Rough Draft - Suddenly A Succubus Ch. 30

Vee woke to absolute silence. In the world of the living, the quiet of morning normally paired with the sound of rustling trees, of leaves skipping across sidewalks, and birds chirping outside her window. An enjoyable quiet, one full of peace, but also plenty of reminders that the world had continued spinning overnight. Purgatory, however, had no such reminders.

In a place defined by its absence, this was hardly surprising. Nothing lived in this world; at least, nothing was supposed to. Still, despite everything Vee knew, she’d still woken up here yesterday morning.

Her overwhelming confusion had stuck with her for most of the day. The presence of her body was confirmation that she hadn’t passed away in her sleep; her connection with her angelic abilities proof that she hadn’t accidentally slipped into the Dreamscape. Wandering campus, she’d recalled lectures and teachings about the nature of death, about what happens when a soul refuses to pass on. The only way to enter Purgatory, Vee had been told, was to die with unfinished business so powerful that you refused to let go.

Yet, her presence here disproved that idea. Did that mean the Church was wrong?

Vee pulled her covers closer, sighing in frustration as she tried to hold onto the warmth as long as she could. So much had happened in these last few months; learning Amara was a demon, nearly dying in a fight with her, then teaming up with her to stop a horrid cult. What made everything worse, though, was how alone Vee felt. Angels were few and far between, and her existence had so many dramatic implications. She desperately wished she had someone that she could talk to, but she knew no such person existed.

From outside Vee’s bedroom, a sudden noise snapped her from her thoughts. A small thud, like something being dropped, followed by a frustrated voice.

“Shit!”

Vee groaned into her pillow; she’d almost forgotten that Amara was here. Whatever was happening in the kitchen, it was as good an excuse as any to get out of bed. After quickly rummaging through her closet, grabbing some properly warm clothes this time, Vee opened her bedroom door and walked out.

On the other side of the counter, Amara was kneeling in the middle of the kitchen trying to clean up a spilled box of cereal. She wore small athletic shorts and a racerback sports bra, her pajamas of choice for almost as long as they’d known each other. Vee had seen Amara wear this plenty of times at sleepovers, but now the outfit seemed to fit her differently. The shorts seemed smaller than usual, hugging her curves tighter than they used to, and the bra seemed to strain against her larger bust. In this moment, Vee finally realized just how much Amara’s body had changed these last few months.

Amara was grumbling to herself as she cleaned, and Vee leaned on the counter before speaking up. “What happened?”

“I was hungry, so I figured I’d grab some food, and I found some cereal. So, I’m holding it with my tail, digging through your fridge to find something to drink, when I grab a big jug of water and it shocks me! Why do you have a gallon of holy water in your fridge?!”

“I’m an Angel, Amara. I feel like, of anyone, I’m the least surprising person to have that. The holy water made you drop the cereal?”

“Yes! Your stupid holy magic always makes my body seize up. I guess that’s my fault for thinking your apartment was safe for me, right?”

Vee moved around, joining Amara in cleaning up the spilled food. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you about that, I was pretty tired last night. You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I’m fine, mostly just caught me by surprise.” Amara glared at Vee briefly, then spoke up again. “You have any other traps I should know about? I’m not going to, like, accidentally sprinkle my dinner with holy salt or something?”

“To the best of my knowledge, the water in the fridge is the only thing left. I don’t normally keep holy stuff in my apartment, that’s just the last remnant from… from when I was preparing for Halloween,” Vee said quietly. She didn’t like thinking about the week before their fight, as she had poured every ounce of her strength into a plan to try and kill Amara.

“If you’re going to invite me over, maybe have fewer deathtraps next time? I already know you don’t want me around, even without all this holy nonsense.” Amara’s voice was harsh, her words bitter.

Vee froze, the words hitting her harder than she’d expected.

Why is Amara acting like this? Ever since we ran into each other yesterday, it’s like she’s an entirely different person.

There was a part of Vee that felt she deserved the harsh words, but it was still surprising to hear them coming from Amara. Ever since they’d first met, Amara had always been the voice of reason and support among their friends; that had been a big reason why Vee had spent so much time with her. Chloé had always been nice, but too shy to speak up, while Tessa had been the angry upstart of the group. Had Amara always acted like this back then, Vee doubted they would have been friends.

“Amara, what’s for dinner tonight?” Vee asked quietly.

“Aww you don’t trust me! There’s the Vee I know and love.” Amara said, playfully prodding Vee with her tail. “It’s hand-seared chicken, by the way. You?”

“Spaghetti carbonara.” Vee didn’t bother continuing the conversation. She grabbed some cereal for herself, then moved to the couch to eat it in peace. Her thoughts wandered back to yesterday, to the moment she’d found Amara in Purgatory. Against all reason, she’d been somewhat excited to spend time with Amara again. Now? That feeling was nowhere to be found.

