"So do you have any idea what this assignment is about?" Gloria inquired to her friend Andrew, who strode beside her in the park that beautiful afternoon. Both she and Andrew were angels, but to be specific Gloria was a young caseworker (which is an angel who is sent to earth by God to help people with life-typical problems) and Andrew was an Angel of Death (an angel who handles the transition for people from life to death).
But Andrew only shrugged and shook his head unknowingly. "Well, I do know that we're supposed to help the owner of a hotel. I'm not exactly sure what we're supposed to do to help but Monica's already there. She arrived last night. She'll explain everything to us." Andrew assured his young friend confidently. Monica was also their friend. She was another caseworker, as well as Gloria's supervisor.
Gloria nodded in understanding and continued to walk on in silence. But it was then that she and Andrew noted another Angel of Death jogging in an urgent manner towards them through the park. They knew him well. His name was Adam and he had accompanied them on assignments before. But this time it was different. They could tell already. Just the speed in his gate and the panic displayed on his charming features suggested the matter was more critical now.
As he approached, Gloria and Andrew slowed their own pace and exchanged suspicious glances. Finally, he arrived a bit breathlessly and went on with the explanation he was sure Gloria and Andrew were awaiting. "Listen…" Adam panted as he struggled to regain a normal heart rate. It was clear enough that he had been desperately searching for them all morning and was incredibly relieved to finally have found them. Andrew took note of this immediately and placed a comforting hand on Adam's heaving shoulder.
"Whoa, whoa. Adam, take it easy. What is it?" He questioned in a gentle tone, as he didn't release hold of his friend's arm. Adam took one more deep breath to calm himself and then forced himself to continue. "Listen. Monica's gone missing." He spilled the sentence out as though it had been scalding the inside of his mouth.
Andrew caught his breath in disbelief, but Gloria seemed clueless to the meaning of this statement. "What do you mean 'missing'?" She demanded in a clearly concerned tone as she held the other angel's gaze meaningfully with her own. Adam opened his mouth to respond, but just then a fourth voice piped in.
"You know exactly what he means, Angel Girl." Tess sighed in obvious dread as she approached as well, arm-in-arm with Sam. Tess was Monica's supervisor and Sam was what they call a 'special forces' angel. He only intervened when the situation suddenly took a violent turn into critical. It was clear that whatever was going on, it wasn't going to be easy for any of them.
The others turned their attention to experienced angels as they approached, wearing grim expressions upon their aged features. Tess shook her head sadly and went on to explain. "She's been kidnapped." She informed them as unexpected, concerned tears suddenly found their way into her dark eyes, suddenly giving away the severity of the situation. Andrew didn't know what to say. All thoughts froze in his mind about the case and all he could think about was his dear friend frightened and alone somewhere with a vicious perpetrator.
"Kidnapped?" Gloria repeated in disbelief as she felt sudden tears of her own tightening in her throat. "By who?" She ventured, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer.