I can't thank enough for the help of Demile, who decided to be my beta- reader, so in the future you won't have to deal with the mistakes of my English.

CHAPTER 5 - HELGA'S SHADOW

4 YEARS EARLIER

GRAD NIGHT

Graduation day just went fine for Helga. She didn't have to speak in front of everybody, she didn't get shiny prizes either, but she made it. Even Big Bob was proud of Helga – there were moments in the last few weeks, when it seemed like she will end up in jail sooner, than collage. Four months passed since the unfortunate incident with Lila Sawyer – since then, she barely talked to Arnold, and it made her pretty frustrated – and violent too. Brainy was the one, who suffered the most from this anger – his Helga- stalking hobby had become more dangerous and dangerous.

Bob had been pretty worried for his second daughter when she began to spend more and more time with a local troublemaker named Wolfgang. Bob knew he was worse than that football-headed pink and he was sure that the only reason Helga was dating him was to make Arnold jealous. Still, her grades were failing, and she had some encounters with the police too with the charge of vandalism. Big Bob used the power of the dollar, to erase these little 'accidents' from all police documentations. He just couldn't bear the idea of a Pataki girl with criminal record.

Bob knew he hadn't had the slightest effect on his daughter, and in desperation he turned to her best friend, the dorky looking Asian girl, Phoebe. He never really liked that girl; there was something in her eyes when she looked at Helga that was strange to him. He thought that if this little girl could bear Helga's commanding behavior for so long that it had to have been a bit more than just friendship.

Eventually Phoebe began to give Helga extra classes every day after school and finally she and Dr. Bliss managed to convince Helga about the importance of collage. She did her exams pretty well, without almost any studying. She actually passed in to the same collage as Phoebe did.

She began to establish a life without Arnold in it. But of course there was still the party after graduation to deal with. She took Wolfgang because she just couldn't face Arnold and Lila alone. She wore her best dress, and after hours of preparation, she turned from a pretty girl, to a breathtaking young lady. She had no competition – not even Rhonda or Lila.

"Hey, Wolf-boy," she said, "Get me a drink, will ya?"

Wolfgang had had a serious crush on Helga for years, even though he knew that that girl would never return his feelings. She always was and still is a lot more artistic and intelligent that him, who was basically just... muscles. Still, he was happy to be close to her, and was pretty angry at that geek, Arnold, who was just stupid enough to refuse such a wonderful girl.

"Yes dear," he said. He was already pretty buzzed, he knew he wouldn't be able to make trough this night dry.

Arnold and Lila just entered the gymnasium where the party took place. Arnold and Helga shared a look, as usual. Helga knew he had still loved her, but she also knew that it was a lot easier for him to be with Lila.

Arnold never had pictured himself as the kind of guy who would leave his actual girlfriend for someone who hit her in the face and pushed her down the stairs few months ago. He had felt guilty enough for cheating on Lila that night... He just couldn't dump her. For what felt like years, they looked deep into each other's eyes. It was exceedingly difficult for Arnold to refrain from checking out Helga's body in such an obvious way. Nobody else had been able to do it at the party.

"What do you looking at hair-boy?" Helga asked. Lila had done everything she could to avoid Helga's eyes.

"Hey Helga. You look good."

"Well, I feel good Arnoldo. I just had the best time until you decided to show your face here."

"That's nice," he said and Lila just lead him away from Helga as Wolfgang returned with two glasses of punch.

"What did Super-size Head want?" He asked.

"He just glared at something he once had, but he can't have anymore," she said.

Arnold was the only one she ever had had sex with, and the idea of Arnold taking Lila to his bed just killed her. She wanted Arnold to know that that night she would give herself to Wolfgang. When she was sure about that Arnold was watching the two of them from the corner of his eye she administered one of her famous "turn on kisses" to Wolfgang. Arnold's face twisted in fury and jealousy. Before then he was the only one who had ever received of those. Quickly he grabbed Lila and ran out to the corridors.

"Excuse me... Helga?" It was Phoebe standing behind her. Helga was pretty thankful for her; Wolfgang's mouth tasted like beer and he begun to get a little too wild.

"Yes Pheebs, what is it?"

"Hey, geek, we're in the middle of something here!" Wolfgang snarled angrily.

"Listen Werewolf, Pheebs is my best friend, and I owe her big time! She can talk to me any time she wants," she said.

"Of course! Everybody comes before me lately! You're girlfriend, your freak family, your shrink, and even your ex-boyfriend! 'Guess I will never be good enough for you!?" he said.

Helga really didn't care about Wolfgang in that moment.

"Guess your right Wolfgang. You just never will," she said. The young man stared at her for a moment and then walked away angrily.

"Oh, Helga, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. You did the best thing you could. So, what's up?"

Phoebe came to the party alone. Gerald asked her out, but she refused him and mainly because she knew Gerald asked some cheerleader named Sophie before her.

"It's over. We passed high school. It's huge."

"Yeah. We had some good times here. Listen, Pheebs, I know I'm not saying this often, but thanks for everything you have done for me."

