Melina’s eyes narrowed. As much as the demon was angering her, he did have a point. Plus, the whole reason she came out searching for a demon was so she could confront one about what was happening to everyone, especially Tessa and Lee, so she didn't want to scare him off.
She slowly let down her light shield as she stared over at him. He was dressed in a formal suit and a long black trench coat. His dark, greasy hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and his face and hands were smeared with soot.
He looked over at her and gave her a devilish grin. “Now the fun begins.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, taking a confident step forward. “You’re going to answer some questions for me.”
The demon laughed again. “And what makes you think I would answer any questions for you?”
“Because if you really know who I am, then you know that I don’t just have angel powers.”
The demon’s smile faded.
“What’s happening to everyone?” Melina asked. “Why are their eyes turning black?”
“You can’t make me talk.”
“Don’t test me,” she said as she took another step toward him.
The anger in her started to rise up, and almost instantly a fiery sensation started to course its way through her veins. She wanted to make it stop, but the feelings were so strong, she found it difficult to do. The demon sneered at her, and when he started to laugh at her again, Melina felt her anger skyrocket. She threw both hands out in front of her, and a stream of flaming white light shot out from both of them, hitting the demon straight in the chest. He fell to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.
Melina’s eyes widened. What am I doing?
She hadn’t wanted to use her demon powers, but the anger in her had caused her to do so, and she didn’t like it. She dropped her arms down to her sides, and the light from her hands slowly diminished.
The demon stopped screaming and, after catching his breath, looked up at her and smirked. “I knew you didn’t have it in you.”
She glared at the demon and was about to say something back when she heard multiple footsteps behind her. As she turned around, she saw five snarling Noxin demons coming down the alleyway toward her.
The demon laughed behind her. “I told you my friends would come join me if you weren’t careful.”
Melina turned back to the demon and gritted her teeth as she shot him another death stare. There was so much she wanted to say to him at that moment, but she had at least five or six other Noxin demons coming at her from the other side, and she wouldn’t be able to help stop their plan if she was dead. She closed her eyes and thought of her Jeep, and within seconds she was sitting in the driver’s seat.
She gripped the steering wheel and let out a frustrated scream. Warm tears started to form in her eyes and then slowly trickled down her face. The demon was right. She didn’t have it in her to use her demon powers. Even if they were for good.
Chapter Twenty
Walter sat on top of a tall grassy hill, gazing out at the beautiful sunrise, when Phinneas suddenly appeared next to him.
“Enjoying the beautiful Italian sunrise, are we?” Phinneas asked as he sat down next to him.
Walter smiled as he continued to stare out at the sky. “It is gorgeous, isn’t it?” He pulled his knees up and folded his hands over them. “No, I was just thinking about Melina, and what all of this is going to mean for her.”
Phinneas nodded. “But she’s strong, you know. A lot stronger than she realizes.”
“Yeah,” Walter said. Phinneas was right. She was strong, but would it be enough?
Over the past week he, along with thousands of other angels, had scoured the earth, searching for signs that would tell them if the Noxin demons were assembling elsewhere in the world. A few of them had been sighted in various areas, but the numbers were too small to raise any concern. That could only mean one thing. They were solely congregating in Melina’s town.
“I guess we’d better get back,” Walter said as he stood. “This was the last place I had to check, and Victor asked me to meet him at the summoning stone when I was done.”
“Yes, he told me to meet him there as well,” Phinneas said. He stood up to join Walter. “Shall we?”
Walter gave him a nod, and with a flash of white light they were gone.
When they both appeared back at the summoning stone, Walter saw that some of the other elder angels were also just arriving, but most of them were already there, standing in a group around Victor. They went and stood next to Cecil and Helene, and Victor gave them both a small nod.
“Walter. Phinneas,” Victor said. “I’m glad you two are finally here.” He then looked at Walter. “Anything?”
Walter shook his head.
Victor briefly pressed his lips together. “Right,” he said and then turned to face everyone. “Thank you all for meeting back here, and a big thank you to all of your angels for coming together to help in this matter. Because of everyone’s cooperation, we were able to search the entire earth for excessive Noxin demon activity within less than a week. It was both fortunate and unfortunate that we didn't find the demons congregating anywhere other than Melina’s hometown. Fortunate that this threat is contained to one location, yet unfortunate because of the damage that can be done by having that many Noxin demons together in one area.”
“So what now?” asked one of the elders.
“We can’t help the humans if we don’t know what the demons are doing to them,” Victor said. “So we need to figure that out first before I send my warrior angels to attack them, especially since we’re dealing with Noxin demons. They’re trickier to take care of than other types of demons since their usual motive is to steal human souls. If we destroy the Noxin demon, we destroy the human soul as well.” He looked over at Walter, Phinneas, Cecil, and Helene. “Do you four think you can figure out what they’re up to?”
