Empower

by Ashley Stambaugh

  “Wow,” Melina said as she slowly shook her head. “So how many of them do you think are here?”

  “Well,” Walter said, “the fact that they seem to be acting this way toward you no matter where you are means that they’re probably all over town.”

  Melina swallowed hard then took in a deep breath. “Do you think this is happening in other places, too? Like in neighboring cities or in different parts of the country?”

  “I don’t know,” Walter said. “We haven’t had any reports of strange activity anywhere else, but we can’t be certain until we’ve done some more investigating.”

  Melina stood up from the couch and started to pace the room. Maybe she should call Dean. She hadn’t seen him since he had gone back home to Canada after helping her through her struggle with her demons powers and the whole situation with Maura, but before he had left he had said that he wanted to help out if the demons started anything. And it would also be beneficial to have someone else who could see the demons. Noxin demons usually moved too fast for ordinary humans to see, but Dean possessed angel powers like Melina did, so he could see them all the time. Unless they were in stealth mode. Melina was the only one who could see them in that state, thanks to the demon powers she had absorbed.

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Walter said, again picking up on her thoughts. “See if he’s noticed anything up in his area.”

  Melina stopped pacing and looked at him.

  “Sorry,” he said with a light shrug. “Habit.”

  “No, no, it’s fine,” she said, briefly waving her hand at him. “I agree with you. We need to know where else the Noxin demons possibly are. But having Dean check up in his area won’t help us a whole lot. The demons could be in different cities all over the world. And it would be almost impossible to look for them all over the world.”

  Walter shook his head. “Difficult? Yes. But not impossible.”

  Melina tilted her head to the side and gave him a curious look.

  “I know that even with your angel powers you still haven’t seen too many other angels, but believe me, there are a lot more of us than you realize.” He paused for a second to clear his throat and then continued. “Besides guiding angels and guardian angels, I know that Henry mentioned angels of life and death to you, as well as angels of inspiration, or muses as you refer to them.”

  She nodded as she sat back down on the couch with him. “Yeah, I’ve actually seen an angel of inspiration and an angel of life, remember? I asked you about them.”

  “I remember. But there are three other kinds of angels that haven’t been mentioned to you. Ones who aren’t used to being seen by humans at all. But it may be time to call on their help.”

  Melina leaned in toward him, her curiosity piqued. “What kind of angels are they? How can they help?”

  “Well, there are the defender angels, the warrior angels, and the angels of concealment,” Walter said. “The defender angels defend The Realm from evil attacks, so they don’t usually leave from there. But if humans are ever attacked by evil then that’s where the warrior angels come in. They come to Earth to fight off the demons and protect the humans from evil attacks.”

  “And the angels of concealment help to conceal… what, exactly?”

  “The angels of concealment come to Earth to conceal the battles between angels and demons from the humans,” Walter said. “They can also erase a human’s memory if need be.”

  Melina’s brow creased. “Then how come they weren’t there in the park when we had that big battle with Adelia and the trio of Noxins?”

  He gave her a conciliatory smile. “As traumatizing as that experience was for you, that wasn’t a very big battle. When warrior angels get involved, it’s big. The demons have to have started some sort of massive assault on humans. There are hundreds, sometimes thousands, of angels and demons battling against each other. And the angels of concealment weren’t needed in the park because no one saw any of the angels or demons.”

  Melina nodded. Angels could only be seen when they wanted to be seen, and again, the demons moved too fast to be seen. Suddenly her brows furrowed in confusion. “But wouldn’t that always be the case then? That humans wouldn’t be able to see the angels or demons?”

  Walter folded his hands in his lap and sighed. “Unfortunately, no. Not when there are that many of them all together, and especially if the battles get out of hand. The demons have more of a risk of being seen than the angels, but we can’t afford to take any chances. Humans…” He paused for a moment as he looked at her. “Well, most humans aren’t ready to see that, and it would only cause unnecessary fear and chaos.”

