“He left shortly after you did earlier,” replied Helene. “He didn’t tell us exactly where he was going, though.”
“Great,” Walter muttered. “Is Adelia around?”
“No,” said Cecil. “Why? What’s wrong now?”
Walter looked back and forth between Cecil and Helene. He never thought there would come a time where he felt like he couldn’t trust his elders. But he thought he could trust these two. He didn’t think Adelia was hiding anything, but for some reason his gut told him to not voice his concerns about Phinneas with her.
“The situation with the demons and Melina, there’s something peculiar going on there. Something’s not right, and I think Phinneas is behind it.”
Helene looked surprised. “Why would you say such a thing?”
“You’re walking on thin ice now, Walter.” Cecil stared at him, but Walter didn’t back down.
“I just spoke to Henry, Melina’s guardian angel, and he said that Phinneas told him to leave her alone, that he couldn’t help her. Why would Phinneas tell him that?”
Cecil and Helene looked at one another with puzzled expressions. After a few seconds they turned those expressions toward Walter.
“Yes, I was confused, too, at first. But now, the first thing that comes to mind is that Phinneas is the one who told the demons about Melina having powers.”
Cecil rubbed his forehead. “Walter, what you’ve just told us is serious.”
Walter nodded, pleased that they were seeing it his way. But just as he started to relax, Cecil continued on.
“You’re accusing one of your own elders of lying and possibly being in league with Noxin demons.”
“I heard it straight from Henry’s mouth,” exclaimed Walter. “Why would he make that up?”
Cecil stared at him for a moment and then said, “I have to hear it for myself before I can make any decisions.”
Helene nodded in agreement. “Bring Henry here so he can tell us exactly what he told you.”
Walter shook his head. “I can’t. He told me not to summon him again and then disappeared. I don’t where he is.”
“If you want us to believe in what you’re saying, then I would summon him again,” said Helene.
“That will only irritate him more, and he’ll just keep disappearing,” said Walter.
“I’m sorry, Walter.” Cecil motioned to Helene and himself. “We can’t just take your word. Not only do we need to hear it from Henry, but we also need to hear what Phinneas has to say about all of it.”
“He’ll deny it. You know that!” Walter shouted.
“Then I suggest you try to find Henry and get him to come and talk to us,” Cecil responded. “We need proof, not accusations.”
Walter nodded, and as he turned to leave, he muttered under his breath, “You’ll get your proof, one way or another.”
Chapter Ten
Melina stood in place for a while, staring at the spot where Lee had been. She had finally gotten him to talk to her, even if it was just for a moment. It was going to take time to break through to him, but with the powers and the demons threatening her life, time is exactly what she didn’t have. How ironic.
A soft sigh left her as she lowered her gaze to the ground. She needed to practice controlling her powers and then, when the weekend was over, she would attempt a visit with Lee. Maybe she could convince him to go to Nina’s with her for a bit. Or maybe a small coffee shop. She was sure there was one near his jewelry store. But if he wasn’t interested in eating then maybe they could take a walk through the park. She envisioned them strolling through the trees, sitting on a park bench talking, when all of the noise around her fell silent.
Confused, she looked up and saw that everything surrounding her — the people, the buildings, the rides and tents — were all distorted and fuzzy looking. She didn’t know what was going on, but she thought that if she closed her eyes it might all go back to normal. The instant she closed them she felt a slight pressure against her entire body. She peeled her eyes open to see what was going on, and the next thing she knew, she was in the park and a terrible pain shot through her head.
Her hand flew up to her forehead as she dropped to her knees and screamed. She felt like her head was going to explode. Then a brief bout of dizziness overcame her, so she placed her free hand on the ground to steady herself. After about a minute or so the pain began to subside, but there was still a dull throbbing sensation. She finally lifted her head and looked around.
“How did I get here?” She pushed herself up from the ground when all of a sudden everything clicked. Her eyes opened wide. “I teleported. But how? I wasn’t even thinking of teleporting. Oh boy.” She raised her eyes to the sky and looked around. “Walter! Walter, I need you!”
A few seconds later he appeared, stepping out from the trees in front of her. He hurried over to her. “What are you doing here, especially all by yourself?”
Melina looked at him, her eyes still wide in shock. “I think I teleported.”
“You think you teleported?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly like it was when I teleported with you, and I wasn’t thinking of teleporting. I was thinking of the park, and the next thing I knew I was here.”
Walter nodded. “You teleported.”
“So every time I think of a place I risk the chance of being teleported there?”
“No,” Walter replied, a pensive look on his face now. “That’s not how it works. Not only do you have to think of the place, but you also need to think that you want to teleport to that location. Since you weren’t thinking of teleporting to the park, then something else had to have triggered it. Were you thinking of anything else?”
