Suddenly A Succubus Ch. 36

Earlier

Tessa spent the entirety of dinner gossiping and floating wild theories about Amara and Vee. She would never in a million years have guessed that they would hook up, but apparently the stars had aligned in Purgatory. It also made sense in hindsight; the first time they’d all talked through the circle, the two had seemed strangely amicable.

She desperately wanted to know what had happened. The day before Amara disappeared, she’d been complaining about Vee ignoring her, so what had changed? Had Amara’s starvation pushed Vee’s hand? Was Vee now an enthusiastic fallen angel?

The idea of rubbing this in Vee’s face filled Tessa with glee. After all her high-minded arguments about trust and damnation, now they were on even footing.

After dinner, Tessa returned to the circle. She had a feeling she knew what the circle needed to finally function as an interplanar gateway, and the runes were itching to free themselves from her mind. She knew what needed to be altered, what could be added, and how the entire circle could be reinforced to make the process safer for everyone, even the planar boundaries themselves.

It was strange to be so excited about the tedium. Hadn’t she told Nick a few days ago that magic just felt like work? Maybe it was because she was using it to help her friends, or because Nick’s stupid optimism was rubbing off on her.

Regardless of the reason, she spent the entire evening working on the circle. She even went to bed at a reasonable time to fend off Nick’s nagging. She woke up relatively early, for her at least, just so she could continue her work. The runes were coming together, the magic was flowing nicely, and she was confident that Amara and Vee would be coming home today.

After Nick woke up, Tessa pulled down the illusion to let him get their morning coffee. She continued running tests the whole time he was gone, and found that she didn’t need to add or alter any more runes.

She had just jumped to her feet to start stretching out her back when her alarm went off. She removed the wall again—yet another thing that was getting easier— and only had to wait a few minutes for Nick to return. He had a bag of food, a tray of coffee, and appeared to be shivering as he stepped out of the staircase.

“Phew, it’s getting cold out there. There’s a nasty fog on campus, too, which didn’t help,” Nick said.

Tessa eagerly ran over and wrapped her hands around her coffee. It was delightfully warm, and after her first sip, she hummed in satisfaction. Before returning to the circle, a strange urge came over her, and she decided to let it take control. She pushed up onto her toes, then playfully kissed Nick on the cheek. “Thanks, Nick. For everything.”

She expected to catch Nick blushing, or perhaps stumbling through some ridiculously saccharine sentiment about friendship, but his attention was elsewhere. He was staring straight ahead, a concerned look on his face. “Um, Tess, is the circle supposed to be doing that?”

Turning her attention back to the circle, she immediately saw what he meant. The entire thing was pulsing rapidly, a cascade of unusual energy dancing around its edges. Tessa gave her coffee to Nick and ran back, falling to her knees in a panic. Her tattoos flared, and she started running through possible reasons why a circle like this would start flaring. Had her alterations failed somehow? Was the magic in Purgatory flaring up?

After a few seconds of concentration, she figured it out. The magic wasn’t from Purgatory at all, she had seen it before. This was Vee’s angelic magic, coming though much more intensely than last time.

Something was wrong.

“Nick, I need to get them back. Now. Stand back.” Tessa rose to her feet, bracing herself as she connected with the circle again. As the connection grew stronger, and the runes flared, she felt the bridge begin to form. Vee’s magic seemed to dissipate as she activated the circle, and with a bright flash, Amara and Vee were standing in front of her.

“Hey, I got your message, what’s—”

Tessa was unable to finish her sentence. The instant the connection was finalized, Amara bolted forward and sprinted for the staircase. She was panicking and seemed to be ready for battle; her chitinous gauntlets were back, as were the strange talons on her feet.

Vee appeared just as frantic but took a moment to look at Tessa and Nick. “We need to move! Drop the circle and run!”

Tessa looked at Nick, who had already put down the breakfast, and the three of them took off running. Vee slammed into the staircase door, sprinting up the steps as quickly as she could, while Tessa struggled to keep up.

“Vee! For fuck’s sake, can you just tell us what’s happening?” Tessa shouted. “And tell Amara to put her wings away! We can’t let people see her!”

