CHAPTERS 3 & 4

Chapter 3

            When Monica awoke the next morning, she could hardly lift her head off the pillow it ached so badly.  Her throat was incredibly sore and glancing over, she realized that she had fallen asleep with the window open; so all-night the chilly fall breeze had drifted across her already worn down human body. 

            She sat up and moaned softly, laying her hand across her feverish forehead.  Generally, Monica enjoyed human form, but of late, she was beginning to find fewer reasons to be as delighted with it as she usually was, and a cold would definitely be one of those negative reasons for being human.  She managed to get up and stumbled across the room to close the window, but before she could, something caught her eye.  Shivering with cold, the angel picked up a gold ring from the window ledge.   She recognized it instantly as the ring Andrew wore almost all the time.  It had been given to him by an assignment who had been very special to him and he scarcely ever took it off.  But what was it doing here? 

            Alarm filled her as she struggled to remember all she had learned yesterday, even though her mind still felt incredibly groggy.  The desk manager had said that Andrew had checked out yesterday morning, but Monica had trouble believing he would have forgotten this ring, unless he did and never got a chance to come back for it.  

            “Oh Andrew, what has happened to you?” She whispered aloud, as tears filled her eyes.  She then reached around her neck and unhooked the gold necklace that was there and slipped the ring onto the chain next to the golden cross she already wore.  She then refastened it and slipped it back inside her blouse to be close to her heart, as Andrew already was.

            She had hoped a shower would make her feel better, but it didn’t and looking in the mirror she now had a better understanding of the human phrase “Death warmed over”, but she knew she didn’t have the time to nurse this body back to health.  She dressed as quickly as she could, saying a quick, though weak prayer of thanks for the warmer clothes that had appeared for her today.  She then went downstairs and arranged to have the room for an indefinite amount of time.  She could see no point in leaving this town until she had exhausted every avenue possible, but when she walked outside, she realized that she had no idea of which way to go or even where to begin.  She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer for guidance before she started walking down the street. 

            The town was small and she soon found herself at the edge of it, with only mountains and trees ahead of her, but for some reason, she chose to plod on through the woods.  Her head ached terribly and she had to stop to rest often, lest a fit of coughing should overtake her, but she kept going.  It was as if she were being driven by something as she continued to walk deeper into the forest.  She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that something or someone was leading her somewhere.  She also knew that it was not the gentle voice that usually floated down to her heart that she was following.  No, this feeling was very dark and very cold, feelings Monica had felt before several weeks ago.  She was terribly frightened, but she refused to stop going.  It was Andrew’s existence that was at stake this time and to her, that meant more than her own.

            Monica walked until she came to the base of a mountain and her instinct was telling her she needed to keep going, but her human body was exhausted from the fever that was raging through it.  Wearily, she leaned up against a tree, and looked at where her heart was telling her to go.  Her forehead bathed in feverish sweat and shivering from being so cold, tears began to fill her eyes and find their way down her cheeks,

            “I can’t,” She wept, sliding down the base of the tree and burying her face in her hands,

            “I can’t….I’m so tired,” She raised her reddened eyes to heaven,

            “Please help me, Father…I’m so tired.”

            She began to calm down slowly, now knowing that she was near Andrew by the gentle words that had drifted to her heart.  She stood up shakily and began to climb up the mountain, relieved that it wasn’t as steep as she had feared.  But even so, when she reached the opening to the cave that she had known would be there, she fell inside, struggling to catch her breath and once she did, she was overtaken with a fit of coughing that made her head feel it would surely explode.  It was once the coughing subsided, that she heard his voice calling out,

            “Hello?!  Is someone there?”

            “Andrew!” Monica called out, her voice hoarse.  Somehow, she found the strength to get up and race deeper into the cave.  What she found there, however, made her blood run cold.  She came face to face with bars that seemed almost medieval that separated Andrew from her, and the only lighting came from a few fire torches that we scattered out inside of the cavern.  Andrew was staring at her in disbelief, but hearing a sound, she whirled around to find that there were now bars that separated her from the entrance to the cave. 

            Turning back around, she shakily approached the bars where he was waiting,

            “Andrew.” She whispered, her voice barely audible.

            “Monica, what are you doing here?  How did you find me?” Tears were in his eyes as he was so glad to see her.  His joy turned to concern however, as he watched her slide down to the floor.  He reached through the bars to take her face into his hands, his eyes filling with alarm at how hot she felt,

            “Monica?”

            “I’m alright,” She replied weakly, managing a smile,

            “I think I’ve just got a wee bit of a cold.”

            “You’re burning up,” He told her worriedly,

            “You shouldn’t have come.  I can’t believe you were even assigned to be here.”

            “I wasn’t.  I left.  I had to find you, Andrew and I knew you were in trouble.  I could feel it,” She reached up and took his hands from her face to hold them in her own,

            “It’s so good to see you.”

            He held onto her hands tightly as he looked at her worriedly.  She looked terrible and he was scared to death that she would pass out at any minute,

            “I’m glad to see you too, sweetheart.”

            Invisible to both angels, Kathleen smiled contentedly.  Yes, things were going exactly as she had planned.

Chapter 4

            “What do you mean by you “left”?” Andrew asked quizzically as he sat down opposite of Monica on the floor of the cavern.

