CHAPTERS 4 & 5

Chapter 4

            Monica had been searching for Stacey for nearly two hours to no avail.  It hadn’t been a complete waste of time however as she had had plenty of time to think.  Her anger had finally subsided and now she felt more foolish than anything else.  Once she had gone over what had happened several times, she had finally come to the conclusion that Andrew had been genuinely confused by her reaction to his assignment.  Oh, she still thought that he had been assigned to her to keep her from failing, but she didn’t think that Andrew had been privy to the reason. 

            She stopped walking for a minute and closed her eyes as a single tear slid down her cheek.  Knowing how badly she had hurt him was tearing her apart inside.  Dear Andrew, her gentle, caring friend that she loved so very much, and she had been so hateful to.  He had been there for her every time she had ever needed him, when she had lost her memory, when she had needed a sympathetic ear he had listened to her, even when he had been a mime and unable to talk to her.  All she ever had to do was to look into those green eyes that she knew so well to find the compassion and understanding she was looking for.  Even with the strain that had been placed on their friendship since Nancy, she has still seen that same look in his eyes today.  He had been trying so hard to understand her anger and to try to explain to her that as far as he knew anyway, she was wrong in her assumptions and what had she done?  Accused him of being the reason they had lost Nancy. 

Monica stopped walking and slumped against a light pole, fresh tears filling her eyes.  What had happened to her back there?  She had been so agitated since she had arrived here, her normally complacent nature replaced by total mistrust and impatience.  She wasn’t convinced it all had to do with their last assignment, yet she couldn’t place her finger on what was causing her to feel and act this way. 

She was also surprised to have not seen Tess by now.  Usually when she got off track, her supervisor and friend was right there to scold her or encourage her, depending on the situation.  She had said she would be here when Monica needed her, but if she didn’t need Tess now, then when would she?  Maybe she should give up on Stacey for the moment and try to find Andrew.  She would feel so much better if she could tell him how sorry she was for hurting him.  

Monica looked up sharply, hearing voices and immediately recognizing one of them as Stacey’s.  Though it was hard to make out her words, her voice was filled with panic and laced with tears.  Monica got to her feet and hurried off in the direction of her voice. 

When she found Stacey, she stopped short, hidden behind the bleachers at the football field.  She listened, horrified as the four boys who surrounded Stacey accused her of terrible things that Monica simply could not believe.  She listened as they asked Stacey for sexual favors, saying they had it from a reliable source that she had done this before for other boys on campus and it didn’t take Monica long to realize that things were about to get very out of control.

“Leave me alone!” Stacey shrieked, trying to walk away from them, only to have her path blocked by one of them.

“C’mon, Stacey, we know you do it, so don’t fight us on this and you won’t get hurt.”  The largest of the boys, grabbed her by the arm indicating for one of his buddies to grab her other arm, which he did.

“Or are you just a tease, fat girl?” One of the others asked her with a laugh. 

“Stop it, please!”  Stacey begged, trying to wretch herself free from them.

“Yes, stop it, please,” Monica said, coming out from her hiding place.  She was trying hard not to tremble, as for the first time since becoming a caseworker, she had not heard God’s voice telling her what to do.  Yet she was unable to just hide and watch any longer.

The boy who seemed to be the leader of the group looked at Monica for a moment as a slow smile spread across his face,

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?  You got some kind of problem, lady?”

Monica cleared her throat as she exchanged a look with Stacey,

“Yes, I do actually.  It seems to me that you are all giving this young lady a hard time and that she has asked you nicely to stop.  I think that you should do as she asks.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” He leered, getting close enough to Monica’s face for her to smell the liquor on his breathe.

Monica held her ground, prayers racing through her mind, begging God to help her, to tell her what to do.  But no answer came,

“Yes, I do.  Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to be getting back.”  She reached for Stacey’s hand and began to walk away.

Monica had not gone more than two steps, when she was shoved hard from behind, the force of it causing her to fall to the ground.  She rolled over quickly and found the four of them hovering above she and Stacey.  The last thing she remembered seeing clearly was the pure evil in the eyes of the assailants—dark eyes, filled with anger and hate that seemed to burn right into her very soul.

Before she could get back to her feet, two of the boys were on top of her, hitting, punching, and battering.  She tried gallantly to keep her face covered with her arms and hands, but the pain was everywhere.  She could no longer see, but she could hear someone screaming.

“Stacey? Stacey?” She cried out, thinking that the screaming was coming from Stacey, but it wasn’t…it was Monica.

The blows continued to rain down upon her, now intermingled with someone kicking at her.  There were blows to her ribs and stomach and a hard kick to the small of her back that rendered her breathless.

“Oh Father, please help me!”  She repeated over and over, not knowing how much more her human body could take.

“ ‘Father, please help me’ “ “Kathleen mimicked, standing further away and watching with glee the scene before her.  She then turned to the dark figure standing next to her and nodded her head,

“Do it.”  She stated simply.

The figure who was not of God’s any longer, smiled and turned towards the barely conscious Monica.  When he opened his mouth to speak, it caused Monica to freeze.  She could not see him, but the voice was unmistakable,

“I thought you didn’t need my help,” he said, his voice clear and loud enough for her to hear him,

“You did this, Monica, you disobeyed and that it why this is happening to you.”

“Andrew!!”  She screamed, unable to believe that her friend was so near and not making any attempt to help her,

“Andrew, please, help me!”  She cried out again as a boot caught her just below the ribs.

“Sorry, Monica,” the voice replied as Kathleen watched in total glee,

“Maybe you should have helped Nancy.  If you ask me, you deserved this.”

