Torn

by Ashley Stambaugh

  Dean crossed his arms in front of his chest and asked, "Are you sure?"

  Melina nodded as she turned to face him. She explained what had happened, or what hadn't happened, in the coffee shop and then a bit later with Gwen. "Even with all these people here now, I can't hear anything in my head. It's gone. And now I'm worried about what's going to happen to my other powers. Are they going to disappear, too?" Her eyes flitted back and forth between both men.

  "Look," said Lee as he placed his hand on the small of her back. "You really just need to rest until Walter and Phinneas return. Let's get you back up to your apartment."

  Dean opened the door as Lee started to guide her toward the back, but Melina stopped him.

  "Wait," she said. "I want to welcome everyone first and then when the event's over, I want to thank them all for coming. As the owner of the store, I at least need to do that."

  Lee nodded and then followed her out the door with Dean close behind. As she walked toward the back part of the store where they had set everything up, she saw that a nice crowd had shown up to support the three featured poets. The sight made her smile. She had expected that a lot of people would come since two out of the three poets were local, but she hadn't expected it to be this big.

  She walked up behind Tessa and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey," she said.

  Tessa spun around. "There you are." She glanced at Lee and Dean and gave them both a quick wave. "So," she said as she returned her focus to Melina. "Are you going to try and stay for the whole thing?"

  Melina shook her head. "I'm going to greet everyone and welcome them, but then I'm going back up to my apartment until it's almost over. Will you text me then so I can come back down and thank everyone for coming?"

  "Of course," she said.

  "Will you be all right by yourself?" Melina asked as she turned to Dean.

  "I'll be fine," he said. "I'm not afraid to talk to strangers."

  Melina smiled at him. "Okay, good. I'm going to get things started now."

  She made her way up to the podium and welcomed everyone. Then she handed the reins over to Tessa to introduce the three poets. Lee met her at the back of the room and walked her up to her apartment.

  "I'm glad you're here," she said as they both took a seat on her living room couch. "I've missed you."

  Lee shrugged his coat off and laid it on the couch next to him. "I've missed you, too. I'm sorry I was so busy the last few days."

  "Yeah, how was your visit with your sister?"

  He shrugged. "Claire was here for more of a business visit than a social one, but it was still good to see her."

  "I wish I could've seen her," said Melina. "It's been over a month since the last time I talked to her."

  "I'm sure she would've loved to see you, too, if she would've had the time," Lee said. "You know, you're the first girlfriend I've had she actually likes."

  "I'm glad I have her approval," she said with a smile as she leaned over and picked up the remote from the coffee table and turned on the TV. "I guess we can relax and watch a movie until I get a text from Tessa."

  "Sounds good," said Lee as he stretched his arm out and wrapped it around her.

  They turned on a movie and snuggled for an hour and a half until Tessa finally texted her.

  "Time for me to go back downstairs." Melina stood from the couch and headed back down to the bookstore with Lee following close behind.

  As she walked into the front room, Tessa met her by the back of the crowd. "The last poet is almost finished. Do you want me to go up with you?"

  "No, I'll be fine," she said.

  About a minute later, the poet read his last line, and the crowd started to applaud. Melina took that as her cue to start heading up to the podium. When she was almost to the front, with the applause still going strong, a young man suddenly stepped back and bumped into her, pulling her into a vision.

  She saw the young man laying on a couch, surrounded by liquor bottles. Some of the bottles were empty, strewn across the living room floor, and the others were sitting on the coffee table half full. She started to feel depressed and lonely, and then suddenly the vision and feelings began to fade away. And just as quickly as it had started, the vision was gone.

  Melina was jolted back to reality. She stared at the man with a dazed expression. None of her visions had just faded away like that. She had always seen them all the way to the end. Why did this one get cut short? Was she starting to lose her power to have visions now, too? Then, without any warning, an intense feeling of rage arose within her. She firmly grabbed a hold of the man's arm and jerked him toward her. Her breathing was heavy now, and she was only inches away from his face. But before she was able to say or do anything else, Lee came up behind her and pulled her away from him.

  She glared at Lee as she broke free from his hold and was about to start yelling at him when she saw a raven-haired woman in a long, red coat out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head in that direction, and there was the woman from the library, standing in the back of the crowd. The woman smirked at Melina, just like she'd done before, then ran off toward the back door.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Melina hesitated, conflicted by the intense anger still rushing through her and the sudden shock of seeing the woman from the library again. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and took off after the woman.

  What was that woman doing here? And how did she know there was a back exit?

  When she finally made it to the back of the store, she flung the door open and rushed outside only to see a cloud of black smoke. Melina instantly stopped as a dreadful feeling overcame her. The last time she saw a cloud of black smoke was when a Noxin demon had teleported away from her. She swallowed hard and slowly scanned the surrounding area.

  Was the woman a Noxin demon? Maybe that's how she knew where the back exit was. She'd been spying on her. But why would a Noxin demon spy on her? Why wasn't she trying to ambush her? It was uncharacteristic for a Noxin.

