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It was October 8th when Miriam Daryna Shevchenko-Pataki found herself widowed, and as she sat in the police station, preparing to be interrogated, her intoxicated mind was forced to grapple with the fact that it was her own daughter that had done it.Her daughter of twelve years, her daughter who had not yet grown out of training bras, her daughter who still wore underwear with unicorn prints and pyjamas with Care Bears on them, her daughter who's eyes were often glued to Cartoon Network, her daughter who's favorite books were Dork Diaries and Rainbow Magic because she wasn't allowed to read the mature 'grown up' books. It was that very same daughter who had shot her husband six times in the chest, leaving her widowed.She could just barely remember the events that took place, having written her foggy ramblings down in a statement. She remembered hearing arguing, screaming, and then suddenly BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG. Then came her daughter down the stairs, her side covered in blood splatter, her face drenched in tears and mucus from her panicked sobs. She remembered stumbling of the couch, trying to comfort her but being too drunk and confused to say anything of note. According to the authorities, it was a neighbor that had called the police.Now she sat in this accursed room, waiting for the reckoning. It had been nine hours, just enough time for Miriam to sober up enough to form sentences. As the burning white lights assaulted the back of her neck, the middle-aged mother of two was left twiddling with her fingers, hoping that this was all some liquor fuelled nightmare. She had these a lot when she was especially out of it, nightmarish visions of horrific magnitude. Yet, when a brunette woman in a brown shirt and khakis came in with a notebook and pen, she knew that it was all real, and she was forced to face it.The woman was strangely beautiful, with her high cheekbone, full blushed lips, and sharp jawline all complimented with dark brown freckles, arched eyebrows and piercing green eyes, she looked more like a magazine model than a detective. The sort of women Bob always compared her to.Fake Angelina Jolie was quick to take the top of her pen and open her notebook, she looked at Miriam with indifference, as if dealing with children who kill their parents was an everyday occurrence for her. She scribbled something down, though Miriam was too dazed to notice, before she then looked up at the tipsy blonde."Hello Miriam, I'm here to ask you a few questions regarding the alleged homicide that took place at your home today at approximately," she tapped her pen for a few seconds, "6am. I looked over your written statement and as established earlier today that will make up the bulk of our discussion; though just to be sure, I was made to believe you had been read your rights before I came in by Officer Grangly?"Miriam nodded."I need verbal confirmation Miriam.""... Yes.""Good," fake Angelina Jolie said before writing something down, "just in case you are not aware or may have forgotten, this entire conversation will be recorded and may be used in a court of law. I am asking for the upmost honesty from you Miriam, understood?""... Yes," Miriam muttered, "wait... how is she?""Who, Helga?" when Miriam nodded, fake Angelina Jolie stated, "she's alright, though she's very uncooperative right now. We have a duo of child psychologists who are working on her interrogation, hopefully she opens up soon."When Miriam didn't reply, fake Angelina Jolie then continued, "with that out of the way, let's begin. I am detective Angelina Sawyer, and I will be asking you a few questions regarding your statement, the general sequence of events and other information that may be relevant to the case, are you able to answer me?"If she didn't feel so numb, Miriam would have laughed at the irony of the woman actually being named Angelina, "Yes, I... can.""Good, Good... so, you stated here in your written statement that you were asleep on the couch and hadn't any clue about what was going on until you heard gun shots, could you elaborate on that please?"Miriam twiddled her fingers nervously, before taking in a deep breath, "I'd been sleeping on the... couch for a few days now, B didn't want me in the bed—""B?""Bob, my... husband," when Angelina nodded, scribbling down her notes, Miriam continued, "like I said, I'd been sleeping on the couch, B and I were having... marital problems.""How long had these marital problems been going on?"Miriam let out a hollow, humorless chuckle, "since the day we got married?""Elaborate, if you will.""Well... I got pregnant when I was nineteen, my parents forbid abortion, but they also forbid an out of wedlock baby... so they made me and B get married. I loved him, I know I did, but... we just never worked." Miriam sighed, shaking her head, "it had been getting worse lately... so I slept in the couch."Angelina diligently wrote as Miriam spoke, when the woman had finished her point, the detective was quick to ask, "so what was the relationship between you, your husband and your youngest?""What relationship?" Miriam mumbled, "we were a biological family, that was it. The last time she ever called us mom and dad was when she was a toddler."For a few minutes, the two sat in awkward silence, with Angelina simply staring at Miriam, and the latter peering at the ground. The widowed Pataki could never handle scrutiny, the peering eyes of someone judgingly. It reminded her of the many times her daughter stood at the doorway, staring as her drunk mother lay motionless on the couch. With each passing second, Miriam could feel her heart pounding faster and faster, sweat began pooling at her forehead and armpits, and her entire body began shivering."I love her," she suddenly blurted, "I love my daughter, both of them, I don't hate her.""That should be a given, considering you're her mother," Angelina dryly replied, "what makes you say this?""Because... I don't know..."It was from that point that the interrogation screeched to a staggering halt, no matter how much poking and prodding Angelina did, it seemed that Miriam's story didn't change. Now, she didn't think Miriam was consciously lying, perhaps she was being biased but she didn't believe the widow was bright enough to formulate some deep act of perjury, but she was aware that at the time of the crime (and the many days leading up to it) Miriam Pataki was in a perpetual state of drunk and or hungover, this being corroborated by statements collected from the remaining Patakis as well as those that knew them. Knowing this, there was something that the detective knew she was missing, something that Miriam was actively not providing.Maybe it was her bias that made her feel this way. Angelina had a niece, a sweet little girl no older that their perpetrator. Her niece even knew said perpetrator, often talking about her whenever Angelina could see her. She spoke of a rough girl who was quick to push people out and seldom let people in, she mentioned how everyone thought she was just a mean bully, but her niece had proof that wasn't the case, and that she knew it was all a persona. Her niece spoke of wanting to befriend the perpetrator, because even if she was as hard as stone, she knew that the girl just wanted someone she could trust.Little girls are nice like that, they want to help each other and be friends, they dream of being princesses or astronauts and argue over which Disney Princess was the best. Little girls don't shoot grown men six times in the chest, and Angelina could just tell there was something missing from the equation."You've been here for nine hours Miriam," Angelina began, "you were questioned by Officer Grangly and Officer Majors before I came here, I no longer want to know what happened, I want to know why it happened."It was subtle, but Angelina could see a sudden spike in Miriam's breathing, "I can accept that your family ties were not that strong — your eldest told us as much during her own questioning — but little girls don't just shoot their fathers six times in the chest over petty disagreements, so unless you want me to believe that you were raising a little Rhoda Penmark, I suggest you tell me what happened in that house that was so severe that it made your twelve year old daughter reach for a revolver."Yet, Miriam couldn't bring herself to say anything. It was as though she were allergic to the mere thought of it, simply recalling what happened made the back of her throat feel sore, it made her nostrils flare and her eyes swell, it made her skin burn and sickness boil in her stomach, it made her feel so dizzy that she believed she was seconds away from throwing up all over herself. Miriam clutched her sides, and as she leaned over she allowed her head to rest on the table. Yet again, Angelina simply stared at her, occasionally prodding the widow in an attempt to make her confess whatever she knew that could've pushed her preteen daughter to commit such a heinous act.This went on for about an hour, Miriam mumbling incoherent nothings against the table as Angelina tried to get her to say something, anything, that could help answer why this tragedy took place. So, it came as a surprise to Miriam when the detective stood up, and left the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Miriam never liked thinking, it was the worst part of sobriety, even through all the withdrawal, the hangovers, the illness, the weakness, the worst part of being sober was being left with her thoughts. She could see them clearly, she could hear them in her head, they weren't blurred or muffled, they weren't impossible to decipher, she was aware, and she could see. She hated every second of it.It was about fifteen minutes when someone entered the room- actually, no. It was two people.The first was Angelina, who sat back in her previous spot with a sigh, but Miriam's heart stopped when she saw who the second woman was. With red cheeks, stained with tears and mascara, smudged pink lipstick and puffy pink eyes stood the Pataki pride and joy, Olga. Her eldest sat down in front of her mother, with a packet of tissues in her left hand. Olga's hair was sprayed stiff, and on her body sat a silver, form-fitting gown. Her neck, wrists and ears all adorned immaculate jewellery. She was supposed to be accepting a local award for her role in a town musical she starred in, had it not be harshly interrupted by the events of the morning. Miriam couldn't help but notice how, even in tearful catatonia, Olga looked absolutely beautiful. She was a splitting image of her younger self, and yet there was a certain radiance that Olga possessed that Miriam never had."Mommy..." the woman sniffled, "they finally let me talk to you! I wanted to talk to baby sister but they wouldn't let me!" Olga's hiccups became louder as her body shook in anguish, "I j-just can't believe it! D-Daddy's gone and my own baby sister did it!"Angelina caressed the weeping blonde's back in an attempt to comfort her, "she was begging to speak to you, we couldn't let her near Helga for obvious reasons.""Olga..." Miriam barely uttered, yet her soft plea was overtaken by her daughter's wailing."How could she!" Olga cried, "I-I know her and daddy struggled to get along, b... but she didn't have to kill him! My daddy's dead!"It came as no surprise to Miriam how broken her eldest was. Olga was probably the only person in the world Bob respected and loved, he'd give the world for her, and she pretty much revolved around his. He hadn't even shared a fraction of that love to his youngest. For a bit, the room was only filled with Olga's loud tears as she went on and on about how distraught she was to lose her father at the hands of her own little sister. Miriam's stomach tightened as Olga's words became more bitter towards Helga. As she began mentioning her attitude, how 'ungrateful' and 'mean' she was, how jealous she behaved when her father didn't give her any attention. Olga thought Helga killed Bob out of pure spite and malice, and it made Miriam's stomach churn."The nice police man asked me if I would testify against Helga," Olga quietly said, her crying having calmed slightly, "I-I said yes."Miriam was sure the sound of her heart hitting the floor could be heard world wide, "what? Olga, she's... your sister!""And she killed my father!" Olga yelled, "she killed my father because she has a nasty temper!""Olga...""My daddy's dead because she was angry!" she screeched, "all because they had a disagreement!"Miriam shook her head, yet Olga continued, "she's my sister, but she killed my father, I can't forgive her!"Miriam felt her head spinning."I have to go the rest of my life without my father because she was bitter and angry!"Miriam shook her head even faster."She's cruel! She's cruel and nasty and crude and mean! And... and..."Miriam's lip began to shake."And she killed my father for no reason!""HE FUCKED HER!"It was in that moment that the room became so silent, that one could hear a feather land on the desk. Miriam had slammed her hands against the desk so hard that they began throbbing in pain. Her face began flooding with tears, and her breathing was so heavy it sounded like heaving, "every morning at 6am he would pick her from her room, take her to our room and fuck her on our bed," she panted, "and I would be slumped on the couch, unable to move, forced to listen to every second, every creak, every cry, every time she yelled MIRIAM! MOM!"The widow began pacing around the room, "w-whenever she left for school, I'd beg him not to do it the next morning! 'B stop it! You have a wife, fuck me instead!' but he'd tell me to shut my drunk ass up! Every morning for THREE WEEKS STRAIGHT he would fuck MY DAUGHTER instead of ME!"Miriam then fell on the floor, Angelina was quick to get up and run over to the frantic woman, "I couldn't sleep in that bed! Knowing that my husband was fucking my baby on it! And now he's dead! He's DEAD!"As Miriam's rambles began degenerating into an incoherent mess, the other two were forced to process everything she had said. Angelina's face scrunched in anger and pity for the child, her gut told her there was probably some sort of abuse going on, but it pained her to know just how far it went. She had dealt with enough of these cases that she didn't break, but she would never truly become desensitized.Olga however was completely different. The Pataki pride and joy was frozen, with a look of pure horror on her face, her pupils had dilated, and her body shook. Her hands were brought up to cover her face as she stepped back, shaking her head, "d...daddy had sex with Helga?""You can't have sex with a child Olga," Angelina bitterly muttered, "he was consistently raping her."Angelina helped Miriam back on her feet, as Olga sat down, crying out a loud, "no!" as she was reduced to tears. The detective brought her notebook closer to her, as Olga wept into her hands, muttering different variants of 'daddy no...', Angelina glared at a heavily breathing Miriam."When did the molestation of Helga begin? You said it went on for three weeks straight?"Miriam nodded, "exactly three weeks to today so... September 24th...""Elaborate," Angelina snapped, "how did you come to discover this?"Miriam paused, taking in a breath, "B had been being weird with her for a while, I think he thought I was too drunk to notice... the way he would stare at her... the way he'd talk about her growing up... it was all inappropriate...""Yet you did nothing about it?" Angelina cut in.The widow reluctantly nodded, "I remember the day... I woke up, and then I heard weird noises... I walked upstairs and looked through the door and saw it..." Miriam choked, "B was fuck—"Angelina glared."R-Raping my daughter," she managed through a held back cry, "I said 'B, what are ya doin'? She's a kid B, our kid, you can't do this B, you'll get in trouble' and he told me to get the fuck out""So what did you do after catching your husband raping your child?""I..." Miriam began crying again, except this was more subdued, quiet, "I did exactly what he told me to, I got the fuck out""NO!" Olga cried out again, "N-No!..."Angelina simply wrote it down, "so you knew about his sexual abuse and did nothing to stop it?""I-I told him not to...""You did nothing tangible," Angelina spat, before continuing, "so you said Bob did this every 6am?"Miriam nodded, "I don't know why...""So since the shots were reported to have been fired between 6:08am to 6:15am, would you assume the shooting took place during or after the assault?""Probably... B kept his revolver in the top drawer, in case someone broke in."The room was silent again. It was out now, the truth of the Pataki household was now out, Miriam had admitted it. Angelina sat as both women sobbed into their own hands, their voices laced with regret and anguish. Yet, the hardened detective felt her heart shatter when she thought of the only true victim in this entire fiasco: twelve year old Helga Pataki. Abused in the worst way possible, forced to endure it as her mother turned a blind eye, now being scrutinized for protecting herself against her abuser. Angelina couldn't imagine how afraid she must have been, knowing every morning that sick bastard would come and take any last ounce of her innocence he could, knowing that she had no one to protect her. Her heart pained at the idea of her calling to her mother for help, while her mother drowned away all the noise in booze."H-He didn't... he c-couldn't, daddy would ne- never! He... Oh God, Helga!"Olga ran to the nearest trash can, unceremoniously throwing up into it. As Angelina closed her notebook, having received all the information she needed, she stared at the widow in front of her."My baby... my baby..." she mumbled repeatedly, her eyes wide with shock, "my baby... h-he kept doing that to my baby... he did it every day..."Angelina wanted to yell, she wanted to chastise Miriam, to call her a pathetic excuse for a mother who was just as guilty for turning a blind eye, to shame her for initially caring more about Bob not fucking her as opposed to him abusing their kid, to threaten her with losing her parental rights and never being allowed to see the daughter she had failed enough. Instead, Angelina took one of Olga's tissues and handed it to the distraught woman.There would be enough time for that later.
