CHAPTER 16

Chapter 16

Monica ran blindly down the stairs and outside of the dormitory before stopping for a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes.  She had woken up to hear Tess and Andrew talking through the open window.  Hearing Tess say that she had gotten Andrew into enough trouble and that Sam was now involved was more than she could bear. 

She knew Andrew should not have come back to help her, but he had and now he was in trouble with Sam.  She could deal with being in trouble with Sam; she had traveled that road before, but not Andrew.  So, she had figured that if she were no longer there for him to help, then he would go Home with Tess.  She felt equally ashamed that Tess had gone through the third degree with Sam because of her actions.  Monica felt fresh tears fill her eyes as she thought about all the trouble she had been to her friends.

Monica continued walking until she got out to the main road.  She was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn’t see the car coming up behind her and she jumped when she heard the squeal of brakes.  She whirled around, expecting to see Tess and Andrew, but was surprised when the driver of the car turned out to be Stacey. 

Their eyes met and Monica was instantly worried by the anguished look on her assignment’s face.  Even with her own problems, she could not ignore that something terrible was happening to Stacey. 

“Monica!” Stacey called out the window,

“What are you doing out here?  I could’ve killed you!”

Monica walked over to Stacey’s window and looked in at the young girl, noticing for the first time, that her face was streaked with tears,

“Stacey, what is it?  What’s the matter?”

Stacey closed her eyes for a moment, looking as if she was trying desperately to block something out of her mind,

“I have to get out of here, Monica.  She….she won’t leave me alone!  Ever since I told you what happened in your hospital room last night, she just keeps at me.  I hear her voice when I’m trying to sleep, when I’m awake!”

Monica’s face paled as she listened to Stacey’s words,

“Kathleen?”

Stacey nodded her head, blinking back tears,

“I’m hoping if I get out of here—if I get as far away from here as I can, I won’t be able to hear her anymore.”

Monica opened her mouth to tell Stacey that running away wasn’t the answer, but she stopped herself before she started.  Wasn’t that exactly what she herself was doing?  Running away because she couldn’t face what was happening to her or to her friends?  Running away because she couldn’t face the fact that God had seemingly deserted her?  Before she could even think, she heard herself asking,

“Might I come with you?”

Stacey nodded her head and Monica ran to the other side of the car and hopped into the passengers seat.  The two were quiet for several miles before Monica finally broke the silence,

“So, where are we going?”

Stacey shook her head as glanced sideways at Monica,

“I have no idea.  Just away from here, that’s all I know.  Who is this Kathleen anyway?  Some kind of spirit or something?  How can she get inside of my head like this?”

Monica fell silent, her heart aching for the troubled young girl beside of her, yet another person she had brought trouble upon,

“Something like that,” She said finally, sadly,

“I’m not sure if you’d believe me if I told you the truth and I have no way to prove it to you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m game for just about anything right now,” Stacey replied,

“So why don’t you try me?”

Monica shifted in her seat uncomfortably.  The last time she had tried to tell someone she was an angel when she was in human form, she had been in a courtroom and she had never had any desire to repeat that situation again.  But she knew she couldn’t lie.  As lost as she felt right now, truth was all she had ever known and for some reason, she was convinced it was the one thing she could not stray from.

“I’m an angel,” She said finally, glancing at Stacey to see if she was laughing.  But Stacey’s face was completely serious and with no sign of amusement, so Monica continued,

“I was sent here to help you, because you were so lonely, and that is what would have happened too, had Kathleen not gotten in the way,” She sighed heavily before continuing again,

“You see, Kathleen was an angel once too, but she chose the darker path and for some reason she hates me.  She usually finds a way to get to me through my friends, but this time she not only did that, but she used you as well.”

Stacey was quiet for a moment, wondering if the woman sitting next to her was crazy, but then again, something inside of her believed Monica, though she couldn’t figure out why,

“These friends of yours…are they angels too?”

Monica nodded her head,

“Oh yes.  Andrew is an angel.  I believe you met him.  He knew you were my assignment, so he had hoped you would know something about what happened to me that night in the football field. “

“This is crazy, Monica,” Stacey said, shaking her head as she turned the car onto a deserted highway,

“My life may have been lonely, but it was pretty normal until you came along last week.  Now I don’t know what to do or how make Kathleen leave me alone.”

“What sort of things does she say to you?” Monica asked, her guilt increasing as she listened to Stacey’s words.

“I can’t put it into words, Monica.  But she makes me feel like I’m losing my mind and I cannot stand that feeling!  Its like I’m standing on the edge of this cliff and she is trying to make me jump from it and I’m afraid if I can’t find a way to shut her out, that’s what will happen.”  She glanced over at Monica once more, seeing the pain that was written all over her face,

“So, what about you?  Where were you headed tonight when I nearly ran you over?”

“I’m not sure, to be honest,” Came the soft reply,

“I have a lot of thinking to do and it seemed best to do it elsewhere.  But now we have bigger problems because I have to find a way to get Kathleen to leave you alone.  It isn’t fair that she takes out her anger for me on anyone else and it hurts me that she does.”

“So, if you’re an angel, then why can’t you stop her?  Don’t you have special powers or something?”

Monica smiled a bittersweet smile,

“We have gifts that we get from God, Stacey.  You see, when I come to earth to help someone, God places me in human form, so I can fit in here.  Then usually when the moment is right, He transforms back into an angel.  This time, that hasn’t happened and I don’t understand why.”

“Do you look different when you are transformed?” Stacey asked curiously.

“Well, sometimes….I. um, glow a bit and usually appear all in white.” She saw Stacey struggling to keep from smiling,

“Do you not believe me?”

“The funny thing is, Monica, that yes, I do believe you,” Stacey laughed,

“This is absolutely absurd, but I do believe you.  Who would have thought that I’d be driving down a highway at nearly midnight with an angel who has apparently lost her wings?”

Monica smiled half-heartedly before she turned her attention back out the window.  Though she had managed a smile, inside she felt like she was dying.  What was she doing here?  How was she going to help this girl and what of Kathleen?  Stacey had said she had lost her wings.  Was that true?  Is that what had happened?  Is that why God had left her?

“You can sleep if you want,” Stacey’s voice interrupted her thoughts,

“I’m a night owl anyway.”

Monica nodded her head as she slumped down a bit on the seat and crossed her arms in front of her to try and warm herself from the chill she now felt.  Resting her head back, she starred out into the darkness, her heart aching for Andrew and Tess.  She thought about trying to pray, but felt that it was useless.  Kathleen was right; God had deserted her.  Now, she had to face things on her own.  She had to find a way to release Stacey from Kathleen’s clutches, but she was afraid that there was only one way to do that, and that option was nearly more than she could bear think about. 

Feeling tears burning in her eyes once more, Monica closed them and chose the only type of defense she knew at the moment.   Sleep.