Chapter 14: Dead Ends
'C'mon Phoebe pick up for pity's sake.' Helga jabbed at her phone, repeatedly pressing on Phoebe's number. She desperately needed to talk to her best friend now. Unless she went to her parents, whom she hated, Phoebe's place was the only other place she could think of crashing.
Helga scowled heavily as her call went to Phoebe's voicemail again.
"You have reached the voicemail of Phoebe Heyerdahl, if you wish to leave a message, do so after the tone..."
Helga left a quick and snappy message.
"Dammit Phoebe. Why are you not answering? You said you'd be back in town Monday and I know you haven't fallen off the face of the earth! So quit ignoring me and answer me dammit, I need to talk to you, okay? Bye!"
On second thought, why bother calling? She'd drive there. Phoebe wouldn't be able to ignore her if she came knocking on her front door. So what if she was sleeping? Come hell or high water, Phoebe was supposed to be her best friend. God knows she'd been there for Phoebe countless times. Her friend regularly had mental breakdowns over the slightest troubles, especially when she'd still been dating that jerk Gerald back in college.
~/~
Helga sped down the long city streets to Phoebe's suburban townhouse. It was nearly 10 when Helga finally pulled her car into the driveway of Phoebe's house. The radio was playing an annoying Spumoni pop song as arrived and she turned it off in disgust.
Her heavy black brows knit together as she observed her friend's house. All the curtains had been pulled shut and the windows of the townhouse were dark as if nobody were home. Helga had trouble believing Phoebe wasn't there. Phoebe rarely went out on a weekday. The bookworm didn't even have a boyfriend since her messy breakup with Gerald last year. Sure enough when Helga peered into the garage, she saw her friend's blue little Volkswagen parked. 'Geez, Phoebe, if you are going to pretend you're not home, at least hide your car better,' she thought bitterly as she walked up to the front door. and knocked loudly while also pressing at the doorbell.
"Phoebe open up!" Helga shouted, "I know you're in there, it's 10pm on a Monday night and I can see your car! C'mon Pheebs who do you think you're fooling here?!"
Helga knocked on the door again and nearly fell forwards when the door suddenly wung open and a small shadowy figure grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in.
"Shut up and get in!" Phoebe whispered as she slammed the front door shut behind them and locked it with three different locks and bolts.
"Umm Phoebe why are all your lights off and why are you whispering?" Helga asked nervously and felt at her wrist which Phoebe had pulled roughly at a second ago. Phoebe was tiny but no one could deny her fierce karate grip.
Phoebe turned on a small flashlight, barely enough to light their way through the hall. "Just follow me," Phoebe said in an ultra quiet voice.
"O-kay." Helga was starting to think Phoebe lost her mind but followed her friend. Thumper, Phoebe's pet dog, came up to lick her hand as Phoebe opened the door to her basement and ushered Helga in.
"What's going on Phoebe's? Why haven't you returned my calls?"
Phoebe clicked the door shut and finally turned on the lights when they stood in her basement.
Helga gasped when she saw Phoebe's face. Her lips were trembling and her whole face was puffy and red. It was obvious she must have been crying for hours.
"Phoebe what happened?" Helga pulled her friend into a hug.
Phoebe blew her nose and Helga noticed there were tissues all over the floor.
"T-they k-killed Whiskers. After I phoned you on Saturday, s-somebody, somebody," Phoebe sobbed fresh tears, "broke into my home and killed Whiskers!"
"What?!" Helga couldn't believe what she was hearing. Whiskers was Phoebe's cat.
"They killed Whiskers Helga! T-this this is why I didn't want to say anything over the phone!" Phoebe wailed.
Helga tried not to panic though she felt her heartbeat thumping loudly against her chest.
"Slow down Phoebe. Who in their right mind would kill a cat? Surely it must have been an accident, right?"
Phoebe shook her head. Helga could tell that Phoebe was using every ounce of her strength to not have a mental breakdown. "It wasn't an accident. They killed Whiskers. Before it happened, I was threatened Helga!"
