Nyx Nyghtingale
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Suddenly A Succubus Ch. 24
🕑 Added 2024-08-30 18:00:07 +0000 UTCThe next morning, after barely managing to get any sleep, Amara joined up with Nick at his apartment before classes began. She collapsed on his bed, eager to vent about how poorly last night had gone, before sharing every detail she could remember. Best case scenario, he might notice something she didn’t about the scene, and worst case, she got to vent to him about how frustrated she was.
“—and thankfully she was able to heal her shoulder, but even though her magic wasn’t directed at me, it still felt awful. How are we going to fight together if being near her causes my whole body to seize every time she casts a spell?”
“I mean, maybe you can talk with her, try to figure out a way for your inherent natures not to interfere with the other? How do you know your hellfire doesn’t do the same thing to her?” Nick asked, sitting next to her on the bed.
“Fuck, I hadn’t even thought about that.” Amara went quiet, wondering what it would feel like if angelic fire had erupted in front of her. “Ugh, I’m the worst!”
“C’mon, try to look on the bright side. Vee’s alive, and unharmed. She has her book back, and we don’t know how strong that makes her. Your fight on Halloween, she wasn’t using it, right? Maybe, now that she has it, this whole cult business will be a walk in the park!”
“I hope you’re right, I’m sick of Mr. Wellington’s fat stupid face,” Amara grumbled. She buried her head in a pillow, groaning loudly to try and vent her frustration.
“Well, about the cult, I think I’ve found a window for you all to try and get to the circle.” Nick said.
“Really?” Amara sat up quickly, eager to hear the news.
“It’s a little short notice, but it’s later today. Wednesdays are normally pretty busy, so a lot of classes are running. So long as all the teachers in the cult don’t cancel today’s classes, you might have a golden opportunity around one.”
“That’s perfect! I’ll text Vee and Tessa, and we’ll get lunch, then stop a cult! Nick, you’re the best!” Amara leaned in, hugging Nick tight. After hearing his back loudly crack, she remembered to loosen her grip slightly; she still wasn’t entirely used to her demonic strength. Pulling out her phone, she texted Vee and Tessa the details of the new plan. In just a few minutes, everyone had agreed to meet for lunch at Amara’s apartment.
Her sour mood somewhat abated, Amara quickly grabbed her backpack and prepared to leave. Nick, however, stopped her, a serious look on his face. “Amara… look, I know things have been a bit weird recently. Halloween was tough, but that was a fight between two friends. This cult? This is serious business. Mr. Wellington didn’t hesitate to try and kill you all last night, and… honestly, it’s really hard for me knowing the danger you’re throwing yourselves at. This isn’t a misunderstanding, this isn’t a mild disagreement, they want you dead. Brandon wants you enslaved. They’re going to do everything in their power to take you down.”
Amara pulled Nick in for a hug once more, squeezing him gently. “I know, Nick. This isn’t how I expected my year to go, and it’s not fair that you’ve been pulled into this. I’m doing my best to hide it, but… I’m pretty scared. I’m not brushing off how serious this is. Yes, I want to make things right with Vee, but I could never live with myself if this cult unleashed Hell on Earth. By some crazy stroke of luck, I have the power to stop this, and I have to try.”
Nick sighed, leaning against Amara. “It’s not like I’m trying to talk you out of this. I’m proud of you, honestly, but it’s scary being on the sidelines. If today goes poorly, this could be the last time we—”
“Hey, don’t say that. I’ve got Vee with me, remember? I’ve literally got God on my side.”
“Well, if that doesn’t make me feel better, nothing will,” Nick said, laughing to himself. He pulled away from the hug, and let Amara be on her way.
—
As the clock struck noon, and the school’s bell tower rang out across the campus, Amara was pacing nervously in her living room. Vee and Tessa were likely only a few minutes out, and they had less than an hour to plan their attack and leave for Lysander Hall. Amara fidgeted with her phone, nervously checking her texts every few seconds. She expected Vee to arrive first, and she was trying to think of what she could say.
Before she decided on anything, someone knocked at her door. She ran to it quickly, but then paused. She took a deep breath and tried to open the door at a reasonable pace; no reason to let Vee know how nervous she was.
