CHAPTERS 17 7 18

Chapter 17

            The next two days passed slowly in the cabin.  Tess had been informed that they were to “stay put”, so the three angels and one human decided to try and make the best of it.  They all enjoyed each other’s company, but the cabin was small and Monica and Andrew already felt like they were waiting for a bomb to explode.

            Monica knew in her heart that she was waiting for Kathleen to make the first move in this battle, but the waiting was starting to wear on her, and just the fact that it had been days since the dark angel had made her presence known, was enough to unnerve her.  She felt as if she were on pins and needles waiting for something to happen, and it was to the point now that if Tess or Andrew so much as touched her, she would tense up immediately, before relaxing once more. 

            Andrew, Tess and Stacey regarded her in silence that afternoon, watching as their friend sat in a chair, gazing out the window, her expression miles away.  Tess shook her head sadly,

            “This is really starting to get to her,” She remarked knowingly.

            Andrew nodded his head in agreement.  He had told Tess nothing about the conversation he had on the porch with Monica two days ago, and Monica had not brought it up either,

            “So, I take it that since we are all still here, that this isn’t over yet?”

            “The Father says ‘Stay’, so we’re staying, baby.  There is apparently still work to be done.”

            “I feel so sorry for her,” Stacey remarked sadly, her eyes resting on Monica,

            “She looks so sad and at times it almost seems like there is a battle going on inside of her.”

            “There very well could be, Stacey,” Tess replied, giving the girl’s hand a gentle squeeze,

            “A lot of things could happen in this fight between good and evil and the fact that Kathleen and Monica were once friends, might only confuse the truth.  Plus, I’m sure she is worried about our Angel Boy here.” She reached for his hand as well, and then looked up at him in surprise,

            “What happened to your ring, baby?”

            “I lost it somewhere,” Andrew sighed as he explained,

            “Not even sure of where..”

            Monica snapped back to reality then and jumped up,

            “Your ring, Andrew!  I nearly forgot, I have it.” As she reached for her necklace, she froze and her heart began to race as she realized it was gone,

            “My necklace!  Did one of you take it off of me while I was sick?” Her eyes were pleading, hoping that they had, but seeing them all shake their heads, her heart sank.  She quickly walked over to the bed and began tearing it apart,

            “It has to be here somewhere,” She uttered, her voice trembling beyond the control that she tried to put into it.

            “Monica, sweetie, it’s not a big deal,” Andrew said softly, confused by her obvious panic over the ring.

            “Yes, it is,” Came the quick reply, as she looked under the bed,

            “I found it in the hotel, in the same room you had stayed in and I put it on my necklace so I wouldn’t lose it.  It has to be here somewhere!  Please, help me look!”

            Tess, Andrew and Stacey joined Monica in the search, but after half an hour, they came up empty handed and Monica’s distress had intensified. 

            “Tess, how far back the road did you find me that night?” She asked, as she put on a heavy sweater over her shirt and reached for a coat.

            “Angel Girl, you are not going out there,” Tess said softly, trying to reason with her and to understand exactly what was going on here.

            “How far, Tess?” Monica repeated, her voice rising sharply.

            “About a quarter of a mile,” Stacey replied, beginning to feel like maybe she understood, though she decided against saying anything right now.

            “Monica!” Andrew called out, but she had already shut the door behind her.  He reached and grabbed his coat,

            “What is going on?” He asked his expression perplexed.

            “I think you need to talk to Monica,” Stacey replied softly, her remark causing both Andrew and Tess to look at her curiously.  Stacey felt a blush rising to her cheeks as she felt their eyes upon her,

            “I may be wrong.  I just think I understand.  Talk to Monica, Andrew.”

            Andrew nodded his head, before he headed out the door.  He was surprised that his friend was already out of sight and he quickened his pace to catch up with her, his mind racing as he walked.  He followed her footprints in the snow and came to a dead halt when he saw her.

            She was kneeling, her bare hands frantically working through the snow as she searched, and the sound of the soft sobs coming from her tore at his heart. 

            He approached her carefully and knelt down across from her,

            “Monica.” He whispered softly.  When she didn’t respond, he reached for her hands, already reddened from the cold snow and ice she had been filtering through,

            “This is not a big deal, okay?  It’s lost, but it isn’t the end of the world.” He smiled softly, hoping to soothe her.

            Her look of anger surprised him when she turned her eyes to him,

            “Maybe not to you, but it is to me!  It’s just like Kathleen-it wasn’t a big deal to her, but it was to me, Andrew!  This time is no different, only it’s you and not her!”

            “But sweetheart, we’re talking about a ring here.  What do these two things even have in common?” He was still struggling to understand what it was she meant by all of this and though he was trying, he just wasn’t seeing the picture clearly. 

            The tone of her voice and the haunted look in her eyes as she uttered her answer though, sent chills through him,

            “Everything.”

Chapter 18

            Andrew could hear his heart pounding as his eyes met and held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity.  She was visibly shaking as she was so upset and he stood up finally and pulled her to her feet,

            “Tell me,” He said simply, moving to rest his hands on her shoulders.