The girls ate their breakfast in silence. Vee wasn’t particularly interested in talking with Amara, and instead let her eyes wander around the corners of the apartment, examining the various Enochian runes that kept them safe. They were still glowing strongly, keeping the entropic forces of Purgatory at bay.

“So, what’s our plan?” Amara asked, finally breaking the silence. “Still up for inspecting the circles today?”

“It’s our best lead, isn’t it? I’m all finished eating, if you want to lead the way,” Vee said. She quickly put the bowl back on the counter, then grabbed a jacket for an extra layer against the cold. She looked at Amara, wearing nothing but her skimpy pajamas, and spoke up again. “You sure you don’t want something else to wear?”

“Nah, I want the flexibility. You have no idea how annoying clothes are when I have my wings and tail out.” As she spoke, Amara began stretching her arms above her head, her tail and wings stretching out as well. Against her better judgement, Vee couldn’t help but look at just how big Amara’s extra limbs were. Her wingspan alone was enormous, her tail much longer and thicker than Vee had realized.

“You can’t just put them away?” Vee asked.

“I mean, I could, but why would I? We’re the only people on campus, I might as well enjoy the freedom.” Amara opened the door, stepping out into the hall before inviting Vee to join her.

Outside, the pale visage of Aurelius University stared back at them. The campus was as lifeless as ever, the only movement the strange wisps of students back in the real world. Amara took the lead, picking a direction and confidently heading off. They walked side by side, though Vee made sure to leave a few feet of space between them; she was hoping to avoid any accidental scrapes with Amara’s wings.

Their first stop ended up being Brandt Hall. They wandered the hallways, doing their best to avoid the strange wisps, and eventually made it to the basement. As they approached the first circle, Amara explained the circumstances under which she and Tessa had discovered this one. A strange heat had overtaken the building, leading the two of them to investigate, and this had been where they first learned about the cult. Vee had only gotten involved once the cult had been thoroughly investigated, and was actually interested in hearing how they’d discovered everything.

Plus, as Amara recounted what had happened, her voice lost that bitter edge it had held at Vee’s apartment. Though confusing, Vee couldn’t help but notice traces of the Amara she’d once been friends with.

“—and just around this corner is the circle! In the real world, it was hidden by an illusion, but it looks like that’s not here. Maybe illusions just don’t work here?”

“It would certainly seem like it.” Vee kneeled down, inspecting the magic circle briefly. “How does this compare to the circle under Lysander Hall?”

“This one is totally lifeless. Tessa said it was giving off a bunch of heat, so it makes sense that it wasn’t connected to this plane. I guess that means Lysander is connected to Purgatory, right? That would explain the weird cold Tessa felt.”

“Wait, what cold?” Vee asked.

“Yeah, the first time she showed me the Lysander circle, she said it was really cold. I mean, she could have been lying, but based on how much you’re shivering, I’m tempted to believe her.”

Vee paused, turning her attention inwards, and realized Amara was right. Despite her multiple layers, the cold of purgatory was already starting to creep under her skin. “Well, we have to keep looking. How about we head to Lysander, then back to my place? I’m already fading faster than yesterday.”

“Sounds good to me. Lead the way!” Amara stepped to the side, letting Vee take the lead, and they started walking towards the center of campus.

Vee tried to quicken her pace, not wanting to spend more time outside than she had to. Thankfully, as Amara seemed to be mostly resistant to the effects of Purgatory, she was easily able to keep pace. They were roughly halfway to Lysander Hall when Amara broke the silence again.

“What about Vivian?”

“It’s just Vee, Amara.”

“Veronica? Violet?”

Vee tried to hold back a sigh of frustration. She didn’t bother responding, hoping it would stop Amara from continuing this line of questioning. Thankfully, it worked; Amara only guessed a few more names before giving up. The remainder of the walk was quiet, and soon they were walking down the stairs in Lysander Hall.

Approaching the magic circle, Vee finally understood what Amara had meant when she said it was glowing. It wasn’t just that the circle had a strange light to it, but the light itself was more vibrant than the rest of campus. It seemed to originate from the real world, and even brought with it traces of liveliness that Vee appreciated. While the cold of Purgatory hadn’t been chased away entirely, it had certainly grown weaker.

“This circle is absolutely a bridge between here and the real world. I can feel tiny bits of life coming through, it feels a little like my apartment.” Vee knelt next to the circle, trying to steal whatever warmth she could from it.

“Well, I’ll take your word for it. Everything feels the same to me.” Amara sat down on the floor a few feet away from Vee, her tail wrapping around her as she settled in. “You think you can do anything with it? Like, use your magic to get a message through?”

