Collide

by Ashley Stambaugh

  Tessa inspected the burns for a second and then raised her eyes up to Melina’s. “I guess you’re right. But are you sure the ointment will be enough?”

  Melina looked down at her wrist and slowly turned it from front to back. “It looks as if the demon burnt down just enough to make them second-degree burns. Ointment and proper bandaging will be good enough. Lucky for me, he was in his human form.”

  “I bet they won’t make that mistake again, though.”

  Melina’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

  Tessa reached for her friend’s wrist and gently applied the ointment with a cotton ball. “Well, you’ve gotten away from them twice now. I’m sure they’re more than ticked off and more determined than ever to catch you. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just stayed in their demonic forms from now on so they’re stronger.”

  Tessa was right. They had warned her to not use her light shield again. And they were probably livid that she had gotten away once more. Melina gulped as a realization suddenly hit her. “Oh no.”

  “What?” Tessa asked.

  “The third demon, the leader, is even stronger than the other two and is probably going to join them now. I barely survived the attack from the two regular ones. What if I can’t handle an attack from all three of them? I bet I won’t even stand a chance.”

  “You can’t think that way, Melina. You have to stop doubting yourself and believe in yourself. I do.”

  Melina gave a slight nod. Tessa had always been such a great support for her, especially when her parents died and the future of the family bookstore had landed on her shoulders. She hadn't thought she could do it, but Tessa had helped her to see that running the bookstore was actually her dream come true in disguise. No, it wasn’t the same as being an English teacher and a freelance writer. But she was surrounded by the written word all day, she had the chance to meet new people who shared her love of writing, and she also got to pass on her passion to children by holding an after-school reading circle twice a week.

  Thanks to Tessa, Melina succeeded with the bookstore when at first she'd thought she couldn’t. And here Tessa was, trying to do the same thing for her again. Her current situation was different, though. If she failed, she wouldn’t just be losing a business. She would be losing her life.

  “Come on,” said Tessa as she finished applying the last bandage. “Let’s get to the festival. You’ll feel safer there amongst the crowd, and who knows, the festivities may even brighten your mood some.”

  “Okay,” Melina said with a hint of a smile. She pulled her coat back on and followed Tessa out to the back where their cars were parked. They hopped into Tessa’s bright red Mini Cooper and headed for the town square.

  They had to park a few blocks away, which didn’t surprise Melina. The opening day of the Fall Festival was always on a Saturday, so most people didn’t have to work. But the businesses that had weekend hours had closed up shop until the following Monday.

  The festival was a huge event for the town, especially opening day, and nobody wanted to miss it. It had the normal carnival type rides and games, but what made it special was how involved the people of the community were with their own stands.

  As they approached the festival, Melina focused on blocking out everyone’s thoughts. Once she was able to turn them down to a reasonable volume, she allowed herself to gaze around at the various attractions. Nina was there selling a variety of her famous soups and sandwiches. She gave Tessa and Melina a big wave as they walked by. Mr. Perkins, the scrawny old man who owned the local floral and gardening shop, was there with his mums, pumpkins, squash, and other fall vegetables. His wife, who was just as skinny as he was but had much more energy, was bustling around the tables making sure they were always fully stocked and nicely arranged. The Sweaney sisters, identical twins in their mid-thirties who both could’ve been models with their tall, slender figures and long honey-golden hair, had a booth set up for their handmade dresses, ties, scarves, hats, blankets, and quilts.

  Melina had a stand, too, where she had raffle drawings for people to win free books, and also conducted mini reading circles for the kids every couple of hours. Fortunately, this year she had turned the reigns over to her head associate, Gwen. At the time, she thought it would give her a chance to enjoy the festival as a patron instead of a vendor, but now she was glad that she didn’t have to worry about it since she had something much more pressing to attend to.

  They saw Gwen from a distance, and Tessa suggested they go and talk with her for a bit. Melina agreed and they made their way over to the small tent. Before entering, she tugged at her coat sleeve a couple of times to be sure that Gwen wouldn’t see the bandage on her wrist. She didn’t want to have to answer any questions.

  “Hi, Gwen,” said Melina. “How’s everything going?”

  Gwen looked up with her light blue eyes, her shiny black curls bouncing lively around her porcelain-like face, and smiled brightly. She had been best friends with Melina’s mother and worked at the store for her parents. When they passed away, she'd managed the store until Melina had graduated. Melina had asked her to stay on as the store manager, but she'd politely declined, stating that she had faith that two young, energetic women like Melina and Tessa could do it. She had agreed to stay on as head associate, though, to help Melina out a bit.

  “Well hello, ladies,” Gwen replied as she glanced between Tessa and Melina. “Set up was quite easy, and we’ve already received several names for the first raffle,” she said as she held up and shook a glass bowl full of business cards and folded pieces of paper.

  “That’s great,” Melina replied. “Who signed up to help you?”

  “Hallie and Christine. They should be here in about an hour when the first reading circle begins.”

  Melina nodded. Hallie and Christine were two high school girls who worked at the store a few nights a week after school let out. They were both sweet girls, always willing to lend a helping hand.