“Believe me, Tess, that’s the least of our worries right now,” Vee said, pausing at the top of the stairs. She held the door open for Nick and Tessa before running ahead to the entrance, the one overlooking the quad.

“The least of our— Vee, you of all people should know how important it is to keep this shit under wraps!” Tessa said, struggling from the unexpected exertion.

When they finally made it outside, Tessa was surprised to see they’d caught up with Amara. For some reason, she’d stopped moving and was just watching the quad. Tessa followed her gaze, unsure what was so urgent.

The quad was covered in fog. The same fog that she’d seen the last few days, and the same fog that Nick had walked through to get their breakfast. At first, Tessa didn’t understand what had everyone so panicked, but after a moment, she began to see shapes in the mist. They were moving, shifting in unnatural ways, and Tessa finally pieced it together. An impossibly large creature was standing in the grass, stumbling back and forth while shaking its head. It was bigger than anything Tessa had ever seen, and it was made completely of bone. This had to be one of the creatures that Vee had previously mentioned, and it was here, on campus. In broad daylight.

“What the fuck is that?” Tessa asked, her voice shaking. Things were about to get very, very bad.

“We’ve been calling them reapers,” Vee said. In the distance, the creature continued stumbling around, knocking its head into the branches of a tree and pulling away in shock. “Brandon is controlling them, and he’s going to use them to extract his revenge.”

“Wait, Brandon is alive?!”

Amara spoke up next, completely ignoring Tessa’s question. “Vee, it looks horribly confused, and it even collided with that tree. I don’t think they can phase while they’re here, which might make killing them easier. Are you ready?”

Vee nodded. “We almost killed it before, and now we’re on home turf, we can—”

Her words were interrupted by another dull flash, barely perceptible had they not already been watching the quad. A second reaper had appeared.

“Fuck!” Amara yelled. “He’s going to send all of them through, I can’t fight that many at once! New plan; damage control. Vee, you and I can keep them contained, but we need to get everyone on campus to safety. Tessa, Nick, can you manage that?”

Nick checked his phone quickly. “We’ll do our best. For better or worse, the cafeteria’s about to open, so everyone is likely already heading this way.”

“Just our fucking luck,” Amara said.

Tessa was breathing erratically. Monsters were here on campus. Everyone was in danger. Everyone was about to find out that magic was real. Her thoughts were only interrupted when Nick grabbed her arm.

“We’ve got it covered,” he said. “We’ll stay out of the way, and make sure everyone gets inside safely. It’ll be easier to manage if everyone’s in the same spot anyways.”

Another flash of light pulled Tessa’s attention. She was worried it was another reaper, but thankfully it was Vee this time. She’d just manifested a glimmering, angelic mace, and was turning it over in her hands. “Fuck, Amara, over on the left.”

Terror gripped Amara’s voice. “No! That’s Chloé!”

Amara and Vee sprang into action, leaping forward and running towards the quad. Tessa watched them leave; her entire body numb as she tried to process what was happening. She only lost sight of the monsters when Nick stepped in front of her, his soft words filling her head. “Tessa, I know this is scary, but they need our help. As long as we avoid the monsters, we’ll be okay. We just need to help keep the other students safe. Are you with me?”

“One foot in front of the other,” Tessa said nervously. Swallowing her fear as best she could, she nodded slowly. “Let’s do this.”

—

Vee’s heart was racing as she raced towards the quad with Amara. The task in front of them felt insurmountable, and she was nervous she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Amara in terms of raw skill. Her panicked thoughts were interrupted when Amara spoke up again.

“There’s two of us, and two of them, at least for now. I’ll get Chloé to safety and then take out that reaper, you focus on the other one, okay?”

“I-I’ll do my best,” Vee said.

One of the reapers, the first to arrive, angled its head away from the quad and seemed to notice Chloé. It took to the skies, its massive legs gouging holes into the field, but its flight was quickly disturbed when its feet caught on the top of a tree. Its trajectory collapsed, and it crashed into a nearby building in front of Chloé.

