Gifting Night Ch. 07

Chapter 7: Defining Moments

This is the final chapter of a series. Thank you to all the readers who inspired me to continue the series with their constant support. While it is not entirely necessary to read the each chapters in progression I highly recommend it. Please remember that the Dhase are a species of my own creation, and although they are based on vampires I have drastically changed the mythos. I hope you enjoy. Again, thank you so much for your continued support and inspiration. Gifting night has been a pleasure to write. Never fear, the Dhase have made an impact on me so you may be seeing more of them in the future.

*

Katherine stopped in her tracks. What the HELL is Daphne doing here? It had only been a few hours since she had stormed out of the house they had shared. Julia and Tony hadn't been finished when she stormed down the stairs and out the door, but her sudden appearance, and even more violent departure, had broken their mood.

Kat knew she was different from the others but had never been truly sure what it meant. She knew she instinctively projected her emotions to those around her. It had taken her a little while to piece everything together but eventually she realized she had been the cause of the incident in the club. She had also been the cause of Daphne's tryst with some man in cheap cologne. Kat smiled at the irony of the thought. It served her right. After all if she hadn't sent Chris away she'd never have gotten caught by it. She could have continued to shunt the desire back at him.

She missed making love with Chris. Tony was attentive enough, and certainly not unskilled, but there was something about Chris which had always felt different than anyone else she'd been with. It was possible that his Dhase nature effected her. She always knew when either of he or Daphne had tapped into her life-force. A shiver ran through her body at the thought, focusing between her legs. Sharing their energy was almost as erotic as making love with them. Chris had called her insatiable. She was because every time they would end up more intimately connected than physical bodies alone could account for. In truth she was addicted to the sensation. Her soul cried out for it. Even now, angry at the elder for how everything had turned out, Kat's spirit ached to join with her.

Katherine shook the thought aside and followed her former lover from a distance. She fought to dampen her aura, knowing that she shone like a beacon to most of her own kind. Kat still cursed her luck at being unable to sense more than the strength of others. Had she been capable of the supernatural empathy the rest of the Dhase were capable of Daphne never would have been able to send him away.

Kat's suspicions began to rise the deeper they got into the suburbs. She trailed about a block behind the elder when they reached the block. It has to be more than a coincidence. Is she looking for Chris or for me? Or maybe neither but wants another woman to love. The last thought came with a little bitterness. Although Daphne had been much more capable of initiating romance, since she and Katherine had been intimate, it generally fell on Kat's shoulders to tease Julia into readiness. By the time she had left, it usually took little more than a glance by either of the Dhase and Julia found herself quivering in anticipation.

Kat laughed but quickly covered her mouth in the hopes that Daphne hadn't heard. The smaller woman, now less than a block away, showed no signs her extraordinary senses had detected the slip. The woman's entire posture spoke of little emotion. That was never a good sign. Kat felt a little guilty about that. After all, Chris' final request to her had been to take care of the elder. He hadn't come right out and said it but she knew, somehow, he had meant to keep Daphne from letting herself stop caring.

Kat suspected that had something to do with a Dhase being able to die. She was frustrated. Her education had been primarily handled by Chris, but unfortunately his sudden departure had thrown much into turmoil. She'd accepted Daphne's word that he had obligations to resolve, but recently she'd begun to doubt. It was the little things. Daphne would never say where he'd gone or even if they'd ever see him again. She knows the answers to both questions. I can tell she does. She just refuses to tell me. She suspected Daphne was trying to keep her for herself.

Daphne stopped before the very door Kat had suspected. It was the same door she had intended to visit to find out about the mysterious Dhase information network. Kat didn't know if it had a name but she did know that her fellow vampires always seemed to be able to find others of their own kind. While most of the news tended to be no more than idle gossip, gossip traveled fast. Kat wondered again what Daphne's intentions were.

Whatever she had expected, Katherine jumped as the powerful little woman blasted the door from its hinges with no more discernable effort than a light rap. As the elder strolled, deadpan, into the house a wide-eyed Kat hurried to catch up. She reached the outer hallway in moments. There was another crash of a shattered door, immediately followed by a much heavier sounding 'thud.' Kat followed the sounds to a room she hadn't noticed when she had visited with Eric.

