Chapter 3: Stronger
The night was cold and dark. The streetlights were already off for the night.
She stuck her freezing hands in the front pocket of her pink jacket, trying to maintain as much body heat as she could.
She needed to stay warm. She needed to stay focused.
It had been a few minutes since she last heard his voice. It had been weak. Calling out to her like his life was rapidly wasting away.
Of course she had freaked out at first, but she knew she needed to stay strong. Stay strong for him. Stay strong for Arnold Phillip Shortman.
Her footsteps seemed to echo through the empty dark streets as she rounded the block. The cold wind whipped a long lock of her blonde hair right into her face, which she immediately brushed out of her face.
"Arnold?!" She cried out in a frustrated whisper.
'Criminy! Where is he?!'
She tiptoed around the block, trying to stay dead silent. There was no telling who could be waiting for her around the next corner.
She passed by each building, peering inside each of the buildings, just trying to find a sign that the football head might be inside.
"Helga?" A weak voice called out just as she passed Mrs. Vitello's flower shop. The voice came from across the street.
"ARNOLD!" She called out, quickly sprinting across the empty road.
"Helga?" The unsure and weak voice called out again, this time coming from the opposite side of the street. The side she had just come from!
"I'm coming football head, don't worry!" She shouted as she quickly collected her breath and ran back across the street.
"Helga… Helga…. Helga…"
She suddenly froze in place. She could barely hear her voice coming from above her. She looked up above her to see nothing. Nothing but the pitch black night sky.
"That's weird…" she muttered to herself in confusion.
"Helga… Helga… Helga…"
The voice was louder this time. Like something was approaching her from above. Except it didn't sound like it was just one voice. It almost sounded like it was several voices.
WHOOSH
"HELGA! HELGA! HELGA! HELGA!"
That's when she noticed it. The giant, black cloud just a few feet away from her. A giant cloud of pigeons to be more exact. All bellowing out her name in Arnold's voice.
"GAH!" She yelled as she tried to run away, but she wasn't fast enough. The black cloud hit her behind, knocking her face first into the pavement below.
"HELGA! HELGA! HELGA!" The voices now shrieked at her.
"GET OFF OF ME!" She yelled aloud. The giant cloud of pigeons continued to bellow out her name menacingly, somehow still keeping the composure of Arnold's voice.
She could feel them pecking all up and down her neck. She tried to reach up to get her footing, but it was no use. The giant flock just knocked her back down to the earth.
It was getting unbearable to hear. Hearing her own name being yelled at her over and over again. So she just did the only thing she could think of. She covered her ears and laid down on her side.
"Just go away…" she muttered as she pushed her hands closer to her ears.
Suddenly, it was silent. She no longer felt any birds pecking at her neck and face. She carefully opened her eyes to survey her surroundings.
The street was empty once again.
With a deep sigh of relief she took her hands away from her ears.
"Helga." She heard her name again. Directly above where she was laying. Except this time, it wasn't a cry of desperation or a menacing shout. It sounded more direct
She looked curiously up at the dark night sky." Yes?" She called out, hoping for an answer.
That's when she saw a plain white pigeon breaking into her field of view. The bird gracefully fluttered its wings above her.
Helga watched in awe and curiosity as the bird carefully landed on her chest.
"I need to tell you something." The bird said, very calmly, in Arnold's voice again.
"Yes?" Helga said once again. Still curious as to what the bird had to say to her. Or what the hell it was doing talking to her.
The bird's plain black eyes stared into hers. For a moment, she stared back into its eyes. The bird's eyes were full of curiosity and wonder. Just like hers had been.
That's when she suddenly noticed a change in the bird's eyes. They were starting to burn a bright orange color. It's head started to twitch ever so lightly.
Suddenly, the bird started to vibrate on her chest. It's eyes were starting to turn from an orange color to a deep red color.
The bird's head was now shaking out of control. The curious look that had once been on Helga's face was now covered with fear. She tried to move away, knock the bird off of her, but she couldn't. It's almost like she was glued to the pavement.
Suddenly, the bird stopped shaking its head. It's body stopped vibrating. However, it's demonic red eyes stared right into Helga's.