Vee felt the heat of Amara’s hellfire swell, grow even more intense as her panic manifested through it. She started running even faster, fear in her eyes, and managed to intercept the reaper just before it got to Chloé.

With a sigh of relief, Vee directed her attention towards the second reaper. She’d never faced one alone before, and she was terrified of fighting without Amara by her side, but she knew she had a job to do. If nothing else, her mace would be more effective than the sword, and she muttered another prayer of empowerment as she closed the distance on the second reaper.

Angelic magic surged through her veins, more than she was usually comfortable with, and she hoped the adrenaline would keep her senses sharp. The reaper seemed to hear her coming, as it quickly turned towards her with a lumbering growl.

Once Vee was close enough, the reaper swiped at her with one of its arms, but Vee managed to jump over it. Even though she wasn’t as strong as Amara, she was a smaller target and would be harder to pin down. She dodged another massive claw, this time bringing down her mace on the creature’s wrist with a sickening crack. A small crack appeared in the bone, but focusing on her successful attack left Vee open to retaliation. The reaper’s tail lashed out, colliding with her legs and knocking her to the ground.

Another flash of light filled the quad, but Vee hardly noticed as the reaper above her continued attacking. Its tail darted towards her, and came dangerously close to impaling her stomach, but she managed to roll out of the way. She jumped to her feet, doing her best to keep evading the monster’s attacks, but she could tell they weren’t on even footing.

The creature that had gone after Chloé was the one Amara had previously damaged in Purgatory, whereas this one was still in perfect shape. It was taking all of Vee’s focus just to avoid getting hit, and the one strike she’d managed to land had barely fazed the beast. Time was not on her side, and she tried to reassess her goals.

Okay, I’m not going to be able to kill this thing, not on my own. But, if I can keep it contained, I might be able to buy time for Tessa and Nick to find everyone still on campus.

Vee spent the next few minutes staying just close enough to keep the reaper distracted, focusing all her energy on evading its attacks and keeping herself alive. The beast wasn’t incredibly fast, thankfully, and as she weaved around its massive claws, she watched its movements closely, hoping to learn as much as she could about it.

At times, its massive size betrayed its intent, but it still managed to keep Vee guessing. Just like her fights against Amara, she had trouble reading its tail, and the few additional injuries she suffered had come from losing track of it. As the minutes crept on, she felt like she was growing more familiar with how it moved, but she was also struggling to keep herself focused. While she hadn’t been starving in Purgatory, she hadn’t exactly been eating five-star meals every day, and the lack of energy was starting to weigh on her.

Another strike, another dodge, and Vee scanned the quad for any signs of the others. At the corner of the quad, walking alongside the lower level of the cafeteria, she saw another student. The student was wearing bulky headphones and appeared to be completely ignoring the rest of the world as she walked.

Fuck. I don’t see Tessa or Nick anywhere, I need to—

Vee knocked one of the creature's claws away, but the follow up strike forced Vee further away than usual. In the space that had been created, the creature looked to the side and saw the other student, then immediately shifted its priorities. It turned around, its massive tail slamming into the dirt where Vee had just been, and took off running.

Panic filled Vee’s thoughts as she sprinted after the reaper. She just needed to reach the student first, or possibly interpose herself long enough for the student to realize what was happening.

Thankfully, as powerful as the reaper was, Vee was faster. She managed to cut it off, turning to face the rampaging beast, and brandished her mace. She knew she couldn’t fight it like this, but could she scare it? It seemed at least sentient enough to attempt to avoid her, and they certainly seemed capable of panicking.

What would Amara do? She’s bigger and scarier than me, but it’s not like I don’t have flashy abilities of my own…

With a deep breath, Vee raised a hand and prayed for a burst of light to erupt from her hand. She did her best to focus it on the reaper’s face, hoping they could be blinded even without eyes. As the light appeared, it cut through the fog on the quad, and the reaper screamed out in surprise. Its attempts to avert its gaze caused it to trip over itself, and Vee silently cheered in victory.

There was no time for proper celebration, however, people still needed her help. She turned and ran to the oblivious student, getting a better look at her as she closed the distance.