Vee hesitated. “I can’t say. I think it’s worth trying, but these runes aren’t Enochian. I wouldn’t be surprised if my magic isn’t compatible.”

Knowing it was worth a shot, Vee summoned a small amount of magic and tried to direct it at the circle. She didn’t know what any of the symbols meant, or what significance the various patterns held, but Enochian had many powerful benefits that normal witchcraft didn’t. Witches needed to use precise runic language, whereas angels had more freedom to guide their magic through willpower and intent.

She watched her angelic nature touch the circle, a few strange sparks appearing. It felt like trying to force two like sides of a magnet together, but Vee kept pushing. According to Amara, energy from Purgatory was leaking through the circle in the real world. If Vee could find the edges of the circle, the points of connection between the two planes, she might be able to push her angelic magic through as well. It was a long shot, but if Tessa came to investigate, it might be enough to communicate where they were.

As Vee focused, slowly exploring the strange runes with her angelic magic, she felt the cold from Purgatory continuing to bite at her. She began shivering again, likely because she was redirecting her energy towards the circle rather than herself. After a few seconds, however, a wave of heat washed over her. It felt incredible, like she’d stepped into a sun beam, and her shivering stopped almost immediately.

Looking up, Vee saw a small flame hovering in front of her, hints of purple dancing around its edges. Her gaze moved to Amara, only to find the demon looking back at her. They locked eyes, and for a moment, there was a connection. As if Vee were seeing the human side of Amara, trapped behind the demonic mask.

Amara looked away a moment later. “What? I just didn’t want your shivering to fuck with our chances of getting home.”

What is going on with her? Does she hate me, or doesn’t she?

Now wasn’t the time to analyze whatever their relationship was, and Vee returned to focusing on the circle. With the warmth of Amara’s fire, it was easier to concentrate on her magic, directing it around as she looked for weak points in the connection.

After a few minutes of exploring, she felt she had a fairly decent picture of the circle’s construction. At least, an understanding of how it interacted with her magic. “Alright, I think I’ve got some basics down. Thankfully, I know what I’m looking for, and that made this a lot easier. According to Tessa, the circles were meant to block off extraplanar connection, but the cult weakened that protection. I think I’ve found the cracks in the Gate, so to speak, and I’ve managed to push some of my own magic through it. I have no idea how long it will last, but if Tessa visits this circle in the real world, there’s a chance she’ll see it and figure out where we are.”

“You don’t think you’ll be able to get us back?” Amara asked, standing up. She also put out the fire she summoned.

“Not a chance. Angelic magic works on a completely different set of rules. My innate magic works with intent, with emotion. Enochian runes, although visually somewhat similar, are built to channel divine magic, not to interact with the kind witches use.”

“Well, as much as I hate waiting, I guess it’s better than nothing. Should we head back to your place?”

Vee nodded. “Yeah, the sooner the better.”

Before the girls could reach the staircase, however, a strange sound caused them both to freeze in surprise. A deep, rumbling bass that seemed to shake the walls around them, soon followed by a much higher pitched wail. The sounds were distant, yet also frighteningly close, but one thing scared Vee more than anything else.

The sound was moving.

It circled around both of them, sometimes coming from above, sometimes from below.

“Amara,” Vee said, “I don’t think we’re alone anymore.”

—

Tessa woke at her usual hour, with just enough time to get to her first final. She was only a few minutes late, but thankfully her teachers were used to her indifference. After powering through her exam, without caring too much about how well she did, she had just enough time to swing by the cafeteria for lunch.

Today it was just her and Chloé, and she wasn’t entirely sure how to compose herself. As much as she’d wanted some time to herself yesterday, Tessa couldn’t deny that she was growing more and more worried about Amara.

And maybe Vee. But not as much.

Chloé was going on and on about some new game that was coming out soon, and Tessa was more than happy to let her ramble. She did her best to pretend to be interested, though her thoughts were mostly fixated on how she might be able to find Amara and Vee.

“—and they’ve got a bunch of different hair styles, including a lot of undercut options! That’s actually pretty rare in games like these, just like having a good variety of hair options for black characters. Anyways, the most exciting thing is that you can play as a trans character!” Chloé said, scrolling through pictures; she was under the impression that Tessa was paying rapt attention.

“I imagine that’s not very common either?” Tessa asked.

“It might be a first, honestly. It’s so cool! I’m hoping I can show it to Amara once she’s feeling better. Actually, have you talked to her at all? She’s not answering my texts, and neither is Vee.”

