Well guys, this is it! Brace yourselves for the big reveal!

Chapter 27: Nothing

Breathing. Very fast and hard breathing. The kind of breathing that someone did when they were scared for their life.

That's all she could hear. She couldn't see a thing. The room she was in was just as dark as the night.

The room smelled of something foul. Yet, she couldn't figure out what it was.

She sat against a wall with her arms wrapped around her own propped up legs. She felt the warmth of her own breath as she struggled to steady her breathing.

That's when she heard a voice.

"W-What are you doing?!"

"Arnold!" She cried out. She could recognize his soft and sweet voice from anywhere. Except, this time it didn't sound soft nor sweet. It sounded more like he was afraid and scared.

"Stop it!" She heard him cry out. Okay, if she wasn't scared before, now she was petrified.

His voice seemed to come from the ceiling. But that didn't make any sense. He was nowhere to be seen!

"Arnold." She said calmly as she stood up." Where are you football head?"

"Helga?!" He said in his still frightened voice.

"Arnold! Where are you?!" Helga said with a bit of urgency in her tone.

"I'm in a room! T-this maniac is waving a bunch of knives at me! He said he wanted to cut me!" Arnold said, now sounding petrified.

"Don't worry! I'm coming to find you!" She said, trying to steady her breath and soothe the football head.

However, there was no response for a second. Just total silence. All that could be heard was the sound of her own rapid breathing again.

"AHHHHRGG!" She suddenly heard Arnold cry out in pain.

"ARNOLD!" She yelled out now looking around the room frantically. Her eyes were still not adjusted to the dark for some reason. It was almost like she was in some kind of black void.

"No stop please!" She heard Arnold now literally begging for his life. The fear in his voice. The urgency in his voice. It was just so unlike him. Hearing Arnold like this just rattled her nerves even more.

"I'm coming Arnold!" She yelled as she started to pace back and forth across the room.

'Think Helga think!'

Suddenly, she felt a black void open up beneath her body.

"AHHHH!" She screamed out in fear as she felt wind rush around her body. She closed her eyes and covered her face in fear.

She fell for a few more seconds before she suddenly felt herself jolt to a stop. That's when she noticed something was different.

Instead of just seeing pitch black, from behind her closed eyelids she could see that there was now light in the room.

She slowly uncovered her face and opened her eyes. What she saw made her want to cry out in shock, fear, and sadness.

She was hovering just a few feet above Arnold. Whether he was just passed out or dead, she couldn't tell. He was laying on the floor of a small, dirty, and empty room. All he was wearing was a pair of red shorts. However, he was covered head to toe in what looked to be his own blood.

"Arnold." She cried out in a weak voice, tears welling up in her eyes. However, the football head continued to lay on the floor.

She looked away now as tears now flowed free from her eyes. It was all she could do. She couldn't bear to look at him like that much longer.

Chancing one more look down she saw that Arnold was now gone, but in his place was a hooded man reaching his arms out towards her direction above him. She couldn't see his face or any of his facial features except for his smile. His lips were curled into the most sinister smile she had even seen in her life.

"Now you're all mine." She heard a sinister and evil sounding voice say from below her as she suddenly felt herself start falling again.

"AHHHH!" She screamed aloud as she was just inches away now from the hooded man.

"NO WAIT!" Helga Pataki yelled as she bolted upright in her bed.

She rubbed her tired eyes to see she was back in her boarding house room.

Miriam mumbled in her sleep as she rolled over onto her right side, facing away from Helga.

"What a crazy dream." She said quietly to herself, falling back onto her pillow.

Looking over to her left, she looked at the small alarm clock to see it read 4:17 A.M.

Great. Just great. The last thing Helga needed was another sleepless night before this day started.

Meanwhile…

Arnold himself was having trouble sleeping. He hadn't been experiencing any nightmares like Helga had, but his sleep schedule was just as messed up.

The truth was, he had been stressing just as much as Helga had been over the picture. He was just trying to hide it. He didn't want to worry her. She had already been through enough.

"Shit." He muttered to himself quietly.

It was at that moment that Arnold suddenly realized he still hadn't told Helga his plan to catch the mystery photographer.

