CAN I ESCAPE?

PART 24

Helena woke up suddenly in her bed. Her breath was quick and she was sweating profusely. After a minute, she calmed down and took a deep breath.

'Oh, thank you so much, God. It was just a dream ', She thought, feeling relieved.

She took out her phone to call Sam quickly. But before she could click on the call button, her mom entered the room. Her face looked as if she had cried. She looked at Helena and walked to her. She handed her a black dress.

"Mom, you won't believe, I had such a-"

"Wear the dress quickly, Helena. They won't be waiting so long", her Mom said in a broken tone.

Helena looked at her confused.

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"I ironed the black dress for you. Wear it quickly. The funeral will start anytime", her mother said as tears filled her eyes again.

"Mom, why are you crying? What's wrong?"

"Darling, Sam's dead. We need to attend his funeral. You fainted back in the college when you heard it. Don't you remember", her mother cried.

Helena froze.

'What? N-no this can't be the truth! No. This must be a dream. I-I'll pinch myself', she thought as she pinched her wrist.

But when nothing happened, she felt a lump in her throat.

"Why am I not waking up", she said as tears fell down her eyes.

Her mother hugged her tightly, as she started crying again.

"Helena, this is not a dream. We can't do anything. You need to accept this. Sam died. He died on the spot. You need to get ready. We have to go to his last rites. Please, I beg you", she said while crying.

"B-but he promised me that he would never leave me", she said in a shaky tone.

It was difficult for her to believe that. Just a moment ago, she felt relieved, thinking that it was all a nightmare. But now she was slowly realizing that it was not. Sam had gone and she would never see him ever again. She would never see his eyes, his smile, and the love he emitted when they were together. She would never be able to hear him calling her. She would never be able to hear that voice. She would never be able to sense his presence anymore because he was not there anymore. He was gone once and for all.

By the hardest efforts, she got up and dressed in the plain black dress to pay him one last visit before he was kept in his grave. One last visit, to see his face, even if it was lifeless. All through this, she could not even sense that her eyes were flooding constantly. Sam's voice would not leave her head.

"Helena, my baby! I love you so much."

"What do you mean we can't celebrate cuz it is our first month? I wanna celebrate each month with you. You deserve to be loved and appreciated."

"Sweetheart, although I am still angry after our fight, I don't want to leave you alone. Not even for a moment. I am sorry, my Love. It was my fault and I should have kept calm."

"Baby, happy first anniversary! I hope you like this present. I saw this on your wishlist on your phone one day. I hope you like it."

"I am so proud of you, Helena. You have aced our batch with such a great score. You'll be a great attorney one day."

"You won't believe it, Helena. I got us tickets for our second anniversary in Thailand! I know you always wanted to go there. I have got everything ready. We'll have a great time there, Love."

"Hey, baby. I will show you the pictures of the hotel I have booked for our stay today at the college. I'll be there soon........"

"Helena, we are here."

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her mother. We had arrived at the graveyard. People were still reaching there. Her eyes went to the board stating, "Funeral ceremony of Sam Allen."

"Oh my God", she said as her eyes went teary again.

She got out of the car and ran inside. She saw people surrounding the coffin. Everyone was dressed in black, and visibly shocked by the sudden news. His family was bawling loudly. Helena reached there and fell on the floor as she looked at Sam. His body was still in a very bad condition after getting the wounds done. The condition was so bad that no one could look at him.

"My Sam! What happened to you", she said as she started wailing loudly.

Sasha spotted Helena and ran to her to give her a shoulder.

"Helena, please stop crying", she tried to console her.

"It must have hurt so bad. My Sam did not deserve this", Helena cried.

"I know, Helena. No one deserves such a cruel death", Sasha said shakily.

A few men from Sam's family closed Sam's coffin, as it was time to bury him.

"NOOO! Don't take Sam away! Sam!"

Sasha held her tightly as Helena screamed for Sam. Many people started crying at how bad Helena's condition was.

"Helena, please try to calm down. Sam would be so sad seeing you like this, sweetie", said her mother while wiping her eyes.

"H-he left me, Mom. He left me alone."

***

Two years passed. In these two years, Helena continued to be one of the best students at the law school and got an immediate placement at one of the highest firms in the country. But other than her academics, her life had turned upside down. The soft feminine girl who always had a smile on her face had turned into a stone-hearted masculine girl who rarely ever smiled. She no longer had friends, and overworked to forget about the painful memories of Sam. But no matter how busy she tried to keep herself, the scene of Sam's dead body, full of injuries at his funeral would cause her stomach to churn. Her family tried their very best to make her move on, which only resulted in her distancing herself from them too. She tried to end things a few times but did not dare to do that. Because of that, she felt like a loser and isolated herself. She died every day, but never let anyone know this. She cried for him every day, a part of her believing that maybe, one day, Sam would return to her. She would imagine him running to her with a smile on his face, and his eyes full of longing. A day, when he would assure her that he would never leave her alone. But her mind knew that this would never happen. She knew that Sam was gone.

"Helena, wake up and save yourself!"