“But Lee—”
“Enough!” Lee’s hands balled into fists as he glared up at his sister. “I know what mistakes I’ve made, and I know that they’ve started to cause the store to fail. But I didn’t come here to ask for your help because I wanted an easy way out. I want to get the store back up to the respectful level it used to be, because that’s what Dad deserves. I want to do it for Dad because I know I was wrong. I’ve been beside myself, knowing that he died thinking that I hated him over something that wasn’t even true.”
“Dad didn’t hate you, Lee. But are you saying that—”
“Yes. When I met with the lawyer, Mr. Harvey, about inheriting the store, I was also given several other documents that belonged to Dad. Mom and Dad’s divorce papers were among them, from which I learned that Mom was the one who filed for the divorce, not Dad. I went to see Mom before coming here and let her tell me everything.”
“Oh, Lee.” Claire wiped at her tear-filled eyes and then pulled her brother into a soft hug. “Mom, Dad, and I… we tried to tell you. We tried.”
“I know,” said Lee as he stepped back and looked over at his sister with his own watery eyes. “I was just so young and stubborn when it happened. It was my last semester of high school, and all I saw was Dad leaving us.”
Claire shook her head. “You should’ve known that he wouldn’t have done so willingly.”
“Yeah, I should’ve. Some son I am to instantly think the worst of our father like that, huh?” Lee blinked his eyes, causing streams of tears to fall down his cheeks. “And now that I know the truth, you’d think that I’d be mad at Mom, but I can’t be. She tried to tell me it was her doing from the get-go, and I don’t want to be angry anymore. I’ve been angry for so long that I…” Lee’s sobs took over, leaving him unable to finish his sentence.
Claire took her brother by the arm and led him over to one of the chairs at the kitchen table. She sat next to him and held his hand while they both cried. About a minute or two later, Lee was able to compose himself and wiped the tears away from his face.
“Please, sis, help me make things right.” He looked at his sister with pleading eyes.
“Okay,” Claire said as she nodded and squeezed his hand. “I can help you with the store. But I can’t help you with finding peace with Dad. You’re going to have to do that on your own.”
Lee nodded as he gave her a weak smile. “I know. I’m just not quite sure where to start.”
Melina turned away from the window and let out a long exhale. Wow. I thought I could find a way to help him when his issues seemed to be just a bad attitude and financial struggles, but those aren’t his main problems at all. His problem is something so much more. He thinks his father died thinking that he hated him. Oh man. And he thinks he has no idea where to start. Where do I start?
Before she got lost in her thoughts and ended up getting caught by Lee or his sister, Melina snuck back around to the front of the house and took off toward her Jeep. Once inside, she headed straight for the interstate and didn’t stop until she'd made it back home.
Chapter Twenty-One
Walter hung his head as he sat down on a bench outside of his temple. He knew Melina was counting on him for answers, but he didn’t have any for her. At least not yet. He couldn’t give up, but he didn’t know what to do anymore. Every time he'd checked inside the temple, Cecil had been the only elder there.
He was beginning to think that getting all four of the elders together wasn’t going to happen. Who knew when Phinneas would show his face again, and he had no idea where Adelia was. It had already been a few days since he talked to Melina last, and he was running out of time. Whenever Helene returned, he would just have to talk to her and Cecil.
Walter knew about Melina’s parents now, and that Helene was the elder who'd spoken to them. She would have to explain herself for that, and hopefully it would get Cecil to admit that he'd been involved as well. Then he would have to question them about the demons again. It wasn’t the Noxin’s first time to come after a human who could absorb angel powers. According to Gwen, the demons had attacked Melina’s parents, too. If that was true, then did that mean that they had gone after all of the humans like Melina?
Walter tilted his head back and groaned. The whole ordeal was a mess. His elders were possibly working with demons. The thought made him cringe, but it also thoroughly confused him. Why would they be working with them? He leaned his head forward and then stood up from the bench to go and check on the elders again.
It had only been a couple of hours since he'd last checked, but he was growing anxious and wanted to be there as soon as any of the other elders returned. He made his way up to the top floor and saw that Helene was back. She and Cecil were talking with another angel, so Walter tried to wait patiently until they were done. Several minutes later, the other angel left, and Walter made a beeline for the elders.
Helene looked up as Walter approached. “Hello, Walter. We sure have been seeing a lot of you lately. What can we help you with?”
“Cecil, Helene.” He nodded at each of them. “Have you seen Adelia or Phinneas lately?”
“No,” Helene answered. “It’s just been Cecil and me around here for the past several days.”
“Do you have any idea where they are?” Walter asked.
Helene shook her head.
“Are they together?” Walter looked back and forth between the elders.
“I’m not exactly sure,” replied Cecil. “But I don’t think so. They didn’t leave together.”
“What are you trying to get at, Walter?” Helene gave him a curious look.
Walter took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “Well, I wanted all four elders to be present, but I can’t wait any longer.”
“You wanted all four of us here for what?” Cecil asked.
