CHAPTER 2: FURIOUS ANGELS
9 YEARS EARLIER
Helga walked home whistling, and that's never happened before. At last the skied seemed to be so blue, the grass was so green and everything felt to be just fine. She's with Arnold again – they moved on after their last stupid fight. So today, after lunch he kissed her – and that was one hell of a kiss, even if it tasted like cafeteria food. As she walked into the house, it crossed her mind, maybe she will be the one who hugs Olga this one time. That would probably shock her. But when she went to the stairs, her dad, shouted out from the living room.
"Is that you, Helga?" – he didn't say Olga, and that means, he has some serious business with Helga. That made her a little nervous.
It's me Bob!"
"Can I have a word with you here?" – he asked. Of course, he wouldn't leave his TV alone, if he wants to talk to me – thought Helga. She walked into the living room.
"Hello Bob."
"Hello Missy. Listen to me, we're going to have dinner tonight with the Jeffersons. Don't you want to go and buy something nice to wear?"
"Oh no, is Kevin coming?"
"Yes he is. C'mon Helga, you know how much he likes you." - Of course now, when he wanted something from her, he remembered her name perfectly. "His a cute and talented boy. Every other girl would go nuts for him." – he said.
"And this has nothing to do with the fact, that Mr. Jefferson orders so many beepers from you!"
„Don't use that tone with me missy, when I try to help with you!"
„Give me a break Bob. I'm going out with Arnold again, by the way. So there is no chance that I'll hook up with that self loving sissy!"
"You going out with that football headed punk again?"
"Yes Bob."
"Helga, that guy is a jerk. Can't you see this has no future? You two are constantly fighting! Kevin on the other hand..."
"Bob, I really don't have time for this. I have to finish my writing." – and with that, she started to leave.
"That's another thing missy!" – ha said angrily – "Who do you think yourself with these poems and stories? I hope you don't think you'll make a living from that stuff! Patakis are standing on the ground, Helga. You'll have choose something serious occupation soon."
Helga stopped, turned around, and walked back to Bob.
"Listen Bob. I will be a famous writer someday. That's what I'm good at, what I like to do. And Arnold is the love of my life. Even if we have problems, one day I'll be his wife. You will have to make you're peace with that, okay?" – Bob looked deep into Helga's blue eyes – he never did that before in all his life.
"We will see, Helga." - he said "We will see."
PRESENT DAY
Helga just finished her report about the murder attempts against Arnold. It was her second year at the FBI, but she still didn't get used to the paperwork. Witch was too bad, because she didn't really had to do anything else yet. She went to Quantico, because she thought she will be able to fulfill her desire to do the right thing. To use her inner anger and violence for good. She didn't want to become some paper-pusher.
She actually took out some days, officially to have some rest. Of course, it was bull crap: she took out those days, to find the attacker and beat the shit out of him. The FBI didn't start an investigation on the murder attempt, so she had to work alone. Just as usual.
At last she had time to adjust to the idea of Arnold's and Lila's marriage. A part of her wanted to chase Lila over the city with a chainsaw, another part just wanted to move on with her life, and wish them good times together. Maybe she will going back to poetry. She never felt her poems worthy to publish, but she wrote a lot over the years just for the desk. She also worked on a novel since years – but it looked like she will never be able to finish it. The only one who read her work was her best friend Phoebe. Sweet Phoebe thought they were really good, but if Helga wanted to be honest, Pheebs didn't know jack about literature. She was really smart when it came to physics, but her word didn't count much here. In spite of their different interests, Phoebe and Helga shared a very, very deep friendship. So, when Helga's cell phone started to ring, she knew it was Phoebe.
"Hello Pheebs. I'm just finished here, I'll be home soon."
"Helga, didn't you heard the news?"
"No, after I left Arnold at the police station I came back to the office. Why?"
"It's all over TV. Joshua just got beaten up!"
"What?!" – she asked hysterically.
"Some guy with a baseball bat attacked him in a garage. The only reason he survived was that his driver shown up! They tried to reach you all day, but you turned off you're cellphone!"
"Crimney..." – she said as she got into her car. – "Which hospital he's in?"