The other Dhase turned around slowly. She was dressed almost entirely in leather and held a mask that would have thoroughly concealed her identity. She had been doing something when Daphne had barged in but Kat couldn't see what while staying beyond the notice of both women.

Bridget! That's her name. Kat had been desperately scouring her memory for the name since leaving the bar. She was very powerful, even more powerful than Daphne. She had also been very nice and a wonderful conversationalist. Seeing her dressed like this was certainly odd but Kat had accepted the fact that everyone had their own particular fetish long before she had been granted the Gift. Why should Dhase be any different?

"Daphne! What a pleasure to see you again. I hadn't expected it to be so soon." Bridget's voice was almost sickeningly sweet. Although the words sounded sincere there remained a hint of mockery to them.

"Times change. Situations change." Daphne's voice was devoid of expression. "People change." Despite the lack of emotion there was an intensity to the elder's voice that Kat found truly terrifying. Or perhaps it was that very combination which was so terrifying. With so much power at her disposal the lack of compassion, seemingly so integral to her personality, made her so very dangerous.

Neither woman had moved since Daphne's entrance but the tension in the room continued to increase. The very air seemed alive with it. It was the same feeling as at a club, moments before a fight broke out. The moment when the opponents, already set in their courses of action, sized up the opposition in search of weakness. The comparison would have been ludicrous had it not been for the feral grin spreading across Bridget's face.

Kat didn't understand. There shouldn't be violence. Dhase abhorred it. They could feel their enemy's pain as their own. While their ability to sense an opponent's weakness, through flashes of instinctive nervousness, made them skilled combatants the same sense made them shy away from exploiting those vulnerabilities. However inexplicable, that was exactly what both women were building themselves towards.

"What do you want here?" Bridget's voice had dropped to a low growl.

"You know."

"I suppose I do. Quite possibly, I know even better than you what you really seek here. I may even grant it to you. Or perhaps I won't allow you either. I have yet to make up my mind on that." Even in the lower tones it all sounded so conversational, yet the tension only continued to increase. "You're breaking and entering you know."

"I intend so much more." Every short sentence Daphne delivered was deadpan. It was as if even speaking was a chore she did not wish to complete. Still, her energy continued to build. Already she held far more in her tiny frame than Katherine had ever sensed in one place.

"I'd imagine you do. But how, exactly, do you intend to make good on your intentions?" Unfortunately Bridget had built as much and more energy in the same time.

Katherine took the opportunity of their intense focus to slip around the corner and into the room. She quickly hid behind a small, uncomfortable looking, cot right along the wall. As she slipped into hiding she heard a gasp come from the far corner. She started as she peered into the far corner. It was far too dark to make out any details. All she could see was a scrawny looking person curled up and shaking.

Kat scanned the rest of the room. The walls were bare and concrete. Here and there were metal studs sticking out from the walls. The furnishing consisted of the cot she hid behind and some form of drink caddy behind Bridget. From her position, Kat couldn't tell what the woman had been doing at the cart when the interference appeared, but she was certain she'd be able to see a pitcher or other beverages if there were any on top of the rolling table.

Kat studied the room further. It was a mass of contradictions. The metal studs and concrete walls made no sense when the rest of the house was immaculately finished and tastefully decorated. The wood floor was not only unfinished but rather splintered. She spotted some slivers almost large enough to be small knives.

It was during this quick inspection that she noticed the first stain. From there her eyes tracked across the floor to note a number of others, both small and large. She looked down and wondered what they were, her mind refused to come to the inevitable conclusion. There, beneath her was one of the largest. Even with the color changed by the unusual wood, she knew immediately what had pooled on the floor. She slapped a hand across her mouth to keep her screams silent.

Kat's eyes flashed back to the woman clad in leather. Almost indistinguishable stains covered the matte black material. Recognition dawned as her eyes flew to the metal protruding from the walls and she even identified the points in the ceiling designed to hold similar chains. She knew this Dhase's fetish and was horrified.