"Don't mention it. Listen Helga, before we leave to college, there is something I have to tell you. It's killing me, and I think this is just the special night what I've been waiting for to tell you," she said, as she looked down to her shoes.

"Hey, what secret can you possibly have after all these years?" Helga asked.

"I... Listen Helga, I..."

Suddenly Lila's screaming interrupted Phoebe and several people fled into the corridors. Helga followed leaving Phoebe alone.

The sight that waited for Helga was pretty shocking. Brainy was on the floor bleeding, Lila was screaming and Wolfgang was punching Arnold in the stomach. He fell to the floor and Wolfgang kicked him in the face.

"Take that football face!" he said. Apparently Brainy tried to stand up, so Wolfgang kicked him too.

"Where are you going weirdo. What did you do here anyway? You won't stalking my girl anymore you little fuck!"

"Leave him alone loser. And I'm not your girl," Helga said as she walked toward him.

"Hey, what's wrong babe. You know football head deserved it! And this 'thing' annoys me just us much as it annoys you," he said. Brainy's breathing was even harder than usual.

"That thing is Brainy, and he happens to be my friend. Just like Arnold. And if you so much as lay a finger on them again I will kill you Wolfgang. Do you understand me?"

"What are you talking about? You're friend? You beat him up all the time!" he said, glaring at her.

"I'm doing that to lot of my friends. Didn't you know that?" she asked as Old Betsy landed in Wolfgang's face. He fell down and passed out almost instantly. Unfortunately Helga couldn't give all the credit for her fist, it was mostly because the alcohol in Wolfgang's system. Lila apparently lost conscious from the stress; she was lying on the floor near Wolfgang. Helga gave her hand to Arnold, who stood up and winced in pain.

"Are you all right?" she asked. She couldn't hide how much she worried for Arnold.

"Yes... Oh man, a girl defended me. My name is ruined here. Thank god this is the last night of high school," he said as he hugged Helga. She hugged him back, but there were too many eyes on them, so they kept it short. Then, Helga crouched down to Brainy.

"Hey Brainy, old pal. Are you all right?" she asked and Brainy nodded feebly.

"Can you walk?" she asked as she helped him to his feet. "Hey, what will you do without me around? What will you do with all your free time, when you won't be able to follow me?" she looked at his face. Apparently Brainy just couldn't image it. It made her smile, and she couldn't do a thing about it. This boy had become a part of her life, as much as Arnold. The difference was that she never noticed Brainy even though he probably knew everything about her. She suddenly just felt sympathetic toward the weird boy. He had the same kind of obsession toward her that she had toward Arnold. Brainy represented everything that she was going to leave behind after this night. It was sad and beautiful at the same time. Helga kissed Brainy on his forehead.

"Hey, take care of yourself chump," she said, "I don't want to punch you ever again."

His eyes widened as he heard this. It was the first reaction she got from the shocked boy. He shook his head, turned around and ran toward the exit. He obviously did not want to live in a world where Helga didn't punch him.

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PRESENT DAY

Helga rushed into the dining hall of Sunset Arms in furious rage.

"He took Arnold! That maniac took Arnold!" she screamed. She expected to see the whole gang at the table, but he only found Gerald there.

"Just where the hell is everybody?" she asked.

"Pheebs and Lila are still at Rhonda's party," Gerald said.

"God damnit!" she screamed. She felt the panic in her stomach slowly making it's way to her throat.

"All right Helga! Chill out, take a deep breath, and tell me, what happened," Gerald said.

"I've just seen the black van for a moment, and Arnold was gone. And I heard him screaming too. It's all my fault!" she said. She was obviously on the verge of crying.

"No it's not! And stop talking like that, this is not the Helga G. Pataki I know! The Helga I know would be out there kickin' the shit out of that psycho!"

"You're right. I need to calm down, and think clearly," she said as she sat down. Lila just entered the room.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He took Arnold!" Gerald said. Lila's face seemed to melt.

"If anything happens to him Helga, I swear to god..."

"Let's not fight among ourselves!" Phoebe said as she entered, "Lila, Helga you can tear each other to pieces after this is over!"

"She's right," Helga said as she turned to Phoebe, "Did you find out anything on the girls party?"

"No. Except Rhonda envies you like crazy for Joshua," Phoebe said.

"As a matter of fact, she can have him right now," Helga said.

"Gerald?"

"Don't have anything. My money was on Curly, since he's our local nut case but he's has a perfect alibi."

"All right Gerald, think! It must be someone from that party! Who knew Arnold is in town, and heading home from the bar!"

"I don't know Helga!" he shouted. He was worried for Arnold too. "Arnold and I were talking about grad night, then you came along. You saw him last!"

"What did you two talk about?" – Lila asked. Helga didn't bother to answer her.

"Grad night... You were talking about grad night? OF COURSE!"

"What?" Gerald asked. "What happened on Grad night?"

"You had already left. Arnold was beaten up by Helga's boyfriend!" Lila said.

"Shut your face just for one moment missy," Helga said as she stood up. "I know where Arnold is, but we have to hurry!" She started for the door.