  “Do you need help with anything until they get here?” Tessa asked.

  “Oh no, I’m fine,” Gwen said as she waved her hand in the air. “So, did you two do anything exciting last night?”

  Melina gave Tessa an awkward glance. Tessa knew she was a horrible liar, even if it was a little white lie, so she was thankful when Tessa took her cue and started rambling off vague details of their supposed evening.

  She tried to follow Tessa’s story and nod when appropriate, but a voice suddenly popped into her head that she couldn’t seem to ignore. She turned away from Gwen and Tessa and closed her eyes as she tried to focus more on tuning it out. No matter how hard she tried, though, nothing seemed to work. She opened her eyes, and they immediately honed in on a tall, ruggedly handsome man walking in the direction of her stand.

  “Lee,” she said out loud.

  Tessa stopped talking and turned toward Melina. “Did you say Lee?” She looked up as Melina gestured to the man walking toward their tent. “Melina, he’s coming over here. Do you want to—”

  “Shh!” Melina hushed Tessa as she quickly turned around. She didn’t want Lee to see her at first.

  “Hello,” Lee said as he approached Tessa.

  “Hello, sir,” Tessa replied. She gave Melina a quick, nervous glance and then looked back up at Lee.

  “So, Rowe’s Bookstore, huh? Do you have books for sell here at your stand?” Lee asked.

  “No, but you can put your name in the bowl to win one of your choice.” Tessa smiled as she held up the glass bowl for him to see. “We’re going to have a raffle drawing within the next hour.”

  “Well, free is even better,” he said as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

  Melina slowly turned around and smiled at Lee as he looked up at her. “Hi, again.”

  “Hi,” Lee replied. He gazed down at the sign on the front of the tent and then back up at Melina, a look of recognition on his face now. “Melina Rowe. So this is your bookstore?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded
as she replied.

  “Well,” he said as he dug a business card out of his wallet. “Here’s to hoping I win.” He tossed the card into the glass bowl and returned his wallet to his pocket.

  Might as well use these cards for something, Melina heard him say in her mind. She looked at him and then down at the bowl. His business card. It was almost too good to be true.

  Lee gave a small wave to both Tessa and Melina and then sauntered off into the crowd.

  Melina plucked the card out of the bowl and read what it said:

  Atwood Jewelers: Fine jewelry since 1928.

  Lee Atwood, Owner and President.

  She looked up at Tessa and said, “Stay here. I’ll be back.” She shoved the card into her coat pocket and took off after Lee.

  “Please be careful,” Tessa said in a low voice as she sat the raffle bowl back down on the front table.

  Gwen appeared behind her and motioned in the direction of Lee and Melina. “New interest of Melina’s?” she asked with a smile.

  The concern on Tessa’s face quickly disappeared as she looked at Gwen and tried to return her smile. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

  Lee hadn’t made it too far away from the bookstore’s stand when Melina finally caught sight of him. She called out his name and started to rush toward him, not wanting to lose him in the crowd again.

  He gave her a friendly smile, which Melina took as a good sign, until she heard his voice pipe up in her mind. I hope she’s not some crazy stalker type.

  Melina stopped abruptly and gave Lee a funny look. He thought she might be stalking him. Did she seem desperate? She shook her head slightly and gave him an innocent grin as she held her hands up in the air.

  “I’m not stalking you, I promise.” She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out his business card as she took a step closer to him. “Lee Atwood, of Atwood Jewelers?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, I wish I would’ve known that when I met you in the park yesterday. I would’ve told you how sorry I am about your father’s passing last month. Charles Atwood was a great man.” She gave him a weak smile.

  “You knew my father?” asked Lee.

  “Yeah. I think most of the business owners in town know each other. I’ve been in your family’s shop a couple of times, too, but I’ve never seen you in there before.”

  Lee rubbed at his neck as he averted his eyes down to the ground. “I wasn’t ever too involved with the store. Until now, that is.”

  Melina glanced down at his business card. “Owner and president it says here.”

  He raised his head and met Melina’s gaze. “My dad had those already made up for me before the cancer finally took him. I guess he knew it was his time even before the doctors did. It all happened so suddenly.” He wiped at his eyes as tears started to form.

  Melina gave him a sympathetic look. “I know what you’re going through.”

  Lee nodded. “Yeah, I guess you sort of do. I just have no idea what I’m doing.”

  She stepped closer, eager for him to continue and excited that he might be opening up to her. But she thought too soon.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t even know you that well. I don’t need to be telling you all of these details.”

  “We can get to know each other more,” said Melina, an eager tone in her voice. “Maybe coffee or lunch sometime? I’d love to talk more about your father.”

  “Yeah, maybe sometime,” he replied as he wiped at his eyes again. “I’ve got to go now.” He immediately turned away and rushed off into the crowd.

  His thoughts quickly became muffled to Melina, but it was obvious that he was upset. He hadn’t declined her offer of coffee or lunch, though, and now that she knew where he worked, she was going to take him up on the date. She looked down at his business card again. “You’re not getting away from me that easily, Lee Atwood.”

