Chapter 27.3

For the rest of the day, Amara traveled campus with a new outlook. In the past, she’d gotten used to ignoring everyone else whenever she walked around, but there had also been frustration at the need to hide her demonic features. Tessa’s comments had reminded her that, as proud as she was of her tail, horns, and wings, the rest of her was just as alluring. She thought back to her gangbang, how she’d reveled in the feeling of three different people practically worshipping her, and realized that she might be able to have that again whenever she wanted.

Rather than keeping her headphones in, or scrolling through her socials, Amara walked around with newfound confidence. After her conversation with Tess, she’d decided to dress up a little, to ignore the slightly colder weather and embrace her appearance. Her cleavage was prominent, and her jeans were tightly cupping her ass, as she held her head high.

The difference was night and day. Not only did she catch dozens of people staring at her, but through her aura reading, she caught dozens more. By looking for the reflection of her own aura, she was able to tell exactly when someone was checking her out, and she’d lost count before getting to her first class.

She caught men offering to hold open doors just for an excuse to check out her ass. A lesbian couple in one of her classes seemed incredibly interested in her, and with her demonic hearing, she could tell they were debating if they should ask her out together. Teachers seemed more eager to call on her, and women were biting at chances to compliment her outfit; everyone seemed to have a clever scheme to try and steal a few minutes of her time.

Amara had finished classes, and was crossing the quad to head home, when she was approached yet another new person. In the midst of all the attention she’d been getting today, however, this person seemed different; Amara didn’t see herself reflected in this woman’s aura. The stranger had dark brown skin, with well-fitting jeans and a loose, flowing green top. Her short, black hair was incredibly curly, with the ends of it dyed red, and it sat loosely tied together on top of her head. Her face was slightly narrow, with big, expressive eyes that seemed filled with purpose.

“Excuse me, Amara, right?” the stranger asked.

“That’s me! What can I help you with?” Amara said, slowing down to talk.

“My name is Naomi, and I was hoping you’d be able to help with a school project I’m working on.”

“What kind of project?” Amara was still buzzing from all the attention and assumed it would be something fun. Perhaps modeling or something similar?

“Well, I’m majoring in Investigative Journalism, and I’m trying to put together a piece about cult mentality. What drives people to join such an organization, especially one that, apparently, had such horrifying end goals in mind.”

As much as she tried to hide it, Amara was fairly sure her disappointment was obvious. “Um, no offense, but I’m a little worn-out hearing about all of that.”

“Look, I completely understand your hesitation, but I promise I’m not looking to write empty, sensationalist tabloid articles. This is just a school project; it’s not even going to get published anywhere.”

Amara sighed in defeat. She didn’t want to argue with anyone, and hopefully if she feigned ignorance Naomi would lose interest in her opinion. “Alright, fair enough. Ask whatever you want, but I’m not sure how helpful I’ll be.”

“Do you mind if I record this?” Naomi pulled out her phone, opening an app before looking at Amara, who shrugged and shook her head. “Thanks! It’s so much easier than trying to write notes. So, first question: how did you know Brandon Nowak?”

“Brandon? We didn’t know each other at all, and he desperately wanted to change that. He… asked me out, I turned him down, and he started stalking me.”

“So, you wouldn’t be able to offer any insight into behavioral changes? Perhaps a time frame, or a specific event, that pushed him over the edge?” Naomi was hanging on Amara’s every word, and seemed to be referring to notes on her phone every few seconds.

Oh, of course, he was promised immense magical power and thought he could use it to enslave me. You know, usual stalker stuff.

“Nope, sorry.”

“Drat. Okay, that’s fine. What about Professor Luxnor?”

The name of that specific teacher coming up made Amara hesitate for a moment. To her knowledge, everything that had happened between her and Mr. Luxnor had stayed under the radar. “What about him? I never took any of his classes.”

“But did you ever talk with him? See him around? Maybe visit him during office hours?”

Amara shook her head. “Nothing like that.”

Naomi paused for a moment, giving Amara a strange look before continuing. “Hm… when did you first hear about the cult? Or, even if you didn’t know about, did you notice anything strange before all the news broke last week?”

