Suddenly A Succubus
Chapter 20.3

Later that night, after Amara had managed to pull herself together, Nick convinced her to leave the house. They went for a walk around campus, and he claimed he just wanted her to get some fresh air, but she had a feeling he had ulterior motives.

“We’re not going to the Gymnastics building, are we? I’m really not in the mood.” Amara asked.

“Not tonight, not after all of that. I’ve got an idea, but I’ll fill you in later.” Nick said. “I, uh… I’m sorry about what Chloé said. We haven’t talked much about Halloween, but I’m pretty sure she thinks you helped Vee escape the fire.”

Amara said nothing. Her mind was racing, running through her conversation with Vee for the hundredth time this evening. Could she have said anything different? Are they just inevitably going to end up fighting again?

Ugh, why did she pick today to come back? The very same day I plaster my naked demon butt all over the internet…

“Hey.” Nick said softly, prodding Amara with his elbow. She looked over at him. “She was willing to talk to you, right?”

“I mean, sure, I guess.”

“What did she say? Well, before she… y’know.”

“First day back, she got all my texts, and she seemed happy that I was helping with the charity. At least, until she saw how I was helping.”

“Presumably she doesn’t know anything about Brandon, right?”

“Presumably she doesn’t know a lot of things! She doesn’t know why I shapeshifted into her, or that Derek attacked me, but so what? The road to hell is paved with good intentions, right? What if it’s like this for all demons? We start as decent people until a comedy of errors trap us in a damnation spiral?” Amara’s frustration was clear, and she was having trouble keeping her voice down. Thankfully, it was late, and the campus was mostly empty.

“Hey, no need to jump to conclusions. Try to focus on now, yeah? You raised a lot of money for the charity, you cleaned up the house, and Vee didn’t attack you on sight. I think there’s a lot to be optimistic about here.”

Amara didn’t bother responding, instead just grumbling under her breath. The two continued walking for a while, and when she finally looked around at her surroundings, she found herself back on the athletic campus. “Nick, I told you I’m not in the mood tonight.”

“And I told you that’s not where we’re going. C’mon, trust me.”

They walked past the Gymnastics building, and soon enough, they were staring at the campus stadium. It was easily one of the biggest buildings on campus, and held significantly more than just the field. The large encompassing structure had tall, spacious hallways, plenty of bathrooms, multiple bays meant to house concessions and merchandise shops, and of course, passages to the many levels of bleachers. One face of the building had recently been redone to add a bunch of administrative space, and Amara remembered that particular construction project taking much longer than the school had intended.

In front of the main entrance, leaning up against the doors, was Tessa. She waved as they approached, and Amara was the first to speak.

“Okay, Tess is in on this too? What’s going on here?”

“Oh, don’t get too excited. Nick asked if I wanted to do some light breaking and entering tonight, and how is a girl supposed to say no to that?” As she finished, Tessa turned towards the stadium’s entrance, her tattoos flared, and a few seconds later the doors swung open.

After locking the doors behind them, the trio started weaving through the halls, with Nick leading the way to the field. Now that they were alone, Amara manifested her tail and horns before summoning a few flames for light.

“So, this stadium is one of the tallest buildings on campus, right?” Nick asked.

“Uh, yeah, everyone knows that. What’s your point?” Amara said.

“Well, that means the only way to see into the stadium is to be inside it. At this hour, we know the stadium is going to be empty, but even if it weren’t you’d be able to sense other people’s auras, right?”

Amara’s eyes flared, and she looked around. Tessa and Nick were easy enough to sense; Tessa had probably had sex just a few hours ago, and Nick’s aura was somewhat muted, as it had been a few days since they last fucked. “I’m not sure what the upper limits on my aura reading are, honestly. If I’m really juiced up I can see electrical signals, but I don’t know if that works through walls.”

“Wait, what?” Tessa ran in front of Amara, “You can see Wi-Fi?!”

“Not right now, only when I’m full to bursting. It’s only happened once, and I haven’t had time to play around with it yet.”

“My point is, girls,” Nick said, cutting in, “that it’s a surefire bet we’re alone in this stadium.”

