When Night Fell - Part 3

Dick struggled to his feet and took a tentative step forward before falling to his knees. He felt woozy, his body tight as a bowstring, his mind overwhelmed by a single thought.

Failure.

He quietly made his way up the stone stairs into the library, which was mercifully empty. It was dark, the heavy drapes pulled across the large windows. He rubbed his arm, then stared mystified at the newly healed skin.

//Vampires have accelerated healing capabilities, pet.//

He blinked then breathed, "Karseth."

//You'll thank me in years to come.//

"Karseth!" he shouted. The hum was suddenly gone and he was cold. Empty. He shouted for the nightwalker again. And again.

"Karseth, you bastard! Show yourself!" He stood in the library, his rage suddenly taking over. "I didn't want this!" Kicking over a low table, he shouted, "I DON'T WANT THIS!" He kicked the table again, shattering it into splinters.

The door flew open and Alfred stood in shock. "Master Richard, please..."

"Don't come near me!" Dick screamed, backing away from the older man. "Just stay away!"

Donna pushed past the stunned man. "Dick, honey..."

"STAY AWAY!" He fell to his knees again, "God please, Donna just leave me alone."

Donna moved quickly and knelt with him. "I'm not leaving you alone. You. Are. Not. Alone." She pulled him into her arms and held him in a loose but firm embrace. Running her hands through his hair, she murmured meaningless words of comfort, rocking him gently in her arms. He felt enveloped by her scent, her warmth seeping into his body until he trembled, wanting to be that warm again. Even now, her touch seemed to burn his skin.

"All this time, I thought I'd be good enough. Thought I was good enough," he rasped. "That I wasn't him, but that was OK because who I was, was good enough." A weak, self-depreciating laugh. "Boy was I wrong."

Donna shook her head. "You didn't do anything wrong. How can you possibly think this was you're fault?"

"Because I failed!" He pulled away and stared at her with a wild look. "HE didn't turn, he knew how to walk away, how to get away. And I..." a weak laugh. "I all but begged him." He shook his head. "God, now I know I'm a second rate Batman. This proves it."

"Stop it, Dick Grayson. You did not fail. You survived." Donna held him tightly against her. "You are the strongest willed person I know, but you keep forgetting that you're human. Any one of us couldn't have done what you did and survived. Gods, I would have gone insane."

"And how do you know I haven't?" Dick asked quietly.

"Because you haven't tried to kill anyone but yourself," she answered, stroking his hair. "Even when we found you, you wouldn't feed until Bruce forced you. And Bruce..."

"Great," he sighed. "Bruce must think..."

"Bruce feels responsible for this. He thinks that if he hadn't turned that vampire down, you wouldn't be going through this. He's out looking for him now."

"It won't do any good. It... hurts to be out there now." He chuckled. "At least now, I'll match my name."

She tilted his chin up and smiled at him. "See, you still haven't lost your sense of humor."

He tightened his arms around her. "How can you stand to touch me. Aren't you afraid that I'll..."

"You are still Richard Grayson and I still love you. You are the same person you were before."

"I just suck blood like..."

"You just have different limitations," she cut him off. She pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. He caught her hand and rubbed it against his cheek, shivering from the heat.

"I don't think I'll ever getting used to being cold like this," he murmured.

"It's because you're hungry."

Dick finally gave her a weak smile. "Thanks, mom. You must be taking lessons from Alfred."

Donna smiled in return. "Bruce said this would happen. He said as long as you fed just a bit at a time throughout the day, the cravings wouldn't hit you." She leaned back and unbuttoned the first few buttons of her blouse.

"What are you doing?" he asked, slowly moving away.

"You have to feed."

"Donna..."

She caught his hand and brushed his fingers across her neck. "You need this."

Dick froze, her soft skin burning his fingertips. The hunger hit him then, a deep burning urge that started in his chest.

"Don't fight it," she said, moving closer. "It will only get worse if you fight it." She flipped her hair back and bared the side of her neck to him. "Go ahead. It's all right."

He pulled her closer, and lowered his head to hers. Hesitating, he whispered, "Donna, I can't do this."

"Yes, you can." She laced a hand through his hair and drew him even closer. "It's alright."

His lips brushed against her skin, her perfume enveloping him in her heat. He pressed a soft kiss to her neck, then another. Her pulse was strong, beating steadily against his tongue. He tasted her skin and felt overwhelmed by the sweet-spicyness. He closed his eyes.

"I'm so sorry..." he breathed, then bit into her skin. The rich cool blood rushed over his tongue and burnt at trail into his core.

Her breath caught for a moment, then she exhaled slowly. "There... isn't that better pet?" And then she laughed.

He froze again then pulled away quickly, blood staining his lips and mouth.

And Karseth smiled back at him, blood flowing from his neck. "You're mine, Richard. Now, you are mine." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He felt it in his belly first, the clawing feeling that his insides were broiling, writhing. He doubled over, screaming.