“Hey Vee, come on in. Tessa isn’t here yet, you know how she is,” Amara said, forcing a smile.
Vee didn’t respond. She set her backpack down on the counter, then grabbed a stool and took a seat. After checking her phone, she sighed and finally spoke up. “Did you get my order?”
“Yup, all here. Got Tessa’s too, hopefully the food will be here soon.” Amara checked the food order on her delivery app, then walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. She was giving Vee quite a bit of space, and trying not to stare at her as she tried to think of something to talk about. “Um… how’s your shoulder?”
“Fine. I heal quickly when there’s no hellfire involved,” Vee said sharply.
“R-right, of course…” Amara swallowed nervously. “So, when you’re using that book of yours, speaking Enochian, I noticed my body gets real weird. It’s like I’m violently allergic to the magic, and I kinda seize up. Do you feel anything similar when I use my abilities?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
Out of curiosity, Amara manifested her tail. “How about now? Did you feel anything?”
Looking up, Vee flinched when she saw Amara’s tail. “I… no, nothing.” Her eyes lingered on the tail for several more moments, but eventually she pulled out her phone and focused on that instead.
An awkward silence filled the room as both girls waited. Amara kept trying to think of something to talk about, but she knew Vee would only want to discuss business. Thankfully, they were only waiting a few minutes before Tessa arrived. She looked at Vee and Amara, both silently ignoring each other, then spoke up.
"Well, glad to see I didn't miss brooding hour," the Witch said, taking a seat at the counter.
"I'm here to stop a cult, Tessa, nothing more." Vee set her phone down, then looked at Amara. "Is the food here yet?"
Amara checked her phone. "Actually, it is. Gimme a sec." She returned quickly, eagerly handing out everyone's food so they could get started.
“So, what’s the plan?” Amara asked, happily sinking her teeth into her burger.
“We keep Tessa safe so she can work on the portal,” Vee said. “Other than that? Just stay out of my way.”
“Shouldn’t we, like, discuss what our abilities can do? How am I supposed to stay out of your way if I don’t know what you’re capable of? You didn’t fight with your book on Halloween,” Amara said.
“Please, like I’m going to give you any details.” Vee continued eating, but Amara couldn’t help but notice that her eyes kept drifting towards Amara’s tail, which was currently wrapped around a drink. “Do you have to keep that… thing out? I’m trying to eat.”
“What, my tail?” Amara set down her drink. “It’s not some fancy accessory that I bring out for fun, Vee, it’s a part of me. If I keep it hidden for too long, I get kinda itchy? Like I’m cramping, but existentially. I don’t know how to describe it. You want to feel it?”
“Absolutely not!” Vee said, coughing on her drink. “You keep that thing far away from me!”
Tessa, having wolfed down most of her food already, finally spoke up. “Hey, don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. She can do this thing with the tip where she—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Tessa,” Vee said, glaring at the horny witch.
Amara, having accidentally escalated the situation, decided it would be better to change the conversation entirely. She cleared her throat loudly, then started speaking as she moved her tail out of view. “What about the cultists?”
“The instant someone welcomes a demon inside of them, their soul is forfeit,” Vee said, casting another dirty look at Tessa. “The demon can also keep the body fighting past its normal limits, which means killing the body is the only way to ensure the demon returns to Hell.”
“I thought demons had to be banished?” Amara asked.
“This is possession, it’s different. They’re just using the human’s body as a vessel. If we destroy it, they have nowhere to go but back to Hell.” Vee finished up her food and stood up to throw all her garbage away.
“So… we have to kill them?”
“They’re already dead, Amara. Even if we managed to capture them, and set up an exorcism, we wouldn’t be able to get them back. They’ve carved demonic runes into their bodies, and willingly surrendered themselves. If the possession had been forced on them, then an exorcism might work, but that’s not the case here. It’s kill or be killed.”
Amara went quiet, her thoughts drifting back to the upsetting ceremony she’d witnessed in the secret bunker. The whole experience had made her sick to her stomach, but after realizing that she’d watched a man die, that feeling returned with a vengeance. Even knowing that she wouldn’t be fighting humans didn’t help, they still looked like people. Would they scream in pain as Amara burned their flesh? Would they cry for help if Amara tried to slash their throats? Her breathing grew heavy, and embers from the Jade Palace began to fill her nostrils again. Before losing herself further, however, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and began to shake her.
