Everything was dark. Helga could feel herself slipping away. She was slipping from her toes, fingers, arms, legs. She was slipping from everywhere. She was nothing, suspended in nothing, surrounded in nothing, engulfed in nothing. Only fear remained. If she had eyes she would have cried. If she had lungs she would have screamed. But there was nothing left. Not even her.

Then, bits and pieces started to feel again. There was an ache in her back. Her body stung all over. Something was securely planted on her chest. It wasn't heavy, but it was annoying. Something sharp gnawed at her fingers and things kept crawling around on top of her. She had no idea what it was, but next she began feeling sick.

Her eyes fluttered and she could hear something pounding deafeningly. Through the beat, she could hear rushing water and padded feet fleeting around her.

Finally, the pounding slowed and her eyes shot open.

A pair of big yellow eyes framed in black fur was the first thing she saw.

She was wet, and she hated that. The black cat jumped off of her chest and Helga rolled onto her side, noting the pebbles she was laying on. She was drenched, her clothes and hair clinging to her skin. Luminous eyes surrounded her, all staring intently at her. Some were gray, tabby, orange, fat, skinny, long-haired, short-haired, and everything in between.

She moved her arm under her and pushed herself up onto her feet. She lumbered about for a moment before she got used to her new ears and eyes. Everything was so much more clear. She could see and smell EVERYTHING. She was full of energy. Her body was more limber than it had ever been before. She stared up at the wall of rock that cradled the ravine. She crouched down and the plethora of cats around her purred and rubbed against her legs and hands. She petted some of them and even found herself purring back before she commanded her body to jump. Helga wasn't sure how she knew that she would be able to jump about seven times her height, but she landed the jump effortlessly. She perched on the protruding rock and scoped out her next perch. In a matter of minutes, she had scaled the wall of rock and was just off the road where she had jumped just hours before. Her eyes narrowed at the lone shining industrial building standing in the distance. The shining Teog building made her more angry than she'd ever been.

Teog thought that they could kill her. She would kill them. All in good time.

She started the long walk back into the city, paying no mind to her bare feet, not surprised in the slightest that nothing seemed to bother her feet. Occasionally someone would see her walking towards her apartment and they'd ask if she was alright. Most of the time she would just ignore them and keep walking. Once a man had grabbed her arm and tried to stop her. She ended up effortlessly shoving him into the street before continuing her walk.

When she reached her building, she only stared up at the window she knew to be hers. Like on the cliff, she crouched over for the pounce. She flew up and landed effortlessly on the railing of the fire escape, balancing expertly before crawling forward and staring into her apartment. Without a second though, she reeled her fist back and watched as the window shattered. Stepping inside, she tore off her clothes and rubbed her hair against a towel to dry it.

Once she was in her pajamas, she yanked her comforter off the bed and balled it up on the floor before curling up and drifting off to sleep. She'd find some way to get justice for her murder. It wouldn't be too hard. After all, she did have eight lives left.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga woke with a start, surprised to find herself curled up next to Arnold, who's legs were stretched out and entwined with hers. The television was still on, screen fuzzy and white. She reached over Arnold, being careful to not wake him, and picked up the remote and shut the television off.

Arnold's hand caught her wrist as she withdrew it. "Helga." He muttered sleepily.

Her heart stopped when he said her name. "I'm sorry." She was about to apologize for waking him when his hands began raking her hair.

"You're so beautiful." He said, a trace of a smile on his face.

She sat up a little bit to get a good look at his face. He was still sound asleep, toying with her hair with one hand and stroking her arm with the other. She swallowed a lump in her throat and found herself trembling.

"I wish I could tell you." He whispered.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Tell me what?"

Arnold didn't answer. Instead, his hand was securely placed at the base of her neck and he pulled her forward sharply.

Helga's heart stopped at first, then it hammered uncontrollably in her chest. For a while, she stood tensely against his mouth, but eventually she melted into his embrace and into his kisses.

When he stopped, she felt a pang of disappointment in her chest. His embrace tightened and she managed to smile, nestling back into his arms. She blinked a few times and she saw the black cat staring at them from the other side of the couch, silky black fur gleaming in the moonightl and yellow eyes shining. The way the cat looked at her was unnerving. She swallowed a lump in her throat. Come morning, she'd find out where the cat had come from.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold opened his eyes lazily, his nostrils filling with the smell of eggs and bacon. He looked down and found that Helga wasn't curled up next to him like she had been when she fell asleep halfway through the movie. He slowly sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Morning, football head." Helga said as she shoveled some eggs and bacon onto a plate. "Well, afternoon I guess."

"What time is it?" Arnold yawned.

"Almost one." she answered handing him the plate.

"Thanks." Arnold said as he took the plate and scooted into an upright position.

"You may wanna look at your phone. It's been buzzing like crazy for the past hour. Gerald-o probably thinks you got lucky." She smirked before vanishing into her room to change.

Arnold looked at his phone and to his surprise, he found four missed calls and a plethora of text messages from Gerald.

Yo, man, where you at? We were supposed to get breakfast, remember?

Your grandpa says you didn't even get home last night. Seriously man call me back, what the hell!

You slept over at Helga's didn't you?

Oh my god you slept over at Helga's! I'm so proud of you man! You finally told her how you feel and my man got NASTY!

Arnold found his cheeks turning red as he read the text messages. Gerald would probably be disappointed when Arnold told him what actually happened. Arnold wasn't though. He had fallen asleep with Helga in his arms and woken up with her in the next room.

Sorry Gerald. I just woke up. You'll be upset to hear this, but I didn't tell Helga and we didn't have sex.

Arnold got up and stretched and in a matter of moments, he had received another message from Gerald.

Are you kidding me man? You sleep at the girl's house yet during all this time it never occurs to you that it would be a good time to tell her? You are in serious trouble dude. Anyway, you'd better get out of there. We need to get our tuxs fitted today or Phoebe will explode. My girl is a little kooky when it comes to wedding stuff.

Arnold tossed his phone aside and gathered his clothes. Before he could head for the bathroom, Helga emerged from her room dressed in dark jeans, black ballet flats, and a pink silk top that flowed off her shoulder, her cat tucked away under her arm. He smiled at her and she smiled right back.

"Gerald's throwing a fit about getting our tuxedos fitted so I guess I'd better go." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Eh, that's alright. I gotta go see where this this molly came from." She held the cat up and scratched under its chin. "Think you can show yourself out?"

Arnold nodded. "Yeah. You wanna do something later tonight if we have time?"

Helga shrugged, "Sure, why not? I'll pick up a new phone and text you later, kay?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga found the address on the cat's collar. It was a random tiny house between two large apartment buildings. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she knocked on the door, ignoring the cat, whose name was Shadow, as it climbed out of her arms and onto her shoulders.

The woman who answered the door looked like she was in her late forties with frizzy auburn hair, graying at the roots. She wore a green sweater that was at least two sizes to large on her, blue eyes with dark circles under them staring blankly at the cat on Helga's shoulders.

"Why Shadow, you've brought someone home. It's been quite some time." The woman's voice was dazed, almost dreamy. "Well come in, dear." The woman turned around and walked back into her house.

Helga just stared after the woman before taking Shadow off her shoulders and holding the cat out. "Ma'am, I found your cat and I just wanted to return it."

The woman turned around and narrowed her eyes at Helga. "It's rude to linger in doorways. Shadow brought you here for a reason. Aren't you the slightest curious as to what that reason is?"

Helga looked at the cat before it jumped out of her arms and followed the woman. She swallowed a lump in her throat before following the woman inside.