"Criminey this is fudged up! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I tried telling you...but after I told you about Frankie on the phone," Phoebe whimpered and struggled to take a deep breath, "I came back to find Whiskers dead. S-somebody snapped his neck. I thought nobody could trace the call if I called you out of town, from a payphone, but they t-they knew!" Phoebe finally broke down into total chaos. Helga patted her back and waited for Phoebe's sobs to slow down and she could hear her friend breathe normally again.
"Phoebe what are you not saying? You've got me really freaked out here. Who was threatening you?"
Suddenly Phoebe looked up from her tissue and sounded hysterical with fear, "No Helga! I can't tell you! Don't you get it?! If I say anything, anything, they'll come after Thumper next!"
"But who and why are they doing this?! Criminey, you can't just keep quiet and let them have you live in fear! You've got to call the cops or something!"
Phoebe pulled her dog closer to her and stared almost hatefully at Helga, "I'm not risking Thumper's life over this Helga! The cops aren't going to care about protecting a dog!"
"Well, you have to do something, you can't just keep quiet forever Phoebe!" If Phoebe wasn't deep in grief right now Helga would've been tempted to call her friend cowardly.
Phoebe shook her head, "Didn't you see what happened at Pembroke's? My boss was held at gunpoint!"
Helga felt her heart sicken, "You know what happened at Pembroke's don't you? It's related to Rhonda's murder? Isn't it, Phoebe?!"
"Shut up Helga! Just shut up!" Phoebe screeched.
"Why?! Who is even listening now? Nobody's here but you and me, you can tell me!"
"No Helga!" Phoebe snapped, "Whiskers died! He died because I told you something!" She covered her face with her hands and began sobbing again.
"I'm sorry Pheebs! Geez, I didn't know you were being threatened, otherwise I wouldn't have called you," she couldn't help but feel guilty that Whiskers died.
"Well you know now! So I would prefer you pretend you didn't know me. Nothing personal helga but you have a way of drawing trouble to yourself."
Helga opened her mouth in shock, "I do NOT!"
"Helga you always make a scene wherever you go. You have a way of angering people. Even I heard what happened at Rhonda's funeral!"
Now Phoebe was taking it too far. Helga balled her fists, "Yeah, the funeral you didn't even go to! I was trying to uncover what happened to Rhonda but you don't even want to tell me what you know! Some friend of Rhonda's you are! I shouldn't be surprised you're trying to cut me out of your life now too!"
"I'm not trying to cut you out of my life! You're still my best friend Helga! I'm just trying to protect Thumper, I can't risk a-anything h-happening t-tto h-him-" Phoebe began sobbing even louder and held onto Thumper hysterically. The dog wagged its tail and tongue happily, completely oblivious of the dangers it faced.
Helga knew she couldn't change Phoebe's mind. And with Phoebe crying, Helga wasn't sure she wanted to add any more pressure to her high-strung Asian friend. Because what if they did kill Thumper? Then Helga would have both Thumper and Whisker's deaths on her conscience. Then Phoebe might never forgive her.
"Geez, okay. I get it, I'll go," Helga sighed, "I guess I shouldn't call you either right?"
"Just for now. I'm sorry Helga, you're still my friend!" Phoebe dabbed at her red eyes and Thumper licked some of the tears off her face.
Helga laughed emptily, "Sure. Take care Phoebe. Sorry about Whiskers..."
She patted Thumper's head and turned to leave. As Phoebe's front door closed behind her, Helga never felt more empty and alone as she stepped out and got back in her car. First Arnold, now Phoebe. Was the world starting to hate Helga G. Pataki? Because it felt like everyone was turning against her, one by one, like a house of cards.
A/N: Does anybody notice a pattern in the death threats that have been going around Hillwood? Trust us, it's only going to get darker. You won't expect who the killer is, and you'll be shocked at some of the things going on in the 'underbelly' of the city. Eventual rated M for a reason. Let's just hope Helga and Arnold can withstand everything that's thrown at them.