Chapter 4

Nick’s eyes ran over the grocery list again, just for good measure. His grandparents lived alone, but had a habit of inviting friends over pretty frequently, so the list was extensive. Sure he hadn’t missed anything, he moved into a checkout lane.

The elderly cashier was extra chatty, and he happily asked about her day as he helped bag everything; She was exceptionally proud of her grandson, apparently he’d done great on his spelling test. Nick laughed with her as he swiped his card, noticing a message on the terminal.

Donate to support local cancer research?

Out of habit, he reached to decline, but then stopped himself. He stared at his choices, Amara’s words ringing in his head.

“Maybe ... we should be worried about bigger things?”

Shaking his head, he donated $20, then moved to help bag his purchases.

The drive back was quiet, if a little long. His grandparents had settled down further out, eager for a big house away from town. Driving was something Nick missed when he was at school; He found it relaxing, and the landscape surrounding him had a simplistic charm to it. Billboards came and went, most of them committed to memory after frequent family visits.

ADULT TOY STORE - NEXT EXIT!

He chuckled, remembering when a girlfriend had convinced him to go into the toy store years ago. He’d blushed furiously looking at all the outfits, but he couldn’t deny he had thoroughly enjoyed everything they bought.

CRACKER BARREL- 3 MILES

His grandparents had talked him into going to the restaurant earlier this week, though he was surprised they only wanted to go once. He had loved the place as a kid, but his palette had expanded in recent years, and he had grown less fond of their menu.

HELL IS REAL

Nick’s eyes froze on the sign, reading it repeatedly. Even after passing it, his eyes stayed glued to the sky, unfocused. He thought of Amara, her surprise demonic puberty, and everything they’d gotten up to this last week. Passages from books came back to him, then online articles, and finally all their conversations.

“One book says ... they actually feed on human souls. Souls!”

“Does your existence prove His existence?”

The car started shaking, its tires colliding with the rumble strip, and Nick snapped back to his senses. He centered himself on the road again, shaking his head. He checked his mirrors and sighed in relief when he saw no one else nearby.

The rest of the journey was peaceful, if no longer quiet; Nick had turned the music much louder to keep himself distracted.

When he returned, he happily greeted the dogs at the door, letting them run and bounce all over him. Chasing them outside, he now had the space to unpack groceries without their curious noses getting into everything. His grandma wandered in as he was wrapping up.

“Did you ... do our grocery shopping?” She asked, her voice piqued with curiosity.

“Well, I saw the list had gotten a little long, and I needed something to do!” He smiled as he let the dogs back in, watching them run into the kitchen and investigate where all the food used to be.

“I would’ve given you our card if you’d said something, silly!” She moved to her wallet, sitting in a basket next to her keys. “How much was it?”

Nick moved closer, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “It’s really no big deal, I’m happy to help.”

“Oh hush, I know you’re not working at school. How much?”

Nick relented, pocketing the money before giving her a tight hug. As he pulled back, he looked around the kitchen briefly.

“I was going to walk the dogs around the lake, have you seen Grandpa? Would he want to come?”

“Oh, he’s sleeping through Jeopardy right now, you know that.” She laughed as she grabbed the dog’s harnesses. “You go enjoy the weather, while it’s still nice.”

Nick gave his grandma a tight hug before leaving, clipped the leashes to the dogs, and headed out. The lake was a few miles north, nestled in a pocket of woods, and he took his time getting there. It was an easy walk, one he’d made many times as a kid. A beaten path took him all the way, and then surrounded the lake itself.

He breathed deep, smiling as he watched both dogs walk around and smell everything. Every so often they would run back to him excitedly, sometimes with a cool stick, and he would kneel to play with them. A small pile of milk bones in his pocket gradually diminished as the walk continued, and halfway through he sat down on a fallen tree to rest.

His parents had brought him here often as a child. At first, the rural atmosphere had been too slow for his taste; his friends weren’t here, his games were at home, and there was nowhere fun to go. That reluctance had quickly given way to excitement, and he began eagerly looking forward to their visits. This lake in particular had become an oasis, a place to calm his thoughts.

He’d come here when his best friend from elementary school had moved away, and when his first girlfriend had broken up with him. He had run here to hide when his parents found his bad report cards, and when he first learned about the unexpected passing of his uncle.

Nick had spent a lot of time here this week.

Another stick appeared in his lap, and he tugged it away from the dogs before throwing it for them again. They eagerly gave chase, but returned with a completely different stick. He laughed, gave the new one a toss, and stood up to start heading back. As he left the lake, his phone went off.

Amara: When are you getting baaaaack

Nick had left the morning after the football game, just about a week ago. At first, things had been relatively normal, but after a few days, he noticed that Amara seemed to miss him more than usual.

Amara: Demon libidos SUCK

Well, part of him at least.

Nick: I fly back tonight, and we’ll have all day tomorrow to cause trouble :P

By the time Nick made it back, his grandma was almost done making dinner. He helped her finish, making small talk about college and his plans for the semester. His grandpa, finally awake, picked his brains about his classes; Nick was primarily studying architecture and engineering, which was a topic they both shared a passion for.