This student had bright red hair and appeared to be in fantastic shape. Despite the cold weather, she was wearing a tank top that showed off her muscular physique, and her bulky headphones continued to deafen the warning shouts that came from Vee.

Once Vee closed the distance, she tore the headphones off the girl’s head. “You need to run! Get inside!”

“Hey, what the fuck?! Give those—” The girl’s words were cut off by another monstrous roar, and her eyes went wide as she turned to see the reaper stumbling around. She instantly began screaming, frozen in fear as she looked up at the beast.

Fuck, I need to get her to focus!

Wait, we’re done hiding our abilities. Maybe I can use that.

With a deep breath, Vee stepped in front of this girl and pushed her headphones back into her chest. She connected with her inner magic, let it flow through her, and tried to channel every story she’d ever heard of angels revealing themselves to mortals.

When Vee opened her eyes, powerful angelic light burst from them. The magic she released was raw, unrefined, but she did her best to keep it from harming the student. Her feet lifted off the ground, and she hovered above the student as her entire body began to pulse with Enochian energy. The student stopped screaming, thankfully, and Vee spoke.

“Child!” Vee said, “Be not afraid. I’m here to protect you.”

The red-haired student stared up, her face struck with both awe and fear. Her mouth opened, yet no sound came out.

“Go inside and stay with the others. Now!” Vee shouted, raising a glowing hand as she attempted to scare the student away. Thankfully, the show of force seemed to work. The student grabbed her headphones, nodded, then turned to sprint up the stairs to the cafeteria.

Vee immediately cut off her magic, falling to the ground before gasping from exertion. Behind her, she heard the reaper crawling closer, and she redoubled her grip on the mace before turning to face it again. Thankfully, just like the other reaper, this one seemed confused by its inability to phase through solid objects. It tried to charge her, but it recoiled as its head crashed into the branches of the tall oak tree in between them.

Seeing an opportunity, Vee leapt forward and struck at one of the reaper’s hind legs, the mace connected with a satisfying crunch. Cracks appeared in the bone, but Vee was unable to dodge the beast’s retaliation. One of its claws struck her side, throwing her to the side. She flew a considerable distance, gasping in pain as she landed, and rolled a few times before she managed to catch herself. Pain radiated through her chest, and when she ran her hand over the injury, it came back covered in blood.

Her strength fading fast, both from the previous injuries and the burst of energy, Vee knew she needed to escape. A quick look around revealed no other students, and she decided it was time to run.

She dismissed her mace, devoting all her energy to staying light on her feet, and started running towards the tree line again. The reaper tried to close the distance, and Vee had to dodge another two swipes, but soon enough she had made it to the sidewalk.

Turning around, Vee studied the reaper closely. It was clearly confused about the tree, but she could see the gears turning as the creature looked at her. It lowered its neck, then started to creep forward, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground as it walked. Vee made sure to jump back another few feet as she kept watching, hoping to learn as much as she could about the creature to aid in future encounters.

Before the reaper could move any closer, another flash of light appeared behind it. The beast flinched, taking a step back before turning to look behind it.

Vee did the same, running a few steps higher to gain a better vantage point. She let out a sigh of relief as she looked over the field; the flash hadn’t heralded the arrival of another reaper. Whatever it was, however, the reaper seemed to abandon its pursuits, content to wander back to the center of the quad. She continued watching for another minute, and the reaper did nothing but lurk the entire time, just like it had been doing back in Purgatory.

Is Brandon telling it to stay put? Why hasn’t he come through yet?

If nothing else, Vee was safe, and she still didn’t see any other students nearby. Hoping that Nick and Tessa had been able to spread the word, she decided to head to the cafeteria.

With the fight over, Vee now felt the sting of her injuries. A cursory inspection revealed that nothing was significantly damaged, and she was sure a bit of magic would have her back in fighting shape in no time. For now, her steps were cautious and stiff as she pushed through the front entrance of the building.

Approaching the dining hall, the predictable sounds of panic and confusion filled Vee’s ears. She rounded the last corner to see a sizeable collection of people, perhaps around a couple dozen, all reacting to the events differently.

