Suddenly A Succubus
Chapter 19.3

The next week passed rather quickly, for better or for worse. Brandon’s threat loomed over her head, and although she’d talked it over with Nick and Tessa, they hadn’t yet thought of a way out. She’d already tried to scare him away, and apparently that had only pushed him to start stalking her. Since fear didn’t work, and she knew she didn’t have the temperament to pursue a more permanent solution, she was stuck biding her time. Plus, even if Brandon were to somehow disappear, it was obvious he’d set up the pictures to go live automatically in the event something happened to him.

Nick had suggested that she try to use her dreamwalking abilities, but she still had no idea how they worked. She was getting better at manipulating dreams once inside them, but she still hadn’t managed to manifest in any dreams other than Derek’s.

Still, being able to give Derek constant nightmares had been its own special pleasure. She manifested in his dreamscape every night that week, and every night she invented new ways to try and push him over the edge. Each night ended the same, with Derek trapped under the water and his dead girlfriend screaming at him, but Amara kept mixing up how exactly it happened.

After the first few nights, she’d enlisted Tessa’s help to follow him around campus. Once they pinned down his schedule, Amara started visiting his classes and watching him through the window while disguised as Stephany. The first time he saw her, he had screamed and jumped from his chair. The second time, he managed to stay quiet, but his terror was obvious. The more she followed him around, the easier it was to see that he was slowly unraveling.

Derek now jumped at the tiniest scare, and often wouldn’t pay attention to anyone around him, instead looking for signs of Stephany. He began skipping classes, and rumors claimed that he was starting to become a recluse.

The entire process of wearing him down had honestly taken Amara less time than she’d initially thought. She suspected that he’d been having those dreams for a while, but with her powers still developing she hadn’t been strong enough to pick up on them until recently. It was only Wednesday of the following week when Amara decided to implement the next part of her plan, this time with Tessa’s help.

The girls had learned that Derek lived fairly close to Amara, on the ground level in a similar apartment complex. They waited until the dead of night, when they knew he would be alone, and got to work.

Amara had purchased an outfit just like the one Stephany had been wearing the night of her murder. She now stood outside Derek’s window, identical to his deceased girlfriend in every way, with Tessa only a few feet away. She was dressed warmly, in a large black peacoat, and was setting down a large bucket of water and a hose.

“Alright Tess, it’s showtime. You ready?” Amara asked.

“Please, I was born ready. I can’t wait to go all Ghost of Christmas Past on this asshole.” Tessa was practically bouncing in excitement, and squatted down to wait for her signal.

Amara checked her phone, confirmed it was just past 3:30 in the morning, and handed it to Tessa. Based on the last few nights, Derek seemed to wake from his nightmares around this time, only now Amara was waiting outside the dream. She crouched by his window, peeked inside, and waited.

Soon enough, she heard the muffled sounds of someone waking from a nightmare. His room stayed dark, but after a minute he turned his phone’s flashlight. He was clearly exhausted, Amara could see the bags under his eyes, and he stumbled out of his room. When he returned, he had a glass of water, which he finished half of before setting it on his nightstand.

With a flick of her fingers, Amara signaled to her friend that she was about to start. She reached up, tapping and scraping the window lightly to try and get Derek’s attention.

“Who’s there?” Derek quickly asked, his fear palpable even from outside his window.

Amara kept waiting, knowing she had to draw this out as long as possible. After another minute, she tried again, louder this time.

“I’m serious, you don’t know who you’re messing with!” he said, his voice shaking. His bravado was nowhere to be seen; a result of the endless nightmares Amara had been forcing onto him. He moved to the window, and with another flick of her wrist, Amara asked for the next step.

Above the window, held aloft by Tessa’s telekinesis, the hose turned on. Water rained down into Derek’s field of vision, stalling him slightly. He checked the locks on his window, making sure it was sealed tight, and cautiously looked outside.

As soon as he approached the glass, Amara reached up from beneath the window and slammed her hand on the glass. Just as this happened, Tessa emptied the heavy bucket of water, drenching Amara and causing Derek to jump back.

“Fuck!” Derek screamed. “S-Steph? Is that you?” He was clearly terrified, and Amara took this opportunity to move fully into his vision.

“I-I’m so c-cold, Derek…” she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

“You can’t be here! You’re dead!”

“How did I die, Derek? How did I die?” Amara’s voice distorted, a shapeshifting trick she’d been practicing the last few days.