  Melina shifted her gaze to the floor as Walter’s words sunk in. She hadn’t wanted to believe any of it was real at first either, but she hadn’t had much of a choice. Her life had been in danger, so she’d had to force herself through the initial shock and disbelief in order to survive. But Tessa, Gwen, and Lee didn’t have to believe in any of it if they didn’t want to, but they did. For her. And then there was Dean. She remembered how he had told her that all of the supernatural stuff with the angels and demons hadn’t been much of a shock to him because he had always believed they existed.

  She could feel a slight pressure under her eyes as tears began to build. She had some of the most accepting and supportive friends. Especially Tessa. She blinked her eyes a few times and then looked back up at Walter.

  “Why do you think they’re after Tessa? What could they possibly want from her?”

  Walter slowly shook his head. “Other than the fact that she’s your best friend, I don’t know. It wouldn’t be the first time the Noxin demons have targeted someone close to you.”

  She folded her arms around herself and hunched her shoulders forward. “No, it wouldn’t,” she mumbled as she thought back to how Maura had stolen Lee’s soul to try to force her to join the demons. But she had been pretty clear when she had told Maura no, so why would they be targeting her friends now?

  “Do you think that’s it?” she asked Walter. “That they’re going after Tessa simply to get back at me for not helping them, with no other agenda?”

  “We are talking about demons here,” he said. “Being vicious without a reason or agenda behind it wouldn’t be out of character. And you did make Maura pretty mad.”

  Melina sighed loudly. “I just wish I knew what they were up to so I could try to help stop it.”

  “We all do,” Walter said. “And that’s why I must leave you now.” He gave her knee a quick pat and then stood up from the couch. “It’s going to take the help of a lot of angels to figure out if the Noxin demons are congregating anywhere else in the world, so we need to get started now.”

  She stood to join him. “You really think they’ll all help, even though searching for Noxin demons isn’t their actual job?”

  “Of course,” Walter said. “All angels help one another, especially when it comes to demons.”

  She tilted her head. “If all of you angels help one another, then isn’t there a possibility that other types of demons will help the Noxins?”

  Walter shook his head. “That’s not likely to happen. You see, it’s in our nature to help others, where demons don’t help anyone other than themselves, even amongst their own kind. That’s why it’s strange to see them working together now.”

  Melina nodded. “Well, then I guess the more angels we have on our side, the better. Hopefully we can outnumber them. I know Dean wants to help, so I’ll try to get a hold of him.”

  “Sounds good,” Walter said as he turned and walked toward the middle of the room.

  “Wait,” Melina said, taking a step closer to him. “There’s one more thing before you go.”

  Walter turned back around to face her. “Yes?”

  She paused for a minute then said, “When I was in the club, two of the Noxin demons heard my thoughts.”

  “The powers may be weak in the demons, but they can still use them to some degree.”

  �
��The two demons were in their human forms,” she said.

  Walter’s forehead creased.

  “How were they able to use the angel powers in their human forms if they can’t even use their own demonic powers in that form?”

  He slowly shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  Melina crossed her arms. “I know I keep saying this, but I really, really wish we knew what was going on.”

  Walter stepped forward and laid his hand on her shoulder. “Once we get some help from the other angels, we’ll find out what the demons are up to. Trust me.”

  She nodded.

  “Now,” he said, taking a few steps back. “I must be going. Stay safe, and I’ll be in touch.” He held up his hand to tip the brim of his hat to her, and with a flash of white light, he was gone.

  Chapter Eight

  When Walter arrived back in The Realm, he immediately reverted back into his angel form before heading into his temple to find Phinneas, Cecil, and Helene. They had already alerted all of the other angels that they might need their help with the Noxin demons, but that was when they thought they were ahead of the game and still had some time. They didn’t have any more time now. The demons had already started their plan, and they were one step behind.