"Helga." The bird said calmly in Arnold's voice.
Helga nodded her head, too scared to talk.
"WAKE UP!"
…
Helga bolted upright in her bed, clutching her rapidly beating heart with her hand.
She jerked her head around to see Miriam still sleeping peacefully in her bed.
"Oh my God." Helga whispered to herself." It was a dream. Just a crazy dream."
She let out a huge sigh of relief while taking her hand to wipe the sweat off of her brow.
"Ah criminy!" She muttered to herself as she looked down at her sheets." It looks like I pissed the bed!"
She had in fact not wet the bed. But, she had in fact sweated through her sheets.
She looked to her right right in disgust to see that the alarm clock read 4:30 A.M.
"Well, might as well get to the shower early." She muttered silently.
…
The warm water hit Helga like a truck full of bricks. She felt warm steam roll off of her naked body as she turned around to let the warm water soak her long blonde hair.
A warm chill ran down her spine as she let a huge sigh of relief.
Where the hell had that dream come from? But she could have asked herself that same question just a week ago when she found Arnold's hat. The hat hadn't left her backpack.
But one week ago, when she found the hat, the dreams had started to take over her sleep. This resulted in deep black bags under her eyes for the last week.
She knew she was losing sleep, but with the terrifying dreams overtaking her, there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing to do except to suck it up and deal with it. Like she had done her whole life.
The warm water trickled down her neck as another warm shiver was sent down her spine. She turned back around so the water would travel down her back now.
"What's wrong with me?!" She suddenly yelled out before covering her mouth.
'God I hope no one heard that.'
She let out a deep, miserable sigh." It's been a week since I found that stupid hat. Why couldn't I just accept the fact all along that Arnold really is..."
She stopped herself.' Don't say it Helga. DO NOT SAY IT! The last thing you need to have happen to you is for everyone to wake up to see you crying like you're some deranged lunatic!'
So, instead, she took a deep inhale of steamy air through her nose, and gently released it through her mouth.
"No." She said in a half whisper." I am stronger than this."
...
"Sup Pheebs." Helga said with a sigh, blowing out the remaining smoke in her mouth from the cigarette she had hanging out of the corner of her lip.
"Hello Helga." Phoebe said with a warm smile, giving her taller bestfriend a warm hug. It was a small hug, but definitely one Helga needed after her long night." Nice to see you out and ready for school so early."
Helga shrugged as Phoebe pulled away from the warm embrace." Eh, I kinda felt a little more motivated today." Helga lied as she took the cigarette out of her mouth with her hand now.
Phoebe sighed as they left the boarding house stoop and started their walk to school. She looked up at her best friend who was taking a massive hit from her cigarette.
She had been worried about Helga. She couldn't help but notice the dark bags under Helga's eyes had been a common occurrence since Arnold disappeared. That mixed with the fact that Helga had started smoking was enough to make Phoebe worry more about Helga more than she ever had. She worried more about Helga now than when she first heard that Bob was hitting her.
But, being the friend that Phoebe was, she didn't want to prod Helga and piss her off with hundreds of questions. She knew if Helga wanted you to know something then she would tell you.
It was just the way Helga was. And, it was the way Helga would always be. Phoebe knew that Helga would eventually open up to her when she was ready, but until then, she would keep her mouth shut.
Helga blew the last of the cigarette smoke out of her mouth before throwing the still smoking butt on the pavement.
"I think I should advise you to find a garbage can next time." Phoebe said, looking up to her taller friend with a smile." I wouldn't want you to get a ticket for littering Helga."
Helga crossed her arms across her chest and shrugged." So what, the convicts need to have something to do when they clean the streets." She replied back with a blank expression on her face.
"Well, I guess you're right Helga." Phoebe said with a giggle as she looked back at the street in front of her.
"Of course I'm right." Helga said with a snort." I'm always right."
Phoebe looked back over to her friend and nodded with a sincere smile to her face. Helga sent Phoebe a small smirk for a second before it quickly turned into a scowl as she looked back to the street in front of her.
'I really hope she's doing okay.' Phoebe thought to herself.
