Empower

by Ashley Stambaugh

  “Stop!” Melina yelled as she started to run over to them.

  She was only a few feet away when both men turned in her direction. And that’s when she saw it. Their eyes were solid black.

  She stopped in her tracks and looked back and forth between them. The older man released his hold on the other man’s throat but kept a hold of his shirt. They both glared at her and started to growl.

  Melina raised her hands up and slowly started to back away.

  The older man stepped toward her. “Mind your own business, girly,” he snarled. “This is between me and this little pipsqueak here.”

  “I’ll show you pipsqueak, you old geezer.” The younger man pulled his arm back and punched the older man in the face.

  The older man stumbled backward but quickly regained his footing. He charged at the younger man, causing them both to fall to the ground, where they continued to punch and kick at each other.

  Melina frantically looked around, but besides the two men and herself, the lot was empty. She took off toward the building in search of the attendant. When she reached the door, she flung it open and rushed inside. The attendant was sitting behind the counter with his feet propped up, reading a comic book.

  “You need to call the police!” Melina said, out of breath.

  “The phone’s over there,” the attendant said as he nodded to his right. He didn’t even bother to look up.

  “Are you kidding me?” Melina gave the man an incredulous look. “Two men are about to kill each other in front of your store, and you don’t care?”

  The man gave a small shrug then flipped a page in his book.

  “This isn’t a joke,” she said. “You need to call for help!”

  The man lowered his comic book and looked up at her. “Do I look like I care? If two idiots want to beat each other senseless, it’s not my problem.” He raised his book back up, but before he looked down again, Melina saw his eyes turn black for a brief moment.

  She sucked in a sharp breath. He was affected, too. She kept her eyes on him as she made her way over to the phone and dialed 9-1-1. A few short minutes later, two police cars pulled into the gas station, their red and blue lights flashing brightly in the evening sky.

  Both police officers jumped out of their cars and ran over to the two men who were still rolling around and fighting on the ground. The officers pulled the men apart, but it didn’t calm them down. They continued to yell at each other, and the younger man even tried to break free from the officer’s hold. It wasn’t long before the two men were in handcuffs, each one being loaded into the back of a police car.

  Before they drove off, one of the officers approached Melina. She sucked in a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for him to ask her about the men’s black eyes.

  “Are you the woman who called this in?” the officer asked.

  “Yes, that was me.”

  “Thank you for calling when you did, ma’am. I think we would’ve been looking at some more serious injuries if we hadn’t shown up when we did. Can you tell me what they were fighting over?” he asked.

  “Apparently the older man was mad that the younger one pulled into that spot before he could,” she said as she gestured over to the gas pump in front of her.

  “Really? They were about to kill each other over that?” He shook his head.

  “Yeah, well, good thing two of you showed up,” Melina said. “Who knows what would’ve happened if they both had to ride in the back of the same squad car.”

  “Yeah, I know,” the officer said. “They’re both still pretty riled up. Thanks again for calling.”

  Melina blinked her eyes a few times as she watched him walk away. He hadn’t even mentioned the men’s eyes. Maybe it was too dark out for him to notice. Or maybe she was the only one who could see them.

  She watched as the two police cars drove away, then walked back over to her Jeep. After she had filled up her tank with gas, she climbed back inside and started up the engine. Before she left she took one more glance through the gas station’s window and saw that the attendant was still loafing in his chair, reading his comic book. She shook her head and drove off toward Lee’s.

  Several minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot in front of the Skyrise Apartments. After she parked her Jeep, she walked up to the front entrance where Barry, the doorman, was standing. His stern expression warmed as he saw Melina approach.

  “Hello there, Miss Rowe.”

  “Hi, Barry.” She tried to give him her best convincing smile. “Is Lee in?”

  “As a matter of fact, he is. I’ll let him know you’re here.” He turned around and picked up the phone as he punched some numbers into the keypad. “Hello, Mr. Atwood. Melina is here to see you. Of course. I’ll send her right up.” He hung up the phone and then went to open the door for her.

  “Thank you,” she said as he ushered her inside.

  Barry tipped his hat toward her. “You’re welcome.”

  Melina walked into the elevator and hit the button for the second floor. She was there within a few seconds, and when she stepped out into the foyer area, she saw Lee standing outside of his door waiting for her.

  “Hey, babe!” He flashed her a big grin and then held the door open for her. “Come on in.”

  She gave him a confused smile and then made her way into his apartment. Babe? He’s never called me babe before.

  He followed her into the living room, and they both took a seat on the couch.

  “I can see you’re not sick,” she said to him as she shrugged off her coat.

  He shook his head. “Nope. Not sick.”

  “Then did you have some sort of emergency or something?”

  “Um, no. Why?”

  Melina frowned. “Because… you didn’t go to work today.”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, so?”

  She continued to give him a befuddled look. “So… that’s not like you to just not show up. That’s why I wondered if something had happened.”

  “No,” he said. “Nothing happened. I just didn’t feel like going in today.” He leaned back against the couch and folded his hands behind his head. “In fact, I may not go in tomorrow either. I don’t know. I guess we’ll see how tonight goes.” He flashed her another grin and then winked at her.

