I know I haven’t post a chapter for awhile, but you know, Christmas time & everything! So I made a longer one! :D ENJOY!
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Helena got a few results of other tests that were encouraging. Fortunately for her and her family, she soon could return home to rest. The night had fallen and the lamp on the nightstand beside her bed was the only source of light. A cup of tea in hand, she continued her story:
“-There was a few days left before my departure and I still haven’t talk to Benjamin again since our last discussion. I didn’t know if I should tell him I was leaving or if it was best that he discovers it by himself. My aunt noticed that I didn’t know what to do. She decided to bring me to a party she was invited to.
On our way home, my aunt told me she had announced to Benjamin what I dreaded to tell him to take a weight off my shoulders. I was a little frustrated that she haven’t minded her own business, I wanted to decide how to tell him myself, but part of me was telling myself it was perhaps better that way.
Turning the corner of the street, the first thing I saw was three fire engines. My aunt and I came out of the car quickly. Lydia’s house was on fire. My aunt fell on her knees, mouth wide open, watching the awful show she had in front of her. She had spent all her life in this house and all the memories that remained of my uncle was now reduced to dust. Watching the flames engulfed the house was horrible, but seeing this exceptional woman, who had done so much for me, collapse in pain like that was ten times harder.
I headed to a firefighter, asking him if they were able to control the fire. Negative. I asked him if he knew the origin of the fire. Negative. I asked him if he thought we were going to be able to get back a lot of things after the fire. Negative. At least I knew what to expect, but I didn’t want to reveal these informations, still little not clear, to my aunt. I went back to her, holding her in my arms, with gleaming eyes.
Suddenly, on the corner of my eyes I saw a silhouette on the corner of the street. I could not believe my eyes. I thought: “No Helena, it cannot be him, it is simply impossible! He would never go so far. You probably didn’t saw right.” After removing the tears that were confusing my sight, my first impression was confirmed. Benjamin looked at me in a rather strange way, as if he wanted to send me a message. And then he disappeared into obscurity.
-So he burnt the house of your aunt? Asked Tim, to be sure he understood.
-Yes.
-And what happened to him after that?
-Well, it was discovered a few days later that the fire was arson, which then confirmed my doubts. As the firefighter told me that night, we could not get much out of what remained of the house. And we couldn’t prove that Benjamin was behind it all. I had to go see him to put the record straight.
-You went to see this mental again?!
-What else did you wanted me to do? To leave it there like it was? If I could at least make him confess that he was the culprit, it would have been better. But now I know it was stupid to do that.
*
Helena was passing through the streets towards a specific destination. She realized as she was on her way that she never came inside the apartment of Benjamin. Once she arrived, she rang. No response. However, his parent’s car was parked down. She thought that the bell was broken. So she turned the handle. A corridor with two doors stood before her. The first door led to the bathroom while the second led to the bedroom of Benjamin. He wasn’t in either of them. She continued, arrived at the end of the corridor, to find herself into the kitchen, which was open on the dining room. Helena heard a few voices starting to rise in the living room. She went to the arch leading to the living room but still immunised from sight of anyone who was in the next room.
Before she could hear a single word of the fight going on between Benjamin and his parents she heard a strange noise followed by a sharp cry coming from her stepmother. She said while sobbing, “NO! But, Benjamin! What’s wrong with you? What have you done? This is your father after all! No, Benjamin, stay away from me. No, no, NO!” Her words were followed by a strange noise, like the first one she heard. And then it was silence, she could only hear her breath. She hesitated between going to see what was going on in the living room, to see if what she thought happened was really true, or get out of the apartment and run away.
Before she could make her decision, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the wall that separated the living room and dining room. Benjamin passed in the ark and walked to the kitchen without seeing Helena immediately. When he turned around and saw her, he asked her what she was doing there. Helena opened her mouth to reply, but then she noticed red spots on his shirt and the knife he had just let go of in the sink.
“-Benjamin, what happened?
-It’s not what you think Helena, he said, approaching the dining table. Helena had a cringe telling him not to approach her.
-Lily? James? Is everything okay? Helena asked a little louder so that the people in the living room could hear her. No response. She continued: Benjamin, why are your parents not answering me? And do not tell me they were not there, I saw the car down there, in the parking.
-Look Helena, it’s more complicated than that.
-Oh my god. You killed them, your own parents.
-Arg! Shut up! They were already bugging me for long time. I’ll be better that way.
-Benjamin, you do not seem to realize the seriousness of your act. You killed two people! And now, you’ll go to jail for that!
-No, not if no one denounce me.
Helena realized that she was trapped. If she ran to the neighbor to call 911, Benjamin would have time to escape before they arrive. But if she was staying there, he would probably kill her. After all, he had murdered his own parents, what would stop him from killing her?
-Why did you come here Helena?
There was only one way out. Her chances of success were low, but slightly higher than anything else she could try.
-I came here to tell you that I was ready to move in with you.
Benjamin looked at her, astonished. He was not expecting that at all.
-But, that’s not what your aunt told me.
-That’s what she deducted from my silence, she said, approaching slowly from Benjamin. She meant well by telling you what she told you. But I realized that I felt for you, feelings I had never felt towards anyone else before. Do you think we could be like we were at the beginning of the summer?
-You’re bluffing. A few seconds ago, you were furious, and now you’re ready to live with me?!