  Chapter Nine

  Walter closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He wanted to get it right the first time, but it wasn’t going to be easy. To get the summoning stone to work properly, he had to get the wording right. He couldn’t just call out Henry, the guardian angel. Who knows how many guardian angels there were with the name Henry. But he had no other information about him other than what they had in common — Melina.

  He decided to start out by whispering Henry’s name, followed by various descriptions of Melina and the incidences she had been involved in over the past two days. It was the best he could think of. He continued to repeat Henry’s name and these phrases over and over again, along with desperate pleas for him to help.

  After several seconds had passed, he opened his eyes to check on the stone. It was growing brighter and brighter, which meant he was getting closer to locating Henry, but something still wasn’t right. Once he’d found his intended target, the stone’s illumination should’ve started to pulse, but for some reason it was holding steady at its current level of brightness.

  Walter thought and thought about what else he could say to make the connection and then finally he realized what he was saying wrong. Instead of stating that he needed Henry’s help, he should be saying that Melina needed the help. Once he changed his wording around to focus more on Melina’s needs, the stone’s light immediately began to pulse.

  Walter pulled his hand back and stopped whispering as he eagerly watched for Henry’s arrival. It was only a few seconds later when a young-looking man with short, wavy brown hair appeared in front of him. The guardian’s wings were massive, and his muscles bulged from under his flowing white robe. He had a brilliant, golden-yellow glow about him that grew less intense as he walked closer and closer.

  Walter, who appeared small and meek in comparison, looked up at Henry as he approached.

  Henry crossed his arms as he lowered his eyes to Walter’s. His face was serious. “You summoned me?”

  Walter stared back at him as he replied, “Yes. My name is Walter. I’m a guiding angel.” He extended his hand out in front of him.

  Henry relaxed a little and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. I guess you already know my name, so how can I help you?”

  “It’s our charge, Melina. She needs your help.”

  Henry looked confused. “I was told differently by one of your elders.”

  “What do you mean?” Walter asked.

  “I was told that she didn't need my help. Actually, it was more along the lines that I couldn’t help her, that she had to get through her situation by herself in order to survive.”

  “So you do know that she absorbed my powers and that Noxin demons are after her?”

  Henry nodded. “Of course. It’s my soul purpose to watch over her at all times. I haven’t missed a thing.”

  “Well that’s very odd,” said Walter.

  “What is?”

  He took a step closer to Henry. “You say you haven't missed a thing, but it seems to me that you’ve missed everything that has happened to Melina over the past two days. I know there are times when you can’t intervene and are supposed to let certain things happen to her, but you haven’t shown up to help her even once.”

  Henry crossed his arms again. “Like I said, one of your elders told me that I couldn’t help her.”

  “I just spoke to my elders, all four of them, and they suggested that I seek you out to gain more assistance for Melina. They said nothing to me about you not being able to help her. Look,” Walter said as he held his right hand up in the air. “I think we started out in the wrong tone here. I apologize for sounding so accusing, and there’s no need for you to be on the defensive. Let’s talk about everything openly. We’re both on the same side here.”

  “Are we?” Henry asked.

  Walter gave him a puzzled look.

  “Your elder, Phinneas, told me one thing, and now you’re telling me another. Who am I supposed to believe?”

  Walter sighed. Why was Phinneas trying to keep Henry from protecting Melina? He looked up at Henry with the most sincere expressio
n he could give him. “The situation with Melina and the demons… something’s not right about it. We don’t know how they found out about her having powers, but when I talked to my elders about it earlier, Phinneas acted like he was hiding something. I think he might be misleading you for some unknown reason.”

  Henry moved his hands to his hips and stared down at the ground as if he were contemplating Walter’s words. Several seconds later he looked back up and shook his head. “That doesn’t seem right to me. An elder wouldn’t do that.”

  “I know, I know. I don’t like to think that one of my own elders could possibly be lying. And what makes it even worse is that, if he is lying, it’s to keep Melina from being protected. If you don’t come to help her soon, she’s probably going to die.”

  “I can’t help her with understanding and utilizing the guiding angel powers she absorbed.”

  “I know,” Walter said hastily. “That part is true. I can’t even really help her with that. But now that Noxin demons are after her, it’s turned into a whole new ballgame. Protecting her from them so she has the chance to understand and utilize her new powers is something you can do.” He looked at Henry with pleading eyes. “Please, Henry. Helping Melina, it’s just common sense.”

  “No,” replied Henry. “Listening to an elder guiding angel over a regular guiding angel is common sense. Phinneas told me that I couldn’t help her and to leave her alone. I’m going to do just that.” Henry turned, and as he began to walk away he shouted over his shoulder. “And don’t summon me again.” He walked a few more paces and then disappeared.

  Walter was baffled. And angry. He didn’t want to waste time walking back to his temple, so he decided to teleport. Within a second, he arrived at the front door and stormed his way up the stairs. Helene and Cecil were sitting across from each other at a small table, having a discussion. They both stood up and stepped forward as Walter approached, startled looks on their faces.

  “Can we help you, Walter?” Cecil asked.

  Walter stopped in front of them and tried to gather his composure. “Where’s Phinneas?” The anger in his voice was evident.