Displacement
At what point had she gone mad?
Had she always been insane?
Helga couldn't say...
But one thing was certain.
She'd been smiling when she stabbed her.
A pleasant, cheerful smile, without so much as a hint of malice. She was smiling even now, as she calmly rinsed the knife over the kitchen sink.
"I'm ever so certain that I'm doing you a favor Helga." Lila remarked in her usual tone. "When Arnold learns that you've been hospitalized, he'll simply fly to your bedside."
With that, she shut off the faucet.
"And don't worry, I'm ever so certain that you'll make a full recovery. Though I'm afraid I was a bit clumsy with your parents."
She reached for a towel and began drying the knife.
"You were all supposed to awaken in the hospital and realize just how precious life is, how important it is to spend it together as a family. But I'm ever so certain that won't be happening now."
She finished drying the knife and returned it to its place in the wooden block on the counter top.
"It's not the end I would've hoped for, but I'm certain that Olga will be more than willing to look after you now that they're gone."
She smiled warmly at this. As if speaking about a pleasant family reunion, instead of the death of two people.
Helga had remained silent through all of this, simply doing her best not to pass out as she lay there on the kitchen floor, her mind and body reeling from the shock of being so abruptly penetrated.
Now, however, she simply had to speak.
"Are you serious?" She remarked incredulously, her body protesting against the outburst.
"You know, I always thought I was nuts." She continued. " But you, you seriously take the cake."
"How do you even plan on getting away with all this? Don't you think you might end up in jail, or maybe the nut house for killing two people and stabbing their daughter?" She asked, her voice still laced with pain.
Lila smiled, as if preparing to answer a silly question.
"I'm ever so certain that won't happen Helga. My family has been helping people this way for generations. It wouldn't be safe unless we had some way of making them forget what they've seen." She replied as she produced a small syringe and prepared to administer the injection.
Helga's eyes flashed with panic at the sight of it, her first instinct to retreat. But even with the fear driven adrenaline boosting her mobility a bit, she didn't have time to move before Lila was upon her, pinning her to the floor as she frantically struggled.
Her arms were forced behind her back and kept there by the painful weight on top of her. Her head was then pinned by one hand as the other brought the syringe to the side of her neck. She cried out in pain and protest as the tip was forced in, the unknown drug entering her system as the syringe was emptied. Lila then shushed her, gently stroking her hair as if attempting to calm a small child.
"Go to sleep now Helga." She said. "The ambulance is on its way."
Her words and actions were in no way comforting, yet Helga gradually ceased her squirming, her vision growing hazy and distorted as the powerful drug took effect. She couldn't seem to form a single coherent thought as the world around her slowly faded to black.
(A.N) Here and there, I've seen stories in which Lila is presented as evil or somehow malicious. However, it's my opinion that if she ever did something truly terrible, she would most likely believe herself to be doing something positive. The result of that thought is this story.
On a separate note, this story has been gathering dust on my computer since the latter part of 2009 at least. I've dug it out a number of times. Going over it again and again, attempting to make it just right. But I've now accepted that it's never going to be absolutely perfect in my eyes. So here it is, from me to you and all that. I do hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold. I don't pretend to own Hey Arnold. And I'm not making any money off this story