CHAPTERS 5 & 6

Chapter 5

            Monica watched the sleeping Angel of Death as silent tears fell from her eyes.  She was trembling, both from cold as well as from fear and the confusion that Kathleen’s words had caused, making her head ache even more than it already was,

            “Oh Father,” She whispered weakly,

            “What do I do?  Please tell me what to do.”

            “Monica?” Andrew sat up sleepily and rubbed at his eyes before they focused on his friend.  Alarm filled him instantly as he realized she was crying,

            “Baby, what is it?” He moved to where she was leaning up against the bars and though it was awkward, he was able to put his arms through to wrap them around her.

            “Oh Andrew,” She managed to say, before she began to cry openly.  She was terribly confused over whether or not to even tell him what Kathleen had said, yet she was so exhausted and unwell that she didn’t think she could handle this alone.

            Andrew could feel her trembling in his arms and he moved his hand to feel her forehead, which felt even hotter to him than it had earlier.  One thing he did know was that whatever human illness Monica had caught, was getting worse,

            “Shhh,” He soothed softly, his hand moving to stroke her hair,

            “I need you to talk to me, sweetheart.  Tell me what this is all about.”

            Monica struggled to stop the flow of tears, hearing the fear in Andrew’s voice.  She raised her head wearily and looked at him through her reddened eyes,

            “Kathleen was here,” She uttered, softly, her voice hoarse and no louder than a whisper,

            “Andrew, we’re in so much trouble.  She wants me to go with her….or she’s going to hurt you.” Her tears spilled over once again as she shook her head helplessly,

            “I can’t let that happen, Andrew, I can’t!”

            Andrew’s mind was racing as he listened to what she was saying.  It all made perfect sense to him now-why he was here, how Monica had found him.  It was all part of Kathleen’s twisted, evil plan to make Monica follow her.  Guilt tore through him with the realization that his walking away on that beach days ago was the reason they were both in this situation,

            “It’s okay, Monica.  We’ll figure something out and we have God on our side too, right?” He tried to smile to reassure her.

            “How can you say that, Andrew?  It’s not okay, it’s not!  I won’t allow her to hurt you.  I love you too much to let that happen.” She covered her face with her hands as she wept.

            Andrew’s heart went out to her.  She had been through so much over the last few months and that made Kathleen’s threat very real to her.  Her gentle heart had barely healed from her last battle with the dark angel and now she was faced with a new one and with the fever and illness raging through her, she was in no shape to take on this fight.  He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her start coughing.  A deep, ragged cough that shook her entire body and left her gasping for air,

            “Monica, you need to calm down,” He told her sternly, reaching his hand out to cup her cheek to soften the sharpness of his tone,

            “I know you’re scared and so am I, but we’re going to get through this together.  We’re not going to make any rash decisions right this minute, okay?” His green eyes gazed into hers, as he waited for an answer.

            Monica looked into his eyes and saw the love he felt for her reflected there and she willed herself to stop crying.  She nodded her head weakly as she reached for his hand and clasped it tightly in her own.  She longed to be held by him, but the bars between them made it so difficult.  He always made her feel so safe when he had his arms around her, as if nothing in the world could ever hurt her,

            “I hate this,” she uttered miserably,

            “She has us locked in here, so why does she have to have bars between us?”

            No sooner had the words been said, did the bars that separated the two angels from each other seemingly disappeared.  They sat in stunned silence for a moment before Andrew got up and moved to Monica, not wasting another moment in gathering her into his arms.  He felt her body relax as her arms encircled him as she welcomed the protection that was Andrew. 

            “Better?” He asked softly, pressing his lips to her forehead.

            “Yes, thank you,” Monica whispered, resting her head against his chest and sighing softly,

            “What are we going to do, Andrew?”

            Andrew reached for the blanket and wrapped it around her as he leaned back against the wall of the cave with her in his arms,

            “Nothing tonight.  I want you to get some rest right now.  Then later we’ll try to make some sense out of all of this,” He tried to put some confidence into his tone of voice, though confident was the last thing he felt.  He struggled to remind himself that God was always in control, even when it didn’t seem that way and right now was just one of those times when it didn’t seem that way. 

            “Are you sorry I came here?” She whispered, disrupting his thoughts.

            Andrew tightened the hold he had on her as he thought about her question,

            “I’m sorry you are in this situation, sweetie, but I’m never, ever sorry to see you.  I’ll figure out a way to get you out of this mess, Monica.  I promise you that.”

            “As long as you get us both out of it, that’s fine, Andrew,” She replied wearily,

            “But I’m not going anywhere without you.  The Father told me I would have to fight very hard, Andrew, but I don’t think I can.  I’m so tired.  He told me to hang onto the truth…that it was His gift to me and that it would be…difficult…”

            “Hush,” He whispered, his hand running through her hair,

            “Sleep now, Monica.”

            She nodded her head as she snuggled closer to him and exhaustedly closed her eyes.  Andrew let out a deep breath as he struggled to think of how he was going to get them out of this.  He absent-mindedly toyed with her hair as his eyes wandered through the cavern, wishing he knew what Kathleen had in store for them.  As if reading his thoughts, he heard the words of his heart echoed in Monica’s voice,

            “Andrew, I’m scared.”

            “I’m right here, baby,” He replied softly, rubbing her back gently until he heard her even, though shallow breathing and knew she was asleep,

            “I won’t let anything happen to you.  I promise you that, Angel Girl,” He said aloud, though he knew she didn’t hear him.  But for the first time since he had arrived here, he knew one thing for certain.  He would give his soul in order to save hers.