“I didn’t… I never wanted this! It’s not my fault!”

Another signal, and Tessa started the next step. With her telekinesis, the locks on Derek’s window unlatched, and the window seemingly opened on its own. Amara crawled into the room, doing her best to make her movements appear jagged and unnatural.

“YOU KILLED ME, DEREK.” Amara hissed, her voice even more twisted. She crawled closer, and when Derek tried to run from the room, Tessa slammed his door shut.

“Please, don’t kill me! I’m sorry!” Unable to run, Derek turned to face Amara. She reached out, grabbed his ankle, and pulled him to the ground. Despite his best efforts, he was no match for her demonic strength, and within seconds she crawled on top of him, pinning him down.

“TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED. TELL THEM EVERYTHING!” Her hands closed on Derek’s neck, and she carefully started restricting his airflow.

“I… I’ll do it! Please, just let me live!” Derek’s face turned red, tears forming in his eyes as he started passing out. After another few seconds, his struggles stopped, and Amara immediately jumped off of him.

“Tessa! Quick, like we planned!” Amara whispered. The witch peeked through the window, her tattoos flaring up as she prepared to help Amara. The girls quickly moved Derek into his bed, pulled the covers over him, and reset the room to its normal state. Once they were back outside, Tessa closed the window, re-locked it, and they made their escape.

Once they were far enough away, Amara made sure no one was watching, and shapeshifted back into herself.

“Fucking hell, Amara! Is that what you’ve been doing in his dreams every night?” Tessa asked, clearly excited. “Amara?”

Amara was leaning against the outer wall of her apartment, her eyes closed and her breath panicked. She was shaking, and tears were forming in the corners of her eyes; with the adrenaline rush over, her mind was flashing back to Halloween. She was suddenly back in the Palace, her twisted talons wrapped around Vee’s neck while she begged for mercy.

I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it… Vee’s safe! She’s alive! I had to do this for her!

Tessa’s hands grabbed her shoulders. “Amara! Calm down, look at me.”

The feel of another person’s touch shook her back to her senses, but before she mustered the strength to look at Tessa, she first looked at her hands. They were normal, human hands, nothing like what she’d attacked Vee with.

“I-I…” Amara leaned forward, pulling Tessa in for a hug. “I hate how easily being cruel comes to me. I don’t want to have to keep doing this, but it keeps feeling like I have no other choice…”

The witch grabbed Amara’s neck, looking in her eyes. “Hey, that asshole deserves it. He attacked you! He would’ve attacked Vee! This is the only way to stop him, and you know it.”

Amara nodded slowly, wiping away her tears. After a few more moments, she was able to pull herself together. “Okay, I think… I think I’m alright. Let’s head back inside.” It only took a few minutes to get back to her room, at which point she eagerly began changing out of her wet clothes.

“So, those are his nightmares?” Tessa asked again.

“Uh, yeah, more or less. Normally I distort Stephany’s body a bit more, but that was the gist of it. Why, you scared?” Amara playfully nudged her friend, doing her best to avoid dwelling on the panic attack she’d just avoided.

“I mean, if I’d been the target of that? I’d have been fucking terrified! I take back everything I said about you not using your powers enough, that was damn impressive, Amara.” They both collapsed on the couch, sighing in relief.

“Well, I guess now we wait.” Amara said, putting her hair up. “You think it’ll work?”

“Are you kidding? With how scared he was, I think you could’ve talked him into just about anything. Fuck, I should’ve tried to grab a picture, that would have been hilarious.”

“C’mon, you know that trying to take a picture would’ve—” Amara froze, a sudden idea halting her train of thought. When she didn’t finish her sentence, the witch looked over, concerned.

“Hey, Amara? You alright? Demon senses tingling?”

“Taking pictures! Tessa, you’re a genius!” Amara ran to her bedroom, a sudden burst of inspiration overtaking her.

“What? I mean, I know I am, but mind explaining what you mean?” Tessa hopped off the couch, following Amara. By the time she entered the room, Amara had already pulled out half of her camera equipment and was setting up her tripod.

“Tess, can you grab my red lingerie set? It’s in the top drawer!”

“Alright, I like where this is going, but I’d still appreciate a little context, Amara.” Tessa did as she was asked, grabbing the lingerie before handing it over. Amara smirked, meeting Tessa’s eyes before finally responding.

“I know how to beat Brandon!”