Collide

by Ashley Stambaugh

  Walter pretended like he didn’t notice her wipe away the tear and went along with her change of subject so as not to embarrass her, but he knew there was more to her feelings. “Our charges usually figure out what we are on their own, but it’s after we’ve already helped them. You can tell Lee before that, although it may backfire on you instead of help you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s clear that Lee has romantic feelings for you. Are your feelings for him romantic as well?”

  Melina’s eyes turned toward the floor, and she started to bite her lip. After a moment of silence, she finally responded. “Yes,” she said as she looked back up at Walter, her eyes pooling with tears. “My feelings for him have started to become romantic. That’s bad, isn’t it?”

  He didn’t answer her question immediately. Instead, he answered it with a couple of his own questions. “You were about to tell him the truth, weren’t you? When you found out that he was going to see it for himself on camera, you wanted to tell him first, didn’t you? But you didn’t get the chance to because of your unexpected departure.”

  Melina nodded. “I thought it would be the best option, you know, to come clean.”

  “Yes, it probably is the best option, but it’s going to complicate things.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, it would’ve complicated things either way, but having romantic feelings involved is going to make it even more complicated.” He scratched his head and was about to continue when Melina took the words right from his mouth.

  “He’s going to think that I was lying to him, that I only pretended to care for him to save myself from the powers, isn’t he?”

  Walter gave her a small nod. “He might also think that the only reason you’re coming forward now is because you realized your confrontation with the demons was caught on tape, and then you’ll lose his trust.”

  Melina stared back down at the floor again as she started to fidget with her fingers. “And if I lose his trust, then he won’t want my help anymore. I won’t be able to gain complete control of my powers.”

  Walter’s face saddened. “No,” he said in a low voice. He started to get choked up a bit, so he took a moment to clear his throat and then finished by saying, “I’m afraid you won’t.”

  Melina closed her eyes and the pools of tears were set loose to fall freely down her cheeks.

  “Melina, I’m only trying to prepare you for the worst. Lee may not react that way, but if he does, you can still find another way to help him. The only way we’ll know is if you go to talk to him, and the sooner the better.” Walter tried to give her a comforting smile and then lightly touched her arm. “Go to bed for now, though. You left in such a manner that I think you and Lee both need some rest before you spring everything on him.”

  Melina nodded as they both stood up from the couch. “You’re right,” she said. “But I’m not sure how much sleep I’ll actually get.”

  “I think you’re a little more drained than you realize.” He paused and thought about the information he'd recently learned from Cecil and Helene. Now wasn’t the time to tell her. She had enough to deal with. “I’ll give you a few minutes to get ready for bed and then I’ll be on my way. I’m going to keep trying to track down Phinneas.”

  Melina nodded as she made her way into her bedroom. Several minutes later she peeked her head out and said, “Good night, Walter.”

  “Good night,” he said, tipping his hat toward her. “As always, call me if you need anything.” He watched her walk back into her bedroom and a second later he was gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Melina woke the next morning still feeling exhausted. Even though she had fallen asleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow, it had only lasted for a couple of hours. Her anxiety had gotten the best of her, and she had tossed and turned the rest of the night. She dragged herself out of bed and spent almost an hour in the bathroom, taking a shower and getting ready for the day.

  After eating breakfast, she dug her cell phone out of her purse and pulled up Lee’s number. She stared at his name and then made herself push the call button. It rang and rang and rang before going to voicemail. The clock on her microwave said it was a little past eight o’clock. He probably liked to sleep in on Saturdays.

  She thought she might have better luck in an hour or two, so she walked over to the couch in her living room and sat down to find a movie. It didn’t help to pass the time like she'd thought it would, though. She couldn’t even concentrate on it as she found herself glancing at the wall clock every few minutes. When an hour had finally passed, she picked up her phone and tried to call him again. And just like earlier, it went to his voicemail.

  She wasn’t going to give up, though. Every hour on the hour she called his number, but each time she was unsuccessful with getting him to answer. Around one o’clock in the afternoon she finally gave up on calling him and made her way out to her Jeep.

  “He can’t avoid me forever,” she said aloud to herself as she climbed inside and took off down the main road. “Especially if I show up on his doorstep.”

  Several minutes later she arrived in front of Lee’s apartment building. She parked her Jeep and walked up to the front entrance. As she approached, she realized there was a different doorman standing outside.

  “Good afternoon, miss,” the man said as he nodded at her. He was an older man with short, salt and pepper colored hair.

  “Um, hi,” replied Melina.

  “Is something wrong?” the man asked.

  She shook her head. “No, I was just expecting to see Barry.”

  “Oh, well, Barry doesn’t work the weekends. My name’s Leroy.” He gave her a warm smile and extended his hand out to her.

  “Nice to meet you,” said Melina as she briefly shook his hand.

  “Who are you here to see, miss?”

  “I’m here to see Lee Atwood.”

  “Ah, Mr. Atwood. What did you say your name was?” He eyed her carefully as he waited for her response.