Scanning over the crowd, Vee didn’t see anyone that desperately needed healing. There were certainly a few students with bumps and bruises, and Nick was off to the side with a small first aid kit, but that was the worst of it. Tessa was standing next to him, trying to calm down a student that was clearly in the middle of a panic attack. Vee kept looking around, seeing a few familiar faces, but her eyes eventually came to rest on the girl with the dark blue peacoat sitting on a table in the corner.

Chloé!

Vee sighed in relief seeing her friend safe, and she walked over as quickly as she could. Chloé was hugging her knees to her chest, her chin buried in her scarf, and her focus seemed to be a million miles away.

“Chloé! You’re okay!” Vee said, crawling onto the table next to her. She wrapped her arms around Chloé and squeezed her tight.

“Y-yeah, I guess…” Chloé muttered. After a brief pause, she looked up at Vee. “So, you… you’re different too?”

Vee’s heart broke as she heard the pain in Chloé’s words. She settled down in front of her, looking down at the table as she searched for the right words. “…Yeah. I’m an angel.”

“Oh.” Chloé buried herself deeper in her scarf. “How long have you known?”

The implications of her question were obvious; she wanted to know how long Vee had been lying to her. “I’ve always known. My Church pulled me aside when I was little and told me everything, and they spent my entire life stressing that I had to keep it a secret. I didn’t even tell the others until I… well, until my hand was forced.”

“Forced? What do you—”

A scream interrupted Chloé’s question, and Vee quickly turned around. She saw a student pointing in fear at the entrance, and Vee worried a reaper might have gotten inside. She jumped to her feet, a prayer on her lips, and looked down the hallway. As she saw what the student was pointing at, she sighed in relief, but she understood why the student was scared. The arrival of a demon usually wasn’t something to celebrate.

Amara was limping towards the dining hall, and it looked as if she’d fallen in a meat grinder. She was covered in countless bruises, welts, and cuts, with blood dripping from several large gashses. One of her eyes was swollen shut, causing even more blood to run down her face, and she flicked her tail towards the crowd. It moved in front of her, tossing a reaper’s skull onto the ground, where it clattered to a rest. Amara took a deep breath, her body shaking, and then she spoke with a haunting smirk on her face.

“One down. Three to go.”

“Amara!” Vee ran forward, grabbing one of Amara’s arms to try and prop her up. “Fucking hell, are you okay? What happened?”

“I kicked its ass, that’s what happened,” Amara said, failing to hold back a laugh that clearly hurt. “They’re not so fucking tough when they’re alone.”

From behind Vee, another student moved closer and spoke up. “I think we deserve an explanation. What is going on here?! What are those creatures, what are all of you?” Looking back, Vee got a good look at the person speaking. She had curly black hair with the ends dyed red, and a fire in her voice as she demanded answers.

With the focus of the group now entirely on Amara, this girl’s comment seemed to rile everyone up. All the students present started asking questions of their own, their voices a chaotic mess. Vee tried to signal for everyone to calm down, but there was too much panic in the air for her to gain control of the situation. She looked back to Amara, unsure what to do, and saw that Amara seemed ready to snap.

Hellfire was gathering above her horns, condensing into a precarious ball of fire that grew hotter with each passing second. Vee nervously took a step back, then watched as Amara launched the fire into the air, where it exploded with a deafening blast.

“SHUT UP!” Amara yelled.

The noise immediately silenced everyone, and Amara stepped forward. “You want to know what’s happening, Naomi? You want to know what fresh hell we’ve been living through the last few months? I’m a fucking demon! I burned down the Palace! I stopped Wellington’s fucking cult! I’m the reason we’re… we’re all…”

Amara fell to her knees, then her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed to the floor.

In an instant, Vee was by her side. She carefully rolled Amara to her back, then leaned in to make sure she was breathing. Surprisingly, another student kneeled down on the other side of her, the same girl with the bright red hair that Vee had rescued earlier.

“Is she still breathing?” the girl asked.

“Faintly, but yeah. I’ve never seen her this beat up before,” Vee said.

The red-haired girl turned to look behind her. “Nick! First aid kit!”