When Helga got to the hospital, she was delighted to hear, Joshua is getting better, and will be able to go home in the end of the week.
"How you doing Helgs?" – asked Joshua when she entered his room. He seemed pretty fine. Actually Helga knew, the nurses will be all over him on the end of the day. He perfectly trusted Joshua – she knew she's the one, who's faithfulness may come into question. It's been almost three months, since she and Arnold ran into each other in a restaurant. On that night the tension between them resulted a pretty crazy night in a hotel room. It was crazy, because nothing happened, they just talked all night about everything: movies, poetry, the good old times and lots of other stuff. But she was very close to cheat on Joshua that day and she knew it. Arnold must have known that too, because days later, she proposed to Lila. Helga had the feeling that their relationship is relying on Arnold feeling guilty.
"I'm okay. Actually I intend to do some violence, but that does not concern you." – she said.
"That's about good press?" – he asked smiling. Helga really hated this. It was bad enough, she would never see real action in her job because she has such a famous boyfriend, but it seemed like, she can't even do what she wants anymore. He loved Joshua, but she was very tired under the pressure of this relationship.
"So you have any idea, who did this to you?" – she asked.
"No. But if I had, I wouldn't tell you. I don't want you to go out and start shooting people Helga."
"I never shot anybody." – she said. She almost felt sorry for that. .
"Listen, in my position I have a bunch of people who would like to see me six feet under. I thought you got used to it."
"But haven't you seen his face?" – she asked.
"No. Nor did Justin.".- he said. Justin was Joshua's driver. – He hit me from behind, I felt down, and then I heard nothing more than the sound of the baseball bat on my body, and his wheezing." – he said - "Sorry, I didn't ask him "Can I have a nice look at you?" while he was playing a drum-solo on my freaking bones, Helga!"
"Sorry honey." – Helga said.
"No, I'm sorry. Listen, they gave me a lot of drugs to ease the pain. Want some?" – he asked, and he put on his "charming" smile. And it was working pretty well, on Helga. Even beaten up, laying on a hospital bed, Joshua was irresistible. Some women would kill to have this man. – she thought. Since she was going out with him, suddenly she became the favorite daughter of the family. Olga was happily married to an unsuccessful director, so Helga's partner was very sympathetic to Big Bob. One time he said, he sees the young himself in Joshua - but in a lot better edition. Bob wasn't a millionaire in the age of 30. Miriam also asked a lot about grandchildren lately. So it seemed like the problem was with Helga, for not feeling completely happy.
"No thanks you little wuss. I can take all the pain on my own." – she answered, and finally she smiled back at Joshua.
"I know you can. Listen Helga, that weirdo is probably left the state buy now with that stupid van of him. You can calm down." – he said.
"So he had a van, huh? I can imagine, a big back van without license plate. Fuckin' cliché." – she said. She tried to hope, Joshua's and Arnold's attack was separated incidents. But know it was obvious, that the same guy attacked both men.
"Yes. You see, you didn't went trough the Academy for nothing." – he said. A doctor entered the room.
"Excuse me miss, but visiting time is over. He needs to rest."
"Fine. Hang in there baby." – she said, as she kissed Joshua's forehead.
"I will. Don't do anything stupid Helga."
"Oh, I will." – she said – "And that's why you love me."
As she left the hospital she ran to her car, and grabbed her cell phone. Without thinking she dialed their apartment. The only connection between Arnold and Joshua was herself. It seemed like whoever attacked them, he was after her loved ones. There wasn't too many. And he had to know her pretty well too – she had no idea how could the attacker knew about her feelings for Arnold. Till Phoebe didn't answered the phone, Helga totally freaked out. But when she did, she yelled at her in relief.
"Where the hell were you!"
"I was sleeping Helga." – she said. She wasn't really a late night person.
"Okay, listen to me. Get up. You can find a gas spray on my night stand. Grab it, than, go to a hotel for tonight. Don't stop for anybody. Don't worry, you can do this." – after some moments of silence Phoebe answered.
"Huh?" – she was still on the edge of sleeping.
"Pheebs! THIS IS IMPORTANT! Someone is hunting down the few people I can stand. Obviously his not one of them. He may go after you."
