CHAPTER
' the file that reveals the mystery '
FOUR

Helaena was on the beginning of day four of the lock-in. A little less than three weeks away until her sister's arrival. The girl claimed she was going absolutely mad while in her own bubble at home. The rumors still went around about her at school and she had made conversations with Jasper Hale more frequently.

Speaking of Jasper, the two had now labeled each other as friends. Despite him being shy and quiet for the most part, he was as much of a gentleman as Helaena had suspected. Helaena wouldn't complain because she really enjoyed their talks. Even when working on their project together in class since Helaena wasn't sure how to invite him to her home.

And he wasn't sure on how to truly talk to her.

Her father was working and so Helaena had snuck Thomas over knowing that Charlie would not be home for a while. The man having told Helaena he wouldn't be home till the early hours of the morning. The two were seated on her bed as she scribbled things down on various pages.

"Are you still mad at me?" Thomas questioned as he tried to peer over her shoulder at what she was writing.

"I don't know, am I?" Helaena retorted as she held a small grin, looking back at Thomas as she quickly closed the book, "Take a wild guess."

The look on Thomas' face was one that clearly indicated that he knew she was still a bit mad, "Oh come on. You can't be that mad at me."

"I'm not that mad," Helaena rose from her bed to place her notebook on a table, "Just annoyed, that's all."

Annoyed at the fact our no secrets rule was broken. She was simply mad because that was the one rule they had during their friendship and he broke it.

"How can I make it up to you? Are you saying that you've never broken that rule?" Thomas then questioned as he pried.

"No," Helaena shook her head, "I've told you about everything."

Helaena continued to move a few things around before the buzz of her phone caused her head to turn in the direction of the noise. Though, Thomas got to her phone first and opened it up before raising his eyebrows.

"Told me about everything, huh? You and Hale swapped numbers?" Thomas questioned as he tossed her the phone.

"I told you we were working on a project together," Helaena made a face before she answered the call and pressed the phone to her ear, "This is Helaena speaking."

"Thomas is there, isn't he?" Jasper's voice was almost knowing which caused Helaena to laugh.

"Say Hi," Helaena handed the phone over to Thomas before she smiled at the look on his face.

"Hi Jasper," Thomas spoke through the phone with a grumble before pushing it back to Helaena, "You got the non-talker to talk."

"We have a project, dumbass," Helaena found herself retorting.

Jasper had been struggling with how to approach Helaena and Helaena had learned that Alice was helping - well, more like shoving him too.

"Do you mind if I come over right now?" Jasper's question caught Helaena off guard as she looked at Thomas as if asking 'what do I do?'

Thomas made a motion as he mouthed, "Tell him to come over."

"I can't just," Helaena mouthed back before she quickly answered, "Sure...I'll send you my address."

"Alright. Thomas can stay if he wishes, I would just like to go over some things for our project," Helaena nodded while holding the phone to her ear.

"Okay, see you when you get here," Helaena hung up the phone before sending over her address.

Then it all settled in.

"What the fuck did I just do?" Helaena's eyes widened despite seeing the shit-eating grin that Thomas held.

"You made your move, you're growing up!" Thomas placed his hand on her pillow as he laughed, slowly falling over, "I must stay to chaperone."

Helaena made a face as she ran a hand through her hair, her eyes widening, "Tommy! What did you let me do?! Why is he coming here?!"

Thomas just laughed at the sight of Helaena beginning to freak out. The girl never invited anyone that she wasn't super comfortable with to her house. Let alone to work on some project. Thomas knew this.

Thomas usually helped Helaena with her decisions.

"I helped you make a good decision. It's a good change," Thomas then began to sit up as he looked at her, "Look, Helaena, what could go wrong?"

"A LOT!" Helaena exclaimed as she looked back at him before pacing back and forth, "Hell! I'm not even dressed properly... everything's messy..."

"Showing you are human," Thomas responded simply as he shrugged, "What's little Hale gonna do? I'm dating within the family, I know him better than you think."

Helaena narrowed her eyes as she turned and pointed at him, "What did you let me do?"

"I let you take a good chance," was Thomas' simple response as he rose to his feet, "You needed some change and after all, it seems there's a growing friendship between you and Jasper."

"You are listening to your girlfriend too much," Helaena responded with a loud huff.

Helaena was quick to change into something else as she looked back at her best friend with a glare as she quickly rummaged through her closet before tossing off her sweatpants for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before shoving things in her closet.

Just as the doorbell rang.

"You gotta speed," Thomas joked as he began to walk out the bedroom door to get to the front door.

"Shush!" Helaena exclaimed as she began to tie her hair back before following after him.

Helaena walked down the stairs after Thomas, nearly losing her balance but catching herself ignoring his snickers as she made a hand motion.

"Come on, Kermit, you know that was funny," Thomas' eyes lit up as he laughed.

