Chapter 19.2

Saturday morning proved to be a beautiful day, which had everyone at the cleanup in good spirits. The volunteers running the event had set up a folding table in the shade of the nearby trees, and were currently stocking it with snacks and refreshments to keep everyone in good health. Nearby, a small pile of equipment had been sorted as well; hardhats, safety goggles, and thick gloves in various sizes.

When Amara arrived, she decided to borrow the edge of the refreshment table to set up her camera equipment. Once she finished, and was in the middle of taking some test shots, Chloé ran up excitedly and gave her a hug.

“Thanks again for this Amara! I just know these pictures are going to be great, your original shots of the debris were immaculate.” Chloé said. She was wearing light blue jean shorts and a gray tank top, which implied she wasn’t planning on doing any heavy lifting today.

“I’m more than happy to help, Chloé, you don’t have to keep thanking me. How many people have signed up for today?”

“It’s a pretty impressive list! I haven’t counted recently, but I think we’re going to have a healthy turnout for most of the day. Plus, because of the efforts of our mysterious vigilante, a lot of the really hard stuff has already been taken care of. The amount of manpower we need is somewhat secondary to raising enough money.”

Amara was about to respond when another event organizer called out to Chloé. The girls parted ways, leaving Amara on her own to start taking pictures.

The day passed without incident, much to the relief of everyone involved. Just as Chloé predicted, they had a steady stream of volunteers for the entire time, and Amara quickly noticed some patterns in who was attending. There seemed to be someone from the fraternity present at all times, and many of them had friends in tow. She also saw a fair amount of representation from various school groups; sports teams, music groups, and everything in between. As someone who tended to shy away from larger crowds, Amara couldn’t help but be impressed by the amount of community on display.

She took hundreds of pictures detailing the efforts of the volunteers, and most people were more than happy to be included in her documentation. Every so often she would take breaks to check on the social media side of the charity effort, posting pictures to try and keep engagement up, but as the day passed, she started to grow nervous.

Fundraising events of this type typically made most of their money in the first few weeks. Donations were highest at the start, when excitement was at its peak, and Amara had started running the numbers. Even in the best-case scenario, where donations continued at their current pace, hitting their goal was a long shot. If she assumed a more likely scenario, one where donations began drying up after the first few weeks, Chloé’s goals began to look less and less likely.

Amara avoided saying anything, but she found her thoughts preoccupied about money for most of the day. There were a few optimistic moments, thankfully. On one occasion, a student with a well-off family visited the site and made a sizeable donation. It was obvious he just wanted the attention, as he barely did any actual work, but money was money.

She also realized that her efforts earlier in the week meant less funding would be needed for future volunteer efforts. Chloé took a break halfway through the day to reorganize the volunteer schedule, and she was very optimistic about the direction things were heading.

Still, aside from a couple bright spots, Amara couldn’t help but wonder if there were more she could do. Something other than managing the charity’s social media pages, something that had a more direct influence on the fundraising.

At the moment, much of the day had already passed, and the bottom of the sun was starting to get lost behind the trees of the property. The last batch of volunteers were about halfway through their shift, and the lot was in great shape. Huge portions of the smaller debris were now cleared up, and a couple items that had mostly survived the fire were set aside.

Amara’s money worries were put on hold when she saw someone new approaching the Palace. His clothes indicated that he wasn’t here to help clean up, and he seemed much more interested in approaching the event’s photographer. His short brown hair reflected slightly in the dimming sunlight, and his cocky grin indicated he wasn’t scared of Amara, despite their last interaction.

“Well, look who it is! I didn’t know you’d be working the event!” Brandon said, his voice slightly louder than it needed to be.

She glared at him, unsure what his plan was, but she knew she couldn’t risk escalating matters. “Well, we’re almost finished, I think it’s actually time to start putting everything away…”

She quickly turned away from the cleanup effort and walked back to the refreshment table. As she started to pack up her camera, Brandon continued the conversation. “You seem pretty invested in helping out here, I wonder why that is.”

“A friend runs the charity, Brandon, and I’m helping her out.” Amara hissed, wishing he hadn’t approached her in public like this.

“You sure about that? Personally, I think you feel guilty.” Brandon leaned in closer, his voice much quieter now. “Almost like you caused the fire, and you’re trying to make up for it.”

Amara froze. How much does he know? How could he have figured it out? “You don’t know anything about me. Did I not make myself clear last time?”

“Oh, you did, but things are different now. You see, I was taking a lovely evening walk a few days ago, and I happened across something rather strange. I found a demon, all on her own, cleaning up the debris.” As he kept speaking, Brandon pulled out his phone and started swiping through his pictures. Amara saw herself, her tail and wings out, angrily knocking down a wall of the Palace. “What would people think if they saw this? If they knew their fellow student was a demon, and this fire was no accident?”

She glared at him, her eyes flaring as she realized what he was threatening. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I absolutely would. Now before you get any bright ideas, know that these pictures are scheduled to go live in a week. If you want to avoid the world finding out about you, I’d suggest you do what I ask.”

Amara was seething, her eyes flicking towards the volunteers to see if anyone was listening in. “What do you want?”

“You already know that, Amara. I want you. You’re going to show me exactly what a succubus is capable of, however I want, when I want. You’re going to be mine.” Brandon’s smile was infuriating, and she wanted nothing more than to punch it off his stupid face, but she knew he had the upper hand. “I expect your answer in a week. If I don’t hear anything, everyone finds out what you are.”

He stood up, then pocketed his phone before turning to walk away. Amara watched him leave, steadying herself on the table beside her. When he left the lot, she heard a loud crack, and quickly snapped back to her senses. She’d been grabbing the side of the table, and her grip had just broken some of the plastic. Thankfully, no one else had been close enough to hear anything, and she was able to pack up the rest of her camera equipment in peace. She hugged Chloé goodbye, made her last post for the charity, and walked home in a daze.

The rest of her evening was incredibly stressful. Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of a way to get out of this twisted deal, but she kept drawing blanks. By the time night fell, and it was time to get some sleep, all she’d managed to do was work herself up. Thankfully, she had the perfect way to burn off this stress, and when she manifested in Derek’s dream that night, she did everything in her power to turn it into the perfect nightmare.