Chapter Seven: Evil Destiny

Those first days at work were harder than Helen imagined they would be, but it wasn't without a reason. The holiday fever had made effect on everyone – children, parents, boys, girls, grandmas, grandpas… Everyone. People would search for books and buy lots of colourful greeting cards from early mornings till the shop would be closed in the evening. Soon, Helen simply didn't know the meaning of the word "break". If there wasn't Marissa to help her from time to time, Helen would be completely lost.

But… The truth is, in a very strange way, Helen liked it all. She loved having hands full of work. She loved being able to help people. She simply enjoyed being preoccupied. Even the days at home had become less scary. Occasional watching TV seemed completely fine nowadays.

One more thing made Helen's life less monotonous – Marissa. She had a habit to bump at Helen's place every once in a while. They had become quite good friends after some time.

Marissa would make Helen laugh with almost every sentence she'd say and Helen loved listening to her. It felt as though once upon a time somebody else had made her laugh like Marissa did… but, Helen didn't know why she thought that.

The life seemed to become merrier and merrier with every passing day. But, there was still no sign of anything that would make Helen's heart jump with a start or connect this life with the previous one.

Until one day.

"Bookland" had gotten a lot of new history books which badly needed to be arranged, so it was Helen's and Marissa's job to put them in order. They grabbed the large boxes and went to the farther part of the store where the shelves weren't entirely filled. Helen cheerfully hummed some Christmas tune as she was putting the tomes in order. A few of the books turned out to have very interesting titles so she found herself peeking inside curiously.

"Listen to this" Helen said to Marissa, as she skimmed through a book called The Unusual Celebrity Deaths.

"Yeah?"

"D'you have any idea how Attila the Hun died?" asked Helen with enthusiasm as though she was reading the most interesting thing in the world.

"Ran over by a bulldozer?" offered Marissa.

Helen didn't pay attention to the sarcasm.

"Bled to death" she said agape. "From a nosebleed. On his wedding night. Can you believe it? What are the odds for something like that to happen? I mean, he was very brave man. Fearless, even. Wouldn't you expect him to die in a battle with the last will to protect his people?"

"I s'pose so."

"Oh, check out this book" Helen whispered ecstatically. "Love letters of Napoleon! Wouldn't you give your salary because of this?"

Instead of making a witty comment, Marissa only smiled. "I don't know about me, but I am sure you would."

Helen simply nodded and read a paragraph out loud: "Come soon; I warn you, if you delay, you will find me ill. Fatigue and your absence are too much. Your letters are the joy of my days, and my days of happiness are not many. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Very."

Suddenly, the bells above the entrance doors jingled. Helen unwillingly raised her head, looking at Marissa petitionary.

"Please? I really want to do this. And, after all, you said you hated the arranging and you know I love it!"

"Alright, alright" sighed Marissa, as she put the books aside. "I'll go serve the costumer, but you owe me one!"

"You're the best." grinned Helen, continuing to sort the tomes.

She was just about to have a peep into Julius Caesar's Biggest Mistake, when she heard the voice of the man who entered.

Oh… my… goodness…

Helen was sure her heart had stopped, her mind had gone blank and her hands froze. Then in the next moment, her heart started beating faster and faster, as though it was trying to win a race.

That voice… that voice… I know that voice…

There was something unbearably familiar in his tone. Helen couldn't see the man because she was sitting on the floor covered in a large pile of books, but she could feel something strangely eminent. Helen instinctively grabbed the necklace around her neck, feeling her hand burning with heat. She perplexedly looked at the letters HRH in her hand. Somehow, and Helen couldn't even explain it to herself, she knew the man had something to do with the necklace. Her brain started to mess with her. A lot of thoughts interlaced at the same time, leaving Helen completely helpless and lost.

I have to go there… I have to see him… Oh my God, what if he's the one? Person from my past? What if he knows me? What if he's one of the three letters around my neck? But then again, maybe I am just hallucinating. What if I say something and he thinks I'm no less than a lunatic? Oh my God, oh my God, I need to relax. And I need to know. I must! I'm going there. Now. Immediately.

Helen squeezed the letters once more, rapidly stood up, and as she did so, a big number of books fell upon her. Helen cursed out loud.

"To hell with it! Not now! Why now, God, why?"

She gave her best to put them back in place as fast as possible, but it was apparent that she had lost a lot of time while doing so. As soon as she finished it, Helen quickly headed towards the front part of the store. Then she heard it again. The jingling. The bells.

No, no, no…

She was too late.

"No!!!" yelled Helen, speeding up.

Please, God, don't tell me he's gone… please don't do this… please…

"Helen" she could hear Marissa's confused voice as she was nearing her, "why in Christ's name are you hurrying so much? Have you finished the arranging yet?"

Helen didn't seem to notice Marissa's questions. Her mind was focused only on one thing: finding the mysterious guy.

"He… didn't go away already… did he?" asked Helen desperately, turning around to see if the man was still in the "Bookland".

"Who, Hel?" Marissa plainly asked, obviously being clueless "What are you talking about?"

"Him! The man! The man you talked to!" Helen said in one breath.

"The costumer? He's just left, but I don't understand why…"

Helen didn't wait for Marissa to finish the sentence. She quikcly opened the heavy entrance door and stepped out on a cold December breeze. She looked straight ahead, then left, then right, not even knowing who she was looking for.

Oh, great… Just great. I should have asked Marissa how the man appeared before running out like an idiot…. Congratulations, Helen, you really have a gift to make your life even more miserable than it already is… I salute you…

Then suddenly, in the end of the street, among many people, she saw a back of a man's figure. Figure that stood out. Helen's stomach made a jumble and she knew it. It was him, but he was far away from her. Helen was positive she could never catch him, even if she tried. She couldn't see how exactly he looked like, but one thing was for sure – he was tall, wearing strange black robes and his hair was extremely red. It was him. The person from her dream. She remember dreaming about a red-haired boy once... That man was one of the people she used to know. And she missed the chance to talk to him.

"You evil, evil destiny.." muttered Helen numbly as she trembled on cold air. "You'll pay me for this one... Mark my words."