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Victoria and Anna Reed had dealt with many cases such as this.The couple had worked in the field of child psychology for years, so it wasn't the first time they had to talk to an unresponsive, shell-shocked child after a traumatic event. There was never a formula to this, All children were different and required different approaches. Some needed to be harshly spoken to, some babied, and some they simply had to wait until they were willing to talk. They had been given the necessary details of the case: the child in question – named Helga Geraldine Pataki – had allegedly shot her father – Robert Pataki – six times in the chest, killing him almost instantly. Helga was taken to the hospital, and after the girl showed obvious discomfort around her genital areas, she had a rape kit performed on her. The test came back positive, and the doctors placed her on anaesthesia in order to check her over fully. That was when the full extent of her injuries was brought to light.Helga had severe bruising around her thighs, neck, buttocks, and vaginal area. Her body showed signs of previous internal bleeding, specifically inside her vagina and rectum, which had 'healed' naturally. They had found an untreated gash at the tip of her hairline, and though covered by her bangs, it was shown to be throbbing, possibly infected. Her ankle had sprained, only to then begin heal on its own awkwardly, explaining her limp, so they were quick to bandage her. As they found more and more bruising around her body, it became clear to everyone that whatever the girl was going through at home was unforgivable and horrific.Vicki and Anna weren't stupid, a rape kit came back positive, her genitals were injured, and her entire body had consistent bruising, specifically her lower half. Anyone with sense could put two and two together and figure out what Bob Pataki was doing to his daughter. They then assumed that this abuse was most likely the reason she had shot him. However, assuming wasn't enough, they needed Helga to actually confirm everyone's suspicions with her own words.Once Helga was checked over, she was left to rest in the hospital bed, placed on different medications due to her many ailments, and was then brought to the Hillwood City Police Station to be questioned. They had done everything they could to try and keep Helga as comfortable as possible; instead of a dreary interrogation room, they had brought her specifically to the decorated kids room, she had been given a large blanket with stars sewn onto it and placed on a giant and soft beanbag. They provided her with a sketchpad, notebook, pens, pencils and coloring pencils, as well as a tablet. Anna had even went to bring in hot chocolate, which she placed near by the girl in case she was ready to drink it.Tired, scared, and dazed from medications and painkillers, Helga simply sat in silence, gently rocking herself back and forth. Vicki and Anna didn't want to press her too much out of fear that she would completely shut down, but they had to get her to talk eventually. They had been trying to subtly encourage her to talk about, write down, or even draw her side of what had happened. However, Helga simply wouldn't budge; this went on for hours, with Vicki and Anna attempting to encourage Helga to come clean about the events of that day, and Helga simply sitting there in silence, rocking back and forth, shaking her head and grabbing at the blanket wrapped around her. The couple weren't upset with her though, this was probably the most traumatic day of her entire life, they didn't expect her to just spill her entire heart to two strangers about it.It was Vicki who then attempted to coax the girl into explaining her side again, Anna had left the room to handle an apparent report, leaving her wife with the child. The woman sat in front of her, a soft smile gracing her face, as she leaned forward and spoke gently, "Helga, are you ready to tell us what happened?"The girl shook her head.Vicki sighed, "alright, take your time dear, I'll be here."It was a few minutes later when Anna popped her head through the door, her blue eyes heavy with sadness, "Vicki, can I quickly talk to you? Angie just gave me a report."Vicki nodded, as she stood up, she made sure to reassure Helga that they would just be outside, and that they'd be back in with her eventually. Once the door was closed, Vicki shook her head, "poor dear... what did Angie tell you?""The mom broke," Anna began, "told her what had been going on, it was exactly what we'd expected, dad was raping the kid.""Oh no..." Vicki quietly mumbled, though it was already all but confirmed, it still felt horrible to know."That's not the end of it. Apparently dad had a whole schedule or set time or something just to abuse the kid, shots were fired around the time he would have been attempting to – or in the process of – raping her."As Anna's head fell, her face being covered by her dark tresses, her blonde wife could only place a hand to her chest, "so the poor thing was just trying to protect herself..."The duo stood there, knowing that getting a statement from Helga was now vital. They couldn't have the girl be charged and penalized for her actions that morning, not when she was simply keeping herself safe; it was imperative that they got the potential charges against her dropped, and with Miriam's statements alleging abuse, all they needed was for Helga to make her own statement, but how? The girl just wouldn't talk, she was so tense around the two women no matter how much they tried to show her they were safe to be around. They understood her anxiety, but they couldn't keep her here forever, and if they couldn't get anything out of her, well all it would take was for Miriam to retract her statement and she'd most likely be charged.As the two women racked their brains and thought of ways to coax Helga into a statement, a third woman walked up to where they were standing. She was a tall, pretty lady with short dark pixie-cut hair, her face had subtly applied makeup, with the only obvious part being her red lips, she wore a cute blue pantsuit that matched her cobalt earrings. In her hand she held a suitcase, and once she reached the other two, she smiled. Her smile however wasn't all too joyous, her scrunched eyebrows and bags that were just barely noticeable under her foundation indicated a melancholic politeness to it."Hello," she greeted softly, her voice heavy with sadness, "I've come to help, I believe you are questioning a Helga Pataki?""We could sure use it," Anna grumbled, "you are?""Dr. Amelia Bliss, I work closely with Helga," she replied, "I work as a child psychologist at her school and she's my most frequent visitor, when I heard it was her involved in this I came as quickly as I could, getting through those officers was a bitch."Amelia then brought up her suitcase, "I packed all of the previous work I've done with her, including drawings, statements and journal entries, I... I had been worried, she hadn't come to see me these past few weeks, I had no idea it would escalate to this..."Noticing the woman's worry, it was Anna that broke the news to her, explaining the whole situation, as well as the recently made allegations by Miriam. As she spoke, Amelia's eyes got wider, before she gasped, a hand lifting to cover her mouth."Oh my goodness, I... had no idea..." All Amelia was told was that a shooting had taken place at the Pataki home, she had never known of any sexual abuse, nor had she known it was Helga who fired the gun, "is that why she had stopped coming to see me? Was she afraid to tell me? Oh my God..."A wave of guilt flooded the woman, whilst she couldn't force kids to come and see her, she wondered if she could have put an end to this if only she had followed up on Helga's failures to turn up, maybe if she had pressed the girl to come and visit her more she would have mentioned her home situation and this could have all been avoided. She had dealt with this before, and it was horrific each time, yet this was hitting her a lot harder. She thought that maybe it was because she admittedly had a closer relationship with Helga than other kids she was dealing with, maybe it was because Helga was showing real progress before it all came crumbling around her.Realizing that self pity wasn't going to get her anywhere, Amelia cleared her throat, pat down her shirt and straightened her posture, "her lack of cooperation may have something to do with you two being strangers," she began, "I struggled getting her to open up myself, and it takes a while to gain her trust, no doubt this fiasco has made it worse... I'll talk to her, just me and her. I suggest you two stay here, I'll write down all that I am given."The two looked at each other, realizing they had no other options, they nodded, "alright, I hope you're right..." Vicki quietly prayed.Amelia nodded, before she slowly opened the door, closing it just as carefully. She walked over to Helga, who was still staring at the ground and rocking herself, "hello Helga, it's lovely to see you again, are you doing alright? Do you need anything?"Helga turned her head, and Amelia almost broke down. She had never seen such a pitiful sight, the girl looked beyond sickly, with dark circles under her eyes and bruising on her jaw and right eye. She was frail, and she shivered as if she were in perpetual cold, her skin was a crude yellow, and her bloodshot eyes were lidded from exhaustion and medicated daze. She had — for whatever reason — been redressed into her pyjamas from that incident, which were torn and stained with blood, whilst also stinking of what could have been urine.There was one positive however, when Helga saw the woman, her tense shoulders began to relax, her grip on the blanket had ever-so slightly softened, and her curled up legs loosened up again. It was barely noticeable, but it was clear being in the presence of Dr. Bliss had calmed her down a bit, most likely due to familiarity."Dr... Bliss?"Amelia nodded, "yes, it's just me Helga," she replied, "when I heard that it was you that was in here I came as quickly as I could, I was worried, are you in need of anything? I can go and get it if you'd like."Helga shook her head, "n-no, I'm... fine...""No you're not, and that's okay Helga," she said gently, she wanted to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but she doubted the victimized girl wanted any physical contact right then, "it must be awful in this room.""It is," Helga mumbled, "it feels so... patronizing...""How so, if I may ask?"A shaky exhale left the young blonde, "I dunno... the paintings... the decorations... it makes me feel like a dumb kid," she then groaned, "but I'm... not a dumb kid..."Amelia nodded, knowing their conversation was probably being recorded, she didn't feel the need to write down every detail, instead, she decided to just talk to Helga for now. She relaxed her own posture, hoping it made Helga in turn feel more relaxed, "I get what you mean, it all feels more appropriate for a toddler, huh?""Yeah," Helga began, before she lowered her head. For a few minutes there was no communication, though Amelia's heart dropped when she heard what sounded like sniffles coming from Helga, "I shouldn't be here... why did I do that... I lied, I am a dumb kid...""No you aren't," She reassured, "it's alright, you'll be out of here soon enough. I assume they told you how much they need your statement?"Helga nodded, "I... don't want to talk to them... I don't know them... if I tell them what he did, it's weird..."Amelia yet again nodded, coming forward about sexual assault was already hard enough as it is, she couldn't imagine being a child and being asked to tell two strangers intimate details of said assault, "I get that, hopefully you feel comfortable saying so soon, the sooner you're out of here, the better—""I want to tell you."Amelia was stunned, this being shown by the obvious surprise in her face, "huh?"Helga exhaled, her shivering fingers holding awkwardly onto the blanket that covered, "I know y-you're just a therapist or whatever... you just do your job, you probably don't care that much... b-but like the idiotic person I am, I actually trust you for some reason, even if I'm just a pay day at the end of it all... so I want to tell you about it."In that moment, the woman was sure she would have shed a tear or two, but she was able to keep herself stoic and professional, not wanting to overload Helga with anymore emotions. She took in a breath, before smiling at the reluctant tween, "if you truly want to, I'll be happy to listen; but I want you to know that I do care, even if you think I don't, and... I promise to be here with you through it all."She knew the risks about making such a promise, especially to a child in Helga's position, but she meant it. Who exactly did Helga have? Her useless mother and neurotic sister? No, Amelia would be there, it was least she could for failing Helga these last few weeks.Helga blinked, before just barely choking out a, "thank you..."They were in silence again, with Helga preparing herself to speak. These last three weeks had been nothing short of nightmarish, she was in so much pain constantly, she felt fear pit in her stomach and no matter what she did she couldn't bring herself to mention it to anyone. She couldn't even use the bathroom normally anymore, it hurt to much that she would hold it in for as long as she could, only to use it when she couldn't any longer, ironically enough that would make it hurt the most. She hadn't slept properly in so long, she was always kept up by the looming terror of him standing at the edge of her bed, picking her up and carrying her to his bedroom.The worst part of it all was that she felt so dirty. She felt so nasty, gross, disgusting, she couldn't even look at herself in the mirror without feeling the urge to throw up. No matter how many showers she took, no matter how much deodorant she put on, no matter how often she changed her clothing and underwear or washed her hair, she felt so perpetually filthy. She wondered if it was because..."He said he could smell it on me," Helga blurted out, startling Amelia. Her voice was hollow, absolute, "he said he could smell that I wanted it, he said that's why I always argued with him, because I was teasing him, do I smell?" Helga asked, her voice soft, fearful.The only thing you smell of is urine, how cruel of them to put you back in these clothes! Is what Amelia wanted to say, but she shook her head. Helga then looked down, "he said I was growing up, that I had hips now... it was all so gross..." she quietly let out, "I don't think he was sober, his breath smelt like Miriam's stuff, but more bitter, maybe it was stronger... I don't know..."Amelia watched as Helga shuffled in her spot, "I thought that was it, maybe he was so drunk he somehow thought I was Miriam, even though he clearly acknowledged it was me, whatever Helga, get over it, it's not like it'll happen again... but then it kept happening!"The girl stomped her foot, her eyes welling up and her cheeks flushing, "h-he kept doing it again and again a-and again and—"As the girl began to hyperventilate, Amelia was quick to take her by the hands, "breathe Helga, remember; in through the mouth, hold for five seconds, out through the nose, exhale for five seconds. Breathe, it'll be okay, just breathe..."The girl struggled, her eyes had dilated, and her face had contorted into a look of terror, and yet, despite her triggered state, she could just barely hear what Dr. Bliss was saying. Oh yes, the breathing exercises, she had taught them to her after a particularly nasty fit of rage — breathe through the mouth, hold for five seconds, then inhale for five seconds. Inhale, hold, exhale. Inhale, hold, exhale. Inhale, hold, exhale. Inhale...It took a while, the panic attack was strong, but Amelia made sure to keep a firm hold of Helga's hand, to keep reassuring her that she was safe here, to try and keep her grounded. Her breathing was less erratic, but she had been reduced to quiet sobs. Helga had never been a loud crier, her crying had always been quiet, near mute. Instead of wails, it was as if she were coughing up pieces of her lungs when she cried, the sound occasionally interrupted by a sudden inhale of air."I-I... I..." she struggled, trying to push the words out, "I couldn't le- let it h-happen again, when he... w-when he brought me to- to the room I wrest- wrestled out of his hold... I w-wouldn't let him h-have- have sex with me- m-me again..."Amelia shook her head, "don't word it like that dear. Sex is supposed to be a pleasurable activity between two consenting people, particularly adults. Your father — an adult — forcing you — a child — to do it is not sex, that is rape, he assaulted you, and I'm sorry that no one stopped it."Helga was quiet, though she nodded in response to what the woman had said, she didn't want Helga thinking this is how actual sex worked, she didn't want her growing up to think what her father did to her was normal, or acceptable in any way. Helga's eyes wondered, breaking contact with Amelia, "I thr- threw things — any- anyth- thing at him, then I remembered the g-gun, he put it in th top- t-top drawer... I g-grabbed it and- and sh-shot him- him, he w-was running at m-me," the last word came out as a sob, "I did- didn't w-want to ki- kill him! He was g-gonna hurt me! He was gonna hurt me!"As the girl began crying even harder, Amelia could only mutter soft apologies and reassurances that it was all going to be okay, he used a thumb to caress the palm of her hand, simply letting the girl cry as much as she needed to. After a few minutes, she looked down at her."Would you like a hug?"In a near instant, Helga nodded, and the older woman pulled her in for an embrace, firmly holding the weeping child as she flooded her pantsuit.They stayed like that for what Amelia felt was an hour, maybe more. At no point did Helga calm down, how could she be calm in this situation? Though her crying had began to settle, soon becoming gentle hiccups, with her body unable to produce more tears. She pulled back from Amelia, with the older woman using her sleeves to wipe the girl's face. Helga sat back in her spot, her head once again, "I wanna go home..." she mumbled, "but not back there... not to that house... not to them..."Amelia simply watched as Helga quietly hiccupped to herself, cuddling into the blanket and trying to soothe herself. The psychologist stood up, telling Helga that she would be right back, and that she just needed to talk to someone quickly. When she left the room, Amelia sighed in relief to see that Vicky and Anna were still standing there. The walls were thin and the door was plastic, and if their faces were anything to go by, they had heard everything, "so... I got the statement, it was all recorded?""Yes, it's been recording since we brought her in here," Vicky replied, "I'll be sending every piece of evidence to the prosecutor tonight, hopefully they make the right decision and drop any potential charges against her..."Anna sighed, "she can't go back to the Patakis, but she can't stay here either, and I doubt she'd do well in a foster home... shit, know anyone else that could take her in?"Her wife tilted her head, "huh? I mean, I don't want her to, but why can't she go back to her mom? She wasn't doing anything to her, was she?""No, but due to both Helga's current state and the fact that they're thinking of bringing Miriam Pataki up on neglect and abuse charges, we've been advised to keep the girl away from her family for now."Amelia could only glare at the ground, "good, they need to stay far from her... wait..."She looked up at the two, her brown eyes glistening with an idea, the corners of her lips curling into a hopeful smile."Do you think I could take her in?"It came as a surprise to absolutely no one when the charges of manslaughter against twelve-year-old Helga Geraldine Pataki were dropped.The case had become a major case in the press, though that was expected; of course once the media learned of a case of a little girl killing her father they latched on to it like flies to dung. For at least a few days, the details of the case were relatively obscure, all the people knew was that she shot her dad, and the charges got dropped because the prosecutor deemed her actions as self defence. It should have stayed that way, allowing this case to fade into obscurity, granting Helga and the rest of Hillwood anonymity as they grappled with this harrowing case, but of course it couldn't, because leeches needed to be fed regularly.Someone in law enforcement had leaked the recorded questionings to the press, and whilst Olga's proved to be fairly uninteresting (she spent most of it crying and going on about how much she'd miss her dad), it was Helga and Miriam's that truly shook the world, blowing up the shooting of Bob Pataki from a state-wide news story to a nationwide story. The videos of Helga Pataki hyperventilating as she recalled the horrors of October 8th and Miriam Pataki breaking down and confessing that she knew of the abuse inflicted on her child were played on every news station, true crime blogs, podcasts and content creators were spreading it, discussing it and bringing more attention to it. In less than a week practically every newspaper had a picture of a hysterical Miriam or a panicking Helga, all of which had headlines such as "HE F* HER." or "HE WAS GONNA HURT ME."It began trending nonstop, with people all across America — and some abroad — outraged that Helga had even been charged in the first place. Once the recordings were leaked, it became free game, and more and more information about October 8th was spread through the media. People discovered that Helga had been dressed back into her filthy pyjamas the second she had discharged from the hospital, and the anger was even stronger when people found out that she had gone to the police station the same day, having spent little time in the hospital despite her injuries. The hospital was heavily criticized for not putting her in a clean set of clothes, and not giving her at least a few days to rest and heal. The loud judgement got so bad that they were forced to release a public apology, claiming they would free the Pataki family of any hospital bills they may have had.It was then Child Protective Services that was next on the public lynching agenda. It had become apparent that the Pataki family were flagged multiple times for alleged mistreatment, so much so that Helga was even classified as an 'at risk' child. Yet, nothing was done. Despite the many reports, despite them flagging her specifically, Helga was still allowed to stay within the home. The neglect was apparent, her last dentist appointment was reported to have been when she was three, and the only vaccine she ever got was a flu shot when she was five. Even with that knowledge, Helga was kept in the care of her parents.Then it was Helga's school and Olga that were targeted. People wondered how on earth none of them were able to notice that something was going on, how did no one notice that Helga rarely brought more to eat at school than a few apple slices? How had no one noticed her bruises and injuries, how had no one picked up in her worrying change of behavior? How had her own sister, who claimed to love and take care of her, not noticed the years worth abuse that kept escalating and escalating until it became sexual? Either they were blissfully negligent or criminally apathetic, and