Chapter 4
Nick’s eyes ran over the grocery list again, just for good measure. His grandparents lived alone, but had a habit of inviting friends over pretty frequently, so the list was extensive. Sure he hadn’t missed anything, he moved into a checkout lane.
The elderly cashier was extra chatty, and he happily asked about her day as he helped bag everything; She was exceptionally proud of her grandson, apparently he’d done great on his spelling test. Nick laughed with her as he swiped his card, noticing a message on the terminal.
Donate to support local cancer research?
Out of habit, he reached to decline, but then stopped himself. He stared at his choices, Amara’s words ringing in his head.
”Maybe… we should be worried about bigger things?”
Shaking his head, he donated $20, then moved to help bag his purchases.
The drive back was quiet, if a little long. His grandparents had settled down further out, eager for a big house away from town. Driving was something Nick missed when he was at school; He found it relaxing, and the landscape surrounding him had a simplistic charm to it. Billboards came and went, most of them committed to memory after frequent family visits.
ADULT TOY STORE - NEXT EXIT!
He chuckled, remembering when a girlfriend had convinced him to go into the toy store years ago. He’d blushed furiously looking at all the outfits, but he couldn’t deny he had thoroughly enjoyed everything they bought.
CRACKER BARREL- 3 MILES
His grandparents had talked him into going to the restaurant earlier this week, though he was surprised they only wanted to go once. He had loved the place as a kid, but his palette had expanded in recent years, and he had grown less fond of their menu.
HELL IS REAL
Nick’s eyes froze on the sign, reading it repeatedly. Even after passing it, his eyes stayed glued to the sky, unfocused. He thought of Amara, her surprise demonic puberty, and everything they’d gotten up to this last week. Passages from books came back to him, then online articles, and finally all their conversations.
“One book says…they actually feed on human souls. Souls!”
“Does your existence prove His existence?”
The car started shaking, its tires colliding with the rumble strip, and Nick snapped back to his senses. He centered himself on the road again, shaking his head. He checked his mirrors and sighed in relief when he saw no one else nearby.
The rest of the journey was peaceful, if no longer quiet; Nick had turned the music much louder to keep himself distracted.
When he returned, he happily greeted the dogs at the door, letting them run and bounce all over him. Chasing them outside, he now had the space to unpack groceries without their curious noses getting into everything. His grandma wandered in as he was wrapping up.
“Did you… do our grocery shopping?” She asked, her voice piqued with curiosity.
“Well, I saw the list had gotten a little long, and I needed something to do!” He smiled as he let the dogs back in, watching them run into the kitchen and investigate where all the food used to be.
“I would’ve given you our card if you’d said something, silly!” She moved to her wallet, sitting in a basket next to her keys. “How much was it?”
Nick moved closer, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “It’s really no big deal, I’m happy to help.”
“Oh hush, I know you're not working at school. How much?”
Nick relented, pocketing the money before giving her a tight hug. As he pulled back, he looked around the kitchen briefly.
“I was going to walk the dogs around the lake, have you seen Grandpa? Would he want to come?”
“Oh, he’s sleeping through Jeopardy right now, you know that.” She laughed as she grabbed the dog’s harnesses. “You go enjoy the weather, while it’s still nice.”
Nick gave his grandma a tight hug before leaving, clipped the leashes to the dogs, and headed out. The lake was a few miles north, nestled in a pocket of woods, and he took his time getting there. It was an easy walk, one he’d made many times as a kid. A beaten path took him all the way, and then surrounded the lake itself.
He breathed deep, smiling as he watched both dogs walk around and smell everything. Every so often they would run back to him excitedly, sometimes with a cool stick, and he would kneel to play with them. A small pile of milk bones in his pocket gradually diminished as the walk continued, and halfway through he sat down on a fallen tree to rest.
His parents had brought him here often as a child. At first, the rural atmosphere had been too slow for his taste; his friends weren’t here, his games were at home, and there was nowhere fun to go. That reluctance had quickly given way to excitement, and he began eagerly looking forward to their visits. This lake in particular had become an oasis, a place to calm his thoughts.