They all nodded in unison.
Victor turned back to the rest of the elders. “Now it could take them days, or even weeks, to discover what the Noxin demons are doing, but since the demons seem to have already started their plan, hopefully it won’t take that long. That being said, I ask for everyone to be patient, but at the same time always at the ready. My warrior angels are going to be on guard and ready to head to Earth as quickly as possible, but we may need your help.”
Everyone nodded and voiced their agreement. Victor looked back to Walter and the other guiding angel elders. “I’ll leave you four to it then.” He turned and addressed Phinneas, since he was the eldest guiding angel of the four. “Please report back to me as soon as you know something.”
“We will,” Phinneas said.
And with that, the four guiding angel elders disappeared in a burst of white light.
Back in the guiding angels’ temple, Walter, Phinneas, Cecil, and Helene sat around a table together, trying to derive the best plan of action.
“The obvious first step is to go straight to Melina,” Phinneas said. “It’s almost been a week since Walter talked to her last, so I’m sure even more has happened during that time that would give us more clues.”
“Yes,” Helene said, “but if something major had happened, wouldn’t she have contacted us?”
Walter shook his head. “No. Once again, Melina is very stubborn, and it’s hard for her to accept help from others… even angels. And besides being stubborn, I guarantee if something has happened, she didn’t contact us because she thought that we were too busy and didn’t want to distract us.”
Helene raised her eyebrows. “Well, then I guess we should go and talk to Melina.”
Phinneas stood from his chair. “Let’s go then.”
A few seconds later, all four of the elder guiding angels appeared outside of Melina’s apartment door, all in their human forms now.
Phinneas turned to Walter. “You know her the best,” he said and then motioned toward the door. “Would you like to do the honors?”
Walte
r stepped forward and knocked on the door. He knew it was early in the morning for her, but hopefully she was awake. Several seconds later he heard light footsteps coming toward them. The door swung open, and there stood Melina, a surprised look on her face.
“Hello, Melina,” Walter said with a smile.
“Walter,” she said as she glanced behind him at the other elders and then back to him. “Wow. I didn’t expect to see all four of you together.”
“May we come in?” Walter asked.
Melina took a step back. “Of course.”
After all four angels walked inside, Walter turned to Melina as she was closing the door. “I hope we didn’t disturb you.”
“No, not at all,” she said. “I actually just finished eating my breakfast.”
“Do you have time to talk right now?” Walter asked.
“Yes, my store doesn’t open for another hour or so. Please,” she said as she gestured to her living room. “Everyone have a seat.”
As they all made their way into the living room, Walter looked over at Melina and tried to get a feel of the state of things by her appearance and composure. She was dressed casually in a dark green sweater and jeans with her wavy brown hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her eyes had dark circles around them, like she hadn’t been sleeping well, and after she had taken a seat in the recliner, she started to tap her foot on the floor. Something must’ve happened while they were gone. She was worried.
Phinneas, Cecil, and Helene all took a seat on the couch while Walter sat down on the loveseat, across from Melina. He looked over at her and cut right to the chase.
“You look worried,” he said. “What all has happened while we were gone?”
Melina clutched her hands together in her lap. “A lot, actually.” She glanced at the other elders and then returned her focus to Walter. “I know where Maura and Adelia are.”
Walter sat up a little straighter. He was almost certain that he, along with the other elders, also knew where Maura and Adelia were. With the majority of the Noxin demons all congregating in this town, it wasn’t too hard to guess.
“They’re here,” she said. “I’ve had some not so pleasant encounters with both of them.” Her body tensed as she gave Walter a fleeting glance.
“Were you attacked?” Walter asked.
“By Adelia, no,” Melina said. “My encounters with her were odd and confusing.”
All four of the elders gave her curious looks, so she explained everything that had happened with Adelia.
Walter’s eyebrows drew together. “Odd indeed.”
“But intriguing at the same time,” Helene said.
Walter nodded. “And what happened with Maura?”
“Oh, well, she attacked me,” Melina said. “But it wasn’t with intent to kill me. At least not yet anyway.” She recalled all of the details from her run-in with Maura.
“So you saw Maura outside of your friend Tessa’s condo?” Cecil asked.
Melina nodded at him.
“Do you have any idea why she was there?”
Melina paused for a moment. “I do,” she said with another small nod. “They’ve been after Tessa from the beginning, and it seems that they’ve finally gotten to her.” She started in on everything that she had experienced with Tessa and then went on to explain what she had seen with other people throughout the town. By the time she had finished telling them about what had happened with Lee the night before, she had tears trickling down her face.
“I don’t know what’s happening to all of these people,” she said in a trembling voice. “Some of their eyes only turn black for a second while the others seemed to have turned black permanently. And I don’t think the other humans are able to see it when a person’s eyes are black.” She paused to wipe the tears away from her cheeks and then looked straight at Walter. “What are the demons doing to them?”