            Monica looked away for a moment, trying to bring her emotions back under control,

            “I found your ring in the hotel room, on the windowsill.  I had accidentally left the window open all night and that was why I got sick, so when I went to close it the next morning, the ring caught my eye.  I knew it was yours and that scared me, because I didn’t know what would have happened to you to cause you to forget it.  I still don’t know what happened to cause you to forget it.”

            Seeing the questions in her eyes, he nodded his head,

            “As soon as I had taken the ring off, Kathleen showed up,” As soon as he said the words, he watched his friend’s eyes well up with tears once more,

            “What?  Monica, please.”

            “When I found the ring, I wanted to put it someplace safe, so I took off my necklace and hung it there with the cross and then refastened it,” Her voice dropped to a whisper as a single tear fell from her eye,

            “I remember thinking when I did it, that your ring would hang close to my heart until I found you and knew that you were safe again, only it didn’t turn out that way, because now it’s gone.”

            “Honey, it’s okay-“.

            “Andrew, you’re missing the point,” She cried out, blindly wiping at her eyes,

            “Kathleen appears just as you take the ring off, I find it, and now it’s gone?  Don’t you see what she is trying to tell me?  I’m going to lose you, Andrew!  Just like I did Kathleen!” She pulled away from him and turned away, burying her face in her hands as silent sobs shook through her.

            Andrew drew in a sharp breath, his head spinning from what she had just told him.  Was it true?  Had Kathleen done this as a warning to his friend of what would transpire?  Slowly, he approached her and laid his hands on her arms, rubbing them soothingly,

            “Monica, I think it’s time I heard this story.  I want to understand and I need to understand.”

            “I can’t talk about it,” She wept miserably,

            “It hurts too much.  Oh Father, I don’t know how to do this again!  Please, tell me how to do this again!”

            “Hey, hey,” Andrew uttered, forcing her to turn around so he could pull her close to him, tears in his own eyes as he felt her arms encircle his waist as she buried her face against his chest.  He looked up to the sky, asking for the right words that would help her right now, and would maybe help him as well.

            “I don’t want to lose you,” Monica sobbed, tearing at his heart, as his hands worked into her long auburn hair.

            “I want you to listen to me, Monica, okay?  God is still in control here and you know that.  It seems to me like you are putting an awful lot of faith in Kathleen here, and none in yourself or me, or God,” His voice was soft and tender as he spoke to her and listening as her sobs began to quiet, he continued,

            “I’ll tell you what this is all about.  This is about her trying to get into your mind and she has succeeded in doing that.  She’s had you ready to jump out of your skin for days now, while you wait for her to resurface, and she knows, Monica, she knows that is causing all sorts of horrible thoughts to go through your mind.  Am I right about that?”

            Monica nodded her head as she fought to get control over her emotions once more, as she rested her cheek against his chest, grateful for his calming presence over all of her fears.

            “You know where to put your trust, Angel Girl, and it isn’t in Kathleen.  Now, she may very well have laid things out with that ring, but she did it to frighten you.  The fact that you two were friends, means that she knows a lot about you and what scares you and she uses that to her advantage.” He pulled away enough to be able to look into her eyes,

            “I don’t plan on going anywhere, sweetheart.  I’m afraid you and Tess are just going to have to be stuck with me.”

            “That won’t be so hard to take,” She whispered, with a shaky smile as the remainder of her tears slipped to her cheeks.

            He smiled as he reached to wipe the tears from her face,

            “And one day, I hope you can trust me enough to tell me what happened between you and Kathleen and not because I’m being nosy, but because I think it is a big part of who you are and I would like to understand.”

            “Oh, Andrew, it has nothing to do with trust.  If it had to do with that, I would have told you a long time ago, so please, don’t think that,” Her dark eyes pleaded with him, not wanting to have hurt his feelings by being unwilling to discuss this right now,

            “It’s just very…personal, I think and right now it feels very near to the surface, because of all that has happened and it hurts.  I hope that makes sense, but I’m not even sure it does to me.”

            Andrew softly kissed her on the forehead,

            “It makes perfect sense and I won’t pry.  Just know that I’m here, when and if you are ever ready to talk about it.”

            “Thank you, for everything,” She whispered, reaching up to kiss his cheek.

            It was at that moment that the two angels realized that they were not alone at the same moment that the sky began to darken.

            “Such a touching moment,” Kathleen laughed, delighting in the panicked looks that crossed their faces,

            “Why, I almost hate to interrupt.”

            “What do you want, Kathleen?” Andrew growled, tightening his hold on Monica protectively.

            “It’s time, angel babies,” She replied, and no sooner were the words out of her mouth, did the three of them vanish from the woods.  Nothing was left behind other than the scream that escaped Monica’s lips as they were caught up in the evil that surrounded them.

            Tess and Stacey both jumped when they heard what sounded like a cry of pain echo throughout the cabin and Tess was on her feet instantly,

            “That was Monica, baby,” She uttered as she and Stacey wasted no time in grabbing their coats and racing out the door.

            They followed the footprints to the place where Andrew and Monica had been only moments before, and the footprints stopped completely.

            “What happened?” Stacey cried out, her blue eyes searching through the woods for any sign of the two angels,

            “What has happened to them?”

            Tess was quiet for a moment, as if listening to something.  When she finally spoke, her voice was filled with fear and apprehension,

            “It’s started, Stacey.”