when people started showing up to the school in outrage, they had to close for a week or two for the safety of the students.No one however, not the hospital, not CPS, not the school, and not Olga, had faced as much vitriol and hatred as Miriam Pataki.Robert was dead, killed by the hands of the child he had victimized, and though the people hated him deeply, they couldn't exact vengeance for what he had done. Miriam however was still alive, and from her poor phrasing in the interview, to her admitting she turned a blind eye, the day her interrogation was leaked was the day America crowned her as the worst mother of all time. No one could wrap their head around it, how a mother could see her own baby being abused, and simply turn around, walk away, and pour herself a glass of liquor. She became the target of all their outrage, almost as if she were a stand-in for Bob. People stood outside the Pataki home, screaming curses and expletives, praying that both her and her late husband would rot in hell. When people found out she no longer lived there, they tried to find wherever she was — they had been unsuccessful, but once she was discovered, there would be hell to pay.She was all the people would talk about, they wanted her to pay, if Bob couldn't be punished then they wanted Miriam to be punished in his place. They talked about her rampant alcoholism, how she stood by her abusive husband no matter, they raged upon finding out that she had known about was going on since day one and did nothing to stop it. Miriam had reportedly never harmed Helga, she had never hit, partook in Bob's abuse, or even yelled at her, but that didn't matter. Her flagrant neglect and facilitating of the abuse — even if she herself didn't do it — was enough to brandish her as just as guilty in the court of public opinion, so it was majorly celebrated when her parental rights to Helga were brought into question, and when rumors of a case of neglect was brought up against her, the social sphere celebrated, hoping she would one day face the music.Through all of this, Helga had been trying to recover.She had made little to no progress, but the attempt was there. It was a blessing when the state had placed her in the care of Amelia Bliss, she couldn't go back to Miriam and the courts didn't trust that Olga would keep her away from her mother, so all it took was a few signed documents for Dr. Bliss to become her foster mother. Helga was kept home from school, with Amelia encouraging her to do just a little bit of studying a day so she wouldn't fall too far behind. The girl distracted herself by using her school work, she rarely spoke, only if it were to ask for something to eat, and she couldn't be left home alone without having a panic attack. She frequently suffered from nightmares, and it had gotten so bad that Amelia began sleeping beside the girl in the guest room instead. When she wasn't doing school work, she was laying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Any sense of the Helga Pataki Amelia knew was gone, replaced by a scared, hurt little girl that had a long road ahead of her.It pained Amelia to see, but she believed in Helga. She'd make it through, and Amelia would be there every step of the way.
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It had been three weeks since the shooting of Bob Pataki, and yet for the people of Hillwood, it felt like it had happened just yesterday.This was understandable, Hillwood was such a quiet place, with nothing of this magnitude ever happening there before. The most intense news to come out of Hillwood in the last few months had been a burglary at a local thrift store, that was how mundane and uneventful life was there. In fact, that was why the initial shooting was so unbelievable, the people couldn't even understand why Bob had a gun in the first place, Hillwood wasn't the sort of place where people even needed to own guns, because it was that safe there.Another reason why it hit so hard was because Hillwood was small, with less than a few hundred people living there, it was by far one of the smallest cities in America. Everyone knew each other, everyone was on relatively good terms, the kids could go to anyone's home. There was underlining trust that came with living in Hillwood, trust that was broken when the dirty underbelly of the Pataki household was exposed to the entire world. Everyone knew Bob Pataki, every kid in Hillwood got their first phone from the since reinvented Electronics Emporium, everyone knew who Olga was, Miriam was once rather popular around the area in her youth, and every kid knew Helga, even the ones that attended different schools. So when it came out just how dysfunctional and horrifically abusive their home was, no one knew what to think.Sure, they weren't perfect, but they would have never thought it was that bad. If the successful Pataki family were that twisted, how could anyone trust that their neighbors weren't harboring some equally as depraved skeletons in their closets? Suddenly, going to strangers' homes was less encouraged, sleepovers had come to a screeching halt, jobs were conveniently doing stricter background checks. Some people didn't get it, this was a family issue, a father abusing his child, how did it affect anyone else? However, in such times of trauma, logic was the last thing that was on people's mind. Parents were no longer taking their children's word for it when they claimed they were at a friend's house, now they had to know the friend's parents personally or they were to come straight home.Parents tried to hide the details from their kids, especially the ones that knew Helga; they didn't want their children to learn the horrific details of what was happening to their friend, they didn't want their children to know how evil people were capable of being. They tried to sit their children down, explaining sex-ed and consent, as well as what do when they felt violated, how to report it if they felt someone they knew was being violated, and what sort of people to avoid. Schools began running PSAs on sexual assault, bullying and general abuse, as well as having law enforcement come in and talk with them. They began increasing in school therapy sessions, as well as advertising other forms of counselling available for youth.At the end of it all though, in this new age of social media and smartphones, it only took a day or two for the entirety of PS. 118 to know exactly what happened in the Pataki home.They were children, not truly getting the severity of it, not really understanding the how or the why. Yet, it still hurt them to know; when school was back on after the two week suspension, girls began actively avoiding the boys in school, gathering in groups during recess and lunch and not wanting to be near them. The boys of course didn't get, they had done nothing wrong, and the guy that did do something wrong was dead, so why were the girls treating them like dangerous animals? In all honesty the girls didn't know, they were aware that their boy friends were safe, weren't dangerous, weren't predators, and yet they still couldn't bring themselves to be alone with them, not right now.Before this incident, sex was seen as scandalous, the boys were just discovering what Playboy magazines were and how porn sites worked. They often joked about it, making crude comments that the girls would chastise them for, occasionally they would talk about which girls they would have sex with if they could. Sex was a joke, a thing that they would one day experience, but as of now they spent their days fantasizing about and watching or reading. Now, it couldn't even be mentioned without everyone feeling uncomfortable, the sex-ed lessons that usually had the kids laughing and joking in had them shuffling with unease in their seats, desperate for it to be over. When boys made inappropriate comments about them, the girls used to just scoff and call them pervs, now it scared them, they'd report it, and the boy would actually be penalized for it. It had changed the very dynamic of how the school worked, everyone was shaken, everyone was afraid.But none of them were as affected as Helga's friends.Well, before this incident, many wouldn't even call themselves Helga's friends, but they knew her best, it only felt right. They couldn't even describe how they felt, many didn't know, it came with this empty feeling of shock, bewilderment, confusion. They had seen her the day before, she seemed like regular Helga, if not slightly more tense. Knowing that all of her abnormal behavior in the weeks leading up to the shooting were a result of her being raped every morning before school made them feel sick, it made some dizzy, the girls that knew her even cried when they found out, they couldn't believe it, and the boys... they didn't know what to think, or how to feel.They'd often sit together, sex segregated, as they spent the next few days talking about it. They never knew what to say, but they also didn't want to be silent. They couldn't talk about it to any adults, Dr. Bliss was on leave, and they didn't want to talk to the man that was temporarily replacing her. It was all so confusing, it didn't make sense, why did this happen?Phoebe was the one everyone kept an eye on in the aftermath of it all, that was Helga's best friend, they had been close for many years, to the point where the Heyerdahls had pretty much turned half of Phoebe's room into a Helga sleepover spot. They told each other everything, were with each other everyday, and would spend most of their day texting if they couldn't see each other in person. How was she coping? How did she feel knowing her best friend was being abused in the worst possible way right under her nose?The answer was simple, she wasn't.Phoebe was hurt, she was scared and worried. When school came back on, it took a few days for Phoebe to start attending again, and when she did she looked rugged, tired, and ill. Her skin was pale and ashy, her hair was scraggly and unkept, let loose and barely touched. Her once carefully ironed clothing was now bumpy and folded, with her having clearly picked up the nearest bit of clothing and put it on. She no longer diligently took notes or handed in homework, even being called out for being on her phone or napping in class. She rarely talked to other students, and would run home the second school was over. She had spent the weeks since the incidents trying — and failing — to contact Helga. Her stomach twisted and flipped when she thought of her friend and how she was doing. Whenever she went to Dr. Bliss' home, the woman would claim that Helga was doing better day by day, but she simply wasn't ready to talk to anyone just yet. Phoebe wanted to understand, she wanted to get where Helga was coming from, but she just couldn't.Weren't they best friends? Soul sisters? Why didn't Helga trust Phoebe enough to tell her what was happening? Why did she not want Phoebe by her side as she recovered? It made Phoebe feel like she hadn't been a good enough friend, and she couldn't make up for it because Helga was actively shutting herself off from her. She texted her daily but never got a reply, with the messages never being read, all her calls went immediately to voicemail, and through all of this she had expected to just attend school like nothing happened.Everyone tried to act like it was okay, like Phoebe should just get over it, as if Phoebe was being dramatic. It made the girl feel like she was going insane, and she wondered if she should just pretend to be too ill to attend school.Her current state wasn't to dissimilar to that of Arnold Shortman, Helga's boyfriend.They'd only been together for a few months when the incident happened, and before Bob's assaults started, it had been going well. It was your typical tween romance, they went to food spots and ice cream parlors together, they'd go to Gerald Field and play baseball together or just spend time enjoying each other's company, when they weren't with their best friends in school they were together, talking, laughing, having fun. After school Helga would come to the Sunset Arms and they would do homework and study together. They held hands, would hug, and shared the softest little fleeting kisses. These past few months had been grand, and some of the happiest for both parties.Then Helga started acting funny.She didn't want to spend time with anyone, especially not Arnold. At recess and lunch she would lock herself in the bathroom and only come out when it was time for class, and even in class she didn't pay attention, and seemed lost. She'd become increasingly jumpy, never wanting to be touched in any way. She never let Arnold hug her, kiss her, or even hold her hand anymore. She wasn't nearly as talkative as she usually was, in fact she rarely spoke at all now. Her movement became strange too, she walked with a strange limp and always had her back slightly hunched, whenever she stood up or sat down, Arnold noticed that she would slightly wince, tightening her face, sometimes even muttering an 'ow' if she sat down too quickly. Not only that, but her voice had also changed, it sounded raspy and sore, as if she had been screaming, it was so worrying that Mr. Simmons thought she may have had some sort of infection, but Helga kept insisting it was just something puberty related.Arnold didn't get why she was being so strange, he even feared that she was getting tired of their relationship already. He'd thought of many reasons for her to be this way; his mother told him her issues with sitting, standing and crouching may have something to do with menstrual cramps, "she's at that age," she said, "it's most likely cramps, she might not have any pain killers to soothe 'em." This stopped making sense after two weeks, Arnold had paid enough attention in sex-ed to know that periods don't last that long. Now he wondered if she was sick, the Patakis were neglectful, that much he knew, so maybe she just needed someone to take her to the hospital; but she showed no real signs of illness, just pain. He became more and more worried as the days went by, and when Helga began crying when Arnold told her it was getting late and his parents said she had to go home, he knew that he needed to find out what was up with his girlfriend.But now he knew, and part of him wished he had stayed ignorant.Finding out Helga's situation made him feel emotions he never paid any mind to; he was furious, he wished he was the one that shot Bob, he wished the man was alive so he could somehow do something to him, he wished he'd had the chance to stomp on his lifeless body, or had the chance to deal the finishing blow. He felt weak, Helga was being abused daily and he had done nothing to stop it, aren't boyfriends supposed to protect their girlfriends? It didn't occur to him that he was just a kid, and there was really nothing he could do, he still felt like a failure of a boyfriend. He felt sad, knowing how much pain and anguish Helga had been going through, and how little support or protection she was granted made Arnold feel viscerally ill, she didn't deserve it, no one did, and it hurt to know she was going through it. He felt an odd pride, he was proud of Helga for shooting the bastard, it angered him that she was even put in a position that she had to, but it made him happy that she didn't hesitate to shoot six rounds in him, it was what he deserved.There was one more emotion however, one that he buried deep inside, one that he felt nine layers of shame for allowing himself to feel: jealousy.He knew he shouldn't be jealous, he knew the gravity of it all, he knew how badly this had physically and psychologically damaged her, but he felt it no matter how hard he tried not to. The thought of Bob stripping her, touching her in that way, doing that to her... as angry, furious, and utterly enraged it made him feel, underneath it all, he was jealous. He felt like such a disgusting creature for feeling that way, his girlfriend was raped by her father and he had the nerve to be jealous? He coped by chalking it up to tween hormones, he was only feeling this way because he was at the brink of puberty and because of that his idiot puberty brain told him another man had done something sexual with his girlfriend. Said idiot puberty brain didn't care that it was rape, because said idiot puberty brain couldn't be reasoned with. He'd grow out of it, he wasn't actually like that, he swore.Everyone noticed the change in Arnold's demeanor, as understanding as they were of it, they were still worried. He'd become real quiet, as most of them had, but he had also become less patient in the weeks following October 8th; situations where he'd usually keep his cool and move one had him yelling at people, something he never did. He never laughed at jokes, and wasn't eager to hang out with his friends, in fact he straight up didn't hang out with his friends. His parents had noticed it too, as had his grandparents. He was more argumentative now, he'd lock himself in his room all day and only come out if he needed to eat or use the bathroom. He found himself gathering tardys more often, sauntering into classes as though he'd rather be anywhere but there, and whenever someone tried to talk to him — even Gerald — he'd either tell them to go away, or shut up.It all came to a head one day when, during an argument with a boy on his team in gym class, Arnold turned around and punched a wall, hard enough to dent it. This turned everyone's worries up to a maximum, Arnold never got angry and he certainly never got violent, with every passing day he found himself kept away from Helga and knowing her current state, the boy was deteriorating in front of everyone. His parents were informed, they were told to sign him up for counselling or therapy, the school tried to get him to join special clubs and talk to Dr. Bliss' stand-in, but it didn't work. Arnold didn't want to, he just wanted Helga, he wanted to hug her and hold and help her, but whenever he went to visit, Dr. Bliss would just tell him that she wasn't ready for visitors.The whole class was forced to watch as Helga's closest companions mentally crumbled in front of them. If them simply knowing what happened to her hurt them this badly, they couldn't imagine how Helga must have been feeling having suffered through it."Helga, would you mind if I come in?"Helga lay in bed, with the Sunday of the third week since October 8th, and as she spent most days since moving in with Amelia, she had been napping for most of it. She had finished her school work shortly after breakfast, and went straight to her room to sleep. She hadn't felt very conscious since leaving the police station, all the days had merged into one, time barely had a meaning for her anymore. It could have been three weeks or three years, she couldn't tell. Helga also realized that she hadn't really been thinking lately either; it was weird, she had done her school work, and according to the grading scheme she did well on it all, yet she couldn't remember what any of her work had been or how long it had take to complete, or even that she had done it. Her mind felt empty, and when she wasn't having flashbacks and nightmares, she felt like she wasn't feeling or thinking at all.Upon hearing Amelia's voice, Helga grumbled an okay, and watched as the older woman walked in. Living with Dr. Bliss — who's name she had found out was Amelia — made her notice a lot of things about her. When she wasn't in her well kept pantsuits, she preferred to wear flowing sundresses and sweaters with large pants. She only wore makeup to work or special occasions, and would go out and about with a completely bare face. Her foundation hid natural freckles that were dotted all over, and when she wasn't being professional, she was very bubbly, and a tad excitable. The woman walked in holding a wrapped up box. she had on a two piece blue pyjama set made up of a top and a pair of shorts, on top she wore a cream colored dressing gown and on her feet she wore grey bunny slippers."I had ordered us some pizza, mostly because I burnt dinner," that was another thing about Amelia, she couldn't cook. It was ironically the one thing she had in common with Miriam, "and Arnold came over."Arnold, she felt her heart jump at the mention of his name. She missed him, she missed him so much that it made her want to cry. She wished she was holding him right now, but the thought of facing him brought her so much anxiety that it almost triggered an attack. She wanted to see him, but she wasn't ready to. She wasn't ready to see any of them.Amelia sat at the edge of her bed, "instead of asking to see you, he handed me this box and said that he had worked on a gift for you, I don't know what's inside, I wanted it to be a surprise for you."Helga sat up, her head tilted in curiosity, a gift? A gentle blush made its way onto her face, of course Arnold would make a gift for her even as she avoided him, he was just that