CHAPTER 32

“Where is Helene?” Adam asked when he saw Lexy and Arianne walking out of the clinic, and Helene was not with them. “I thought she was with you?”

“She was,” Arianne said and sighed. “But she just disappeared after talking to the doctor.”

“She didn’t even tell us what’s the result,” Lexy said in a knotted forehead. “We asked the doctor about it, and we’re right about our suspicions, Helene’s sick.”

“She has paranoid schizophrenia…” Arianne started crying. “That explains why she sees things that we can’t. She’s having illusions and could no longer tell what is real and isn’t.”

Adam plopped his shoulders. He knew that something was wrong with Helene, but he didn’t expect it to be worse than he thought. “I could save her if I talked to her and didn’t leave her side…”

Lexy knotted her forehead. “What do you mean?”

“I have noticed that something’s not right to her since I saw her moved into her apartment,” he began. “She’s a loner and seldom goes out in her house to exercise or to just socialize with the neighborhood. She’ll just go out on grocery day. I never saw her brought her garbage plastic on the street.”

“You live near her house?” Arianne asked. “Helene didn’t mention it to us.”

“She doesn’t know,” he said. “She just found it recently that we’re in the same neighborhood. I’ve known her since she’s just in high school. She and Bela were classmates, and I often saw her walked home alone.”

Arianne gasped. “OMG, why do you sound as if you like her?”

“Why didn’t you talk to her? Is it because of Bela?” Lexy asked. Unlike Arianne, she sounded dismayed by him.

“Helene never looked at me,” he admitted and sighed. “She was aloof with other students in their school. I thought she just doesn’t want me to be her friend.”

Arianne sighed. “It must be tough for Helene during that time. Her mom left her to work abroad. She was just in high school and didn’t have siblings or relatives to talk to. She was alone.”

“You said that you’ve noticed something’s not right with Helene. What are those signs that made you think she’s acting strange?” Lexy asked him. Her eyes were looking straight at him.

“It wasn’t me that first noticed it. It’s Bela,” he said and sighed. “Bela’s been picking on Helene since they were in high school. But one afternoon, Bela told me that she saw Helene eating alone on the bench, but she looked as if she’s talking to somebody. Then, just like yesterday, it was as if she’s with someone close to her.”

“Is that the reason why Bela is calling her a freak?” Arianne asked. “And Bela became one of the reasons why Helene’s illness worsened.”

“And now, we’re part of the reasons why Helene suffered from the symptoms again,” Lexy said sadly. “How will we help her?”

“She needs us,” Adam said. “I will try to convince her to undergo therapy. But what bothers me is what she would do now that she has found out the truth about her newfound friend, Malcolm?”

***

“Illusions? Hallucinations?” Helene laughed and pushed her door opened. “I was just hallucinating? And I don’t know what’s real and unreal anymore?”

She went to her kitchen to drink. She had to calm herself. Everything that the doctor told her was hard to digest. Helene couldn’t believe that she was diagnosed with mental illness. She was wacko now. So Bela was right when she called her a freak. She really was one of the most despised people in the world.

“But I don’t feel like one…” she said. “Illusion? Malcolm was just an illusion?” Helene’s knees shook until she couldn’t stand on her feet. She sat on the floor and looked around her house. “He’s not real?”

Tears fell from her cheeks. The only person that showed affection and love to her was just a product of her imagination? The man who made her feel loved and secure didn’t exist…Malcolm was not a real person.

Helene felt everything in her life was not real, that maybe she doesn’t exist too. Perhaps this is all just a dream. Her gaze averted to the dining table, where she and Malcolm shared their favorite ramen.

“We shared it, and I saw him ate the ramen,” she paused, then stood in a jolt. She went to her sink, and when she saw the empty cups of ramen, a smile formed on her lips. “He’s real—” she stopped as the contents on the other cup slowly appeared before her eyes. She looked at their coffee mugs, and the coffee on the other also appeared. “No…Malcolm?!”

Helene ran towards her bedroom and looked for the man. She looked everywhere, but she can’t find him. She fell on the floor and wept in tears as she called Malcolm.

“Malcolm! Malcolm! Where are you? Malcolm…Don’t leave me, please! You promised me!” Helene covered her face as she cried. The pain in her chest is unbearable. “Don’t leave me…”

“Helene…” She felt somebody touched her head. “Helene, I’m here…”

Helene looked up. “Malcolm?” When she saw his face and confirmed that it was him, she hugged her tightly. “Don’t leave me. I love you, Malcolm. I can’t live without you.”

“I love you too, Helene,” he said and caressed her cheeks. “I’ve loved you since you were a kid, I don’t want to leave your side during that time, but I have to because you’ll soon forget about me…I came back to your life when you were sixteen and alone. We became friends until you became a fan of James.”

Helene’s brows furrowed in shock and confusion. “It was you? The newspaper boy?” She gasped. “And the kid that I often see in our gate when I was six years old?”

Malcolm nodded. “I disappear every time you forget about my existence. But I’m here again because you needed me…and I’m glad that I found you again, Helene.”

“You came into my life because I was starting to feel alone again…You saved me from sadness, Malcolm. If you leave me, I might not take it.”

“Then come with me, Helene,” Malcolm said and held his hand to her. “In my world, there will be no more sadness. I’m always by your side. And we’ll live happy and contented.”

“Take me with you, Malcolm…” Helene held his hand. She stood and followed Malcolm’s steps.

Malcolm stopped in the living room and pointed at the curtains. “It will be quick and painless, Helene. In a few seconds, we’ll be together forever.”

Helene hesitated, but if it’s the only way to stay with the man she loves, she will do it. She removed the curtains on her window and tied them to the ceiling. She stepped on the table and held Malcolm’s hand as she hanged her head on the curtain and kicked the table away.

“I’ll see you on the other side, Helene…”

In a moment, Helene felt like her lungs were going to explode. All her organs were shouting for air. And, before she closed her eyes, she heard Adam’s voice shouting her name…

***