Succubi - Ch.25 - Cornered (Patreon)

*** Content warning: transmisia, brief sexual assault, brief violence ***

Monday morning when me and Melissa got to school we met Amber before classes. We hadn't seen her since Friday and the changes were really noticeable. Like she went from three days to six days, she was past the half-way mark now and there was no hiding it anymore.

She still wore the same loose black hoodie, but it was even more loose and baggy on her. She was wearing dark track-pants that looked several sizes too big on her, and I was positive she was about a half inch shorter. She had some winter boots on her feet that looked loose on her now too. Her hair wasn't any longer, it was still the same colour and came down to her shoulders, but it looked softer. Her face had changed more, it was soft and round and her lips seemed a little wider and fuller. 

There was a spark in her eyes, but she wore a nervous smile as she greeted me and Melissa.

I smiled back at her, "Hi Amber. How are things going?"

"Not so great right now," she replied as she shook her head. Her voice had changed again, it was noticeably higher in pitch than it was on Friday. Between her voice and her face, there was no doubt she was a girl. Anyone meeting her for the first time would assume she was a girl.

Melissa asked, "Why, what happened?"

Amber sighed, "So I had to work on Friday after class, and I talked to the manager? I gave him my notice, told him that next week would be my last. He got all out of shape about it, and I guess once he was paying attention to me he realized I looked different? So he started going off with a bunch of homomisic and transmisic ranting."

Her expression darkened and she shrugged, "Anyways I told him I couldn't work in a hostile environment and left. He shouted some slurs at me across the food court as I walked away. With any luck word will spread around the guy's a bigot and folks will stop eating there."

Melissa and I exchanged a worried look, she asked "You're ok though right? Like apart from having to put up with the bullshit on Friday, it's ok?"

"I'm fine," she replied. Then with a sigh she added, "Except that wasn't the worst thing that happened this weekend."

"Uh-oh," I grimaced. "What else?"

"My folks started freaking out yesterday," she replied with another sigh. "Yesterday morning, that was the half-way point? And at breakfast, I guess my mom suddenly realized how much I'd changed. She asked how it was happening, what I was doing. Then dad started asking as well. Even Tracey kind of freaked out when she realized how much I'd changed lately."

She continued, "I tried using your idea Melissa? I told them it was a new experimental thing, and that I couldn't talk about it because I signed an NDA. That actually made them freak out even more."

"Damn," Melissa sighed. "They're not going to kick you out are they?"

Amber shook her head "No! No, they're not angry at me. They're worried about me. Like both mom and dad wanted to know all about this experimental thing, they wanted to know who's behind it and if it was safe. They're worried for my health and everything. They said if I won't give them some answers, they're going to contact the ministry of health to find out who's conducting these experiments..."

"Oh crap," I frowned. "That's not good."

"I don't think they've tried that yet," she said. "I told them I'd have to ask for permission to break the NDA with my folks. So I might need to talk with Lily after class today?"

I nodded, "I'm sure she'll talk with you. I don't know if she'll have a solution though. I mean, I'm pretty sure she's not going to want you to tell your folks the truth? And if you did, how do you think they'd handle it?"

Amber shook her head again, "I have no idea."

Melissa meanwhile had a thoughtful frown on her face. She commented, "When I gave my parents that experimental treatment line, the only thing they cared about was stopping it and reversing it. They never questioned if it was safe or anything like that. I guess that's the difference between folks who really love you, and folks who just want you to conform to their ideal."

I pulled Melissa into a hug, "I'm sorry your folks were like that."

She hugged me back, "It's ok Mara."

It was nearly time for class so we cut the conversation short. Me and Melissa promised to meet Amber in the afternoon and bring her back to the apartment so she could see Lily again, then we all hurried off to our first classes of the day.

I had some trouble paying attention to the profs, while classes and the day itself both seemed to go by slowly. I kept worrying about Amber and her family, and wondering how we could fix it without actually having to tell her whole family about Lily and magic and everything.

Lily hadn't said anything lately, but I still remembered last summer she said having my mom and Melissa know about her was enough. Now we had mom, Carol, Melissa, Susan, Sam, Troy, and Amber all in on the secret. I was positive my demon friend wouldn't be happy if we had to bring another three people in on it.

We didn't see Amber for lunch, our schedules were different and her lunch break on Mondays wasn't till later. 

I still had trouble focusing on the school stuff in the afternoon classes, my mind kept wandering back to Amber and her problem and how to fix it. When we got to our last class of the day I was basically just waiting for it to be over so we could go meet her at the front doors. To my frustration the class ran a little long, and I think just about everyone was itching to go while the prof rambled on about some obscure technical thing that lenses did with light.

We were five minutes past when he finally wrapped up the class. I was just starting to stuff my books into my backpack when Lily spoke up. She was normally quiet while we were in class, but now she sounded urgent.

