Chapter 2

Well, I've been in Santiago for almost two months now and my life is finally starting to feel manageable. Work has been fine but so hectic. I'm involved with a whole basket of interesting projects with the Santiago branch, and the hedge fund hit the ground running, racking up quick sharp profits; way beyond what I was expecting. The performance is attracting a lot of new money. We have $157M under management now and prospects for much more.

My one outing with Carlotta was sweet but platonic. We visited the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. We both found the pre-Columbian textiles fascinating. Outside the museum there were cold rain showers throughout the day, typical Santiago winter weather. When the museum closed, she was close by my side under my umbrella, and I asked her about dinner together at my hotel. Carlotta didn't saying anything at first, just stood there looking nervous. She confided in me that she didn't think she was ready emotionally to date yet. She was still having nightmares about her previous marriage.

I suggested perhaps we just chat by phone for a while, maybe get together in a month or two, whenever she liked. She thought that was a perfect idea, and we gave each other warm smiles when we departed. I'm going to let her take the lead on this. I don't want to be too pushy.

And as for A'moth, how do you contact ghosts? You sure as hell can't look them up in the phone book. I actually tried. There is no listing under A'moth. A couple of weeks ago I jumped at the chance to spend two days back at the branch office in Copiapo. I sat in the deserted last car of the train for the return trip to Santiago, nervous the whole time. Absolutely nothing. A'moth is real though. I know she's real. I have her bag and clothes. But it's also the end of July. Is she starving again? About to murder again? I'm beginning to dread looking at the headlines in the morning newspaper.

How do you contact a ghost? I finally hit on an idea. I got some camping gear, and pitched a pup tent in the mountains less than two miles from the railroad tracks, about where I thought A'moth might have entered the train. I've been hiking around the area this afternoon wearing her gaucho hat, with her bag and poncho in my backpack. Nothing so far. The countryside is beautiful though.

I camped in a wide open plain, a hundred meters of clear visibility in all directions. There's a little snow on the ground and a full moon. I stood outside my tent for a while as twilight fell, wearing her hat and thinking of A'moth, enjoying the super clean air. As the stars came out I went into the tent to unroll my sleeping bag.

I heard a twig snap, right outside my tent, two seconds after I entered. I shook my head in disbelief. I had just looked around the area a moment before. There was nothing. Then I heard a soft voice call out, "Gary?"

I gasped. It was her! "A'moth?!"

"Yes. May I come in?"

"Of course!"

She came into my tent, looked at me tentatively for a moment, and then sat down at the opposite end of my sleeping bag. I had a small battery lantern going, we could see each other clearly. We sat there of a long moment, silently staring at each other. She looked completely normal, her eyes and hair still jet black, but her lips were a natural red and her fingernails a normal flesh color. She was wearing hiking boots and a brown winter jacket, and had a pretty yellow ribbon tying her hair into a ponytail. She also had a small pair of high-precision binoculars strapped loosely around her neck. "Binoculars for a ghost?!" I thought. I felt very confused.

Both of us were nervous about locking eyes again. She looked sheepish, and finally said, "You came back!"

I couldn't reply. I just nodded my head like an idiot. I took a deep breath, and tried to get a reading from my empathy.

She was hungry, very hungry, no doubt about that. But she was also calm now, in complete control of her actions. My heart broke for her. I felt filled with compassion for how she was starving herself before the urge to feed finally overpowered her. I asked her in total sympathy, "How long do you have?"

She understood my question immediately. "About one more month, before the madness takes me."

I took a deep breath. I had been wondering for the last year whether I'd have the guts to do this, but now that the moment was upon me, the choice was surprisingly easy to make. "A'moth, before we talk further..." I smiled as I remembered my very first words to her. I switched to Spanish. "May I feed you?"

She gasped and gave a soft sob, soft as a bird's wing. She nodded her head, her eyes moist as she came to sit by my side. She smiled for a brief moment and raised her eyebrows at me as she got my wry joke, and then turned serious again. "I won't control you Gary. With all that I am, I promise that. No pheromones, no neural inhibitors, nothing, nothing at all."

I nodded, dimly understanding what she was saying. She tilted her head up, offering for me to kiss her. I caressed her cheek, we kissed briefly, much more in compassion for each other than passion. She was beautiful though, and sexy. I felt myself beginning to get aroused, anticipating what was coming. An odd puzzle occurred in my mind. I whispered, "Pheromones? That doesn't sound supernatural. That sounds... physical."

A'moth laughed and nodded her head in agreement as she pushed me to lie down on my sleeping bag. She was so strong! She kissed me again, this time with passion. I felt my body responding. A'moth whispered in my ear. "Yes, I know. How many questions you must have about me. What a great debt I owe you in explanations. How much of that debt I'm still reluctant to pay... Gary?"

Her hands were caressing me, all over my body. She was playfully pulling at my belt too, unbuckling it. I felt my penis rising to meet her caresses. "Yeah?"

"How much may I feed?"

Her hand slid beneath my shorts. I felt her soft hand stroke my shaft for a moment. She started to playfully tug it. Oh, it felt so good, all caring and affectionate and full of sexual promise. Her hand descended to trace the contour of my sac. I gasped with pleasure as her fingers penetrated to fondle my testicles. Her question also shocked me back to the reality of what was about to happen. "Uh, I'm a big guy. Close to a hundred kilos. I should have seven liters of... Oh, that feels so nice... Uh, would a pint and a half be okay for now?"