“Um, I think they’re both just really going through it. I’m going to swing by and drop off some things for them later today, I’ll let them know you said hey.” Tessa continued eating, trying to finish her food as quickly as possible so she could start investigating.

“Oh, could I come with? I’d love to see them before break hits, it’s going to be pretty lonely once you all leave.”

Tessa paused, trying to think of a good way to let Chloé down gently. “I’m not quite sure when I’m going, but I’ll let you know, okay? My schedule’s just a little crazy right now.”

Chloé seemed a little disappointed, but forced a smile anyways. “Sure, that sounds good. Just let them know I miss them, okay?”

“Mmhm, can do. Listen, I’m gonna head out, but I’d love to hear more about this game when it comes out, okay?”

“Okay! Maybe you can come over sometime, and I can show it to you!”

“Deal!” Tessa said, picking up her things. She felt bad ditching Chloé again, but she had no other choice. She’d agreed to meet Nick at Lysander Hall to start their planar investigation today, and he’d just texted her that he’d already arrived.

After tossing the rest of her lunch, Tessa ran to meet up with Nick, finding him waiting by the elevator. After looking around to make sure no one would be joining them on the lift, they boarded and pressed the secret button hidden by an illusion. Nick had never been down here before, and Tessa made sure to show him where the button was for future reference.

“So, what’s down there? I’m not going to end up fighting anything, am I?” Nick asked, nervously wringing the straps on his backpack.

“No, you’ll be fine. I mean, I haven’t been down here since the night of the ritual, so technically I can’t say for sure that the portal hasn’t reopened. Look, if the place is crawling with demons, just stay behind me and we’ll ride the elevator back up.”

“Tessa! That’s not making me feel better!”

Tessa slapped Nick on the back, laughing as the elevator landed. “Oh, lighten up. We’ll be fine.”

As they stepped out, a familiar hallway greeted Tessa. On the night of the ritual, all of the fighting had happened in the main chamber, so this entry hallway was still quite clean. As they approached the chamber, however, the familiar smell of iron washed over them.

The floor, walls, and pillars were covered with week-old bloodstains. Some spots only held small patterns of droplets, while others were positively drenched with the stuff. Tessa hadn’t paid the mess much attention after they’d won the fight, but with a second look, she couldn’t deny the place looked pretty fucking metal.

“Oh god!” Nick gasped, covering his mouth with his hand as he walked into the chamber. “Tessa, this is horrifying! What on earth happened here?!”

“Seriously? Nick, we already told you, there was a huge fight to the death.” Tessa rolled her eyes. “What, did you think that Amara was able to peacefully knock everyone unconscious with a clean bonk on the head?”

“I mean, no, but… this seems somewhat excessive, don’t you think?”

“Look, Nick, you’ve only seen the fun, sexy side of Amara. That night, she was juiced up on a fuckton of energy, and it was kill or be killed. The girl was practically a human woodchipper. Just, you know, with people instead of wood.”

Nick turned away from the chamber, stepping back to the hallway as his breath quickened. “Fuck, okay. It’s not that I didn’t know this, but seeing the aftermath like this is a different story. I saw her get angry once, a few weeks back, but it’s hard picturing her like this.”

“She’s a demon, Nick. The most surprising thing about her is that she isn’t doing this all the time.”

“She’s my friend, Tessa, she’s more than just a demon. Pardon me for not immediately coming to terms with the fact that she killed a bunch of people that night.”

Despite Tessa’s flippant attitude, she had to admit she understood where Nick was coming from. In the moment, surrounded by cultists and hostile demons, Tessa had been overjoyed to have Amara’s rampage on her side. Since then, however, she’d seen the cultists Amara had fucked, and witnessed just how aggressive Amara had gotten in their own hookups. With the benefit of hindsight, it was hard to ignore just how deadly Amara was.

“Everyone Amara fought was already dead, Nick. They sold their souls to demons, and the demons were using their bodies like puppets.”

“You know what I mean, Tess,” Nick said, his breath slowly calming.

Unfortunately, I kinda do.

“Look, I’m going to go investigate the Hell circle. If you want to wait here, go for it.” Tessa took off, walking towards the center of the chamber as she engaged her magic. She looked around at the leylines, surprised at how potent they were this far underground, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Creating a portal that reached into Hell probably took a lot of juice, so it would make sense that it needed to be as close to the Leylines as possible.

She began expanding her senses, poking and prodding at the different magical signatures she found floating around the chamber. Thankfully, the portal to Hell remained sealed, and the rest of the magic she found appeared normal. To the best of her knowledge, it didn’t appear likely that Amara and Vee had ended up in Hell.

“Alright, we can head out. I’m not seeing anything weird here,” Tessa said, returning to Nick.

