CHAPTERS 7 & 8

Chapter 7

            Monica struggled to focus her eyes, hearing Andrew crying out in pain.  Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest, the sounds of the laughter bringing back horrible, painful memories for her.  She rose shakily to her feet, taking nearly every ounce of strength she could muster. 

            “Andrew!” She called out weakly, her voice hardly audible as she managed to walk closer to his cries.  It was then that she saw the demons, and Andrew, curled into a tight ball on the ground, trying to protect himself against them,

            “No!!” She screamed, quickly overcome by the deep cough that shook her to the core.

            “Monica, stay back!” Andrew yelled, his words laced with pain as he felt yet another blow to his lower back.

            “No! Get away from him!  Get away!” She half screamed and half sobbed as she came closer.  Just as she was inches from them, the demons laughed loudly and vanished before her eyes.

            Crying uncontrollably, Monica dropped to her knees and pulled Andrew so that his head was resting in her lap.  She stroked his hair back from his face with trembling hands,

            “Andrew…Andrew, are you all right?  Oh God, please let him be alright!” She lowered her head so her forehead rested against his as sobs convulsed through her. 

            Andrew moaned softly, aware of Monica closeness and the sound of her weeping.  He reached up with a trembling hand to touch her hair,

            “I’m okay, baby.  Just…. just give me a minute,” He drew in a sharp breath as he attempted to sit up and felt pain engulf him for a moment before he forced himself to sit up the rest of the way.

            Monica cupped his face in her hands, though she couldn’t stop crying,

            “Are you okay?  This is…this is my fault.  I heard you..talking to Kathleen this morning.  It’s my fault…I’m the one who is sick.  Oh, Andrew, I’m sorry….I’m so sorry!”

            Andrew’s heart broke at the sound of her words, as he forgot about his physical pain for the moment,

            “No, Monica, no,” He uttered, close to tears himself as he folded her into his embrace,

            “It isn’t your fault.  It’s Kathleen’s fault.  She is the one who did this, not you, sweetheart,” His mind was racing with fear.  They had to get out of here, that much was suddenly all the more clearer to him now.  He knew now what Kathleen had planned for him-more of the same and he knew his human body would not be able to take much more.  If he was hurt, he would be of no good to Monica and she certainly wasn’t strong enough right now to be able to fight Kathleen and her demons.  His thoughts were interrupted by words that put new terror in his heart.

            “I can’t let this happen to you, Andrew!  I can’t!  This is what she wants…to hurt you until I make a decision…until she forces me to make a decision to come with her.  I can’t let her keep hurting you, so I don’t have a choice!” She dissolved into fresh tears of grief as her head rested against his chest.

            “No, Monica,” Andrew took her by the shoulders and pulled her away from him, so he could look into her eyes.  His own deep, green eyes penetrated into hers as he spoke,

            “You are not making that choice, do you hear me?  I don’t care what happens, you are not to give into her!  Promise me now, Monica!  Promise me you will not agree to go with her.”

            She looked into his eyes, her expression one of sheer fear and confusion,

            “I can’t promise you that, Andrew.  How can I promise you that?”

            “Do it, Monica!  Give me your word that you will not give up.” His voice was shaking with intensity as he gripped her shoulders tightly.

            As Monica looked into his eyes, she somehow managed to get her tears under control.  Her head was spinning and her chest ached with every breath she took,

            “I can’t make that promise, Andrew.  I’m sorry.  I know you want me to, but I can’t sit here day after day and watch her hurt you.  Don’t you see?  I love you too much to let that happen!  It’s me she wants and it has nothing to do with you.  She is just using you because she knows how much I love you and how much I can’t stand the thought of you being in pain because of me.  Please, Andrew, please try to understand!  I love you so much…I just love you so much…” Tears began to streak her face once more as her dark eyes pleaded with him for understanding.

            Tears filled Andrew’s eyes as well as he listened to her voice her feelings for him.  He hugged her tightly to him once more as his tear-filled eyes looked up, searching for an answer that would leave them both safe,

            “I love you too, Angel Girl,” He whispered softly.  Though frightened beyond words, his heart was also deeply touched by what she had said and by the fact that she was willing to risk it all to help him.  He knew he felt the exact same way, but as neither of them were willing to budge, there was only one other option, 

            “We have to get out of here, sweetheart.  I wanted to wait till you were better, but we can’t now.  We have to try to get out of here, today, right now,” He pulled away from her and tenderly wiped the tears from her eyes,

            “I found an opening over in the corner.  It’s small, but we can both get through.  Monica, I don’t have any idea where it goes, or how far it may be, or if there is even a way out, but it’s the only option we have right now.  Now, I know you feel terrible, but I have to know if this is what you want.  I’ll be right there with you and will help you every step of the way, I promise you that.  But I have to know if you feel like you can do this.”

            Monica looked into his eyes and then gazed over at the corner of the cavern where he had indicated the opening was.  She drew in a deep breath as she struggled to pull herself together.  He was right, she did feel terrible and more exhausted than she had ever felt before, but what else could they do?

            “Yes, Andrew,” She whispered, meeting his eyes once more as she tried her best to look convincing,

            “I can do it, if you’ll help me.”

            Andrew knew in his heart, she was trying to convince herself as well as him, but to stay here would only mean more trouble for them both.  He didn’t know if crawling into that opening was going to bring them any less trouble, but he knew they had to try,

            “Okay.  Stay here for a moment,” He gently kissed her forehead, before going over to the other side of the cavern.  He took his jacket and opened it up, before he folded the blankets up to as small of a size as he could and then tied them up in his jacket.  If nothing else, he could at least keep her warm when they stopped to rest or sleep.  He picked that up and what was left of the juice and soup and carried them over to her.  She refused the soup, begging him to eat it, but she did drink the remainder of the juice.