Melina started to pace as she recalled what happened. “I had an encounter with Lee. We didn’t talk long before he ran off, but I did get him to agree to meet with me again… sort of. Anyway, I was thinking of places where we could go to talk, and when I started to think about us walking through the park, that’s when everything fell silent and all of my surroundings turned blurry. Within a second I was here in the park, and then I had an excruciating pain in my head.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Walter said as he threw his hand up in front of him. “Wait a second now. You disappeared right in the middle of a bunch of people?”
Melina stopped pacing and gave him an exasperated look. “I didn’t mean to!”
“Oh dear.” Walter rubbed his hands over his face a couple of times and then he started to pace. “Hopefully it happened so fast that nobody noticed. What I think happened with you, though… well, it appears to be a few things all linked together. But the main trigger is your human emotions. You were thinking of a place, and even though you weren’t thinking that you wanted to teleport to there, you were thinking that you wanted to go there with Lee. Lee is your so-called charge, so your powers are linked to him, as well as your emotions. Your desperation to talk with him again triggered it all, and you wound up in the last place you thought of going to with him.”
“Oh wow,” Melina responded as she began to rub her forehead.
“Are you all right?” asked Walter.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure if I can control all of the powers. I’m getting better at tuning people’s thoughts in and out, but I can’t get rid of them completely. I’ve only had one vision so far, so not much practice there. My light shield apparently only comes out when I’m scared. And the teleporting business is a complete mess. Oh, and what about the massive headache I had? You didn’t say anything when I mentioned it earlier. Is that also a side effect of my human emotions?”
“No, I don’t think it’s your emotions, but I do think it has to do with you being human.”
Melina gave him a curious look.
“I think it’s what Adelia meant when she said that the powers would start to take their toll on you,” Walter said.
“You think?” Melina asked.
“Yes,” replied Walter. “And that’s the best I can give you, at least f
or now until I can speak to Adelia again. Like I said before, it’s only happened to three other humans, and what I know about their situations is just what I’ve been told. I wasn’t there in person for any of them. But,” Walter paused and gave her a sympathetic look, “I think it’s what we should assume. You seem to have developed all of the powers now, so the timing makes sense.”
Melina stared at him for a while and then gave him a simple nod. She bit her lower lip and turned her gaze to the ground. It was going to happen sooner or later, she knew that. But with the way Adelia had made it sound, she thought she would have had at least a week before the powers started to wear her down. It hadn’t even been two full days. Things were happening too quickly, and she felt overwhelmed again. Before she had time to react to her feelings, though, Walter spoke up again.
“I hate to continue to be the bearer of bad news, but you need to hear what I’m going to say next.”
Melina raised her head and gave him a woeful look.
Walter cleared his throat. “I think another one of my elder angels, Phinneas, is responsible for telling the demons about you and your new powers.”
“What?” Melina gaped at him, astonished. “That would mean that he’s the one who wants me dead then, right?”
“I don’t know,” said Walter as he shook his head. “It’s hard for me to think that he would be capable of such a thing, but the evidence is against him right now.”
“What did he do?” Melina asked. “Tell me why you think he told the demons about me.”
“I went to talk to the elders earlier today, and Phinneas acted strangely during the whole conversation. The other three suggested I seek out your guardian angel for help, but when I found him, he said that Phinneas had told him that he couldn’t help you. I tried to convince him that Phinneas was lying, but he said he wouldn’t believe me over an elder angel.” Walter paused and let out a heavy sigh.
“When I went back to my temple to confront Phinneas , he wasn’t there. Adelia wasn’t there either, only Cecil and Helene. I told them what Henry had said about Phinneas, but they didn't believe me. They said they needed proof. Like I said, I can’t see Phinneas wanting to harm you, but I’m going to figure out why he doesn’t want your guardian to help you.”
She nodded at him but was too stunned to talk. Her guardian angel wasn’t going to help protect her from the demons because an elder angel possibly wanted her dead. But why did the elder want her dead? Before she had time to think about things further, her cell phone rang. She jumped at the sound of it and then quickly pulled it out of her coat pocket. “Hello?”
“It’s Tessa. What happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was standing at the front of the tent, waiting for you to return, when a group of people started to freak out about a young woman who disappeared right in front of them. Was that you? Did you teleport?”
Tessa sounded frantic, so Melina tried her best to sound calm. “Yes, that was me, but I didn’t mean to teleport. It just sort of happened when I was thinking of places I could go to with Lee. I'm at the park now, and Walter’s here with me.”
“I’ll be there—”
“No,” said Melina, cutting her off. “Stay there and enjoy the festival. And try to refute any more talk you hear about a woman disappearing.”
Tessa hesitated then said, “Okay, but what are you going to do?”
Melina glanced at Walter. “I really need to spend the rest of the weekend practicing with my powers. I have to get them under control, especially now that…”
“Now that what?” asked Tessa.
Melina closed her eyes. “Now that I’ve developed all of the powers, they’re starting to affect me.”