"Why?" Phoebe asked.

"I think he wants me only for himself," Helga said.

"Hey, wait girl, where are you going?" Gerald asked.

"We have to go back, where it all begun, people! We must return to PS-118!"

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Brainy was insane, there was no doubts about that. But Arnold didn't know anything about the nature of his insanity. Brainy's obsession with Helga was well known in high school, but nobody, not even Arnold himself, cared much about the creepy little dork. His head was so close to Brainy's; he was able to smell his breath. Brainy obviously didn't care much about personal hygiene.

"How does it feel to be so... helpless? Huh, Arnold? To be here... Tied up, knowing that nobody's gonna save you. Knowing that all you can accept from life is... pain?" he said. He still breathed in a really horrible way. It was the part Arnold could remember about Grad Night...Wolfgang didn't beat only him up, but he did hurt Brainy very badly as well. It was Helga who protected them. "Welcome to my world golden-boy. Welcome to my world of pain."

"This is how you going to scare me?" Arnold asked and Brainy smiled.

"Yes. That's the plan."

"Listen Brainy; you said you want to talk. So, what do you want to know?"

"You're right Arnold, as always. There are a few things I do want to know," he said as he sat down and grabbed his golf club. "So, first of all, you must tell me, how is it to actually be in bed with Helga," he said. Arnold was completely sickened by this man. "I mean, I've been in her bed, but she wasn't there. It's not the same. I want to know everything... The smell of her hair... The look in her eyes..."

"You're sick dude," CRASH! Brainy smacked Arnold's right leg with the golf club. Arnold screamed in pain.

"I told you. Answer me or you'll get punished... Lie to me... and you get killed. So..."

"You really want to know you sick freak? It's simply the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. She makes me feel like a god! When... When I'm with her it seems like the rest of my life is just some boring black and white movie and she's the only reality! It feels so good and so wrong in the same time! Is that what you want to know? That I'm actually frightened by the possibility of never seeing her again if I get married? Yes it's true!"

"Then tell me... Why aren't you with her?" There was dead silence. It was all too complicated.

"You can enjoy the beauty of the fire from safe distance, Brainy. You can even warm yourself with its heat. But if you play with the fire for too long, you will get burned. And she burned me too many times, Brainy. I'm with Lila now, so I can't love Helga anymore. Do you understand?"

"You can't?" he questioned, smiling. "You're lying. But that's okay, because you don't even know it, which is a funny thing," he said. He stood up and walked over to Arnold. "You know, I was always next to Helga... She barely noticed me, but my entire childhood was about her and her alone. She was my first thought in the morning and the last in the night. I knew how much she loved you years before you realized it... But she only dared to love you from distance... Just like I did to her. Helga and I... we're two of a kind," he said, and Arnold's eyes went blurry.

Arnold never seen such a tormented soul in his life... except maybe... Helga. In his own twisted way, Brainy was right... they were two of a kind.

"I knew how deeply she loves you, but still, she hurts you with her every word, every move. She hurts me as well: whenever she saw me looking at her, she punched me. I was always too nervous to say anything, and she always punched me before I had the chance. It took me a little while to realize that it means she loves me too... She hurts you the most, and she loves you the most... You are the example. That's the kind of person she is... but on Grad Night... she said she never wants to hit me again... Then she was gone... I realized I had lost her. And I learned to be at peace with that, until I...."

He looked down at Arnold and was silent for a moment before continuing.

"I could bear to see her with that Flanders guy. She deserved him... But then I saw you two... I didn't believe it, so I went to the city myself, and I've seen you together in that café... Why couldn't you just leave her alone?"

At this point the anger, the fury within Arnold was growing hotter and hotter.

"What the hell is he talking about? When did he see me and Helga?"

"Brainy... I swear I never..."

"You were fucking her all over collage! I saw it all! Lila wasn't enough for you! You needed her too!" he growled.

"How on earth can he know that?"

"Hey, Brainy, you need to calm down," he said. Brainy just counted the sins. Arnold thought that nobody else knew about these things. Arnold grew even angrier at his kidnapper.

"Oh, don't get me wrong!" Brainy said – "I can understand you. I'm in your shoes too. She hurts you, and you love her back. You don't have a choice."

"I don't love her because she hurts me!" Arnold shouted out. "I love her despite all of that!" he shouted.

He said it a last. He actually said that he loved her. He didn't even admit it to himself for years or to his loved ones, but a psycho with a golf club made him confess in minutes. He just smiled at Arnold.

"I think we made excellent progress," he said as he walked toward the door. "I think you have a bit of thinking to do, Arnold. So I will leave you alone with your thoughts for a while."

As he walked out the door Arnold had suspected Brainy left because he needed to use the toilet or something. So Arnold was left alone in the dark tided up, and he could only hope that Helga would be fast enough to come to his rescue one last time. Maybe after that she would let him rescue her for a change.

NEXT EPISODE: TWO OF A KIND The conclusion of the Brainy story. But don't worry/cheer; ON THE WILD SIDE is far from ending