“Amara, hey! Stay with me!” Tessa said, grabbing her chin. “You’re at home, you’re with friends!”
Closing her eyes, Amara focused on Tessa’s voice and managed to pull herself together. She found herself staring into the witch’s eyes, though it seemed like her vision was slightly blurred. She felt a tear run down her cheek and swallowed nervously. “I-I don’t want to be a killer, Tess…”
Tessa threw her arms around Amara, hugging her tight as she whispered back. “They’re not people, Amara. You’re not even killing them; you’re just sending them back to Hell. This is nothing like Halloween.” Amara wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled back from Tessa. She nodded slowly, acknowledging the witch’s words, even if she didn’t fully believe them.
“Look, you all wanted my help.” Vee was staring intently at Amara, her eyes unyielding. “But we have to kill these demons. So long as their bodies are capable of breathing, they can be used against us. If I can’t trust you to do what needs to be done, then I’m out of here.”
“Oh, would you rather Amara be a heartless killer?” Tessa said, stepping closer to Vee. “If I remember correctly, you’re only alive because Amara is a better person than you thought she was!”
“What, am I supposed to thank her for only beating me within an inch of my life? It’s easy to sing her praises when she’s never done anything but fuck you!” Vee was now shouting, and Amara felt the back of her neck bristle as angelic energy radiated off Vee.
“STOP IT!” Amara yelled, jumping between her friends. She pushed them apart, looking between them both as she kept talking. “Vee, I’m not saying I won’t fight with everything I have. I’ve just… I’ve never killed anything before, and it’s a big deal for me. And Tessa, Vee’s right to be concerned. This is serious business, and she’s the only one that’s extensively trained for something like this.”
Tessa crossed her arms and huffed, refusing to look at Vee, who was now walking away from them both. The angel grabbed her bag, then spoke up again. “Whatever. Look, it’s almost time to head out, we should grab our things.”
Over the course of the next few minutes, all three girls slowly prepared themselves in silence. Tessa pulled out her switchblade, her tattoos flaring as she let the knife swish through the air, then packed it into the bag that held her magic journal. Vee opened her Enochian Texts and cast a spell on herself, which caused Amara’s body to seize up again. Vee’s face scrunched in disgust as the spell finished, then she put her book in her backpack and zipped it closed. Amara, thankfully, didn’t need anything; her body was her weapon. She changed into one of her gym outfits, knowing she needed maximum flexibility, then covered up with some sweatpants and a baggy sweater so she wouldn’t get any looks around campus. Once ready, they closed the door behind them, and headed out.
It was time to go on the offensive.
—
The walk across campus was tense, and the yelling match in Amara’s apartment hadn’t done anything to calm Vee’s nerves. She still didn’t entirely trust Amara and Tessa, and it didn’t help that the witch was so quick to anger. Though, even with all the anger, Vee found herself continuously replaying one moment.
Amara, her eyes glazed over and staring into the distance, on the verge of a panic attack. Tears had formed in her eyes, and Tessa had stepped in to try and keep Amara grounded.
“I-I don’t want to be a killer, Tess…”
This was the person Vee remembered, the kind girl from Freshman Biology that was too squeamish to dissect an animal. Too shy to talk about sex, too nervous to go out and dance with her friends. Vee had always felt somewhat protective of Amara, especially with Tessa taking every chance to try and jump down her pants. This was the same person that Vee had tried to kill, the person Vee had convinced herself was nothing but a heartless demon, reduced to tears over the thought of hurting another human.
How is this the same person that almost killed me on Halloween? Unless… she was just defending herself. Backed into a corner, scared that her friend had suddenly turned on her…
Vee shook her head, shocked at what she was thinking. Amara was a demon, end of story. She’d even been flaunting her tail at lunch, mocking Vee with it. Vee’s thoughts returned to some of her past teachings.
Doubt is the weapon of the enemy. Doubt can destroy even the strongest faith, and without faith, I am nothing.
Her thoughts continued to wage war with each other as they slowly approached Lysander Hall. She thought about this secret cult base that she’d never seen before, wondering if this was all a massive trap. She thought about Amara, so scared at the thought of being forced to kill. She thought about their fight with Mr. Wellington, who’d suspiciously been in the Dean’s office at the same time as them. She thought about the first friend she ever made at university, desperately texting her day after day, trying to apologize for her actions.