            Once Andrew had finished the soup, he looked at her, his expression one of tenderness and love,

            “Are you ready?”

            She nodded her head as he rose to his feet before helping her to hers.  Her legs were trembling, though she tried to will them to stop.  Seeing how weak she was, Andrew wrapped his arm around her waist to help support her as they walked over to the corner of the cave.  He dropped down to his knees, carefully bringing her with him,

            “I’ll go first, and you follow right behind me, alright?” Seeing her nod her head, he slowly and carefully crawled through the tight opening, the bundle of jacket and blankets clenched in his hands. He could hear Monica following behind him as he moved forward carefully, trying to feel his way ahead of him through the darkness.

            “Andrew…” He heard her whimper softly and he realized he had forgotten one important thing---Monica’s overwhelming fear of the dark.

Chapter 8

            Andrew turned around to face where he knew Monica was, though he couldn’t see her at that moment.  He could hear her short, panicked breaths and his heart sank.  There was no way they could do this.  Darkness was a fear she could control no more than she could control her coffee addiction.  His eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness and he could make out her trembling form, as he reached out to touch her face,

            “We have to go back, Monica.  We’ll have to find some other way--.”

            “No,” She uttered, between breaths,

            “Just give me a minute.  There is no other way and we both know it.  Just give me a minute, Andrew, and I’ll be alright.”  She could now begin to see him as her eyes began to adjust. 

            Monica was unable to see the pride in his eyes that he held for her, as he heard her breathing begin to go back to normal.  He knew she was still afraid, but he also knew that she was working very hard to overcome her fear for both of their sakes,

            “Let me try to stand up and see if there is room,” He slowly rose to his feet and found that the cavern they were in was large enough that they didn’t have to crawl.  He moved to help Monica to her feet and she wrapped her arm around his waist tightly,

            “I’ve got you,” He assured her,

            “Are you ready to keep going?”

            “Yes,” she replied weakly, before they began to move forward. 

            Their progress was slow, due to the darkness and Andrew was careful that they stopped to rest often for Monica’s sake.  He could tell her fever was still raging, though she uttered not one word of complaint.  Andrew’s own bruised body was stiffening up from the attack by Kathleen’s demons earlier, so he used that as his excuse to stop often for her to rest.  He knew if she thought she was holding things up, that she would press herself onward, and Andrew didn’t want that at all.  He was concerned about bringing her into this new situation to begin with and if anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

            Andrew knew that they had been walking off and on for at least 6 hours, when he made the decision to stop for a longer period of time.  He knew that they both were tired and he was pleased with the progress they had made. 

            As Monica sunk to the damp floor, a fit of coughing overcame her, so severe, that Andrew was by her side in a second,

            “I’m alright,” She assured him, as the coughs finally subsided and she drew in a ragged breath.  She was so thirsty and her throat was so dry that she could hardly stand it.  She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes wearily.

            Andrew was startled when he felt a weight on his shoulder, but reaching for it, he found a canteen filled with ice-cold water.  His heart soared in thanks to the Father as He made His presence known to them with a gesture as simple as water.

            “Monica,” Andrew sat down beside of her as he unscrewed the lid to the canteen and brought the water to her lips.  He helped her to hold it as she drank thirstily and when she was finished, he found that it had been replenished for him.  Once he had his fill, he placed the lid back on the canteen and reached for the blanket he had brought with them,

            “C’mon sweetie,” He pulled Monica closer to him, so she could use him as a pillow, and covered her with the blanket,

            “Get some sleep, alright?” He waited as she nestled her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms protectively around her and stroked the sweat-dampened hair back from her face.

            “Where do you think this goes, Andrew?” She asked, her hoarse voice tinged with exhaustion.

            “I don’t know, Angel Girl.  I sure wish I did, but what I do know is that God is with us, so we’re going to be just fine.” He kissed the top of her head,

            “How do you feel?”

            “Better,” Monica replied, knowing it was a lie.

            But Andrew knew it too.  She was still burning up with fever and her voice was hardly audible,

            “Monica..” He began, sternly.

            “Okay, okay.  Terrible.  My head is pounding and I’m so tired, Andrew,” Her voice trembled as she spoke,

            “But I don’t want to hold you back or have you stopping on the account of me--.”

            “Hey,” Andrew placed his fingers under her chin and tilted her face up towards him.  Even in the darkness, he could see the tears shimmering in her eyes,

            “I’m not going anywhere without you and I need you to be honest with me.  When you need to rest, I want to know.  I don’t care if we have to stop every five minutes, okay?  I know you don’t feel up to this, so we’re taking this at your speed.  Do we have an understanding on that, Angel Girl?”

            Monica nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak at that moment,

            “Are you okay?” She asked, after a moment and once her emotions were once again in check.

            “I’m a little sore, but I’ll be fine.  Now, stop worrying and get some sleep,” Andrew pulled her closer to him, protectively.

            “How long are we stopping for?” She asked, stifling a yawn as her eyes began to close in sheer exhaustion.

            “For as long as it takes, sweetie,” He replied softly, as he continued to stroke her hair until he heard her even breathing.  Once he knew she was asleep, he too, closed his eyes as he whispered a prayer to the Father,

            “Please help us to get out of here, Lord.” He kept it simple, because he knew that God knew his heart and every fear that Andrew held there.  As Monica shivered in her sleep, Andrew wondered what would happen if he couldn’t find her help soon.  Her fever wasn’t breaking and her cough was getting worse.  Andrew knew that God was with them, so he struggled to trust that they would get through this safely. 

            Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the worst was yet to come.