            Monica struggled to clear her head.  She felt so groggy and so very tired, almost unable to really realize that they were both now trapped,

            “Sam showed up and said that Tess and I were being reassigned, but I couldn’t take the assignment.  I knew that you needed me more and I couldn’t just ignore that fact, especially after all that you’ve done for me.  After talking to you that day on the beach, I knew you were headed for trouble.”

            Andrew was quiet for a moment, remembering that day with a heavy heart.  He knew he had been wrong and now he was the one, who had led Monica into even more danger,

            “You shouldn’t have come, Monica.  The last thing I ever wanted to do was to put you in danger again and now I’ve done just that.”

            “You didn’t do anything, Andrew,” She replied tiredly, closing her eyes for a moment,

            “This was my decision.”

            “But it’s one you never should have made.  We’re trapped in here, Monica and God only knows what Kathleen is up to.  It was enough to have to worry about myself, but now I have to worry about getting you out of this too!”  He knew his anger was at himself, even as he took it out on his friend.  He regretted his words immediately as he saw her eyes glaze over with tears.

            “I never asked you to take responsibility for me, Andrew,” She uttered, not having the strength to get angry.  She felt tears streaking her face and she lowered her eyes,

            “I only wanted to help you.”

            Andrew’s anger faded as he reached through the bars to stroke her hair,

            “I know, I know,” He soothed, his voice now soft and gentle,

            “I’m sorry, honey.  I’m angry with myself, not with you.  Not long after I left you on the beach, I knew I was being a fool, and that I needed to go back, but by that time it was too late.  Kathleen found me and brought me here.  You were right about anger and hatred-it only causes more pain.”  Tenderly, he placed his hand under her chin and raised her head so their eyes met before he wiped away her tears.  He couldn’t keep the concern from his face as he watched her anxiously,

            “You’re so hot, Monica.  This doesn’t feel like a cold.”

            “I don’t know how humans do it,” She muttered wearily,

            “This getting sick.  I’m afraid I’m not very good at it.  I really don’t feel very well.”

            Andrew got up and grabbed the single blanket that Kathleen had so “generously” given to him and wrapped it around her.  The fact that he was an Angel of Death gave him certain knowledge about human illness, and that knowledge was causing a lot of fear in his heart.  He knew that Monica needed rest and liquids and he wondered if she’d get much of either here.  His eyes scanned the cavern frantically, coming to rest on a drip that was coming from the corner.  Realizing that it had to be raining outside, he grabbed his jacket and tore a sleeve from it, soaking up the water that had run to the floor of the cavern.  He returned to her then, balled up the jacket and laid it through the bars on the floor,

            “Lay down for awhile and rest,” He encouraged, relieved when she gave him no argument.  He waited until she had rested her head on his jacket before he laid the wet jacket sleeve across her forehead.  He then moved his hand to stroke her hair back from her face,

            “Better?”

            “Yes, thank you,” She replied softly, managing a small smile as she looked up at him,

            “But won’t you be cold?”          

            “Don’t worry about me,” He returned her smile, grateful for her gentle company,

            “Close your eyes, Angel Girl, and try to get some sleep.  We’ll figure out what to do later.”  He settled down on the hard floor, as close to her as he could get as he continued stroking her hair, until she drifted off to sleep.  He watched her with a fearful heart for a long time, before his eyes grew heavy and he drifted off.

            Monica awoke with a start a few hours later, as she sat up and tried to focus her eyes.  She moaned softly, feeling the throbbing of her head as she closed her eyes for a moment.  When she opened them, she gasped, seeing Kathleen standing before her.  Fear gripped her heart as she tried to remain calm.  Glancing over, she realized that Andrew was still sound asleep, before she looked back at her enemy,

            “What do you want, Kathleen?” She demanded, her voice hoarse and tinged with anger.

            The dark one smiled as she crouched down to be at eye level with Monica,

            “Not feeling well?” Kathleen asked, her voice filled with sarcastic pity.

            “I asked what you wanted.” Monica stated again, her eyes narrowing with the anger she felt inside for her once best friend,

            “You brought us here for a reason.  Now what is it?”

            Kathleen’s smile never faltered as she steadily met Monica’s gaze,

            “You know what I want.  I want you to come with me.”

            “Never!” Monica spat out angrily,

            “That will never happen, Kathleen!”

            “I figured you’d say that, Angel Girl, so that is why we now have something to bargain with,” Her eyes moved to rest on Andrew for a moment before returning to Monica’s,

            “Yes, I think he’ll make the perfect pawn, don’t you?”

            Monica felt her blood run cold at Kathleen’s words as her fearful eyes turned to rest on the sleeping Angel of Death,

            “Andrew has nothing to do with what you want from me,” She whispered.

            “Oh, but he does,” Kathleen stood up to tower over the angel,

            “You see, you wouldn’t make the choice to save your own life, but what about Andrew’s life?  I know how much you love him, Angel Girl.  It’s written all over your face, even now.  I’ll give you time to decide of course, but the choice is really very simple,” Her smile turned to one of pure delight for a moment, before it faded and she looked at Monica menacingly,

            “Either you chose to come with me,” She said quietly,

            “Or Andrew dies.”

            “Angels can’t die,” Monica uttered, tears filling her eyes at the threat Kathleen had just made.

            “He’s human, Monica, I assure you, he can.  So you think about it, baby.  Oh and one other thing.  The death I have planned for him, will be a slow one, so you’ll have plenty of time to make up your mind as you watch.”  Kathleen laughed softly before she vanished from the cavern, her laughter and words leaving the ailing angel trembling and in tears.