As usual, there were no answers to be found in the chaotic echo chamber of her mind. She eventually had to silence her thoughts, as they’d found their way into the elevator. Tessa revealed a secret button with her magic, one that led deep underground, and Amara took advantage of the privacy to pull off her baggy clothes.
Vee didn’t need to undress, thankfully, but she did have additional preparations to take care of. She opened her Enochian texts, briefly casting a short spell to magically bind her book to her hand. This particular spell had been born from her perceived shortcomings from her fight with Amara; she couldn’t afford to lose the book again. She noticed Amara tense in discomfort as she cast her spell and wondered how much pain she’d been in on Halloween, when she’d been trapped in a banishment circle.
Stop it, Vee. Stay focused.
Next, she summoned her angelic sword, grasping it tight as she felt the elevator start to slow. “Amara, keep them distracted. The more space I have, the more I can focus on my heavy hitting spells.”
Amara nodded slowly, her face filled with determination. “We’ll come out in a hallway. As soon as we see them, I’ll charge in, and hopefully that’ll buy Tess some space.”
Tessa spoke up next. “Once I’ve started, I’m going to be pretty oblivious to what’s happening. I’ll need one of you on me at all times, otherwise I’m done for.”
There was no more time to plan. The elevator landed, and a soft ding indicated they’d reached their destination. When the doors opened, Amara stepped out first, her body transforming before Vee’s eyes. After a quick flash of hellfire, she now had her wings, horns, and tail ready to go. Her hands were now covered with that strange black substance Vee had seen on Halloween, but they were also alight with flame.
Tessa went next, her switchblade circling her body as she headed down the hallway. She was clutching her journal tight to her chest, nervously looking from side to side.
Vee stepped off the elevator, carefully jogging forward as she held her book in front of her. She didn’t want to start casting until she knew what she was up against, so she moved slowly and deliberately as she waited for something to happen. Soon enough, she found herself leaving the hallway, looking into the main chamber of this strange, underground complex.
The room was impressively large, especially for something hidden underneath Lysander Hall. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of cold, gray concrete, and she saw several other hallways apart from the one they’d entered through. In the center of the chamber, Vee saw the massive magic circle that the cult was using to summon demons. It was surrounded by four pillars, each connecting the floor to the ceiling.
Tessa was at the circle, her journal open, and her tattoos flaring to life. Amara, her hands still covered in hellfire, was slowly pacing around the room, her eyes darting to all the different entrances.
“Amara, what is this?” Vee asked, trying to keep her voice low.
“I don’t know! I expected there to be guards, or demons, or something!” Amara whispered, moving closer to Vee.
“I don’t like it,” Vee said. “There’s no way they would leave this unprotected. After our scuffle with Mr. Wellington, I expected them to be on high alert.”
Vee continued walking around the chamber, holding up her sword to cast light down each of the hallways. Each entrance seemed to fork off in multiple directions, and she wondered what the point of this chamber was. Had it been built to house this circle? If so, it seemed a bit excessive, but she also didn’t know much about witchcraft. Perhaps some kind of shelter?
After checking the side entrances, Vee returned to the center and stood next to Tessa. “How’s it looking?”
“It’s slow, this circle is built differently than all the others. Still trying to make heads or tails of what I’m looking at,” Tessa said.
“Well, figure it out, we don’t have all day!” Vee snapped. She then moved closer to Amara, taking care to avoid her hellfire. “Can you sense anything? Anyone?”
Amara’s eyes flared, and she quickly scanned all the entrances. “Nothing. What are we missing? Where are they?”
A sound echoed out from the hallway they’d entered through. Vee immediately recognized it as the sound of the elevator, and when she looked over, she saw figures stepping off the lift. “Look alive, we’ve got company!”
There weren’t many of them, maybe three or four, but their eyes appeared to be glowing in the dim light. Vee prepared her book and started chanting in Enochian, preparing a spell for when they got closer. She saw Amara move closer, positioning herself between Vee and the incoming demons. Her wings extended, her tail twitched as that strange, bony substance turned it into a small blade, and she leapt at the demons.
