CHAPTER 8

When Andrew woke up, darkness surrounded him and even if he blinked continuously, it wouldn't go away. His human form was in pain and blood was dripping from his head. Phil had hit him in such full force that he was still a bit dizzy. But as he regained consciousness one name immediately came to his mouth.

"Monica?"

Even though his anguished green eyes were still getting accustomed with the darkness, he could feel someone was holding him closely against her chest, cradling him in her arms with all her care. And then a soothing voice filled his ears and his soul with some relief.

"Andrew?"

He felt the touch of her hand against his forehead and fingertips so tenderly caressing his bruised skin. "Angel, is that you?" he quickly covered her hand with his own.

"Yes... Yes, I'm here..."

"A-are you alright? Did he hurt you?" he wanted to know, ignoring his wound and physical pain, reaching up and trying to touch her face in between the darkness.

"N-no..." she managed to say, not wanting him to see the small cut on her neck that Phil had done with a knife. Slowly, the angel of death disentangled from her fragile arms and managed to sit down on the sandy ground. "Did he beat you? You can tell me angel, I-"

"Phil has just left... He locked the entrance door but I didn't hear his car motor. I guess he's somewhere in this warehouse or nearby." She quickly informed him, still deeply worried about his condition.

Little by little, Andrew's eyes grew accustomed to the dark and he could make out her face. He still didn't believe his beloved Monica had been alone with the rapist while he had passed out. Terrible things - things that made him sick just to think of, could have happened to her, and it was with a trembling hand that he gently cupped her cheek, as if wanting to be sure Monica was really there, and relatively safe.

"I'm sorry, baby... I should have been faster... I shouldn't have allowed him to take you, it's my fault and-"

Monica touched his lips with her delicate fingertips, shaking her head and feeling terribly guilty for the way she had treated him a few hours before, when all he wanted to do was to save her.

"Please, don't, Andrew..." her crying voice only broke his heart again, and he wanted to gather her in his arms and take her away from that place, away from that evil man. But this time they were both in human form, and the only way to escape from that place was confronting Phil. "... I should have trusted you... Please, forgive me for the way I spoke to you..."

He pulled her in his arms, silencing her as she started crying softly. Andrew held her for long minutes, trying to figure out a way to get them out of that place before Phil came back. Sighing deeply and trying to calm down, he caressed her auburn hair until her crying subsided. Then, he pulled away and gently grabbed her face with both hands, brushing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"When the Father created me... When He sent me to you, angel, He gave me one permanent assignment... To love you and protect you and be your angel no matter what. And that's what I'll be doing for the rest of my existence, whether it's measured in days, years or centuries. And I'll honor this mission. That man who is outside will never put his hands on you... I don't even care about what I have to do to stop him." He spoke, almost in a whisper, resting his forehead against hers.

Fear and anguish filled her angelic heart and when she heard those words, Monica felt a wave of terror running down her spine. "Please, don't talk like that, Andrew... The Father is with us... I know He will send help..." the little angel whispered back, her entire body trembling. The two angels' hearts were forever connected and would always beat in the same rhythm, and that was the reason why she could feel what he was feeling.

And right now, along with fear and anguish, Monica could sense anger rising from the depths of Andrew's very soul.

X

Outside, Phil paced from one side to another, his mind in turmoil about the events of the day. When he woke up that morning, he already had a plan on his mind. A perfect plan that involved Annie being raped and then silenced forever about who the criminal the police had been looking for was. Monica and Andrew's interference weren't supposed to happen.

"Damn!" he mumbled under his breath, sighing with impatience and still figuring out what to do with the couple he had just kidnapped. He had a gun in his hand and could easily kill Andrew and have some fun with his pretty girlfriend - like he said, Monica would finish what she had interrupted before. But something else worried Phil: what if Andrew had informed someone about his destination? What if more people knew that the blond man was going to meet him?

After reflecting and calculating his next steps, the rapist came to one simple conclusion: they had to be eliminated. Both of them. Their bodies would lay somewhere in the woods and if and when the police found them, he would be far away from Salt Lake. Maybe in the other side of the country, with a new ID and in a pretty small town where nobody knew him.

And then he would meet a beautiful young lady and would start all over again.

X

"I believe the Father has already helped us... When I was sent to take Annie Home I could see who her killer was." Andrew spoke, raising his head to meet her tear-filled eyes, "But we are in human form now, angel, and that's how we have to face this man."

There was almost no light but Andrew could perfectly picture Monica's deep fear reflected on her soft brown pools. And he could also feel it in his very soul. The angel of death raised his hand and gently cupped her cheek, controlling himself not to make her even more nervous than she already was. "I'm here with you, and I'll always be, no matter what, baby. Do you trust me?"

"With all my heart, Andrew..." two big tears rolled down her cheeks as she said that.