Nick nodded, then zipped up a small bag next to him and tossed it over. The girl caught it, opened it up, and started treating Amara’s injuries. After a confused look from Vee, she spoke up again. “Ruby. Nursing student.”

Vee nodded in acknowledgement. “Thanks, Ruby.”

“Though, my classes didn’t exactly cover, um… demons? She looks like a demon.” Ruby’s hands moved quickly, carefully wiping blood off Amara’s injuries as she inspected the injuries. “How different is her physiology? Is bandaging her up even going to do anything?”

“I honestly can’t say,” Vee said. She helped roll Amara onto her side as Ruby examined the wound on her back. “She still eats and sleeps like the rest of us, so I’m tempted to say that this will help. Honestly, the fact that she’s not recovering on her own is troubling. What she really needs right now is to have sex.”

Ruby paused, staring up at Vee with a blank expression. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Sorry, should’ve clarified; yes, she’s a demon. Specifically, a succubus. Everything she does is fueled by sex.”

“And here I thought today couldn’t get any fucking weirder…” Ruby muttered, shaking her head. “This wound on her back is the worst one. I’m gonna bandage this up, ‘cuz that’s something I understand. Ordinarily I’d say that sex right now is the worst possible idea, but there are fucking bone dragons outside, and you’re, what, a fucking angel? This fucking campus, I swear to god. Shit, wait, should I not say that? Is that offensive? Is God real? No, shut up, Ruby, just focus on the bandages. Bandages make sense.”

It only took a minute for Ruby to finish bandaging Amara’s shoulder, and Vee let her rant the entire time she worked. As soon as they laid back down, Vee stood up and shouted for everyone’s attention again. The panic from earlier hadn’t returned, thankfully.

“Okay, look, I’m sure you all have a lot of questions. We don’t really know how much time we have, but for the time being, we’re safe, so I can at least go over the basics.” Vee took a breath to continue talking and was painfully reminded of her own injuries. She winced briefly, then pulled a chair closer and spun it around. She leaned forward, one arm on the back of the chair, while her other hand hiked up her shirt.

“Hey, let me get that for you,” Ruby said.

“It’s fine, Ruby. I promise.” Vee closed her eyes briefly, then muttered a small prayer. A soft glow appeared around her hand, and she moved it to her side to start healing her injuries. As she let the magic work, she spoke up again. “We don’t entirely know what the things outside are, but we’ve been calling them reapers. They live in Purgatory, but right now they’re being controlled by a psychopathic ex-student that used to be in that cult you’ve all heard about.”

From the back of the crowd, a masculine voice spoke up. “And what about you and your friend? She said she was a demon! Are we safe around her?” People stepped out of the way to give the speaker room, and Vee saw who was speaking.

He was quite tall, Vee guessed at least six feet, and was wearing a letterman’s jacket. He had dark skin and incredibly short, curly black hair. He was doing his best to put on a brave face, but Vee could tell he was nervous; he was holding another student’s hand more tightly than he likely needed to. The second guy had lighter skin, with messy brown hair and square glasses, and appeared to be nudging the athlete forward.

Vee spoke up again. “I’m an angel, and Amara here is a demon, but she’s no threat to any of you.”

“And what about the cult?” Naomi said, holding out her phone. “What really happened to them?”

“The people in the cult were selling their souls to demons. They thought they were achieving some kind of magical ascension, but Mr. Wellington was really just using them in a bid for personal power. We managed to stop the ritual and send all the demons back to Hell, but almost everyone in the cult died in the process.” After a quick stretch, Vee felt that her injuries were healed enough, and she cut off her magic.

“It’s true,” another voice said, this one off to the side. As the crowd shifted again, Vee saw three people standing together; Mr. Luxnor and the two students they had talked to after the ritual. The guy speaking had short, dirty blonde hair and a matching goatee. “We’re only alive because they stopped Mr. Wellington at the last moment.”

“So, you were lying,” Naomi said, moving over to the ex-cultist. “Everything you said was an elaborate cover up!”