sweet. With a soft 'here ya go,' Amelia handed the box to Helga; it had been wrapped in light pink wrapping paper that had bows printed on it and a 'For Helga' written on a tag attached. She tore the paper slowly, she had begun to get her strength back, but Amelia still struggled to get her to eat regularly, so Helga was still very frail. Luckily, the box hadn't been taped, so once most of the wrapping was off, Helga was able to just open it. Inside it were two things, a letter and a stuffed toy.Helga lifted the toy, with Amelia taking the letter as she did so. The toy was clearly homemade, it lacked branding and there was the occasional stitch mistake here and there; it was an animal of sorts, most likely a reptilian, that was created using yellow felt and pink string, the animal hand for legs, and a long tail and snout, as well as a long, pink felt tongue sewn to the tip of said snout. On the top of its head as a bow that as also made from felt and stuffed with cotton, only to be placed on top. For it's eyes, they had been cutely made using felt, and consisted of white circles for the eyes, blue circles for the irises, and three black rectangles on the side of each eye for the eyelashes. It took Helga a few seconds, but once she had processed what she was looking at, the girl hunched forward, and quiet sobs began to resonate within the room.Noticing this, Amelia immediately went on the alert, "huh? are you okay? You can tell me!"Helga shook her head, "n-no, I'm- I'm fine, it's just..." she sniffled, hugging the plush close to her chest, "it's a moni- monitor lizard, my fa- favorite animal... it's a monitor li- lizard that looks like me..."When she looked down, Amelia hummed in realization. From the yellow felt akin to her blonde hair, to the blue eyes and even down to the bow, the stuffed toy did resemble Helga. She snuggled up to the toy, only to look up at her foster mother, "can you read the letter to me, please?"With a nod, Amelia looked down at it, "Dear Helga, Grandma and I wanted to make you something to cheer you up, so we thought you'd like a cute plushy. We went with a monitor lizard because I remember you said they were your favorite and you wanted one as a pet. Grandma did most of the sewing, I tried but I pricked myself a bunch of times! I ended up designing it, I think it's cute because it looks like you, I hope you like it, and I can't wait to see you soon! Love, Arnold (and Gertie!)"Helga could only happily sigh, sliding back into the bed as she held the plush so tight that one would think it would fly away. As she caressed this toy, for the first time since the incident, she felt... happy. She felt calm, she felt safe. She cuddled the plush lizard, and with each squeeze, she felt her mind ease, she was finally thinking a real thought, one that had layers, she felt like her mind was working. Arnold, the love of her life, the one person that brought her happiness, tranquillity, and a reason to keep going had made her a special gift in hopes that it would improve her mood. Even with her ignoring him, avoiding him, and not letting him near her, he cared enough about her to disregard that and make her something precious, because he wanted to help her situation, if only a little bit.She loved him. She truly did."I'm gonna name her Minnie," Helga said softly, a rare smile gracing her lips, "because she's like a mini me."Amelia smiled, her heart warming when she saw how genuinely happy Helga was. She hadn't Helga like this in so long. She placed a hand on top of her head, pat it gently and said, "that's a lovely name. Oh, I think that's the pizza."She hopped up when she heard the doorbell, "are you ready to eat some?"The girl nodded, sliding out of bed and walking up to her foster mother, her face still beaming from the toy. Amelia pulled her into her side, hugging her, only for the two to exit the room and descend down the stairs together.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Amelia was petrified.She liked to believe she had every reason to be, today was Helga's first day back at school since October 8th. It had been over a month, and in that month the girl hadn't left the house. Helga had regained her a lot of her strength, and thanks to her stitches healing — as well as her medication — using the bathroom wasn't as much of a hassle as it used to be. However, she was still underweight and struggled with eating or intense movement, not only that but her anxiety hadn't improved much since the incident. Amelia wasn't sure if the girl was ready to go back, but she had insisted on it. Helga was beginning to really miss school, as well as talking to her friends, so after some convincing, Amelia allowed her to start going.It was going to be a steady reintroduction to the school environment, Helga was given permission to arrive at school later and leave earlier as to avoid her getting stuck in large crowds of students, this was to avoid triggering her anxiety, she was allowed to not take part in classes such as gym, the locker room experience was not something she was yet comfortable with, and she didn't have the physical strength to begin doing sports and the like as she used to. They had recommended having a counsellor stay with Helga, but Amelia knew that even in her traumatized state, the girl wouldn't want some grown up watching her every move in an attempt to 'look after her'. She had also been given two passes, a bathroom pass and an outside pass, both allowing her to leave the classroom if needed.Amelia had tried her best to make sure everything was sorted for her, the faculty that worked closest with Helga were informed of ways to go about managing their lessons to best accommodate her, since Helga would be entering their classes later, they were told to let their students know in advance, and most importantly tell them not to stare at her when she does come in; they were informed of the medical and psychological issues she had since developed since the incident, how she would likely take multiple bathroom breaks throughout each lesson, or how loud noises or distressing topics may trigger a panic attack. Her male teachers especially were warned against being too imposing on her, this included yelling at her, being too stern and even standing over her.The woman had done a lot of shopping in advance, buying her new clothes and stationary, as well as foods to help pack her a large enough lunch. She didn't want Helga going back to school as if she were still living with the Patakis, she wanted it to be different, better. It wasn't perfect, and she knew her first day would be stressful, scary, and unfamiliar, but if Amelia could even slightly minimize the stress of returning to school, she would do that.She had yet to go back to work, still on leave, but she was allowed to stay on the school premises, just in case anything happened and Helga needed her. As she drove the two of them towards PS. 119, the two sat in silence, simply listening as the radio played whatever was number one that week.Helga was sat in the back, hunched over, tightly holding Minnie to her chest; she had become so attached to the stuffed lizard since she had gotten it, but it made her happy, so Amelia saw no issue. Helga wore a long sleeved pink shirt with white stripes on it, she wore large jeans that had hearts sewn onto them all around, and cuffed ankles, she wore white socks with flowers and a pair of pink sneakers on her feet. On her neck sat her locket that she refused to take off, and on her hands were beaded bracelets they made as a part of a bonding activity. Instead of pigtails, her hair was left loose, her ribbon tied around her head into a bow on top of it. She wasn't wearing it in the car, but she had also gotten a new coat, it was a pretty ivory jacket with fur on the hood and on the inside, the few times she had worn it had been incredibly cosy.She looked innocent and cute, and though she didn't feel innocent and cute, at least she looked the part.Amelia had gotten her a new backpack, so she wouldn't have to use the same unicorn one from preschool. It was a yellow backpack with flower print all over it, Amelia thought it was too big but Helga liked the size of it, she felt like she could fit the whole world inside of it. It wasn't very heavy, all Helga had brought with her was a ruler, calculator, a pen and pencil set, some coloring pencils and her pink journal, it wasn't like she needed a lot of stuff with her anyway. Amelia was purposefully in no rush, she wasn't necessarily driving slowly, but she also didn't dash them to school, so Helga spent the trip looking out of the window and or thinking of how she was going to get through her day.Her biggest fear was questioning. She didn't want them asking her about the incident, what happened, how it happened, why it happened... she'd rather them pretend it didn't happen at all. She also didn't want to be patronized, she knew she was broken, tainted, but she didn't want them all to act like it, she didn't want them to glance at her and then whisper to their friends, or give her looks of pity. She knew her life was ruined, and that there was no going back, but she'd rather them not act that way. She had always been different, but now it was noticeable, now they had a known reason to separate her from all the innocent, normal girls. She felt in her heart that she wasn't ready to experience that, but...She wanted to see her friends.It was an odd dichotomy. She felt like she couldn't face them, that looking into their eyes would trigger an anxiety attack, but she missed them. She wanted to see Phoebe, and Arnold, even the likes of Gerald and Rhonda. She missed Rhonda's pompous ramblings, she missed Lila's out-of-touch optimism, she even missed Harold and his stupidity. Most of all, she missed the mundane normalcy of being around them, simply being near them made her feel like things were back to normal, even if she knew they weren't, even if she knew they would never be.She was scared, terrified, in absolute terror of facing them all again, but she had to, because she wanted to feel normal again and that couldn't happen if she didn't have the routine of being around them.It wasn't long until Amelia's car came to a stop outside of PS. 118, Helga checked the time on her phone, it was 9:15am, so class had already started. She sighed, at least the hallways would be empty. Amelia got out first, holding the door and helping Helga out of the car; her ankle had since healed, but her mobility was still in need of recovery, so the woman often helped her with sudden movements. Once she was out of the car, Helga put her coat on and placed her backpack on her back, before exhaling softly to herself, "my first class on Mondays is always math.""Ah? Alright then, let's go," Amelia smiled, placing a hand on Helga's shoulder before locking the car with her keys. The duo then walked into the school building side by side, Helga kept her eyes mostly on the ground, her grip on Minnie getting tighter with every step closer she got to her first class. It wasn't long until the two were stood in front the door, and Helga could only stare at it.They stood there for what could have been five minutes, with Helga shuffling in her spot and taking in a deep breath, noticing how antsy she was, Amelia looked down at her, "you don't have to go in, if you feel like you can't we can go back home...""No," Helga replied softly with a shaky exhale, "I want to... I sit next to Phoebe in this one... and Arnold's in the class too."Amelia nodded, "of course, just don't force yourself to... would you like me to go in with you?"Helga yet again shook her head, "no thank you, I... want to go through the day alone if I can."The woman couldn't contain her smile, how brave she was being, even when she didn't have to. Amelia simply couldn't trust that she would have done the same if she were in her position; it made her proud, how much progress Helga had made in just over a month, even if the girl didn't realize it, she was brave. A strong, brave girl that was doing everything she could to recover, and Amelia was beyond proud."Alright then, I'll wait for you to go in — if you ever need me, I'll be in the faculty office."Helga hummed in understanding, before placing her hand on the door handle to the class. She took in a deep breath, counting to ten before she twisted the handle and opened the door. She didn't step in instantly, giving herself thirty seconds to settle her pulse and calm down a little, but soon after she finally walked into the class. As stated, the teacher had already told students not to stare at Helga, and surprisingly enough, most of them didn't. When she made her way fully inside, the teacher gasped, before she then smiled."Helga, I was told you'd be coming in today, now I can complete attendance, take a seat dear."The girl only nodded, before turning her head to the class. Most of them — in an attempt to not stare — focused on their work or their phones, and the only ones that actually looked at her were Phoebe and Arnold, both of whom smiled and waved. Helga found herself bashfully waving back, before scurrying to her seat as quickly as she could. She clutched Minnie, taking in a few breaths as he head held itself low. She blinked, that didn't feel too bad, mostly because the others weren't leering at her as though she were a museum exhibit. She looked over at Phoebe, who was writing something down; the girl must have sensed Helga looking, because she turned her head and smiled."Welcome back!" she whispered, though Helga was quick to noticed Phoebe's since deteriorated appearance, her hair looked tangled and her clothes were miss-matched and crumpled, not only that but her skin looked rather dry and her eyes had heavy bags, ha, they looked alike she thought. Noticing her glossy eyes, Helga furrowed her brow."Are you okay?" she whispered back.Phoebe nodded, "I'm fine, let's talk after class."Helga blinked, before shrugging, "okay, I'll stay here when recess starts."Helga couldn't remember how most of the class went, she was sure it would take a while before she started processing classes again. Due to Monday being a double period, once the class was over, most of the class rushed out of recess. Helga kept her head on the desk, and let off a judgemental grunt as she saw them rush out, she was sure a few were going to go and gossip about how Helga was back and how she was doing, they'd probably go and gossip about her new clothes, or hairstyle, or how she let the unibrow grow back despite trimming it on her twelfth birthday. Another reason to not go out there. The teacher was fine with Helga staying for a bit, as she was going to stay in the room herself anyway. The only other two that were left were Phoebe and Arnold.Phoebe turned to face Helga, taking her glasses off as she used her sleeve to wipe her eyes. Before Helga had the chance to ask what was wrong, Phoebe sniffled, "I really missed you," she began, "I was super worried, I hope you're doing good."Helga blinked, before honestly shaking her head, "to be honest, I'm not, but I'm better than I was in October""Can I hug you?" Phoebe asked, "mom told me to ask you before I do it, because of what happened you might not like it when people touch you—""You can hug me," she said with a gentle smile, "just not too tightly please,"Phoebe's eyes glimmered with joy, she stood up and stepped over to Helga, only to wrap her arms around her and give her a tender hug. The noirette could only gently cry, every day without Helga was hell, she felt like she had lost her other half, and knowing that Helga was suffering and Phoebe couldn't do anything about it only made it worse. When she pulled away and sat back down, she put her glasses back on, taking a tissue from a packet in her bag and blowing her nose.Helga tilted her head, looking over at Arnold. The boy was looking around the classroom, obviously trying not to turn and face the girls. With a sigh and a squeeze of Minnie, she opened her mouth to speak, "you can come over here if you want, football head..."Helga let out a small chuckle when Arnold shot his head in her direction near mechanically, the boy stood up, but he was so eager that he ended up dropping his stationary all over the floor. Hissing mumbled curses, he bent over to pick them up, before quickly sliding over to where Helga and Phoebe were sat, and then bringing out a random chair to sit on. He sat there, catching his breath for a few seconds, before looking up at her with a crooked smile."H-Hi..."Helga looked away with a gentle blush, blinking nervously as she squeezed Minnie for comfort. Arnold looked different too, he looked as tired as Phoebe, and similar to her he hadn't done much to keep up his appearance. He placed his hands on his knees, leaning forward a little and grinning when he noticed Minnie, "it's the plush Grandma and I made! Do you like it?"She perked at the question, before she held it tightly to her, "well doi, 'course I do, considering I bring it with be everywhere."She was worried that her response may have been harsh, but Arnold could only happily laugh. He wasn't sure if she was either trying to behave like she usually did, or she genuinely felt like that, but either way hearing her talk like Helga was so nice to hear. It genuinely made him happy. He took stock of how she looked, her clothes and bag looked brand new, they weren't torn or stained and they actually fit her right. She had her hair down, which he liked, she looked really pretty like that, and her face was completely natural, unibrow and all. He remembered how she had tried to change up her look when she turned twelve, she got her brows trimmed and started wearing minimal makeup, like mascara and lip gloss. Now she seemed to have stopped all that, going back to the way she was before.He liked natural state Helga, she looked really cute to him.She had blemishes, little blotches of acne making themselves visible, her left eye was still a little dark from where the bruise had healed, dents in her skin and dry patches from healing injuries, and scars all over her jaw and neck; but he liked it all. He liked that she wasn't glamorous and perfect, that she had blemishes and marks and supposed imperfections, they were beautiful, she was beautiful.He wanted to hold her so badly, to pull her in for a hug and profusely apologize for not being able to protect her or save her until it was too late, to stay by her side forever and ever and promise to be there no matter what. His hand shook from the urge to hold hers, to place a fairytale kiss on her palm or her cheeks. But he couldn't, Arnold was a boy, he couldn't just hold her and touch her, he couldn't just put his hands on her, because it could scare her. It could make her panic and feel afraid, even if she knew that Arnold would never hurt her. That man had made it more difficult for Arnold to express his love for his girlfriend, which only gave him more reason to curse his soul."I'm... glad you like it, I wanted to make you something special, so even if you couldn't be around me, you'd know I'll always be there for you."Helga blinked, before she looked down at Minnie. She hugged the lizard plush tightly, her wonky smile spreading across her face, "thank you... I named her Minnie, like mini-me."Phoebe awed, "ooooh, I get it, she does look like you, she's cute.""Isn't she?" Helga happily sighed; Arnold would probably never fully grasp how much she cherished Minnie, how she brought the toy every where she went and couldn't concentrate without it, how the many times she had felt herself at her emotional limit since receiving the toy, she'd cuddle it until she felt okay again, how simply having Minnie around made her feel more at ease with the world. No matter how hard she squeezed, she was still soft, she was still cuddly, and she loved her.Helga was silent for most of recess, with Phoebe and Arnold catching her up on the few interesting things she had missed in the time she wasn't at school. They didn't seem to mind that she didn't have anything interesting to tell them, or much to add to the conversation, they seemed subtly understanding on how and why she was quiet, and had no problem leading the discussion. Just sitting here, with Phoebe and Arnold, enjoying each other's company... it was the most calm she had felt in a very, very long time."Kids, recess is gonna end soon," the teacher soon said, "I recommend you start going to your next class, so you don't get stuck in the flood of students."Helga was the first to stand up, "we have English together Arnold."Arnold stumbled out of his chair, which garnered yet another soft giggle from Helga, "oh, yes! We do! We do, uh," he scratched the back of his head, "if you don't mind, I'd like to... walk you to the class."Helga snorted, "well, we're going the exact same way so you might as well Football Head."Her boyfriend could only beam with pure joy as he took a few steps, just barely missing the desk, "ah, yeah! Gotcha!"Phoebe