“For when I asked you these questions,” Walter said as he stepped in closer to them. “Are you all involved with helping humans like Melina? I thought it was just Adelia’s job, but I now know Phinneas is involved, and that you are too, Helene.”
Helene stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak, but Walter kept talking.
“Do Melina’s parents ring a bell? And speaking of them, did you know the Noxin demons came after them, too? Do the Noxin go after all of the humans who can absorb angel powers? And tell me, when you say that the unique condition has only occurred in a handful of humans, are you telling the truth? I’m thinking no since none of you mentioned that it happened to both of Melina’s parents.” Walter paused for effect and then said, “An explanation would be nice right about now.”
Walter stared at Cecil and Helene as he tried to calm his rapid breathing. He'd been successful in not allowing the elders to interrupt him or losing his confident tone, but now that he was finished with his accusations, his nerves were starting to get to him. Talking to any elder in the way that he had wasn’t something a normal angel did, but he knew it was the only way to get answers from them.
A few more seconds of tense silence passed before Helene finally spoke up. “You seem confident in your accusations of me. Do you have any proof?”
“Gwen. She was best friends with Melina’s mother.”
Helene nodded. “It’s true. I was the elder who explained everything to Melina’s parents, Paul and Nora. And yes,” Helene held her hand up to stop Walter before he said anything, “there have been more humans with the unique condition than we’ve let on.”
Walter scrunched his brow. “How many more?”
“Well, considering how many people there are in the world, the occurrence is still very rare,” Helene replied.
Walter eyed her carefully. “Just not as rare as three, though, right?”
“Right,” said Helene. “It’s more like three thousand or so.”
“What?” Walter gave her a look of disbelief. “Why would you lie to us about the true number?”
“Because none of the humans have ever survived!” Helene exclaimed. “Every time it
happens with a human, Adelia does everything in her power to cover it up. The only reason why you know about three of the instances is because too many angels got involved, so she wasn’t able to keep them a secret.”
Walter still looked shocked. “But why does she want to cover them up?”
Helene briefly closed her eyes as she raised her hand up to her forehead. “She thinks that the amount of failure would bring the morale down amongst our kind. She said it would only cause doubt, and I agree with her.”
Walter stared at Helene and then looked over at Cecil, who didn’t seem to be surprised by the revelation. “You’re involved in it, too, aren’t you? It’s all four of you, just like I suspected.”
Cecil nodded as he stepped forward. “Yes, Walter, we’re all involved when it comes to humans like your charge, Melina. It was initially Adelia’s responsibility, but then we decided that we all should help.”
“So why not tell us that you all help with humans like Melina? Why are we told to only report cases to Adelia?”
“Adelia thought that there still needed to be one elder who received notice of all of the reported cases, to keep things somewhat organized. And since it was originally her responsibility, she appointed herself.”
Walter gave him a suspicious look and was about to say something else when Cecil cut him off.
“I know what you’re going to ask next, and the answer’s no. We don’t know anything about how the Noxin demons got involved, and we’re certainly shocked to hear that it isn’t the first time that it’s happened.”
“Why should I believe you? How do I know you’re not lying about that as well?” Walter asked.
“We’ve told you that everything else is true, but the accusation about the demons is simply one we can’t admit to,” said Cecil. “You’re just going to have to trust us when we say that we know nothing about the involvement of the Noxin demons.”
Walter shook his head. “I don’t know what to believe about you two anymore, or Adelia, but I do know that Phinneas has something to do with them. Is there really no way for you to contact him or find out where he is?”
Cecil and Helene stared back at Walter.
“Please,” begged Walter. “If there is some way that only you elders know about, well, don’t you think this is a serious enough situation that you could tell me about it?”
Helene looked at Cecil and then back to Walter. “There is a way. Sort of.”
“What do you mean by sort of?” asked Walter.
“I mean that you can find a general location for him, but not an exact location.”
Walter rubbed his chin. “Well, that’s better than nothing. I can work with a general location. How do I do it?”
“The summoning stone,” Helene replied.
“The summoning stone?” A look of confusion washed over Walter’s face. “But I thought it didn’t work on elders?”
“It doesn’t,” said Helene. “At least not how you’re used to it working. It won’t summon him to you, but like I said, it will give you his general location by projecting it into your mind. The one part that does work the same is that he will know someone is looking for him.”
Walter shrugged. “That shouldn’t be much of a problem. He would think it was one of you, right?”
Helene nodded. “Probably. But if he is involved with the demons, like you suggest, then I would think that he wouldn’t want to be found by anyone right now. And if that’s the case, then once he senses someone looking for him, he’ll change locations, and then you’ll have to start all over again. Do you see what I’m getting at?”
“You think it’s pointless for me to even try, don’t you?” asked Walter.
“Not completely,” said Helene. “I just don’t want you to spend too much time on it.”
“I won’t be spending too much time on it. I’m going to find him.” Walter bowed to both Cecil and Helene. “Thank you for your time and your help. I must be going now.” Walter waited for them to both nod at him before he took his leave and headed for the summoning stone.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Melina walked through the back door of her store and almost ran right into Tessa. “Oh hey, Tess. How are things with the store?”
