Chapter 11
Sarah eyed Paul curiously as she walked through the apartment. It was mid-morning and he still hadn't left work, which she guessed meant he was taking a day off. She shrugged to herself, never one to question a lack of work ethic.
"Hey, you driving today?" she tossed out as she walked to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast.
"No, why?"
"I'm going to Felix's for a bit. Wondered if you don't need your car, can I borrow it?"
Paul seemed to think the idea over for a moment and shrugged. "Yeah sure. Keys are in the holder by the door."
"Sweet, thanks man," she smiled victoriously, quite impressed by how easily he agreed.
Throwing on her leather jacket and slipping on some boots, Sarah braced herself for the frigid Canadian winter. She tossed out a quick goodbye to Paul and left the apartment, cringing as the air hit her full force. She walked briskly to the underground lot where Paul stored his car and embraced the slight reprieve from the chill when she finally made it.
Sarah slowed her pace through the car park, scanning the rows for Paul's familiar SUV. She spotted it quickly and hit the unlock button on the key fob. Just as she moved to open the car door, an ominous reflection appeared in the window and Sarah felt a chill run down her spine at the sight.
Sarah rounded quickly, hoping to startle the intruder. She immediately snarled at the sight of the blonde haired woman, assuming a heavily defensive stance as she often had in her years on the streets of Toronto.
"I'm not here to hurt you," she spoke softly, putting her hands up slightly to display her lack of threat.
Sarah shook her head half in fear and half in aggravation. "Helena, just stay away from me!"
"Please. I have an offer for you."
Sarah cocked a confused brow. Her one and only encounter with the psycho bitch had been in a dark alley that ended in a stabbing. What in that advertised that she ever wanted to see Helena again, and would be willing to chat to boot? Sarah remained silent across from her clone.
"We must talk. And eat. Let's have lunch," the Ukrainian woman suggested, a glint in her eye at the mention of having a meal together.
"Lunch?" Sarah questioned incredulously. She inwardly sighed at the eager nod she received in confirmation. She weighed her options for moment and realized she wasn't really being given a choice. If she declined, there's no doubt Helena wouldn't hesitate to resorting to physical force in the matter. That, or she'd just cut her losses and kill Sarah once and for all.
Helena began taking a small step toward the car, possibly sensing that Sarah was about to submit. Sarah gritted her teeth harshly and swung open the driver's side door. "Get in."
Helena seemed to race around the vehicle and jump in as quickly as she could before Sarah had the chance to leave her behind. The brunette clone tried hard not to gape at the enthusiasm and started the car mechanically, racking her brain for some sort of game plan on handling this situation. She figured it was her best bet to choose to go somewhere away from downtown and a little more rundown, that way she could avoid any judgement or problems with Helena's customer conduct. Something told her that the woman wasn't exactly equipped with great manners for a public establishment.
Sarah drove as calmly as she could out of the parking garage and merged onto the streets of Toronto. She forced herself to keep her eyes glued to the road in front of her, effectively ignoring Helena's staring. The blonde woman was silent but Sarah could feel the unwavering gaze she was being pinned with. She didn't want the killer to sense her anxiousness though and focussed as much as she could on keeping her breathing steady and even.
Traffic in the city at this time of day was decently bearable, meaning the pair made their way out of the busy downtown core quite quickly. They made it to a more rundown area of the city, where they both fit in a lot better than they do in a neighbourhood like Beth's. Sarah spotted a plain looking diner and figured it would be good enough for them both. She pulled into a parking space and quickly slid out of the car. She instantly felt better when she stepped onto the sidewalk, people around meant that Helena couldn't go completely psycho on her at the drop of a hat.
The Ukrainian woman met her on the sidewalk looking absolutely giddy at the prospect of their impending lunch. She hustled into the diner and Sarah followed behind slowly, seeing that Helena had already picked out a booth for them by the time she had walked into the restaurant. She reluctantly slid in across from Helena and busied herself with looking at the menu in front of her.
Helena was already excitedly mumbling about all the delicious foods she wanted to get and Sarah rolled her eyes. Kira was better behaved than bloody Helena. A waitressed approached their table and Sarah held her breath, hoping to God Helena could act as normal as possible for all their sakes. The last thing she needed was for her to flip out and go on some murdering rampage – God knows she's capable of such.
Sarah listened to Helena rattle off her order, consisting of juice, breakfast, lunch, and dessert foods. She forced an uncomfortable smile when the waitress finally finished writing the list of food down and looked to her for an order as well. Sarah shook her head at the young woman, who couldn't be any more than a couple years younger than her. "Nothing for me, thanks."
The woman nodded, telling them that Helena's food would be out shortly. She returned a minute later with a glass of orange juice and once again left the two clones alone. Helena once again took to staring at Sarah while the British woman averted her gaze, completely regretting agreeing to have lunch.