“Not really, I’ve had a lot of personal stuff going on.”

There was another pause, during which Naomi seemed to skim over more of her notes. “Right, you’ve had a few sick weeks the last couple months.”

“Uh… yeah. What does that have to do with anything?” Amara asked.

“Oh, nothing really. Students just like to talk, and… well, I’m sure you’ve seen all the attention you’re getting. People tend to notice when you’re not around.”

“Still getting used to that, honestly. I do need to be off, unless you needed anything else?” Amara said, pulling out her phone and checking her texts.

“That’s it! That wasn’t so bad, right? You have a great day, Amara!” Naomi flashed a bright smile, then stopped her phone recording and took off. As she left, Amara couldn’t help but wonder if this was someone they should start keeping tabs on.

Much of Amara’s earlier elation had been tempered by the strange questions Naomi had been asking. At the moment, however, she decided it was nothing to worry about. After stopping the cult, and nearly getting dragged into Hell, a pesky almost-reporter was the least of her worries. She found herself fixating on some of Naomi’s words, about how people notice when she’s not around.

Even though Amara hadn’t seen herself reflected in Naomi’s aura, that didn’t mean Amara’s newfound popularity wasn’t a factor in her being singled out for an interview. She happily let her mind wander to earlier today, to everyone that had been bending over backwards just to find a way to talk with her.

As she neared her home, she even started to wonder if she should start doing photoshoots more often. The attention had felt great, it was wonderful to feel so wanted. Today alone, five people had asked her out, though she hadn’t decided if she wanted to give any of them a shot. Still, no reason not to look, right?

That night, lying in bed, Amara began flipping through the social media profiles of everyone that had mustered the strength to approach her. What did she want in a fuck buddy? For that matter, what did she want in a partner? Was it time to start looking for an actual romantic interest? The thought caught her by surprise. Life had been so hectic these last few months, there hadn’t been time to think about anything but all the supernatural nonsense complicating her life.

Amara didn’t feel particularly lonely, and she was having plenty of sex. Weren’t those the two biggest reasons people tried to find relationships?

She plugged in her phone, setting it on the nightstand before pulling her covers over her. Conflicting thoughts of sex, love, and relationships tumbled around in her head, and she tried to find a way to piece them all together. When she finally fell asleep, she hadn’t gotten any closer to finding a solution.

Waking up the next morning, Amara felt amazing. As confusing as her thoughts had been last night, there was no denying the thrill of being one of the most sought-after girls on campus. With a heavy yawn, she stretched all her limbs as far as she could, when she noticed something odd; her covers weren’t on her bed any longer.

Amara sat up quickly, sliding across her bed to reach for her nightstand, when she realized her phone wasn’t there. Neither was her charging cable. In fact, a lot of things seemed to be missing; her covers weren’t just missing from the bed, they were missing entirely. Her closet was empty, her drawers were barren, and even a few pieces of small furniture had vanished.

As she continued searching for any signs of her stuff, she also noticed that the room seemed somewhat lifeless. The colors were muted, and everything seemed a little fuzzy. It reminded her of how the world looked when she had gone a week without sex, the longest she’d ever managed since her transformation started.

With a snap of her fingers, she summoned a ball of hellfire. The flames appeared without hesitation, and when she focused, she could still feel her inner fire burning bright. Clearly, the issue wasn’t with her.

She ran out of her bedroom, hoping to find that this was all a prank or something, but found only more confusing evidence. Her bathroom, kitchen, and living room were all just as devoid of stuff as her bedroom. Other than the pajamas on her body, everything she owned had completely vanished.

Amara walked outside, deciding she needed to find Tessa, or possibly Nick, to see if they might know what was going on. However, leaving her apartment proved just as disorienting. Despite having slept in, which normally meant waking up close to eleven, the sky was gray and lifeless, devoid of both sun and clouds. An eerie twilight hung over campus, casting everything in dull, washed-out hues, and everything stood perfectly still. There was no wind to shake the trees, no chirping birds, no sounds of traffic.

Most disturbing of all, there were no people. As far as Amara could tell, the entire campus was deserted, and she was completely alone.