"BASTARD!" he said, fighting off the convulsions that followed. "You lying bastard!" He spat what little blood remained onto the floor.

Karseth laughed. "Oh Richard. I told you you would be mine. And you are now."

He was dying inside. Every cell in his body was turning on itself, setting his skin aflame with searing heat. He curled onto his side, spastic shudders wracking his frame as he felt his heart speed. Faster it beat, harder and harder until he thought it would burst from his chest. And the fire in his veins tore him threatened to tear him apart. Finally his heart beat its last, echoing in his ears... and then nothing...

And he was cold. So very cold.

Karseth knelt next to him and took him into his arms. "There. The worst is over. You're one of us now..."

Dick shivered again, feeling the cool body against his. There was a loud buzzing in his ears he tried to shake away.

"You're aware of the world on a different level now. You can hear the life forces, the souls of the people around you." Karseth stroked his hair. "You'll learn to filter it out. It just takes a bit of getting used to."

"I hate you," he whispered through gritted teeth.

"I know. But hate and love are two sides of the same coin. You'll love me soon enough." He ran a hand down Dick's arm and curled him against his body. "Come."

He picked up the younger man's limp body and carried him to the cushions. Laying him gently against the pillows he carefully stripped away the sweat-soaked silk from his legs. "You only drank enough to effect the change, Richard. I suspect you're very weak now. Let me build your strength."

Karseth slit the pale skin of his wrist, letting the blood flow over his hands. "Drink this." He pressed his palm against Dick's mouth and placed his free hand over the younger man's shaft. "Now I'll give you your release."

Dick scarcely breathed against the hand pressed against his mouth. Droplets of blood covered his lips and worked their way between and over his teeth and tongue, and oh god it felt so good, so sweet. And the hunger in him sparked again, overwhelming him and he knew he'd lost. Tears leaked from his tightly closed eyes as he began to drink.

Karseth moaned softly. "Oh yes, pet. Yes..." He chanted, stroking Dick into full arousal. His mouth closed over Dick's shaft and wet heat streaked through them both.

Dick moaned again, feeling his frustration and vulnerability feed into his need. His shaft was hard now, throbbing, pulsing. And still he fed, his whimpers muffled by the soft hand.

Karseth pulled away quickly and positioned himself over the prone man. He lowered himself onto Dick's erection, easing it past the tight ring of flesh before burying it in his cool depths.

Dick shouted then, pulling away from the hand and clutching at the older man. "Ah God, stop, please!"

Karseth smiled, and began to move against him. "Let it go, Richard. It's time. We belong together." And he slowly rode the young man, stroking his cool flesh with sharp nails.

Dick tilted his hips up, losing himself to the sensation of being surrounded by cool, willing flesh. It's not supposed to feel like this, he told himself, but still he let the sensation carry him. And still the hunger remained.

Karseth tilted his head to one side, flashing a bare expanse of neck. "Take me. Here. I can feel the need." He brushed his fingertips across the dark vein. "Here..."

Dick shuddered again as he felt his climax build. The ivory skin in this dim light was irresistible. He raised himself onto his elbows. "Please..."

Karseth flashed his sharp teeth again and lowered himself to the lush mouth. He closed his eyes, his breathing now short and raspy bursts.

Dick pulled the man to him and ran his tongue over the older man's cool skin, sending shocks through his system. Unable to hold back any longer, he bit.

Karseth moaned his pleasure as his own orgasm swept through him, covering Dick's stomach with cool semen. He could feel his blood flow out of his body and into the young man he'd made. He moved faster.

Dick drank. The blood washed over his teeth and tongue and into his body, filling the gaps and gashes left when he first died. He was becoming whole, but not complete. Moving quickly, he rolled the older man onto his back and began to ride in earnest, never taking his mouth from the other man's neck.

And it felt good. So right.

Karseth felt another climax build in him as his own strength began to fade. He pulled at the broad shoulders that pinned him to the bed, feeling his life (if he could call it that) drain away.

"Richard... please... You're killing me..." he begged, feeling his arousal pressing against the sticky patch of skin pressed against his own body.

"But Karseth," Dick murmured between teasing bites, "We're already dead..." He sank his teeth again into that porcelain neck and began to drain the last of the vampire's life.

"Stop..." Kareth whispered impotently, as the force of his climax ran through him again. His last moments were spent awash in pleasure, knowing ecstasy and death in the final shudders in his lover's arms. His last sensations came from the young man's orgasm pulsing into his body.

And Dick held onto Karseth's body as the last of the spasms pounded through him. He drew unneeded breath into his now full lungs and stared at the mask of pleasure and peace that settled on the centuries-old man's features.

"Oh God, what have I done..."

And he wept.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~fin~~~~~~~~~

Like I said at the end, there is no way I'm gonna leave him like this, so let me know what you think :)