"Oh my god."
"Don't worry, he's a clumsy one. Nothing from two – those numbers don't lie. But he might be dangerous."
"And the police...?"
"Listen Pheebs, this is personal. This guy is messing with me. The police will find out soon enough, they have all the information they need. But this guy will be toast by then."
"Whatever you say."
"Okay. Call me when you get to the hotel. I'll meet you there." – she said. – "Arnold is watched by the police right now, so his not in real danger. Joshua is guarded by a minor army at the hospital. You're the only one, I'm worried about. So go!"
As soon as the conversation was over, Phoebe walked to the bathroom, to wash her face. Another crazy assignment from Helga. She had decades to get used to it. Being a sidekick can be pretty hard. But as she went trough the apartment she noticed that the door was opened. Probably kicked in. Without thinking she ran to Helga's room and grabbed the gas spray.
"Excuse me Mr... Mr. Crazy Murderer, but you shall leave now." – she screamed – "The police is on the way, not to talk about a pretty violent blond girl. And I'm armed too." – she read the sign on the spray, and noticed she's holding up a deodorant as a weapon.
"Helga you idiot." – she said under her nose. She must have hid it somewhere else. She took a quit view over the room. The intruder obviously visited it. He made some disorder, but didn't took anything. If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it in her sleep. Probably he left more than an hour ago.
She examined the room. Lots of Helga's clothes was on the floor, but it was possible that Helga left them there herself. But she didn't tear into places her album with Arnold's articles in it for sure. Nor the little pink book with her childhood poems. How many time did that psycho spent here, if he found that one? She was sure, even Helga didn't know where did she put that old thing. She noticed some wrecked pictures too. Most of the photos were unharmed, but two of them were on the floor, with their frame wrecked into pieces.
"Oh my." – she said, when she took a closer look. Both pictures the intruder shattered were class photos from P.S. 118. Not the family or the collage photos. One word stroke Phoebe: Hillwood. She ran to the phone and dialed Helga.
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Arnold arrived to his apartment dirty with some small scars on his face. As soon as Lila noticed them, she freaked out.
"She punched you! Oh I'm so sorry, honey, I should have known! Come here, come to mama!" she hugged him gently, and started to kissing his scars.
"I'm okay Lila. Really. Helga actually saved my life."
"Oh my god. What happened. Tell me!" Arnold was not really in a telling mood, but in few words he described what happened.
"You're right Helga is so brave. I feel so bad about the wedding thing. But you know, that's our only special day, and Helga wouldn't find herself comfortable either! But after that, we shall have her and that nice Flanders fella for dinner, don't you think"
Yeah, like hell is ever gonna freeze. - thought Arnold. - You hate her, and with good reason. Stop behaving so freaking nice all the time! It's not normal!
But instead of saying that he said: "Of course dear, great idea!" She didn't wanted to hurt her feelings. It was something way too easy to do..
There was a police car parking all night in front of the house, making sure that the mysterious murderer won't try here again. So Arnold felt safe - more or less. While Lila worked in the kitchen Arnold grabbed his remote control and turned on the TV. He kept changing the channels until he found something interesting. He did this everyday but now he stopped in shock when he saw a news clip. "The business world rumbled when, Joshua Flanders, major player on the stock exchange was transfered into Saint Poul hospital. The identity of Flanders's attacker still remains mystery, but we know from reliable source that he bet up his victim with a baseball bat, and the only reason, why he didn't suffer mortal damage is the sudden appearance of his driver..."
Someone is after Helga, or she has the worst karma in the world. But if she is the reason of the attacks, who can possibly know what's happening between him and Helga. They didn't know that exactly either. Lila entered the room, with a plate of Tortellini in her hands. It was Arnold's favorite meal. Even now, after all these years, she still felt like she need to impress Arnold every time he meats Helga.
"I thought you would like to eat something after what happened." – she said. This girl could get any man she wants. How lucky I am, to have her – he thought. Actually he tried to convince himself. He will spend the rest of his life with her, and that's fine. She is just the perfect mate. Everyone envies him, and their relationship is so harmonic, so ideal, so perfect. What kind of madman can be tired of perfection?