As Nick finished talking, they finally walked out into the open air of the main field. It was strange seeing it at night, but there was an illicit charm in being somewhere without permission. Amara hopped over a few barriers and, in just a few minutes, was now standing at the edge of the main field.

“Nick, do I look like the type of girl that gets cheered up by petty crime?” Amara asked. “No offense, Tessa.”

“Psh, I’m having the time of my life. You do you,” the witch said.

“The crime isn’t the point, Amara.” Nick gestured to the field. “Hypothetically, if someone wanted to spread her wings and fly around, wouldn’t this be the perfect spot?”

Amara froze, staring at the field in a whole new light. She was so accustomed to hiding her wings that she still internalized the world as a flat, two-dimensional space. At Nick’s urging, however, she looked up and realized just how contained the airspace was. The wind would probably be muted, but it would be infinitely better than flying in the Gymnastics building.

“Nick,” Amara said quietly, “I take back everything I just said. This is amazing!”

She ran out into the field, manifesting her wings as she gasped at how big the stadium looked from the field. The entire place suddenly felt like a playground, and she began stretching her wings in excitement. As she did, she ran her eyes over the bleachers, making sure she didn’t see any additional signs of people.

After confirming that she didn’t see any unfamiliar auras, she took a running start, and leapt into the air.

Her wings carried her higher, one powerful thrust at a time, and she could already feel the wind racing around her. Her horns buzzed, and she could feel her body making minute adjustments as she climbed higher. She decided she would start with a few laps around the stadium, to get used to these new sensations, and then the real fun would begin. As she kept ascending, however, an unsettling warmth filled her wings. It felt as if she were being pushed higher by a column of smoke. The air grew thick, soot covered her face, and she heard emergency sirens in the distance. Without warning, she saw Vee, bloodied and terrified, demonic hands wrapped around her neck.

“Amara… please…”

Before she realized what was happening, she felt a sharp pain spread through her body. Hands grabbed her shoulders, then her face, as she heard Nick calling her name.

“Amara! Amara, are you okay?”

“I… what happened?” Amara asked, disoriented.

“I don’t know! You started flying, and about halfway up, you just fell out of the sky. We were too far away to catch you, and you just… hit the ground.” Nick said frantically.

“I felt smoke, I saw Vee’s face and I… I couldn’t…” Amara squeezed Nick tight, her breathing erratic.

“C’mon Amara, in for two, out for four, breathe with me.”

It took another few minutes, but eventually Nick was able to calm her down. She slowly stood up, stretching her arms and wings to see if she’d hurt herself. Thankfully, while she was pretty sure she was going to be sore in the morning, she couldn’t feel any actual damage.

“So, what’s the plan? Head home?” Tessa asked.

“No. I want to try again.” Amara replied.

“Are you sure?” Nick said. “What if this happens again?”

“Well, it caught me by surprise, but now I’m expecting it. I think I can power through it if I prepare myself.”

Amara shooed her friends away, then moved to the edge of the field. She took another running start, jumped into the air, and began climbing higher. Holding any feelings of joy at bay, she tried to focus on her objective.

The party is in the past. You’re recovering, Vee is safe, and she’s even talking to you again! You can let it go!

The familiar sting of smoke appeared under her wings, and before long, Vee’s bloodied face returned. By the time she opened her eyes, she had crashed onto the field again, and Nick was holding her tight.

“Hey, maybe it’s too soon after seeing Vee again. How about we play it safe and head home?” he asked.

“No! I can do this!” Amara pushed him aside, immediately jumping into the air again. She beat her wings furiously, desperately trying to climb into the sky, but she kept flashing back to Halloween. She tried again and again, almost a dozen times, and each time she froze up closer to the ground. After nearly half an hour of attempts, as she kneeled in the center of the field, she screamed up into the air. A torrent of fire rose from her horns, echoing her fury as she stared at the sky above her.

When the fire subsided, and her tears had dried up, Nick finally approached her. He was nervous, but it seemed that he was more worried for Amara than himself. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight before she finally spoke.

“I… I can’t fly, Nick.”

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