leaned over to pick up her bookbag, "I've got science, I'll see you at lunch Helgs?"Helga thought for a bit, before then nodding, "sure, I'll be in the cafeteria."With that, the three left the classroom, with their math teacher smiling as she prepared for her next class, "kids, so precious."Miriam wasn't surprised when she was arrested.When police showed up at Olga's door, asking if Miriam Pataki was in the building, only to then ask for her to place her hands behind her back, the woman could only nonchalantly do as she was told, her dazed state blocking out the sound of her daughter hysterically asking them to let her go. She knew they had searched the Pataki home back at the height of the case, she knew they had probably found the stained and obvious items that would prove some sort of abuse claim against her, she knew that it was only a matter of time before they arrested her.Time had been a blur since she left the police station. She hadn't left the house, both her and Olga fearing someone may harm her if they recognized her out and about; neither were allowed contact with Helga, and Miriam knew her youngest wouldn't want to talk to her even if she could. She'd spent her time doing nothing, lazing about, barely processing her surroundings.Olga distracted herself with work, she never even mentioned Helga or the incident, it was as if she were pretending it never happened — no, that was exactly what she was doing. She had removed all pictures that featured Bob or Helga, especially the ones that had the two of them together, this included social media images too. She never mentioned her father, with her asking for him to be buried in an unmarked grave. She had deleted all of his contacts despite him being unable to talk to her now, though she had kept Helga's just in case.If the news ever mentioned the Pataki case, she'd switch the channel. She had went on all her media profiles and blocked any news or gossip blog that so much as mentioned the case, and even blocked the family electronics store pages. No one was allowed to mention Bob or Helga, and she would quickly change the subject if either were mentioned. It was strange, Olga loved her father, he was the only person she lived to impress, everything she had done throughout her life was to please him, but now she was pretending there never was a Bob Pataki, that it was just her and Miriam. The same Olga that wept for her daddy dearest and sobbed that Helga should be punished for taking him away from her, was the same Olga actively trying to bury his memory and erase him from existence.It was obvious why, Olga didn't want to believe a man she had dedicated her life to would do something so heinous and evil, she didn't want to believe she was the product of something like that. She denied it to ends of earth, she wanted to believe that Helga was lying, that it was a one-time honest mistake, it was someone else and Helga was just blaming him, she would even believe her own sister purposefully pursued him if it meant she didn't have to accept that her father as not only a child rapist, but a child rapist that attacked his own daughter. But she couldn't, you can't argue with vaginal and anal tearing, you can't argue with DNA evidence, you can't argue with bruises and cuts, you can't argue with confirmed testimony, you can't argue with confessions, you can't argue with rape kits.When Olga realized she couldn't deny it, she simply distanced herself from it; and as Miriam was back in the interrogation room she had tried so desperately to erase from her mind, she wished she had the luxury to do the same.Miriam felt ill, Olga had actively forbid alcohol in her home, and considering she controlled most of the shopping, Miriam should have been forced into sobriety yet again; however she had been prescribed multiple different anti-depressants in the time she had been living with her eldest, and since she couldn't have liquor, pills became her newest mind numbing agent. When she wasn't scoffing down her anti-depressants, she found herself hooked on painkillers. She heard Helga was prescribed some, so perhaps it was good Miriam was made to stay far away from her.The pill high was a lot different from alcohol intoxication. They both made her drowsy, they both made her feel like she wasn't thinking, and yet pills made her feel... paranoid? Yet, that was the word. When she was high she felt hyperaware, despite not actually being aware of her surroundings, she heard things, saw things, felt things. When she was drunk her mind was filled with no thoughts, but when she was high her mind was filled with too many thoughts, which ended up blending into one incoherent mess. She certainly preferred being drunk, but she had to take what she could get, either was better than being sober.Unluckily, she was arrested during her come down, so now she was slowly sinking back into sobriety. She couldn't scratch herself in withdrawal, nor could she fiddle with her hands. As her body shook, the room felt so cold, part of her wished she could just die. She didn't want to answer questions, she hated the way the cuffs felt on her hands, and she wasn't ready for the future. She just wanted to suddenly die. Why had Bob gotten to die instead of her? He was never going to face the music, he was never going to pay for his crimes, but he was the criminal. He was the rapist. Yet here Miriam was, being punished for his crimes on his behalf.Miriam couldn't even bring herself to look up when she heard the door open and someone walked in, her senses only being able to pick up the faint scent of strawberry scented perfume. She heard a click that she recognized as one of a recording devices, only for the person to tap a pen on the table."Miriam Pataki, we meet again, how have you been?"Miriam looked up, almost angry that it was Angelina questioning her. The woman looked even more stunning than she did the last time she interrogated her; she had a full face of makeup, complete with flawless contouring and blushing that hid her freckles and brought out her already high-fashion facial features. her hair had since been curled in old Hollywood waves, and instead of a rushed t-shirt and jeans, she wore a professional black suit with wedged heels. Her fingers had been manicured, colored a soft beige with clean white tips. It was as if she was showing off to the rugged, tired Miriam how beautiful she wasn't.Miriam didn't even answer, instead looking away with a huff. Angelina rolled her eyes, but she wasn't shocked by Miriam's hostility, the last time the woman was candid, the entirety of America demanded her head on a silver platter."Alright then, suit yourself," Angelina huffed, "like last time I was made to believe you have been read your rights by the previous officer?""... yes""Good, as you know this interview will be recorded, anything you say may be used against you in a court of law, if at any point you want to put a stop to my questioning you may request an attorney, at which I will be forced to end it immediately, understood?"Miriam grumbled another yes, refusing to turn her head to face the woman. The beginning of the interrogation was as she expected, Angelina asked her how she was doing again, how life had been for her since the leaks — the whistle-blower had yet to be caught — and once the introductory questions were asked, Miriam was asked how life was for the Patakis."It was... life," she mumbled, "since Olga left, we were all kind of drifting, me, Helga and B, it was just life." she simply answered. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like she was living, she had partially lied, even when Olga was in the home she still felt like she was floating through life, just barely existing. She was keeping herself alive, but that was as far as it went."So you never had much of a relationship?" Miriam nodded, "okay, so can you tell me about the dynamic between Bob and Helga? Before the sexual abuse began."Miriam shrugged, "they didn't like each other, he was... urgh, he was always yelling at her for something, calling her Olga—""He'd refer to her by her sister's name?" Angelina cut in.Miriam rolled her eyes, "duh, I just said that..."Ignoring the woman's sarcasm, Angelina continued, "did you ever correct him?""No, I mean, I would sometimes, but when I realized it wasn't working I just... stopped."Angelina hummed, that seemed to be a running theme with Miriam: Bob does something bad to Helga, Miriam tries to tell him not to, Bob doesn't listen and Miriam gives up. She took a note of what the woman said, "so he was always yelling at her, called her by her sister's name... the two weren't close at all, I assume Olga wasn't treated as such?"Miriam shook her head, "he loved Olga more than anything in this world."Her mutter was bitter, and angry drop of venom directed towards Olga. Bob loved Olga, he cared deeply about her and would have sacrificed everything if it made his dear Olga happy; if only her husband loved her as much."So there was clear favoritism in the family, got that... so how about you? Last time I questioned you, I remember you mentioning how your relationship by this point was so bad that you were sleeping on the couch, and the marriage was built on necessity as opposed to love.""I loved him, but I don't think he loved me... our marriage was in shambles, we only had sex a few time, including both of my pregnancies... I'm sure he was having a few affairs, I don't even care anymore, he's dead." Was all Miriam could say, she had nothing else to say about their marriage, it was empty, barren and empty.Angelina nodded, "so was his violence only exhibited against Helga? Or did you ever find yourself on the receiving end of his temper?"Miriam shrugged again, "he yelled at me once or twice, or thrice... we never argued, I was never sober enough to, he'd tell me to shut up and I'd do it.""Why?""What do you mean why?" Miriam snapped, "he's my husband, I'm supposed to." Miriam then used her finger to tap the table, "he got mad at Helga because she never shut up, she argued back. I listened, Olga listened, she didn't."The rest of the interrogation was relatively mundane, Miriam answering curtly to Angelina's questions, giving her minimal information and claiming that she was mostly too drunk to pay attention to what was happening. There came a silent moment, like last time where Angelina just stared at Miriam, waiting for the woman to crack, but six weeks of scrutiny had slightly toughened her, she had felt worse. Angelina leaned over to her binder and pulled out a folder. Miriam didn't get the chance to read what it said before the woman brought out a set of printed out, wide images.The first one Angelina placed down was an image of a bedsheet, it had been thoroughly washed, yet there was a large dark stain that seemed permanently ingrained into the fabric, "can you explain what this is Miriam?"The woman blinked, freezing for a moment, only to sigh, "the bedsheet... it went on our bed, that I shared with B...""And the stain?"Miriam felt her stomach jump, but there was no use in hiding it, was there? They had probably tested it by now, the knew, "blood, Helga's... she'd bleed a lot when... you know...""When Bob raped her?"She hated the word, it was so harsh, so violent, so true, "yes, um, I tried to clean it.""Okay." Angelina dropped the image and then put forward another one, "what's this?"The image was of a trash bag that was tightly closed, it had no identification, and the picture had been taken inside of what looked like a storage room. Miriam gulped, "that's the bag of... uncleanables, I'd—" she took in a deep breath, "I'd tried to clean her clothes and underwear that she'd bleed into, I gave her pads, b-but sometimes it was too much, I was planning to throw these ones away."Angelina simply stared at Miriam, placing the other pictures down, before leaning forward and squinting her eyes, "so, you want me to believe that you were mostly unconscious during most of the abuse, but you had enough wherewithal to not only hide the evidence of your husband's crimes, but plan to dispose of it?"Miriam could only lean forward, her vacant eyes only staring at the table. Angelina wasn't surprised when tear droplets began landing on the table, nor was she surprised when Miriam began to crack. She wasn't some master criminal who could lie her way out of a charge, and she wasn't some headstrong defendant who would do anything in her power to be proven innocent, she was a weak, drunk of a woman who followed her husbands every word, so when she began hiccuping, Angelina could only stare in stoicism."He was my husband," she quietly cried, "h-he... I couldn't let him g-get into- into trouble... I'd have nothing.""So you purposefully tried to hide evidence that could have been used against him if you reported it? Y'know, the abuse you sat by and let happen?""I love h-her, I swear, that's my- my baby," Miriam choked, "I didn't w-want him to- to, I told him not to I- he kept- I didn't w-want him to hurt my- my baby...""But you didn't stop him Miriam, that's the problem, did you call the police?" Miriam shook her head, "did you inform CPS?" Miriam shook her head, "did you try to get Helga out of the home?" Miriam shook her head."He's my hu-husband," Miriam blubbered, shaking her head periodically, "I c-couldn't... he- he loved Olga... he'd d-do that to Helga if I- if... wives don't g-get their husbands into- into trouble I... I loved him..."Angelina simply watched as the woman was reduced to rambling tears. She wasn't moved, perhaps because she had seen mothers like this on a near weekly basis working this job: mothers who prioritized their boyfriends or husbands over their children, mothers who would protect said male lover regardless of what they did, often at the expense of the children they were supposed to love and respect. In a way, Angelina could already see how the trial was going to go, it wasn't as if Miriam had a case against the neglect and indirect abuse charges, she had admitted to knowing of the abuse, and now she had admitted to actively hiding evidence and facilitating it, this was all so typical.The detective could only pray that the outcome worked in Helga's favor.Lunch went a lot better than Helga had expected.She tried not to show it, and she tightly held Minnie in an attempt to calm her nerves, but Helga was scared. She was going into the cafeteria, where she would sit with her best friend, her boyfriend, and her other friends whom she hadn't seen in over a month. Other kids were probably going to look over and whisper and gossip and... the mere thought of it made her heart rate increase so intensely that she actively held her chest. She told herself it would be fine, she had Minnie, she had Phoebe, she had Arnold. However it just didn't help, she was scared. Going into the cafeteria was so nerve-wracking that she began shivering on the spot.The sound of everyone inside, the voices of all the kids melting into one loud belt, she took an instinctual step back.As Phoebe stood to her left, looking to see her friend's widened eyes and heavy breath, her own eyes dropped in empathy, "we don't have to go in there, we can eat in the gazebo outside. If you want, I can text Arnold and the others to meet us there."Helga wanted to say no, she wanted to say that she was brave and ready, and that she could take on the cafeteria. She had told Phoebe that she was going to be in the cafeteria, Helga had made progress, hadn't she? She could handle the cafeteria, she should have been able to by now. Instead Helga nodded, "y-yeah I... I can't... not now..."Phoebe smiled, "it's fine, I'll message him now, let's go."Doing as she promised, Phoebe sent Arnold a quick 'Helgs cant take the caf rn, made her all panicky :( we're going to the wooden gazebo to eat, let the others know if they wanna come!' and soon began walking with Helga. The wooden gazebo was a relatively new addition to the outside of the school, only being added in the beginning of the year, it was only ever used by students that wanted to be by themselves, which wasn't very often. Phoebe found herself using it often during the time Helga was away.When they arrived, the two sat down, with Phoebe giving Helga some time to settle her nerves before she broke the silence. It hadn't even been five minutes when the two girls saw a signature football head and his tall haired friend, as well as a few others that they knew approach them. Helga looked up, waving meekly as Arnold ran up to them. He heaved, placing his hands above his knees before slumping down beside Helga, "are you okay!? When I got Phoebes message we came as quickly as we could!"As the rest of the group — consisting of Gerald, Rhonda, Nadine, Stinky, Sid, Lila and Sheena — caught up, Helga bashfully shook her head, "I'm fine, I just... sorry, I couldn't go in... I tried to, but my body just wouldn't let me, it was all too much...""Don't be sorry," a voice cut in, the voice belonging to none other than Rhonda, who held her head up high, "because none of us are mad at you, right?"Everyone mumbled their agreement, before Rhonda huffed, opening her lunch bag. It was odd, Helga and Rhonda never really got along before the incident, even now Helga wasn't sure where their relationship stood exactly; but it seemed once word got around about what happened, Rhonda made it a habit to keep everyone in check when it came to how they spoke about Helga or her situation, anyone being crude or attempting to be funny about it got a stern talking to, and even now she refused to entertain any gossiping or hearsay about it. It made Phoebe smile, Rhonda may be harsh, spoiled, nosy and a busybody, but deep down she was a girls girl, and when it came to stuff like this, she wanted to make sure her fellow girl was respected."It's so lovely to see you again Helga," Sheena said with a smile as she brought out her carton of apple juice, "I like your jeans, they're really pretty,""Right?" Nadine nodded, "I like the hearts."Helga found herself blushing slightly, "th-thanks, Bliss got 'em for me..."Gerald perked in realization, "I heard about that, you livin' with Dr. Bliss now, ain't ya?""That must be soooo nice," Stinky interjected, "she's a real nice lady."Helga nodded, and as she brought out her bowl of fried rice, she began choppily explaining life with Amelia, trying not to bring up the more mood-killing elements. As earlier, everyone else carried the conversation as it slowly began delving into more current events, there was an underlining knowledge that Helga probably didn't want to talk much, and everyone understood. She hadn't expected this, no one asked her about what happened, no one asked her about the aftermath, they all simply talked to her like she was Helga, not Helga the rape victim, not Helga the abuser killer, not Helga the foster child, just... Helga.There was one person in the group however, who didn't. Sat at the very edge of the gazebo was Lila Sawyer, who looked at Helga with heavy eyes, but whenever Helga looked back, she'd look away. The girl picked at her food, not involving herself in the general conversation, until she felt like she had finally had enough. Placing her spoon down, Lila took in a breath, only to then face Helga."Helga? I do hate to disturb your lunch, but would you mind if we spoke? Privately, I mean..."Helga looked up at Lila, who had now stood up in her spot, she looked down at Minnie, thinking for a few seconds before then nodding, "sure, I don't mind."When the blonde stood up, Lila took a step back and began walking far from the group, with Helga skipping behind, leaving the others to wonder what Lila could have possibly wanted. Helga didn't really want to talk to Miss Perfect, but her panic from the cafeteria had drained so much energy that she didn't have it in her to be rude. When the two were a safe distance away from the group, Lila nervously twiddled her fingers, kicking her feet against the ground below.Helga could only raise her brow, "so... what did you want? You said you wanted to—""How did you do it?" the girl suddenly asked, Helga was taken aback by her voice. Lila's shrill, sweet voice sounded harsh, snappy, yet there was a slight warble to her words that indicated sadness, contempt."How did I do what...""Kill him, how?" Lila managed out, the redhead brought her hands to her chest and gripped tightly, "how did you... how did you find the strength to do it? How did you bring yourself to kill Bob after he..."The blonde couldn't help her scowl, "don't know how it's any of your business—""How are you always so strong!?" Lila suddenly screeched, which made Helga flinch on instinct, "you always know what to do, you always have a plan, I... I don't get it!" She could only watch in confusion as Lila began gripping at her braided pigtails and pacing around the room, "when it happened to you, when you realized you had enough, y-you, you took the initiative! You picked up a gun and you killed him! But happened to me I just... I just took it, like a coward..."Helga's eyes widened as the realization hit her like a truck, but Lila wasn't finished, "when they reported the full story I wasn't surprised, I was like, 'of course Helga did that! Because Helga wouldn't let that happen, Helga's strong and defends herself!' but I don't know how!" Lila then fell to her knees, "please tell me how, how are you always so strong, so independent, so resourceful... how did you kill him?"The blonde kneeled down as Lila began to cry, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I should've killed him like you did... I should have used a weapon to stop him... but I didn't, because unlike you, I'm a coward, all I did was cry and let it happen... I'm so jealous of you Helga," Lila could only sniffle, "you always know what to do, you always fight for yourself, I wish I could be like that... how do you be like that?"For a few minutes after Lila asked, Helga didn't speak, only letting the girl cry into her own hands. When she felt that her crying was beginning to settle, Helga wanted to say something? In all honesty, she didn't know what to say, she could barely work out her own feelings, how was she supposed to work out Lila's? With a sigh, she clenched Minnie a little, before closing her eyes."I don't know Lila," she said candidly, "I don't know how I killed him, I was scared, I was really, really scared. So... I reached for it, it was a split second decision, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I did it... I killed my father, he's dead and his blood is on my hands." Helga then said, "I... don't feel strong, I don't feel like I defended myself, because it wouldn't have happened all those other times if I did, you get me? I feel really weak Lila!"As the redhead looked up at Helga, wiping her hands on her dress, Helga continued, "so I don't really know how to help you or what to tell you, other than I feel really weak and tired and scared all the time! I'm sorry that you wanna be like me, because... I have nothing for you to look up to..."The two girls simply stayed their silently, not saying anything, only looking at the ground. Lila then stood up straight, reaching a hand down to help lift Helga up. She took it, pulling herself up with Lila's help, "I guess no one here gets us like we do then..." Lila muttered, "I'm sorry Helga, I don't know why I just came at you like that, I just feel...""A lot?" when Lila nodded, Helga chuckled, "huh, never thought I'd see the day me and Lila Sawyer have something in common."Lila let off her own dry giggle, "yup, awfully terrible it had to be something so... awfully terrible."The two shared an odd laugh, and decided to go back to the gazebo together. As they walked, Lila then said, "um, if you ever want too talk about it, but you can't, you can talk to me, I'll understand."Helga blinked in surprise, before then smiling, "thanks Lila... you can... also talk to me about it, I'll understand too."With that, they walked back to their friends, enjoying the rest of their lunch together.