…
"Hey Miriam!"
Miriam Pataki heard the voice to her left and tried to look over the huge brown bag full of vegetables she had in her left arm to see who was calling for her.
Before she could react, the bag was taken from her arm in a very gentle and calm manner. Slowly, Harvey the police officer came into view.
"You look like you could use some help with this." He stated with a short laugh.
"Well, thanks Harvey." Miriam said with a short laugh." But I can get it myself. I'm sure you're busy giving people tickets and chasing down bike thieves or whatever you cops do."
Harvey smiled and huffed a short laugh at the woman's comment." Well, I decided to take a day off today. Catch up with the neighborhood a little bit."
Miriam nodded as she suddenly realized Harvey wasn't wearing his normal police uniform. Instead, he was wearing a thick wool blue sweater and a pair of black joggers to go with it.
Miriam also couldn't help but notice that ever since he had gotten his job at the police station a few years back that he had suddenly got a super jacked body...
Miriam quickly shook the thoughts out of her head." Oh, really now? Well, I guess you can help me walk to the boarding house. It isn't but just a few more blocks away." She replied with a warm smile.
"With pleasure." Harvey said with a smile and nod." This bag of vegetables is really heavy anyways. Why do you need all of this?"
"Oh, it's not for me." Miriam replied as she and Harvey began their walk down the street." Phil said he wants to cook a really big stew this week."
"Phil can cook?" Harvey asked, giving Miriam and unsure look as they rounded the block,
"Oh yeah." Miriam said, keeping her warm smile." He said something about how he learned to cook plenty back in the war."
"Oh yeah." Harvey said as a look of realization came to his face." He told me something about that one time. Something about how he used to cook for the whole camp. And everyone would come for miles to eat his food."
"Really?" Miriam said with a laugh." He told me that he used to keep his food to himself so the other guys in camp wouldn't hog it for themselves!"
"Sounds like Phil," Harvey said with a short laugh." Always flipping the story around."
"Yup, that's him." Miriam replied with a giggle as she and Harvey rounded the block." It's only really been just me and Phil doing the cooking since… well you know." Miriam said, her voice slowly fading into a more somber tone.
"Stella and Miles still aren't doing good?" Harvey said, concern in his voice.
Miriam sighed as she looked down at the ground. Slowly, she shook her head." It's only gotten worse Harvey. They drink more and more whiskey everyday. Stella's been late to work more and more recently. I had to wake her up this morning again for the fifth day in a row."
Harvey heaved a heavy sigh as he looked at the street in front of him. The boarding house was just now just a few more paces down the street.
"Well, I know someone who could help them." Harvey said, giving Miriam a knowing look. She looked back at him, confused for just a moment, before a look of total shock came to her face.
"No Harvey. I'm telling you right now, it's a bad idea. I'd only make things worse!" Miriam said, sounding flabbergasted.
"Why not?" Harvey relied with a shrug." You're doing pretty good for yourself now. You could help them out. God knows they could use it."
"But Harvey." Miriam said with a sigh." My past is something I want to completely forget about! I never want to think about it again! I never want to even talk about it again!"
"I know." Harvey said with a sigh. He shifted the giant bag of vegetables to his left arm. He took his free hand and put it on Miriam's shoulder." But I believe in you. I know you can help them out. Phil is in no condition to do it himself. You have experience with alcohol and dealing with these kinds of situations. I know you can do it Miriam. I believe in you."
Miriam felt her heart jump at the kind words Harvey had just told her." Harvey." Miriam said with a sigh." That is the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a very long time."
"Helga and Olga don't say things like that?" Harvey asked, raising a brow.
"Oh, they do." Miriam said, waving her hand dismissively." They have both been very supportive of me." She inhaled a deep sigh and slowly let it out." But, Bob never told me anything like that. He never tried to help me and he was rarely sweet to me."
"Well." Harvey replied as he looked into Miriam's blue eyes." He might have been my friend at one point, but the man is an asshole. And, as rude as this might sound, I think him going to jail was the best thing for you."
"I know." Miriam said with a nod. She looked up at Harvey and saw him giving her a huge toothy grin. She smiled back, before embracing him in a huge hug.