  “Oh, I didn’t. But it’s Melina Rowe.” She smiled at the man, hoping he would say that Lee was there and let her in. Her hope quickly faded, though, when the man’s thoughts fired up in her head.

  So she’s the young lady he told me about. Hmm… not sure why he wouldn’t want to see her. She’s pretty and seems to be nice.

  Leroy cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Melina, but Mr. Atwood is unavailable right now.”

  Melina’s forehead creased, partly from the pain that had resumed in her head again and partly from suspicion. “Is he unavailable because he’s busy, or is he unavailable because he’s not in?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m not allowed to tell you if he’s in or not.”

  “Of course,” she said, trying to put an understanding smile on her face. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Leroy. I’ll be going now.”

  “Have a good afternoon,” he said as he tipped his hat toward her.

  Melina turned around and pretended to walk back in the direction of her Jeep. Luckily, she had parked more over to the side of the building, so Leroy wouldn’t know that she wasn’t actually leaving.

  “So Leroy was told to tell me that Lee was unavailable. Hmm… Let’s really see how unavailable he is.” She ducked down behind some nearby bushes, closed her eyes, and repeated in her mind, I want to teleport to Lee’s front door.

  A few seconds later she was there, standing in the hallway outside of Lee’s apartment. The pain in her head was a little worse now but not unbearable, so she walked up to his door, took in a deep breath, and knocked. At first she didn’t hear anything, but a few seconds later she heard footsteps coming closer and closer to the door.

  He is home. I wonder what he’ll think when he sees me standing out here. Please let me in, just please let me in.

  She heard the footsteps come to a halt, so she quickly straightened up and tried to put a smile on her face. A few seconds later, Lee’s voice piped up in her mind.


  Oh wow, it’s her. I don’t even know what to say to her. How did she get up here, though? Leroy was supposed to tell her that I was unavailable.

  Melina felt herself start to fidget when suddenly she heard Lee’s voice again, and now it wasn’t in her head.

  “Melina? How did you get up here?”

  “Um, well,” she stammered. “Does that matter? I really need to talk to you about a few things.”

  Lee didn’t respond.

  “Please, Lee. I know I left in a rush last night, and it’s the second time I’ve run out on you like that, but please let me explain. If you could just let me in—”

  “I watched the footage from my video camera, Melina. And I’ve got to say, I don’t even have the slightest clue as to what it was that I saw. Do you care to maybe explain that first?”

  Melina froze. He already watched the tape? “Oh great. Lee, I can explain that if you’d just let me in.”

  “It seems to me you can get in here all by yourself.”

  Melina sighed as she contemplated her next course of action but then figured why not. He had already seen her light shield on the tape, so it shouldn’t be that much more shocking to see it in person. She closed her eyes and began to chant in her mind that she wanted to teleport into Lee’s apartment.

  A couple of seconds later she was standing in his living room. She was about to walk over to the hallway when the pain in her head skyrocketed, causing her to fall into the nearby wall. Her eyes snapped shut, and she grabbed her head as she slowly slid down to the floor. Lee came running in from the hallway and stopped in the doorway when he saw Melina.

  “What in the world was that?” he asked, sounding out of breath. “I was looking at you standing outside of my door then suddenly you disappear into thin air, and now you’re here in my living room!” He looked at her for a response, when he realized she was in pain. “Melina, are you okay?”

  Melina couldn’t talk at first. The pain had never been so severe before, and it wasn’t just in her head anymore. It was starting to radiate down to the rest of her body. She winced as she struggled to say, “I’m running… out of time.”

  Lee bent down to help her up and walked her over to the couch. “What do you mean you’re running out of time?” he asked as he lowered her down to take a seat.

  “Give me a minute,” she said as she lay back, her eyes still closed.

  “Sure, sure,” said Lee as he started to pace in front of her.

  His mind was racing, and his thoughts quickly filled Melina’s aching head.

  Where do I even begin? I have so many questions to ask her. She clearly needs a moment, though. I need to be patient, but I have so many emotions right now. I’m scared and confused. I’m angry and I’m hurt. I just want to know what’s going on.

  Melina fluttered her eyes open. “Lee,” she whispered. “Please, calm down and have a seat. Really, I think you should be sitting when you hear everything I have to say.”

  He continued to pace. “After what I saw on the videotape last night and then now with your little teleportation act, I think I’d prefer to stand. Are you going to be all right, though?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m not. I’m running out of time.”

  “That’s the second time you’ve said that. Running out of time for what?”

  “To live,” said Melina.

  He stopped pacing and stared down at her. “What? You’re dying?”

  Melina nodded.

  “Are you sick or something?” Lee asked.

  “Not really,” she said. “It’s more like my body is being consumed by something it can’t handle.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I know, I know,” she said as she tried to sit back up. “I’m going to tell you everything, starting from the beginning. But it’s a long story, and it’s one you may not believe at first, so please, please don’t say anything until I’m completely finished.”

  “Okay, I won’t interrupt you. I promise.”