Chapter 6

            Andrew awoke, checked his pocket watch and saw that it was 9:30 the next morning.  He sighed, knowing the watch was the only way they could possibly keep track of time as they were far enough into the cave to not be able to see any light.  He turned his attention to Monica, who was still asleep and felt instant concern when he heard her raspy breathing and when he touched her cheek, he could still feel the intense warmth of her fever.  He was beginning to get really worried now, knowing that this was more than a human cold.  He wondered if it could even be pneumonia, with her deep cough and he knew he had to get her some help.  The only problem with that was that there was only one person to ask for that help.

            He got up carefully, lifting Monica off his chest and laying her back down.  He tucked his jacket under her head and made sure he had covered her with the blanket before he walked over to the other side of the cavern,

            “Kathleen?” He called out softly, his voice tinged with anger at the mere thought of having to ask her for anything,

            “I need to talk to you.”

            Kathleen transpired before him and crossed her arms in front of her, a slight smile playing on her lips,

            “Well, good morning, Angel Boy!  What can I do for you?”

            It was all he could do to hold back his anger at the mere sight of her, but he remembered Monica and knew that he had to,

            “Monica is very sick and you know she is in human form right now.  I need more blankets and something for her to eat and drink.  Maybe even a basin of cold water and a cloth so I can try to bring down her fever.”  He forced out the words, wishing he didn’t have to ask her for anything.

            Kathleen glanced around Andrew to the sleeping angel in the corner,

            “Aww, our Angel Girl isn’t feeling any better, huh?  I can see how worried you are about her, Andrew,” Her voice was filled with mock concern.

            “She was your friend once, Kathleen,” He growled, unable to hold back all of his hostility,

            “Probably the best friend you ever had.  It wouldn’t hurt you to help her out.”

            Kathleen looked at him in silence for a moment,

            “Are you willing to pay the price for these things you ask for?” She asked, her eyes narrowing darkly as they steadily met with his.

            Andrew was quiet as he heard his heart racing.  He knew that whatever she had planned would not be good, but he had to take that chance for Monica’s sake,

            “I’ll do whatever I have to in order to help her.”

            “Very well, then,” She replied with a smile, indicating for him to turn around.

            When he did, he saw all that he had asked for behind him.  Without another word, he turned away from her and went to grab the blankets and pillows first.

            “What?  Not even a thank you?” Kathleen asked, her voice filled with sarcastic hurt.

            “Thanks for your hospitality,” He replied, meeting her sarcasm, though he didn’t bother to turn around.

            “My payment will be collected shortly,” She laughed before she was gone from his view.

            Monica stirred as she felt a pillow being placed under her head,

            “Andrew…” She whispered weakly, trying to get her eyes to focus on him,          

            “Are we Home?  Is it over?”

            “No, sweetheart,” He replied sadly, as he wrapped another blanket around her, seeing how badly she was shivering.  He got up to grab the other things Kathleen had left for him and brought them over to her.  Gently, he helped her to sit up and he placed a glass of juice in her hands,

            “Drink this, Angel Girl,” He encouraged, moving to help her as her hands were shaking,

            “I’ve got some soup here for you as well,” Surprisingly, the soup smelled wonderful to him and he realized how hungry he was, but Kathleen had only left one bowl and he knew he needed to get as much of it as he could into Monica.

            She managed to eat a little bit, but she felt so exhausted that she soon pushed it away,

            “I can’t eat anymore, Andrew,” She uttered, her face deathly white as she felt the room begin to spin,

            “You finish it.  You need to eat too.”  She brought a trembling hand to her head and closed her eyes.

            Andrew put the bowl down on the floor and helped her to lay back down, before he wrung out the cloth in the cool water and tenderly bathed her face and forehead with the cloth.  If he could just get her fever to break, he knew she would be all right and he said a silent prayer for her healing.

            “Thank you…for taking such good care of me,” Monica whispered, reaching out to take his hand into hers.

            He squeezed her hand gently and managed a smile,

            “I’ll always take care of you, baby,” He replied watching as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep once more.  Getting up, he walked to the other side of the cavern, his eyes scanning for any means they might have for escape.  He wrapped his hands around the bars, but they were completely stable and went clear to the ceiling of the cavern.  He then walked over to the far corner and realized that there was a small opening, though he didn’t know nor could he tell where it led.  He thought briefly about trying to get through, but then thought better of it.  He wasn’t about to leave Monica alone in the event that he couldn’t return for some reason.  He would have to wait until she was well enough to go with him. 

            It was at that moment that he heard the laughter and it made chills creep up his spine.  Turning around, he could just make out the dark demons that surrounded him.  The last thing he did was to make sure that none of them were near Monica, but he could tell she was sound asleep, and then the attack began.  He felt blow after blow to his human body, the pain more intense than it had been when he had taken the blows for Monica weeks ago.  He had been in angelic form then and much stronger.  Now, he felt the intense pain that came with each punch to his more fragile human form.  He struggled to keep from crying out, but a minute into the attack, he could no longer remain silent.

            Monica awoke with a start; at first thinking she was having a nightmare.  She heard the all too familiar laughter and bolted upright, remembering all too clearly the sounds she was hearing.  It was then that she realized that mixed in with the laughter was the sound of cries…Andrew’s cries.