Empower

by Ashley Stambaugh

  “Goodness,” Phinneas said. “I would have never expected that from him.”

  “Me either,” Melina said. “I’m not giving up on him, but right now he won’t come to help.”

  “One of us will go with you then,” Walter said. “We could all take turns. One of us going with you each day for as long as it takes.”

  “But you just said you couldn’t go because the demons would sense you,” Melina said.

  “I know,” Walter said. “But if they only sense one angel as opposed to four then they may not grow suspicious.” He turned and gazed around at the other three elders. “I’m willing to take that risk so she doesn’t have to go out by herself. Are you?”

  Phinneas, Cecil, and Helene all nodded.

  “I can go with her today,” Helene said.

  Melina looked over at her and smiled. “Thank you.”

  Helene nodded.

  “Then that’s settled,” Walter said to Melina. “Noxin demons usually conduct their mischief at nighttime, but you said that Tessa had a blackout after leaving a coffee shop one morning, so in this case I think they’re working all hours of the day. When do you think you can leave with Helene?”

  “I’ll need to wait until Gwen shows up. Then we’ll see,” she said. “She was kind of down in the dumps yesterday, so I need to see how she’s doing today before I leave her alone with the store.”

  “All right,” he said. “We will all go back to The Realm for the time being. Call to Helene when you’re ready.”

  Melina nodded. All four elders stood, and in flashes of white light they were gone.

  About half an hour later, Gwen came walking through the back door.

  Melina waited anxiously for her at the front counter. When she had left last night, she had still been in the same melancholy mood she had been in all day, so Melina wasn’t sure what to expect.

  “Good morning,” Melina said with a nervous smile.

  “Morning,” Gwen replied in a soft tone.

  Melina watched her put her coat and purse away, trying to decipher what sort of mood she was in. She wasn’t really smiling, and she still had that same sadness in her eyes.

  “How are you feeling today?” Melina asked.

  Gwen shrugged. “It’s another day.”

  Melina frowned. That was not the usual happy and optimistic Gwen she knew.

  “I hate to see you so upset, Gwen. Have you talked to Archie about how you’re feeling?”

  Gwen shook her head. “He doesn’t want to hear it.” She let out a sigh and then headed toward the break room. “I’m going to start some coffee.”

  Melina continued to frown as she watched her walk away. Leaving her alone with the store was not going to be an option. Helene would have to wait.

  As the morning went on, Gwen only seemed to grow worse. She wasn’t paying any attention to the customers, and when one person asked her a question, she answered with a dismal, “I don’t know,” and then turned and walked away. When it was close to lunchtime, Melina pulled her aside to try to talk to her again.

  “Are you sure there isn’t something I can do for you?” Melina asked.

  Gwen shook her head.

  “It might help for you to talk about it some more. I’m here to listen.”

  Gwen glanced at her and then looked down toward the floor. “We don’t have any family who live close by, and with us not having any kids, sometimes I feel so alone.” With tears in her eyes, she raised her head back up, and when she looked at Melina her eyes turned black for just a moment and then went back to normal.

  Melina’s breath caught in her throat. Oh no. Not her, too.

  Gwen wiped the tears from her cheeks and started to walk away, but Melina stopped her.

  “Gwen,” she said as she reached out and grabbed her arm.

  Gwen turned to look at her.

  “It’s Friday, and we haven’t been that busy today,” Melina said. “Why don’t you head on home for the weekend? I think I’m going to close the store early.”

  Gwen didn’t put up a fight. “Okay,” she said in a gloomy tone. “I’ll go get my things.”

  A couple of minutes later, Melina watched as Gwen exited through the back door and made her way over to her car. She locked the door behind her and then went to close down the store. After she had turned everything off and locked the front door, she headed up to her apartment. She didn't even make it to her bedroom before she started to cry.

  She lay down on her bed and curled her knees up to her chest. The Noxin demons had gotten to everyone closest to her — Tessa, Lee, and now Gwen. And then there was Dean. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on with him, but as of right now, she couldn’t count on him for any help or support either. The tears continued to stream down her face as she let out a loud sob. Her friends were her support system, and now that support system had been taken from her.

  She closed her eyes and allowed the tears to flow freely down her cheeks.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Melina had unintentionally cried herself to sleep. When she finally woke up, she glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. It was almost three in the afternoon. Crap. She jumped up from her bed and hurried over to the mirror on her dresser. Her hair wasn’t too bad, but her make-up needed some work.

  She grabbed a tissue and gently wiped the black streaks from her cheeks. After brushing on some more blush and powder, she applied a new layer of mascara. She quickly ran a brush through her hair and then headed out to the living room to call to Helene.

  “Helene,” she said as she glanced upward. “It’s Melina. I’m ready to go now.”

  Several seconds later a bright white light flashed throughout Melina’s apartment, and when it diminished, there stood Helene.

  “Hello, Melina.”

  “Hi.”

  “Shall we?”

  Melina nodded and then slipped on her coat and grabbed her purse. They walked down the stairs and exited through the back door.

