in the big cave up on the Superstitions. The Clan Society handled all gold transactions, and they learned long ago there were always ways to secretly launder the precious metal in exchange for a hefty fee.

  A weighted sigh escaped from Mateo as he slumped down in the seat. He hated lying to Dawn about everything, regardless of how necessary it was for the safety of all who were involved. But then, wasn’t his entire existence here in her world a deception? It started when he lied about his job on the Tribal Council to cover up why she would never see him in the daytime.

  Now, he was pretending to be in another town so he could hide something else from her, which seemed ludicrous when the whole idea behind this sham was to spend time with her before he took her to the mountain for all eternity. Still, concealing the truth about where he really was seemed easy compared to the secret he had to keep from her now.

  Something devastating transpired last night—something he never would have expected to happen in a million years. But there was no way to undo it, and it was a horrible tragedy that complicated everything.

  He kept telling himself he should just go to her apartment tonight, suck the blood from her neck, wrist, and thigh until she passed out, and make her his mate forever. This would be the easy solution. Even though he knew this was exactly what he should do before anything else occurred to jeopardize the welfare of his entire clan and the secrets they had hidden in the gold-laden cave, he was still not ready to give up the life he envisioned and just started living here in Dawn’s world.

  He tried to swallow, but his mouth was bitter and dry. His thirst for human blood was unusually desperate tonight. Although he did not need to feed on blood from real ones often since he had been born a half-breed vampire, when the urge did overcome him, it was powerful and consuming.

  He couldn’t stop remembering how sweet and satisfying Dawn’s blood had tasted on the nights when he had drunk from her neck and wrist. He was afraid to even think about how succulent the blood from her thigh would taste when he was ready to go that far.

  The urge to drink more of her blood had become so strong on the drive back from the lake last night he had been afraid to go into her apartment when they returned, even though he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the night lying beside her in bed like he had done the previous night.

  The memory of watching her sleep in his arms that first night after they made love brought a poignant smile to his lips and caused his arms to ache with the yearning to hold her close again.

  Mateo also knew there was another reason he was craving human blood so strongly. There was a fresh young blood source in the village on the mountain. She had come too close to the hidden village of the Blood Clan, as had many gold seekers in the past. Mateo’s father sensed her nearness as soon as the sun dropped low enough in the sky for him to awaken and leave the caves.

  Antonio co
uldn’t believe a real one was so nearby just when they needed extra blood to use in the special rituals they were conducting for the impending birth of Rafael and Lydia’s child, and he wasted no time in bringing the welcome intruder back to the village.

  Mateo had also been aware of a human presence when he exited the cave where he spent the daylight hours since he had turned a quarter of a century over seventy-five years ago. He knew his father had gone out to hunt for the real one, but he had been so anxious to get to Dawn he hadn’t waited around for Antonio to return. He didn’t learn who the new blood source was until he came back up to the village after dropping Dawn off at her apartment last night.

  As he ran his tongue over his brittle feeling lips again he tried to focus on something—anything—other than drinking blood. He gritted his teeth tightly together and headed back to the village at the top of the Superstitions where he knew he could quench his evil cravings without harming someone else.

  As much as he wanted to resist these demonic urges right now, he knew it would be useless. When the vampire part of him thirsted for blood, the human part would never win.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “What do you mean, she’s gone missing?” Dawn tried to keep the rising panic out of her voice. She could tell the man on the other end of the phone was already worried enough without her adding to his panic about his missing daughter.

  “Her car was found this morning at the base of one of the hiking trails. It’s where we always parked when we went up there to scout around. A search party went out this afternoon to look for her.” Mr. Webster choked back a sob. “We believe she went up to the Superstitions sometime Sunday evening, but I can’t believe she went up there alone at night. She knows how dangerous that could be.” He couldn’t hold back the sob this time and it accompanied his next simple questions, “Why? Why do you think she would she do that?”

  For a moment Dawn was too shocked to speak. She felt numb and terrified at the idea of what might have happened to her friend. Even worse, she knew why Chloe had taken off to the Superstitions Sunday night. Guilt was nearly as strong as her panic right now.

  But it was only a dream.

  “Did she call you be-before she left Sunday?” She finally managed to stutter. “Do-do you think she was searching for the gold mine?”

  There was a long pause on the other end of the phone before Chloe’s father spoke again. He sounded as if he had gained some composure back. “I spoke to her Sunday morning, and she didn’t mention anything about going to the mountain. In fact, she talked about the Open House at school on Monday night—last night. She was looking forward to meeting with the parents of her students.”

  He was quiet for a few seconds, and Dawn heard a heavy trembling sigh on the other end. “If something has happened to her, it’s my fault. My stupid obsession with finding that gold mine is to blame. I will never forgive my—” His voice cracked and another loud sob echoed through the receiver.

  “Please, Mr. Webster, it’s not your fault,” she attempted to console him. It’s my fault. Should she tell him about the dream? Her chest felt as if a boulder the size of a house had just rolled over it. Another wave of crushing guilt left her unable to breathe for a moment. She wouldn’t mention the dream to Chloe’s father yet, she decided as she finally took a gasping breath.

  There could still be a good, if not great, outcome. Maybe Chloe had fallen on one of those narrow steep trails and broken a leg or something even less serious. There were lots of people looking for her and they would find her before it was too late. She just had to be alive. Dawn had to believe that, because she couldn’t bear the alternative.

