PART 2

CHAPTER 1

Andrew ran his fingers through his blond hair and paced from one side to another with a desperate expression on his face. “Oh Father, please, help me! Help me to go to Monica! I cannot leave her alone!”

“Andrew...”

He turned around and saw a dark skinned old lady walking quickly towards him.

“Tess... they took her! They took Monica away!” he spoke, desperate placing his hands over the supervisor’s shoulders.

“What’s happening? Who took Monica away?”

“The demons! One of them was the one who looks like her! They came from the shadows, took her with them and disappeared again!”

Hearing that terrible piece of news, Tess’ eyes grew wide with shock, “What are you telling me, Andrew?!”

Some tears formed in the corner of his eyes and despair took over his soul, “They took her away from us and I couldn’t help her, Tess! She screamed and called out my name for help but...” he ran his fingers over his hair; anguish and anger burning in his eyes, “... but I was unable to help her! I should’ve been faster!” he shouted.

Tess placed her hand over her heart, “When I was told to come here quickly I didn’t know why but, somehow, I felt something inside my heart... I knew there was something wrong! Oh Father, this can’t be true! This can’t be happening!” she spoke, equally desperate.

“I’ll go find her! I’ll bring her back right now! Please, tell me how to get there!”

At that moment, they heard another voice in the dark alley. “It’s not as easy as it seems, Andrew...”

Andrew and Tess turned their heads to look at Sam.

“I don’t care, Sam! It’s Monica we’re talking about! I’ll do anything for her! I’ll go anywhere!” the blond angel replied, still very nervous.

“You have no idea what you’re asking me to do!” the oldest angel spoke, still with some reluctance, which caused Andrew to be slightly irritated.

“And what are we supposed to do? Leave her all alone and mind our own assignments?!”

“You know she’s not alone...” he replied, with a stern look.

“I know. But how do you expect Monica to get out of where she is?!” Andrew replied, as nothing in the world would convince him to give up on his dearest friend.

Tess stood beside the blond angel and nodded her head, “I understand this, Sam, and I know the danger you’re talking about. But Andrew is right: we need to go after her; I won’t let my angel girl at the mercy of evil creatures who are longing for destroying her!”

“You know that it’ll be very difficult to come back, don’t you?”

“Yes, but she needs help; she’s God’s child, she’s defenceless and, most importantly, she’s part of us... she’s part of me. So precious to our existence that only God can understand what we’re feeling right now!”

And Andrew was right: the pain and despair he and Tess were both sharing was evident in their eyes, and it was far too clear that they would do anything for the little Irish angel, including facing the demons in their own habitat. Sam nodded his head; there was nothing he could say that would dissuade Andrew from going after Monica.

“I cannot stop you, Andrew. Angels, like human beings, have free will. But I have to give you 2 warnings: have in mind that all you’ll find is evil. And evil creatures will try to destroy you, as their objective when they captured Monica was to exterminate as many God’s children as possible, as well as to destroy as many lives they can. And Andrew, in this journey, you’ll go alone.”

“But that’s too dangerous, Sam! Andrew will need all the help he can get!” Tess protested, not believing what the other angel was telling her.

“I have my orders to tell you that you should stay. You’ll help Monica and Andrew if you remain here. These are the orders. And Tess... you know that if He is asking you to do it, it’s because He has a greater plan in His mind.”

Andrew and the supervisor exchanged a worried glance and the blond angel placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, “I’ll bring her back, Tess. I promise.”

With tears falling from her eyes, the supervisor held him tightly. “I know you will, angel boy. And please... be careful. I want you both back here, you hear me?” she tried to sound stern, but her voice was a tearful one, filled with emotion, “I love you both so much!”

“I love you too... And I’ll see you very soon!”

From a safe distance, unseen to the angels’ eyes, a young lady, with straight black hair and black eyes and wearing dark clothes, observed Tess, Andrew and Sam, and listened attentively to their conversation. She was the same girl who, hours earlier, had talked to a group of people about the trial that was on the headlines of the most important newspapers in the country. But now her friend, a young man of about the same age as hers, wasn’t with her. All alone, she frowned with the angels’ words and left the dark alley with a pensive expression on her face.

