Gifting Night Ch. 07

Bridget screamed. "I'll simply kill the both of you and take her for myself!"

The next instant Bridget's hand flew outward. Instinctively Daphne caught the incoming attack, exactly as anticipated. Kat felt their auras entwine with ease as the battle resumed. This time her horror grew as a tendril of power leapt across the room to envelope Chris. Katherine didn't need to sense the individual vibrations to know who reached for him. Bridget leached his life-force with ease. In less than a second he fell to his knees and his breath stuttered.

Katherine screamed. Time seemed to slow as she felt her very soul reach out for him; for both of her lovers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daphne took a perverse satisfaction in witnessing Bridget's eyes widen in shock. Presumably, everyone in the room knew that the younger ancient's power exceeded that of her opponents, with the inevitable result of her victory. What none of them had anticipated was Katherine's unique nature. Or maybe someone did realize! Daphne saw the smug smile settle onto Chris' face and was forced to reevaluate his intuition.

Where Dhase created energy within others, through their actions, to be fed upon, Katherine produced her own power and shared it out. She suspected that was the true reason the young woman lacked their empathic abilities. She constantly projected. Drawing that energy into her was as foreign to her as breathing water would be to an elephant. Daphne had known this, learned through many hours of the most intimate connections with the woman. What she had never realized was the extent to which that ability reached.

Bridget had strained to reach across the room and connect with Chris. Once the connection was made, of course, it was a simple matter to maintain it. Katherine seemed to fill the room in less time than it had taken Bridget's impressive, but tiny, thread to move. Daphne felt all of the young woman's emotions wash through her at once; fear, love, anger, betrayal, pain. There was one other emotion in the mix but it was not aimed at her, it targeted the 'Dark Mistress' with frightening precision. For the first time, probably in her life, Katherine hated someone.

In awe, Daphne reached out to feel the nurturing power of the sun flowing around her and through her. Through most of the room her essence slept, waited to be needed and called upon. Only around Bridget did that sensation change. The power coursing about the leather clad woman burned with a frozen intensity. In her terror and love, Katherine created a barrier about the monster through which energy would not pass. While Katherine tended to her weakened lovers the outcast was paralyzed.

Daphne felt the tears roll down her cheeks. It was beautiful beyond description; the pure love and need flowing from Kat. It reached inside her, touched her, reminded her of everything they had done and seen. Within that simple connection rested the wonders of the world. In less than an instant she remembered the animals as they frolicked in the zoo, her first taste of ice cream, intricate fireworks displays of both winter and summer, and, of course, the wonders of the bedroom. All of this she knew, and not only did Kat feed her freely but Daphne's own power welled up from somewhere deep within.

Bridget staggered backwards as shock became terror. She had been robbed of her greatest weapon. Worse, she had been robbed of the sense every Dhase came to rely on. She could no longer see the energy of her supposed victims, no longer taste their emotions. She now saw the world, for the first time in millennia, as many of her victims had. She was helpless and alone and completely at the mercy of an unknown force, beyond her comprehension. Daphne could not continue to look at her. She loathed this woman, despised all of the pain and suffering she caused throughout the years. Daphne could not bear to see the pain and terror reflect from those eyes.

Kat helped an unsteady Chris to his feet. The three were connected, as they had been many times in bed. This time, however, there was a difference. While Katherine had forged the union, as she always had before, she was no longer the center of it. Chris and Daphne had always been indirectly connected through the youth, with only the weaker bond of familial love joining them. This time it was an even field, with their very spirits flowing freely throughout the matrix of power filling the room.

Daphne smiled. Slowly she crossed the room. One hand came to rest on each of their cheeks. She needed to touch them. A part of her needed to know that this was real. Chris, too, smiled as he cried. Gently she guided his head down until their lips could meet. In their five decades there had never been any pretense. He had been her consort. They had loved each other as friends, or possibly family. Now as they kissed, for the first time they were truly lovers. Katherine also wept. She had forgiven their mutual deceit. In that single moment the last of Bridget's damning lies were revealed and all pretense and accusations were forgotten.

Chris sagged heavily against Kat. Even refreshed, through her power, his trials left him too weak to fight this battle. Kat held him easily, sharing her love and strength. Neither were in any condition to fight the monster. That was fine with Daphne, this was her battle, her enemy, anyway. As she turned back to face Bridget she realized Katherine's hatred for the woman was not something freely shared. That single emotion was being directed to Daphne alone. It was a separate line of power, one carefully hidden from their enemy.