She listened to Helena delicately sip her juice, gaze never wavering despite the action. Sarah sighed heavily and forced herself to return the gaze, figuring the faster she gave in the faster they'd be finished. "Alright, you said you have an offer for me. What is it?"
Helena shook her head. "Not yet. We are having meal, we must talk first."
"Talk?" Sarah scoffed. "Right what do you suppose we can talk about after you tried to kill me in an alley?"
"I dreamed that we were friends," she replied and smiled widely when they're waitress approached the table, equipped with an armful of plates.
Sarah held her tongue as the woman laid out Helena's plethora of food before her. As soon as she had gone again, Sarah clenched her jaw harshly, preparing to spit out her words forcefully. "We're not friends."
Helena seemed to brush the harshness off, focusing half her attention on the vast assortment of food in front of her now. She dove into a turkey club sandwich first and mustered up a shrug in response to Sarah. "We will be. I've seen it."
"Don't bloody count on it," Sarah muttered back, realizing the Ukrainian's attention was much more focussed on the food. She had already devoured the sandwich and had moved onto a plate of toast next.
Helena looked up, swallowing harshly. Sarah wondered how it was possible for one person to eat so quickly without choking, but didn't bother even asking. "If we are going to be friends, I must know your name."
"This friendship isn't there yet," Sarah shook her head.
"I am supposed to kill you," Helena continued on, not fazed by Sarah's rejection.
"Yeah, I kinda got that impression when you attacked me in the middle of the night."
"That was for Beth," Helena pointed out. "Now I must do you and your sestra. But I want my knife back first."
"Right," Sarah nodded sarcastically. "Your bloody fish blade, yeah? That your deal? I give you the knife and you get to kill me and Beth? I've got a better idea. You tried to kill me and I stabbed you instead. I'll give you the knife back and then we go our separate ways, alright?"
Helena calmly slurped on her Jell-O for a moment, listening intently to Sarah speak. She looked up and locked eyes with Sarah.
"We will never be separate," she vowed and thrust her foot up under the table, locking Sarah into the booth across from her. "Tell me the names of the others and I will spare you."
Sarah braced herself harshly against the table. She grabbed a knife from atop the table and angrily jutted it against the woman's calf. "You move your foot or I'll stab you again."
Helena stared wide eyed at Sarah for a moment before slowly moving her foot from its position. She placed it back on the ground and sat up a little straighter, spoon hanging from her mouth the entire time. "Give me a name or I will kill Elizabeth first, and then you."
"You're going to kill me?" Sarah questioned, forcing some disbelief into her voice. "I thought we were gonna be friends though, yeah? We can't do that if I'm dead."
"We will still be connected," she responded. "I will do what I must. Give me names and it will not come to that."
Helena spotted a pen laying atop the table and grabbed one of the few clean napkins remaining on the table. She bowed her head and began scribbling a number onto it. "Do you love your sestra?"
"What?" Sarah sputtered in confusion at the question.
Helena pushed the napkin across the table, through the plate cemetery. "If you love Elizabeth, you will give me a name and her life may be spared. If not, she dies first – in front of your eyes. You have until tomorrow at midnight to give me what I want. Call this number."
Sarah examined the napkin in front of her for a moment. She looked back up at the sound of shuffling across from her and saw that Helena was exiting the booth, a pancake clutched in her hand. She exited the dinner without another word to Sarah, pausing outside the window to spare her one last glance. Sarah scowled when she was finally out of sight, not only did her and her sister's lives just get threatened, but she also got stuck with the bloody bill.
She fished into her jacket pocket and pulled out a couple bills, slapping them on the table quickly. Making a split second decision she knew Beth would kill her for, Sarah stood from the booth and walked hurriedly out of the diner. Helena was slinking down the sidewalk and she was able to catch up to the woman with her quicker pace.
She manoeuvered herself in front of Helena, forcing the blonde to halt and look up from under her large hood. Sarah clenched her fists at her side and forced herself to speak. "You want a name, yeah? How 'bout mine and we call it even?"
Helena remained silent but still looking at Sarah, telling her without words to continue.
"It's Sarah, Sarah Manning," she said slowly, practically forcing herself to get the words out.
Helena smiled at her in response. "It is nice to meet you, Sarah," she said and then without another word had her hood fully shielding her face again and was disappearing down an alleyway.
Beth paced back and forth through her kitchen. Sarah ran a tired hand through her hair. She had been watching Beth walk repetitive circles for the better part of an hour now and it was exhausting her.
"Oi! Would you bloody stand still for a minute?" Sarah demanded gruffly, fed up with her sister's continuous movement.
