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 expression 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.
“He left shortly after you did earlier,” replied Helene. “He didn’t tell us exactly where he was going, though.”
“Great,” Walter muttered. “Is Adelia around?”
“No,” said Cecil. “Why? What’s wrong now?”
Walter looked back and forth between Cecil and Helene. He never thought there would come a time where he felt like he couldn’t trust his elders. But he thought he could trust these two. He didn’t think Adelia was hiding anything, but for some reason his gut told him to not voice his concerns about Phinneas with her.
“The situation with the demons and Melina, there’s something peculiar going on there. Something’s not right, and I think Phinneas is behind it.”
Helene looked surprised. “Why would you say such a thing?”
“You’re walking on thin ice now, Walter.” Cecil stared at him, but Walter didn’t back down.
“I just spoke to Henry, Melina’s guardian angel, and he said that Phinneas told him to leave her alone, that he couldn’t help her. Why would Phinneas tell him that?”
Cecil and Helene looked at one another with puzzled expressions. After a few seconds they turned those expressions toward Walter.
“Yes, I was confused, too, at first. But now, the first thing that comes to mind is that Phinneas is the one who told the demons about Melina having powers.”
Cecil rubbed his forehead. “Walter, what you’ve just told us is serious.”
Walter nodded, pleased that they were seeing it his way. But just as he started to relax, Cecil continued on.
“You’re accusing one of your own elders of lying and possibly being in league with Noxin demons.”
“I heard it straight from Henry’s mouth,” exclaimed Walter. “Why would he make that up?”
Cecil stared at him for a moment and then said, “I have to hear it for myself before I can make any decisions.”
Helene nodded in agreement. “Bring Henry here so he can tell us exactly what he told you.”
Walter shook his head. “I can’t. He told me not to summon him again and then disappeared. I don’t where he is.”
“If you want us to believe in what you’re saying, then I would summon him again,” said Helene.
“That will only irritate him more, and he’ll just keep disappearing,” said Walter.
“I’m sorry, Walter.” Cecil motioned to Helene and himself. “We can’t just take your word. Not only do we need to hear it from Henry, but we also need to hear what Phinneas has to say about all of it.”
“He’ll deny it. You know that!” Walter shouted.
“Then I suggest you try to find Henry and get him to come and talk to us,” Cecil responded. “We need proof, not accusations.”
Walter nodded, and as he turned to leave, he muttered under his breath, “You’ll get your proof, one way or another.”
Chapter Ten
Melina stood in place for a while, staring at the spot where Lee had been. She had finally gotten him to talk to her, even if it was just for a moment. It was going to take time to break through to him, but with the powers and the demons threatening her life, time is exactly what she didn’t have. How ironic.
A soft sigh left her as she lowered her gaze to the ground. She needed to practice controlling her powers and then, when the weekend was over, she would attempt a visit with Lee. Maybe she could convince him to go to Nina’s with her for a bit. Or maybe a small coffee shop. She was sure there was one near his jewelry store. But if he wasn’t interested in eating then maybe they could take a walk through the park. She envisioned them strolling through the trees, sitting on a park bench talking, when all of the noise around her fell silent.
Confused, she looked up and saw that everything surrounding her — the people, the buildings, the rides and tents — were all distorted and fuzzy looking. She didn’t know what was going on, but she thought that if she closed her eyes it might all go back to normal. The instant she closed them she felt a slight pressure against her entire body. She peeled her eyes open to see what was going on, and the next thing she knew, she was in the park and a terrible pain shot through her head.
Her hand flew up to her forehead as she dropped to her knees and screamed. She felt like her head was going to explode. Then a brief bout of dizziness overcame her, so she placed her free hand on the ground to steady herself. After about a minute or so the pain began to subside, but there was still a dull throbbing sensation. She finally lifted her head and looked around.
“How did I get here?” She pushed herself up from the ground when all of a sudden everything clicked. Her eyes opened wide. “I teleported. But how? I wasn’t even thinking of teleporting. Oh boy.” She raised her eyes to the sky and looked around. “Walter! Walter, I need you!”
A few seconds later he appeared, stepping out from the trees in front of her. He hurried over to her. “What are you doing here, especially all by yourself?”
Melina looked at him, her eyes still wide in shock. “I think I teleported.”
“You
think
you teleported?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly like it was when I teleported with you, and I wasn’t thinking of teleporting. I was thinking of the park, and the next thing I knew I was here.”
Walter nodded. “You teleported.”
“So every time I think of a place I risk the chance of being teleported there?”
“No,” Walter replied, a pensive look on his face now. “That’s not how it works. Not only do you have to think of the place, but you also need to think that you want to teleport to that location. Since you weren’t thinking of teleporting to the park, then something else had to have triggered it. Were you thinking of anything else?”