Author's Note: Finally, finally, finally, I am back! The play is over…we
just did "Pippin," and it rocked so much…you wouldn't believe it. People
said it was the best play that my school has done in over 25 years, and one
of the original Broadway cast members was there, and the guy from the
Rising Star Awards, which are these awards given to high school theater in
my area, said that it was amazing. So I'm pretty happy about that. But
now (hopefully) I can devote a little more time to writing this. I'm
trying to get it finished before April break, but there's still a ways to
go…I have plans for our beloved blonds…
Taking a leaf out of some other writer's books, I'm going to respond to a few reviews personally…
borg, I appreciate the apology.
Chien, Houkanno Yuuhou, Ameko, just wait and see…
Everyone who complained about my cliffhangers…hey, how else am I gonna keep people coming back for more? I LOVE writing cliffhangers…I know, I'm evil. If it makes you feel any better, this chapter doesn't end in quite as much of a cliffhanger.
JESS, don't worry about what anyone thinks. No one is angry at you if you mess up in a play, and if they are, then they're immature and unprofessional. Trust me, people mess up all the time. It's live theater. And I'm afraid of drowning too…and I'm PETRIFIED of needles. I hate 'em. I'm almost 18 and I cry every time…I'm such a loser…
DropsofJupiter, I didn't have Helga tell him because a) she's being businesslike right now, and that kind of revelation would probably make Arnold less able to follow the plan, and b) I think she appreciates the tenderness and sacredness of that kind of news, and I think she would choose to tell him on her own grounds, not while still under Eddie's control.
Disclaimer: Still with the not owning of the Hey Arnold…unfortunately…
Part VII
"Flight"
"Fire!" Arnold heard Niles yell.
Click.
Click? Was that what it was supposed to sound like? Arnold still felt faint. Was this what dying was like?
His vision began to clear, and now he could see the guards staring in perplexity at their rifles, trying the triggers again. They were rewarded with nothing but clicks.
"What the hell is going on?" Eddie asked.
He suddenly heard laughter behind him, Helga's laughter. He turned to see her throw her hood back and double up with mirth.
"Helga?" Niles asked, shocked.
"Oh, Eddie," she chortled. "You really shouldn't leave those guns unattended. Someone just might empty them."
Eddie lunged for her, but she ducked under his arms, pulling off the priest's robe and throwing it in his face. "Arnold, Katie, Raoul, now! NOW!"
A lot of things happened at once. Arnold jerked his arms apart, ripping his manacles off, just as predicted. Helga grabbed the cigarette from between Arnold's lips and ducked away, pulling him towards the gate to the outside world. Eddie clawed the robe off of his head and threw it behind him. The guards lunged at them. A small figure and a large one both appeared from behind the jail building. The small one ran to open the gate, while the large one stood guard over her, knocking aside all adversaries with ease.
Eddie grabbed Helga's arm, stopping her escape. Quickly, she pressed the lit end of the cigarette into his skin. He roared and dropped her arm.
"Come on, Arnold!" she yelled, pulling him after her towards the now-open gate. A truck sat outside the gate, the engine running, a middle-aged man behind the wheel.
"You made it!" he said as they climbed in the truck.
"Not yet," she replied breathlessly. "Katie, Raoul! Hurry up!"
The two robed figures ran as fast as their legs could carry them towards the truck and tumbled into the back with Arnold and Helga. The man behind the wheel gunned the engine and they blew out of there, heading towards the marketplace.
"Good thing we got directions from that guy whose house we stopped at," Helga remarked. "Raoul, can you drive? I need to introduce Arnold."
The large robed figure, who turned out to be an extremely large man, nodded and climbed into the front seat, switching places smoothly with the original driver, who climbed into the back. Arnold couldn't help but feel a bit perplexed. Why did Helga have to introduce him to these people but not this Raoul character? Why did this seem like such a production?
And why were those two people looking at him like that?
But wait…there was something familiar about them, the man with his wild, devil-may-care hair and jutting chin, the woman with her benevolent smile and oddly-shaped head…
"Arnold," said Helga, and as he glanced at her he was surprised to see tears spring to her eyes, though she was smiling, "these are my dear friends Katie and Sam.
