"Bea, Bea," I heard Helen. She's still sleep talking, I thought. I laid down on the sofa. A loud thud sounded from the floor above.
"Shit!" I said. "Zen!" I stood up and ran towards stairs across the living room. I quickly ran up the stairs.
"Coming!" I heard Zen say. When I reached the second level, I saw Helen sprawled across the floor.
"Helen!" I said. "What are you doing?" I walked over to her and tried to help her stand. She immediately pushed me away.
"Helen!" I said.
"I need to save Bea," Helen said, trying to crawl towards the stairs.
"At your state?" I said. "You can't!" I tried to grab her hand but she swatted me away.
"Dos, what's-" Zen said as they arrived. They saw what Helen was doing and pouted. Zen walks over to her and picks her up easily.
"Let me go!" Helen said while moving her arms and legs around, trying to escape.
"Let's get you back to bed," Zen said. They started walking towards the open door in front of them.
"No," Helen complained. "I have to go save her! I need to save Bea!" She's awake but at what cost? I thought. I followed behind them. I closed the door as I got in. I watched as Zen gently laid down Helen on the bed at the middle of the room.
"We will save her Helen," Zen said. "When you're better, we promise. So you should get some more rest now."
"No!" Helen said as she sat up on the bed. "It will be too late by then!"
"No,no,no," Zen said. "It won't." They sat down beside her.
"How do you know?" Helen said.
"We just do," Zen said. Helen glared at Zen, then at me.
"You're with them aren't you?" Helen said and stood up. She grabbed the nearest thing to her which was a pillow. Should we tell her? I thought.
"What?" Zen said. "We're not Helen." Zen inched a bit closer.
"Stay there or I'll hit you with this!" Helen said.
"I'm not scared of a pillow," Zen said. Helen suddenly swung the pillow at Zen. It hit their face.
"Seriously?" Zen said. "You have to trust us." They pushed the pillow off their face.
"Calm down Helen," I said. I walked over to them.
"We promise you we are not with the kidnappers," I said.
"But how do you know she'll be okay?" Helen said. Zen and I looked at each other.
"They promised," I said. I pressed my lips together. Helen stared at me for a minute.
"Who did?" Helen said.
"The kidnappers," I said.
"What?" Helen said. "So you are with the kidnappers!"
"No," I said. "But they're giving us instructions on what to do so we can get Bea back. And we're so close."
"Oh, I see," Helen said. She slowly sat down on the bed. She started crying. Poor Helen, I thought. Zen hugged Helen and let her cry on their shoulder.
"Its going to be alright," Zen said. "We're going to be able to get Bea back."
"But we do need your help," I said. Helen carefully broke off from the hug and looked at me.
"Anything," Helen said. I sat down on the foot of the bed. I looked at Helen.
"What were you doing in that maze?" I asked.
"I was escaping," Helen said.
"You were kidnapped too?" Zen said. "That's where you were."
"Yeah," Helen said. "The same night as Bea since we were together."
"I'm sorry that happened," I said.
"Bea and I were supposed to escape together too but that ghost blocked our way," Helen said. "The only reason I was able to escape was because Bea sacrificed staying there for me. That's why I have to go back and save her."
"We will," I said. "They promised to give Bea back to us for all her signed album cds and-"
"And what?" Helen said. "And you." She got deep in thought.
"Do you trust these kidnappers?" Helen asked.
"Not really," Zen said. "But we're hoping, for Bea's sake. They keep threatening us with killing her if we don't follow."
"Fuck," Helen said.
"They even sent a finger and a hand to remind us," Zen said.
"THEY CUT OFF HER HAND?" Helen said. "Which hand? The one with the cut finger or-"
"The other one," I said.
"Those bastards," Helen said. "Fuck, we really need to save her now. I can lead the way."
"We should but-" Zen said.
"They will kill her," Helen said. The door bell rang and echoed from the hallway.
"Zen! Dos!" I heard some shout. "Are you there? I need help."
