Nightmares Do Come True

Chapter 55

It was finally NYE and my brother was gone back to his base in GA. I missed him already, but Maria's party should distract me. I put the shimmery lotion on my legs and arms. It was supposed to be 70 tonight. Then drop into the 30's tomorrow. Bipolar mother nature. Whatever at least I can wear a dress without freezing. I hate the cold. I put my sparkly gold dress on and went to deal with my makeup. When I was done Mateo came in and helped me put his necklace on.

We gathered the gifts, chip dip, chips, and beer to bring to the car. I make a killer spicy bacon spinach artichoke dip, so I was pretty excited to dip into my own dip for the party. 

"Are you thinking about your dip again?" Mateo asked. 

"What? No. Of course not." I lied. I was, I definitely was. 

"You can't lie to an FBI agent." Mateo said with a raised brow. 

"You're right which is why I was definitely telling the truth." I lied again. Mateo shook his head as he continued driving. When we reached Maria's she made sure there was space for us to park in her driveway. Maria came out to help us bring everything in. 

"Nicole and William are already here so once we have this in, we can open out gifts before everyone else gets here." Maria said. 

"Sounds good with me." Mateo said and I agreed.

We put the dip and chips on the table with all the other food and added the beer to Maria's ice chest. Then we went into the living room with her Christmas tree to begin opening gifts. 

"Hey Nic! Merry Christmas and have New Years and all that jazz!" I said as I gave my best ghoulie a hug. 

"Time for gift exchanges!!" Maria sang out. After opening our gifts we all hugged and then put them in our car. Then Maria turned on the music with her tv turned onto the channel covering NYE but kept it on mute so that we could just enjoy the music. Then Maria and Lindsey's friends began showing up. There was laughter, dancing, food, and drinking. I was taking it easy tonight on the drinking after Christmas Eve with my family.

After 11 we headed to Decatur to get a good spot to watch the Fleur De Lis drop and see the fireworks over the Mississippi River. Music was spilling from everywhere, so Mateo and I began dancing to it as we passed the time waiting for the countdown. 

"I'm thankful we met. Thankful you're still here and going into the new year with me. I'm just thankful because you're my everything." Mateo said as he swayed with me in his arms. 

"I'm thankful too. Something tells me we always were going to end up together. New Orleans is big but every local knows that it's a small world. That we're all connected by at least one person. Then you take into account that we both live uptown and frequent the same places. It was just a matter of time. I honestly believe we were always going to meet so he who shall remain unnamed gets no credit in this. You mean everything to me. I'm also glad that you'll be going into this new year with me. I love you." I said.

Then the countdown started, and we joined the crowd in the countdown as the Fleur De Lis began to lower. It hit the bottom right at midnight and fireworks shot off at midnight from the top of the building the Fleur De Lis was on. Those fireworks kicked off the rest over the river. Mateo and I shared our midnight kiss and then held hands as we watched the fireworks.

After the fireworks finished, we walked back to Maria's place. We joined everyone in a New Year shot and then made our rounds of goodbyes. I hugged Maria and Lindsey and told them happy New Year. I told Lindsey quietly that I had begun painting her wedding gift for Maria. Then I moved to Nicole and William and hugged them while wishing them a happy New Year.

The next day we spent quietly together at home. We cooked together making the New Years staples such as black-eyed peas. 

"I hate cabbage, but I always make myself eat a tiny bit and mask it with the ham. Since cabbage and black-eyed peas are supposed to be good luck to eat today, I have to make sure to eat a little. Yes, I might be a tiny bit superstitious." I said with a shrug. 

"Yes, I might have noticed from your Saints rituals." Mateo teased. 

"The mashed potatoes might mask the cabbage better than the ham." Mateo said as he continued smashing the potatoes. 

"That's a good idea." I said as I pulled the ham out of the oven. Once the food was ready, we sat down to a movie and enjoyed each other's company as we ate.

Killer's POV

Jeff was so glad it was finally January. Now that we were in the year 2020 it meant that Carnival season was around the corner. Mardi Gras is on February 25th this year. Jeff decided he would take Gabrielle on Lundi Gras which is the day before Mardi Gras according to his research. It was the perfect time for an angel such as Gabrielle to be released to the gods the parades were named after. Plus, the city will be past it's max with the amount of tourists that will be there so many things can go unnoticed. In addition, it's normal to wander around in costumes so no one will notice him dressed like the devil. He had it planned perfectly and he couldn't wait. He always released his women on Friday and Saturdays. It makes this even better as Gabrielle doesn't deserve to be lumped with the rest. She deserves to stand apart.

Jeff plans on taking Mateo out before he takes Gabrielle. That way Mateo won't be in the way to stop him. Jeff planned on letting Mateo live though so it just has to be a bad enough injury to keep Mateo in the hospital. The punishment would be Mateo having to live without Gabrielle and failing to rescue her. That guilt is enough to please Jeff for Mateo being with his woman. Mateo being badly injured will lower Gabrielle's guards as she'll be upset. This will make it easier to take her. Jeff couldn't wait.

A/N:  I have to say this story is starting to get hard for me to write.  I'm at 77K and I know exactly what to do once I reach 80K to begin wrapping it up.  But I'm struggling to get to 80K.  Driving me nuts!