CHAPTER 3

A ten minute walk was enough for the 4 angels to finally reach the huge construction that had been raised nearby the road, in that desert area and which was in total darkness. Right in front of them, tall and intimidating, stood a country house so old and battered-looking that anyone who saw it would think it was going to collapse under the slightest touch. The large stonewalls were deteriorated and fissured due to its age. Withered, dry veins interlaced through the faded grey stones and coiled past the worn wooden windows, into the mysterious interior.

But the angels decided to ignore that sombre image which stood before their eyes, as there were more important things to be dealt with at  moment. Immediately running to the porch, they were relieved to, at least, having found a shelter to protect themselves from the heavy rain.

“Hello! Anybody home?!”, Andrew cried, knocking on the front door.

“Hey! Can anybody hear us?!”, Adam peered through the window and tried to see if there was any movement inside the house. But there was no reply to their callings, which only increased their concern.

“I’ll go and check the backyard.”, Adam said, turning around the house.

The others waited for him in the porch and it was then that Tess noticed the expression on Monica’s face: she was pale and had her arms crossed in front of the chest, her entire body trembling with cold:

“Angel Girl, I’m worried sick about you!”, the oldest angel said.

“I’ll be fine, Tess. I’m... I’m just a wee bit cold. When we enter and I can change these clothes I’ll be better...”, she replied, even though the illness was clearly causing her to get worse every second. Andrew placed his hand on her shoulder:

“You’ll do it soon, Monica.”

At that moment, Adam came back and announced:

“I think the house is really empty, but I’ve found an open door!”

Hearing that, the angels heaved a sigh of relief; but, before anybody could say anything, Monica felt her head spinning and, a second later, her legs gave out and she lost consciousness. If it hadn’t been for Andrew’s placing a supportive arm around her waist, the Irish angel would have hit the floor:

“Monica!”, his voice was a mix of concern and anguish in seeing his dearest friend almost lifeless. The other angels quickly surrounded them, equally worried about that sudden faint:

“Angel Girl, please, open your eyes, baby! Say something, for Heaven’s sake!”, Tess pleaded, stroking her charge’s wet hair, “What’s happening to her?!”, she asked, scared with the scene right in front of her eyes.

“The fever is getting higher...”

“Adam is right, she’s burning with fever!”, Andrew said, placing his hand on her forehead, “I’ll take her inside the house right now!”

The blond angel lifted Monica in his arms and carried her to the back of the house, followed by his other angelic friends.

In the back of the huge country house, there was a door which led to the kitchen and, as Adam had said, it was unlocked. The angel of death quickly opened it and looked for a light switch. The lights were feeble and blinked all the time:

“Let’s take her to the living room!”, he said, quickly going from one room to another, turning on the lights so that Andrew could carry Monica along this way.

The house seemed indeed empty and the dust in the furniture, together with some cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling were evidences that the place had been abandoned for a long time.

The blond angel took his dearest friend to the living room and placed her in the couch. Carefully, Tess lifted her head and put an old cushion underneath it:

“Baby, c’mon, open your eyes! Talk to us!”, the supervisor pleaded, stroking Monica’s cheek, “Oh Father, she’s so hot...”

Andrew took Monica’s hand in both of his and squeezed it:

“Please, talk to us...”, he whispered, affliction evident on his face.

Their agony lasted for some minutes, which seemed an eternity to them. Suddenly, the Irish angel moved her head and slowly opened her eyes:

“Tess...”, she said, with a puzzled expression on her face, “...What happened?...”

“You fainted outside the house, baby.”, Tess explained, “I’m glad Adam found an open door so we could bring you inside.”

“I... I was feeling cold and... suddenly... everything started to become darker... I couldn’t feel my legs...”, the ill angel murmured. Andrew frowned with concern:

“She’s burning with fever, Tess, she has to change these wet clothes and we gotta keep her warm!”

The stairs that led to the second floor of the house were in the living room, and Adam quickly climbed them in search for a bedroom. A long corridor, with many closed doors lay ahead of him. The angel opened one of them and, to his relief, there were two beds inside of it. A minute later, he returned to the living room:

“There’s a bedroom upstairs!”, he announced. Andrew wasted no time in gathering his dearest friend in his arms:

“Good! Now, c’mon, I’ll help you out, honey!”

“Oh, Andrew, it’s ok, I think I can walk...”, she kindly objected. He tried to smile:

“I know you can! The problem is that I’m not feeling ok, and I think carrying you a little more will make me feel better!”, the blond angel said, with a wink, and got a firm hold on her, going upstairs together with Tess.

Andrew carefully placed Monica in one of the beds and stroked her cheek:

“You get better soon, ok?”

She grabbed his hand and kissed his palm:

“Thank you...”

“You’re more than welcome! Tess will take care of you now.”

“You bet I will, baby. And you and Adam go and get yourselves changed too! I don’t wanna see anybody else catching a cold here!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

*

The thunderstorm that crashed upon that region didn’t show any sign of abating; much on the contrary: the heavy rain hit the windows of the house, together with some twigs and branches that had been ripped off the nearby trees, and, for several times, the lights inside the old house went out, adding more darkness to that already dreadful scenario.