Her eyes flew to the form huddled in the corner. It was most certainly a man. She couldn't judge his size but he looked badly used. He was overly thin with ragged dark hair and a beard. His body was covered with welts and half-healed cuts. He held almost no life left in him, likely all drained away by the true monster of a vampire. He cowered in the shadow, happy to have been forgotten by his mistress. His eyes continued to study Kat curiously in a manner that reminded Kat of someone dredging their memory. Those haunted grey pools widened and snapped to Daphne then Bridget.

Daphne charged. Kat didn't know what she would have expected a battle between ancient Dhase to look like but she never would have expected what followed, especially if she simply contemplated Daphne's personality. She had only fed once, forcefully, within Kat's memory. It had taken the elder nearly a minute to drain a simple man. How could she drain someone as powerful as the woman standing before her?

The answer was surprisingly simple. Daphne charged in and used combat as a distraction to keep her opponent off guard. Even with supernaturally fast reflexes, Kat found it nearly impossible to follow Daphne's blinding speed. It was obvious even Bridget had difficulties tracking the rain of blows that descended. Where Bridget held far more energy than the elder, Daphne's body had continued to strengthen, beyond anything the younger woman could have attained.

Daphne's attacks held more than brute force however. If Kat could not follow the attacks in progress she could clearly see where they had been. With sweeping arcs and piercing jabs, Daphne's well trained, precision, strikes left clear trails to Katherine's senses. The older woman augmented her already ferocious strength and speed with her own Chi. It was a technique found often in the higher levels of many martial arts. Kat wondered, for the first time, where the eastern monks had truly learned the skill.

If the movement of hands and feet were only distinguishable by the glowing trails, her body and head were nearly immobile. Daphne's expression was clearly legible through pale blue eyes; calm, perhaps even resignation. Each thundering attack was met by a dodge or a block, the latter accompanied by a pained grunt as the younger ancient felt most of the force of her adversary's superior strength. None of the elder's inner strength was wasted in the failed attacks, however. When the defense became unavoidable the stored power behind the attack would flicker, an instant before contact, to avoid diffusion. For all of her lust for life and seemingly peaceful ways, Daphne's fighting skills went beyond that of a master. Katherine could not help but be in awe of the sight.

If Daphne was the avatar of calm then Bridget transformed into the mantle of fury. She loathed her defensive status and dark eyes flared with each near hit. Her aura flared with each block. Kat sensed as it sought to grasp a hold of the energy focused within the attacks. She knew, instinctively, that this woman's control was so great that, once a link was formed, Daphne would be unable to break it. She could feel the dark woman's mastery of her life-force as easily as she could see her creator's mastery of body. The two combatants were equals in opposing expertise. It was only a matter of time before one would connect and the true battle would begin.

Blows continued to rain down and hit arms and legs instead of their intended targets. Bridget kept herself from damage with a flicker of her own Chi to the point of impact. These minor expenses drained her slightly but she had sufficiently more to spare. The battle continued.

With their relative speeds, Kat never saw the connection. The punch sped forward, apparently a dagger-like thrust to the chest, and a hand swept upward to intercept. The next moment Bridget staggered back, clutching the center of her chest, just above her breasts. Kat barely noticed as she sensed the true victory. While the parry had failed, connected a moment to late to deflect the attack, Bridget had managed to link their life-forces.

Daphne collapsed to one knee as the struggle shifted to a new field. Kat felt both women struggling to drain the other. Here Daphne had skill, but her opponent clearly excelled. Not only was Bridget required to steal less but her ease with stripping energy showed as Daphne's aura slowly began to fade. The rational part of Katherine's mind noticed that the transferal was not as even as with mutual connections, such as she had seen as the three fed in lust.

Bridget regained her composure and advanced on the weakened Dhase. Slowly she raised a taloned hand. She reached, as she approached, for Daphne's throat. With each step, her theft increased in power and speed. Daphne struggled, fear and desperation showed as she struggled to regain her will to fight. Bridget's aura of cruelty overwhelmed hers.

"No!" For an instant Kat thought she had screamed. Then, a moment later, she did, but not with words. She screamed in terror as the huddled form began to unfold. He sought to stop the battle. Now, as he lunged across the floor, he struggled for balance and speed. Although haggard and too thin she knew that body as intimately as her own. Christoph surged between the two in time to be caught instead of his one-time lover.