  Melina leaned back, confused by his odd behavior. She hated to think it, but he was actually acting cocky. That wasn’t normal behavior for him.

  “What is going on with you?” she asked.

  “Nothing. I’m fine.” He leaned forward and grabbed the TV remote off the coffee table and turned on the TV. “Let’s see if we can find a movie to watch while we wait for dinner to get here.”

  “Dinner?”

  “Yeah, I ordered a pizza right before you showed up,” he said. “I assumed you were going to stay, right?” He gave her another wink.

  Melina cleared her throat. She loved Lee, but he usually didn’t act like this toward her, and it was making her kind of uncomfortable. “Sure. I can stay for dinner.”

  “Great,” he said as he returned his attention back to the TV and started flipping through the channels. After a few seconds, he stopped on one of the local channels that was doing a story on one of their fellow business owners. The news reporter was talking about how the store was in financial trouble and was in danger of having to close.

  “Ha!” Lee laughed out loud. “Serves him right.”

  Melina leaned away from him as she shot him a look of disbelief. Now he was making fun of other people?

  “Lee, that’s not very nice,” she said. “You know, not too long ago it was you who was in some financial trouble with your own store. I really don’t think you’re in any position to judge.”

  “What? No. I had everything under control,” he said.

  Melina turned back to the TV. “It must be pretty bad if it made the news. I don’t know the man personally, but I’ve seen him around town, and he seems like a nice guy. I wish there was some way to help him.”
/>   Lee rolled his eyes. “He got himself into the mess, he can get himself out.”

  “Um, your sister had to help you get out of your mess.”

  “Yeah, and she likes to remind me of it all the time,” he said. “Sometimes I think it was a mistake. I could’ve handled it on my own.”

  “Lee, I’m sure Claire doesn’t mean anything by it. She’s probably just trying to remind you of where you once were to keep you in check.”

  “I don’t need to be kept in check. I’m managing things just fine.” He looked back at the TV and started flipping through the channels again.

  Melina raised an eyebrow at him and then turned away. She didn’t know what had gotten into him today, but she wasn’t a fan of his attitude change. Maybe something had happened last night with his friend Greg.

  “So how did last night go?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You went to go help one of your friends move some stuff, right?”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said as he laid the remote back down on the coffee table and then scratched his head. “Um, it went okay, I guess.”

  “Do you not remember?”

  “No, I do,” he said, a slightly confused look on his face. “It’s just a little fuzzy, is all.” He stood up from the couch and started to walk toward the kitchen. “The pizza should be here soon. You want to help me get some plates and drinks out?”

  “Sure,” she said as she stood up to join him. She was beginning to think that maybe Noxin demons had something to do with why he couldn’t remember much about last night and wanted to question him more, but she could tell he wanted a change in subject. Plus, he was already in a weird mood, and she didn’t want to push it. She followed him into the kitchen, and a few minutes later the pizza arrived.

  As they sat down to eat, Melina thought that his temporary confusion might have put a damper on his cocky attitude, but as she started to make small talk, she noticed more and more of it coming back in his comments.

  “Lee,” she said. “About last night…”

  “Why don’t you stay over tonight,” he said, ignoring her.

  “Oh, um… I probably shouldn’t. I mean…”

  “Come on,” he said as he took her hand in his. “Stay.”

  “Lee, I don’t know,” she said, still worried about his behavior.

  “Fine.” He tossed her hand aside as he abruptly stood up from his chair and walked away.

  Melina followed him. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just…”

  He turned around to face her, and right at that moment his eyes turned solid black and within a flash were back to normal.

  “No,” she said under her breath as her eyes widened in shock. Not him too.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Melina continued to stare at Lee as tears started to form in her eyes. She couldn’t believe this was happening to him again. He had almost died at the hands of the demons once before, and she didn’t know if she could handle possibly losing him again. She blinked her eyes a few times and shook her head. Falling apart right now wasn’t going to help him. She needed to calm down and try to think clearly.

  “Lee, do you remember seeing any Noxin demons last night?” She knew it was a long shot since he had already told her that he couldn’t recall much, but she had to ask. If there was any chance that he might remember, she needed to know.

  “What?” he asked in an angry tone, seemingly oblivious to her tears. “No, I didn’t see any demons last night.”

  Narrowing her eyes, she peered at his neck, trying to see if there were any burn marks. The collar on his fleece pullover came up pretty high, so she wasn’t able to see much.

  “Did you go anywhere else besides your friend’s place?”

  ”Hmm,” he said as he rubbed at his chin. “No, I don’t think so.”

  Melina really needed to talk to Walter, but she knew he was busy, so she didn’t want to call to him. Hopefully he would come to her with some news soon. In the meantime, there was someone else she wanted to talk to.

  “I’m so sorry, Lee, but I need to go.” She stepped over and gave him a lingering kiss.

  “Why can’t you stay?” he asked as he pulled back.

  “I have some work I still need to do,” she said, trying not to start crying again.