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.” Nick eagerly walked back to the elevator, repeatedly pressing the button to try and call the lift quicker. “When Amara and Vee are back, we should come clean this place up. It feels wrong to leave it in that state.”

“Maybe you just need to distract yourself, talk about something else.” Tessa paused slightly, an idea crossing her mind. “Come to think of it, we’re both sleeping with Amara, and we’ve never talked about it! Have you got any juicy details? What’s it like fucking a demon?”

Nick gave her a slightly perplexed look but responded anyways. “Like you said, we’ve both hooked up with her. You know what it’s like.”

“Yeah, but I’m a girl! Guys have such different tastes, I’m sure things are way different when you two fuck. Does she ever shapeshift for you? Come on, you’ve asked her to turn into your celebrity crush at some point, right?”

“For your information, no, I haven’t. I happen to like Amara as herself. She’s always the one pushing for the kinkier stuff, like the anal play. That was all her idea.”

“Actually,” Tessa said, moving slightly closer, “I was the one that got her started on that particular kink. Was it fun? Fucking a succubus in the ass?”

Nick stammered slightly, looking away from Tessa as she moved closer. “I mean, sure, it was fun. Sex with Amara is always great, I don’t know what else you want me to say about it.”

“Well, Amara said you were pretty excited about it. You know, I happen to love anal myself,” Tessa whispered. She was trying to be a bit more subtle this time, hoping she might discover whatever trick there was to seducing Nick. Unfortunately, her efforts only seemed to be making him uncomfortable.

“That’s, uh, nice,” Nick said. The elevator pinged, signaling that they’d landed on the main floor.

Frustrated that her efforts had failed again, Tessa rolled her eyes and stepped off the elevator. “Ugh, just stay close, alright? There’s another circle we can hit while we’re here, and after that we’ll need to run over to Brandt, then to the Science Building. Hopefully one of them will have a clue.”

Thankfully, the staircase downstairs was fairly close. The bottom floor of Lysander Hall held the very first magic circle Tessa had found, and the area around it always felt a little cold. It was hidden by an illusory wall, but Tessa had plenty of experience pulling it down, and the process was finished in less than a minute. Nick seemed impressed with that particular trick, and held his hand against the wall as Tessa dismissed the illusion.

“Wow, that’s pretty impressive. I always thoughts illusions were visual only, but the wall here was solid.”

“People tend to think that illusions are more like desert mirages, something that you can never physically touch, but that’s never been the case. Illusions are just as solid as anything real, but the difference is in the substance. You ever see those shows where they make a bunch of household objects that are actually cake? That’s kind of how illusions work; they look real, and you can touch them, but with enough force they crumple.”

“Huh. Illusions are just the fondant of the magical world, who knew.” Surprisingly, Nick laughed at the comparison. “So, you couldn’t use illusions to build a house?”

“I mean, you could, but it would fall apart way too easily.” After a quick pause, Tessa remembered what Nick was studying. “That’s right, you’re an architecture nerd.”

“Guilty as charged. I like seeing different elements come together to make something new.” There was a brief pause, then Nick spoke up again. “Is magic something you enjoy? Like, I’m sure the telekinesis is fun, but what about all the language? Learning the runes, figuring out how they interact, building and deciphering all these circles, stuff like that.”

Tessa paused, almost unsure how to answer the question. No one had ever asked her that before; of course, she did everything in her power to keep people from finding out she was a witch. She stammered slightly as she thought about what to say. “I guess I’ve never thought about it that way. Like you said, the powers are neat, but I wasn’t necessarily jazzed to learn all the runes and symbols when I was back with my coven. Although back then it felt like work, like it was being forced on me.”

“What about now? Before you knew about the cult, it was just you and Amara trying to decipher the circles. Was that enjoyable?”

“It’s not like that. I have a responsibility as a Witch to keep tabs on weird magic bullshit; I wasn’t just researching the circles for the fun of it.”

“Is that what witches do? Is that why you’re here?”

Shit, he’s getting comfy with me.

After a brief moment of panic, Tessa switched the subject. “Look, we’re here to find Amara, aren’t we? How about I just start digging into this circle already.”

Nick raised his hands, a playful admission of surrender. “Alright, do your thing. Just curious, that’s all.”

Eager to avoid more probing questions, Tessa kneeled down in front of the circle and engaged her magic. Her tattoos started glowing, and her senses expanded as she started to look for abnormalities. The instant she started, she could tell something was wrong. The other circles she’d investigated had traces of planar energy, normally the residue that leaked through on its own; the vines under the cafeteria, the heat under Brandt Hall, things like that. Here, although the cold was leaking through as it always had, the circle itself seemed much more active.