He’d come here when his best friend from elementary school had moved away, and when his first girlfriend had broken up with him. He had run here to hide when his parents found his bad report cards, and when he first learned about the unexpected passing of his uncle.
Nick had spent a lot of time here this week.
Another stick appeared in his lap, and he tugged it away from the dogs before throwing it for them again. They eagerly gave chase, but returned with a completely different stick. He laughed, gave the new one a toss, and stood up to start heading back. As he left the lake, his phone went off.
Amara: When are you getting baaaaack
Nick had left the morning after the football game, just about a week ago. At first, things had been relatively normal, but after a few days, he noticed that Amara seemed to miss him more than usual.
Amara: Demon libidos SUCK
Well, part of him at least.
Nick: I fly back tonight, and we’ll have all day tomorrow to cause trouble :P
By the time Nick made it back, his grandma was almost done making dinner. He helped her finish, making small talk about college and his plans for the semester. His grandpa, finally awake, picked his brains about his classes; Nick was primarily studying architecture and engineering, which was a topic they both shared a passion for.
The food was delicious, as expected, and Nick happily helped clean up. Between the three of them, the kitchen was spotless in no time, and that meant it was time to leave. He packed his bags, loaded them in the car, and hugged his grandma goodbye. His grandpa got in the driver’s seat, and they left for the airport.
Another long drive passed relatively quietly, though the same billboards existed on this side of the road too. The sign from before stood tall, taunting Nick as they passed it.
“So, you want to talk about it?” His grandpa asked.
Surprised, Nick looked away from the window. “About what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Nicholas.” His grandpa said, “You show up unannounced, repair our deck, do our grocery shopping, and spend hours every day out by that lake. You think I’m not gonna ask why?”
“I already told you, school’s been tough, I wanted to get away for a bit. Plus, I missed you two!”
“Look, I’m not calling you a liar. We love having you over, I haven’t seen your grandma this happy in months. I’m not gonna push, but I want to help, if you’ll let me.”
Nick grew quiet, unsure what to say. He looked out the window again, the distant clouds dancing over the horizon as they drove. Minutes passed before he broke the silence.
“I just… I was looking for something.” He muttered.
His grandpa looked over, compassion in his eyes. “Yeah? You find it?”
Nick thought back to his week here. Helping out around the house, playing with the dogs, bettering the world around him. Despite his worries, and his fears, his heart was still full of love for those around him.
“I think I did, actually.” He said, looking back at the window. He smiled as the airport, and his suddenly very strange life, came into focus.
---
The line in the cafeteria was longer today, and the wait for lunch was made worse by Amara’s grumbling stomach. She occasionally caught sniffs of something delicious, but when she got her food, she was dismayed to learn the smell was coming from something else. She found Chloé quickly, sitting across from her as she took off her backpack.
“Ugh, I swear the food here gets more bland every day.” She complained, lazily dragging her fork across the food in front of her.
“Really? I’ve been enjoying it, but I might just be happy to have something to eat.” Chloé chuckled as she kept eating.
Amara dug through her bag, trying to distract herself from the lackluster food in front of her. She checked some of her folders, making sure today’s homework was ready, and eventually pulled out two matching notebooks. She set them up, and continued to pick at her food as she analyzed the tables inside.
“What is all this? Class stuff?” Chloé was leaning in, her eyes scanning the notebooks to try and figure them out. “They look like calendars.”
“This is my big project for the year! It’s for my Marketing class, they want a practical application of skills rather than a written final.” Amara pushed her food aside, then spun her notebooks to face Chloé. “You’re right, they’re calendars; I’m trying to piece together a posting schedule that doesn’t overwhelm me.”
“A… posting schedule?” Chloé tilted her head, her face scrunched up in confusion. “Come to think of it, I don’t actually know what you’re studying for.”
Amara looked off into the distance briefly, digging through past conversations. “I guess I don’t talk about it much, do I?” Chloé shook her head. “Well, long story short, I’m trying to specialize in Social Media Management. The goal is to understand how people engage with content online, and offer advice to anyone looking to up their marketing game.”
“So, like… you’re really good at Facebook?” Chloé asked, giggling as she ate.