"Mara, Amber's in trouble. She needs help."

That sent a shock of adrenaline through me, and at the same time I got a vision or an image in my head. I assumed it was from Lily, and she was showing me a stairwell. I knew where it was, towards the back and side of the building. It was nowhere near the front doors. And even though she didn't say it, I knew Lily was telling me that's where Amber was.

I left my books and my pack as I practically leapt out of my chair and dashed out of the class. I ran down the hall, dodging around the other students standing around in the way. We were on the upper level and the image Lily showed me was the basement, so when I reached the stairwell I practically flew down the stairs. I was taking them five or six steps at a time, one hand loosely gripped the rail to guide me as I let gravity do most of the work.

When I reached the bottom it was almost like I came out of nowhere. My feet hit the floor and the three people down there looked towards me.

Amber was standing with her back to the wall, she was practically backed into a corner and holding her pack to her chest. I recognized the two big tall guys who were standing in front of her. They were Matt's dude-bro friends. Matt wasn't around though, it was just the two guys he hung out with.

There was a nervous look on Amber's face, in fact she looked borderline scared. That changed to relief when she saw me.

I ignored the two guys as I moved past them, straight up to her side and asked "Hey Amber? Are you ok?"

She shook her head slightly, but didn't respond yet.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go."

One of the guys moved to block my path and the other one stepped closer as well. 

Jim, the one standing right in front of me, asked in a snide mocking tone "You're Mara right? Is it true you're a dude as well?"

"You're the one who got Ethan so fucked up," the other one stated. I remembered his name was Rahul. His voice was angry and accusatory as he added, "He was fine before you started hanging out with him."

My heart was racing and my stomach felt cold and heavy. I'd never had to deal with this sort of bigotry before, and I'd never been in any kind of dangerous or potentially violent situation. The closest thing was when my dad grabbed me and mom, but mom used pepper spray to get him off us. 

I looked back and forth between them and my intuition mind-reading thing kicked in. They'd been talking with Matt, and he told them pretty much everything Amber told him. He didn't send them here though, Jim and Rahul decided on their own to rough Amber up a bit. I almost couldn't believe it as I got a feeling why they were doing this. They lost a big game on Saturday, Matt wasn't playing his best, and these two guys decided it was Amber's fault for getting their buddy upset. 

The worst part was I realized if anything Matt probably wasn't at his peak on Saturday because Melissa tired him out after their date Friday night.

"Guys," I said, trying to sound brave and confident. "Just get out of the way and leave us alone, ok?"

Jim took another step towards me and as much as I meant to stay put I found myself stepping back. I was up against the wall now, and Amber was next to me on my left. Jim was within arm's length of me, and Rahul moved forward too so he was just as close, directly in front of Amber.

My heart was pounding. Amber stayed silent but I could tell she was scared. 

I gulped, "I'm warning you. You don't want to do this."

"Why not?" Rahul asked. "We're just four dudes having a conversation, right?"

Jim grinned, "Let's find out."

His left hand grabbed my right shoulder and he held me back against the wall while he reached down with his right hand and groped me through my skirt. I felt his hand on my crotch, and even through multiple layers of fabric it felt gross. 

There was a wave of nausea, a shock of adrenaline, and a spark of anger. My right hand curled into a fist, and a moment later my fist connected with Jim's face. He dropped immediately and ended up sprawled on the floor, apparently out cold.

Rahul looked down at his buddy then back at me. He looked stunned, like he couldn't believe a petite five-foot-four girl just knocked his buddy unconscious with one punch.

My eyes met his. I was still equal parts nauseous and full of adrenaline, and my right hand remained clenched in a fist. I kept my eyes on his as I half-demanded, "Well?!"

There was another second or so where I thought maybe he was going to try grabbing me or Amber, but in the end he took a few steps back and to the side, so he was well out of our way.

I slipped an arm around Amber and guided her past Rahul and the unconscious Jim. I took her up the stairs to the main level, and into the nearest girls washroom. 

With the crisis over, the adrenaline started to fade and I was just left feeling nauseous. I shuddered a few times as it started to sink in what just happened. That guy grabbed me, and groped me. I felt the nausea get worse. Then I noticed Amber was quietly freaking out too so I pulled her into a hug. 

I kept my voice soft and quiet as I said, "It's ok. You're safe. We're both ok now."

She nodded as she leaned against me. Then both of us jumped slightly as the washroom door opened, but it was just Melissa. She had my backpack with her, and she sighed in relief as she saw the two of us. 

"Mara, Amber, are you ok?" she asked as she moved closer and wrapped her arms around us both. 

"I think so," I replied, but my voice wavered.

Amber nodded slightly as she half-whispered, "I'm ok. Thank you."

"Then let's get out of here," Melissa said.