All four elders looked at each other. After several seconds of silence, Phinneas finally spoke up.
“You know that saying that the eyes are the windows to the soul?” he asked as he looked at Melina.
She gave a small nod.
“With all of these people’s eyes turning black, I think it’s safe to assume that the Noxin demons have done something to their souls. Something to turn them dark.”
“But what?” Melina asked. “I mean, I don't understand how they could be using guiding angel powers to turn a human’s soul dark.”
“There has to be some connection,” Cecil said.
Walter stroked his chin. “From what you’ve told us, Melina, it seems that the people who have been affected so far are all suddenly displaying some sort of negative trait – anger, hate, jealousy, laziness, arrogance. If a human is struggling with one or more of those traits, we can tell by either hearing their thoughts or by having a vision. But as far as making a connection as to how the demons are using those guiding angel powers to amplify those negative traits in people… well, I’m at a loss.”
He glanced at the other elders, but they all shook their heads, just as stumped as he was.
Melina looked over at Walter. “So I’m assuming you all are here because you’ve found out how widespread this threat is.”
Walter scratched the back of his neck and then gave her a small nod.
Her eyes widened. “What? Have the demons become a worldwide threat?”
“No,” Walter said. “It’s actually the opposite.”
Melina’s round eyes narrowed.
Walter glanced at the other elders and then back to Melina. “While we did see some Noxin demons here and there across the world, it seems that the only place they’re congregating is here.” He kept his eyes on Melina, waiting for her to respond.
At first, she just stared back at him, not moving a muscle. A few seconds later, she slowly nodded her head and lowered her gaze to the floor. “I think I knew that was going to be your answer.”
“How did you know?” Walter asked.
She shrugged, still staring down at the carpet. “You said it before. Maura and Adelia want to get back at me, so they’re targeting everyone in my town, including those who are closest to me.” She raised her gaze and looked back at Walter. “This is even worse than a worldwide threat, isn’t it?”
Walter nodded. “It’s not good to have this many Noxin demons all in one area, and it’s not good to have a large amount of humans with darkened souls all in one area.”
“But how are they doing that to these people?” Melina asked. “Especially when they’re in their human forms.”
“Well,” Phinneas piped up. “We have come to the conclusion that the demons most likely have to be in their human forms to use our powers. That’s the form we’re normally in when we use them. But I would think that they would have to be in their demonic forms in order to do anything to a human’s soul.” He looked around at the other elders as he scratched his scruffy, gray beard. “Thoughts?”
“No,” Cecil said. “They can’t use any of their demon powers when they’re in a human form. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“I think that leaves us with only one option then,” Walter said as he turned to look at Melina. “You have to follow them.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Melina swallowed as she stared at Walter. All she could think about was the incident she’d had with the demons last night, and how her inability to control her anger and her demon powers had almost gotten her killed. She wasn’t ready to go after the demons again, but she wasn’t sure how to tell them all that. Or maybe she just had. She glanced around at all of the elders, but none of them looked like they had been listening in on her thoughts.
She sat up a little straighter and cleared her throat. “You want me to follow them alone?”
“I’m afraid so,” Walter said. “They would be able to sense us where they can only sense the demon powers in you.”
Her brow furrowed. She had never thought about it before, but Walter’s comment made her curious. “So the Noxin demons can’
t sense the angel powers in me?”
Walter turned his gaze to Phinneas.
“That’s right,” Phinneas replied. “And we can’t sense the demon powers in you. Only your angel powers.”
“Does that have something to do with why I can’t sense either angels or demons?” Melina asked.
Phinneas shook his head. “Only supernatural beings can sense other supernatural beings. While you may have special powers, you yourself are still human.”
She slowly nodded as she looked down at the floor.
“And even though the majority of the demons seem to be in their human forms,” Walter said, “some of them could be stealthed in their demonic forms, and you’re the only one who can see them in that form.”
Melina nodded again as she wrapped her arms protectively over her chest.
“Melina,” Walter said as he leaned forward in his chair. “I know what we’re asking you to do must be daunting now that you know that the demons are only congregating here, but we’ll make sure Henry is on high alert, and we thought that maybe Dean could go with you.”
Melina sighed. “Dean won’t come.”
“Why not? I thought he said he wanted to help.”
“That was before he got back together with his ex-girlfriend, Lynn.” She shook her head. “She’s turned him against his powers, made him not want them anymore.”
“Did he tell you this?” Phinneas asked.
Melina shook her head. “One of his coworkers did. Lynn kept intercepting all of my communication attempts with Dean, so Lee and I teleported to his workplace in Canada so I could talk to him in person. We ended up meeting one of his coworkers who told us about Dean’s new attitude toward his powers. When Lee and I went to Dean’s apartment, he told me I had wasted my time then shut the door in my face.”