"Thanks dear." – he said. He wasn't even hungry, but he put down a piece of the food on his throat – "It's very delicious. You're great." - he kissed her. The phone just rang, and Arnold was very thankful for that. He couldn't bear any more sweetness tonight. Lila was so nice with him since the engagement, like a dozen teletubbies. He felt pretty sick of it right now.
"Hello, it's Lila here." – she said to the phone.
"Hello Sawyer. It's Helga. Long time no see." – said Helga. Lila's voice just froze.
"Hello Helga. I heard what happened tonight. I hope you're all right."
"I bet you do." – she said – "Listen, can I talk to Hair-boy? It's kind of important."
"Listen Helga, sorry for the wedding thing, but you know, this is our special day, and you would feel uncomfortable too..."
"Give me a break will ya? I just want to have a few words with Arnold. That's all."
"Maybe I don't want you to talk to him. He almost got killed tonight when he met you the last time."
"Yeah. And what did you do tonight, when I saved you fiancé, Lila?"
"I was here at home... why?"
"Because it seems like someone from Hillwood tries to destroy the few things I ever liked in this world. So after some thinking I would put my money on you princess. I'm sure you repressed a lot of anger over the years, to keep that Ms. Perfect act going on."
"You think I would hurt Arnold just to hurt you?" – she asked in shock.
"Hey, I'm talking about a lot of anger here. But to be honest, I don't think you have the guts for it. Can I please talk to Arnold?"
"No, you can't."
"Listen to me bi... Lila, I'm not in the mood right now, okay?" – she said. She just lost her patience – "If I remember well, you already met Old Betsy once. Trust me, you don't want to get reintroduced to her. The girl's been hitting the gym a lot lately." – she said. She never called her fist Old Betsy since pre-school, but talking to Lila was pretty nostalgic for her.
"Hey, give me the phone honey. Please, it's going to be fine." – Arnold said. Lila gave it to him on the edge of crying.
"Hello Helga. I heard what happened to Joshua. Is he alright?"
"Yes, he's cool. Listen Arnoldo, it looks like I pissed someone off pretty much. The man who tried to kill you and Joshua just broke into our apartment. She didn't hurt Phoebe, but..." – she didn't wanted to talk about the album or the little pink book. – "It seems the guy knows me very well. And she broke every picture of the old gang from Hillwood. Ring any bells?"
"You can't seriously think that..."
"How the hell could I not think that Hair-boy? Listen, if this nut case was never in PS. 118, why the hell did he tried to kill you? The only ones who really know what was between us are..."
"I see your point." – he said. It was unbelievable to think, someone from the old gang could do something like that. Even here in New York they still kept in touch with them, and their wedding ceremony will be in Hillwood too. Gerald is going to be his best man for god's shake.
"And another thing. They found a big, black van without a license plate on the airport. I'm pretty sure our man just returned to Hillwood."
"So..."
"So, I thought... Me and Phoebe are going there ourselves. Don't you and Lila has some things to settle there, with the wedding? You know, we shall meet the guys... and maybe kick some ass!"
"Helga, I really think you should leave this to the police." – he said.
"You can't seriously think you can convince me not to go there Football Head. And want to make sure my so called "family" is okay too. Maybe this psycho doesn't know me so well after all, and consider them as "loves ones"."
"I really don't know if it's a good idea." he said, but he was lying. He just wanted to be convinced.
"Let me tell you something Arnoldo. This guy is still out there. Now, nothing went the way he expected, but he will be back. And it's not sure I'll be there to save you're ass. It's pretty strange I was there the first time."
"Okay. Listen, I'll talk about it with Lila."– he said, but he knew they will go. This is his opportunity to get out from this average, boring life for a while. To see his old friends. To be with that nut-case blond girl. And maybe to save her life.
"Lila, darling, I know it's hard, but we can't let her get killed there. She's try to protect us..." – he said. He knew Lila will cry all night, but tomorrow they will meet Helga and Phoebe on the airport. She's such a nice person. So understanding. So perfect.
Next Episode: Who can be the madman who's so obsessed with Helga? Stayed tuned for answers!
Note: I hope my English is enjoyable. Please review, what do you think!
