Chapter 15.2

Dinner passed slowly and uneventfully, for better or for worse. Amara found it hard to concentrate on eating, on talking with her friends, when so much else was happening. Still, the distraction was nice, and at least she was able to taste food again. Once finished, she left the cafeteria with Tessa and made the quick walk to Brandt Hall.

The building was still open, so Tessa didn't have to pick any locks, but classes had already wrapped up for the day. The girls walked in relative silence for a while before Amara finally spoke up.

"Have you felt any different since we started sleeping together?"

"Like, do I regret it? Are you forgetting how great the sex is?"

"That's not what I mean! I want to know if you've noticed any changes. Weird mood swings, apathy, stuff like that."

"Nah, I'm the same loveable bitch I've always been." Tessa smirked as they walked, the two of them wandering the first floor as they looked for the basement. "What's this really about?"

A few moments passed before Amara responded. "I ran into Brandon today." She saw Tessa's eyes narrow in anger, then quickly added, "He just wanted to talk, I'm fine."

"What did that little cretin want?"

"First he just wanted to apologize, which I didn't buy for a second, but then he... offered me his soul."

"Ha! What a loser! All this time, and he still only cares about getting laid. I trust you turned him down?"

"Of course! I feel gross even thinking about it. But still, he kept going on and on about how I'm a demon, that I need souls to survive, and I just... can't shake the idea. What if I've been taking bits of soul every time I fuck?" Amara's voice grew quiet, scared of what she was saying.

"You're scared I'm losing my humanity?"

"I mean... a little, yeah. Aren't you?"

Tessa shrugged. "Eh, we all die eventually."

At this point, the girls finally found the door to the basement and started down the stairs. Amara reflexively reached for her fire to light the way, but then hesitated. Instead, she pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight. "But what about the afterlife? My existence proves it's real, aren't you worried about... y'know."

"You think fucking a demon is gonna keep me out of heaven? Please. I'm a witch, I'm sure they made up their minds the instant I first used magic."

Walking out of the staircase, Amara found herself staring at a familiar sight. While she'd never been down here before, it resembled the basement under the science building quite a bit. The classrooms down here, however, appeared to be regularly used. The hallways were better lit, even though most of the lights were off at the moment, and a few corners had couches and tables set up.

Still, there were definitely plenty of places to hide a magic circle. After picking a direction and starting their

Amara chuckled. The pun had been entirely an accident, but she was happy to roll with it. "With a good plan, I bet I could make his life a living hell. Unless you'd rather I wing it?"

"Ugh, I can't believe we're friends."

The girls spent the rest of the walk speculating what the cult might be up to. Despite living on opposite ends of campus, Amara refused to let Tessa walk home alone, and she had a feeling the witch appreciated it. She stayed for a few minutes, briefly catching up with Tessa's partners before leaving to return home.

The campus was fairly quiet, and she did her best to think about Chloé's charity and this strange new cult. Still, despite her better judgment, her thoughts began to wander. It was a downward spiral she was used to, and she picked up her pace as she felt her emotions building. After making it home, she leaned her forehead against the front door, her breath catching. She squeezed her eyes tight, hoping to fight back her tears, but she couldn't stop them all. She stayed there, leaning against the door, for several minutes before managing to pull herself together.

Slowly getting undressed, Amara set an alarm for the morning, but hesitated before turning it off. She opened her message history with Vee, scrolling through the dozens of texts that had gone unanswered, refreshing the page in desperate hope of seeing a response. When nothing appeared, she spent the next half hour drafting another text.

Amara: I'm sorry.

Plugging in her phone, she crawled under the covers and tried to get some sleep. It took several hours, and she had to flip the pillow to avoid sleeping on the fresh tear stains, but eventually the night took her.

Amara leaned in, pushing her lips against her girlfriend's before eagerly grabbing her ass. The two made out for several minutes, slowly grinding against each other, before breaking apart. They whispered for a moment, planning to go somewhere more private to have some real fun, then got in the car. As the sounds of the party faded into nothing, she pulled onto the main street and floored it. Her car was top of the line, the best money could buy, and she loved showing off what it could do.