  Melina continued to search the area but didn't see any sign of the woman. The small light over the back door didn't illuminate much, so maybe she was hiding back in the shadows. Or, if she was a demon, maybe she was in stealth mode.

  After a few seconds of silence, the rage inside of Melina intensified again. She was tired of playing games with this woman. "What do you want from me?" she screamed into the night. "I know you're still there. Show yourself!" She clenched her jaw as her narrowed eyes darted from one area to the next. Then suddenly she saw a pair of fiery red eyes appear in the darkness several feet in front of her. Her breath caught in her throat as her entire body tensed. The woman was a Noxin demon.

  As Melina stood still, unsure of what to do next, the demon spoke to her but remained in the dark. "Well, well," the demon said in a low, velvety voice. "Aren't you a feisty one?"

  Melina swallowed but stayed silent.

  "I'm not here to hurt you," said the demon. "But maybe it would help if I introduced myself."

  Melina braced herself as she saw the demon start to come closer to her. She didn't come out too far, though, only close enough for Melina to see that she was now back in her human form. Compared to the male Noxin demons she'd encountered before, it seemed that the females took a little more pride in their human appearance.

  "My name's Maura," the demon said from the shadows.

  Melina's forehead crinkled. She had a name? But Phinneas said that demons didn't have names.

  "And you're Melina, right?"

  Her brow creased even more. How did she know her name?

  "I've been following you for a few days now," Maura said.

  At this, Melina finally found her voice. She stood up straight and spoke in the steadiest voice she could manage. "Why?"

  The demon cocked her head and gave Melina a sly grin. "You mean you don't know?"

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If you were after my soul, I think you would've tried to steal it by now."

  Maura too
k a step closer. "You're right. I don't want it. At least not right now. But I am interested in what's going on with you."

  "What do you mean?" she asked, her jaw still tight.

  "I'm talking about the angry and violent feelings you've been experiencing after you use your angel powers," said Maura.

  Melina's arms fell back down to her sides. "How do you know about that?" she demanded. "And how do you know that I have angel powers?"

  Maura let out a short chuckle. "I know more about you than you think."

  "But how?" she asked again.

  "Details will come with time, my dear. But right now I think it's more important for you to figure out what I just confirmed."

  Just at that moment, Melina heard footsteps coming from inside the building. Someone must've followed her to the back door. By instinct, she almost turned around to see who it was, but she quickly stopped herself. She didn't want the demon to know that someone else was there. She just hoped that, whoever it was, he or she would have enough sense to stay hidden inside.

  A few seconds of silence passed, and no one had come bursting through the back door, so she returned her focus to the demon. "I don't understand," she said.

  Maura tapped her finger to her temple. "Think, Melina. Why would a Noxin demon be following you? Why has the pain from using your powers never fully gone away?"

  Melina didn't respond, so Maura kept talking.

  "You would think that after you'd gained control of your powers the pain would've disappeared, right? But it didn’t. It started to grow worse and eventually began to feel like flames racing through your head and body. The angry feelings started next, and over a course of just a few days, they've only become worse, even escalating into violent actions. And as these malicious feelings grow stronger in you, your angel powers are only growing weaker." She let out a short snicker. "Look at you, so full of anger right now yet not wanting to be. I bet it feels like your body is torn, doesn't it? Like it's in a battle between good and evil."

  Melina's brow creased. "What are you getting at?"

  "You seem like a smart girl," said Maura. "You can figure this out. I've laid all the pieces out for you, now just put them together."

  Melina struggled to suppress her anger as she tried to clear her mind to think. "I… I don't know," she stammered. "I'm confused."

  Maura shook her head as she started to approach her. "You know the answer. Think, Melina," she said with a little more force. "Think real hard."

  Melina looked down at the ground, desperately trying to make a connection, when all of a sudden the back door flew open behind her. Dean rushed over to her, and as soon as he threw his arms around her, his light shield exploded out around them. The demon instantly backed away and then vanished in a puff of black smoke.

  "What was that for?" Melina asked as she twisted away from Dean's hold.

  Dean brought down his light shield and stepped back from her. "Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes wide.

  "I'm fine," she said as she brushed herself off.

  "Was that a Noxin demon?"

  She stared at Dean. "Yes, in her human form. But she wasn't going to hurt me. She knows what's going on with me, what's causing it. And I think she was about to tell me."

  "I'm sorry," he said as he briefly lifted up both of his hands. "It's just that Lee and I saw her coming toward you, and we were worried you wouldn't be able to protect yourself, so I ran out to you. I'm sorry if I interrupted something."

  "No, I'm sorry," Melina said as she shook her head. "I wasn't myself just then. The anger's starting to subside, but it's taking over for longer periods of time now, and it's getting harder for me to fight it. I just…" She looked down at the ground as a tear slid down her cheek. Suddenly she felt a hand on the small of her back, and when she lifted her head she saw Lee standing next to her.

  "Why don't we move this discussion inside," he said. "Tessa and Gwen are worried about you, too, so I'm sure they'll want to hear everything."

