Empower

by Ashley Stambaugh

  Melina stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She followed Tessa into the kitchen and sat down next to her at the table. “What happened, Tess?”

  Tessa shook her head. “I… I can’t really remember. I think I might have blacked out again.”

  Melina’s forehead creased in concern. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “Um… I came back here on my lunch break, but when I was about to leave to head back to the store I started to feel unwell. I went up to my room to lay down for a bit, and I must’ve fallen asleep. I remember waking up once, and I was going to text Gwen, but then…” Tessa’s brows scrunched together as if she was thinking hard to recall what happened next. “Then I can’t remember. I only woke up again just a few minutes ago. I thought I heard someone scream outside.”

  Melina nodded. “That was me. I, um…” An image of Maura popped up in her mind and she quickly shook it away, deciding not to tell Tessa. “I thought I saw something, but I didn’t.”

  “Oh,” Tessa said as she lowered her gaze to the floor, still appearing a bit dazed.

  Melina tilted her head to the side as she looked at her friend. She wished she knew what was going on with her. That way she would know how to help. Because right now, all she could do was…

  Melina’s thoughts trailed off as her eyes came to rest on Tessa’s neck. Two dark red marks were all she could see because of the turtleneck sweater her friend was wearing, but those two marks were all she needed to see.

  “Tessa, are those burn marks on your neck?” She leaned over and reached her hand out to touch the marks. Tessa immediately tried to shove her hand away, but it wasn’t before Melina’s fingertips had started to glow to try to heal them. Melina yanked her hand back. She had her answer. They were burn marks from a Noxin demon.

  That was the second time now that Tessa had apparently blacked out, and from the very first time, Melina had thought that Noxin demons were involved. She shook her head. Why hadn’t she thought to look for burn marks sooner?

  “Tess, I’m sorry,” she said. “But those marks are from a Noxin demon. Do you remember being attacked?”

  Tessa’s eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened as her mood suddenly switched from confused to angry. “Are you trying to say that I’m stupid or something? I think I would remember if I was attacked by a demon.”

  Melina sucked in a deep breath and held up her hands. “There’s no need to get defensive. I was just asking a question.”

  Tessa crossed her arms over her chest. “No. I don’t remember being attacked.”

  Melina’s brows scrunched together as she looked down at the floor. They must’ve been in stealth mode at first, but once they attacked they would’ve been knocked out of their stealth mode, and she should’ve seen them. So why hadn’t she?

  Melina lifted her head and looked back over at the marks on Tessa’s neck. She didn’t want to use her demon powers, but Tessa was her friend, and she wanted to help her. She swallowed and then said, “If you’ll let me, I can heal those marks on your neck.”

  “I don’t need help from you and your special powers,” Tessa spat.

  Melina jumped slightly at her friend’s raised tone. “I just want to help—”

  “I said I don’t want your help!” Tessa yelled as she glared at Melina. “Little miss perfect with your perfect boyfriend and your perfect life.”

  Melina’s brow furrowed as her mouth fell open, her eyes filled with hurt. “My life is far from perfect. You even told me the other night how unfair you thought it all was for me. You also said that you would always be there for me, that you weren’t going anywhere.” A lone tear slid down her cheek. “What’s happened to you?”

  Tessa let out a low growl and her eyes turned pitch black. Within an instant they were back to normal. Melina gasped. No. It was happening to Tessa, too.

  “I want you to leave,” Tessa said through gritted teeth.

  Melina shook her head. “Tess, please.”

  Tessa shot up from her chair and screamed in Melina’s face. “I said leave!”

  Melina jumped up from her seat and rushed over to the front door. She gave one more quick glance back to Tessa and then flung the door open and ran outside. Once she made it to her Jeep, she hopped inside and took off down the road, tears streaming down her face.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Melina had only made it a few blocks away when she abruptly pulled over to the side of the street and slammed on her brakes. She threw her Jeep into park and covered her face with her hands as she started to sob. Images of Tessa’s eyes turning black and the burn marks on her neck swirled through Melina’s mind. She tried to push them away, but they were only replaced with images of the haunting black eyes of the angry woman in the coffee shop and the feuding couple in the street.

  She shook her head and let out a frustrated cry. The Noxin demons were responsible for all of it. They had to be. The burn marks on Tessa’s neck were proof that they were involved. But what had they done, or what were they possibly still doing, to those people and her friend?

  A few minutes passed before she was able to calm herself down. She took in a couple of deep breaths and then grabbed a tissue from her purse and wiped the tears from under her eyes. As she continued to think about all of the people, she tried to figure out what they all had in common, if anything.

  She didn’t know when the two people who had run out in front of her in the street had become overtaken with anger, but it seemed as if the woman in the coffee shop had turned almost instantly. Melina remembered going to get a cappuccino one morning and the woman had been nice and polite, and then the very next day she had witnessed her screaming and lashing out at everyone in the place. But it hadn’t been an overnight change with Tessa. No, the jealousy and anger in her had built up slowly.

  I wonder why? she thought. Why did the change happen so quickly with the woman in the coffee shop and so slowly with Tessa? What are the Noxin demons doing?

