Prologue
Valentina slept. No, that's not exactly true, for to all human understanding Valentina was well and truly dead. But that's not exactly true either, for while Valentina's body, lying there in her big bed, was dead, her mind remained active.
The ancient people in her land of Mexico considered her their Goddess. They had worshiped her for centuries as the Goddess Mictecacihuatl. The title Goddess was apt, for she was indeed such. Modern people, steeped in the terrifying legends of Eastern Europe would consider her a vampire. That term was perhaps equally fitting.
As her cold and still blood pooled within her decaying body Valentina dreamed exciting dreams. Her dreams were such for she knew that Misty was on her way. Misty, her latest prey, her new pet, drove and dominated her dreams, for very soon, she knew, that most interesting of creatures would be kneeling at her feet.
On one of her recent, and frequent forays into Misty's mind, Valentina had made certain to leave an understanding within her prey of exactly who and what she was traveling to encounter. Valentina knew that Misty understood that she was giving herself over to a true Goddess, not a mortal woman.
Valentina had taken pains to ensure that Misty fully acknowledged to herself that at Valentina's hand she would find her own personal destruction. Eventually, her death as Valentina consumed every drop of her precious blood.
Misty was coming to Valentina willingly, gratefully actually. Just as countless others had done in ancient times. Misty was coming to her on an airliner. In times now long past they came equally willingly to her by climbing the steps of sacred pyramids. The form had changed, yet the impulse towards self-destruction that was buried deeply within all those born as prey remained the same.
Valentina dreamed, her dream a vision of Misty coming to her, climbing up the stairs of the pyramid that once dominated the skyline of Tenochtitlan, Valentina's beloved City of Mexico. Finally reaching the summit Misty would fall to her knees, and there at Valentina's feet, meet her individual extinction.
Valentina was dead, her body was moldering in her bed, yet she dreamed. She dreamed wonderful dreams.
Chapter 1
Misty worked up all of her courage and stepped over the threshold, entering the airplane. In the normal way of things it was a small step, yet to her, it was the largest step she had taken in her life. Only her firm resolve and promise to herself that she would follow through prevented her from turning around and fleeing the jet.
She showed the flight attendant her ticket, and was directed to a large seat in First Class. Valentina had purchased the ticket for her, and the fact that Valentina had obviously spared no expense made Misty feel wanted and special. These were wonderful, yet unfamiliar feelings for her.
Misty would be flying from Seattle to Puerto Vallarta. It was cold and wet on the Puget Sound on this middle of January day, but she knew that the weather would be wonderful when she deplaned under the Mexican sun a few short hours from now.
As she had been directed in Valentina's message about this trip, Misty had very little with her. There had been no need to check a bag, or even place what she had in an overhead bin. She had only a colorful tote that she slid under the seat in front of her. It contained nothing but her Passport, her wallet with her credit cards and a bit of cash, a small bag of toiletries, and makeup. Notably absent were any clothes beyond what she was wearing. Misty would have liked to have taken much more along with her on this trip, especially as she was scheduled to be in Mexico for a full week, but Valentina had been very specific about what she could bring, and assured her that she would need nothing else.
The flight attendant interrupted Misty's reflections, offering her a flute of champagne. Misty accepted, and slowly sipped the bubbly wine while other passengers, those less fortunate than she, struggled to board in coach class.
Lost again in her own thoughts, Misty smiled to herself as she remembered how oddly limiting Valentina's list of what she was permitted bring with her was. Had the instructions come from anyone else, Misty would have felt free to ignore them. Instead she would have brought exactly what she thought that she would need for a week in sunny paradise.
Misty also mused that a packing list provided by anyone else would have been delivered as a friendly suggestion, as an attempt to be helpful. Valentina however did not give Misty friendly suggestions. She gave orders and she expected those orders to be obeyed.