CHAPTER 8

Monica awoke the next morning and slowly opened her eyes, squinting a
little from the sunshine that was streaming in through her bedroom
window. Sitting up, she realized that Andrew was fast asleep in the
chair beside of her bed. His face looked drawn and tired to her and she
decided against waking him at that moment. Andrew being near her all
night had kept the horrible nightmares at bay and for that she was
eternally grateful as she felt better than she had since she had arrived
here. Her stay in this house however, was a little vague to her and
only a few isolated incidents had remained in her mind.

Slipping out of bed, she decided upon a hot shower to maybe clear her
head. Quietly and curiously, she opened the door to the closet and
found it filled with clothes that appeared to be her size. She selected
a long, floral skirt and a sleeveless white blouse and grabbing the
other items she would need, she slipped silently into the adjourning
bathroom and closed the door.

The hot water from the shower felt wonderful and she emerged feeling
much better. Once dressed, she glanced at her refection in the mirror
and her expression saddened a little. She so longed to remember where
she had come from and who she really was. Andrew called her “Monica”,
so she was sure that was her name, but why couldn’t she remember that?
She thought maybe if she stared at her reflection long enough, it would
all come back to her, but nothing did. She glanced down at the bandage
on her wrist and tears filled her eyes. She knew that Andrew thought
she had done this, but she couldn’t have. Yet, for the life of her, she
couldn’t recall how it had happened. Her life seemed like one enormous
void to which there was no beginning. Sighing softly, she opened the
door.

Andrew looked up from where he sat in the chair and smiled gently at
her,
“Good morning. Feeling a little better today?” His eyes searched hers,
trying to determine her mood.

She nodded her head as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed, facing
him,
“I do, a little. Thank you for staying with me last night,” She saw him
smile and she lowered her eyes briefly,
“Andrew, I know you think I tried to hurt myself last night, but I
didn’t. The truth is, I can’t remember what happened.” Her eyes
remained downcast, staring at her wrist.

Andrew took his hand and put his fingers under her chin to raise her
face back to his,
“You mentioned last night that when you were alone that ‘they come
here’. Monica, do you know who they are?”

“No,” She whispered softly, her eyes never leaving his, grateful for the
kindness that she saw reflected in them,
“I hear them. Voices, so many voices. They laugh at me and tell me I
have no voice here. I don’t know what any of it means and I wish that I
did so maybe I could make them stop.” She hesitated and closed her eyes
for a moment, her expression one of confusion,
“Andrew, who is Stacey?”

Andrew drew in a sharp breathe upon hearing her question,
“Stacey?”

Monica nodded her head,
“I think I had a dream about someone with that name and I can’t shake
the feeling that she was someone I was supposed to help. Do you know
why I was supposed to help her?”

Andrew’s thoughts raced frantically, wondering how much he should reveal
and how quickly,
“Yes,” He responded gently, his heart pounding loudly in his chest,
“You did help her. You sacrificed everything for her and that sacrifice
is why you are here.” He reached to take both of her hands into his own
as he watched her expression carefully. He could tell she couldn’t
remember anything more and wanting to avoid her remembering too much at
once, he changed directions,
“Honey, can you tell me why you are so afraid of Tess?”

At the mention of the name, Monica’s eyes turned fearful as she tried to
focus on his question,
“The singing,” She replied grasping his hands tightly in frustration,
“When she sings, bad things happen to me. I can’t explain it, Andrew.
I wish that I could, but--.”

Sensing that she was quickly becoming overwhelmed, Andrew pulled her
close for a moment,
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Don’t force it. You’ve done very well this
morning, remembering what you did and I’m very proud of you. I don’t
want you to worry about any of it. The memories will come back when the
time is right. They will come back in God’s time.”

“God?” She whispered, pulling away to look at him once more as a small
smile crossed her lips,
“I remember God. I know that He is very important to me.”

Andrew tried to contain the excitement he felt at her words,
“Yes, Monica! He is very important to you and to me and to Tess. Do
you remember why?”

She pondered his question for a moment, but then shook her head, though
her smile remained,
“No, not yet, but I remembered something, Andrew! I remembered!”

His heart filled with joy at her excitement as he caught a small glimpse
of his friend as she used to be before all of this happened to her. His
green eyes glistened with tears of happiness for her as he kissed her
forehead,
“Yes, sweetie, you did and the rest will come. I’ll tell you what. Let
me grab a shower and how about a walk on the beach? It will be good for
you to get out for awhile. How does that sound?”