Amara met them before they could leave the hallway, which meant they couldn’t surround her. Taking advantage of the distraction, Vee finished her spell and watched as motes of holy light appeared around her, slowly forming into arrows. They glowed brightly, and she pointed her sword down the hallway to start aiming them. She could feel the righteous anger of her magic, and she held it tight as she waited for an opening. She watched Amara’s movements closely, trying to find a pattern in her attacks, and soon enough she found her chance. With one final line of Enochian, she let loose her volley of angelic arrows.
At the last second, however, she heard a noise from her left. Another cultist had entered the chamber, then snuck up on Vee. He wielded a knife, which he used to slash at Vee’s stomach at the same time she released her spell. From the hallway, she heard several screams of demonic pain, and she redirected her focus on this new cultist.
She brandished her sword, quickly disarming her attacker before throwing him to the ground. She stepped over him, ready to plunge her blade into his heart, when she looked into his eyes. She saw fear, and realized immediately that this cultist wasn’t a demon.
She’d been expecting an army of the damned, and she froze in surprise. Was she really about to kill someone? The cultist took advantage of her hesitation, kicking her legs out and knocking her down. Within seconds, he'd grabbed his knife again and was trying to drive it into Vee's neck. He threw his entire body behind the blade, and it took all of Vee's strength to hold it back. She could feel the tip on her throat, and she closed her eyes to ask her magic for more assistance. The Enochian magic pumping through her body intensified, and she was able to push the cultist off her. He fell onto his back, and Vee immediately jumped to her feet and drove her blade through his shoulder. As he cried out in pain, she made a fist and struck the side of his head, knocking him unconscious. She pulled her sword free, then heard Tessa speak up from the center of the circle.
“Fuck! The circle’s a decoy!” Tessa yelled. “We have to get out of here!”
This whole thing was a trap!
Vee looked over at Amara, hoping to see her cleaning up the remaining cultists. Instead, Vee saw that her arrows had hit one more demon than she’d intended. Several beams of light had embedded themselves in Amara’s back, and while she was still fighting, Vee could tell that she was in rough shape. With another few words of Enochian, Vee dismissed the magic, and watched as her arrows vanished from her friend’s body. “Tessa, get Amara!”
Running close, Vee pushed Amara out of the way and reached for her own magic. She summoned a burst of light, hoping to blind the demons and give them an opportunity to escape. As the cultists recoiled from her magic, however, she saw the elevator open once more, with more people stepping into the hallway.
“Vee, run! We can’t get out that way!” Amara said. She was leaning against Tessa, and the two were running for one of the back hallways. Vee quickly joined them, and as she ran, she flipped to a different page in her book and began to cast. By the time she’d left the main chamber, the spell was ready, and she released a thin barrier of light to block off the entrance they’d just taken.
“That will buy us some time, we need to move!” Vee said, pushing past Tessa and Amara. She started running down the hallway, exploring the area, looking for any possible sign of another exit. After a brief pause, during which she heard Tessa and Amara talking to each other, they both joined in the search as well.
Vee immediately noticed that, apart from the main chamber, the hallways all looked like maintenance tunnels. They were fairly wide, and the ceilings were covered with plumbing, wiring, and air ducts. They found a few different rooms, filled with various storage containers, and even a couple makeshift beds, but no exits. Tessa seemed to be looking for magic, as her tattoos were constantly glowing, but her knife was nowhere to be seen. The girls spent the better part of the next five minutes checking various hallways, hoping there was another way out.
Eventually, after finding their fifth dead end, Vee groaned in frustration. “What is this fucking place? It’s practically a maze, I can’t make heads or tails of anything!”
“No clue, but it definitely wasn’t built to be a cultist hideout. I saw some magic crap in the rooms we passed, but it looked recent.” Tessa walked past Vee, holding out her hand and lightly touching the wall ahead of them. “But… we’re in luck. This wall is an illusion.”
“Thank fuck,” Amara said, gasping. She was leaning against a wall, her breathing heavy, and Vee noticed blood dripping down her back.
