Collide by Ashley Stambaugh Page B

floor. Melina winced as she let out a low groan. She raised her hand to feel the back of her head and then opened her eyes to see the demon standing in front of her.
    He was in his human form and looked different than the two who had ambushed her in the alley by the coffee shop. He was much bigger and better-groomed. He must be the lead demon. The other two would probably have been yelling and sneering at her right now. That or trying to attack her again. But the one in front of her now seemed much more composed and was definitely stronger.
    The demon stared at her for several seconds and then took a small step toward her.
    Melina gasped and lifted her arm up in front of her. “Stay back!” she shouted in a shaky voice.
    Once again, her fear and need to protect herself triggered her light shield, and it burst out around her. She strained to hold it up for as long as she could, but the pain in her head was only growing worse. Through squinted eyes, she looked up at the demon. He had stepped back just in time to avoid being hit by her shield. His face was turned away from the light, and his hands were held out in front of him. He wasn’t going away like the other two had, though.
    That worried Melina, especially since she could feel the light shield growing weaker around her. As the intensity of the light began to diminish, the demon relaxed out of his defensive pose. His blank expression was now one of annoyance, and his eyes were glowing red again. He looked down at her and shook his head.
    “Let’s not do that again, shall we? You’re only making things worse for yourself.”
    Melina lowered her arm and placed it on the floor to help support herself. Her breathing was heavy from straining to hold up her light shield, and her head was pounding. She peered up at the demon and said as firmly as she could, “Leave me alone or I will do it again.”
    The demon let out a low chuckle. “You don’t have the strength. Boys,” he said as he motioned to both sides of him.
    Melina saw the two demons who had attacked her before appear from each side of the room. They were in their human forms as well, and they glared at her as they walked toward their leader. All three of them were here. She felt like she was going to be sick. Why did Phinneas tell my guardian angel to not help me? Why does he want me to die?
    The lead demon whispered something to the other two, and then all three of them began to walk toward her. She sat up the best she could and tried to scoot away from them. “No!” she screamed. “Get back!”
    Her light shield flickered out around her once more, but she could tell that it wasn’t as strong as the first one. It probably wasn’t going to hold for long either, but it had caught the lead demon off guard and sent him flying back across the room and into the wall.
    As he writhed around on the floor in pain, he shouted out to his fellow demons. “Kill her! Kill her now!”
    Melina looked at the other two demons and saw what appeared to be smoke rising up around them. Slowly, they began to transform themselves back into their demonic forms. She saw their skin start to fade away, eventually replaced by a cloudy, smoke-like matter. Their fingers became bent and gnarled while their nails turned into long, black claws. At the same time they both smiled at her, showing off a mouth full of sharp and jagged gray teeth. Their eyes turned to a fiery red as they both began to growl at her.
    She wasn’t going to sit there and allow them to kill her. Her mind began to race as she tried to think of a way to escape. Even if she did have her full strength, she wouldn’t be quick enough to run from them. She was going to have to teleport.
    Her light shield was growing weaker. She knew she didn’t have much time left, and that made her nervous. She had never tried to focus on a location to teleport to while under such a big amount of pressure, or any amount of pressure for that matter. Taking in a deep, shaky breath, she