Bridget tossed him negligently aside, with enough force to clear the rest of the room. He slammed into the cot and knocked it over as he draped, immobile, across it. The leather clad woman wasn't even fazed by his interruption. It was their combined expression of shock, as the two turned to investigate the second voice, that paused the fight. Kat crawled away from the overturned bed to stand, shaking with fury.

The two stood in the bizarre tableau for a moment in silence as their auras disentangled in their confusion. Daphne found her voice first, in panic. "Kat! What are you doing here?

"I came to find Chris." Her voice was cold. And why not? She was so far beyond angry, she was terrified. These two titanic powers had been blithely sorting through their issues with her beloved Chris suffering in the corner. "You told me he left to fulfill some obligation. He," her hand flew out to indicate the unconscious form next to her, "told me his obligation to you had been to create another fledgling. What am I supposed to think now?"

"Did they tell you he's mine? I created him. I gave him the gift, not that pathetic excuse of an elder!" Katherine didn't know what to believe. Daphne, unable to lie, had resorted to avoiding her accusatory gaze. "In the end he returned to me of his own free will."

Chris hung limp across the upended cot. He had not fought against the woman, only thrown himself between her and Daphne. If he desired his freedom, wouldn't he have struck in concert with his elder's attack? Unfortunately he was unconscious so Katherine couldn't ask him.

"Your precious ancient," the word was spat like a curse, "could not live without him. She was not so distraught, when you left, as to hunt you down. Instead she came back in the hopes of stealing him once more. Barring that, she hoped for death." Brigid motioned towards Daphne. "Go on, ask her."

Katherine spun on the elder, the very woman who had given her the Gift, her voice filling with anger. "Is it true? Did you want Chris or death?"

Daphne seemed to whither beneath the heat of Katherine's rage. "Yes." There was little emotion left in that voice. Only pain and defeat remained.

"You see? You weren't enough for her!"

"You stupid bitch!" The whispered curse cut through the silence of the room. Daphne's head flew up in shock as pain and anger warred in the eyes that stared at Kat. She glared coldly back at the elder, dared her to deny the truth. "This was his obligation?"

"Yes. No!" As before the elder seemed incapable of answering what should have been a reasonably simple question. It had been this exact answer, to a similar question that prompted Katherine to flee in the first place, and apparently everyone in the room knew it. Kat looked down at the man she loved; her near-brother. Or at least everyone conscious. She wondered exactly how much awareness he had even been capable of recently.

"If you will stay with me I will forget my feud with Daphne." Bridget's voice and countenance alike had softened once more. "She can leave freely, and you Chris and I will live happily. We will enjoy the world together."

Daphne's eyes widened in shock. "You actually mean it!" Her voice betrayed her amazement and Kat suspected it was due to the Dhase empathy she lacked. Bridget's eyes widened with hope as her hand extended towards the fledgling.

It was a powerful offer. Daphne would suffer, surely, without either of her lovers, but she would live. If one thing was now clear it was that she could not defeat Bridget, even with Chris' assistance. She took a step towards the two. Additionally, she would once again be with Chris. Another step and then another. Her heart cried out for an end to the fight. She could not watch the woman she loved be destroyed in this fashion.

Tears filled her eyes as she reached for Bridget's tense hand. None were surprised when, instead, she threw herself at Daphne. Tears traced down her cheeks as she pulled herself to her lover. The ancient's eyes softened as she felt the confused love flow from her progeny.

Baritone laughter boiled up behind her. Her head spun, her eyes wide with hope. "Oh what a tangled web we weave..." Katherine nearly glowed with joy as she spun to see Chris struggle to his feet. She was across the room in an instant, supporting him. "Bridget has somehow learned to lie, even to one of us." He turned to Bridget. "But that means very little to her." Katherine knew he spoke of her as she turned to see the dark Dhase fuming. "She's not blinded by her pride, by her surety that she cannot be deceived. So she must rely on instinct and reason. And your lies cannot cover this room."