  “Are you going to be able to handle walking around outside for a while?” Helene asked as Melina shut and locked the door behind them. “I don’t want you to get too cold.”

  Melina gazed around at the thin layer of snow on the ground. “I’ll be fine. Absorbing demons powers has given me a constant internal feeling of warmth.”

  “Ah,” Helene said with a nod. “I remember Walter mentioning that now. That must be sort of nice.”

  “Yeah, it has been,” Melina said as they both started to walk toward the sidewalk. “At least for now. It may be sort of a nuisance during the summertime.”

  They both let out a short laugh and continued walking in silence.

  “So…” Helene said in a gentle tone. “Before we get into full-on demon searching mode, do you feel like telling me why you’ve been crying?”

  Melina’s head snapped to the side. “How did you…”

  Helene gave her a sympathetic grin. “I’ve been helping to guide emotionally troubled humans for hundreds of years now, so I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing when someone has been crying.”

  “Right.” Melina’s cheeks blushed as she looked toward the ground. “It’s the Noxin demons. They’ve gotten to everyone who’s closest to me.”

  Helene tilted her head to the side. “You told us that Tessa and Lee were affected. Is Gwen now, too?”

  Melina’s eyes began to water as she gave her a simple nod. “She’s been so sad lately… I should’ve known. All of the affected people I’ve seen over the past few days have all displayed some negative emotion, but I guess I didn’t think of sadness as being one.”

  “Sadness is sort of a tricky emotion,” Helene said. “When most negative emotions are displayed by a person, they also elicit a negative response from other people. But when someone is sad, others don't normally react negatively to him. Most people tend to be sympathetic.”

  “That’s true,” Melina said as she ran her knuckle under her eyes. “I never thought of it like that.”

  “Th
at’s why you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself for not suspecting anything with Gwen.” Helene reached over and gently squeezed Melina’s arm.

  “Yeah,” Melina said. “But now I have no one.” She shoved her hands into her coat pockets and shook her head. “When I was trying to overcome the demon powers, I finally saw what a support system I had in my friends and realized how much I needed them instead of trying to do everything on my own. And now they’ve been taken from me.”

  “We’re not even sure what the Noxin demons have done to them yet,” Helene said, “so there’s still hope. They’re not completely lost.”

  Melina repeated that last sentence in her mind. They’re not completely lost. She remembered when Walter had told her that she wasn’t completely lost when she thought that the demon powers were going to take over. She’d had her doubts, but he had been right. She needed to try to stay optimistic.

  “Melina.” Helene said as they continued to walk slowly down the sidewalk. “I should tell you that helping you follow the demons isn’t the only reason I volunteered to come with you today.”

  “It’s not?” Melina gave her a puzzled look.

  “No,” Helene said. “I wanted to talk to you about Adelia.”

  “Oh, um… okay,” Melina said.

  Helene cleared her throat. “I know you’ve had a couple of interesting encounters with her over the past few days. From the behavior you saw in her, do you think she’s completely lost?”

  Melina remained silent for a while as she thought about her response. “Well… I know she still has some good in her since she’s still able to use some of her angel powers, but when she was in my apartment yesterday morning, she told me that she had wanted to become a Fallen.”

  Helene nodded. “I remember you saying that. But I just…” She pressed her lips together as she paused for a moment. “I’m just not sure I truly believe that. Yes, she said it, but her behavior says otherwise.”

  “How so?” Melina asked.

  “The first time you saw her, she didn’t attack you or talk to you. It was like she only wanted to watch you. Then the second time she still didn’t really attack you, and she asked you why you don’t hate her. It almost seems as if she’s trying to figure you out.”

  Melina let out a sarcastic laugh. “You mean instead of wanting to kill me? I don’t know about that. Her hatred for humans like me is so deep-rooted and goes so far back that I think it would be really hard to change her mindset.”

  “You are right about that,” Helene said. “But I still wouldn’t give up hope just yet.”

  Melina nodded. It seemed like everyone needed some hope right about now, including herself. She let out a small sigh as she glanced over to her right, and that’s when she saw them. Two Noxin demons in their demonic forms, lurking down an alley.

  She grabbed Helene’s wrist and instantly stopped. “Can you see them?” she whispered.

  “See who?” Helene narrowed her eyes and peered down the alley.

  “There are two Noxin demons in their demonic forms way down at the end there. They have their backs turned to us.”

  Helene shook her head. “I don’t see them. I can’t sense them either.”

  “They’re in stealth mode then.”

  “Do you want to follow them?” Helene asked.

  “They’re not really moving,” Melina said. “They’re just lurking at the end of the alley, watching something over to their left.”

  “Then let’s go see what it is,” Helene said.

  Melina nodded then followed the elder around the corner of the building and headed toward the next block. She knew there was an Italian restaurant up on the next street along with all sorts of different shops, so she wasn’t surprised to see a lot more people out and about. Her gaze drifted over to the alley where the demons had been standing. They were still there… waiting.

  “They’re still there,” she said to Helene.

  Helene glanced in the direction of the alley and then looked back across the street to her left. “I can sense several Noxin demons in the area. Do you think that’s what they could be looking at?”