"Your parents."
The bottom dropped out of Arnold's stomach. His parents? They couldn't be…they were dead, they had to be dead, after all that time…and here? How could they be…no, it wasn't possible…
He looked into Katie's eyes, misted with tears, and saw his own eyes. He looked at Sam and saw something of himself, something of his grandfather, all blended together in a face he only seen in pictures and faint memories…
"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?"
Suddenly he was in their arms, in his parents' arms again, feeling like he was two years old and not caring in the slightest. He knew that he was crying like a baby, and he felt dampness on their cheeks and knew that they were crying, too.
"Why didn't you come back? Why didn't you come home again?" he managed to gasp out, his words muffled in his father's shirtfront.
"We tried…oh, my baby, we tried…" his mother sobbed.
Helga smiled to herself through her tears. Her beloved Arnold was reunited with his parents, who were two of the nicest people she had ever met, despite only having known them a few days. They deserved it, especially Arnold. He had never really spoken of it, but she had known, as she had known everything about him, that he had always borne a dull ache inside without them. She wouldn't wish the pain he had felt on anyone.
Then why, as she climbed into the cab next to Raoul, did she feel just a little bit jealous?
* * * * * * *
They returned to Cairo, where they collected Helga's belongings. Once they had reached the main hub of civilization, they had been pretty much secure from Eddie, unless they were carelessly foolish, as Helga had been when Eddie first laid his grimy hands on her.
Once back in the hotel, Helga made a few quick phone calls to some friends in the states, who promised to have some local…"businessmen" make up passports for Arnold, Sam, Katie, and Raoul. All five of them seemed to share the same urge to get back to America as soon as possible.
Arnold couldn't stop beaming. He was happier than Helga had ever seen him, and the knowledge that his happiness was partially thanks to her was buoying her up. But what would she do now? Somehow she felt that the story was unfinished, that the happy ending had come without tying up all the loose ends.
Thinking of oneself as a loose end was rather depressing, she found.
She wasn't sure where to go. Her careless tour of foreign countries was thrown all out of orbit, of course, and she had no desire to hunt for new lovers. Her declaration of love unending for Arnold had dulled somewhat. Yes, she loved him, but he surely would never return the feelings—and after years of disappointment and frustrated longing, reconciliation to unpleasant truths was easy for her.
But why did he kiss you? a small, nasty little voice in her head demanded. Hope was a rather obnoxious little demon at times.
Because he was scared and lonely and probably hadn't been near a woman in six months, she replied. She wasn't in the least alarmed at talking to herself. Arnold brought that old habit out of her.
You don't really believe that, do you?
Yes. Now shut up!
She did have a small apartment in LA that she used as her home address. She figured she would return there, learn what it was like to be stationary again—maybe write more serious poems than the doggerel she had been churning out about early morning sunshine and baby oil and satin sheets. But the thought of being alone paralyzed her. She didn't know what she was afraid of, besides maybe herself and the depression being alone would bring on.
And she didn't have anyone to go to—no family, no friends, just literary and celebrity acquaintances and ex-lovers, none of whom she wanted to see. Well, there was one person she would go to…Yes. She would go there.
However, Katie had other things in mind.
"Helga, won't you stay at the boarding house for a few days?" she asked. "I'm sure Phil and Gertie will let you stay for free—after all you've done for us, you're practically family."
Helga was rather flustered. Stay at Arnold's house? She couldn't help feeling somewhat out of place, a roadblock in his family's joyous reunion.
"I…I couldn't," she said, blushing. "I mean, you should probably be alone…getting to know each other…"
Katie smiled. "We have the rest of our lives for that," she reminded Helga. "Please?"
"I…"
"I'm not sure you understand what I mean," Katie said, with a meaningful look. "I have my son back, after so long. The only thing I could think of that would be more wonderful…well, I've always wanted a daughter."
The look she gave Helga suddenly reminded the younger woman that Arnold's mother knew where her heart lay. Her blush deepened as she realized what Katie was insinuating. She snuck a glance at Arnold, sitting across the aisle with his father.