  He hurried up the spiral staircase to the second floor where he found the other elders sitting together. “It’s started,” he said.

  Their eyes widened as they all stood in unison.

  “Do you know for sure?” Phinneas asked as he took a step forward. “What’s happened?”

  “You should all sit back down,” Walter said as he walked over to join them. Once he was seated next to them, he recalled everything Melina had told him.

  “This isn’t good,” Phinneas said as he ran a hand through his hair.

  “No,” Walter said. “And to make matters worse, Melina said that two of the Noxins were able to hear her thoughts while they were in their human forms.”

  “Do you think that means the powers are stronger in them than we thought?” Cecil asked.

  “No,” Phinneas said as he rubbed his chin. “And it doesn't really make things worse either.”

  All of the elders gave him a curious look.

  “Think about it,” Phinneas said. “The majority of the time, we’re in our human forms when we use our powers, so it makes sense that the demons would have to be in their human forms to use them as well.”

  Walter raised his eyebrows. “So that may actually work to our advantage then. If the Noxin demons have to be in their human forms then they won’t be as strong as they would be in their demonic forms.”

  “Yes, but it's still a very bad situation,” Phinneas said. “I think it’s time we talked to Victor.”

  “You think it’s already that serious?” Helene asked. “We don't want to jump the gun with Victor.”

  “We’re not jumping the gun,” Phinneas said. “We’ve already fallen behind, so we need to act now.”

  “What’s our plan?” Walter asked.

  “Well,” Phinneas said, turning toward him, “if you want to come with me to talk to Victor then Cecil and Helene can go talk to all the other elders and ask them how many of their angels they can spare. We need as many as possible to scour the earth to see if the Noxin demons are flocking together in any other cities.”

  “Is it wise to leave our temple unattended?” Cecil asked.

  “All the guiding angels know there’s something going on with the Noxin demons, so it wouldn’t be odd for all of us elders to be gone,” Phinneas said. “But we’ll leave another guiding angel here to tell the others where we are just in case. Besides, we need to get things going as quickly as possible, and that’s going to take all of us right now.”

  Cecil nodded.

  “Once you’ve spoken to all the other elders and gotten them on board,” Phinneas said to Cecil and Helene, “meet us at the summoning stone. We’ll be there as soon as we’re done talking with Victor.”

  “We’ll leave now then,” Cecil said. He and Helene both stood up from the table and teleported out of the temple.

  Phinneas turned to Walter. “Let’s get another angel up here real quick and then head over to see Victor.”

  Walter nodded then stood and followed Phinneas down the stairs. Once they had another guiding angel to sit in their place during their absence, they quickly teleported over to the warrior angels’ temple. It was a fairly large temple, surrounded by a soft red glow. Walter let out a long breath as he eyed the front entrance.

  He had never spoken to Victor before, but he had definitely heard of him. Victor’s reputation preceded him, and while it wasn’t a bad reputation, it was certainly an intimidating one. The warrior angels, along with the defender angels, had a different setup than all of the other types of angels. They were both organized similar to the humans’ military with the angels having different ranks. Victor was the one and only elder of the warrior angels and acted as their general.

  As they walked through the front door, Walter gazed around at the warrior angels. They were all tough and menacing looking, but some were tall and lean. Others were shorter and stockier. Not all of them were big and muscular like the guardian angels were, which made sense. Warrior angels all worked together to fight against demons in all kinds of different scenarios, so they needed various strengths and abilities. Walter turned back to Phinneas just as a tall, muscular angel approached them.

  “Phinneas,” the warrior angel said. “It’s been a long time.”

  “Too short if you ask me,” Phinneas said with a slight grin. “Not that it isn't nice to see you.”

  The tall angel chuckled as he pushed a lock of his dark brown hair back away from his forehead. “I understand. Circumstances usually aren't the best when you have to come ask us for help.” He looked between Phinneas and Walter. “That is why you’re here, right?”