“Melina, I’ve missed you,” Tessa said as she pulled her friend into a hug. “The store’s great, don’t worry, but how are you?” She took a step back, and her eyes met Melina’s. “What’s been going on the past few days?”
“Well, after some extensive investigating, I confirmed that Claire was the woman from my vision, found out where she lived, and was able to witness the argument between her and Lee. I actually just got back from her place.”
“Wow,” said Tessa. “You’ve been busy. I’m glad the demons have left you alone.”
“Oh no, there was a demon attack.”
Tessa’s eyes grew wide. “Melina! Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Fortunately, Henry showed up.”
“You saw Henry?”
Melina nodded. “Yes, but let’s head upstairs, shall we? I’ll fill you in on everything.”
“Of course,” said Tessa as she quickly followed Melina up the stairs.
They both took a seat at the kitchen table, and Melina recalled the past few days. When she finished her story, Tessa just stared at her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” said Melina, “but I needed to rest after the attack and then prepare for today.”
“No no,” Tessa said as she shook her head. “I understand that. But these demon attacks are only going to keep growing worse. I wish there was a way I could help you with Lee to put an end to everything.”
“You and me both,” said Melina as she rubbed her hands over her face. “Lee thinks his father died thinking that he hated him. How do I get him to see that’s not true? We can’t exactly go and talk to his dad.”
“What about Claire or Lee’s mom? I’m sure they know his father didn’t think that way. Have they talked to him about it?”
Melina nodded. “Yes, they both have tried to tell him. I don’t think he’s willing to just take their word on it, though. He needs to know for himself.”
Tessa sighed. “It’s a challenge, but I’m sure we can figure something out.”
“We?” asked Melina.
“Well yeah, I want to help.”
“Tessa, I have to do it by myself. And besides, even if I could let you help, I wouldn’t want you to.”
Tessa gave her an offended look.
“It’s too dangerous with the demons randomly attacking, and you know it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Tessa’s face softened. She was about to say something when they heard Gwen’s voice coming from downstairs.
“Tessa? Tessa, where are you?” Gwen yelled.
“Oh, I didn’t tell Gwen I was coming up here.” Tessa stood up from her chair and walked over to the door.
Melina stood as well. “Fill Gwen in on everything, please?”
Tessa nodded.
“And tell her thank you, once again, for taking care of the store. Thanks to both of you.”
Tessa smiled. “It’s really no big deal. I only wish I could actively help you with your problem, but you’re right. It’s probably too dangerous for me. But good luck tonight. I hope it all goes well.”
“Thanks,” said Melina.
Tessa gave her a quick wave and then disappeared back downstairs.
Melina walked into her bedroom and lay down on her bed. It was only a little after three, so she figured she had time to take a short nap. Two hours later, she was woken up by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She stumbled around her bedroom, trying to find it, when she realized she had left it on the kitchen table. She ran out of her room and snatched it up.
“Hello?” she said, sounding a bit out of breath.
“Melina? Hi, it’s Lee.”
“Oh hi!”
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked.
“No. I couldn’t
find my phone, so I was running around a bit trying to find it.”
“Oh, I see,” he said. “I’ll be home in about an hour. Would you like to meet me at my place? I live in the Skyrise Apartments.”
“Sure, I know where those are.”
“Okay. It’s apartment number two hundred. I’ll tell the doorman I’m expecting you. Just give him your name when you get here, and he’ll let you in.”
“Got it,” Melina said. “I’ll see you in about an hour.”
She hung up her phone and darted into her bathroom to freshen up. Luckily, she had slept pretty soundly so her hair wasn’t too much of a mess. She re-curled a few pieces and then applied some more mascara and lipstick. When she was satisfied, she changed into a simple gray knit dress, put on some earrings and a matching necklace, and slipped on her dressy black boots. After a quick glance in the mirror, she grabbed her coat and purse and headed out to her Jeep.
When she arrived in front of Lee’s apartment she didn’t see his SUV, but she assumed he had parked in the garage. She parked her Jeep and made her way up to the doorman. He was a tall man who appeared to be in his mid-forties. He had a light brown buzz-cut under his hat and a stern expression on his face.
“Hi,” Melina said as she smiled nervously at the man.
“Hello there, miss.” His hard face softened into a smile as he nodded at her. “And who are you here to see?”
“Lee Atwood. My name’s Melina Rowe. He’s expecting me.”
“Ah yes, Miss Rowe. Mr. Atwood did give me your name.” He turned and punched a code into a small pad behind him. There was a soft clicking noise, and then he opened the front door for her.
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Rowe. The elevators straight ahead will take you up to Mr. Atwood’s apartment on the second floor. Have a good evening.” The doorman smiled at her again and then returned to his post.
Melina took the elevator to the second floor and then stood outside the apartment door for a while. Her nerves were starting to get to her. How was she going to get Lee to tell her about what was said at Claire’s? Another thing that worried her was the mess that was left from her struggles with the demons. What was he going to think about that? She was still in the midst of her thoughts when suddenly the door swung open.