Am I running away from my problems? Claudia never thought of herself as the type to shirk her responsibilities, but wasn’t that what she was doing? She hadn’t contacted anyone to say she was okay and when she’d be back to work…because she didn’t know the answer to that.
Could she leave Anthony in the lurch? Damn it all, she still loved him. If she didn’t show up tomorrow, she’d cause Angie, Sadie, and Chris unnecessary stress too. But she couldn’t very well explain that their boss was a vampire and might be contemplating murder.
She couldn’t just lie there. She sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. The clock beside her said it was 3:00 a.m. If she were home, she’d putter out to the kitchen, pour herself a glass of milk, and watch an infomercial or read until she couldn’t keep her eyes open. But this wasn’t her place and she didn’t feel comfortable helping herself to their food and TV.
She let out a big sigh and was about to get up and slip on her robe when a woman appeared at the foot of her bed.
Shit. She rubbed her eyes. The woman didn’t go away. She looked familiar, but Claudia couldn’t place her. She wore a long, white robe belted with vines, and her white hair hung down to her waist.
At last Claudia found her voice and asked, “Are—are you my fairy godmother?”
The woman reared back and laughed loudly.
“Shhh… You’ll wake the family.”
“No I won’t.”
Claudia was confused. She must be dreaming. There was no better explanation for a woman just appearing at the end of her bed at three in the morning, but it feels so real.
“Look. I don’t usually do this, but you’re a loose cannon. I can’t find your boyfriend, or I’d tell him to make sure you keep your trap shut.”
“My boyfriend? You mean Anthony?”
“Yeah. For lack of a better term. I know to you he’s ancient, but to me he’s just a boy. And you…you’re a mere infant in the scheme of things.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look. I’m not Anthony’s silent partner or whatever gibberish he told you about me. I’m Mother Nature. Gaia. Goddess to you.”
Claudia’s jaw dropped and she couldn’t breathe for a few moments. “That’s where I’d seen you. On the stairwell outside my apartment.”
“Yes. You interrupted a very important conversation, so instead of disappearing, I just changed into contemporary clothing and made up a convenient lie about my identity. I tried to warn him away from you.”
“Why?”
“When a paranormal becomes involved with a human, it puts all of them at risk.”
“But…I wouldn’t tell anyone. I wouldn’t know how. Nobody would believe me.”
“That’s not technically true. Most folks are grounded enough to think you’re nuts, but some are getting a little too close to the truth. All they need is verification. And if you give that to them, it’ll make me very angry.” She stared at Claudia intensely. “You don’t want to make Mother Nature angry.”
Claudia imagined earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions, and wondered if the goddess was angry when those things occurred.
“Oh, yes,” Mother Nature said. “I can do that and more.”
Claudia sucked in a quick breath. “You can read my mind?”
“Just the vivid images. I’m not so much for words. I prefer to read the pictures.”
Claudia visualized her favorite magazine with beautiful photography of nature and foreign cultures.
The goddess smiled. “Yeah, I have a good side, too, although you’d never know it to listen to the ingrates that live on this planet. All they ever do is complain. Most of the time, they don’t even look at or appreciate the beauty I’ve put right in front of their faces.”
Claudia nodded slowly. “I think I know what you mean. People in the city can get so caught up in the hectic pace that they miss a lot of subtle beauty.”
Mother Nature narrowed her eyes. “You’re not just patronizing me, are you?”
“No. I wouldn’t do that. I believe what you just said. I’ve experienced it myself.”
“From now on, make a conscious effort to appreciate the pleasant gifts I give you…not that you ingrates deserve any of them.”
Claudia worried her lip. “Um. If I’m dreaming, will I remember your advice when I wake up?”
The goddess rolled her eyes. “Oh, for crap’s sake. You’re not dreaming. I’m right here.” She reached out and grabbed Claudia’s arm. Giving it a shake, she said, “Could I do that if you were dreaming?”
“I—I guess not. Dreams can feel pretty real, though.”
“Fine. I’ll leave you a reminder of my visit. But before I go, I need you to promise you won’t divulge anything you know. You met my muse, Brandee. You won’t tell anyone what she did for you. You’ve met vampires…”
“A few,” Claudia said.
“Look, I don’t care if you meet three or a hundred. Shut up about them, okay?”
Claudia’s eyes rounded. “There are a hundred of them?”
Mother Nature pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered something about stupid humans.
“But didn’t you create humans?”
She snorted. “Yeah. As food. But then you got better and better at survival and decided you were the top of the food chain. What can I say? When you guys evolve, you evolve!”
“Eek. You created us as food?”
“Well, duh. A tiger’s gotta eat. Now man has wiped out almost all of my beautiful tigers.”
Claudia didn’t know what to say, except that the woman scared her.
“You’d do well to keep that healthy fear alive, but call it respect. I hate intimidating people if I don’t have to.”
“S-so, is that all? You just want me to keep my knowledge of paranormals to myself, appreciate the beauty of nature, and maintain a healthy respect for you?”
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. Do you think you can do all that?”
Claudia nodded.
Mother Nature extended her fist with her little finger extended. “Pinkie swear.”
Incredulous, Claudia looped her own pinkie finger around the goddess’s. “Pinkie swear,” she said. “Can I at least tell Anthony about our meeting?”
Mother Nature smiled. “I’ll make that one exception. Everybody needs one confidant. More than one and the blabbermouth will be sent to a lonely, lonely place, like Death Valley. Understand?”
“Ummm…I guess so.”
“Your boyfriend knows what I can do. I told him to dump your ass. Apparently he’d rather freeze atop the Matterhorn than live without you.”
Claudia melted inside.
“Now do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Good. Now lie down and I’ll help you get to sleep.”
Claudia didn’t remember anything after that until she awoke with the sunrise. “Boy, that was some dream,” she muttered.
She jumped out of bed feeling rested and refreshed. When she turned around, a vine lay on her pillow.
It was almost time for a shift change among the researchers. George had been kept away from any communication with the outside world, but was treated better than the captives. He continued to answer questions honestly, to the best of his ability. It was clear to Anthony that the people they needed to talk to were coming in on the day shift.
Sly knew a couple of shifters that could help them keep an eye on the entrance without creating suspicion. They both shifted into birds. One was a raven and the other, a falcon. They both lived in his building, so he called Morgaine. She said she’d wake them and send them over.