“What were we supposed to do? If we say nothing, then dozens of people go missing without an explanation, but we also can’t share the full truth without looking like a bunch of maniacs! We did our best to find a healthy middle ground so there’d at least be some closure,” the blonde student said.

Vee was about to interject when Tessa beat her to it. “Naomi, I know you’ve been looking into this, but there are bigger forces at play.” Her next words seemed to be aimed at the whole crowd, but were still clearly meant for Naomi. “Whatever happens here, the most important thing is that we keep our mouths shut. The reapers, Purgatory, angels and demons, it all has to stay a secret, you got that? No posting pictures, no tweets, complete radio silence.”

“You have no right to silence us,” Naomi said. “People deserve to know what’s happening here!” A tense silence fell over the crowd, and Tessa narrowed her eyes at Naomi.

“Naomi, what did you do?” Tessa asked, her voice unusually serious.

“I’ve already posted pictures of those things. I’m not going to let you bury this.”

In a blur, Tessa closed the distance between her and Naomi. She shoved Naomi down on a table, then her switchblade flew into the air as her tattoos flared. The blade pointed itself at Naomi’s neck as Tessa started shouting. “You delete them this fucking instant! You take them down or I’ll feed you to a reaper!”

Vee ran forward in a panic. She’d never seen Tessa get this upset, and the panic in her voice was more than obvious. Tessa was scared of something. “Tess, for fuck’s sake, let her go!” Vee wrapped her arms around Tessa’s shoulders and pulled her away from Naomi, who was gasping in terror on the cafeteria table. The knife continued hovering at her neck until Nick ran forward and grabbed it, giving a worried look to Vee.

Another student ran forward, this one a girl with long dreadlocks wearing a purple athletic jacket. She helped Naomi to her feet, then watched in concern as Vee continued holding Tessa back.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Tessa?!” Naomi said. “Fine, I’ll delete the fucking post, but you owe me an explanation later.”

After a few seconds on her phone, Naomi held up the screen to show Tessa that the post was being deleted. Vee was able to see one of the pictures for a moment before it disappeared; it showed a reaper collapsed on the ground, and Amara’s tail was faintly visible as well. With the pictures now deleted, Tessa stopped struggling, and Vee let her go.

Tessa huffed in frustration, then stormed off to a back room. Vee thought about chasing after her, but Nick stopped her. “I’ll handle her, Vee. You stay with the crowd; we shouldn’t leave them alone. Remember, we’re the only four that are even remotely qualified for this.”

Vee nodded, then let Nick chase after Tessa. A new student spoke up from the crowd. “What about that girl? Is she human?”

“Yes, Tessa’s human. She’s just a witch.” Vee sighed as she sat down again. When she looked up, the student had walked closer, and she got a better look at him. He had pale beige skin and his hair had been dyed bright blue, which was so striking Vee had trouble noticing much else.

“So, what are we supposed to do? Just sit around and kill time while those monsters destroy the campus?” the blue-haired student asked.

“Look, I know this is confusing, but the most important thing is for everyone to stay calm. Those creatures will not hesitate to kill us, and the student controlling them is just as heartless, if not more so. My friends and I will be able to make this right, we just need time to collect ourselves. Can we just, I dunno, get the cafeteria up and running? I haven’t had a hot meal in over a week and I’m starving.”

Surprisingly, Ruby appeared again and started walking to the kitchen. “Got it!”

“Is there anything you don’t do?” Vee asked.

“I literally do, like, two things, and they both happened to be relevant. Don’t sweat it,” Ruby said with a smile.

“Okay, great.” Vee thought for a moment, cycling through ideas of what else needed to happen. She remembered that the cafeteria had a sizeable student lounge on the bottom floor, filled with couches and comfortable places to rest. “I’m going to move Amara downstairs so she can rest. Whatever you all do, just don’t leave the building.”

A voice from the crowd spoke up. “Why should we listen to you?”

“Amara killed one of those things with her bare hands! You seriously think we have a better option?” another voice responded.

Vee was quickly losing patience with the crowd, and instead focused on picking up Amara. It was more difficult than she intended to pick Amara up, as her wings were still out, but thankfully another student knelt down to help. Together, they managed to gather her wings around her so Vee could carry her safely. The student, this one a girl with bright, naturally red hair, ran ahead to hold open the door that led downstairs.

