Empower

by Ashley Stambaugh

  She couldn’t just sit there and watch TV while her friends needed her help. But she knew her stubbornness usually got her into trouble, so she needed to keep her word to Helene. She had to do something, though. And that’s when she suddenly thought of Dean. There was something she could do right now. He needed her help, too, and she wasn’t going to give up on him.

  She grabbed her phone and looked up the number to his architecture firm. Hopefully Lynn wouldn’t be able to get in the way at his firm.

  The phone rang a couple of times before a cheery-voiced receptionist answered.

  “DMT Architecture and Designs. This is Mary. How may I help you?”

  “Oh good, you’re still open,” Melina said. “Is Dean Porter available?”

  “Yes, he is. I’ll transfer you.”

  “Thank you.”

  A few seconds later, Dean picked up.

  “This is Dean Porter.”

  “Dean,” she said in a small voice. “Please don’t hang up. It’s Melina.”

  He let out a sigh. “Melina, I told you…”

  “Please, hear me out. We need your help. The Noxin demons are—”

  “No,” he interjected. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  “But Dean!”

  Click.

  “Dean?” she asked. There was no reply. He had hung up on her. “Oh, no no no,” she said as she put her phone down. He wasn’t getting away from her that easily.

  She quickly threw on her coat and grabbed her purse before teleporting out of her apartment. Seconds later she appeared in the alley next to Dean’s office building. She hurried inside and took the elevator up to the third floor. When she walked through the door of suite 328 she was greeted once again by the same woman she had seen just a couple of days ago.

  “Mary?” Melina asked as she approached her desk.

  “Yes, I’m Mary,” the woman said.

  “Hi, my name’s Melina. I was just on the phone with Dean, but we seem to have gotten disconnected.”

  Mary gave her a strange look.

  “Oh, um… I was close by and just decided to stop in instead of trying to call him back.”

  Mary nodded. “You were here a couple of days ago, right?”

  “Yes, I was. Do you think I could talk to him?”

  “He usually leaves around this time, but let me check.” She picked up her phone and dialed a couple of numbers. “Hi,” she said into the phone. “You have a visitor here. She said her name’s Melina. Do you want me to send her back?” There was a long pause, and after a few seconds Mary’s smile slackened. “Sure,” she said. “I can do that.” She hung up the phone and looked back at Melina. “Unfortunately, he really needs to leave soon, so he only has a few minutes.”

  “That's fine,” she said. A few minutes were all she needed.

  “It’s the last office on the right,” Mary said as she pointed down the hallway.

  “Thanks,” Melina said.

  As she walked down the hall, she tried to think of the right thing to say. With only a little bit of time and Dean already not wanting to listen to her, she had to make her words count. If she could just relay the severity of the situation then maybe it would make him snap out of his mood.

  When she reached the end of the hall, she took in a deep breath as she grabbed the door handle. She gently pushed the door inward and stepped inside to see Dean sitting behind his desk. He just stared at her with a blank expression. She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.

  “I told you not to bother me, that you were wasting your time.” He shook his head. “You really are stubborn.”

  Melina shrugged. “I don’t give up. Especially on my friends.”

  Dean let out a small laugh. “Well I’m glad you consider us to be friends, but again, you’re wasting your time. This is what I want.” He leaned over and started searching through one of his desk drawers.

  “No, it’s not what you want,” Melina said. “What you want is understanding and support, and when you didn’t get it from two of your so-called friends, you just gave up.” She paused for a moment as she took a step forward.

  “Dean, I’m sorry you think you need to do this for Lynn, but if she can’t accept everything about you then she doesn’t truly love you. And you do have support. Your friend, Tim, seemed to be willing to understand, and you have me along with all of my friends. We all support you. But the Noxin demons have done something to Tessa, Lee, and Gwen. Something to their souls.”

  Dean stopped flipping through folders in his drawer and looked up at Melina, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

  “Negative emotions are taking them over, and their eyes are turning black. I’m afraid their lives are in danger.” A lone tear slid down her cheek. “Please, Dean. I need your help.”

  He turned his gaze down to his desk and bit his lip. Several seconds later, he looked back up at her. “I’m sorry.”

  Melina stared at him for a few seconds and then slowly shook her head. “No,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that my belief in you isn’t enough. But I’m not giving up. I care about you, Dean. You are my friend, and friends don’t abandon one another.”

  Melina took a step back, and instead of lingering around for a response, she closed her eyes and teleported back to her apartment. That way she was able to have the last word, and the ball was left in his court. And since Lynn wasn’t there to corrupt his thoughts, she hoped that what she had said would have a powerful effect on him and make him thoroughly think about things.

  The next morning Melina was jolted awake by a loud crash coming from the bookstore below. It sounded like shattering glass. Was someone breaking into her store? Why wasn’t her alarm going off?

  A quick glance at the clock on her nightstand told her it was only five a.m., so the sun wasn’t up yet, and her bedroom was still pitch black. She threw the covers back and fumbled around in the dark until she found the switch to her lamp. Once the light was on and she could see, she looked around her room. No one else was there. Should she call the police?

