Suddenly A Succubus Ch. 04

The rooms closer to the staircase looked like they’d been slightly refurbished, and now served as utility housing. A series of water pipes and electrical wires ran up into the ceiling, presumably supplying the building with everything it needed. She poked around the room for a minute before shrugging, not seeing anything of interest.

Leaving the utility room, Amara continued following the hallway. The next few rooms were locked, but the windows were clear enough that she could see through them. They seemed to be equipment storage, but it was hard to tell if people still used them. Everything inside looked older, and mostly consisted of chairs, desks, lab tables, and the occasional ancient microscope.

Pulling away from the locked doors, she kept walking. Instead of more old classrooms, however, the hallway suddenly opened up. The space ahead of her was much larger, when Amara looked around, it seemed to occupy the rest of the basement.

Instead of smooth brick walls, peppered with an occasional door, the empty space resembled an ancient maze of plumbing. Pipes of every shape and size wove through the space, and it felt like being in the belly of an ancient steamship. The giant rusting boiler nearby certainly made the comparison an apt one.

Her gut told her she was close.

Amara walked deeper into the mess of plumbing. After nervously touching some of the pipes around her, she confirmed that they weren’t in use anymore. She began ducking and climbing through the pipes, still unsure what she was looking for; It took her the better part of the next 15 minutes to thoroughly search the area.

As she crawled underneath a large pipe, she found herself facing the back wall of the basement. Here, following the barren walls, she managed to find a small room tucked in the corner of the basement.

There was no door, just a gap in the wall, but the dark brickwork had made it nearly impossible to spot from further away. She pulled out her phone and turned on its flashlight, ignoring the ‘No Service’ pop-up.

She expected to find more plumbing, and was surprised to see a relatively empty space. Stranger still, it looked like someone had been here recently. On the far side of the room, she saw a small table filled with books and scattered papers. In front of it sat a small folding chair, and the floor nearby had a collection of jars and vials.

Looking at the walls nearby, she found a light switch and flipped it. A dull, warm light filled the area, so Amara pocketed her phone.

The strange feeling had faded somewhat, so Amara wasn’t quite sure what to do next. She wandered across the room, her hand tracing the walls in search of anything strange. As she neared the table, she started noticing strange symbols drawn on the many pieces of papers. Unable to read anything, she started digging through the books for possible hints.

Most of the books were quite old, and even more were completely unlabeled. Their spines were heavily worn, and when she started flipping through them, she was again confronted with strange symbols she couldn’t understand.

She turned away from the table, tossing the book back, and that’s when she noticed the drawings.

The center of the room was covered with the same symbols she had seen in the books. They were all drawn with dull red paint, and many of them were connected with lines, but Amara couldn’t make sense of the patterns they made. When she looked up, she noticed the symbols had been drawn on the ceiling as well.

As she continued examining the strange scene in front of her, the feeling from earlier returned. It started small, but quickly grew into an intense curiosity. Although she still couldn’t read the symbols, she thought the patterns might be easier to decipher from the center of the room.

She stepped forward, her feet landing on the empty concrete in the center of it all. A sudden wave of energy swept over her, then faded just as quickly. She spun around, looking at all the symbols, but still nothing made sense.

She sighed.

Well, this was a bust. Maybe I’ll bring Nick down here tomorrow, he might recognize some of this.

Amara turned to the entrance of the room, but when she tried to step forward, her body collided with something. After catching herself, she pushed a hand forward and flinched when it touched something solid. A strange glow pulsed from the area she touched, and it grew brighter when she pushed her hand against it. She began tracing the invisible object with her hands, and found that it was curving around her.

Her breathing quickened, a terrible thought crossing her mind, and after a minute she confirmed her theory; This strange wall was completely surrounding her. It stayed invisible unless touched, and the harder she pushed against it, the stronger it glowed.

Panic set in, and she pulled out her phone. The pop-up from earlier appeared again - ‘No Service’. She tried searching for Wi-Fi, but there was none to be found.

She started hitting this strange force field, punching it, driving her shoulder into it, but nothing worked. The more she exerted herself, the more she felt the gnawing hunger in her gut. She was still weak and tired, and these escape attempts were only making that worse.

Amara collapsed to the ground, tears forming in her eyes, as she looked around the empty room. She was alone, trapped under the science building, and classes had likely just ended for the weekend. She called out, desperate to catch someone’s attention, and her voice echoed through the empty basement.

“Hello?”

-

I realized when writing this chapter that certain elements may seem exceptionally unreal to some of my readers. To any who doubt the veracity of my story, or think I'm just trying to manufacture cheap relevant plot points, I promise the Hell Is Real sign actually exists.

I will admit, I'm a tiny bit nervous about posting my first chapter without any sex. I hope the characters and the story are interesting enough to keep you coming back. As always, I'd be flattered if you took the time to review, favorite, and comment on my work! I can't express how much I enjoy hearing from my readers.

Until next time! Nyx <3