  The longer she sat there and thought about it, the more frustrated she became. She couldn’t figure it out. Hopefully Walter and the other angels were getting somewhere and would soon have some answers for her.

  She drove away from the curb and took off down the street. About fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot behind her store and apartment. She turned off her Jeep but didn’t immediately exit the vehicle.

  Ever since she had come home to Adelia waiting for her a couple of days ago, she was paranoid that the fallen angel might be out there somewhere in the dark again. She inhaled deeply, hopped out of her Jeep, and hurried over to the back door. After fumbling around with her keys, she finally unlocked the back door and dashed inside and up to her apartment. Once inside, she leaned back against the door and exhaled.

  “Whew! Okay. No more supernatural stuff tonight. Please.”

  She closed her eyes and let herself relax for a little bit. After several seconds, she went and put her purse and coat away and then sat down on her bed to call Lee.

  “Please pick up. Please pick up.” He had said he was going to be helping one of his friends tonight, but she really needed someone to talk to. Her emotions were still high, and Lee was always good at saying comforting things just at the right time.

  After a few rings it went to his voice mail. She tried again, just in case he maybe hadn’t gotten to his phone in time, but it still went to voice mail. A heavy sigh escaped her as she set her phone down on her nightstand and lay back against her pillow. She knew he had said that he might not pick up if he was really busy, but now she had no one to talk to. Dean and Tessa didn’t want to speak to her, Gwen was probably asleep already and most likely wouldn’t understand, and Walter was busy. She felt so alone.

  She closed her eyes and turned onto her side. As she nestled into her pillow she could feel herself nodding off, but she didn’t do anything to stop it.

  The next morning, Melina awoke with a terrible fright. She gasped out loud as she shot up in bed and looked frantic
ally around the room. It was too dark to see much, so she reached over and turned on the lamp on her nightstand. Nothing.

  “It was just a dream,” she said out loud to herself. “Just a dream.” She lay back against her headboard and tried to relax, but her eye caught something that made her entire body tense up again. “Or maybe it wasn’t.”

  She slowly sat back up as her gaze followed a black mist-like matter that hung in her doorway and floated out into the hall. Adelia. She was really there, in her apartment.

  Melina swallowed hard as she stared in shock at the black mist. What do I do? she thought, trying not to panic. But before she even had time to think, a tall, slender figure stepped slowly into her room.

  Melina’s light shield immediately burst out around her as she came face to face with Adelia. The last time Melina had seen Adelia, she had been filled with rage and had tried to strangle her to death. Her cold stare and tensed expression told Melina that she wasn’t much happier now.

  “Hello, Melina,” Adelia said in an icy tone.

  Melina scooted farther back against her headboard. Adelia’s eyes were dark, and her face and body had a sunken appearance. With her tattered black robes and black aura, she looked just as terrifying as she had the last time Melina had seen her.

  “What do you want?” Melina asked, a slight tremble in her voice.

  Adelia didn’t respond as she continued to glare at Melina. A few moments of silence passed, and then she cocked her head to the side as her expression changed from angry to curious. “Why don’t you hate me?”

  Melina frowned. “What?”

  “It’s obvious you’re scared of me,” Adelia said as she gestured at her. “And I think you’re somewhat confused by me. But you don’t hate me.”

  Melina cleared her throat and shook her head. “No. I don’t hate you.”

  “Why?” Adelia asked. “I’ve tried to kill you twice now.”

  Melina gave her a blank stare. She wasn’t sure what to say at first. “I, um… I don’t know.”

  Adelia’s forehead creased and her eyes narrowed. “You don’t know? What do you mean you don’t know?” Her face turned red as she lunged at Melina, stopping only inches away from her protective light shield. “I am an angry, hate-filled being who has fallen away from the light and would like nothing more than to see you destroyed!” she yelled through clenched teeth. “Yet you don't hate me?”

  Melina swallowed. “I guess it’s because… I think that maybe there’s still hope for you.”

  Adelia’s hard expression softened as she started to laugh. “Hope? For me?” She let out another heartfelt chuckle. “Once an angel has become a Fallen, there’s no going back. There’s no hope for me. Especially when I wanted to become a Fallen.”

  “There’s always hope,” Melina said as she strained to keep up her light shield.

  Adelia let out a frustrated scream and then took in deep, heaving breaths as she sneered at Melina. “You should hate me.” A lone tear slid down her cheek, and then she vanished, leaving behind a swirl of black mist.

  Melina exhaled a heavy breath as she let down her light shield. As scary as that whole incident was, it was also confusing. Had Adelia been crying right before she teleported away? Why hadn’t she tried to kill her?

  And then there was her light shield. It had looked like white flames again. When she had first noticed it when Maura had attacked her at Tessa’s, she had thought that it was an effect of her anger that came from her demon powers. But she hadn’t been angry just now, and there had been no burning sensation racing throughout her body. Did that mean that the physical display of her powers was always going to look like that now?

  She sat on the edge of her bed as she continued to process everything that just happened. After a few minutes had passed, she leaned over and snatched her phone off her nightstand to call Lee. He had been busy helping his friend last night and hadn’t answered when she had called, but hopefully he would now.

