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.
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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.