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The months following Helga's first day back had been an uphill journey.It was something only the people close to her noticed, it was steady, subtle and happened little by little. She wasn't as skittish as she had been after the incident, as the months went by, she found herself walking down the school hallway, and though the anxiety was there, she needn't clutch her chest in terror anymore. She had recently began eating in the cafeteria with her friends now, they often sat on the table in the back, away from all the main sources of chaos, and walking in was fine as long as she had a friend with her as she entered. Helga used to utilize her outside pass near daily, but now she only felt overwhelmed once or twice a week. Another major improvement was her reliance on Minnie; she still needed her there, she had imprinted onto the toy and it had become her comfort item, she had to have Minnie with her everywhere that she went. However, what started off as her clutching the lizard to her chest every second of the day had soon evolved into her gently holding it with one arm.It wasn't perfect, there was no such thing as perfect, and the trauma Helga experienced couldn't be fixed in a couple of months or even a couple of years. She still had regular nightmares, even with Minnie by her side as she slept. There were days where her anxiety heightened to the point where she had to stay home from school for a day or two. Her fear of men hadn't waned in the slightest, as proven when her science teacher snapped at her once in class, triggering a severe panic attack that rendered her unable to finish the school day. Her health was just barely pushing through, her injuries had mostly healed, but it hurt Amelia to remember what the gynecologist had told her:
"She hasn't begun her cycle yet so we can't say for sure," the woman says with a sombre sigh, "but based on just how violent the abuse was, and what damage it did to her, I regret to inform you that Helga will most likely be unable to safely birth children, that is if she can even healthily conceive."
It was horrifying to hear, Amelia remembered the woman claiming Helga had suffered major tearing in her uterus from the abuse, and the previous internal injuries healing on their own had caused strange infections that could only be fixed using prescription medications. That, coupled with the other injuries she had on her hip and genital area from blunt force trauma had made it so the likelihood of her being able to get pregnant were low to the point of her classifying as infertile, and if she did get pregnant, she likely wouldn't be able to carry it full term. Helga was making incredible progress with her mental health, she had even gained some weight over the past few months and begun eating again, so knowing that he had left such a... permanent impact on the rest if her life filled Amelia with a rage and grief that she never thought she could feel.Explaining this to Helga was the hardest part, having to sit the preteen down and break it to her that she would likely never be able to have her own biological children was something she had never wanted to do, but it was Helga's reaction that broke her heart the most. The girl cried, claiming that while she hadn't given it much thought — understandably, she was twelve at the time — it was hurting her to know that she was never going to have the chance to decide if she wanted her own kids one day or not, the universe had already made that decision for her and it had decided that she wouldn't. It made the girl so sad to know that this was going to follow her for the rest of her life, and even twenty years from now, even if everything else healed and got better, this was her new reality.Helga had only told one person about this, Lila. She feared how this may affect her life; what if when she was an adult, and if Arnold was out of the picture, no man wanted her because she couldn't have kids? She knew she was too young to be thinking of that, but it terrified her. She already felt ugly and unlovable enough as it is, now she couldn't even do the one thing women were expected to do, how was she going to be loved? Who would find it in them to love her? Lila couldn't adequately answer her question, and only hugged the girl and let her vent.Yet, even through such devastating news, Helga kept on trying. She didn't seem to notice her own improvement, how happier she was becoming day by day. Seeing Helga actually smile more was making everyone else happier too; she was joining in on conversations more often now, and while she still preferred to sit and let everyone else carry the talk, she could still laugh along or throw in her two cents. Amelia's heart almost burst in pride when Helga invited Phoebe over for the first time, it wasn't as long as when Helga used to come over, but she stayed over long enough to watch a movie and have dinner with them. The same Helga who couldn't even bring herself to text her friends was now inviting them over.One other improvement was how she navigated her relationship with Arnold. When Helga started reintegrating back into school, while it was obvious that the two were still a couple, they simply didn't do couple things. They made sure to reaffirm to each other that they loved the other, but Helga just didn't feel comfortable with physical affection. She didn't want Arnold to hug her, kiss her, and even holding her hand would sometimes be too much for the girl. It hurt them both, and Helga couldn't understand why it scared her to be touched by the one she knew she loved, but Arnold promised that he wasn't upset with her, and that he would wait until the moment they could share their first kiss together since the incident.Helga wondered how she was so... lucky? Was that the word? She felt lucky, despite all that had happened; she had an entire support system that was there for her, she had a best friend that would do anything if it mean Helga found recovery easier, a foster mom that loved her like a real mom, and she had a boyfriend that stuck by her side through her lack of affection, in spite of horror stories she had heard of boyfriends leaving their traumatized girlfriends due to them having 'too much baggage'. She even had a kindred spirit in Lila, someone who she could talk to — and who could talk to her — whenever she wanted to vent about something she thought no one else would understand. There were girls that had none of that, that were going through what she was all on their own, with no one to fall back on. She was grateful, but now she just wished everyone else was just as lucky.She couldn't help but feel lucky as she sat in Slausens with her friends, it had started off as just her, Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald, but the group had conveniently ran into Rhonda and Lila and the two decided to tag along. It had been Helga's thirteenth birthday the day before, making her the first in the group to officially hit her teens. She didn't want a huge celebration, fearing that may be too overwhelming, so on the actual day she had opted to just celebrate it with Amelia, the two ordered some pizza and even baked a cake together, only to spend the day watching movies and playing games together. The day after, Phoebe convinced her to let them take her out, so they'd been spending the day having a belated birthday for Helga.The initial three brought gifts, Phoebe had gotten Helga a set of fountain pens, Gerald had gotten Helga a bottle of hot pink hair dye, something that got a majorly needed laugh out of the girl, and Arnold had gotten her a fluffy phone case with charms attached. Helga cherished them all (even the hair dye she knew she'd never use) and found herself enjoying their day out. Phoebe had planned for a movie day, but when Helga found herself becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of being in a dark movie theatre, the group decided to just hand around town. When Rhonda realized it was Helga's birthday (or more so the day after), she used her father's debit card to buy Helga an outfit from the nearest designer clothing store there was, and even if it wasn't planned, Helga appreciated it. Lila couldn't bring a gift, so when they got to Slausens she simply offered to pay for Helga's ice cream, an offer Helga couldn't refuse.The day went well, it was the first time she had really hung out with any of them outside of them outside of school, and as they sauntered through the park, she thought of how much she wanted to do it more often."And so I told her oh heck no you didn't say that to me, and y'know what she said?" Rhonda dramatically said, as she practically performed her story.Gerald snorted, "I sure did Rho-hoe?""She said I sure did Rho-hoe— wait, how did you know that?""Because you've told us that story so many times that we have it memorized?" Lila sweetly replied, garnering a laugh among the group.Rhonda scoffed and waved her hand haughtily, "fine, since I'm so uninteresting, how about you all tell us what exciting things you've got going on?"Without a smidgen of hesitation, Helga removed her cola soda from her mouth and suddenly said, "I've gotta testify against Miriam in court."There was a resounding surprise among them all, with Lila even letting of a girlish gasp. It was Arnold that looked to her as he stood by her side, tilting his hair and scrunching his brows, "is that alright by you? I thought you were away from her."Helga shrugged, "Bliss explained it to me, they're trying to strip her of her parental rights and get her some jail time, so I've gotta testify. It's weird, she already isn't allowed to see me, so I guess they've gotta make it all official and stuff, luckily it's in a month or something so I don't have to worry too much right now""I hope it goes well for you," Lila said with a clap of her hands, "that way you can be free of the Patakis forever!"Helga could only groan, "I wish you were right but Olga's been trying to weasel herself back into my life, and since I'm technically a foster I'm scared she going to try and become my legal carer or something." She kicked the dirt below her, an annoyed pout growing on her face, "I don't want her to though, she never cared, I just wanna stay with Bliss.""I'm sure you'll be able to," Phoebe smiled reassuringly, "as long as Miriam's case goes in your favor, I doubt anyone with the Pataki last name will be able to snatch you up."The blonde girl found herself grinning in response, Minnie, who she held with her free hand, received a quick squeeze. It was times like this when she was glad she had taken that first step back into math class. She just couldn't imagine being at home right now, locked in her room, wallowing in her own misery. Even if she did still have many problems to deal with, at least she had all of them by her side. Helga went to throw her now empty cola bottle away, and when she came back, she stayed beside Arnold.The girl looked down, seeing her boyfriend's empty hand next to her now empty hand. As they walked together, all nodding along as Rhonda went on another one of her gossip rambles, Helga could only blink. Her hand shook with desire, but also fear; it had been so long, could she even go and casually do it? How would Arnold feel, would he even accept it? She gulped, trying to fight against all the negative thoughts that were screaming in her ear that this was bad and it would only end badly and hurt her, slowly but surely she moved her hand to Arnolds, before she felt their palms touch. She wanted to pull away, but instead she pushed on, and soon intertwined their fingers.It had been so long that his hand almost felt foreign, it was a lot rougher than she remembered, perhaps from him helping out around the boarding home so much, and it also felt warm to the touch, a comfortable juxtaposition to her perpetually cold hands. Arnold jumped, his eyes shooting down to see a sight he began to think he'd never see again, Helga's hand holding his. He looked up at her, smiling from ear to ear when he saw her flushed face and nervous eyes. He could feel her shaking, the same way she shook when they first came to school holding hands. He remembered what calmed her, he brought his other hand and gently caressed the top of hers with his thumb. He just barely managed to stay calm, but on the inside Arnold could swear his organs were doing backflips, he hadn't been this happy in so long."S-Sorry," Helga forced out, "I don't- it wasn't that bad, I was... scared for nothing—""Don't be sorry," Arnold softly replied, "thank you for trusting me again."Helga found herself lifting his hand to her chest, she tried, but ultimately failed to hide the hot and happy tears from running down her face. As she rest her head on his shoulder, a smile being present on her face, the rest of the group — who had since stepped back to reunite with the two — simply cooed and awed at the duo, leaving the blondes to giggle out a silences to them.It had been a good day, she spent it having fun with her friends, received a few gifts, had ice cream and was even able to gather up the courage to hold Arnold's hand. The last one made her feel beyond happy, maybe one day she could hug him again, or even kiss him again. She was still not ready for that yet, but today proved that there was a day coming where she would be, and that sent her over the moon. Arnold had agreed to walk her home, and the young couple happily trot down the street, hand in hand as they happily conversed about whatever popped into their heads. It was just like old times, she hadn't felt this normal in months.When they got to Amelia's front door, Arnold felt a twang of disappointment when Helga's hand let go of his so she could bring her keys from her pocket. Once she got them, she looked up at him, "hey, um... thank you for everything Football Head, I don't really say it enough so... yeah, it means a lot to me."Arnold smiled, "you're welcome, but I'm just doing what a boyfriend should do."When she opened the door, she turned back around to face him, "I'll see you on Monday?""Sure," Arnold nodded, before taking her hand again and caressing the top with his thumb, "love you."When he let go, she brought the hand to her cheek as her face turned a soft pink, "hehe, love you more."With that, Arnold watched as Helga entered the home, and once the door was closed, he walked up the street to the boarding house. Helga walked through the entrance hallway to the living room, where she saw Amelia sitting on the couch. Donning an oversized green sweater with a pair of grey sweatpants and white socks, the woman was looking through what looked to be a set of documents, and when Helga alerted that she was there, Amelia was quick to put them behind her back and hop off the couch, which only made the girl all the more curious."Helga, you're finally back! Take a seat for me dear!"The blonde cautiously sat down, she realized it may not be news that bad, since Amelia was excited to share, but you never know.Once Helga was seated, Amelia began to speak, "so we have to testify in court on the seventh of May against your mom, and I don't wanna get your hopes up but let's be real, Miriam isn't beating that case," Amelia then slumped back onto the couch, "now I'm already fostering you, so Miriam winning or losing her case won't really change your current living situation. However, I realized that it may be better for you to have a more permanent solution, I wanted to get these for your birthday but my Murphian luck made it so I could only get them today, tada!"She suddenly brought the documents from behind her hand, though Helga was a little overwhelmed. She looked over the sheets, most of them being obscured by the others, then looking up at Amelia, "what are they.""Adoption papers!" Amelia excitedly squealed, "I talked it over with my attorneys and since you have no godparents, and Olga's never been listed as a carer of yours, once Miriam loses her legal custody of you, you then become the responsibility of the state, meaning I can legally adopt you!"As Amelia went on to ramble about how amazing this was, Helga could only stare into the void. Many thoughts were rushing through her brain like a tsunami of feelings, and she couldn't bring herself to focus on just one of them. Amelia was so wrapped up in her own rambling that she didn't notice the girl crouching over in her spot, holding Minnie close to her.She did however freeze when she heard those signature soft hiccups, looking down to see the girl crying. Helga's head lifted upwards to make eye contact, and before she could even ask what was wrong, Helga asked, "do y-you really- really want to adopt me?"Amelia nodded, "of course, I would love to. We don't have to though, if that's not what you want—""No, I d-do, it's just... I'm- I'm so happy, this is what I wan- wanted, today been s-such a good day!"Helga didn't know why she was crying, was she really that happy? These past few months, even with the bright spots had been so miserable for her, the constant nightmares, the anxiety attacks, and dreary days where her depression hit the hardest, but today? Everything had gone right today, she got to spent time with her friends, she got presents, she showed affection to her boyfriend, and now the woman who had helped her more than any other adult she knew was telling her that if her mother lost her parental rights she was more than ready to adopt her as her own child. She hadn't been flooded with so many positive emotions in so long, the inordinate amount of joy she felt was near overwhelming.She pulled Amelia into a hug, and as she sobbed into the woman's hug, muttering a set of thank yous, she found happiness in knowing that for the very first time in over half a year, Helga ended up having a really really good day.May 7th. Helga wished she could just fast forward to the verdict.As she sat in the courthouse, watching as Amelia was pulled up