"Its Virginia," I said.
"Coming," Zen shouted.
"Oh, it would be nice to see her again," Helen said.
"Wait here Helen," Zen said.
"What? Why?" Helen asked.
"They don't know and they can't know," I said. "What they know is that Bea killed herself."
"Fucking hell," Helen said. "I'll work in the shadows then and stay here then." I nodded.
"Yes please," Zen said. Zen and I stood up and walked towards the door. I let them go out first and I followed. I closed the door behind me. We speedily climbed down the stairs. When we reached the landing, we immediately walked a few more steps over to the front door. I opened the door. Virginia was standing still. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were staring at something.
"Hey Virginia," Zen said. "What's up?"
"Flounder's missing," Virginia said. Zen and I glanced at each other.
"Come in," I said. "Let's sit on the couch." Virginia stepped inside and Zen closed the door behind her. I grabbed her hand and led her inside the living room to my our right.
"Do you want anything?" Zen asked. "Tea, coffee, water?" I shook my head.
"Its not only Flounder and Maine, but also Scorpius, Rammie, Robin, and Pan," Virginia said. Shit, I thought. She's catching up.
"How do you know?" I said as I sat her down on the sofa at the middle of the room.
"I don't," Virginia said. "I'm only certain about Flounder and of course Maine. The rest is a hunch." I sat down beside her and Zen stayed standing.
"How are you certain with Flounder?" Zen asked.
"They were suddenly gone," Virginia said.
"What?" Zen said.
"After our meeting two days ago, Flounder and I decided to hangout at the park and watch the stars," Virginia said. "At one time, I left them on one of the park benches to use the restroom. But when I returned, they were gone."
"Just like that?" I said.
"Yeah," Virginia said. "All that's left on the bench was their bag and the spilled desert we got."
"Could've they run away?" Zen asked.
"Why would they though?" I said. "That doesn't make sense."
"They never leave me like that alone, because you know how they are with directions," Virginia said. She starts crying.
"Its okay," Zen said. "We're going to find them. For sure."
"I've been running around trying to do that," Virginia said.
"Shit," I said. "Since two days ago?"
"Have you eaten?" Zen asked.
"Yeah," Virginia said. "I haven't."
"I'll get you something from the kitchen," Zen said. "What do you want?"
"Anything," Virginia said. "And some water. Thanks." Zen nodded. They stood up and walked out of the living room.
"Did you find any clues?" I asked.
"Nothing," Virginia said.
"I'm sorry," I said as I hugged her. I patted her head as she cried a lot more.
"Am I hallucinating?" Virginia said.
"What?" I said.
"I'm seeing Helen at your hallway," Virginia said. Shit, I said. I told her not to go down. Well she doesn't really know how to listen anyways.
" You must be hallucinating," I said. "Helen's not here. We haven't found her yet."
"Then who-" Virginia said. I turned around and saw that there was no one there.
"Look again," I said. Thank you Zen, I thought. I sighed.
"I swear-" Virginia said.
"You're tired and sleep deprived," I said. "Its a hallucination."
"Ah, yeah," Virginia said as I felt her body slowly get heavier. After a few seconds, she started snoring.
"Get some rest," I said. I slowly stood up and laid her down on the sofa. I walked out of the living room. I looked to the left and saw Zen carrying a tray with one hand and pulling Helen close to them with the other.
"She fell asleep," I said. "What were you thinking."
"I wasn't" Helen whispered. "I was just worried."
"You should worry about your wife who would've gotten another limb cut off if Virginia truly learned about you," I said.
"You're right," Helen said. "I'll be more careful. I just wanted to help." I nodded at Zen. They let go of Helen.
"Can I have the food since Virginia fell asleep anyways?" Helen said. Zen gave her the tray. She started climbing up the stairs fast.
"That was weird," I whispered.
"I know," Zen whispered. "She would never risk Bea's life like that."
"Unless," I said. "She knows something we don't."