He leaned forward and brushed a tiny kiss on her lips. "Then I already have the most important thing."

A noise coming from the warehouse door drew their attention and when it flung open, the light of a gas lamp illuminated the dark place. And an even darker face was behind that spot of light. Phil's eyes were shining and one could see there was so much evil in them that it made the angels tremble inside.

With an ironic smile upon his face, he was holding the same gun with which he had shot Annie an hour earlier. The angels rose to their feet, not knowing what to expect from that man. He was evil in person. Instinctively, Andrew stood between him and Monica, shielding her from his depraved gaze, ready to react to any attempt on Phil's part to hurt her.

"So... now that the little couple had some time alone, I guess I'm the one to start having some fun here!" he spoke, and the way he looked at Monica nearly made her feel sick in the stomach.

Monica turned her face away from him, not bearing to look at the rapist. Permanently holding a gun, Phil now looked at Andrew. "I'll ask you, and I'll ask you only once: does anybody else know about our meeting?"

The angel of death remained firmly staring back at him, but secretly he found himself in a difficult situation. Nobody knew where he and Monica were. When Andrew found out who the rapist was, he rushed to Monica's side, in his human form, and perhaps disobeying his orders to take Annie Home.

"That's a doubt you'll have to put up with." The blond angel spoke, anger burning inside his very soul. Were they unarmed and alone there, nothing would stop him from punching that man in the face many times.

Phil was staring deep inside his green eyes and a few seconds later, he let out a scary laughter. "No, I won't. You've just answered to my question..." then, he turned to Monica, "I'm glad that Annie found such a beautiful roommate! You and I will have so much fun!"

"Don't you dare put your hands on her!" Andrew gave a step forward, "I'd refuse my own nature if you try to hurt her!" he finally said, ready to put those words in practice. Words that had a greater meaning to him and Monica.

And it was the Irish angel who made one last attempt to revert that situation, terrified by what could happen there. "Please, leave us alone... I can't believe that in your heart there isn't a single trace of the human being you once were... Of the human being that God created. Annie loved you! Please honor this love and have an act of compassion! Do it for her!" Monica's pleading voice and the last remains of hope in her tear-filled eyes somewhat touched Phil.

But not in the way she expected.

"Had I known you were so... enchanting, I'd have chosen you to be my special valentine instead!"

In a cold, calculated movement, he pointed the gun at Andrew, and before they knew it, a gunshot echoed inside the abandoned warehouse, followed by Monica's terrified cry.

"No!"

Phil shot Andrew in the abdomen, and as the blond angel fell on the ground, poorly supported by Monica, he grinned with contentment, "Shooting you in the head wouldn't be that fun, you know. It would kill you immediately..." he said, kneeling on the ground to watch closely as Andrew covered the wound caused by the bullet; Monica's hand covering his, and blood quickly spreading over his body. "This way you can be alive to watch what I'll do with your beautiful girlfriend!"

"Monica..." he whispered, as a sharp pain tore his very soul and fear consumed his heart. His Monica was defenseless, exposed to that evil man who would hurt her in the most terrible way someone could hurt another living creature, either human or angel.

"Andrew..." her crying voice and the way she looked at him broke his heart all over again. The little Irish angel was holding his head, keeping him close to her chest and he could see, once again, the selfless creature that she was. Monica wasn't worried about herself. She feared for what would happen to him instead.

"Angel..." he moaned with pain, but Phil interrupted that sad moment and, with a rough grip around Monica's arms, he pulled her away from her beloved Andrew. "No!" she cried, trying in vain to get rid of his firm hold.

"Monica! No! Leave her alone..." Andrew begged, raising his hand as if he could really reach the Irish angel.

"Let's see how sweet your precious 'angel' is!" Phil spoke, pulling her close to him, pointing the gun at her face.

"Please, let me go! Stay away from me!" Monica fought to escape from his hand as he dragged her to a corner, hurting her arm, leaving angry marks on her delicate white skin.

Her resistance infuriated Phil. "What's the matter with you, huh? I'm not good enough for you? You prefer that bastard over there?"

Monica's eyes met those of the criminal, and now she understood the truth: evil had already taken full control over his soul. It had created roots that were so deep that no one, human or angel, would ever be able to remove. "You are nothing like Andrew..." she said, her Irish temper finally bursting out her very soul.

That statement was enough to push his anger to the limits. With a violent movement, he threw her on the hard ground up against the wall and placed his gun next to the gas lamp, over a shelf. Then, he pulled the knife out of his pocket, its blade shining in the darkness. "Well, then I'll make you try something different!" he said, with an evil smile, and then looked at Andrew, who remained lying on the ground, bleeding and unable to do much. "And I'll let the boyfriend watch how to do it!"