Read Online Collide by Ashley Stambaugh - Free Book Online Page A

she had gotten away once more. Melina gulped as a realization suddenly hit her. “Oh no.”
    “What?” Tessa asked.
    “The third demon, the leader, is even stronger than the other two and is probably going to join them now. I barely survived the attack from the two regular ones. What if I can’t handle an attack from all three of them? I bet I won’t even stand a chance.”
    “You can’t think that way, Melina. You have to stop doubting yourself and believe in yourself. I do.”
    Melina gave a slight nod. Tessa had always been such a great support for her, especially when her parents died and the future of the family bookstore had landed on her shoulders. She hadn't thought she could do it, but Tessa had helped her to see that running the bookstore was actually her dream come true in disguise. No, it wasn’t the same as being an English teacher and a freelance writer. But she was surrounded by the written word all day, she had the chance to meet new people who shared her love of writing, and she also got to pass on her passion to children by holding an after-school reading circle twice a week.
    Thanks to Tessa, Melina succeeded with the bookstore when at first she'd thought she couldn’t. And here Tessa was, trying to do the same thing for her again. Her current situation was different, though. If she failed, she wouldn’t just be losing a business. She would be losing her life.
    “Come on,” said Tessa as she finished applying the last bandage. “Let’s get to the festival. You’ll feel safer there amongst the crowd, and who knows, the festivities may even brighten your mood some.”
    “Okay,” Melina said with a hint of a smile. She pulled her coat back on and followed Tessa out to the back where their cars were parked. They hopped into Tessa’s bright red Mini Cooper and headed for the town square.
    They had to park a few blocks away, which didn’t surprise Melina. The opening day of the Fall Festival was always on a Saturday, so most people didn’t have to work. But the businesses that had weekend hours had closed up shop until the following Monday.
    The festival was a huge event for the town, especially opening day, and nobody wanted to miss it. It had the normal carnival type rides and games, but what made it special was how involved the people of the community were with their own stands.
    As they approached the festival, Melina focused on blocking out everyone’s thoughts. Once she was able to turn them down to a reasonable volume, she allowed herself to gaze around at the various attractions. Nina was there selling a variety of her famous soups and sandwiches. She gave Tessa and Melina a big wave as they walked by. Mr. Perkins, the scrawny old man who owned the local floral and gardening shop, was there with his mums, pumpkins, squash, and other fall vegetables. His wife, who was just as skinny as he was but had much more energy, was bustling around the tables making sure they were always fully stocked and nicely arranged. The Sweaney sisters, identical twins in their mid-thirties who both could’ve been models with their tall, slender figures and long honey-golden hair, had a booth set up for their handmade dresses, ties, scarves, hats, blankets, and quilts.
    Melina had a stand, too, where she had raffle drawings for people to win free books, and also conducted mini reading circles for the kids every couple of hours. Fortunately, this year she had turned the reigns over to her head associate, Gwen. At the time, she thought it would give her a chance to enjoy the festival as a patron instead of a vendor, but now she was glad that she didn’t have to worry about it since she had something much more pressing to attend to.
    They saw Gwen from a distance, and Tessa suggested they go and talk with her for a bit. Melina agreed and they made their way over to the small tent. Before entering, she tugged at her coat sleeve a couple of times to be sure that Gwen wouldn’t see the bandage on her wrist.