Chapter 16.1
Amara looked around the barren classroom as Tessa flicked the lights on. Rows upon rows of empty seats sat ready, perfectly positioned to give everyone a clear view of the front of the class. The floor escalated just past the first seats, each step containing another row of chairs, until ending at the back wall. Tall windows let in considerable amounts of sunlight, though the source wasn't visible; it was just past noon, and the sun was high above them.
The girls looked at each other for a moment before heading towards the back corner. They'd decided that it would be best to avoid unwanted attention, though Amara had a feeling that Tessa would have chosen the same spot regardless of cult activity.
The witch was wearing a pair of black, baggy cargo pants, as well as her usual combat boots. A red tank top hugged her curves, bearing the distressed logo of some band Amara had never heard of. A black jacket that was several sizes too big completed the outfit, though it only properly sat on one shoulder, the other side bunched around her elbow as she sat down.
Amara had put considerably more effort into her outfit. After being forced to spend several weeks hiding her tail and horns, she was always happy to put together something cute when she left the house. A flattering pair of dark blue jeans showed off her beige ankle booties, the heels rather small to accommodate long walks across campus. Her cleavage was tastefully on display beneath her low-cut shirt, its gray heathered pattern mostly hidden underneath a deep orange cardigan that ended at her thighs. She didn't join Tessa in a chair, instead taking the time to walk around the classroom while her friend opened her journal.
"I'm so fucking sick of these circles. I was hoping that finding more would make it easier to figure them out, but I've got nothing," Tessa griped. They had decided to get to Tessa's English class early, hoping to spend as much time as they could hunting for potential clues. In the meantime, since no one was present, she was pouring over her diagrams of the various magic circles they'd discovered.
"Well, what do we know? What are easy assumptions we can make?" Amara slowly wandered around the room, looking at all the different seats as she slowly moved towards the front of the class.
"I'm like, ninety percent sure each one is tied to a different plane. That's the simplest way to explain why all the circles act differently. The most obvious was the circle under the cafeteria, that's definitely connected to The Wilds."
"The Wilds?"
"That's what witches tend to call it, but it's got a lot of names. It's heavily tied to ideas of ground, earth, and the life that springs from it. Think lots of heavy forests, thick jungles, stuff like that. It's home to a lot of magical creatures too. Werewolves, fairies, dryads, tons of others; if there's a cryptid on our plane, it's likely from there."
"Y'know, I'd briefly forgotten how weird my life had gotten, so thanks for the reminder." Amara paused for a moment, taking in everything she'd just heard. "Fairies? Really?"
"Welcome to the World of Magic! Population: Everything and anything you've ever heard of. You're a succubus, just be thankful you have a way to fight back. Learning about magic means you're fair game to a lot of creatures, and not everyone has that luxury."
"I'm going to get attacked just because I know about magic?" Amara asked, looking back at her friend in surprise.
"Alright, well, it's not quite that cut and dry. A lot of things, people and creatures alike, greatly benefit from magic being underground, and there's an unspoken rule that you should try to keep it that way. However, once someone knows about magic, you can fuck with them without breaking that rule." Tessa took a deep breath, her eyes briefly staring into the distance. "But it's more than that. This world, Amara? Magic? It's a giant fucking curse. For some reason, things always seem to go wrong once people join it."
Amara leaned against the main desk in the front of the classroom. Those last words rattled around in her head, and her thoughts drifted back to Halloween. She felt herself starting to spiral, and she quickly shook her head to stay in the moment. "Right, so each circle is tied to a plane. What else?"
"That's honestly my only good guess. These things are complicated as hell."
"What about the Science Building? You said it was keeping things out?"
"Even if I'm right about that one, I have no idea if the other circles were built the same way. If they are, why was that one hidden the way it was? Why not use illusions like the other ones? Why are there so many?" Tessa groaned again, sliding back in her chair as she threw her head back.
Amara, unsure what else to say, instead circled behind the teacher's desk and started rummaging through its drawers. Most of them were filled with insignificant office supplies, but she dutifully looked through every nook and cranny just to be safe. In the end, the most interesting thing she'd found had been a small bag of chocolates. She happily swiped a few, returning to Tessa in the back of the classroom and handing her some sweets.
"So what's your plan? Are you seriously just planning on watching him teach?" Tessa unwrapped a chocolate and popped it into her mouth.
"Yes, actually. Why is that so weird?"
"It's just so boring! If I had your powers, I'd only need 5 minutes alone with him and we'd get all the answers we wanted." The witch's tattoos lit up, and her pen started hovering over her notebook. "Look at this, how am I supposed to threaten someone with mild levitation?"
"Tess, when I first saw you do magic, you threw someone across a room."
"That was a fluke! And I shouldn't have done it in the first place, I overexerted myself and had a headache for days."
A sound in the hallway caught Amara's attention, and she suddenly recognized the march of students nearing the classroom. She reached out and pushed Tessa's pen back to the desk just as the door opened, then whispered, "Well, let's be thankful that I'm the demon here, not you."
Tessa rolled her eyes but dropped the topic without a fuss. She reached into her backpack, pulling out her notebooks for the English class that was about to start, and sighed heavily.
Amara, on the other hand, pulled out a pair of stylish sunglasses. She felt a little silly putting them on, but she figured the worst-case scenario would be strangers thinking she was hung over. In truth, she was hoping to study the auras of everyone in class. The events at the Halloween party, coupled with her recently discovered night vision, had been a reminder that her body was still changing. Who's to say that her senses would stay limited to reading sexual auras?
With her eyes safely covered, she let them flare and began looking around the room. She saw a young man saying goodbye his girlfriend in the hallway before entering class, and they'd clearly fucked this morning. A minute later, a smaller girl with a tight black braid walked in with a vibrant aura, but there were no traces of a second person; she'd definitely just finished masturbating. An incredibly fit boy in a varsity jacket in the front row was pining for a tall, brown-haired boy that had just entered. The taller boy either didn't share those feelings or hadn't noticed the athlete, instead staying glued to his phone while he pulled his books out.
Everything she learned fascinated her, it was incredible seeing such intimate details out in the open like this. Still, other than a chance to flex her improved senses, she didn't see anything noteworthy.
"Where's the teacher?" Amara whispered.
"He's always a little late," Tessa replied. "I think he's got office hours right before this class, sometimes he gets here with a student or two."
As if on cue, the door opened. Professor Luxnor hurried inside, but not before holding the door open for the last student. Amara vaguely recognized the girl walking in behind him, a tall redhead in a green, low-cut top. Her simple leather jacket clearly wasn't trying to hide her ample cleavage, and her posture implied that she was used to being the center of attention. A small handful of students grew noticeably excited at her entrance, though Amara was far more interested in the aura of this new student.
"Who's the redhead? She looks familiar." Amara asked.
"Kylie? You danced with her at the Halloween party. I remember 'cuz I was really fucking jealous."
"Oh, I don't think it's me you should be jealous of."
"What? Who?" Tessa leaned closer, but Amara didn't say anything. She simply gave a knowing look towards the teacher. "Mr. Luxnor?! Shut the fuck up!"
"Their auras are perfectly in sync; I'd say they finished within the last half hour or so."
"I can't fucking believe it! First the cult, but now he's hooking up with a student? Man, he used to be one of my favorite teachers too..."
"You're missing the silver lining here, Tessa." Amara smirked, letting her eyes return to normal as she put her sunglasses away. "We can use this against him."