While Tessa closed her eyes, hopefully trying to clear away the illusion, Vee moved closer to Amara. She paused, unsure exactly what to say, before trying to speak. “Amara, I… I didn’t mean to—”
“Likely fucking story,” Amara snapped. Her eyes were glowing, and unnatural heat was pouring off her body. This was the creature Vee had fought on Halloween, no doubt about it. Was this a fight or flight instinct? Did holy magic cause her to revert to more aggressive instincts? The thought refused to leave Vee’s head, making her wonder how responsible she was for Amara’s actions that night.
“Got it!” Tessa said, breaking the tension. The wall in front of her vanished, and they saw a staircase on the other side. As Vee ran ahead, she noticed how different the space felt on the other side of the illusion. The area seemed more lived in, as if students used to visit here regularly, and she even saw a door leading into a small, abandoned classroom. She also opened the door to the staircase, slowly peeking in to make sure they were alone. Content they were safe, she returned to Tessa and Amara, sighing in relief as the illusory wall returned.
“I think we’re safe, this looks like a pretty standard basement,” Vee said.
“Good. Amara, do you want to recover here, or at home?” Tessa turned to Amara, holding her shoulders gently. Amara looked up, her demonic eyes meeting Tessa’s. Her breathing had grown more ragged, and Vee swore she heard growling.
When Amara spoke, her voice was deeper, angrier, and desperate. “Now.”
Vee watched as Amara grabbed Tessa’s waist, pulling her close and kissing her. Amara’s tail, no longer covered in that strange material, snaked around Tessa’s leg, its tip conveniently stopping at the witch’s crotch. Next, Amara’s lips moved to Tessa’s neck, biting her softly as Tessa looked over at Vee.
“Um, could you take lookout for a sec? We need to— fuck, Amara… we need to take care of this,” Tessa said.
Vee froze for a moment, caught up in the novelty of what she was watching. She’d seen Amara get angry before, even been on the receiving end of her rage, but she’d never seen this side of her. She was practically feral, acting purely on passion, pawing at Tessa as she eagerly started undoing the witch’s pants. Shaking her head, Vee realized that she desperately didn’t want to watch this happen, and walked into the staircase.
Why are you surprised? You know she’s a succubus, you know they’re sleeping together. Still, it’s weird seeing them just… go for it, out in the open like this. Is that how she heals from her injuries?
Vee slowly walked to the top of the staircase, which seemed taller than usual, before peeking out the door at the top. Thankfully, the hallway on the other side was quiet, and she was able to take a quick look around. It took a minute, but she eventually figured out that this was Whitmore Hall. Most importantly, she didn’t see any cultists or demons, so she felt safe returning to the staircase.
She slowly walked down the stairs, finally taking a seat about halfway down. Between the barrier she’d summoned to block off the chamber, and the illusory wall Tessa had found, she’d doubted anyone would be able to find them. Her thoughts returned to that chamber, wondering if there had been anything she could have done differently, but there was only one thing on her mind; Amara had been right, she should have shared what she was capable of.
They hadn’t expected a trap. They hadn’t planned anything. She hadn’t expected to find unpossessed humans, and yet fighting one had caused her to freeze up. Amara’s words from earlier floated through her head, yet again.
“I-I don’t want to be a killer, Tess…”
Vee almost wanted to laugh, but the similarity was eerie.
Maybe I have more in common with Amara than I thought.
She shook her head, trying to dislodge the thought. What would the church think of her now? Working with a demon and a witch, after almost being killed by one of them. Beneath her, just beyond the flight of stairs, she heard excited moans coming from the basement. They were faint, but Vee could tell it was Tessa; she’d always been shameless about her sex life, and this wasn’t the first time Vee had overheard the witch in the throes of passion.
Vee leaned back, resting her head on the wall behind her, before sighing in frustration
All I wanted was to live a simple life, free of all this supernatural nonsense. Her stupid transformation ruined all of that, pulled me back into action, and now they’re roping me into this stupid cult nonsense…
Her thoughts continued spinning in circles until the moaning downstairs stopped. Vee decided to walk down to the door, then she carefully knocked.
“We’re decent, Vee, you can come on in!” Tessa said.
Opening the door, the smell of sex and sulfur immediately washed over Vee. She fought the urge to gag as she looked at her friends, their clothes slightly tussled, but nothing more. Tessa seemed extremely pleased with herself, and Amara was practically unrecognizable from just half an hour ago. Gone was the desperate, primal demon that had desperately needed to get laid; her demonic features were gone, her injuries were healed, and the blood had vanished somehow. Apart from a hole in her sports bra, there weren’t any traces of her wounds.