"But he doesn't…he would never…" she stammered, a small part of her mind realizing the irony of it all. Years ago she would have given anything for someone to tell her that Arnold felt something for her. Now she was denying it.
Katie smiled again, a catlike, secretive smile. "Maybe. Maybe I don't know my son as well as you do. But please come to the boarding house?" She raised her voice a little on the last sentence, loud enough for Arnold and Sam to hear.
Arnold leaned across the aisle. "You're coming to the boarding house?" he asked Helga, innocent eagerness written all over his face.
She hedged. "Well…"
"Please? We'd love to have you," he pleaded. Helga melted, as Katie had known she would.
"All right," she said with a resigned smile. "But not for too long." She glanced at Katie, who was staring innocently out the window. What a conniving, crafty little…
Helga had always known she would like Arnold's parents.
* * * * * * *
He placed his fingers gently on the small, round burn on his arm, wincing as pain flared up, secretion oozing from the tender area. *She* had done this to him. She had betrayed him. Far worse than the stinging in his arm was the blow to his pride.
But he was not stopped that easily. Oh, no. They thought they had escaped, the fools. His agents were following them right now, tracing them back to their homes. The older ones and the big one were nothing. Better to not leave too many casualties. They would be left alone.
But the boy…the mistake had been in making him suffer, drawing the punishment out for too long. Of course he had wiggled through the cracks. This time there would be no loose ends. This time he would be killed on the spot. He had made sure of that.
And the girl…ah, yes, the girl. The real prize in all this pain. Well, there were to be no more offers of flowers and candy, no more gentlemanly wooing. He would have what he wanted of her, the pleasure and the pain. And he would not ask before he took it.
And then…then she, too, could be disposed off. For though he got his revenge, no one, woman or man, would live to boast that they had bested the king of the underworld.
He touched the burn again, trembling slightly at the waves of pain that shot through him, savoring the hurt. He would return the favor soon…
He smiled into the darkness, showing even white teeth in a cruel, mirthless grin. "I am waiting for you, my darling," he whispered to her, thousands of miles away. "I am waiting to make you mine."
I know, I know, it's short, but the next chapter should be up soon, and I had to make this transition. The next chapter is a completely different event, and I couldn't combine its events with this chapter's, or draw this chapter out anymore. Tell me what you think (if anyone's still reading at this point)!
Taking a leaf out of some other writer's books, I'm going to respond to a few reviews personally…
borg, I appreciate the apology.
Chien, Houkanno Yuuhou, Ameko, just wait and see…
Everyone who complained about my cliffhangers…hey, how else am I gonna keep people coming back for more? I LOVE writing cliffhangers…I know, I'm evil. If it makes you feel any better, this chapter doesn't end in quite as much of a cliffhanger.
JESS, don't worry about what anyone thinks. No one is angry at you if you mess up in a play, and if they are, then they're immature and unprofessional. Trust me, people mess up all the time. It's live theater. And I'm afraid of drowning too…and I'm PETRIFIED of needles. I hate 'em. I'm almost 18 and I cry every time…I'm such a loser…
DropsofJupiter, I didn't have Helga tell him because a) she's being businesslike right now, and that kind of revelation would probably make Arnold less able to follow the plan, and b) I think she appreciates the tenderness and sacredness of that kind of news, and I think she would choose to tell him on her own grounds, not while still under Eddie's control.
Disclaimer: Still with the not owning of the Hey Arnold…unfortunately…
Part VII
"Flight"
"Fire!" Arnold heard Niles yell.
Click.
Click? Was that what it was supposed to sound like? Arnold still felt faint. Was this what dying was like?
His vision began to clear, and now he could see the guards staring in perplexity at their rifles, trying the triggers again. They were rewarded with nothing but clicks.
"What the hell is going on?" Eddie asked.
He suddenly heard laughter behind him, Helga's laughter. He turned to see her throw her hood back and double up with mirth.
"Helga?" Niles asked, shocked.
"Oh, Eddie," she chortled. "You really shouldn't leave those guns unattended. Someone just might empty them."