Before leaving, another thought crossed Vee’s mind, and she turned to the crowd again. “Oh, and one more thing. I know this is going to sound weird, but if any of you are planning on having sex, can you let me know? Amara’s a succubus, and if that happens near her, it would help her recover faster.”

The crowd, as tense as they were, seemed unanimously confused by Vee’s request. They all went quiet for a moment, a few of them nodding absentmindedly, before she turned to leave.

It only took a few minutes to get downstairs. The bottom level of the cafeteria had a small bistro, as well as a large collection of booths, chairs, couches, and tables. It was a great place for students to gather and study, and it was unusual seeing it so empty. Vee quickly moved to the biggest couch she could find and gently laid Amara down. The girl helping out had even managed to find a blanket, though Vee had no idea where from, and draped it over Amara while Vee collapsed into an armchair nearby.

The other student also pulled up a chair, then sat down herself. “How bad is it?” she asked.

Vee took a minute before answering. Her face was buried in her hands, and after a heavy breath, she leaned back. “It’s… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“That would help, wouldn’t it?” the girl said, extending a hand. “I’m Kylie. Amara’s worked with me before, helped me get some pictures of my cheerleading routines. She saved my life today. One of those monsters was just outside my building and she kept it busy while I ran.”

“Nice to meet you, Kylie. Sorry it’s not under better circumstances.” Vee leaned forward to shake her hand, but didn’t linger long. She could already feel her body growing stiff and sore.

“Look, I’m not going to pretend that I understand what’s happening here, but is there anything else I can do to help?” Kylie asked. “You seem pretty exhausted, and I’m sure dealing with that crowd upstairs didn’t help matters.”

Vee could feel her patience wearing thin, but she didn’t dare take it out on Kylie, she was just trying to help. “I need food, and something to drink, if that’s not too much to ask.”

“On it!”

Before Kylie made it to the stairs, Vee spoke up again. “Oh, and can you find Chloé and send her down here?”

“Who’s Chloé?”

“Blue coat, glasses, she was sitting on a table last time I saw her.”

“Oh, charity girl! Can do!”

Another minute, and Vee was finally alone. It was the first chance she’d had to decompress since they first faced off against Brandon, and the exhaustion hit her like a truck. She needed to focus on recovering, which meant no more magic, and she muttered a quick prayer to release all the magic empowering her. It was a strange sensation, feeling all her senses dull, and it further emphasized just how tired she was.

Once she’d adjusted to her mundane capabilities again, she slid off the armchair and knelt next to Amara. She leaned forward, resting her head on her chest, and listened to her breath. The gentle rise and fall of Amara’s body reminded Vee that she was still alive, and Vee needed every bit of comfort she could get.

Vee closed her eyes, focusing on Amara’s breathing, and tried to match it. For some reason, after everything they’d been through the last week, it felt right to be here with her.

Her focus was broken when a voice spoke up from the hallway. “Vee?”

Hearing Chloé’s voice, Vee jumped back to her feet and walked over. She pulled Chloé in for a hug, squeezing her tight, but she could feel that Chloé wasn’t returning the hug as enthusiastically. “C’mere, take my seat. How are you doing?”

“It’s… I dunno.” Chloé settled in, pulling her legs close as she buried her face in her scarf again. “I’m happy you’re all safe, I’ve been worried sick for the last week. You and Amara were missing, Tessa and Nick were lying and trying to pretend you were just sick, but when I went inside Amara’s apartment, I saw all this weird damage and I was so confused, and I—”

The longer Chloé talked, the more Vee sensed that she was on the verge of crying. Vee pulled a chair closer, settled in, and stopped her before she could spiral. “Hey. The important thing is that you’re alive, right? I can’t speak for Amara, but I feel absolutely terrible that you got sucked into all of it. If you want, I can explain everything that’s been going on the last few months, at least from my perspective.”

Chloé sniffed and nodded slowly. “T-that sounds nice.”

Vee took her hand, then settled in and started talking.