to the witness stand and questioned by both the prosecution and defence, she could only grumble at how much she hated this. It was the third day of the trial, and considering how much they had gotten done they were predicting that it was most likely going to be the last day too. Though the nervousness of having to recount her story on a podium in front of a dozen people, many of which were strangers, many of which were reporters, and only few of which were familiars, the tedium of waiting for that moment was beginning to overshadow her anxiety by a major margin.Despite the sensitive nature of the trial — a huge chunk of the case revolved around child rape for goodness' sake — they had allowed the media in for whatever reason, so she knew most of the trial was on the internet, and that today would be the most sensational, since the now infamous Helga Pataki would take the stand. She found it weird, realizing that she was sort of famous; luckily most people had boundaries, no one tried to find her or interview her, if people recognized her they kept a distance, the few that approached often offering to buy her and Amelia stuff for free. She wasn't a celebrity, but she was known, people talked about her, whether they were praising her, condemning her family or wishing her the best. Rhonda joked about her becoming 'America's Child', but she wasn't all that wrong. Even then, knowing how much of a media sensation this trial was still wasn't an easy pill to swallow.Helga looked over at her mother, who sat there, looking to Amelia who was still talking on the stand. Miriam looked exhausted, her skin was as white as snow and her eyes looked nearly sunken in, the bags underneath them were dark and heavy and she had lost a considerable amount of weight. They had tried to make her look presentable for the train, she wore a white dress shirt with a black blazer and a black pencil skirt, and they had attempted to cover her up with makeup and fix how now unruly hair, and yet she still looked like a walking corpse. Her eyes darted around to find her older sister, who was clutching a packet of tissues in her hand the way Helga clutched Minnie.The girl glared, of course even through all of this, Olga looked so positively pretty. Even when she looked tired and unwell herself, as she shook with worry and her eyes were a loud red from crying, Olga was still pretty. It annoyed her, Helga looked sickly, Miriam looked half dead, Bob was actually dead... but Olga was the only Pataki that got to leave October 8th with any semblance of her beauty. She wore a long sleeved white dress, that reached down to her ankle, and a pair of black booties. A man was sat beside her, with an arm wrapped around her, probably her newest boy toy.Olga had testified the day before, she told of a life far different from Helga's, one where her mother was actually active and her father was a good man, conveniently claiming that things only got bad when Helga was born. As much as she wanted to believe Olga was being purposefully malicious, it was more likely that the clueless idiot didn't see the implications of her word. All her testimony seemed to do was establish that at some point Miriam was a decent mother, but it didn't do much to prove she didn't neglect Helga.Helga barely processed what was going on, it had been about forty-five minutes until Amelia was done; the woman had spoken of her experiences as Helga's school psychologist, the stories Helga would tell her about her home life, as well as Helga's recovery process since living with her. She was asked of the things she had done for her, such as the clothes she bought, and the care she provided Helga as she began her recovery journey. To the entire world, Amelia Bliss came off as the perfect hero, it was as if the universe knew of how lacklustre of a mother Miriam was, and so it gifted Helga with Amelia as an apology.Miriam could only shamefully look down, her mind filled with feelings of regret and envy as Amelia went on and on about how her and Helga had been, the woman told stories of tucking her daughter in and buying her daughter clothes, playing games with her daughter and having fun trips with her daughter. That woman had become Helga's mother, and Miriam didn't like it. She knew everyone would tell her she had no right to feel that way, and that she had no right to be upset that Amelia cared for Helga better than she did, but she couldn't help it. She just couldn't.The prosecution and defence both attempted to use Amelia differently; the prosecution argued that Amelia was proof of the sort of mother Miriam should have been, and that in only a few months she had shown Helga more love than her biological mother had her entire life. They argued that if Miriam couldn't even be half of the mother Amelia was, then she shouldn't be allowed to be one. They argued that Amelia would have never allowed what Miriam did, because unlike Miriam, Amelia loved Helga. Miriam tried to hide her anger, they were wrong, she loved her daughter... she knew she did...The defence argued that Miriam was capable of caring for Helga as Amelia did, with Olga being proof of that. They argued that alcoholism and battered wife syndrome had made it so Miriam's motherly abilities were stunted, and that if she were given a chance to start over, especially now that Bob was gone, she could prove just how capable she was.After some more professional arguing among attorneys, it was now time for the reckoning. Helga was asked to come to the witness stand.There was a lot of care expected to be put into this, as the young, now teenager was walked up to the stand by an older member of the courthouse, her eyes stayed glued to the floor. The entire court watched as the frail little girl plopped onto the seat that was too big for, having her chair pushed closer to the mic by the woman that escorted her. She clutched Minnie close to her chest, trying to calm herself with steady breaths. She looked up, managing to catch sight of Amelia, who she meekly waved at, with the woman happily waving back, giving her a thumbs up and mouthing 'you can do it!'.Helga heavily exhaled, remembering why she had to do this. All the prosecution really needed was Helga's testimony, then Miriam would be gone out of her life forever, and she never had to worry about her again. They all waited as she settled herself, and when the judge asked her if she was ready, Helga nodded, mumbling an endearing 'yeah'."Name?" Asked the prosecution, who were going first."Helga Geraldine Pataki.""Age?""Thirteen.""Okay, what is your relationship with the defendant?"Helga almost rolled her eyes, but she knew she had to stay composed, "she's my mom."From that moment, like earlier a majority of the questioning was boring, both the prosecution and the defence asked her questions that she felt they already knew the answer too, or questions about her relationship before his assaults began, which could all amount to, "we didn't like each other and always argued."The defence was clearly struggling, they tried to argue that Miriam tried to improve her relationship with her daughter but she was too hostile, then they tried to argue that based on Miriam occasionally making Helga inedible lunches and dinner that she wanted to be a good mom and she just had issues, and then — their most unpopular argument to date — they tried to argue that Helga was an unruly problem child that was hard to control. That one made the girl close in on herself a little, something that didn't go unnoticed by the jury, and the media cameras.It was clear that they were grasping at straws, and their fate was finally sealed when Helga was asked to recount the events surrounding the first day Bob had raped her.The girl took in a deep breath, pausing for a minute or two, before she told her story. She told of a night that went like usual, Bob yelled at her and berated her while her mother lay unconscious on the couch. She had slept well when she was suddenly awoken by her father, who had picked her up, she was still sleepy, and her school alarm hadn't gone of yet. She spoke of how he dropped her onto his bed, how he looked as though he hadn't slept all night and how he reeked of alcohol. Those in the courthouse could only listen in horror as she recounted in detail how her father fondled her, stripped her and assaulted her right there on the bed he should have shared with his wife. Miriam's head could only onto the desk in front of her as Helga began recounting the worst part of it all."Then I... I heard footsteps," she managed, trying not to cry. She had been warned against crying, the defence could claim she was emotionally manipulating the jury and have her testimony dismissed, "then the door opened and... it was my mom- the defendant," Helga looked over to Miriam, who couldn't bring herself to share eye contact with her, "I-I screamed at her, and begged her to help... I was all like 'mom please! Miriam, tell him to stop, please! Call the police!', she let out this weird scream gasp when she saw what was happening."Miriam rocked in place."She was then all like 'B get off her, that's our kid B, it's wrong', I thought she was gonna help, like c-call the police or something... dad turned to her and yelled, he went 'shut the hell up and get the fuck out!', excuse my language, that's what he said." Helga then paused, and took in a deep breath. Helga, Miriam and even Olga knew what she was going to say next, neither wanted her too, but she had to, "then... mom nodded, she just turned around a-and walked off," she managed to say through gritted teeth.There was a loud silence in the room, only the voice of the prosecution could be heard, "did she check on you or make sure you were okay after the fact?"Helga shook her head, a loud and tearful choke from Olga filled the room, "she just... told me to enjoy school when I walked passed... I-I told her I kept bleeding and she just offered me a pad and finished her glass.""So the defendant not only let Robert Pataki assault you, but she failed to administer any medical assistance and didn't try to get you any medical help for your obvious internal bleeding?""No... just a pad..."It was a slam dunk from that point forward. Perhaps if Helga hadn't testified, they could have argued that Miriam was simply an alcoholic victim herself who was capable of caring for Helga now that that common denominator of Bob was out of the way. However, with the evidence of the cleaned bedsheets, underwear and clothing that she had planned to throw away, her own confessions and Helga confirming that she actively ignored what was going on, it came as no surprise when Miriam Pataki was found guilty for the active neglect and indirect abuse of Helga Pataki. Sentenced to a two year prison sentence and three years of probation — something that caused major controversy in the media — she was made to legally forfeit any and all rights she had as Helga's mother, when it was time for her to make her state, Miriam couldn't stand up. Her voice was empty, it lacked it's typical slurring nature, but incarceration had forced her sober."I want to say that I deeply apologize for my actions, and while I am not owed forgiveness, I want everyone to know I am genuinely sorry. I failed... I failed to be the mother that a child deserves, and in my own cowardice and lust for hiding away from the truth, I failed to protect my own baby, I failed to do the one thing expected from a mother. I can never rectify this, I can only hope that sobriety and rehabilitation can help me on my path to a new start. I'm sorry Helga, I'm sorry for being the mother I was, and I'm sorry for letting it get to this point. I have nothing more to say."When asked if she had any sort of victim impact statement, Helga shrugged, only saying, "I'm glad you stopped drinking, Miriam."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next few years of Helga's life were a rollercoaster of ups, downs and sharp turns. Yet every time thing got hectic, she managed to get back upright and look forward to the future.It was something that had everyone stunned; as cynical as it was to think, many genuinely didn't believe she had it in her to keep going. Many people, specifically the adults, gossiped about her. They believed that she would either live a life of turmoil caused by trauma, or even go as far to commit suicide. They believed that she'd become some sort of addict, or her crippling psychological state would lead her to spend most of her adult life institutionalized. People who suffered like Helga didn't get better, they broke, they crumbled, they repeated cycles. They were doomed from the start, like some sort of sick narrative flow. People like Helga don't recover, so when she began recovering in spite of how difficult it was, the naysayers were left eating their own words off a china plate.It was hard, and there were many times where it felt like she couldn't.Such as the first time she had Minnie confiscated. The teacher was new, a young woman who had no clue who Helga was or her story, as far as she was concerned, Helga was just some kid playing with a toy in class. So she most certainly did not expect for the girl to fall to the ground in a fit of heavy pants and tears when she snatched the stuffed animal away and placed it on her desk. It was a mental break no one — or at the very least, none of her school mates — had ever seen from her before. The way she shook, the sound of her pained sobs, the fact that even after Minnie was returned, it took her at least an hour and a half before she calmed down. It showed that even through the progress she was making, she was hurt, she was broken, and it would take more than some well wishes and a few months for everything to go back to normal.It took the kids a while to realize this, that what Helga went through was too severe, too scarring for her to get over in a year. It took them a while to understand why she still wouldn't hug or kiss Arnold, only choosing to hold his hand occasionally, it took them a while to understand why she still wouldn't come to the theatre with them, and why she was so afraid of being put in a dark room. Helga's physical injuries may have mostly healed, but the psychological bruises left by the abuse would take years to begin healing. Once they understood that, they became more patient with her, more empathetic.Helga's story never truly faded from the public eye, it became a cultural tale in true crime, like the Madeleines and JonBenéts. She may not have died, but it was still infamous in its own right; Amelia often thought of suing those who made bootleg YouTube documentaries sensationalizing the case, blasting Helga's name and story as though she were just some fictional girl that shot a man in some passionate pursuit of martyrdom. However, the girl always shrugged it off and told her that it wasn't that serious.Speaking of Amelia, true to her word, once Miriam lost all custody of Helga, she was quick to begin the task of officially adopting her. Despite what the girl feared, Olga never did try and become a legal guardian to Helga, in fact after the incident, the woman changed her name and disappeared from the public eye, leaving Helga to spend most of her adolescence occasionally pondering on what could have possibly happened to her. It made the girl beyond ecstatic to say that Amelia Bliss was now officially her mother. She may not have called her that, usually sticking to Amelia or Bliss, but it just felt so right to introduce her as her mom.There were many things that Helga went on to suffer through unlike many girls her age; when she began menstruating, it was irregular, with her often going months at a time without having a period. According to her gynecologist, this was most likely a result of damage done to her uterus, as well as a symptom of her likely infertility. Though it hurt to think of the long lasting consequences, she'd often joke that she was lucky she didn't go through it as regularly as other girls, even if the times it did happen were very uncomfortable. Puberty began hitting her a lot faster than expected, though she didn't know the exact reasoning, she had read that this was common among victims of her calibre, something about the body speeding up puberty in response to it. It was probably pseudo-science, but it still bothered her that she was still awkwardly taller and more "grown up" than her peers.Her and Lila had become a lot closer, feeling like only they could understand each other. She'd tell Lila about how she hated growing breasts and hips so fast, how it made her feel that much more sexually deviant compared to the other girls. Lila would tell her how she'd ask herself why any of it happened, and if she had truly done something to deserve it — maybe it was her clothing, maybe she was acting too coy, she'd been told she had a habit of being a 'tease'. They found it sad, that this was what brought the two opposing forces together, but they soon found themselves bonding over other things, a shared interest in literature, an appreciation for the arts. Eventually, the duo went from seeing each other as venting vessels to actually being friends.School seemed to get harder for her as the years went by, middle school was fine, she had her friends and she had Arnold, and as she began improving mentally, she found herself actually mingling with other students outside of her safety net friendship group. It wasn't until high school that things began deteriorating. Perhaps it was because the students at her school didn't know her or her story, but the caution everyone exercised around her was now gone.Helga had gotten fairly pretty, though admittedly she still didn't put too much effort into her appearance aside from the bi-weekly brow shave. This had always been the case, but boys knew not to approach, aside from her already having a boyfriend, they knew how uncomfortable she would be. High school boys didn't think the same way, these were strangers who knew next to nothing about her other than she was pretty which according to them made her deserving of groping and having inappropriate comments thrown at her. It only took a month of high school for the confidence she had gathered over the years to almost entirely shatter.It wasn't just the boys scaring her, it was comments that were thrown at her for the quirks she had developed over the years. She still carried around Minnie, and though it was once seen as endearing, the more pompous students found it funny that someone of her age went everywhere with a stuffed animal. They often criticized her clothing, wondering why she seemed to adamant on not wearing anything that showed arms or legs. Was it bullying? Almost, she heard their slick insults when she walked passed; a few students had found out about her history, and while most were aware that it was a tragic piece of knowledge, the more vindictive ones gossiped. Such as the time Allison Wentworth tried to say Helga was in an incestuous relationship with her father and killed him out of jealousy.Now, Helga may have been suffering from a myriad of mental health issues, and she may have been prone to anxiety, but she never stopped being Helga. So it came as no surprise when her and a now older and sassier Rhonda confronted the spiteful loud-mouth and gave her a piece of their mind. Rhonda was another one that Helga had bonded with, mostly due to Rhonda's newfound habit of keeping her protected from the nastiness of school gossip, even she knew when a line was crossed. Allison never outwardly antagonized Helga again, but it didn't stop the gossiping, it just meant that they all kept it quiet enough to where Helga wouldn't hear about it.Though the behavior from the brash boys and gossiping girls made Helga feel overwhelmed and upset, she would always remind herself that she had her friends with her every step of the way. Her and Phoebe never drifted apart, they still spoke daily and hung out almost every second of the day, even when Phoebe finally began seeing Gerald, their friendship didn't slow down. Even up to high school, her and Arnold were still together, and as the years went by she found herself becoming more physically affectionate with him, her fearful walls being broken by his unwavering patience and kindness. Arnold found it funny, most boys his age were seeking sexual relationship with girls, while he was just happy that he could now cuddle and kiss his girlfriend again without her trying to hide away from him.There were days where she felt guilty, as if she had forced all of her friends to grow up too fast. She wondered if she ruined their teenage years, Arnold quit doing sports when he realized it meant he couldn't walk her home after school, there were many parties and get togethers the others had actively declined attending because she felt too overwhelmed to go. She feared that she was dragging them down with her, but every time they would assure her that it was all on their own accord, and that she