*

Some minutes later, in the same dark and deserted neighbourhood, the young lady saw another person walking towards her; it was a woman, who she knew pretty well.

“You’re doing your job very well, Erika. Be sure you’ll get your reward sooner than what you expect!” the woman said, standing right in front of the girl.

“The other angel is going after her, Monique. I heard them talking!” she replied.

An evil smile formed on Monique’s lips, “Good. Everything is going exactly how I’ve planned!”

The young lady shook her head, a bit confused. “I can’t understand how that angel, Andrew is his name, I can’t understand how he has such courage to go after Monica! He won’t manage to get out of there! No angel has even managed to!”

“That’s the difference between these creatures and us... They’re always ready to give up on themselves for ‘the ones they love’... That’s why they lose!”

“He must love her very much!”

“That’s too bad for him! Now, remember that this assignment hasn’t been fulfilled yet, Erika!”

“I know. I was going to meet David; we’re eloping tonight...”

“Good. Get him far from this city and far from testifying in favour of that stupid idiot who stopped to help those kids on that Halloween night!”

“He won’t do that. David is a fugitive; if he testifies, he’ll have to say what he was doing in that place, at that time of the night.”

“Yes, and confessing that he had just escaped from prison and that the police was after him at the exact moment Edward Evans found those kids wouldn’t be such a good idea!”

The girl frowned with concern for the second time, “What will happen to David after he elopes?”

“Well, he’ll continue to live his life, now as a free man, and nobody’s gonna bother him anymore!”

Monique gave two more steps and, smiling, took the young lady’s hands, “And you, Erika, are the most talented demon I’ve ever trained! If you managed to ‘touch’ so many people’s lives in only a few days, I just can’t stop imagining how powerful you will be in some years!”

Erika gave a slight smile and the demon kept on talking, “Now go! David is waiting for you! Convince him to go as far as possible and remember: don’t let him watch TV or read newspapers about that trial! Human beings have awful habit to regret and this would ruin our assignment!”

“Ok...”

Erika was going to leave but, before she did so, a thought crossed her mind, “Monique... Who killed those children?”

“Oh... well... Probably some crazy or drunk guy! The world is full of human beings like these, you know...”

*

In the dark alley, Tess and Sam watched as Andrew vanished into the darkness, starting his journey in search of their beloved friend. Moments later, another angel appeared in the same dark place.

“Tess? Sam?” Rafael said, with a puzzled expression on his face and sensing, by the look in their eyes, that something bad had happened, “Is there something wrong?”

“Rafael... Monica has been kidnapped...” Sam said, as Tess couldn’t stop crying.

That terrible piece of news caused the youngest angel’s heart to clench with shock. “What?!”

“The demons took her away... before anything else could be done.” Sam finished to explain.

“God! I can’t believe it!” Rafael ran his fingers through his dark hair, his head spinning with the angel’s words, as he was very fond of the little Irish angel, “What... what are we gonna do now? We have to help her!”

“Andrew has gone after her to try to bring her back from the darkest of the places.”

“But... what... what if he needs more help, Sam? I’ll go with him, I can...”

“No. You and Tess must stay here, and together; this assignment has taken a new dimension now...”

“But... I’m not working in this assignment, Sam... Monica, Andrew and Rafael are in charge of it. I don’t understand...” Tess finally spoke, for the first time since Rafael had arrived there.

“Neither do I, Sam. I wasn’t supposed to be here tonight, that would be Monica and Andrew’s task. I came here because... something happened...” The young angel looked at Tess with his eyes filled not only with worry for his 2 angelic friends, but also with deep guilt, “... it’s Joy...”

“Joy?! What... what is it? What happened to my baby?” Tess’ voice was a desperate one; her anguished heart was full with pain.

“I’m sorry Tess, but... When Andrew and Monica asked me to take care of her I thought it wasn’t a big deal; I thought I could handle it, but... she escaped from me... I’ve looked everywhere, in all of the usual places, but I couldn’t find her! Joy disappeared...”

“Oh no! Not Joy! Not my little baby! She’s too little to fend for herself!” the oldest angel shook her head in disbelief on how so many horrible things could have happened in only one night. “Sam... is this all some sort of a diabolic plan?”