Monica nodded her head happily,
“I’d like that, Andrew.”

As he left the room to get ready, Monica stood up and walked over to the
window. Outside, she could see the waves breaking on the shore as the
water glistened in the morning sun.
“Today will be a better day,” She thought aloud to herself.

“Oh, you think so?” Kathleen replied as she stood next to Monica. Though
the human angel could not see her, Kathleen knew Monica heard every
word,
“Do you think Andrew is going to be able to help you? He already thinks
your crazy, you know?”

“Leave me alone,” Monica turned in the direction that the voice was
coming from as she trembled with fear,
“Why won’t you leave me alone?!”

“He won’t help you, Monica. No one can help you now. You have no one!
Do you think you remember God? Let me help you remember Him. He
abandoned you! You weren’t worth His time either! Andrew is just being
nice to you till he can figure out how to get rid of you.”

“No! That’s not true!” Monica cried out angrily. Though the words
hurt her right down to the very core of her being, she did not want to
believe that what she was hearing was truth.
“Truth.” She whispered aloud, somehow knowing that truth was important.
But why?

“You’ll never know the truth,” Kathleen lashed out as she became visible
to Monica. She watched with a smile as the angel’s eyes grew wide with
fear.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Monica pleaded.

“Your soul!” Kathleen hissed, backing Monica into the corner of the
room,
“Maybe you should know the truth, Monica. The truth this time, will
destroy you, you know. “

Monica’s eyes never left Kathleen’s as she trembled violently,
“My soul,” She thought, trying so hard to remember. She knew she had
heard those words before.

“Here’s a memory for you, Angel Girl,” Kathleen taunted, watching with
glee as horrible images began in play in Monica’s mind.

Monica saw hundreds of hands reaching for her, claws tearing at her
skin, and she tried to shake the images out of her mind. Her fear began
to overwhelm her as silent tears streaked her face.

“You didn’t help Stacey either, so don’t let him fool you. After you
sent her away, she wrecked her car on the way home and all because you
allowed her to run away. You disobeyed your orders and that is the
reason all of this happened. You knew you were in trouble, so you made
a decision to go with me.” Kathleen watched as Monica sank to the
floor, her hands covering her face,
“So how does the truth feel, Miss Wings?”

“That’s not how it happened!” Monica managed to say in between sobs.
Her heart was breaking over the words Kathleen had spoken and the
memories that had come flooding back in a rush that was too great for
her to be able to grasp.

“Do you think God wants an angel who has been tainted by the powers of
hell, Monica? No, of course He doesn’t. Especially not one who cannot
do what she is told to do. You have nowhere to go now, so I’ll be
patient. But know that your fate has been sealed, Monica. There is no
way back now.” Kathleen laughed as she vanished from the room, leaving
the angel, broken and weeping in anguish.

“Ready to go--.” Andrew stopped short as he saw Monica, sitting on the
floor, her hands covering her face as she cried as though her heart
would break. Fear gripped him as he carefully approached her and knelt
down beside of her,
“Monica?” He laid his hand firmly on her shoulder.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She cried out angrily, her angry tear-filled
eyes meeting his,
“You, Andrew, of all angels, why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

He swallowed hard, trying to come to grips with this new situation,
“What do you remember, Monica?”

“All of it!” She sobbed brokenly,
“I remember you and who I am and Tess---.” Tess. Her sobs became more
intense as she remembered the way she had treated her friend. One
friend had betrayed her and the other, she had betrayed, and Stacey…
“Is Stacey alive?” She managed to say.

Andrew’s heart was racing. What had happened to Monica in the ten
minutes he was gone? He knew it was all too much, too fast, but what
had occurred?
“I don’t know, honey,” He answered honestly.

“Don’t lie to me! You’ve known everything all along! Did you not want
to tell me because of what is going to become of me? “ Shakily, she got
to her feet, watching as he rose along with her,
“I need to be alone,” She started for the door, trying to control the
tears that would not stop, but the dam had been opened by Kathleen.

“Monica, wait!” Andrew pleaded, taking her arm to stop her, but she
wretched free.

“Leave me alone, Andrew! Just leave me alone!” Without another word,
she was out the bedroom door and out the door of the house, leaving him
to stand there, tears in his eyes, not understanding at all what had
just happened.