  Melina followed the demons’ gaze over to a large crowd in front of the restaurant. She tried to single out any Noxin demons, but all of the people seemed to be talking to one another. Surely they weren’t all demons.

  She continued to scan over the crowd when finally she saw something. There were two men and two women standing off to the side of the group, not talking at all. They seemed to just be watching the others. While the temperature was in the mid-thirties and there was snow on the ground, the two women, one with long red hair and the other with short brown hair, were dressed in long, sleeveless dresses with lightweight shawls that only covered a small part of their arms. The two dark-haired men had on formal suits with long trench coats. They were way more dressed up than the rest of the people. They also had soot on them. The two men had smudges on their faces, and the women both had traces left on the uncovered portions of their arms.

  Melina looked back at the demons in the alley and then back to the four demons on the street. They were watching them.

  “There,” Melina said as she nodded at the demons across the street. “They’re watching those four people standing off to the side. They’re Noxin demons, too.”

  Helene looked over at the four demons standing with the crowd. “They must be waiting for them to do something.”

  “But what?” Melina asked. “They're just standing there.”

  Helene shook her head. “I’m not sure. Do you think there are any other Noxins nearby besides those four?”

  Melina thought back to when she saw all of the demons out on the street last night. None of them had really been moving around a whole lot. They had either been walking around slowly or just standing next to a couple of other demons. She looked at all the people now and tried to spot any who seemed to be displaying the same sort of behavior, but they all seemed pretty busy going to and from all the different shops and getting in and out of their vehicles.

  “I can’t be sure,” Melina said, “but I don’t think so.”

  She looked back to the four demons across the street. Just at that moment she saw the redheaded female demon look in the direction of the alley and slowly shake her head no. Melina turned to look at the demons in the alley. Their fiery red eyes lit up and they both bared their sharp teeth before disappearing in clouds of black smoke.

  Melina frowned. “They just disappeared.”

  “Who did?”

  “The demons in the alley.”

  “Did something happen?” Helene asked.

  Melina nodded. “One of the female demons shook her head no at them, which seemed to make them pretty angry, and then they vanished.”

  Helene tapped a finger on her chin. “Hmm… So it seems they were waiting for one of the other demons to give them a yes or no signal. I wonder what would’ve happened if the female demon had nodded yes?”

  “I don’t know,” Melina said. She looked back over at the four demons and was surprised to see the female who had given the signal staring right at her. Her breath hitched as her entire body stiffened.

  “Melina?” Helene asked.

  “We’ve been spotted,” Melina said, not taking her eyes off the demon. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Helene turn to look across the street.

  “Oh dear,” Helene said. “I think we should leave.”

  Melina was about to agree, but before she could say anything the other three demons all turned and looked at her, too. She started to back away, unsure of what they were going to do. Some of the demons had fled at the sight of her, but others had challenged her.

  The redheaded female demon gave Melina an evil sneer and started toward her, but one of the male demons grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back as he said something into her ear. She yanked her arm out of his grasp and stormed off through the crowd of people and around the side of the restaurant. The other three demons followed her.


  “Let’s get out of here,” Helene said. “I don’t know if they’re coming back or not, but if they do they might have more demons with them, so teleporting is our best option.”

  “Right,” Melina said. “We should go back to my apartment.”

  “Let’s head down that alley the demons were hiding in earlier.”

  Melina nodded and they both took off in that direction. Once they had made it about halfway down the alley, they both stopped and closed their eyes. Within a couple of seconds, they had both vanished and reappeared back in Melina’s apartment.

  “What should we do now?” Melina asked.

  “I think we should be done for today,” Helene said.

  “But it’s not even that late.”

  “I admire your determination,” Helene said. “Your parents had it, too.”

  Melina smiled. It made her feel good to hear things like that about her mom and dad.

  “But as determined as you are,” Helene said, “I think you should lay low for the rest of the day. Now that the demons know we were out looking for them, who knows what they’ll do.”

  “Okay,” Melina said, a bit reluctant. “I can do that.”

  “I’ll leave you now to go tell the other elders what we saw,” Helene said. “One of us will be here tomorrow, unless you need something before then.”

  Melina nodded.

  “I mean it,” Helene said. “Don’t be afraid to call to us for anything. You’re not going to bother us.”

  Melina let out a short laugh. “Okay.”

  Helene gave her a quick nod before disappearing in a flash of white light.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  After Helene had left, Melina sat down on her couch to try to occupy her time. As she surfed through the TV channels she let out a small sigh. There was nothing on that interested her. She began to think that laying low for the rest of the day might be harder to do than she thought, especially since she had no one to talk to. It was times like this that she would usually call Tessa or Lee to come keep her company.

  She continued to flip through the channels, but as she thought more about the demons her body began to tense and her pulse quickened. They had done something to the three most important people in her life, something to their souls, and for all she knew their lives were in danger. And what if all of her and the angels’ efforts were for nothing? Maura had said that the damage couldn’t be undone now. Her eyes started to water, and when she blinked, a stream of tears ran down her face.