  No, she thought to herself. I can’t call the police until I know what’s going on.

  She hopped out of bed and quickly slid her feet into her slippers. Then she grabbed her robe from the hook on the back of the bathroom door and slipped it on over her pajamas as she made her way out of her bedroom. When she reached the front door, she paused for a moment to see if she could hear anything else. Several seconds passed, and she still heard nothing.

  She cocked her head to the side. She knew she had heard something downstairs. But maybe the noise had come from outside. There was only one way to find out. She grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door. After she stepped out onto the landing, she quietly closed the door behind her and then tiptoed her way down the stairs. As she crept closer and closer to the bottom, her mind began to race with possibilities.

  You don’t need to be scared. If someone’s breaking into your store, you have supernatural powers to protect yourself. But what if it’s a Noxin demon?

  She stopped on the last step and swallowed down the lump in her throat. After taking a few seconds to build up her courage, she peered around the corner and into the front room of the store.

  It was dark except for the soft glow coming in from the street light outside. Only a small portion of the store was illuminated, so she took a few small steps forward to try to get a better look. Just at that moment, she heard another loud crash that sounded like one of her heavy wooden bookshelves hitting the floor. She froze in place and held her breath.

  As she continued to stare in front of her, a slinky, black figure suddenly darted across the room. A few seconds later, a pair of fiery red eyes appeared out of the darkness.

  She stood up a little straighter. As long as she kept her emotions in check, she could handle him. She was preparing herself to bring up her light shield when all of a sudden another pair of crimson eyes materialized in the dark. Then another pair appeared, and then another, and another.<
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  Melina’s entire body tensed. There wasn’t just one Noxin demon in her store. There were five. And they were all glaring and growling at her.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Melina stumbled backward as her protective light shield burst out around her. All five of the demons let out ear-piercing shrieks and then lunged at her. They collided with her shield, which she knew caused them pain, but that didn’t stop them from trying to break it down by clawing and biting at it.

  She needed help.

  “Henry! Walter! I need you!”

  She gritted her teeth, using all the strength she had to keep up her shield. A few seconds later the room briefly filled with bright white and golden yellow light. Walter and Henry appeared and immediately brought up their light shields at the sight of the demons. Henry raised both of his hands, which were glowing with a golden yellow light, and started launching light beams at them.

  He hit two of the demons square in the back, and they fell onto the floor, screaming and howling in pain. In an attempt to throw Henry off, the other three demons gave up on their attack on Melina’s shield and started zigzagging all over the store, knocking over furniture and pushing over bookshelves as they went.

  Henry started to throw more light beams at them, but they were too quick, and his beams kept blasting into all of the furniture and shelves. With each blow, pieces of broken wood went flying through the air and tons of scorched books came crashing down to the floor. He clenched his jaw as he let out a frustrated grunt and then rushed off after the demons, still hurling light beams at them.

  Melina’s gaze darted around the room as she took in the damage of her trashed bookstore. Most of the bookshelves had either been knocked down or blown to pieces. There were a few black marks on the walls where Henry’s stray light beams had hit, and the majority of the books were now lying on the floor in piles of soot and smoke. As she looked over at the demons, the anger inside her began to build at an accelerated rate. Within no time, she was fuming with rage, as the all too familiar burning sensation ripped through her body. She was afraid this was going to happen, but she did nothing to stop it.

  She clenched her teeth and balled her hands into such tight fists that she could feel her fingernails digging into her palms. “Stop it!” she screamed. “Stop it right now and leave my store!”

  The demons ignored her. Loud, high-pitched shrieks filled the air as the other two demons finally made it up off the floor. They were both hunched over and looked like they were still in some pain as they staggered forward to join the other three demons in wreaking havoc on her store. They heaved wooden chairs up against the wall, threw ripped up books into the air, and knocked over the remaining bookshelves.

  Melina was infuriated. “Leave my store!” she yelled again. “Now!” She stomped her foot hard on the floor, and just at that moment her light shield pulsed, causing flickering white flames of light to explode throughout the store. It didn’t have much effect on her already trashed store, but all of the demons, along with Walter and Henry, were knocked down to the floor. Then, without warning, several beams of fiery white light shot out from her hands and hit all five demons right in the chest. They each let out an agonizing cry as they thrashed about in pain.

  Once again, Melina felt a rush of empowerment. She wanted to stop it, but her powers were too strong for her.

  As she cried out in frustration, a soft white light started to rise up out of each one of the demons. They were the souls of the human beings that the demons had stolen long ago. It was obvious that a few of the demons had stolen more than one soul because some of the lights separated into two or three pieces. Once Melina had completely released the souls from their demonic prisons, the lights hovered in the air for just a second and then flew out of the room.

  The demons continued to scream out in pain, and even though they could barely move, they were all still able to teleport away, leaving a big cloud of black smoke hanging in the air. As the light beams from Melina’s hands slowly diminished, she fell down to her knees in exhaustion.