Soon the only light around them came from the occasional streetlamp. She loved counting how long it took to pass each one, the power of her car thrumming under her control. In the passenger seat, her girlfriend laughed as she opened her camera. She adjusted her hair, checked her eyeliner, and generously reapplied her lipstick; they both knew how much Amara loved watching it come off.

She reached over, resting a hand on her date's leg. She gripped it tight, savoring the feel of her soft skin under her fingers. She massaged her thigh slowly, watching as her girlfriend opened her legs ever so slightly, her bright red thong visible each time they passed a light. Her hand moved higher, squeezing and massaging the delicate skin, before they brushed against the silky fabric of her date's panties. She gasped, the touch exciting her, before suddenly slapping Amara's hands away, though not without a playful smirk.

When she spoke, the words were far away, garbled and incomprehensible.

Amara sighed, knowing they'd be home soon and the real fun could begin. She grabbed her drink, a half empty can of beer in the cupholder, and slammed the rest of it. She couldn't taste it much anymore, the mixed drinks from earlier made sure of that, but it kept her primed and eager for the coming romp. She threw the can behind her, hearing it rattle as it landed amongst the others.

The road suddenly started shaking, and she assumed she must have hit a rumble strip. Without warning, however, her girlfriend screamed and grabbed the handle above her. Amara looked back at the road, but it was nowhere to be seen. A sea of grass and gravel stretched in front of her, and she tried to slam the breaks, but an unexpected ditch disoriented her for a moment. The car slammed into the edge of a protective barrier, and that's when the rattling stopped. The car was airborne, just for a second, as Amara realized they were headed directly into a river.

The front of the car slammed into the water, throwing Amara forward as the airbag erupted in front of her. Instead of hitting it, however, her momentum continued. She flew through the airbag, flinching as she approached the windshield, but she harmlessly passed through that as well. She flipped forward, spinning briefly before coming to a stop a few feet above the surface of the river. When she turned to face her car, she saw it was starting to sink into the river, and she thought she could make out two shapes in the front seats.

Despite only being a few feet away from the vehicle, Amara felt like she was seeing it through a lens of some kind. It seemed so distant, the entire scene more like a painting than the late-night tragedy she'd just been living. The edges of her vision started to blur, and she shook her head in confusion.

It wasn't her vision that was blurring, it was the ground and the sky around her. She looked up and watched as the night sky slowly shifted away from its midnight hues. It grew lighter, streaks of gray and white filtering into the skybox as she watched, and she felt herself floating higher and higher. The strange colors of the world above continued to blur, to pull her closer as an endless landscape of grayish void called to her.

A strange static filled her ears, starting with a small hum before building to something more recognizable. She realized it was rain, a storm off in the distance, with the occasional low rumble of thunder confirming her suspicions. Why did this sound so familiar? She reached for the sky, eager to answer its call as the sounds of rain grew louder, and just as she touched it, everything around her vanished.

Her eyes opened, her room already filling with the dim light of dawn. She groaned, pulling her pillow close as she wished she could continue sleeping, but she knew it was pointless. After a moment of defiance, she relented and began stretching out her arms to wake them up. A loud scraping sound caught her attention, and when she looked to her side, she saw her wing had gouged another hole in the wall.

My wings are out? How? I didn't go to sleep like this...

She flexed her tail, and sure enough, it rose out of the covers to greet her. She pushed her hands through her hair, confirming her horns were also present.

I've never manifested my true form in my sleep before. Is this natural? Is this the demon equivalent of wetting the bed? I guess it's better than accidentally burning my covers to a crisp.

Amara groaned, pulling herself up before sliding to the edge of her bed. She reached for her phone, almost scared to check the time, when she paused. Her phone was exactly where she'd left it, plugged in on her nightstand, but it was making noise. Specifically, the app she'd downloaded to play thunderstorm sounds while she slept. She picked it up, increasing the volume as she listened, and realized it matched the noises in her dream exactly.