"No it wasn't," Helaena placed her hands on her hips before Thomas grabbed her shoulders.

He turned her to face the door before humming, "Don't leave your guest outside. That's rude, L."

Helaena pouted at her friend as she shrugged his hands off before she unlocked the door and opened it. Revealing Jasper Hale in all of his usual glory.

Looking as uncomfortable as ever.

"Hey! Uh... Come in," Helaena's tone went soft as she began to get really shy causing a smirk from her best friend.

It took a moment, but he did.

Jasper slowly made his way into the room as he began to look around, clearly not sure of what to do as he held his bag in hand. He gave a swift nod to Thomas who in return saluted the male. Helaena closed the door back before moving over to the pair.

"So, uh... my bags in my room and so is my stuff so we can work up there - if you aren't okay with that it's totally fine! I can move down here," She was trying to make sure that all parties were satisfied and she didn't put anyone in any sticky situations.

Though, as uncomfortable as he looked, he shook his head, "No. You don't have to move anythin'. It's alright."

Helaena nodded slightly before she moved to walk up the stairs once more, "Okay... follow me."

Her shyness was very apparent with the way her voice was soft and she moved much quicker than usual. Thomas followed behind her as he carried on some sort of quiet conversation with Jasper. Well, at least I know that they get along. She did not need Thomas fighting yet another person she was pushed to be friends with.

Helaena walked back into her room as she moved to sit down on one of her chairs, motioning to the other beside her desk for Jasper while Thomas took a few strides to retake his place on Helaena's bed. Watching the two carefully as they pulled out their notebooks.

"So, I... uh what war do you want to do?" Helaena questioned as her leg bounced, her notebook held tightly between her fingers.

Jasper looked at her, his eyes practically going through her, "I can do whatever you like but it seems that we both are strong in the Civil War topic."

Helaena slowly nodded while ignoring the small fit of laughter that left Thomas' lips which caused Jasper to look over in his direction with a slight glare before noticing that Helaena had noticed and giving her a small forced smile which caused her expression to mirror his own.

I can't tell who is more shy, me or him, and that's saying something. Helaena then regained her focus on the project as she began to flip through her notebook trying to find the notes on the Civil War, flipping through a fourth of the book before getting there, her eyes then falling back to Jasper.

The girl sucked in a breath before managing to say, "So what part do we want to focus on? Or are we just going to... uh... scale around?"

Helaena was trying her best with the socializing with people she wasn't extremely comfortable with. Or in this case, someone she barely knew that was extremely attractive.

"Whatever you would like," Fuck, I'm indecisive. This is where you are supposed to help, damn you, Helaena slowly nodded once again before looking back at her notebook, "But we can focus on Bull Run if you would like."

Helaena was beyond ecstatic that he had actually made a choice, "Yeah. That works with me."

"Would you like me to write some of the pages, we can split the work in half," Jasper decided as he tilted his head, "Or I can take most of it on."

Huh, Dr. Pope really wasn't lying when he said I wouldn't be doing the most out of the project for once. Helaena was not complaining about it though. It would be nice to get a bit of relaxing within her workload since she was always the one doing the most since she heavily cared about her grades.

Besides, this semester was the final credits she needed before she could graduate. Which she worked her ass off for.

"Yeah, that completely works with me but if you need, I can take on more," Helaena fell into a small ramble as she continued, "I'm used to doing all of the work. Really. Don't feel like you have to take on more than you can chew. Grades are important and I-"

"Helaena," Thomas was the one that cut her off noticing how Jasper was just listening to her go with the ghost of a smile, "I think he gets the picture. No need to ramble like you're jumping off of the face of the earth tomorrow."

"What if I am?" Helaena joked with a grin as she looked over at Thomas, momentarily feeling her anxiety melt away as she shook her head, "I can't with you sometimes."

Helaena didn't notice that she wasn't as worried. She was now feeling really happy and excited to the point that she was letting loose a bit more than she usually did. Thomas seemed to notice, and he couldn't have been happier. He wanted her to branch out more, and hang out with other people that weren't their friend group.

And it seems that she finally had.

Ideas bounced between both Helaena and Jasper as both seemed to become more comfortable with the other. Though, it was still apparent that Jasper wasn't fully comfortable yet and Helaena respected that. Knowing how it felt to be around people you weren't quite familiar with yet. So, she gave him some time.

Though, Helaena still had yet to realize that she was being very open.

"So, coming with this project we both can present half, the portions we did," Helaena explained as she twiddled her pencil around her fingers, "Or we can flip and do each other and see how it goes."

Jasper gave a slight tilt of his head as if responding before he spoke, "We can do whatever you would like to."

"Flipping the script it is!" Helaena sat up in her chair before noticing as the rain began to pour outside, "I think the clouds are depressed."

That comment caused laughter to echo out of the room.