"Thank you Harvey, for everything." Miriam said in an extremely happy tone.
"You're welcome Miriam. It was my pleasure." Harvey said as he hugged a shorter Miriam back tightly.
He suddenly felt her move in his arms and the warm feeling of her lips on his cheek. Before he could react, she quickly recoiled off of him.
"S-sorry." Miriam stuttered as she looked away from him awkwardly.
"It's okay." Harvey said, keeping his smile as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
"I- I guess I was just…" Miriam stuttered.
"Caught in the heat of the moment." Harvey said, dropping his free hand at his side.
"Right." Miriam said, looking back at him with a smile.
The two adults stood there for just a moment, awkwardly looking at each other.
"Well, I guess I'll take these inside." Miriam said, grabbing the bag of vegetables from Harvey.
"You sure? I mean, I could at least get the door for you." Harvey said in a very sincere tone.
"No, it's okay." Miriam replied back with a short laugh." Phil can get the door for me. He's probably wondering where I'm at."
"Okay." Harvey said with a smile." So, I guess I'll see you around then?"
"You will." Miriam replied with a smile. She started her walk up the boarding house stoop." Goodbye Harvey."
"Goodbye Miriam." Harvey replied as he watched Miriam knock on the boarding house door.
…
"Aww, but Patty, I'm Hungry!"
"No Harold! You told me last week you wanted to lose weight! So, you have to cut back on the puddings!"
"But it's tapioca!"
"I don't care. It's also your third one!"
"You're no fun."
Helga and Phoebe watched as the couple continued to argue across from them. They were all sharing the same lunch table.
Helga had stuck close to Phoebe for most of the day, not saying much. She had been acting this way since Arnold had disappeared. However, she didn't mope around at all like she did now that she found his hat all billet ridden on the street. She was hoping that no one would notice her behavior seeming just a little off. However, based on the looks Phoebe was starting to give her more and more often. She could tell that her best friend was starting to notice.
"How is your lunch Helga?" Phoebe asked in a sincere tone, giving her the exact look she had been giving her for a week now.
It was one of those looks where she just seemed like she was worried, but she didn't want Helga to notice. However, Helga had noticed the second she had started to give her that look. Sure, Phoebe had been giving Helga worried looms since Arnold disappeared. But, she had never seemed like she was trying to hide it from her.
"Eh, it was okay." Helga replied, shoving her tray of food away from her nose." The one chicken nugget I ate was exquisite."
"Helga." Phoebe said with a sigh." I would suggest you eat more food. You look very tired today and you need to get some energy."
"I ate one chicken nugget." Helga said, giving her friend a sour look." Hey, where's Geraldo?" She said, quickly trying to change the subject.
"He texted me this morning and said he isn't feeling well today." Phoebe replied with a sigh." But, we have other matters to discuss. You need to eat more of your lunch."
Helga sighed and rolled her eyes." I'm just not hungry Pheebs. It had a bad taste anyways." She replied as she shoved her tray of food across the table.
"I'll eat it!" Harold announced as he reached a huge hand across the table to grab Helga's tray of food. However, before he could lay a finger on the plate, Patty forcefully slapped his hand away.
"Harold!" She said sternly.
"Awww, but you said no more tapioca pudding! Not no more chicken nuggets!" Harold practically whined back.
"That goes for all food!" Patty argued back, crossing her arms across her chest.
"So, first no more tapioca." Harold said somberly." And now no more food in general! Patty, I'm gonna die!" Harold shouted very dramatically."
"Oh, suck it up pig boy!" Helga said with a scowl painter across her face." You wanna lose weight, listen to your girlfriend!"
Patty smirked to her right at Harold as he looked angrily across the table at Helga.
"You wanna talk about weight Helga! Fine! At least I don't starve myself like you do because you're too depressed to eat!" He said in a loud tone that seemed to be mocking her.
The whole entire cafeteria suddenly went silent. All eyes on Harold. He continued to look at Helga with anger on his face until he suddenly realized what he had just said.
A look of fear suddenly came across his face as he saw Helga's face turning bright red in anger. He looked over at his girlfriend who was giving him a very similar look.