  She nodded and let Lee walk her back inside. Before they headed up to her apartment, she noticed the last of the crowd was still trickling out. It would probably be another few minutes or so before Tessa and Gwen could meet them upstairs.

  When they had made it up to her apartment, they all took a seat at the kitchen table. As they waited, Dean tried to make small talk about the poetry reading, but all Melina could think about was what the demon had said to her. She knew Dean could hear her thoughts, so it didn't surprise her when he stopped trying to start a conversation after a couple of failed attempts. They all remained silent until finally a soft knock came from the door.

  "Melina? It's Tessa. I've got Gwen with me. May we come in?"

  Lee hopped up from his chair and went to the door to let them in. They both stepped inside, and Tessa rushed over to her.

  "Are you okay?" she asked.

  Melina nodded. "I'm okay. I didn't cause too much of a scene, did I?"

  "No, no. Lee took care of the guy you ran into, and the rest of the crowd didn't even notice. Now," Tessa said as she took a seat at the table. "What happened?"

  Before Melina could answer, a bright white light flashed in her living room. Everyone whipped their heads in that direction, and as soon as the light diminished, Walter and Phinneas were standing in front of them.

  Melina stood up from her chair and looked between both of them. "You're back already. Does that mean…"

  "Yes," said Phinneas as both he and Walter joined them in the kitchen. "We found the demon in New York City. Sorry for just barging in here, but after talking to him, we think we might know what's going on with you."

  "What is it?" she asked hurriedly. "What did the demon say?"

  Phinneas hesitated as he looked around at everyone in the room and then returned his gaze to Melina. "Why are you all here right now? Did something happen?" He took a step closer to Melina. "You don't look so good. What's going on?"

  She instinctively rubbed under her eyes. After the encounter with the demon, she guessed that she probably looked even worse than she did that morning. She took in a deep breath and let out a loud exhale. "A few things have happened, actually. But I think the first thing you should know is that I'm losing my angel powers. I can’t hear people's thoughts anymore, and I'm pretty sure my ability to have visions is growing weaker as we speak, if it's not already completely gone."

  "What?" asked Walter, his eyes big and round now. "Are you sure?"

  Melina nodded and then filled them all in on everything that had happened that day, ending with the vision she'd just had that seemed to slip away almost as quickly as it had started. She then told them about how she'd compared her light shield and teleportation powers with Dean and how she hadn't experienced any pain or angry feelings after teleporting. The last thing she told them about was the encounter she'd just had with the demon.

  "It was the same woman from the library," she said as she looked between Walter and Phinneas. "Remember, I thought there was something peculiar about her, and now I know I was right. She's a Noxin demon."

  "You have a Noxin demon after you again?" asked Tessa, her face suddenly turning white.

  Melina shook her head. "I don't really think she's after me. At least not in that way."

  "What did she say to you?" asked Walter.

  "Well," she said, turning to face him again. "For starters, she said her name was Maura."

  Phinneas suddenly tensed. "She had a name?"

  "Yeah." She shifted her gaze over to him. "I thought you said that demons didn't have names."

  He gave her a stiff shake of his head. "No, I said that most demons don't have names."

  Melina's eyebrows scrunched together. "Is something wrong?"

  Phinneas swallowed. "She's a Named."

  "Um, yeah…," Melina said, still looking confused.

  "No," said Phinneas. "You don't understand. She's a Named. In the demon world only the most powerful demons have names. The named demons are like their elders, so this Maura must be
pretty high up. It would also explain why you couldn't tell she was a Noxin demon. The named demons are smarter, and they have enough foresight to clean the soot off of them after morphing into their human forms."

  Melina stood still for a while, taking in the severity of what he'd just said. It was only a few months ago that he had told her that the most powerful guiding angel wanted her dead, and she had been terrified. Now he was telling her that one of the most powerful Noxin demons was after her for some reason, and while she found herself scared, she was even more curious. Finally she spoke. "Then I guess I'm glad all she wanted to do was talk."

  Phinneas nodded. "Yes, you got lucky this time. What else did she have to say to you?"

  Everyone stared at her, their piqued interest obvious, as she recalled the conversation she'd had with the demon. When she'd finished, she noticed Phinneas give Walter a grim look.

  "What?" she asked. "What is it?"

  Phinneas cleared his throat. "What you've just told us only confirms our idea, and that's not a good thing."

  Melina's gaze darted between both of them. "Well, what is it? Tell me."

  Phinneas glanced around at everyone else in the kitchen. "I think that maybe this is something we should tell you by yourself first."

  She shook her head. "Whatever you have to tell me, you can say it in front of them, too. I have nothing to hide from them."

  Phinneas took in a deep breath. "Very well. The demon said that having your soul almost taken twice doesn't have anything to do with the evil feelings you've been having. But, he did want us to ask you a couple of questions."

  Melina's brow creased. "What?"

  Walter was the one to talk this time. "He said he was just going off of rumors he heard before he was banned, but he wanted to know if you've ever had physical contact with a Noxin demon while he was in his human form? And if so, was it shortly after you first absorbed your angel powers? I thought the answer to the first question was yes, but I couldn't remember exactly when it had happened."