Thomas was rolling off of her bed with how hard he was laughing, but not only that, she had made Jasper Hale laugh. The guy who practically stood as still as stone with absolutely everything all of the time!

"Are you laughing at me?" Helaena placed her hands on her hips, "I am hurt. Truly."

"Sorry ma'am," Jasper couldn't help but keep chuckling, even after Thomas hit the floor with a hard bang.

But then something else caught the girl's attention.

Helaena watched as the lights flickered before everything shut off. A look of confusion filling her eyes before the boom of the storm caught her attention. She knew it was raining and she had looked outside but she hadn't thought it was that bad.

"Great, power's out," Thomas took the role of speaking out of the three, "We need to check around to see if we can get it back up."

"The stuffs in Dad's office," Helaena rose off of her bed as she looked at Jasper, "You staying or coming?"

Jasper seemed unsure before he slowly rose to his feet, "Maybe I can be of service."

Helaena gave a slow nod before moving around Thomas and grabbing a flashlight, turning it on before motioning for the two to follow as she made her way out the door and down the stairs.

She slowly made her way through the rooms with her eyebrows furrowed. The flashlight shining around the room, the reflection of said light in the windows nearly startling her to death.

"It's just a reflection," Thomas couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Jeez, Kermit."

"Shut up," She muttered before proceeding through the living room and near the doors of his study, "We just gotta get in here."

The girl turned and handed her flashlight to Thomas before she turned back to the door. Helaena began to undo the ties around the door while the two stood behind her.

"Won't your father be mad?" Jasper asked after a moment of silence, watching Helaena's actions carefully.

Helaena shrugged her shoulders before pulling the two doors open, "No because the power is out. He knows I'm not sitting in the dark."

Seeming satisfied with that answer, the group moved forward into the room. Her eyes scanning over the mess of files and papers before landing on the metal box on the wall.

"I got it," Thomas then spoke as he moved around Helaena, giving the flashlight back to the girl, before he opened the box.

Helaena flashed the light on the box for him as she now stood beside Jasper. He seemed uncomfortable and Helaena felt slightly bad. He didn't look like he wanted to be there, what if he thinks he can't leave? Or he's too shy to say he's ready to go?

Helaena chewed on her lip as she began to tap her fingers against the flashlight before a boom of lightning caused the girl to jump back, nearly tripping if it wasn't for her project partner. But she happened to knock a file down.

"Are you alright?" Jasper asked as he watched the newly balanced girl bend down.

"Fine," Helaena nodded as she picked up the file before noticing something.

Hermes. That was Helaena's last name by birth. What is this? Her curiosity began to bubble as she pointed the flashlight now at the file as she placed it on the table.

"Helaena, I need light," Thomas then spoke as soon as the darkness swallowed the box whole.

"One second," Helaena continued to look down at the file as she began to open it.

Jasper peered over her shoulder but she could tell he was cautious, after all, they were looking into stuff they probably were not meant to look into, "We shouldn't be lookin' at this."

"It's a file with my last name on it, I'm looking at it," Helaena hummed before her eyes scanned over the papers that filled the file.

There was a lot. It started off with the coroner's reports of her mother and father. Wendy and Peter, ironically the name of fairytale characters. Her mother took two shots to the chest and blunt forced trauma to the head while her father took one bullet into his head.

"Helaena," it seemed the two boys pieced together what was in that file.

Helaena didn't look away though, flipping through a page before finding one thing that caught her attention. Her parents had been historical artifact collectors.

And they had collected one of the most sought after things before they died, but now?

Missing.

"Helaena," Jasper was the one that tugged her away, "You... you shouldn't be readin' that. I don't think..."

"No, look," despite the feeling of dread within the girl, she pointed down at the paper, "It can't be a coincidence that the shipment that held one of the most sought-after items came in and went missing the day they died."

Thomas sighed as he looked over at her, "Helaena..."

"No! You know what people do over these items... what if..." Helaena trailed off as she looked between the two, "What if there is more to the story?"

"Helaena, you remember what happened," Thomas tried to reason her away from this, not wanting some chase.

It was true. Everyone knew that Helaena knew a lot more than the rest of the town due to the fact that she was there. But she was also young. She wasn't sure exactly what she saw but from her memory? She never saw her father holding the gun.

"I only remember seeing my mother die. I don't remember seeing my father being the one to hold the gun, I was basically a toddler," Helaena made a face as she shook her head, "Come on..."

Helaena wanted, no, needed answers. Answers specifically about what had happened to her parents. She didn't want to believe that her father killed her mother. She didn't want to think that he was the bad guy.

But she knew that there was a possibility that he was, but if there was any chance that he wasn't? She wanted to find it out herself. Grounded or not, she would be free soon and her father was not home that much as is. She could do something.

She could be the one to solve the mystery.