The angels changed themselves into dry clothes and Adam started to walk around the house, checking on the construction. Andrew, for himself, remained inside the temporary bedroom he was sharing with him, and which was right beside Monica and Tess’.

With a pensive expression on his face, he stood by the window, quietly staring outside and watching as the fierce storm hit the area, and large gusts of rough wind caused the highest tree tops to bend as if they would break at any moment. Inwardly, the blond angel’s heart was filled with anguish, as he deeply wished that the sun would come out and all the darkness that surrounded the region would just vanish, together with that horrible storm.

But, most importantly, he was extremely worried about Monica’s condition. Angels weren’t used to human diseases and to face a terrible cold, with a high fever along with such dreadful weather only made things more difficult. Besides this, Andrew felt something else troubling the depths of his soul, the same eerie sensation he had been feeling since the angels had left the bowling alley; something he still couldn’t explain, but which caused him to long anxiously for the first opportunity to get out of that place.

Adam walked around the enormous house, finding over 15 rooms, most of them completely empty, distributed along 3 floors and an attic. But the traces of abandonment were evident. Cobwebs and dust were in every corner of the building, some window panes were broken and the smell of mildew impregnated all the rooms, which seemed to have been closed for a long time. Besides this, it was far too clear that the house was very old, and needed repairs urgently. The howling strong wind made the windows tremble, and there were leaks in almost everywhere.

But abandonment wasn’t everything the angel could find in the creepy building: one of the longest corridors was a link to the garage; and, in there, Adam found a car. The angel of death quickly came closer to it and, after checking on the vehicle, he could see that, although it was old, it was still in good condition. With that piece of news, the angel returned to the living room, to tell his angelic friends his new discovery.

*

Another lightening, followed by a deafening thunder, cleared the dark skies and diverted Andrew’s attention from his own thoughts. The blond angel left his room and went straight to the bedroom Monica was sharing with Tess. The supervisor’s reply to his soft knock on the door came immediately. Both angels had already changed themselves into dry clothes and Monica was sitting on one of the beds; while Tess was setting a worn out blanket (found inside a deteriorated wardrobe, together with some other equally shabby pillows and covers) around her.

“Hey there! How are you doing, Miss Wings?”, he asked, with a loving smile on his face. She smiled back at him and, despite the paleness on her face, she was definitely looking better than some minutes ago:

“I’m ok now. To be honest, I’m not that ill, you know. I think I’m just a wee bit nervous about the storm, that’s all...”, the Irish angel said, not wanting her friends to worry abut her. But Tess’ face was enough to show her total disbelief in what she had just heard:

“She still has a high fever!”, the supervisor said, “And I’m glad you’re here, Angel Boy, ‘cause you can keep an eye on her while I go downstairs, to the kitchen. I have a can of soup inside my bag and some tea bags, as I happen to be a very prudent angel! I’ll prepare her something to eat and see if I can find any more food in this place.”

“Yes, ma’am! I promise this young angel isn’t flying anywhere!”, the blond angel joked, sitting at the edge of Monica’s bed. But before the supervisor went out of the room, Monica shot her a pleading look:

“Tess, I was wondering... if you find some coffee, would it be possible if I could have...”

The expression on the oldest angel’s face was a stern one:

“That’s tea for you, Miss Wings, and period!”, she grumbled, and disappeared through the door. Although she could perfectly understand the supervisor’s concern, Monica sighed a little disappointed. Chuckling, Andrew took her hand and squeezed it:

“Hey... if I find coffee I promise I can prepare you some later!...”, he half whispered, and watched with delight when a tiny smile appeared on her face:

“Thank you!”, she replied, also in a low tone of voice. Turning to a more serious face, the blond angel looked deep inside her brown eyes:

“How are you feeling?”

After pondering over that question for a few seconds, she gazed back at him:

“Happy...”

He raised his eyebrows inquisitively, and the Irish angel smiled meekly and continued to talk:

“I’m happy because you and Tess are here, together with me, as well as Adam. And healing is faster when we are surrounded by love.”

A smile appeared on his handsome face and he nodded his head enthusiastically:

“I couldn’t agree more!”

At that moment, the weak light inside the bedroom went out, causing Monica to stop smiling. But her dearest friend quickly moved to sit beside her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing the ill angel closer to him:

“It’s ok; the lights will come and go because of the storm. Besides, this is an old house, the wires need changing.”

“I know...”, she sighed, “I wonder what wee Joy is doing right now. She gets a wee bit antsy with thunderstorms, you know. Besides, I’m under the impression that she doesn’t like the dark either...”

The Irish angel snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his chest, and the memory of the little chubby puppy made him chuckle:

“Yes, I’ve already noticed that particular feature in her personality...”, he said, gently soothing her hair. But his face turned into a serious one second later:

“I hope this storm finishes soon so we can get out of here...”

“Well, at least we’re safe here, Andrew. I’m grateful that the Father placed this shelter in our way so we could protect ourselves from that terrible weather outside. It doesn’t really matter if it is old and there are some problems with the electricity, the most important is that we are all safe in here.”

For a reason yet unknown to him, he didn’t reply to that statement. Instead, he just tightened his hold on her and kissed the top of her head; but concern was still there, on his face, deep inside his troubled heart.