“Kinda, yeah! All the different social media websites have their own cultures, and you have to post different types of content depending on where you are. Ideally, I would help people understand when to post, what to post, and how to engage with different online communities. For larger companies, I might offer to run their social media accounts, but for individuals I can help them improve their own abilities.”
“That’s really cool!” Chloé pulled the notebooks closer and began flipping through them. “I bet there’s a lot of ways to put those skills to use, so much stuff is online these days. What is your actual project?”
“I want to prove I can appeal to different online cultures, so I’m going to start two new social media personas. Each will have a unique handle, I won’t cross-post anything, and each will aim to appeal to a different audience.”
“So, what are your two personas?” Chloé pushed the notebooks back to Amara, returning to her meal.
“I’m still hammering out the details on that, sadly. I’ve been talking it over with Nick, but since he’s been gone, it’s been slow moving.” Amara forced another few bites down as she put her notebooks away.
“That does explain why I haven’t seen him around,” Chloé muttered to herself. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know all the details, but I guess some family stuff came up? He’s been at his grandparents place all week.” Amara grumbled.
Nick’s trip had been sudden, but being separated didn’t seem like that big a deal. They’d been apart hundreds of times throughout their friendship, and it had never been an issue. This time, however, her newly discovered demonic needs made his absence significantly harder to stomach.
Her body screamed for sex. The first few days had been tolerable, if a little frustrating, and she had been able to distract herself with schoolwork. After that, sadly, her libido had evolved from an annoying itch to a cavernous void.
Just like before, her toys had been useless, despite her many attempts. To make matters worse, she had been sleeping terribly the last few days, and couldn’t figure out why.
“What about you? Any big projects this semester?” Amara asked, trying to keep herself distracted.
“Well, it’s not quite as impressive as yours, but I’m trying to start a charity platform.” Chloé’s voice grew quiet as she talked, her eyes falling to her lap.
“Not impressive? Chloé, that’s incredible!” Amara leaned forward, trying to infect her friend with excitement. “Are you just trying to raise money for a specific cause?”
“Well, I do have a few causes I’m really passionate about, but the goal for now is to make people feel better about donating. I’m working together with some friends to make a new fundraising platform, one that makes it easy to donate, while encouraging transparency. We’re going to have an app and everything!”
Chloé’s eyes lit up as she talked, though not as literally as Amara’s.
“That’s honestly amazing, you should be super proud of yourself, Chloé!” Amara smiled, and caught Chloé blushing as she talked. “Maybe we should team up sometime! I might be able to help with exposure and all that.”
Chloé said nothing in response, but nodded enthusiastically as she finally looked up. Her gaze quickly left Amara, and she waved at someone that had presumably just entered the cafeteria.
Within seconds, the delicious smell from earlier filled Amara’s senses. She turned her head and watched as Tessa walked up to the table. As she sat down, Amara eagerly looked at her lunch, only to find the same uninspired food that she had on her own plate.
“Hey girls! Sorry I’m late, I had some trouble getting out of bed today.” Tessa smirked as she popped open her thermos, chugging some more coffee.
“That’s okay, Amara and I were just talking about our projects for the year.” Chloé moved slightly to give Tessa more space. “Do you have anything you’re working on?”
“Me? Hell no! I make sure to avoid classes that ask for big projects. I just want to show up, take my test, and leave. I’ve got more important things to do.” Tessa smirked as she started eating, making no effort to hide how hungry she was.
Chloé and Tessa started catching up, but Amara found it difficult to include herself in the conversation. She had to fight not to stare at Tessa, as she was trying to figure out where that smell was coming from.
It’s not her food, obviously, but maybe perfume? Who am I kidding, Tessa doesn’t wear perfume. Even if she did, it wouldn’t smell like this.
Amara kept eating, occasionally joining in the conversation, but her mind was elsewhere.
Coffee? No, I’ve tried her drinks before. Maybe a new body wash? That wouldn’t explain why the smell is so strong though…
As she continued cycling through thoughts, she also noticed that Tessa had an unusual glow to her. Her skin, hair, eyes, they all seemed to be filled to bursting with vigor, as if she were exuding an unnatural aura of vitality. Before she realized it, Tessa was staring back at her.