"L-listen guys I- I didn't-"
"LISTEN HERE YOU FAT LARD!" Helga shouted across the table, banging her fist on the table with a loud SMACK." YOU SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO ME, AND I MEAN ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO ME EVER AGAIN, I WILL PERSONALLY BEAT THE EVER LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF HELL I'VE HAD TO-"
"Helga!" Phoebe shouted to her left, desperately pulling at her sleeve." Just leave it alone! It's not worth it. He's not worth it!"
Helga looked at Phoebe, a wildfire burning in her eyes. She looked up at the whole cafeteria. All eyes were set on her, their faces full of shock.
"I'm going to the bathroom." Helga said in a half whisper as she stood up from the table." Stay here and make sure no one follows me Phoebe."
"Are you sure Helga. I mean, I could go with you if you would like me to, I mean-"
"Just stay." Helga said somberly, the wildfire was slowly dying out in her eyes."I need to be alone for a while.
"Staying." Phoebe replied in the same tone as Helga. She was still giving her that same worried look.
Helga sighed as she turned to leave the cafeteria full of teenagers who were slowly going back to talking and eating.
Harold looked at a very angry Patty with a look of pure terror on his face." B-believe me Patty. I didn't t-think. I-I swear!"
"Harold Berman." She replied through gritted teeth as she lowered her voice." You best believe when we get out of school today, your ass is grass."
Harold swallowed the huge lump in his throat as he looked back at the table, his eyes still wide and full of fear.
…
Helga splashed the warm water onto her face, however, that didn't stop the tears from raining down her face.
"I'm such a screwed up person." She cried aloud, hearing her voice echo throughout the empty girls bathroom.
She wiped the tears away from her eyes with the brown paper towel in her hands as she made her way into an empty stall. She quickly locked the door in front of her to make sure no one could bother her.
Taking in a deep sigh, she reached a free hand inside her bra and pulled out a picture. The same picture Arnold had taken of her many moons ago. The same one she had found on his dresser just a few short months ago. Back when life was so much simpler.
A sad smile curved onto her face as she looked at the picture." My love." She said, releasing a huge sigh." If only you were here. You would have stood up for me in the cafeteria. You always were always so bold and brave."
She sighed again before pulling her collar back and putting the picture back inside her bra." But without you, I'm nothing. I'm just a sad little girl sitting inside a high school bathroom, crying her eyes out becau-"
She was suddenly interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps coming into the bathroom.
"Helga?" She heard Phoebe call out to her.
Doing her best to try and hide her tears, Helga ferociously wiped at her face." I'm here." Helga said, putting on the best normal 'Helga Pataki don't give a damn' voice she could put on.
Fortunately, it worked, mostly.
"Are you okay Helga?" Phoebe asked, her voice full of concern.
Helga stood up from the toilet and swung the door to the stall open, only to be met with a very worried looking Phoebe." Yup! I'm fine Pheebs!" She said with a huge fake smile on her face." Now come on! We're gonna be late for class!"
"Helga. We need to talk." Phoebe said as her best friend walked past her in a hurried pace.
"No time to talk Phoebe! We have a class to get to!" Helga announced in a very overly excited tone as she picked her back pack up off the ground. Not thinking, she had left it sitting at the doorway to the bathroom. Thankfully, no one had seemed to mess with it.
"I'll see you in the classroom Pheebs!" Helga announced in her oh too happy tone as she walked out of the bathroom.
Phoebe watched as her best friend left her behind. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she pulled a small object out of her backpack.
She felt a cold breeze flow through the small holes of the small blue hat she held in her hands. A small tear formed in the corner of her eye." This is what I wanted to talk about Helga." She said to no one in a frustrated whisper.
Authors note: OH MY GOODNESS! I'm so sorry for the long wait!!!!! I never wanted the wait to be this long but good gravy this took some time. So so sorry once again for the wait, but life has been very hectic for me! Hopefully the next chapter will be out very soon! But, with Christmas coming up this week, I won't get much time to work on it this week. But, after that I will try my best to get those updates out as fast as possible!