  With looks of awe and astonishment, Walter and Henry both let their light shields down and approached her.

  “How did you do that?” Walter asked.

  Melina didn’t respond. She just started to cry.

  “Melina?” Walter tilted his head to the side. “Are you okay?”

  She shook her head.

  “What’s wrong?” Walter asked. “Why are you crying?”

  “I feel terrible,” she said.

  “Terrible? About what?”

  She wiped the tears from under her eyes. “For what I just did.”

  Walter glanced at Henry, who just gave him a small shake of his head, and then looked back down at Melina. “I don’t think I’m following. What you did was… well it was amazing was what it was. You turned your protective light shield into an active, offensive mechanism and were able to knock down everyone around you. Then you were able to release the human souls from not just one Noxin demon but all five of them at the same time. How is that terrible?”

  Melina shook her head slightly. “It came from a bad place.”

  “A bad place?” Walter’s brow furrowed. “Melina, what are you talking about?”

  “My emotions,” Melina said as she raised her head and looked at both of the angels. “My emotions amplified my powers, but it was my negative emotions that did it. Mainly my anger. And it’s all because of my demon powers. That’s why whenever my powers, all of my powers, are displayed they look like white flames now instead of just a bright white light.”

  Walter’s eyes widened in realization. “Melina, you reversed your demon powers to do good. What you just did was good. Maura now has five less demons to do her bidding.”

  “No,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if I reversed them to do good. They came from an evil source.”

  “But I thought you had accepted the demon powers?” Walter asked. “I thought you believed that you were meant to absorb them?”

  “I did. I just… I didn’t expect how angry they would make me. They seem to create so much negativity in me, and I don’t like it.” A single tear slid down her cheek. “I thought I had gotten rid of the evil in me.”

  “I see,” Walter said. “Has something like this happened before?”

  Melina nodded. “A few times.” She told him about how many times it had happened, and recalled the incidents with Maura and the demon in the alley. “I try so hard to make it stop when it happens, and at first I was able to stop it. But now…” She paused as she shook her head. “It just keeps getting harder and harder to do.”

  Walter crossed one arm over his stomach and raised his other hand up to his chin as if he were thinking about something. A few seconds later he said, “Excuse me for a minute.”

  Melina sniffled as she gave him a small nod. He walked out of the room and headed toward the back stairwell.

  She wiped under her eyes again and then looked over at Henry. He was tall and muscular, and his massive wings were spread wide behind him, giving him an intimidating appearance. But when she looked into his soft brown eyes, she saw tenderness and concern.

  “Henry,” she said. “Thank you for coming.”

  “It’s my job to watch out for you.” He took a step forward when one of his wings accidentally knocked over a lone table that was miraculously still standing. “Sorry,” he said as he folded in his wings and bent down to pick it up.

  Melina let out a short laugh. “Sometimes I think it might be nice if you could take a human form.”

  He gave her a small chuckle. “There are times where that ability would definitely be helpful.” He placed the table back on its legs and then reached out his hand to help her up off the floor.

  She turned to look at the front of her store and saw that the huge front window had been completely busted in, allowing the chilly winter air to blow right through the room. The rest of the store wasn’t in any better shape. Broken glass, splintered wood, and burnt, ripped up
books and paper covered the entire floor. She felt like she should be having déjà vu, seeing as how her store had been destroyed by Noxin demons before, but there was a difference this time. She didn’t have her friends to help her pick up the pieces.

  Before she was able to get teary-eyed again, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around and saw that Walter was back, and he had Phinneas, Cecil, and Helene with him. They all nodded at Henry, who nodded back at them, and then they all returned their focus to Melina.

  “Hi,” Melina said as she gave them all a slightly confused look. “What are you all doing here?”

  “I thought it was necessary to tell them what’s happening with you,” Walter said.

  Melina pulled her robe a little tighter around her and turned her gaze down to the floor. She wondered if they were disappointed in her for not telling any of them sooner.

  “Melina,” Phinneas said as he took a step toward her. “None of us blame you for feeling the way you do. The fear you have of your anger and of your demon powers is completely valid. But it’s nothing to be afraid of, or ashamed of. I’ve told you before, not everyone is all good or all bad. We all have good and evil in us.”

  “Yes,” Melina said as she nodded her head. “I remember you saying that. But then you also said that we just have to choose which one is going to win, and I chose good.”

  “And I’m so glad you did,” Phinneas said. “But just because you chose good and were able to reverse the demon powers to use them for good, doesn’t mean that the bad aspects of the demon powers aren’t still a part of you, too.”

  “Melina,” Walter said as he took a step toward her. “To truly embrace all of your powers, you must accept not only the good aspects of them but also the bad. I can only imagine how strong it must make you feel when your emotions amplify your powers, but instead of fighting them and trying to stop them, feel all of those emotions and use them in a good way. Use them to empower yourself.” He paused for effect and then continued. “You have become a force to be reckoned with. You just need to learn to accept them and then control them.”