  “Okay,” said Melina. She took in a deep breath and then did her best to tell Lee everything that had happened to her over the past week. She had to pause every now and then to deal with the pain that had now pretty much spread to her entire body, but Lee kept his word and was surprisingly patient.

  When she was finished telling him everything, Lee just stared at her. Then his thoughts started up once more as he began to pace again.

  Everything she said is crazy and can’t possibly be true. Does she really expect me to believe that angels and demons are real? She has to be telling the truth, though. I saw her light shield and the demons on the video footage, and I just saw her teleport mere minutes ago. Her explanation answered most of my questions, but there are still a few more personal ones I’d like to ask. She seems to be finished, so I think I’m in the clear to ask them.

  He stopped in front of her and looked her in the eyes. “So everything that’s happened between us the past week, it was all because you need to help me so that these powers don’t kill you?”

  Melina’s voice caught in her throat as she looked up at Lee with a bit of panic in her eyes. Walter had warned her that Lee would probably feel that way and possibly lose his trust in her. She tried to look as sincere as possible as she said, “It may have started out that way, but I started to care for you almost immediately after meeting you.”

  “But not like I care for you, right? Not with the same intensity?”

  “Lee, I—”

  He held his hand up in the air to silence her. “No, I get it. I should’ve known that you had another agenda, just like the rest of them.”

  “No Lee, I do have feelings for you.” She slowly stood up from the couch, but again he raised his hand up to stop her.

  “Look, you need my help and to do that, I need to allow you to help me. I’m not sure how you’re going to help me, but let’s just stick to that and not complicate things anymore.”

  Melina stared at him, a small amount of hurt in her eyes. Fine, if that’s how he wanted it to be then that’s how it would be. She didn’t have much time left anyway, so maybe it was best to go straight after the problem and not have to worry about feelings or any other secondary factors anymore.

  Suddenly, the pain that was now coursing through her entire body spiked up dramatically, causing her to cry out and fall back onto the couch. Lee rushed over to her, and she could tell he was talking to her, but she couldn’t make out any actual words.

  Henry. I’ve got to call for Henry.

  She knew it would freak Lee out to see Henry, but he was her only hope right now. Her body was too weak to make it out to her Jeep, and she knew teleporting would only increase her pain. And she couldn’t take any more pain.

  “Henry,” she tried to yell. “Henry, please help me!”

  A couple of seconds later a bright yellow light shined throughout the room, and when it diminished, there stood Henry. He rushed over to Melina and picked her up off the couch, ignoring the fact that Lee was even there.

  “Henry,” whispered Melina. “Please, take me home.”

  Henry glanced over at Lee, finally acknowledging him.

  Lee looked back at Henry, his eyes wide, but he finally found his voice. “Please, she needs your help.”

  “What’s happened to her?” Henry asked.

  “She, she said it was her powers,” Lee stammered.

  “That’s not good.” Henry walked over to the damaged window and yanked off the piece of wood that had been put up to cover it. As he dropped it down to the floor, he looked back at Lee. “I’m sorry about your window.” And with that, he and Melina flew through the open space and were gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Henry laid Melina down on her couch and then took a step back, giving her some space.

  “Thank you for not teleporting,” she said without opening her eyes.

  “Of course,” he said. “I figured it would only make your pain worse, am I right?”

  Melina nodded. “Yes,
I can’t take any more pain right now.”

  “What happened to make the pain so unbearable?” he asked. “I knew you were going to Lee’s to talk to him about everything, and when you got there, I saw you teleport in, and then the next thing I see is you in terrible pain.”

  She opened her eyes and tried to sit up a bit. “I’m running out of time. The pain isn’t only in my head anymore. It’s all throughout my body now, and the intensity of it comes and goes in waves.”

  Henry’s eyes grew big. “You’re running out of time? Are you sure? Do you want me to summon Walter so we can ask him?”

  Melina shook her head. “No, I don’t need him to confirm it. I don’t need to deter him from his task again.”

  “Then what should we do?”

  “You’ve done enough,” she said, giving him a weak smile. “And I’m comforted knowing that you’ll be watching over me. But I think I just need to rest right now and try to figure out how I can still help Lee.”

  “Sure,” he said but was hesitant to leave.

  “Really,” said Melina. “I’ll be okay.”

  “Okay, all right.” He gave her a small wave and then disappeared.

  Melina took her coat off and tossed it on the floor. She then grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch, covered herself up, and lay back down and closed her eyes. What was she going to do? Lee seemed to believe her about everything and wasn’t too angry, but he wouldn’t hear her out when she'd tried to tell him that she cared about him as well. Would it have mattered if he had heard her out, though? He seemed to be hurt when he assumed that she didn’t care for him in the same way.

  She lay there and thought about it for a while. They had only known each other for a little over a week, and last night was their first real date, but she felt like they had known each other for much longer. Yes, the feelings were definitely there, and the more and more she thought about it, she knew she felt as strongly as Lee did. How could she get him to believe her, though?