He wanted to keep Helga safe, there was no doubt about that. So, he was going to stay home while pretending to be sick. Meanwhile, Helga would be at school with close supervision of Gerald and Phoebe. Anytime they felt something was off or about to go wrong, they would text Arnold and he would rush to the school as fast as possible.

However, Arnold highly doubted the mystery man would attack during the day light. If anything he would attack at night. When the streets were empty. Would he attack them in his own home? Would he wait for them to go outside?!

And that's when his phone suddenly buzzed on his nightstand.

Reaching over to his right, he picked up his phone in confusion.'Why is someone texting me 4:19 in the morning?'

It was a message from a no caller ID. It read:" Guess what today is?"

In confusion, he opened up his phone and replied back," ummmm, Friday?"

He watched as the typing bubble popped up in the bottom right corner of his phone.

"Yes Friday, November the 23rd! Aren't you excited?!" He replied quickly.

Arnold, confused, quickly texted him back.

"Ummm, not really? Why should I be?"

"Because big things are going to happen today Arnold. I have big plans for you!"

Now, starting to feel a bit weirded out by this whole experience, Arnold began to question the mysterious messenger.

"I'm sorry, who are you? How do you know me? And how did you get my phone number?"

"Oh Arnold. You ask wayyy too many questions." The messenger quickly typed back." Why should any of that matter?! You should be excited just to know that today is your day!"

"What do you mean it's 'my day?' You keep saying that! What do you mean by that?" Arnold texted back, started to feel totally creeped out now.

"Arnold Arnold Arnold… didn't you get my message? Last week! This isn't the first time that I've contacted you!"

Arnold almost dropped his phone. Anger mixed with shock made his blood start to sizzle inside of him. For a few moments he just stared at his phone. How did he respond to something like that. The person that supposedly wanted to kill him was currently texting him.

"Are you still there?" The mystery messenger finally texted back after seeing no response.

Arnold, shaking out of his shocked trance, started to move his thumbs across the screen.

"Who are you? You son of a bitch! Tell me who you are!"

"Now what would be the fun in that? After all, I want you to see me for yourself."

Arnold could just imagine the cocky grin this bastard had on his face.

"Then what's the point in keeping your identity a secret if I'm going to see you for myself?" Arnold typed back, trying to beat this guy at his own game of logic now.

"Because you wouldn't want me to hurt your little girlfriend Helga Geraldine Pataki wouldn't you?"

Arnold felt his heart start to race and his blood start to boil now. His hands practically shook as he texted the mystery messenger now.

"You lay a hand on her and I swear I will hurt you so bad that stitches won't fix what I do to you!" He texted back angrily.

"Oooooh feisty! Feed off of the anger Arnold! You're gonna need that!"

Arnold didn't know how to reply. This guy was clearly losing his marbles."What do you want from me?!" Arnold replied back, trying to get any answers he could.

"I want you to fight me like a man! Prove to me that you are the one for Helga G Pataki!"

"Just tell me when and where you son of a bitch." Arnold replied back. The old fourth grade Arnold would have never fought anyone. But this was different. Helga's life could possibly be on the line. He had to make a stand.

"568 Vinewood street. 30 minutes. Be there."

Arnold leaned back on his pillow and felt his heart drop. 30 minutes?! It was four in the morning!

"How do I know you're not just setting me up to kill me? How can I trust you?" Arnold replied back, feeling a bit uneasy about meeting some random person at 4:30 on the morning.

"Because I'm a man of my word Arnold. All we are doing is fighting. No funny business. Now thirty minutes. That's the final deal. Take it or leave it. Or else your pretty little Helga will be no more."

Arnold suddenly threw his phone across the room. It skipped on his carpet about three times before sliding to a stop under his desk.

Sighing in disappointment, he leaned forward and rubbed his tired eyes.

What do you do about something like this? Someone could be setting this all up just to kill him. But, if he didn't listen to them, they would kill Helga. And he couldn't live with that. Arnold would not be able to live with the fact that Helga died because he was too scared for his own life to save hers.