  “Unfortunately,” Phinneas said and gestured over to Walter. “Ivan, this is Walter. He’s the new elder guiding angel.”

  “Ah,” Ivan said as he raised his eyebrows.

  Phinneas looked back at Walter. “Ivan is Victor’s lieutenant.”

  Walter stepped forward and shook Ivan’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Ivan said. He turned around and motioned over his shoulder. “Follow me. I’ll take you to Victor.”

  Walter and Phinneas followed Ivan up a wide, mahogany staircase. When they reached the second floor, they walked straight ahead and stopped in front of a pair of large, wooden doors. Ivan stepped forward and knocked three times.

  “Enter,” a loud voice boomed from the other side.

  Ivan gave them both a quick nod and then raised his hands up and placed one on each door. With a small grunt he started to push, and the heavy doors swung slowly inward.

  Walter looked into the spacious room and saw two male angels sitting next to each other at a large, circular wood table. The one on the right had a hard look to him, with bulging muscles, dark brown hair that came down to his chin, and a neatly trimmed beard. The one on the left was a lean African American, with short black hair and piercing dark eyes. They were both tough and menacing looking and had an intimidating demeanor, but luckily the differing colors of their auras made it easy for Walter to tell that the one on the right was Victor. He was surrounded by the soft red glow of the warrior angels. The one on the left was a defender angel, surrounded by a light orange glow.

  Ivan stepped into the room, with Walter and Phinneas following behind, and approached the table. “Victor. Byron.” He nodded in each of their directions and then looked back at Victor. “Phinneas is here, along with Walter, the new elder guiding angel. They need our assistance.”

  Victor leaned forward in his chair as he looked behind Ivan. “Phinneas, it’s good to see you again.”

  Phinneas gave him a short nod.

  Victor then turned to Walter. “Nice to meet you, Walter.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Walter said as he took a nervous step forwa
rd.

  “This is Byron.” Victor motioned to the angel sitting next to him. “He’s the elder of the defender angels.”

  Walter and Byron nodded at each other.

  “So it’s true then,” Victor said as he looked back at Phinneas. “Adelia really is gone.”

  “She’s no longer an elder guiding angel,” replied Phinneas. “She’s become a Fallen.”

  Victor raised his eyebrows. “A Fallen?” He sat in silence for a moment as he stroked his beard. “So she’s in league with demons now?”

  “She’s been in league with demons long before she became a Fallen,” Phinneas said.

  “Really?” Victor looked at Phinneas with a mixed expression of awe and concern.

  “Yes,” Phinneas said. “Her actions are actually a big part of why we’ve come to talk to you. It’s Noxin demons. They’ve been planning something for quite some time, with Adelia’s help, and now they’ve put that plan into action. It’s a serious situation, and we need to act as soon as possible.”

  Victor furrowed his eyebrows. “Noxin demons? That is serious.” He turned to Byron. “Will you excuse us, please, while we discuss this matter further?”

  “Of course.” Byron started to stand up from his chair, but Phinneas stopped him.

  “No, don’t go,” Phinneas said. “We need to talk to you, too.”

  Byron nodded and sat back down.

  Victor glanced back and forth between Walter and Phinneas and gestured at the empty chairs around the table. “Sit.”

  Walter and Phinneas both sat down next to each other, and Ivan sat next to Victor.

  “Now,” Victor said. “Tell us about the Noxin demons. What’s going on?”

  “Well,” Phinneas said, “I should probably start at the beginning so you get the whole picture.” He sighed as he laid his forearms on the table and folded his hands together. “I did some things I’m not particularly proud of, so please hear me out.”

  He took in a deep breath and then began telling Victor and the others about the first incident of a human absorbing guiding angel powers, or the first incident he was aware of, and how Adelia had brainwashed him into believing that they were abominations and needed to be destroyed. He then explained how Adelia had been working with the Noxin demons to have them steal the humans’ souls and how Melina was the first unique human to survive.