-And why would I be bluffing? To save my life because I know you killed your parents? What would be the point? You’re stronger than me anyway, I would have no chance. And you know me; I am able to wipe out some things that I do not agree with if in the end I can be happy.
Helena approached a little closer to him, making sure he was not armed anymore. He was looking at her suspiciously.
-I still have doubts … Prove to me that you don’t want to betray me, he said.
Helena pulled out a stack of banknotes of her purse and she placed it on the table.
“I had taken a certain amount of money so we could escape together (she had brought out the money to return home.) And my bags are waiting in the taxi down in the parking (she had folded her luggage in order to return home). You can go check if you want.
He went out on the balcony of the apartment and looked down to see the taxi that was waiting in the courtyard. Helena went to the sink and seized what Benjamin had left in it a few seconds before. She returned to the exact spot where she was before Benjamin went to verify what she had said. Helena had had time to return to her original position when he came back inside. She was nervous, but tried her best not to let it show and play the game.
-So, can we just start over now? She said.
Benjamin looked at her indecisively and suspiciously. Should he believe her and risk his freedom or eliminate her and maybe kill the love of his life? Helena saw that Benjamin was still on his guards, but that he almost believed her. So she approached him and kissed him passionately. Benjamin hesitated the first few seconds, but finally seized Helena’s waist and he returned her kiss.
They took their breath back while hugging each other, and Benjamin said:
“It’s ok, I believe you now. You’ll see, we’ll have a dream life together.
Suddenly, Helena got the knife out of her sleeve and planted it in Benjamin’s leg. He uttered a scream of pain.
-Yes, in your dreams.
She released the knife that remained in the thigh of Benjamin, who collapsed of pain on the floor.
-Oh, you fucking bitch! ”
Helena turned back to go call the police, but Benjamin to grabbed her foot, making her fall. She hit her head hard on the table, but remained conscious. Benjamin was holding Helena’s right foot with one hand, the other trying to take the knife out of his muscles. Helena gave him a kick in the face, leaving him unconscious. His nose was probably broken.
She got back up quickly and grabbed the phone. She called the police station and they told her to be careful and that relief would arrive shortly. She went beside the inanimate body and bent down to take the knife lying next to him. When she rose, she gave him a few kicks in belly and suddenly, her foot was seized by Benjamin’s hand, who had just regained consciousness. He pulled on her leg to make her fall again and to make her letting go of to the knife. She bent down quickly to the young man’s thigh, and thrust one more time the knife in the wound. He released Helena, writhing in pain. Helena gave him another blow to the head, making him unconscious again.
Catching her breath back, she watched the silhouette of her former lover with scorn. She wondered how she could have been able to feel such strong feelings for someone so terrifying. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind: Lily and James, the parents of Benjamin. She went towards the living room, not knowing exactly what to expect. When she entered the room, the first thing she saw was a male body on the floor, arms and legs in not really reassuring positions, and another body, female this time, on the couch, covered with blood.
*
“-The scene was horrible to watch. I had before me the bodies of two completely innocent people, an unconscious arsonist killer in the dining room and all I could do was wait for the relief and contemplate the horror I had before my eyes. Finally, help arrived five minutes later. When they came in, I was locked in the bathroom, trying to clarify my mind. They took me and Benjamin (still unconscious) and brought us to the police station, in different cars of course.
They interrogated me and I told them the whole story. When Benjamin woke up and had been questioned, he denied everything and put everything on my fault. He said he broke up with me the day before and I had came to see him to beg him to come back with me and that, seeing that its decision was taken, I was angry and I had attacked him. He said his parents had arrived to his apartment after that, discovering their son unconscious and his former girlfriend with a knife in her hand. He then said that I would have killed them because of the fear I had for them to kill me. He said after that, that I would have offered him the money that was left on the table against his silence and happiness with me. In his version, he tried to reach the phone but I would have hit him again. He concluded by saying that I had called 911, making me pass for the victim instead of him so I could be free.
I was really afraid to be the one imprisoned instead of him. But I had not touched the body of my former in-laws while the Benjamin’s footprints were covering the corpses.
He was thrown into a cell and I have never seen him again. I didn’t know how long he was condemned to remain in prison: the less information I knew about him, the better I was. I needed therapy for a year to get over it completely. I thought I was done hearing about him, but it doesn’t seem so…
Helena looked down, joining her hands. There, she said everything, it was all released. She didn’t like to talk about this period of her life, but she felt that a weight on her shoulders was now removed after she confessed herself to Tim. He looked at Helena and couldn’t help but ask her a question:
-Was he the one who was driving the other car the night of the accident?
Helena looked at Tim sadly.
-That’s what the paper said…
Tim put his head in his hands. He did not expect such a story. What could he do now to protect his family? He straightened up and stood up to join Helena in the hospital bed. She moved a little bit to make some place for Tim in the bed.
-You are safe now, he told her.
-Thank you. Thank you for being here for me.
They kissed each other
They spent the night huddled against each other in the small hospital bed to comfort each other
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Soooooo, I’m kinda proud of this this one! It’s longer and has a lot of action (well, in my opinion at least). Took me 2 nights to write! For once, I was inspired! ;D
So tell me what you think, liked, disliked please! By doing so, you’re helping me improving the story!
Thank you & lovett you all! xxx