Arnold suddenly flung his covers off of him. With a deep inhale of air he stood up from his bad. Enough of being mr. nice guy. It was time for Arnold Phillip Shortman to make a stand.

Arnold zipped up the blue rain jacket he had just slipped on over his grey tee shirt he had been sleeping in. He had also slipped on a comfortable pair of blue jeans to go along with it. He knew it was cold out, but he also needed to make sure he would be able to move around just in case he did have to fight someone.

He walked over to his desk to pick up his cellphone. It had landed face first onto the carpet. Picking it up gently, he turned it over to see he had no new notifications. But he only had twenty minutes left to meet the mystery man.

He slipped the phone into his pocket before walking over to his fire escape window. He lifted the window up slowly, trying not to make any noise.

Quietly, he slipped out the window. That's when he noticed something was missing…

"My hat." He muttered to himself as she quickly reached inside to grab his blue hat off of his nightstand.

Securing the hat on top of his football shaped head, he looked back into his room for possibly the last time.

That's when the sudden thought hit him.

All the words he had said to everyone might have just been his last words they would ever hear out of him. Would he ever see his grandmother ever again? He hadn't visited her in over two weeks now? How would she take the news of hearing her grandson was dead?!

Too many thoughts were overtaking his brain."Your not going to die Arnold." He muttered to himself." You are NOT going to die."

He closed his window gently, once again, trying to to cause any more noise.

He suddenly took his phone out to see that he now had fifteen minutes to get to where he needed to go.

However, when he brought his phone out of his pocket, something else flew out with it. Turning on his phone light, he looked and saw that picture of him and Helga was lying on the floor of his fire escape below him.

The same picture that Helga was looking at when she drunkenly confessed her love to Arnold just a few short weeks back. The same picture that he kept with him for two years because he loved Helga. Helga G. Pataki. The girl who he was currently laying his life on the line for.

And he had no problem with doing that for her.

"I love you Helga." He said in a low voice to the picture in his hand." Forever and always. I will always love you."

Arnold had to do a double take of what he was looking at. The abandoned building he was standing at was right across the street from the boarding house. He looked across the street to see all the lights turned of in the boarding house still.

'Good, no one is awake.'

He then turned to look back at the almost scary looking abandoned building above him. Their were chunks of brick missing from the walls. The windows were all busted and sharp ridges of glass stuck out of the window panes like teeth.

He looked towards the door of the literal monster of a building. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he walked up the stoop to the building.

Quietly, he approached the door. He considered knocking, but he realized it might be best to take whoever this was by surprise.

As silently as he could, he twisted the rusty doorknob. Thankfully, it was not locked.

He gently pushed on the door, trying to avoid making any creaking noise. He prayed that the door was quiet.

Thankfully, the door opened without a sound.

He finally opened the door fully and peered inside. The building was almost pitch black, but thankfully the full moon above him shone just enough light to where he could somewhat see inside.

All he could see was a long and creepy looking hallway. The wallpaper was peeling off of the walls and a few boards were missing from the floor.

His mouth was dry and his palms were sweaty as he gripped the door that was now behind him to close it gently.

As soon as he closed the door, the roaring sound of the wind cut out. All that could be heard was his own nervous breathing.

Swallowing the lump in his dry throat, he took his phone out to turn the flashlight on.

However, it didn't help much. The hallway seemed just as creepy and run down as it had looked in the moonlight.

Suddenly his phone buzzed in his hand. He nervously peeked at what it said.

"You're good at sneaking around, but not good enough! I know you're here Arnold, good friend! Why don't we talk upstairs! There is a staircase at the end of that hallway you're on! See you soon pal!"

With an annoyed sigh, he clicked off of the message and looked back into the hallway before him.

"Well, here goes nothing." He said quietly to himself as he took a step forward.

The loose boards under his feet creaked with every step he took. He passed by a few darks rooms, but he kept his eyes forward. Finally, a huge wooden stairway came into his view.

He approached the staircase slowly. His heart was ramming against his rib cage. But he couldn't turn back. Now now. Too much was on the line. Helga's life was on the line.

Taking a deep breath, he took his first step on the stairway. All that could be heard was the creaking of the floor against his feet and the faint sound of the wind howling outside.