  She dialed his number and patiently waited for him to pick up, but just like last night, it rang and rang and then went to voice mail. After leaving him a quick message asking him to call her back, she hung up and let out a defeated sigh. No one was available to talk her through the experience she’d just had, to calm her down and comfort her. Once again, she felt all alone.

  She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost seven o’clock. The bookstore would need to be opened in an hour, so she made her way into the bathroom to take a quick shower. About forty-five minutes later, she was dressed and ready for the day. She grabbed her phone and snatched a banana off the kitchen counter before heading downstairs to open the store. She was pretty sure Tessa wasn’t going to be coming in, and Gwen wouldn’t be there until noon, so she would have to handle the store all by herself that morning.

  The first hour was really busy, which Melina was thankful for. The more people who were in the store, the less likely Adelia was to return. Luckily the customers kept coming, and before she knew it, Gwen had arrived.

  “Hi, Gwen,” Melina said as she met her by the front desk.

  “Hello,” Gwen said in a soft voice.

  Melina turned to look at her and saw that her expression was slack, and she had a touch of sadness in her eyes. She reached out and touched Gwen’s hand. “Hey, are you all right?”

  Gwen didn’t respond at first as she stared down at her hands. Several seconds passed before she finally spoke up. “My husband and I never had kids.”

  Melina nodded, but she was a bit confused. She knew Gwen and Archie didn’t have kids, so why was she telling her that? She remained silent to allow Gwen to continue.

  “It wasn’t because we couldn’t have them, though,” Gwen said. “We just decided we didn’t want them. Sometimes I wonder if that was a mistake.”

  Melina just stared at her. She didn’t know what to say. Gwen had never talked about why she didn’t have children.

  “Archie and I have always loved to travel and see the world, and we enjoyed being able to pick up and leave whenever we wanted to. We thought it was best being just us two. But now I wonder if we were being selfish.”

  “Oh Gwen,” Melina said as she squeezed her hand. “You weren’t being selfish. You just—”

  “Don’t try to make me feel better,” Gwen said as she pulled her hand away. “Nothing will make me feel better.” She wiped a tear away from her cheek and walked off to restock some books.

  Melina stared after her, dumbfounded. What was going on with her?

  Chapter Eighteen

  For the rest of the day, Melina was distracted. She kept looking over her shoulder, wondering if Adelia, Maura, or a demon might show up, but then she also couldn’t stop checking on Gwen. Her attitude hadn’t changed much over the course of the afternoon. She was a little more talkative with the customers, but her gloomy demeanor was still there.

  When it was time to close the store, Gwen told Melina she would come in early the next morning to help since Tessa probably wouldn’t show, but other than that she left without a word. Melina was so confused. She finished shutting everything down and then went back up to her apartment to call Lee. She hadn’t heard back from him all day.

  She dialed his number, but once again he didn’t answer. That was odd. Maybe she should try to call his jewelry store. It was open for another hour, and one of his employees might be able to get a hold of him for her. She punched the number into her phone, and a cheery young woman answered after only the first ring.

  “Good evening. Atwood Jewelers.”

  “Hello,” Melina said. “Is Lee Atwood available?”

  “No, I’m sorry. He’s not in today.”

  “Oh. Well, um, this is Melina Rowe. I’m Lee’s girlfriend.”

  “Melina! Hi. Lee talks about you all the time. My name’s Becky. It’s nice to finally talk to you.”

  “You too, Becky. Is he sick or something?”

  “I don’t think so. I was just told that one of the managers received an e-mail f
rom him, and all it said was that he wasn’t coming in.”

  “Huh,” Melina said, now confused. “Okay, well thank you for your help.”

  “No problem,” Becky said. “Have a good night.”

  “You too.” Melina ended the call and then went to grab her coat and purse. She slipped her coat on as she made her way down the stairs and out the back door to her Jeep. Hopefully Lee was at his apartment because that’s where she was headed.

  She pulled out of the parking lot and drove off down the street. If he’s not sick then I wonder why he didn't show up at his store today? Did he have some sort of emergency? Her mind continued to wander until she noticed that the low fuel light had come on.

  “Great,” she muttered and then started to think about where the closest gas station was. After a couple more blocks she spotted one up on her right. She pulled into the station and parked her Jeep in front of a pump and hopped out. As she removed the nozzle and started to fill her tank, she heard people yelling at the pump in front of her. She turned her head in their direction and saw two red-faced men, one a bit older than the other, screaming at each other.

  “What in the world?” She continued to watch them as she tried to figure out what they were arguing about.

  “I was going to pull into this spot and you know it!” the older man yelled.

  The younger man threw his arms out to his sides. “What? I was here way before you were.”

  Melina glanced to her right and saw a truck parked over to the side with its driver’s door wide open. The older man must’ve jumped out to confront the other man. She shook her head, confused. All of this screaming and shouting over something so trivial? Besides, the older man could’ve just pulled in front of the pump where she currently was, so why was he so irritated by that spot being taken?

  She looked back over at the men who were still shouting in each other’s faces. All of a sudden, the older man grabbed the younger man by the throat and started squeezing his neck. The young man clutched at his throat, gasping for air.