“This is the darkest night of the year; when evil is hidden in the dark, ready to attack and when the angels are most needed. So, answering to your question, yes, it seems that there is a plan. But the Father has a new plan too, once His children are in great danger.” Sam explained, looking at them, “Andrew is taking care of Monica; he offered to go after her and right now this is his assignment, with the Father’s protection. Now He is asking you two to trust Him and do what He’s asking you to do: go in search of the little dog.”

*

The evil creature that had captured Monica took a firm hold on her and, as both were transported to another place, when darkness involved the little Irish angel, she closed her eyes and prayed. A few seconds later, when Monica opened her eyes again and looked around her, she found herself in the woods. But the angel immediately knew that was the darkest of the places, inhabited by diabolic creatures, which were ready to spread chaos, sorrow and destruction around the world. There, it was always night, as the sunlight would never manage to reach its barren soil. Trees were all withered and stood like ghosts along the land that covered that place, and loud thunders echoed through the air, with constant rays crossing the cloudy skies.

“Father, please, help me..” Monica whispered, and, a second later, the creature that was holding her threw the angel on the ground. Monica’s clothes had become different at the moment she had crossed the invisible border between the 2 worlds. Now, instead of a warm sweater, jeans, leather boots and an overcoat, the angel was wearing a long white dress and white shoes, as if the gown was a way to brand a celestial being on that evil territory.

Sitting on the muddy soil, Monica lifted her head up and stared at the devilish creature: it had no face, no eyes, and no soul. It was totally made of shadows. As if facing the personification of a nightmare, Monica tried to back away from it, but the creature grabbed her arm with so much violence that it almost broke, and made her stand up.

“Leave me alone! In the name of God, leave me alone!” Monica shouted, but those words had no effect on the creature. Much on the contrary: it raised the thin long sleeve of her dress and placed one of his long and sharp nails on Monica’s arm.

“No! Stop it!” she cried, feeling the sharp nail cutting her white skin. Monica’s cry of pain and fear echoed through the air as a line of blood started to form in her arm. “Stop it! Please!”

“What do we have here? Is my friend hurting you, dear?” Monique’s evil voice was like another sharp pain, and, seeing that the cut was already about 20 cm long, the demon ordered. “Stop!”

The creature immediately obliged her, but kept on holding Monica’s arm. Monique gave a few steps towards the angel and stood right in front of her. “Feeling lonely, honey?” she asked, still with an ironic smile upon her face.

“I’m never alone, Monique. Contrary to the one you serve, my Father is always protecting me, no matter where I am!” Monica replied, placing her hand over the nasty cut in her arm.

Hearing that, the demon rolled her eyes with some impatience. “The ones of you are always counting on Someone to help you, such as the human beings who follow your silly teachings! That’s why they end up alone, still waiting for help to come!”

“You know that’s not true!”

“Oh no? And where are your precious friends now, huh? I bet they’ll leave you here, they’ll never come to get you, it’s too dangerous!”

“That’s the difference between you and me. I never ‘bet’, Monique. I KNOW that God will provide help. Somehow, He’ll answer to my prayers.”

“Well, I doubt He’ll listen to your prayers from here, you know. This place is a bit distant from your... Home!” she said, and giggled evilly.

“Now, if you excuse me, I have other fish to fry so I’ll have to leave you alone for a while. Let her go...” the sinister creature let go of Monica’s arm and threw her on the muddy ground again. The image of Monica fallen on the dark and dirty soil brought Monique a sensation of great pleasure. “Ops! Be careful not to spoil your pretty white dress, angel! And have fun visiting the surroundings; as I said, I’ll have to leave you alone, but I promise it’ll be for a little while... very soon, you’ll have some company!”

She and the creature vanished into the shadows a second later, leaving Monica alone in the dark woods.

“Oh Father, please, help me... Show me a sign... Let your light shine on this darkness so that I can follow it and get out of this place... But most importantly...” she grabbed the gold necklace Andrew had given her on Christmas; it had a small angel pendant linked to it, “... please keep Andrew and Tess safe... Don’t let any harm happen to them...”

Suddenly, the sound of many steps echoed through the woods, interrupting her prayers, and Monica’s heart started to beat loud in her chest: something hidden in the darkness was coming into her direction, and it was moving fast.