You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 2

Chapter 28: Love's Labors Lost and Buried

            The watch around my wrist ticked loudly, filling the silent void between Helen and I as I stood in her doorway, trying my best to fight the November chill slowly creeping its way into my bones. I glanced over Helen's shoulder at the presence of movement, spotting a little bit of a human scooting along the ground, banging their arms against the floor occasionally. Helen noticed my staring and turned around, almost immediately swooping down and picking up her child before they got the chance to bolt out the door. He had a healthy amount of red curls sitting on the top of his head, occasionally falling in front of his eyes; I didn't recognize the structure of his face, meaning it must have come from the other half of the pair.

"What—what the hell are you doing here?"

There was something hostile about her tone, shocking me slightly. I didn't even know she could be angry, let alone snippy and short with someone. I knew she thought her mind was reshaped, or whatever bullshit they hammer into heads, but she'd changed her entire personality.

"It's... sort of complicated." She didn't bother to fight a little, tiny smile that poked its way through.

"It always is."

The two of us fell back into an uncomfortable silence, pulling at articles of clothing and moving our eyes back down to our feet, and, in Helen's case, to the baby. I felt a conflict in my heart as I looked at that little thing, staring right back at me with big, brown eyes, curious as to who exactly this woman was at the door. This kid would go his whole life without ever knowing who his mother really was, instead living under something false, created by torture and the breaking of a desperate, worn-down spirit. The experience was different for everyone, but I knew Helen—never angry or violent, but damn, if she wasn't a fighter.

Briefly, I glanced down at the watch wrapped securely around my wrist. I didn't have much time left here if I wanted to get the last thing on my list done before I had to meet Five and the rest of our siblings back at what had been Elliott's.

Once again, the image of his corpse pushed its way forward, and I quickly tried to brush it away by speaking.

"I know this is a little rude to ask, but... do you mind if I come in?" Without really waiting for an answer, I tried to take a step forward, but Helen quickly moved to block my path, the line of her gaze well past me, more focused on any neighbors. "Helen, you don't have to worry about that. They'll probably just think I'm a friend coming to visit." That brought her attention back to me. I flinched as a certain fire lit behind her eyes, pushing me back without laying a finger on me.

"You can't be here, Mina," she snapped suddenly. "You just can't." I shook my head, trying to calm her back down.

"No, Helen, you don't understand. I'm not here to—"

"You have to leave." Her words came out with the fury of an army general's barking commands. My jaw fell agape a little, unsure of who exactly was standing in front of me. This was just the shell of the woman I had been in love with not too long ago. "If David comes home, he's gonna start askin' questions, and I'm not gonna know how to answer them without..." Her breath caught in her throat, and her stern and tall posture faltered slightly.

It took everything in me not to reach out and grab her free hand, or brush some of that red hair out of her eyes. If any nosy neighbors were watching us, that absolutely would be seen as a red flag. When I looked at her, I didn't see someone I loved anymore, at least not in the same way I had some time ago. That had faded, and for a while, it was replaced by someone else, but now, I wasn't sure I loved anyone that wasn't my family. Still, to see Helen broken like this, made a victim of the time she lived in...