Vee almost wanted to ask, but she couldn’t muster the courage. “So, you said the circle was a decoy. What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure how they did it, exactly. Maybe it’s an illusion, maybe they just have huge concrete slabs with spare magic circles, but the circle we saw in the chamber didn’t actually do anything, which is why I was so confused at first. It was essentially a ball of twine, random magic runes meant to give off signatures without any meaning.”
“Great,” Amara said. “So, what are we supposed to do? They know we’re trying to stop them, so how are we supposed to catch them in the act and find the real circle?”
The girls went quiet, and an unfortunate thought crossed Vee’s mind. “Well… we know at least one time the real circle will be out. Sunday, three AM.”
“Are you serious?” Tessa said, moving closer to Vee. “That’s the worst time to go! They’ll have all the demons in one place, and they’ll be on high alert! Plus, if we’re too late, Mr. Wellington will finish his own ritual, and who knows what kind of demon he’ll have inside him!”
Amara placed a hand on Tessa’s shoulder, trying to calm her down. “No, Vee’s right. What other choice do we have? Hunt down and kill everyone in the cult? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather Mr. Wellington not try to frame us for mass murder. We also know from Nick’s research that he’s a huge recluse; even if we stop this ritual, we can’t let him get away. If we attack Sunday morning, we know for sure the real circle will be out, and Mr. Wellington will be there.”
“For the record, I hate this,” Tessa said, huffing and walking away.
“Of course, this means the fight will be even harder,” Amara said, looking at Vee. “We can’t afford to go in without a plan. Unless you think I fight better with arrows lodged in my back.”
Vee winced. She deserved that, and she knew it. “Amara, I…you’re right. I was scared to reveal my abilities, but we can’t afford to mess this up. You name the time and place, and I’ll be there.”
“Great! We have a plan, and I hate it, but I know better than to fight an angel and a demon,” Tessa said, playfully slapping Amara’s ass. “Could you do me a favor and check the staircase real quick? Just in case holy girl here missed something?”
Amara nodded, then walked into the staircase, her eyes glowing. Vee looked to Tessa, not sure what the meaning of this was, and was surprised to see the witch closing on her fast. Tessa grabbed Vee’s shoulder, pushing her hard against the wall behind her, and her tattoos started glowing. Her switchblade hovered into the air, aiming at Vee’s neck, as the witch spoke. “Listen up, Vee, because I’m only going to say this once. If this works, and I reverse the circle, there’s a good chance I’ll be creating a portal into Hell. If something happens to Amara, if you so much as flinch in the wrong direction, I will not hesitate to run this knife through your heart.”
“We’re on the same side, Tessa. I want this cult finished as much as you do,” Vee hissed.
“And, conveniently, Amara needs to be turned into a pincushion in the process? I know how your kind work, and this is your golden opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. If Amara isn’t around to go back to school on Monday, I will hunt you down, even if it takes the rest of my life, do you understand?”
The girls stared at each other in silence, their anger palpable. Vee slowly nodded, and Tessa begrudgingly let her go. Moments later, Amara returned from the staircase. “Everything looks clear. You two ready to head out?”
Tessa’s fury vanished without a trace, and she smiled as she threw an arm around Amara’s shoulder. “We’re all good!” Vee watched them leave, eventually remembering that she needed to follow close behind. The last few hours had been incredibly chaotic, and she didn’t know how to make heads or tails of it all. As best she could, she tried to focus on the biggest threat, the cult. If nothing else, she now believed that Amara wasn’t involved, and she was ready to commit to taking them out.
Comments
Nyx Nyghtingale
I was really happy with the first half of the chapter, and while I added some small things, I'm planning to add more into the second half (chapter 25)
Gerald Ferguson
Changes appear to be minor outside of splitting up into 2 chapters.... not sure it really needed to be split up if nothing was going to be expanded upon....that was kinda the whole point of my arguement to split them up, because there was just so much going on and it needed more depth. Just my 2 cents which typically is worth less than that.
Tim Wininger
Great chapter. Keep up the great work.