“Hey, I got something on my face? Or are you just lost in my beauty?” Tessa asked, playfully throwing her hair back.
Amara flinched, realizing she’d been caught staring. “No, I, uh… you just seem a little excited today. You’re more animated than usual, and I’m used to you fighting to stay awake.” She tried to inject some attitude into her voice, hoping to deflect the conversation away from herself.
“Well, let’s just say this isn’t my first time eating out today.” Tessa winked at Amara, but when she looked over to Chloé, it was obvious the innuendo hadn’t landed. “I woke up with my partner straddling my face, and they returned the favor once I’d finished the job. Couldn’t ask for a better way to wake up, am I right?”
Amara’s eyes went wide as she pieced everything together; The smell, the unusual glow, she was sensing that Tessa had just had sex. Out of curiosity, she looked around the cafeteria, and realized that she was able to identify quite a few students that had similar auras around them. They all looked different, and now that she knew what to look for, it was easier to identify what she was seeing.
Amara spent the rest of lunch people watching, trying to figure out what all the different auras meant. She found it was easy to see a difference between people who had recently had sex, and people that were simply horny. She found a few students that had both auras, which made her chuckle.
A guy one table over had likely gotten laid last night, his aura was more vibrant than other students, but was definitely more subdued than Tessa’s.
The girl in the corner, on her phone, was incredibly horny. Her aura was pulsating, and she was likely sexting someone or reading something exciting. As Amara watched, the girl bit her lip and shifted in her seat.
When Amara directed her gaze downward, looking at herself, she didn’t see anything unusual.
Maybe I can’t see my own aura? I guess, if succubi are supposed to be sexual predators, our own state of arousal would be irrelevant…
Eventually, as it approached the next hour, a sizable portion of the cafeteria stood up to leave for class. Tessa seemed to be in no rush to leave, but she stood up anyways to give her friends a proper goodbye.
As Amara went in for a hug, she felt Tessa’s aura wash over her. She basked in it for a second, fighting the urge to linger even longer, and then pulled away. She joined Chloé in leaving the cafeteria, the two hugging before going their separate ways.
---
The rest of the day passed quickly, and Amara was eager to start the weekend. Nick’s impending return lingered in her thoughts, and she was trying to decide what naughty fun she would get up to tomorrow.
Maybe I’ll find a good porno for inspiration. Or we could watch some together! I wonder what he likes…
She chuckled, trying to guess what Nick’s taste in porn might be. They had never shied away from talking about sex in the past, but they frequently left the dirty details to the imagination.
I bet he’s into amateur stuff. “Oh, I just love how intimate it feels, it’s so much more passionate.”
She giggled to herself as she made fun of him, and made a note to ask him about this tomorrow.
She continued her slow walk across campus, in no rush to get home, when a strange feeling came over her. Just like last week, after the game, Amara suddenly felt like she needed to be somewhere. The feeling had actually come and gone a few times since then, but always at inopportune times. Now, she had nothing but free time, and was determined to follow it.
She picked up her pace, following her gut. She moved southward and found herself crossing the quad in the process. After a long trek up the stairs, she soon found herself facing the science building.
The feeling seemed to be pushing her inside, so she walked in and started exploring. She did her best to act natural, realizing she had no idea when classes stopped in this building. Oddly enough, the more she looked around, the more she knew she needed to be on a lower level.
Does this building even have a basement?
Amara wandered the first floor, and eventually answered her own question. A flight of stairs led to a sublevel, and as she entered it, she was surprised to see it was much older than the sleek building above. In fact, it reminded her of the old staircase from the library.
They must have left the original basement when they rebuilt, weird.
Leaving the stairs, she now stood in a dimly lit hallway that branched out in two directions. She seemed to be standing in a corner of the structure, the hallway turning where it met the staircase. A quick look to her right revealed a dead end, with only a single locked door. She doubled back, and headed the opposite direction.
The rooms closer to the staircase looked like they’d been slightly refurbished, and now served as utility housing. A series of water pipes and electrical wires ran up into the ceiling, presumably supplying the building with everything it needed. She poked around the room for a minute before shrugging, not seeing anything of interest.