  “But your store’s closed now.”

  “I know,” she said. “There’s just something that I still need to do. I love you.” She gave him another light kiss on his cheek and then grabbed her coat off the couch as she hurried out the door. A couple of minutes later she was back in her Jeep and driving off toward the downtown area. The work she needed to do wasn’t back at her store.

  As she approached the downtown area, traffic began to pick up, and she started to see more and more people out and about. Her head was constantly moving from side to side as she looked all around, trying to find who she was searching for. Actually, it wasn’t a specific who she was after. She was looking for a Noxin demon to confront, and any one of them would do.

  She continued to look around as she drove farther into town. It was pretty dark out now, and the streetlights only provided her with a limited amount of light, so she had to strain her eyes to see. Crowded areas at nighttime were where the demons usually thrived, but so far she hadn’t spotted a single one.

  “I don’t get it,” she said out loud. “If Noxin demons are all over town then how come I’m not seeing them everywhere?”

  A few minutes later, she found an empty spot to park her Jeep and hopped out to walk around. She would probably have better luck finding one on foot and in a place that wasn’t so lit up. Dark alleyways were her best bet.

  As she headed down the first alley, she tried to muster up her courage. She wasn’t going to be scared anymore. She’d had encounters with both Maura and Adelia now, and neither one of them had wanted to kill her. At least not yet. And she didn’t need to be scared of the other Noxin demons. She could take their guiding angel powers away by releasing the human souls in them, and then they would be useless for Maura’s plan. But still, she didn’t want to have to use her demon powers in order to do it. The demons didn’t have to know that, though.

  She kept a lookout for any dark, moving shadows or dark red eyes. But as she continued to make her way farther down the alley, she didn’t see a thing. “Come on. There’s got to be one around here somewhere.”

  Before she knew it, she had reached the end of the passageway. She walked out onto the sidewalk of the next street over and looked around. Lots of people, but no demons. She tried the next alley over, but there was still no sign of them. “Where are you all hiding?”

  There had to be some Noxins somewhere. She stepped back out onto the sidewalk and gazed around at all of the people. Most of them were going to and from the various restaurants in the area, but then she noticed that some of them seemed to just be aimlessly walking around. She focused in on a young man to try to figure out what he was doing. After watching him for a few seconds, her eyes suddenly widened as she let out a soft gasp. While he was very well dressed, his black, chin-length hair looked greasy and unkempt. And the black smudges on his neck and hands were soot.

  Her eyes instantly went to the woman walking behind him. She was well dressed, too, and when she turned her head to the side, Melina saw a small black mark on her cheek.

  Melina’s breathing started to quicken as she continued to scan over all of the people. There was a group of three women walking around across the street, all of them dressed in formal attire, and all of them wearing traces of soot on their faces. Demons. She glanced at the man standing behind them. Formal suit, long, greasy hair, and black smudges on his face and clothes. Demon. Her eyes quickly shifted to the man standing down the street from her. Dressy clothes, dirty hair, and soot on his face. Demon.

  Melina’s jaw dropped as she froze in place. The Noxin demons were everywhere. They were just in their human forms.

  For the next several seconds, she remained standing in pl
ace, staring at all of the demons walking around her. She hadn’t prepared herself for this many in one area. Right now they all could sense her but just assumed she was another Noxin. But sooner or later, one of them would notice her, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do when that happened.

  Still breathing hard, she slowly started to back pedal, inching her way toward the concealing darkness of the alley behind her. When she reached it, she quickly sidled up next to one of the buildings, pressing her shoulder against the wall, and tried not to move. As she continued to watch the demons, a sudden realization dawned on her. Most of the Noxin demons she had seen that past week had been in their human forms. But why? Why would they be in their human forms when they were stronger in their demonic forms?

  She was still pondering the matter when out of nowhere a hand came up from behind her and clamped down over her mouth. Melina tried to scream as her attacker wrapped his other arm tightly around her torso, pinning down her arms, and yanked her farther down the alleyway. She dragged her feet, trying to stop the person, but he or she was strong. About halfway down the alley, her attacker stopped and leaned his face down close to her ear.

  “I know who you are,” said a rough male voice.

  Melina stopped squirming and tried to look behind her.

  “Ah, got your attention, did I?” The man laughed. “I was told to leave you alone, but…” The man shrugged. “What fun would that be?”

  He was told to leave her alone. The last time she heard someone say that to her it was a Noxin demon. She clenched her teeth together. This demon wasn’t going to have any fun at her expense.

  She closed her eyes and focused on bringing up her light shield. A couple of seconds later, a bright, fiery white light came bursting out around her, causing the demon to scream in pain as he flew back onto the hard pavement.

  Melina spun around and glared at the demon. “If you know who I am, then you should’ve known that I could do that!”

  The demon let out a low chuckle. “Yes, I knew you could do that.” He grunted as he pushed himself up to his feet. “But I also know that you can’t hold it up forever.” He shrugged. “Besides, if you keep it up too long, the rest of my buddies out there will eventually see it and come to join me. And I don’t think you want that.”