“Wait, do you mean…”
“Yes. But Tessa, I’m going to be fine. That’s why I’m going to practice the rest of the weekend. I’m not going to let the powers, or the demons for that matter, get the best of me.” Melina stopped and waited for Tessa’s response but received none. “Tessa?”
Tessa sniffled loudly into the phone then replied in a shaky voice. “It’s just that the seriousness of everything is just now hitting me. You’re my best friend, and I don’t want to lose you.”
Tears welled in Melina’s eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. “I don’t want that either, Tess. That’s why I need to focus on working with Walter right now.”
“Yeah, you should go,” Tessa said. “I’ll see you Monday morning?”
“Yes, I’ll see you Monday morning. Oh, and Tess?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for being the best friend that anyone could ask for.”
“Likewise,” Tessa replied.
Melina could hear Tessa crying again, so she whispered a quick “Bye, Tess,” and ended the call. She slowly placed her phone back in her pocket and looked up at Walter. “Where do we start?”
Chapter Eleven
“I think we should start with your power of teleportation,” Walter said. “You have the least amount of control over it, so I’d say it needs the most work.”
“Right,” Melina replied.
“I’m not sure if we can get you to stop doing it, though, whenever you think of going somewhere with Lee. Unfortunately, for now, that’s a side effect of your human emotions. But what we can do is get you to teleport to a destination by thinking of that place and saying you want to teleport to there.”
Melina nodded.
“Try to teleport back to your apartment,” Walter said as he gave her an encouraging look.
“Okay, I’ll try.” She closed her eyes and brought up a mental image of her living room — light blue walls, brown suede couch and recliner, plush beige carpet. Teleport to my living room. She repeated it over and over in her head, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and looked at Walter. “What am I doing wrong?”
“My guess is that you’re doubting if you can do it or not. Get rid of the doubt, Melina.”
“Get rid of the doubt,” she repeated as she closed her eyes and thought of her living room again. Teleport to my living room. Teleport to my living room. Within a second she felt plush carpet replace the hard ground under her feet.
She opened her eyes to see her living room when suddenly she felt excruciating pain in her head again. “Oh, this is awful,” she moaned as she stumbled over to the couch and lay down.
A few seconds later Walter appeared in front of her with a proud smile on his face. “I knew you could do it.”
Melina groaned.
Walter’s smile faded. “I told you the pain would return. The more you use your powers, the worse it’s probably going to get.”
She put her hand up to her forehead. “I don’t see how it can get any worse than it is right now.” She started to sit up, but Walter stopped her.
“Take it easy for a couple of minutes. Hopefully the headache will lessen some and then we can try again.”
Try again. The words made Melina cringe. But she knew she had to keep working with her powers. A couple minutes later her headache began to subside. She stood up slowly and looked at Walter. “I think I’m ready.”
“Good. I’m only going to have you teleport one more time, and then we’ll get to work on your other powers.”
“Okay,” Melina replied.
“Most of the town is at the Fall Festival, and we don’t want to go there after your little disappearing act. Plus, we need people that aren’t all grouped together in one place for you to practice your powers on. Therefore, I want you to teleport to the next town over.”
Melina stared at him. “The next town over? That’s too vague of a description, and I’ve only been there a handful of times. What location would I focus on?”
Walter shrugged. “One of the locations you remember seeing when you visited there.”
“They’re all very public places. We’d be seen.”
“Not necessarily,” Walter replied. “Recall the locations from your memory and think about the surroundings.”
She remembered there was an alleyway between a couple of the buildings on the northern side of the square. If she could recall it with enough detail then she could teleport to it without being seen. “There’s a dark alley on the northern side of the town square. We wouldn’t be seen teleporting in right there.”
“You know what to do then,” said Walter. “Bring it up in your mind, and I’ll be able to follow you there. And remember, you can do it.”
Melina nodded. She closed her eyes and tried her best to recall what the alley looked like. It was between two older brick buildings, and because of the large, overhanging roofs, there wasn’t much light. It was also a narrow alleyway, just big enough for a small car to enter. Once she thought she had a good enough image, she started to chant in her mind. Teleport to the alleyway, teleport to the alleyway.
She knew she had teleported by the sudden sound of cars driving by. She opened her eyes and saw that Walter was already there with her. “Give me a minute,” she said as she leaned against the side of one of the buildings and rubbed her forehead.
When Melina’s headache finally went away, she and Walter took off on a walk around town. First, he took her to a few crowded places so she could practice on amplifying one person’s thoughts while shutting all the others out. He wanted her to be able to focus solely on Lee’s thoughts wherever she was with him. Walter would pick out a person, and Melina would single out his or her thoughts successfully every time. She still couldn’t shut out all the other people’s thoughts completely, though, no matter how hard she tried. She was becoming frustrated and was also starting to experience frequent headaches, so Walter suggested they take a short break for lunch. They decided on a small café that didn’t have many people in it so Melina could relax a bit.
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