The food was delicious, as expected, and Nick happily helped clean up. Between the three of them, the kitchen was spotless in no time, and that meant it was time to leave. He packed his bags, loaded them in the car, and hugged his grandma goodbye. His grandpa got in the driver’s seat, and they left for the airport.

Another long drive passed relatively quietly, though the same billboards existed on this side of the road too. The sign from before stood tall, taunting Nick as they passed it.

“So, you want to talk about it?” His grandpa asked.

Surprised, Nick looked away from the window. “About what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Nicholas.” His grandpa said, “You show up unannounced, repair our deck, do our grocery shopping, and spend hours every day out by that lake. You think I’m not gonna ask why?”

“I already told you, school’s been tough, I wanted to get away for a bit. Plus, I missed you two!”

“Look, I’m not calling you a liar. We love having you over, I haven’t seen your grandma this happy in months. I’m not gonna push, but I want to help, if you’ll let me.”

Nick grew quiet, unsure what to say. He looked out the window again, the distant clouds dancing over the horizon as they drove. Minutes passed before he broke the silence.

“I just ... I was looking for something.” He muttered.

His grandpa looked over, compassion in his eyes. “Yeah? You find it?”

Nick thought back to his week here. Helping out around the house, playing with the dogs, bettering the world around him. Despite his worries, and his fears, his heart was still full of love for those around him.

“I think I did, actually.” He said, looking back at the window. He smiled as the airport, and his suddenly very strange life, came into focus.

The line in the cafeteria was longer today, and the wait for lunch was made worse by Amara’s grumbling stomach. She occasionally caught sniffs of something delicious, but when she got her food, she was dismayed to learn the smell was coming from something else. She found Chloé quickly, sitting across from her as she took off her backpack.

“Ugh, I swear the food here gets more bland every day.” She complained, lazily dragging her fork across the food in front of her.

“Really? I’ve been enjoying it, but I might just be happy to have something to eat.” Chloé chuckled as she kept eating.

Amara dug through her bag, trying to distract herself from the lackluster food in front of her. She checked some of her folders, making sure today’s homework was ready, and eventually pulled out two matching notebooks. She set them up, and continued to pick at her food as she analyzed the tables inside.

“What is all this? Class stuff?” Chloé was leaning in, her eyes scanning the notebooks to try and figure them out. “They look like calendars.”

“This is my big project for the year! It’s for my Marketing class, they want a practical application of skills rather than a written final.” Amara pushed her food aside, then spun her notebooks to face Chloé. “You’re right, they’re calendars; I’m trying to piece together a posting schedule that doesn’t overwhelm me.”

“A ... posting schedule?” Chloé tilted her head, her face scrunched up in confusion. “Come to think of it, I don’t actually know what you’re studying for.”

Amara looked off into the distance briefly, digging through past conversations. “I guess I don’t talk about it much, do I?” Chloé shook her head. “Well, long story short, I’m trying to specialize in Social Media Management. The goal is to understand how people engage with content online, and offer advice to anyone looking to up their marketing game.”

“So, like ... you’re really good at Facebook?” Chloé asked, giggling as she ate.

“Kinda, yeah! All the different social media websites have their own cultures, and you have to post different types of content depending on where you are. Ideally, I would help people understand when to post, what to post, and how to engage with different online communities. For larger companies, I might offer to run their social media accounts, but for individuals I can help them improve their own abilities.”

“That’s really cool!” Chloé pulled the notebooks closer and began flipping through them. “I bet there’s a lot of ways to put those skills to use, so much stuff is online these days. What is your actual project?”

“I want to prove I can appeal to different online cultures, so I’m going to start two new social media personas. Each will have a unique handle, I won’t cross post anything, and each will aim to appeal to a different audience.”

“So, what are your two personas?” Chloé pushed the notebooks back to Amara, returning to her meal.

“I’m still hammering out the details on that, sadly. I’ve been talking it over with Nick, but since he’s been gone, it’s been slow moving.” Amara forced another few bites down as she put her notebooks away.

“That does explain why I haven’t seen him around,” Chloé muttered to herself. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know all the details, but I guess some family stuff came up? He’s been at his grandparents place all week.” Amara grumbled.

Nick’s trip had been sudden, but being separated didn’t seem like that big a deal. They’d been apart hundreds of times throughout their friendship, and it had never been an issue. This time, however, her newly discovered demonic needs made his absence significantly harder to stomach.

Her body screamed for sex. The first few days had been tolerable, if a little frustrating, and she had been able to distract herself with schoolwork. After that, sadly, her libido had evolved from an annoying itch to a cavernous void.

Just like before, her toys had been useless, despite her many attempts. To make matters worse, she had been sleeping terribly the last few days, and couldn’t figure out why.

“What about you? Any big projects this semester?” Amara asked, trying to keep herself distracted.

“Well, it’s not quite as impressive as yours, but I’m trying to start a charity platform.” Chloé’s voice grew quiet as she talked, her eyes falling to her lap.

“Not impressive? Chloé, that’s incredible!” Amara leaned forward, trying to infect her friend with excitement. “Are you just trying to raise money for a specific cause?”

“Well, I do have a few causes I’m really passionate about, but the goal for now is to make people feel better about donating. I’m working together with some friends to make a new fundraising platform, one that makes it easy to donate, while encouraging transparency. We’re going to have an app and everything!”