wasn't at fault. She wasn't a complete hermit, she found herself partaking in many school activities, such as the creative writing club, and even starred in the school's performance of Wicked alongside Lila. Ironically, Helga played Glinda, and Lila played Elphaba.Once you looked past the typical cruelness of high school, Helga was a normal teenager. It made her happy, normal was all she had ever wanted.After turning eighteen, Helga decided she wanted to give back to Amelia for all the years of love and support she had given her. It was Amelia's own birthday when Helga handed her a binder with some documents in it. When the older woman opened it, she noticed that they were all official documentation for Helga, a passport, drivers license, ID card, college acceptance letters, but there was one key detail about all of them that made the older woman's eyes widen in shock and glee. Instead of saying Helga Geraldine Pataki, they said Helga Geraldine Bliss.Amelia could only hug Helga tightly, a wave on gratitude hitting her so hard that droplets of joyous tears escaped her eyes. She muttered, "Helga Bliss..." quietly to herself, the name sounding perfectly pretty, a fitting one for her daughter.Helga could only chuckle and hug her back, saying in between laughs, "I thought it would make more sense to have the same name as my mom."Amelia would probably never fully grasp how much she meant to her, she wasn't just her adoptive mother, she wasn't just the nice therapist who took her in, to Helga, Amelia was her savior. Had it not been for the woman encouraging her to get out of bed every day, for giving her a warm home to come to whenever the world got rough, her holding her hand and helping her through all the pain, torment and anguish that came as a result of all she had went through, she wondered if she would even be alive. Amelia wasn't just her guardian, she was her mother in every sense of the word, and Helga took nothing but pride in telling everyone that.Life seemed to calm down for Helga post high school graduation. She began attending Bartlett College for her English literature undergraduate. She decided to commute from home, unsure if she could handle the pressure of living on campus with a stranger, but she still managed to become accustomed to the lifestyle. Funnily enough, it was Lila of all people who came to the same college she did, though the redhead was doing media studies. It was a tad hard not having her friends with her constantly anymore, but she no longer felt afraid and alone, in fact, she found herself making new friends as she settled into college life. Helga avoided parties, she had never been a partier and the horror stories she heard of frat bros spiking drinks and assaulting girls was enough to scare her away from it for good. This wasn't too much of a problem, since her newfound college friends didn't seem to party much either, so instead they spent their weekend visiting lounges and crashing at each other's places.It was during her second year of college when there was a knock at the door, Amelia was in bed so it was Helga that went to open it. Once open she saw a brunette woman with long hair, though it was currently stringy and unkempt, her face was smeared in makeup and tears, and the right side of her face was swelling profusely. Her clothing was drenched in rain, and consisted of a large t-shirt and sweatpants, yet all she wore on her feet were oversized crocs. Even in such an unkempt, pitiful appearance, Helga could still tell it was Olga — or her new name, Diana Shevchenko.Her sister could only weep softly, just barely mustering the strength to say, "please... I have nowhere else to go."It was a sad story. According to Olga, after the trial she was so racked with guilt that she couldn't bare to even be in the same state as Helga. When she moved, she changed her name and attempted to lay low by working as a school teacher, giving up her budding Broadway career. There, she met a new man, one that she soon found herself marrying. Helga didn't need Olga to tell her what sort of man he ended up being, the black eye her sister had was proof enough. Olga managed to escape, taking a bus to Hillwood and coming to the only place she felt safe, the Bliss residence.A more bitter and vengeful side of Helga wanted to throw the woman out, to lock the door and force her to face her problems all alone, this side of Helga wanted to put Olga through exactly what Helga had went through all of her childhood. Instead, she covered the woman with a blanket, and went upstairs to get Amelia. Olga stayed with the duo for a while, she was lucky, due to some complications surrounding her name change, the marriage to her husband wasn't actually legally recognized, so she didn't have to go through the process of divorcing him. Helga had expected her to stay with them for much longer, but it only took a few months for Olga to gather her bearings and find a quaint little apartment in Hillwood.In the time they lived together, the sisters had tried to rekindle their relationship; though it was difficult, admittedly they had never really been close, and the abuse Helga suffered only succeeded in shattering the little bond they actually had. Helga simply couldn't bring herself to like Olga fully, whenever she saw her, she saw the girl that got it all growing up. Olga was loved, protected and respected, Bob would have never laid a finger on her and if he did, Miriam would not have hesitated to call the police. Whenever she saw Olga, she saw the big sister who was never there for her, who never asked how she was doing or checked up on her to make sure everything was okay, she saw the big sister that was too busy playing older sibling to a completely different girl to care about her actual 'baby sister'.That sort of bitterness was hard to let go of, and she was sure that she would never truly get over that animosity. Helga knew she would never really like Olga, she couldn't bring herself to be around the woman for too long and conversation was out of the picture, but deep down she felt that they would always have some sort of sisterly bond, a bond that told her it was only right to be by her side as she recovered from her abusive marriage, that it was only right to visit Olga weekly and make sure she was doing well.It was during her last year of college when Amelia started seeing someone. He was a taxi driver named Martin Fordson who Amelia had met on her way home once, the woman had been too drunk to drive so she used a taxi service instead. Helga had to admit, they were a nice couple. Martin was an attractive man, with deep brown skin and curly black hair that he often tied back, he was definitely easy on the eye. Helga stayed out of the older couple's business, but based on everything she did learn they seemed happy, and considering she also got along well with the polite and introspective Martin, she absolutely approved of her mother's new relationship.Things only seemed to look up for Helga after she graduated. Her and Arnold were still as in love as they had been when they were preteens, her friendships had all stayed solid despite the time passed, and she was even able to land a book deal with a fairly well known publishing house. At first she was worried, fearing they wanted some sort of tell-all memoir where she went into detail about her struggles, but no, they were alright with her just sending in fiction manuscripts that she was passionate about. Helga was surprised by how little her past affected certain aspects of her life, she was never hounded, in fact most people had either forgotten or didn't know. It wasn't haunting her nearly as harshly as she thought it would.It was always there though, lingering. Such as the time her and Arnold first had sex. It was almost surreal, they had been together for a decade and had never moved passed making out, and even stranger Arnold didn't seem to mind. Helga could only imagine how lucky she was, most men wouldn't be with a woman they couldn't sleep with, yet Arnold was still patient and understanding. Which was why on their anniversary, Helga told him that she wanted to try having sex for the first time. It was awkward, and in all honesty she was afraid — but she knew that she would always be afraid of this, and the only way to conquer the fear was to face it head on.Arnold was at a loss for words, but when he realized she was completely serious, he pulled her into a hug and promised he would try to make it as enjoyable as he could, and if at any point she felt overwhelmed then all she had to do was say so and he would stop, no matter how much he enjoyed himself. It was as awkward as one would expect, they were both technically virgins, with one party's only experience with sexual activity being childhood assault, but they took it slowly. They made sure to study each other, learning what got which reaction, and what was not liked. Helga required a lot of preparation, and when it was finally time for him to enter her, he learned she preferred it slow, intimate, with him hugging her the entire time. Despite the rocky start, it had been an overall pleasurable, happy experience. This was sex, a pleasurable moment between her and the man she loved, she had finally had real sex for the first time and she liked it.The next morning, Arnold panicked at their lack of protection, fearing that they may have made a bad decision. It was then when Helga was forced to sit down and explain to him that she was classified as infertile, something she had been grappling with since she was thirteen. The news came as a shock to Arnold, but when he saw the clear humiliation and sorrow boil into his girlfriend's eyes, he was quick to pull her into a tight embrace, kissing her delicately on the forehead."It's alright," he soothed, as she whimpered about them not being able to have a real family, "we have a family, you are my family, and no amount of you being unable to carry a child stops that. I love you, all of you."He assured her that if kids ever came into the picture, they could adopt, or even find other ways to have children, and that he thought no less of her. Again, Helga could only be grateful that she was with such an angel.So, it wasn't long until Arnold proposed. It was on Valentine's day, he had brought her to a beautiful restaurant in which the dress code required guests to wear their gala best. So, in her soft peach evening gown, Helga could only fall to her knees in tears of joy when her true love pulled out a diamond ring and asked for her hand in marriage. The restaurant cheered as Helga blubbered out her different variations of the word 'yes' and hugged him deeply.It seemed that everything was going perfectly for her, she soon moved out of Amelia's home and into an actual house with Arnold, whom had left the boarding house to be looked over by his own parents in the wake of his grandparents' passing. Once they lived together, the now published author and her architect fiancée began planning for their future, more specifically the wedding. They had decided to hold the wedding in London, more specifically in Twickenham. Helga had always dreamed of getting married in the fairytale-like Strawberry Hill House. It would cost a pretty penny, but with some saving, and the lucky success of Helga's debut novel, the two were able to afford to book the place. With her dream venue booked, and a custom Vivienne Westwood wedding dress designed after Carrie Bradshaw's from Sex and the City, it seemed there was absolutely nothing that could ruin what was going to be the greatest day of her life."If you want, I can tell her to leave..."It was the day of Helga and Arnold's wedding, the day in which the two would officiate their marriage in front of their friends and family, and at first it was going great. Sure, they were nervous, as any couple would be, but they had yet to develop cold feet, and after avoiding each other after their individual bachelor and bachelorette parties, they were just ready for her to walk down the isle so they could see each other. Helga had spent most of the day getting ready, hair, makeup, making sure her dress was alright. The known perfectionist was being especially busy today, and with Rhonda there to play the role of the critical stylist, and Lila and Phoebe trying to keep the peace, it was safe to say things were getting hectic.Arnold and Helga were the first of their group to get married, so this was a whole new experience, there was a weird pressure for them to set a good example for the rest of the 'Hillwood Crew', as they dubbed themselves. This didn't help with Rhonda forcing herself into the role of wedding planner, though Helga couldn't complain, the haughty debutant was the one to help her with acquiring the dress. Just as things were beginning to calm down, her bridal chamber was invaded by a rare Olga. Helga had decided to invite her, though it took a lot of deliberating on it, she was eventually swayed by that feeling that told her it was only right.Olga wore a simply white dress, with spaghetti straps on the shoulders and a skirt that reached just above her knees, she wore black leggings and white pumps, as well as a small white brooch in her hair. Helga was actually impressed that Olga had managed not to upstage her. Her older sister awkwardly fiddled with her purse, looking down as the group looked at her."Um, Helga?" Helga remembered her saying, "you see — um — someone wants to talk to you... and by someone I mean mother... Miriam..."Helga had not seen Miriam since the day of her conviction. She knew that by now the woman would be out, living a new life and most likely under a new identity. Once she knew that the woman was out of her life for good, she refused to even acknowledge her existence. In fact, Olga calling her 'mother' annoyed her to her core, Helga had a mother, and that woman was Amelia Bliss, not Miriam Pataki.Snapping back into reality, Helga shook her head, "no, don't worry... what does she want?""To talk apparently," Olga sighed, "she also looked like she had a gift."Helga groaned, "and she had to pick my wedding day... whatever, tell her to come in. Girls, could you... leave? Just for a bit, I'd like to deal with this alone."Instead of arguing on it, the trio nodded, telling her to let them know if anything happened before leaving with Olga, who went to collect Miriam. It was only a few minutes before Miriam entered the room. Helga immediately noticed major difference in her, she was clearly older now, with wrinkling becoming more apparent on her, and yet, she looked... healthy, that was it, she looked healthy. Her skin was a natural peach now, and her once vacant eyes were an electric and aware blue. Her hair was longer now, but it looked soft and well taken care of. She wore soft makeup as expected of an older lady, some lipstick and eye makeup at most. She wore a white sweater and long white skirt, and Helga noticed black boots on her feet.Miriam sat down across from Helga, in her hands she held a wrapped box, and the woman couldn't bring herself to look at her biological daughter. Helga didn't glare, curse, get angry or even huff. She simply stared at her mother, who eventually looked up to meet her gaze, "you look beautiful," Miriam began, "like a princess, congratulations on the marriage, he seems like a... wonderful man.""Thank you," Helga hummed, "did you need anything?"Miriam fiddled with the box in her hands, "I brought this, um, it's a china tea set, as a wedding gift." She handed the box to the bride, who said her thanks before getting up to go and place it where the other presents had been put. When she went to sit back down, Miriam took in a breath, "I also wanted to say a few things. For once, I'm sober, have been for seven years now.""Really? I could sort of tell, congratulations.""Thank you," Miriam said, a small, knowing smile gracing her, "um, like I said earlier congrats on the marriage, I... truly am proud of you... and most importantly, I'm sorry."Helga could only watch as the woman shuffled in place, "I was a bad mother, a selfish, airheaded, enabler of a mother who allowed you to be hurt so callously that if you attacked me right now I would understand. I've been trying to repent for all I did, in light of my sobriety journey I began doing weekly therapy that I still do, um, and just a lot of healing and self help stuff. I want to be better, not just health wise, but as a person, and I've been trying as hard as I can." Miriam then looked at the ground, "if you never forgive me, I will be at peace with that, knowing I deserve it. But I want you to know that from the bottom of my soul I mean it when I say that I'm sorry, and that I love you so, so much and I am proud of you and everything you've accomplished. You deserved better than me, than us, and based on the people I saw when coming here, you found exactly that."The two sat in silence for a bit, giving Helga the chance to really process Miriam's words. For the first time in her entire life, one of her biological parents had told her that they were proud of her. It was something she never thought she would hear, but Miriam had said it, boldly and clearly. Miriam was about to get up, when Helga suddenly blurted, "I forgive you."She was stunned, frozen even, "huh?""I won't forget, I never will," Helga candidly said, "and I don't know if I will ever trust you, but... I forgive you Miriam. I don't hate you, I don't want you punished, I don't wish you the worst... I'm still hurt, sometimes I have nightmares, sometimes I can't leave the house because my anxiety's that bad, and then I remember that I can't have kids and I begin crying... but even then, I... forgive you, and I'm willing to at least try and make amends."Her biological mother could only stare at the bride, the now woman, the girl she had failed. The one she expected to scream at her to get the fuck out of her wedding was extending her forgiveness that Miriam was sure she didn't deserve. When she began sniffling, Helga was the one to initiate a hug, unable to contain the smile on her face. She couldn't remember the last time her and Miriam hugged. They then pulled apart, with Helga looking at her with her own glassy eyes."I say you join the ceremony, as a guest at least."It was October 8th when Helga Bliss got married to the love of her life, Arnold Shortman.When Helga realized she had no one to walk her down the aisle, a few of their families offered to walk her, Miles, Amelia, and even Martin had all volunteered. She declined them all though, to her, she was starting a new life, one that included independence, one that required her to face it head on. So, Helga decided to walk the aisle alone. With her bouquet in hand and her veil atop her head, the awe-inspiring bride slowly walked down the isle by herself to meet her groom. Followed by her flower girls — said flower girls being her college friend Marcy's twins — she could feel all eyes on her as though she were a royal princess making her public debut. Every second was pure euphoria for Helga, to look into her husband's eyes and vow to be with him through the hells of earth and beyond, to proclaim to the entire world that she would always love him, to finally kiss him after days of not seeing him. It could only be described as happiness.It had been many years since then. The Shortmans had since settled down as a family, with Helga continuing her career in literature and Arnold rising up the notoriety ranks in the world of architecture. Just as Arnold promised, when the two couldn't have their own child, they had decided to instead go the route of adoption. The two had adopted an orphaned infant they named Cecilia, and even if she didn't birth her, Helga loved her like a mother the same way Amelia had loved her.Cecilia was now seven, already growing to be quite the remarkable young girl. With a good school record and a habit of snark, she took a lot from her mother, which caused the evil female duo to often team up to pick on Arnold. He had since learned he could never defeat the ways of the Helga or the Cecilia, instead accepting his fate as the perpetual victim. They had fun, they were happy.One day, Cecilia pointed at the calendar, specifically at the circled date, "oh, mommy's planning for Halloween!""No silly," Arnold laughed, "that's the 30th, remember? Mommy circled the 8th.""Oh yeah..." Cecilia then squinted forward, only for Helga to giggle at how her shaggy brown hair covered her face, "then why did mommy circle the 30th? Oh! Is it aunt Fefe's birthday?"Helga laughed, going over to pick the small girl up and hold her, "no, it's not a birthday, you see, October 8th is..."Arnold looked to his wife, but her eyes told not tale of fear or worry. Instead, they were dreamy, happy, and at peace. Walking over, he could only hug her from behind, nestling his face into her neck.His wife chuckled, facing her football-headed beau with a wonky, happy smile, "it's the day your father and I got married."