  “I will be in touch,” she said quietly. “I have to go right now. But I-I—” She wished she could tell him she was confident his daughter was okay, but saying it out loud might sound as false as it was beginning to feel. The crushing boulder rolled back over her chest and was now holding her heart prisoner under its monstrous girth. “I’m so sorry,” she said softly as she pushed the end button on her phone.

  She sat in her white pickup staring blankly ahead, yet seeing nothing, even though school had just let out for the day and she was surrounded by students and dozens of other people. Parents were picking up their kids; big yellow buses lined the edge of the parking lot filling up with the students who lived too far to walk home from school. Normal life was going on as usual, in spite of the fact a beautiful vibrant woman was missing and her disappearance might have a tragic ending.

  An invisible icicle formed along Dawn’s spine as the unforgiving terrain of those jagged mountain peaks crowded into her mind. The stories she read about all the people who vanished somewhere along those spooky trails joined her dreaded thoughts. Chloe had been gone since Sunday night and it was late Tuesday afternoon. That was a long time—far too long—to be in the dangerous conditions that existed in the Superstitions, especially alone, and possibly injured. An entire night among the towering rock walls of Dracula’s evil lair. Don’t even go there.

  A nauseated heaviness settled in the pit of her stomach. If something really horrible happened to Chloe, she would never be able to forgive herself.

  But it had only been a dream. Had Chloe seriously believed it meant something more? She choked back the bitter tasting lump in her throat; it felt like it had settled on top of the sick mass already filling her stomach. She recalled the way Chloe responded Sunday afternoon when she told her about the dream. Although she tried to act as if she didn’t think it meant anything, Dawn hadn’t missed the way her blue gaze sparkled with unspoken curiosity as she considered the vision about the rock face on the desert floor.

  Mateo was coming for dinner later this evening, but she needed him now. The worry over her friend’s fate had driven a stake of foreboding through her heart, and his strength and love was the only thing that could even begin to sooth her pain.

  She felt as if the rest of life wasn’t happening outside of the cab of her small pickup truck as she drove out of the school parking lot. She knew she should stay in her classroom for at least another hour or so, grading papers and preparing a new lesson for tomorrow’s classes, but there was no way she could concentrate on anything other than her missing friend and talking to or seeing Mateo as soon as possible.

  She had to tell him about the crazy dream she had about the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. Maybe he knew something more? The Apaches had been living here far longer than anyone else. Perhaps they had some theories about the location of the mine that weren’t mentioned in the history books and could give them a clue as to Chloe’s whereabouts.

  But he wasn’t answering his cell. She called him at least a dozen times and texted as many times since she had gotten home. Although she assumed he was probably traveling back from his business trip to Tuscan, she couldn’t imagine he didn’t get cell phone service somewhere along the route. She was leaving him a frantic message every single time. ‘Call me right away. It’s an emergency.’ Why wasn’t he answering?

  To pass the endless panic-filled time, she finished putting together the lasagna she planned for dinner, and popped it in the oven to bake. Meanwhile, she tore up lettuce and chopped veggies for a salad, then slathered butter and fresh roasted garlic on a loaf of bread to accompany the main course. This dinner was her specialty and everyone who had ever eaten her lasagna said it was the best. Making this special entrée for the man of her dreams was—an ominous feeling whipped through her body at that thought.

  No. Not the man of her dreams. She firmly reminded herself Mateo was not the faceless stranger who ravished her body and bitten her in those weird kinky dreams. He was the real man she loved more than life itself. Although that sounded obsessed and extreme, it was true.

  As the tantalizing smells of the baking lasagna filled Dawn’s little apartment, her anxiety grew. She knew she would not be able to force a single bite down over the sickening lump that refused to dissipate from her throat, but hopefully, Mateo would eat.

  He still wasn’t re
sponding to her urgent calls and texts. What if something had happened to him, too? An urgent sense of foreboding clutched at her heart. Her hand instinctively covered the spot over her left breast when it felt like her heart ceased to beat for a moment. Stop it…he was fine. Chloe was fine. Soon, everything in her world would be perfect again.

  She switched on the ceiling lights and stared out the kitchen window above the sink. Nighttime was closing in. She always loved this time of the evening, just as the last glow of the sun was about to fade from the horizon; the beginning of the end of another day, then the misty shadow of the moon as it began to form a faint outline in the velvet haze of the night—right before the sea of stars began to dot the sky with their sparkling display.

  But right now she was only recalling the horror she felt on that night a week and a half ago when she and Chloe had been hiking up the trail on the Superstitions. Twilight on that night had not felt so enchanting. Her eerie feeling had been so consuming that something—or someone—was watching them. Or stalking them? The terror she felt had been so strong she vowed to never go back up there on those scary mountains again.

  With her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection, she remained frozen to the spot as the fading landscape outside her window became a blur before her eyes. Her own embrace around her body tightened, but the shivers wouldn’t cease. Her teeth began to chatter as if the temperature had dropped to minus zero, even though it was still sweltering.

  Chloe was somewhere up there among those menacing dark shadows and deathly trails, which had led to so much tragedy and loss of lives since the beginning of history. She was helpless and alone—and someone or something—was watching her.

  Dawn couldn’t breathe. Her blurred vision began to fade to black and her legs felt too weak to support her.

  She could not allow herself to believe there was actually neck and wrist-biting, blood-sucking monsters waiting to attack innocent people along the sinister trails of the Superstitions, or anywhere else in the world.