The strangest thing was the type of magic Tessa found. Some of it seemed to match the circle, it was magic that drained the energy from things, instilling a sense of cold. Her best guess was this magic was from the plane itself, whichever plane the circle was built to connect to. In her opinion, that plane was Purgatory. It could also be an elemental plane, but the lack of any water or ice made that seem less likely. However, there was a second kind of magic present, and it felt dramatically out of place.

The strange magic was incredibly lively and vivacious, filled with hope and potential. It seemed to be completely at odds with the chilling planar energy, and Tessa had no idea what it meant. Was this circle connected to two planes at once? That would defy everything she’d learned these last few months. She kept looking, trying to isolate the two different magics in hopes of finding a better answer.

The more she focused on the second, livelier magic, the more it seemed familiar. Not because she’d worked with it before, but because she’d seen it in action before; it was angelic magic.

Tessa was absolutely certain that this circle wasn’t connected to Heaven, and that only meant one thing.

“Oh fuck,” Tessa said.

Nick, who’d been wandering around the hallway, ran back after hearing her speak. “What?! What's wrong?”

“I found them. Vee and Amara are stuck in Purgatory!”

—

The horrid sound continued to circle, growing closer while continually making less and less sense. Vee’s first thought was that two creatures had somehow found them, and were working together to take them out, but that made no sense. Nothing lived in Purgatory, there shouldn’t be anything here to hunt them!

Another rumbling screech refocused Vee to the matter at hand. For this noise to be two creatures, they would have to be working in perfect tandem, which wasn’t impossible. The second option was that this might be a single creature, one with two dramatically different sets of vocal cords. Fear flooded Vee’s system, and she whispered a small prayer to ask her to magic to empower her. She was ready for a fight if need be.

“Vee, let’s get out of here!” Amara hissed.

“Agreed. Run!” Vee broke out into a sprint, hoping to make it outside Lysander Hall as soon as possible. If there was going to be a fight, she wanted it to be in the open if possible. With enough haste, however, they might be able to make it back home and avoid combat altogether.

Vee’s hopes were dashed immediately. She’d barely taken her first steps when something massive phased through the wall in front of her. A horrible, ghastly creature landed on the floor, standing at least as tall as an elephant. At first glance, Vee thought it was some kind of vulture or wyvern, but one that was anything but alive; whatever this beast had once been, only its skeleton now remained. It had a long, craning neck that held aloft a thick bird-like skull. Razor sharp claws sat at the end of lengthy arms, which also held the remains of large wings. A skeletal tail protruded from the beast’s body, twitching and snaking along the floor the creature twitched its head towards the two girls.

Its entire body seemed to be covered in large strips of ghostly, wet cloth. Patches hung off its neck, slid in between its ribs, and half-heartedly stretched between its wing bones. Pieces of it fell to the floor, landing with a sickening splat before falling yet again, this time through the ground itself. Vee looked at a piece that fell in front of her, and realized it wasn’t wet fabric that clung to this creature, it was skin.

The beast opened its deathly maw and roared at them. The same noise they’d heard earlier, both a terrifying rumble and a high-pitched wail, forced them to cover their ears as they tried to block out the noise. With a quick step forward, the creature raised an arm and tried to swipe at Vee, the closer of the two girls.

Vee, still partially disoriented from its roar, couldn’t muster the strength to move out of the way. A massive claw raced towards her, and just before it struck, Amara leapt forward to intercept the attack. The demon had summoned her chitinous gauntlets again and used her entire body to force the creature’s hand to the floor. Her wings spread, then pushed down to catapult her into the air, and she used the momentum to throw a punch at the creature’s skull.

“Vee, get off your ass and run! We need to get back to your place!” Amara yelled.

With the extra time bought by Amara’s attack, Vee was able to shake her head and regain her focus.

Okay, whatever this thing is, it’s blocking our way out. If we assume it can’t be killed, we just need to focus on either scaring it away or forcing it aside so we can escape through the staircase.

Vee took a deep breath, centered herself, and summoned her sword. Attacking the beast would be tough, as she needed to avoid the reckless attacks of two terrifying creatures, but at least she was familiar with Amara’s fighting style. Vee ran forward, ducking under Amara’s wings, and slashed at one of the creature’s front legs. She felt her blade sink into the beast’s thick bones, and it responded by trying to back away from her.

As the beast stepped back, Amara tried to force their advantage. She jumped forward, continuing to target its legs to keep it from regaining its balance. Seeing this, Vee mirrored the action and kept attacking the other side, throwing her entire body behind her sword.

The hallway proved to be too small for their joint attack to work, and Vee was knocked off balance by one of Amara’s wings. The creature had responded quickly to Amara’s attack, snapping at the demon with its mouth, and she fell backwards into Vee. Both girls were thankfully able to recover quickly, but it was obvious they would be at a disadvantage fighting in this hallway, especially as the creature was able to phase through walls.