With each step he took, he could feel himself getting more and more anxious. He just wanted to get this over with. He wanted all of these problems to be over. He just wanted Helga and himself for the matter to just have a normal life.

Finally, after a few moments he reached the top of the staircase. However, there was a room to his left and to his right.

His phone suddenly buzzed.

"Take the room to your right. That's the one I'm in."

Arnold took a deep sigh and walked over to his right to open the door.

He was met with an awful stench. Something that literally smelled like rotten eggs but maybe worse.

Facing the horrid smell, he walked inside. That's when he flashed his phone light over the figure lying on the floor.

It was a large black trash bag. And it was in the shape of a human body.

Arnold almost puked right there on the spot. Instantly, he turned around to leave when he was suddenly met with a hooded man about his height.

"Damnit." The stranger spoke in a raspy voice." I told you the wrong room."

Before Arnold had time to react the stranger hit him in the face with something large and blunt, knocking Arnold out like a light.

Helga practically walked downstairs looking like a zombie.

She had finally been able to capture some sleep after her terrifying dream last night. But one hour of sleep could only do so much to someone.

"Hey there Helga." Phil said from the kitchen. He was standing up by the coffee maker while Miles was seated at the table, drinking a cup of coffee himself.

"Good Morning Helga." Miles said in a soft tone.

"Goodmorning." Helga said in a groggy voice to the men as she walked in the kitchen.

"Did you sleep well?" Phil asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Oh yeah." Helga said in a sarcastic tone." Just great."

Phil chuckled to himself." Well, I'll fix you a cup of coffee. I need to get Shortman up. He still hasn't come downstairs."

"He hasn't?" Helga asked, sounding a bit surprised. It wasn't like Arnold to sleep in this late. I mean, it was 6:45. Normally Arnold was up by at least 6:30 to take a shower.

'Maybe he just didn't get much sleep last night.' Helga told herself.

"I'll go get him Dad." Miles said as he stood

up from his left side of the table he was sitting at.

"Oh thanks son." Phil said as he made his way to the kitchen table." My plastic hip was hurting me a little this morning anyways."

Rolling his eyes and laughing, Miles left the kitchen to head upstairs.

"You know." Phil said as he took a sip of his boiling hot coffee." It isn't like Shortman to sleep in this late. I need him downstairs anyway. We gotta make plans for Thanksgiving next week!"

Helga just looked down at the ground and sighed." Oh yeah, Thanksgiving. I forgot."

Arnold groggily awoke. His head was pulsing with pain.

He tried to move his arms, but they wouldn't budge. That's when he noticed they were tied behind his back.

He tried to get a bearing of his surroundings. All he could see was a small room with a small workbench to his right.

The room seemed to be lit with a greenish tint from a lightbulb that blinked on and off every few seconds.

"Oh good. You're up." A very familiar voice said from behind him.

Arnold froze. How long had he been standing there, just watching him sleep? He heard footsteps creep around his right.

Slowly, a man in jeans and a black hoodie came into view.

"Did you sleep well?" The stranger asked. Arnold could see a sinister smile creep onto his lips as he came into his full view now.

Why did that voice sound so familiar?!

"W-who are you?" Arnold asked, the stranger now standing in front of him.

"Oh Arnold. Don't you remember me?" The stranger asked once again.

The stranger suddenly took his hands and placed them on his hoodie that was covering his face.

Slowly but surely, he slid the hoodie off of his face.

As his face slowly came onto view, Arnold felt his jaw drop. After all the time, he finally saw who had been threatening his life.

And it was the last person he expected to see.

"C-Curly?!"

Authors note: Alright Alright. Be honest with me guys and gals. How many of you thought it was Sammy?;)

I tried my best to make the reveal come as a shock to you guys. Hopefully I did a good job. And before you guys try to shoot logic at me in the comments like "how is Curly the stranger we've been waiting to see if he was at the beeper store while Arnold and Sammy chased someone different?!" Well don't worry. I've had this planned out for months. All those answers will be answered in the next chapter!

So, anyways, thank you for the support. Don't forget to review and I'll see you beautiful people next time!