Eddie lunged for her, but she ducked under his arms, pulling off the priest's robe and throwing it in his face. "Arnold, Katie, Raoul, now! NOW!"
A lot of things happened at once. Arnold jerked his arms apart, ripping his manacles off, just as predicted. Helga grabbed the cigarette from between Arnold's lips and ducked away, pulling him towards the gate to the outside world. Eddie clawed the robe off of his head and threw it behind him. The guards lunged at them. A small figure and a large one both appeared from behind the jail building. The small one ran to open the gate, while the large one stood guard over her, knocking aside all adversaries with ease.
Eddie grabbed Helga's arm, stopping her escape. Quickly, she pressed the lit end of the cigarette into his skin. He roared and dropped her arm.
"Come on, Arnold!" she yelled, pulling him after her towards the now-open gate. A truck sat outside the gate, the engine running, a middle-aged man behind the wheel.
"You made it!" he said as they climbed in the truck.
"Not yet," she replied breathlessly. "Katie, Raoul! Hurry up!"
The two robed figures ran as fast as their legs could carry them towards the truck and tumbled into the back with Arnold and Helga. The man behind the wheel gunned the engine and they blew out of there, heading towards the marketplace.
"Good thing we got directions from that guy whose house we stopped at," Helga remarked. "Raoul, can you drive? I need to introduce Arnold."
The large robed figure, who turned out to be an extremely large man, nodded and climbed into the front seat, switching places smoothly with the original driver, who climbed into the back. Arnold couldn't help but feel a bit perplexed. Why did Helga have to introduce him to these people but not this Raoul character? Why did this seem like such a production?
And why were those two people looking at him like that?
But wait…there was something familiar about them, the man with his wild, devil-may-care hair and jutting chin, the woman with her benevolent smile and oddly-shaped head…
"Arnold," said Helga, and as he glanced at her he was surprised to see tears spring to her eyes, though she was smiling, "these are my dear friends Katie and Sam.
"Your parents."
The bottom dropped out of Arnold's stomach. His parents? They couldn't be…they were dead, they had to be dead, after all that time…and here? How could they be…no, it wasn't possible…
He looked into Katie's eyes, misted with tears, and saw his own eyes. He looked at Sam and saw something of himself, something of his grandfather, all blended together in a face he only seen in pictures and faint memories…
"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?"
Suddenly he was in their arms, in his parents' arms again, feeling like he was two years old and not caring in the slightest. He knew that he was crying like a baby, and he felt dampness on their cheeks and knew that they were crying, too.
"Why didn't you come back? Why didn't you come home again?" he managed to gasp out, his words muffled in his father's shirtfront.
"We tried…oh, my baby, we tried…" his mother sobbed.
Helga smiled to herself through her tears. Her beloved Arnold was reunited with his parents, who were two of the nicest people she had ever met, despite only having known them a few days. They deserved it, especially Arnold. He had never really spoken of it, but she had known, as she had known everything about him, that he had always borne a dull ache inside without them. She wouldn't wish the pain he had felt on anyone.
Then why, as she climbed into the cab next to Raoul, did she feel just a little bit jealous?
* * * * * * *
They returned to Cairo, where they collected Helga's belongings. Once they had reached the main hub of civilization, they had been pretty much secure from Eddie, unless they were carelessly foolish, as Helga had been when Eddie first laid his grimy hands on her.
Once back in the hotel, Helga made a few quick phone calls to some friends in the states, who promised to have some local…"businessmen" make up passports for Arnold, Sam, Katie, and Raoul. All five of them seemed to share the same urge to get back to America as soon as possible.
Arnold couldn't stop beaming. He was happier than Helga had ever seen him, and the knowledge that his happiness was partially thanks to her was buoying her up. But what would she do now? Somehow she felt that the story was unfinished, that the happy ending had come without tying up all the loose ends.
Thinking of oneself as a loose end was rather depressing, she found.
She wasn't sure where to go. Her careless tour of foreign countries was thrown all out of orbit, of course, and she had no desire to hunt for new lovers. Her declaration of love unending for Arnold had dulled somewhat. Yes, she loved him, but he surely would never return the feelings—and after years of disappointment and frustrated longing, reconciliation to unpleasant truths was easy for her.