With a grunt of frustration, Amara leapt forward again, this time appearing to tackle the creature’s body. Hoping that Amara wouldn’t be forced back, Vee tried to jump for the creature’s neck to prevent it from snapping at Amara again. Her attack landed between two of the creature’s vertebrae, preventing it from responding to Amara’s attack, and Vee smirked as her blade seemed to cause it pain. It screeched out once again, its voice no longer as fearsome, and tried to swipe Vee away from its face.

Unfortunately, the creature’s claw hit its mark. Its massive claw struck Vee’s side, knocking her away. She gasped with pain as she slammed into the wall, her head spinning from the impact.

In the few seconds it took to recover, Vee was vaguely aware of Amara continuing to force the creature back, though for some reason she was only using her fists. Where was her firepower? Vee knew she was more than capable of summoning hellfire and explosions to her heart’s content, yet she seemed to be holding back.

Eventually, though, Amara was able to clear a path. The creature had been pushed farther down the hall, and the girls now had access to the stairwell.

“Vee! Now!” Amara yelled again.

With a quick nod, Vee ran as fast as she could through the doorway. She felt the strange, vaguely porous material of the door phase through her, and then landed in the stairwell. She ran halfway up, then paused, looking back to see if Amara was keeping pace. It took a second, and Vee heard another roar of frustration from the creature, but Amara appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

The girls looked at each other briefly before breaking out into a sprint. They made it to the ground floor of Lysander Hall quickly, and it only took a few more seconds to leave the building entirely. Vee paused for a moment, braving a look behind her, and saw glimpses of the creature as it began to phase through the walls of the building.

Amara ran past Vee, who did everything she could to keep pace with the demon. They ran as fast as they could, the sounds of the creature continually reminding them that they couldn’t afford to slow down. They vaulted over railings, through bushes, and around trees as they raced towards Vee’s apartment, and in a matter of minutes, they had arrived. Vee scrambled to get her keys out, and soon they were slamming the door behind them.

Both girls fell to the floor, panting and gasping from the frantic sprint. Vee turned to lay on her back, staring at the ceiling as her chest heaved up and down. It took several minutes, but soon her adrenaline started to fade, and the fear left her system. Her body began to grow sore from when the creature threw her against a wall, and she groaned in frustration.

“Fucking hell, Vee. What was that?” Amara asked.

“No idea. As far as I know, there shouldn’t be anything but restless human spirits here.” Vee slowly rose to her feet, then walked to the fridge. She grabbed the container of holy water and took a long drink, thankfully she didn’t need to save any for Amara. When she finished, she pulled her jacket off and held the water to her side, hoping the cold would help with the pain.

“Well, we got away, that’s what matters. It didn’t look like your sword had any significant effect on it, so it’s likely not a demon.” Amara pulled up a chair and sat down, leaning against the counter before continuing. “I didn’t see an aura on it, either, so I’ve got nothing useful to add.”

They both fell silent for several moments, and Vee took the chance to sit down at the counter as well. Her thoughts returned to the fight, and questions appeared that she needed answers to. “Amara, why did it seem like you were holding back?”

Amara glared at Vee, clearly not expecting the question. “What?”

“Fighting that thing, you did nothing but throw punches. I saw you fight Mr. Wellington, and I’ve fought you myself, I know what you’re capable of. Where were the explosions? The hellfire? You could have torn that thing apart!”

“Seriously? I get us out of there safely, and your first instinct is to criticize me?”

“I’m not trying to criticize you! I just don’t understand your abilities!”

Amara’s pointed her tail at Vee accusingly. “For your information, Vee, my powers are on a timer. If I blow my load now, then I’m helpless until we get out of here.”

“Mine are too, Amara! This place is the embodiment of entropy, it’s only a matter of time before I start fading, but I still pulled out my sword and did everything I could back there!”

“And how do you restore your strength, Vee? Please, enlighten me!”

Vee paused, slightly confused by Amara’s question. “The same way as everyone else: food, drink, rest. Why?”

“That’s exactly my point! You’ve got this little pocket of the real world, and it has everything you need to rest and recuperate! I don’t have that privilege, Vee, I’m a succubus. If I’m not having sex regularly, then all the food and water in the world means nothing to me.”

“Seriously? I thought sex was just for like, recovering from injuries or something.” Vee paused, still unsure exactly what Amara meant. “Can’t you just, y’know… go take care of it yourself?”