“No!!”  Monica wept, in more physical pain than she had ever been in before, now felt her heart breaking as well.  She didn’t even realize that the attack had stopped and she was alone. 

“Stacey,” she called out weakly, but there was no response.  Finding it difficult to breathe, the angel who hated darkness gladly welcomed it as she fell into unconsciousness.

Chapter 5

“Monica!”  Andrew shouted as he raced through the football field.  Exhausted, he sank down on one of the bleachers, his breathing coming hard.  He had been searching for hours, it was getting dark and he was finding it more and more difficult to see, but he had to find her.  He had been horrified by the images he had been shown and he knew he had to find her soon.  He kept telling himself that angels couldn’t die, but he knew that they could indeed feel pain, especially in human form.

Why hadn’t he stayed close to her?  Tess had warned him and he hadn’t listened to her.  No, his anger had gotten the better of him and he had made the choice to walk away.

“Monica!” He called out again as he wearily got to his feet.  He was about to give up and try searching somewhere else, when something at the far end of the football field caught his eye.  Even in the dim evening light, he recognized the jacket.

A cry escaped his throat as he raced across the field, falling down on his knees beside of her crumpled figure.  Tears filled his green eyes, as he was able to make out her face. The once beautiful, peaches and cream complexion was now bloodied and bruised.  His hand moved to stroke the hair away from her face and he felt the sticky warmth of blood matted into her brown hair.

“Who would have done this to you, Angel Girl?”  Andrew uttered as tears escaped his eyes.  He reached for her hand and shuddered at how very cold she felt.  Quickly and without a second thought, he shrugged off his jacket and laid it gently over her.

“Monica,” He said softly, taking her hand once more into both of his,

“I need to find help.  I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but I’ll be back, I promise.  I just need to find a phone.  You hang on for me, okay?  I won’t be long, and God is with you.”

Bending over, he brushed her forehead with his lips before standing up and breaking into a run back across the field.

Monica stirred slowly, having been aware of someone being near her, kissing her forehead.  She tried to open her eyes, but could not.  Her entire body felt like it was on fire and she cried out softly as she tried to move.  Tears found their way from her swollen eyes and trailed down her face.  Why wouldn’t anyone help her?

At that moment, she heard a soft gasp, closely followed by the voice of her supervisor,

“Oh my poor baby,” Kneeling beside of her young charge, Tess took Monica’s hand,

“Can you hear me, baby?”

Monica gave Tess’ hand a gentle squeeze,

“Yes,” she uttered, her voice scarcely a whisper.

“Who did this, Monica?  Who did this to you?"  Tess’ voice was laced with sorrow.

“Four….four of them…”  She managed to whisper, her voice catching in a sob,

“And…Andrew….Andrew….”  She fell silent for a moment, thinking about the words he had said to her.  That this was her fault…she had disobeyed.  She began to shake uncontrollably,

“Oh Tess, I’m so very sorry…”

“Tess!”  Andrew’s eyes flooded with relief when he saw her there with Monica,

“An Ambulance is on the way.  How is she doing?”

“I think she’s going into shock, baby.  These human bodies just can’t handle this kind of trauma,” Tess took off her jacket and laid it atop Andrew’s.  

“But Tess, why is she still in human form?  Why would God let this happen to her?”  Andrew’s voice held more than a touch of anger as he knelt on the other side of his wounded friend and took her hand once more,

“She didn’t deserve this, Tess.”

“It’s not our place to question, Andrew, “ Tess replied, knowing in her heart that he was speaking out of concern for his friend,

“I know you’re upset, Angel Boy, but--.”

“You’re right, I’m upset, Tess!”  He replied angrily,

“Look at her!  This is senseless!  Who would do this to someone like Monica?”

Monica heard Andrew’s voice, felt her hand in his and silent tears streamed from her eyes.  Weakly, she tried to pull her hand away from his.

“Monica?”  Andrew released her hand, watching her closely, his face showing his deep concern.

“Why didn’t you help me, Andrew?”  She whispered, a small sob escaping her throat,

“You were right there--.”

“No, no, honey,” He interrupted, his voice trembling with emotion,

“I wasn’t here.  I should have been, but I wasn’t.  I just found you a few minutes ago.”

“I heard you…”  She sobbed, tightening her grip on Tess’ hand,

“Those things you said…”

Tess shot Andrew an ‘I want to know the meaning of this’ look, but Andrew only looked at her helplessly and shook his head.

“Monica,” He said softly, soothingly,

“I don’t know what happened here, but I wasn’t around.  I never would have let this happen to you.  You know that.”

“I heard you, Andrew,” She wept, even as Tess tried to comfort her.  She felt Andrew reach for her hand again, but she jerked away from him,

“Don’t touch me.”

Andrew drew back as though she had slapped him.  His face paled and his green eyes were flooded with hurt.  Shakily, he got to his feet.

“Here comes the ambulance,” He remarked quietly, closing his eyes briefly, Monica’s quiet weeping tearing at his heart,

“I’ll meet you at the hospital later, Tess.”

“Andrew,” Tess’ voice was sharp, but filled with concern for him.

Andrew shook his head, jamming his hands into his pockets,

“I just need some time, Tess,” He said softly, his eyes never leaving Monica,

“Take care of her, Tess.  I promise, I’ll see you later.”

He turned to leave, hesitated and then turned back around,

“Monica, I am so sorry this happened to you.  It was my assignment to protect you, I failed and I’ll live with that for all eternity.  I was supposed to have been here, but I swear to you, I was not.  You know me, Monica.  You know I’d have never let this happen.  You have to believe that.”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Andrew,” she replied brokenly, before he turned and walked away into the night.