But why did he kiss you? a small, nasty little voice in her head demanded. Hope was a rather obnoxious little demon at times.
Because he was scared and lonely and probably hadn't been near a woman in six months, she replied. She wasn't in the least alarmed at talking to herself. Arnold brought that old habit out of her.
You don't really believe that, do you?
Yes. Now shut up!
She did have a small apartment in LA that she used as her home address. She figured she would return there, learn what it was like to be stationary again—maybe write more serious poems than the doggerel she had been churning out about early morning sunshine and baby oil and satin sheets. But the thought of being alone paralyzed her. She didn't know what she was afraid of, besides maybe herself and the depression being alone would bring on.
And she didn't have anyone to go to—no family, no friends, just literary and celebrity acquaintances and ex-lovers, none of whom she wanted to see. Well, there was one person she would go to…Yes. She would go there.
However, Katie had other things in mind.
"Helga, won't you stay at the boarding house for a few days?" she asked. "I'm sure Phil and Gertie will let you stay for free—after all you've done for us, you're practically family."
Helga was rather flustered. Stay at Arnold's house? She couldn't help feeling somewhat out of place, a roadblock in his family's joyous reunion.
"I…I couldn't," she said, blushing. "I mean, you should probably be alone…getting to know each other…"
Katie smiled. "We have the rest of our lives for that," she reminded Helga. "Please?"
"I…"
"I'm not sure you understand what I mean," Katie said, with a meaningful look. "I have my son back, after so long. The only thing I could think of that would be more wonderful…well, I've always wanted a daughter."
The look she gave Helga suddenly reminded the younger woman that Arnold's mother knew where her heart lay. Her blush deepened as she realized what Katie was insinuating. She snuck a glance at Arnold, sitting across the aisle with his father.
"But he doesn't…he would never…" she stammered, a small part of her mind realizing the irony of it all. Years ago she would have given anything for someone to tell her that Arnold felt something for her. Now she was denying it.
Katie smiled again, a catlike, secretive smile. "Maybe. Maybe I don't know my son as well as you do. But please come to the boarding house?" She raised her voice a little on the last sentence, loud enough for Arnold and Sam to hear.
Arnold leaned across the aisle. "You're coming to the boarding house?" he asked Helga, innocent eagerness written all over his face.
She hedged. "Well…"
"Please? We'd love to have you," he pleaded. Helga melted, as Katie had known she would.
"All right," she said with a resigned smile. "But not for too long." She glanced at Katie, who was staring innocently out the window. What a conniving, crafty little…
Helga had always known she would like Arnold's parents.
* * * * * * *
He placed his fingers gently on the small, round burn on his arm, wincing as pain flared up, secretion oozing from the tender area. *She* had done this to him. She had betrayed him. Far worse than the stinging in his arm was the blow to his pride.
But he was not stopped that easily. Oh, no. They thought they had escaped, the fools. His agents were following them right now, tracing them back to their homes. The older ones and the big one were nothing. Better to not leave too many casualties. They would be left alone.
But the boy…the mistake had been in making him suffer, drawing the punishment out for too long. Of course he had wiggled through the cracks. This time there would be no loose ends. This time he would be killed on the spot. He had made sure of that.
And the girl…ah, yes, the girl. The real prize in all this pain. Well, there were to be no more offers of flowers and candy, no more gentlemanly wooing. He would have what he wanted of her, the pleasure and the pain. And he would not ask before he took it.
And then…then she, too, could be disposed off. For though he got his revenge, no one, woman or man, would live to boast that they had bested the king of the underworld.
He touched the burn again, trembling slightly at the waves of pain that shot through him, savoring the hurt. He would return the favor soon…
He smiled into the darkness, showing even white teeth in a cruel, mirthless grin. "I am waiting for you, my darling," he whispered to her, thousands of miles away. "I am waiting to make you mine."
I know, I know, it's short, but the next chapter should be up soon, and I had to make this transition. The next chapter is a completely different event, and I couldn't combine its events with this chapter's, or draw this chapter out anymore. Tell me what you think (if anyone's still reading at this point)!