Amara groaned in frustration. “No, I can’t! I need to feed on other people’s arousal and pleasure, or I start to waste away. Food loses its flavor, I stop sleeping, and I grow weaker and weaker with each passing moment. So, unless you have some secret demon fetish you’ve been hiding from me, I’m outta luck! The longest I’ve ever gone without sex is a week, and that was spent just lazily walking around campus. If I keep running for my life and fighting monsters? There’s no way to know how long I have left.”

“What happens if you go too long without sex?” Vee asked after a short pause. Her voice was quiet, as if she feared the answer.

“Fuck if I know. Maybe I’ll die, maybe I’ll go feral. There’s only one way to find out, and I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The girls fell silent again. Vee already knew they were on a timer, but she’d been under the assumption they had at least a few weeks. Her apartment had food, drink, warmth, everything a normal person would need to survive. Now, according to Amara, they had maybe a week before they entered uncharted, demonic territory.

There was only one way to keep Amara fed, and it clearly wasn’t an option.

What was Amara even feeding on? She said she needed to feed on arousal, not souls. The Church said demons needed to eat souls to survive, but hadn’t Amara been feeding on Nick and Tessa for nearly two months now? To Vee’s knowledge, both of them seemed completely unchanged despite Amara’s constant feeding.

The Church was wrong about Purgatory, wasn’t it? Wouldn’t it be possible that they might be wrong about other things?

Vee shook her head; she clearly wasn’t thinking straight. She’d just fought a horrifying monstrosity, and had her head bashed against a wall. She just needed a good meal, a full night’s sleep, and in the morning, things would make more sense.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Vee said. “I’m doing my best, but there’s so much I don’t know about you.”

“Yeah, and you’ve been so eager to learn more, haven’t you?” Amara rolled her eyes, huffing in frustration before standing up from the counter. She walked to the living room, jumping onto the couch before turning away from Vee.

The conversation clearly over, Vee decided to quickly make herself some food and retire to her bedroom. She spent the rest of the day stewing in frustration, unsure what to do about Amara. It was undeniably good fortune that they’d been stranded here together, rather than either being on their own, but Amara seemed determined to lash out at Vee every chance she got.

Although, that’s not entirely true. She did tell me all about how they discovered the cult, and she even made me a hot dinner yesterday.

Vee paused, having just pieced something together.

Wait! She used her fire to make a hot sandwich! And, earlier today, she summoned a small flame to keep me warm while I was working on the circle. She seems so eager to snap at me whenever she gets an opportunity, and she claims she needs to conserve her energy, so why is she wasting fire just to make me comfortable?

Ugh, she’s not making any sense!

The entire evening, and part of the night, was spent trying to figure out Amara’s conflicting actions. Vee wrapped herself tight in her blankets, even adding more to try and stay as warm as possible. Despite her wards keeping most of the effects of Purgatory at bay, small hints of cold still managed to creep into the apartment.

Safe in her room, separated from both Purgatory and Amara, Vee did her best to stay warm through the night. The wards around her room were the strongest, which meant she had the warmest room all to herself. This also meant that she wasn’t monitoring the protective magic surrounding the rest of the apartment. She slept peacefully through the night, completely unaware that the wards in the living room were starting to fade.

—

I've hit 30 chapters! I'm really happy with this one, it finally gave Vee time to shine, and I think seeing her point of view adds a lot to the Purgatory side of things. Plus, not that this is necessarily a good thing, but it's always easier to write Amara being nasty when we're not in her head.

That being said, I still want Amara to feel like Amara. Yes, she's working through some anger issues, and she's clearly changed a bit after the ritual, but there are limits to these things. If any of her comments seem exceptionally rude or off-putting, let me know. Little behind the scenes fact, but this is the last chapter in which Amara's rude demeanor goes unquestioned by Vee. Starting in 31, they're finally going to stop dancing around the issue, and some real conversations are going to start. I know I don't normally give little peaks at the future, but it feels right here. I'm absolutely one of those people that hates seeing characters I love go through mean streaks, and I realize the irony of having Amara do exactly that here. I just want to let you know that, in the grand scheme of things, she's only acting like an asshole for, at most, like half the book.

We also had a fair amount of action! As always, I'm hopeful that my fight scenes are improving, but let me know if the scene with the creature felt hard to follow.

I've also got a few scenes of people using magic to examine circles, and ideally I'd like them to feel somewhat different. Tessa's magic works differently than Vee's, so hopefully it makes sense the way they both interact with the circles.

We're also starting to see a bit more of Nick and Tessa. They've never really had time together, and I'm excited to see their dynamic grow and change. Hopefully their interactions make sense, but ideally, I also want this chapter to be a hint that they've got a fun dynamic. I think they bring out interesting, as yet unseen, sides of each other, and I think I did a good job of portraying that here.

Excited to hear your thoughts!

Nyx <3