Leaving the utility room, Amara continued following the hallway. The next few rooms were locked, but the windows were clear enough that she could see through them. They seemed to be equipment storage, but it was hard to tell if people still used them. Everything inside looked older, and mostly consisted of chairs, desks, lab tables, and the occasional ancient microscope.
Pulling away from the locked doors, she kept walking. Instead of more old classrooms, however, the hallway suddenly opened up. The space ahead of her was much larger, when Amara looked around, it seemed to occupy the rest of the basement.
Instead of smooth brick walls, peppered with an occasional door, the empty space resembled an ancient maze of plumbing. Pipes of every shape and size wove through the space, and it felt like being in the belly of an ancient steamship. The giant rusting boiler nearby certainly made the comparison an apt one.
Her gut told her she was close.
Amara walked deeper into the mess of plumbing. After nervously touching some of the pipes around her, she confirmed that they weren’t in use anymore. She began ducking and climbing through the pipes, still unsure what she was looking for; It took her the better part of the next 15 minutes to thoroughly search the area.
As she crawled underneath a large pipe, she found herself facing the back wall of the basement. Here, following the barren walls, she managed to find a small room tucked in the corner of the basement.
There was no door, just a gap in the wall, but the dark brickwork had made it nearly impossible to spot from further away. She pulled out her phone and turned on its flashlight, ignoring the ‘No Service’ pop-up.
She expected to find more plumbing, and was surprised to see a relatively empty space. Stranger still, it looked like someone had been here recently. On the far side of the room, she saw a small table filled with books and scattered papers. In front of it sat a small folding chair, and the floor nearby had a collection of jars and vials.
Looking at the walls nearby, she found a light switch and flipped it. A dull, warm light filled the area, so Amara pocketed her phone.
The strange feeling had faded somewhat, so Amara wasn’t quite sure what to do next. She wandered across the room, her hand tracing the walls in search of anything strange. As she neared the table, she started noticing strange symbols drawn on the many pieces of papers. Unable to read anything, she started digging through the books for possible hints.
Most of the books were quite old, and even more were completely unlabeled. Their spines were heavily worn, and when she started flipping through them, she was again confronted with strange symbols she couldn’t understand.
She turned away from the table, tossing the book back, and that’s when she noticed the drawings.
The center of the room was covered with the same symbols she had seen in the books. They were all drawn with dull red paint, and many of them were connected with lines, but Amara couldn’t make sense of the patterns they made. When she looked up, she noticed the symbols had been drawn on the ceiling as well.
As she continued examining the strange scene in front of her, the feeling from earlier returned. It started small, but quickly grew into an intense curiosity. Although she still couldn’t read the symbols, she thought the patterns might be easier to decipher from the center of the room.
She stepped forward, her feet landing on the empty concrete in the center of it all. A sudden wave of energy swept over her, then faded just as quickly. She spun around, looking at all the symbols, but still nothing made sense.
She sighed.
Well, this was a bust. Maybe I’ll bring Nick down here tomorrow, he might recognize some of this.
Amara turned to the entrance of the room, but when she tried to step forward, her body collided with something. After catching herself, she pushed a hand forward and flinched when it touched something solid. A strange glow pulsed from the area she touched, and it grew brighter when she pushed her hand against it. She began tracing the invisible object with her hands, and found that it was curving around her.
Her breathing quickened, a terrible thought crossing her mind, and after a minute she confirmed her theory; This strange wall was completely surrounding her. It stayed invisible unless touched, and the harder she pushed against it, the stronger it glowed.
Panic set in, and she pulled out her phone. The pop-up from earlier appeared again - ‘No Service’. She tried searching for Wi-Fi, but there was none to be found.
She started hitting this strange force field, punching it, driving her shoulder into it, but nothing worked. The more she exerted herself, the more she felt the gnawing hunger in her gut. She was still weak and tired, and these escape attempts were only making that worse.
Amara collapsed to the ground, tears forming in her eyes, as she looked around the empty room. She was alone, trapped under the science building, and classes had likely just ended for the weekend. She called out, desperate to catch someone’s attention, and her voice echoed through the empty basement.
“Hello?”