"I'm thinking," Beth replied tersely but ceased moving anyway. She spared a quick glance at her watch once she had done so. "We only have 4 hours until Helena comes to kill us both. We need a plan and I don't see you coming up with anything, so I pace to get an idea."
"We don't need a plan right now," Sarah sighed. She had been holding onto the last piece of information, hesitant to tell Beth what she had done.
"Um, yeah we do," Beth replied incredulously, sending her sister an exasperated look.
Sarah shook her head. "There's a part I didn't tell you."
"What?" Beth spoke evenly.
"I already gave Helena a name," she revealed slowly and watched Beth's eyes grow large. "I told her mine."
"Fuck, Sarah!" Bethe exclaimed angrily. "When? Why the hell are you just telling me now?"
"I did it yesterday," she shrugged. "I knew you'd be pissed so I didn't wanna tell you."
"You're damn right I'm pissed. What the hell were you thinking giving in to her fucking demands? She has some weird obsession with you and you're just fueling it now."
"What the hell was I supposed to do, Beth!?" Sarah demanded right back. "She was sitting across from threatening to kill you and make me watch it. I didn't know what else to do."
Beth gritted her teeth angrily but remained silent. She stood across from Sarah, the island countertop separating the pair and braced her weight on the cold surface. "I get it, but Christ couldn't you have at least waited until we talked it over?"
Sarah shook her head. "No. You're not alone in this shit, Childs. I don't need you to come fix everything for me, alright? I made a call and that's it."
She knew she should feel relieved at the prospect of Sarah picking up some of the load she had been carrying. She didn't though. The thought of Sarah being an autonomous member of 'clone club' scared the shit out of her. At least when she was the leader of the pack, she oversaw every move that everyone made, could dictate how things were going to be with ease. Sarah was a different story though – had never especially enjoyed taking orders from anyone. As her sister and being much better informed than Alison and Cosima, Sarah would keep trying to unburden Beth of all her secrets and responsibilities. Although Beth somewhat saw it coming and appreciated her sister's efforts, they only served to cause her anxiety. Not knowing every move Sarah was making caused her paralyzing fear. She would never forgive herself if something happened to her sister. If Helena tried something and Beth wasn't aware of the threat the entire time, she was afraid of how far she'd go to seek revenge. She knew no bounds when it came to protecting her family.
"Get your jacket," Beth ordered her sister softly, trying to push her thoughts as far away as possible. She didn't need the distraction. "We're going out."
"What? Where?"
"I think it's time we tell Siobhan everything that's going on."
Sarah raised a brow at her sister's statement but didn't question it. She trusted Beth's judgement, so if she thought they could trust Siobhan and it was time to let her in on the current drama then she would go along with it.
She watched Beth disappear into her bedroom and then reappear with the same silver briefcase her sister had shown her when she first learned of the clones. It obviously stored all the important information Beth saw fit to keep about their situation.
"You ready for this?"
Sarah shrugged indifferently. "Guess so. I haven't got a clue how she's gonna react."
Beth grimaced in agreement. "Hopefully she doesn't throw a fit like Felix."
"I dunno if she's even capable of screeching like that," Sarah laughed throatily at the memory of her brother's very high pitch the entire car ride back to the city.
Beth laughed along with her sister in agreement. "Yeah, true. I think she'll roll with it. Maybe even give some insight that'll help us piece more of this shit together."
"Maybe," Sarah nodded and followed her sister to the door.
She froze mid-step when she caught sight of the coat rack next to the front door. Beth glanced back at her curiously, wondering what caused her sister to stop so abruptly. "What's wrong?"
Sarah pointed to the rack, swallowing harshly. "That's not my jacket."
Beth followed Sarah's gaze and saw a cheap looking army green coat hanging in the place that Sarah's signature leather one had been placed the night before.
"What the hell is that," she muttered. Thinking back, the same jacket had been there that morning when she left for work. She had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Helena and exhausted from getting no sleep that she didn't pay it any mind then, but it had definitely been hanging there.
"It's Helena's," Sarah said lowly, angrily.
Beth snapped her gaze back to Sarah, mouth hanging open. "Fuck. Okay, just put the damn thing on for now and let's get the hell out of here."
Sarah reluctantly did as Beth demanded and threw the jacket on, cringing at the stale smell that immediately enveloped her. Her sister's motions had picked up in their franticness. Neither woman could deny the growing pit of anxiety that was building in their stomachs. Helena had managed to get into the flat while they soundlessly slept only steps away. They were both still alive though so that had to mean something good, right? Whatever hell game the Ukrainian was playing, they both wanted out of it right now.
"I swear I can't wait till I come face to face with this bitch. She's screwing with the wrong family," Beth vowed and swung the front door open harshly. She stared off into the night as she stepped on the front porch, only able to think about the ways in which she could make Helena disappear from their lives for good.