Bridget, in her frustration, was charging. Daphne took two steps forward in order to distance the fight, slightly, from the two. The sadist's punches were nothing of a threat, each caught, blocked or dodged with ease. Of greater concern was the woman's aura, however after the first few nerve-racking attacks, it became clear that she could no longer entwine her life energy with Daphne's as she had. With the next attack Daphne caught it and refused to yield. Bridget began to panic. Somehow, even through direct physical contact, Kat was able to keep the elder trapped within herself.

Daphne played on a hunch. While Kat herself might be unable to accept death as a natural, and sometimes necessary, part of life, Daphne anticipated her lover's subconscious might remember. As she began to draw the strength from the cruel Dhase she felt the harsh electric current of the woman's fear and the thick, choking, strands of her pain. This woman, who had reveled in these very sensations, now produced them for Daphne.

The ancient shut out the feelings. Relishing this woman's pain would only make the two alike. Daphne even released the hatred flowing from Katherine. She sensed Kat's brief confusion, quickly replaced with understanding and then unconditional support. Daphne allowed herself to feel only pity for the miserable creature before her. Still, she drew out her nemesis' life.

Bridget struggled to resist. Only once had Daphne met such a master in controlling chi. There was a Dhase mystic who lived in the mountains, moving continents every half-century or so, who spent his life contemplating the beauty of the universe. Such control had he developed that he didn't need to feed more than once a year, and then only from the slightest of kisses. Given another millennia, Bridget would likely be his equal. Daphne would never give her the time.

Bridget quickly understood the nature of her confinement, as impossible as it should be. Daphne knew the moment acceptance occurred by the rapid change in tactics. Rather than trying to drain the elder or maintain her own energy, Bridget began thrusting her control back through. Daphne flinched as the first, exploratory, barb snuck through. In rapid succession she found herself bombarded with terror, anguish, depression, pain and confusion. The world began to reel. The barrage kept up with a constant undertone of confusion. The rapid assault of uncertain, and random, emotions only aided the prevailing sensation and Daphne felt her control slipping.

Warmth washed over her, chasing away everything else. It was the security of a down comforter in winter. It held the clarity of a morning's cool shower. The strength and passion spoke of someone desperate to save the person they most loved. But most of all it filled her with a moral certainty too often disabused in this new era. Only he could send all that to her, for only Chris knew not only what would be tormenting her but could admit what needed to be done without reaching into hatred and vengeance. For all that she had done to him, a part of Chris still loved the woman who had given him the Gift.

Pleading eyes looked up at her. Bridget fell to a knee as her strength began to fail. I am only a product of what he made me! He taught me only pain and suffering. You know! Once, he tried to teach you too! Only someone else made you. She had heard the argument before. All of them were nothing more than excuses. Chris had proven that. Bridget had killed Hades a mere four years after he granted her the gift. Chris had survived seven under Bridget's 'care' before Daphne had freed him.

The pity she felt died with the 'Lady Death'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daphne sat in the corner of the spacious back seat with Chris curled up along its length. His head rested on her lap. He was shivering despite the heat blasting. She continued to try to calm him, both through sending soothing energy and by lightly stroking his hair and other slight demonstrations of affection. She had been wrong to barge in there. She had known she could not defeat Bridget and had been seeking a martyr's death.

Katherine was driving. "So what happens now?"

"Eventually someone will discover the body. The police will be called, especially given the nature of her 'special room.' A brief investigation will show that she died of a heart attack or, at worst, all of her vital organs shutting down at once." Daphne looked up from the face of one lover to the other. "We are not simply reanimated corpses, to reveal our true age when we die. We do not turn to ash or any such nonsense. New life is breathed into our bodies. Let no one ever call you undead or unnatural!"

"We are the embodiment of the soul." Daphne's head snapped back down to her charge. Even Katherine's eyes flashed back to the rear-view mirror. Both had thought Chris finally asleep. "Bridget and those like her reflect the darker aspects of humanity."

Kat's eyes widened at the mention of 'those like her.' "You mean there are more who thrive on pain? How many?"

"Blessedly few." Chris' voice trailed off. Daphne couldn't tell if he was falling back within himself or falling asleep. She desperately hoped the later. Kat had revived his energy, but if he didn't fight, they could lose him still. It had been his certainty that acted as an emotional bulwark. Unfortunately, with the death of his creator, his strength had collapsed in tears.

"Now there are sixteen." Daphne had whispered it in the hopes that Kat could hear but Chris would not. She anticipated the woman's next question. "There are more than enough of our kind, ones who feel concern, to keep them in check. Each has at least four elders watching over them." She paused and began to stroke Christoph's hair once more. "Bridget was the oldest."

"I wish there didn't have to be any of them, but I'm glad someone's at least watching them. Why didn't they stop her almost killing him then?" One hand came off the steering wheel to forestall an answer. "Let me guess. He went willingly." Daphne nodded meekly. "What I really meant was what happens with us?"

Daphne felt the lump rise in her throat. She couldn't even look up front. She certainly could not look at the face of the man who had nearly sacrificed his life for her. She stared out the window. When did it get dark out? But she knew she couldn't avoid the question. "You need Chris, and he needs you." She could barely get the words past the damnable lump. Her eyes burned with the tears she refused to shed. "I will make sure to be out of the house by morning."

Daphne's body slammed against the seatbelt and she had to scramble to keep Chris from being pitched forward. Rubber shrieked as Katherine slammed on the breaks and skidded to the side of the road. She spun around in her seat to face the elder. "You stupid BITCH! Don't you see? That's exactly what the monster wanted!"

Daphne looked at the youth in confusion and no little annoyance. "What in the hell does Bridget have to do with anything anymore?"

"Who the HELL do you think suggested that you wanted me all to myself?" Shock chased away all other thoughts. "Of course she didn't look like that when I met her. And I certainly hadn't seen that room. She seemed so nice and we got to discussing lost friends with Eric..."

Daphne interrupted her. "Eric? You were getting stoned at her house? I knew that man had addled his brain but even he should have known her for what she was." Finally Daphne met the girl's eyes. "We call them deviants, or simply monsters. They can be defeated and destroyed but there always seem to be more. Not everyone makes a good choice, and some simply change after some traumatic experience. I owed Bridget the services of a youth for her 'loan' of Christopher."

It was hard to admit the truth. "If I renegged then she could have killed me and taken you both into slavery. There never were enough elders around to do more than bluff Bridget. Chris went of his own accord before she could deliver terms. He loved you too much to let you suffer her touch."

"He also hoped my time with you would make you strong enough to challenge her." Daphne's eyes widened in surprise that her young lover had figured that out. "You both knew I was special."

"Unique, my love, unique!" Her hand came up to brush stray red lochs from the round face. "We have no idea what you're capable of because there's never been another like you, even in myths. You never feed. Instead you feed others, Dhase and human alike, without hindering your own power." Daphne couldn't get enough of Kat's green eyes. Her soul always seemed so open within them, drawing Daphne further in love with the woman. "We always suspected you projected rather than fed, but tonight proved it. In fact, I've suspected for a while your inability to read people came from that very fact. Since you never draw in their energy you cannot 'taste' it. Regardless, we could not let a monster like Bridget get her hands on you."

Katherine's expression had softened slightly. With the last sentence tears began to well. Daphne realized it had come out all wrong and hastened to correct herself. "It was more than that though! You have such an innocent joy of life. Both Chris and I have suffered at the hands of such a monster before and know how to persevere. We could not bear to know that purity would be cut from you."

"Did she really do that kind of thing?" More than anything else, that was the nature that Daphne adored in her. It was clear the youth knew the truth but still she simply could not comprehend.

"That and more." Daphne sighed and looked away. "You probably should not ask Chris what he has endured. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it could very well give you nightmares. He will have them for some time to come." She looked at the peaceful body curled up with her. It was amazing he hadn't awoken with the shouting. If it were not for the soft ripples of sleep coming from his aura she would likely have feared his withdrawal. She began to smooth his mangy hair. At least Bridget left him with that. Probably because she liked to use it against him. "There's no telling what else she may have poisoned him to."

"So. . ." Once again Kat understood but could not accept.

"We shall see. But anything done can be undone with our patience and love." Finally she looked back up to meet Kat's eyes. "Shall we go home." Katherine smiled and nodded, brushing a red ringlet away from her eye.

Copywrite November 2006, by Deathlynx