Chapter 4

Jenny had packed enough things to be able to stay at Cutter's for about five days, but after that, she need to go home and pick up some more things or else risk having to go to work in one of Cutter's shirts. He had insisted on coming with her of course - he had become fiercely overprotective of her since this whole thing had began, which she didn't really mind. Although it did make her laugh from time to time to think that she spent her life chasing after prehistoric beasts, and yet one freak had scared the hell out of her with a few words. She pointed this out to him as she unlocked her front door.

"Well sometimes people can be a million times scarier than wild animals, irrespective of what time zones the animals are from," Cutter pointed out wisely as she opened the door.

"Yes, and I seem to attract them - " Jenny began to say, but she stopped mid-sentence as she beheld the sight in front of her.

Her hall way was trashed.

Pictures that had hung on the wall had been torn down; their frames smashed into pieces that littered the carpet. There was papers strewn all over the place, as well as books and ornaments that littered the floor. In the midst of this mess, a single red rose lay casually on top of a pile of papers.

"Oh my God," Jenny breathed, about to walk inside.

"Wait Jenny," Cutter exclaimed, grabbing her shoulder to stop her.

He slipped past her and looked around, only turning to her when he was sure the hall was safe.

"Call the police," he said quietly. "Now."

She obeyed without hesitation, never feeling so terrified in her entire life. Her fingers trembled as she dialed 999, and her voice shook as she spoke.

"Police please . . . I've been broken in to . . ."

"Well Miss Lewis, I can see no sign of forced entry anywhere which leads me to believe they had a key," the police officer informed her as he re-entered the living room.

Jenny was sitting on the couch in the living room, which was just as trashed as the rest of the house. She was staring blankly into space; how could this be happening to her? Surely this type of thing only happened in films? Cutter had a protective arm around her; his face was a white as a sheet and he looked furious.

"Did anyone else have a key?" the officer prompted, taking a seat on the chair and pulling out a note book.

"No," Jenny replied numbly. "I kept a spare key under the plant pot, but I stopped doing that after the first break in."

She had already explained about the roses, the text, and the msn conversation (which he had insisted on being printed out).

"Is anything missing?" the officer asked, making a note in his pad.

"Nothing big," Jenny answered. "Some jewelry, my perfume and some photographs, and . . . some other personal things."

"Such as?" he persisted.

"Some of my underwear," she said quietly, cringing with embarrassment.

The police man didn't seem at all perplexed by this, however, and merely gave her a look of sympathy.

"Miss Lewis, these things don't seem like the sort of stuff a burglar would take," he said softly. "They wouldn't usually by pass your television and laptop and rummage through your underwear draw instead. In my opinion . . . you have a stalker."

"A stalker?" Cutter repeated, looking surprised.

"Yes, it's more common than you might think."

"But who on earth would want to stalk me?" Jenny asked in disbelief.

"Well, it could be anyone," the officer explained. "Old boyfriends, colleagues, friends. Do you have any recent ex's?"

"Mark," Jenny said, her hand trembling as she brushed her hair away from her face.

"Ex-husband?"

"Ex-fiancé."

"Is he the type to do this?" the officer probed.

Jenny shook her head honestly - she knew the man was no saint, but she doubted very much that he'd be pathetic enough to stalk her.

"Well you'd be surprised," the police man said as he made another note on his pad. "Most of the time, the stalker is someone the person knows and even trusts. It only takes the tiniest things to set these psychopaths off. What's Mark's last name?"

"Banks," Jenny answered, feeling a slight pang of guilt - she may have no loyalty to the man anymore, but she had shared a huge chunk of her life with him and she had no desire to have him hauled into a police station for questioning about this absurd crime.

"Was he ever violent towards you?"

"No," she replied bluntly.

She felt Cutter's arm around her stiffen slightly, probably because it must seem like she was being a tad protective over her ex. But it wasn't that - she knew Mark, and she knew he wouldn't do anything like this.

"Okay, and is there anyone else that springs to mind? Anyone else we could investigate?"

As soon as he said that, an image of a person she detested came to mind, but she couldn't justify it to the policeman, so she shook her head and looked at the floor.

"Well if you do think of anyone else, or if anything else happens, let us know immediately," the officer said as he stood up. "I assume you can find alternative accommodation for a while - ?"

"She's staying with me," Cutter said quickly. "But this all . . . I mean . . . they'll get bored eventually won't they?"

The policeman looked uncomfortable and took a few moments to respond.

"It's usually the case with stalkers that they get more and more fixated on their object of desire as time goes on - but it's nothing to worry about," he added, obviously seeing the horrified look on Jenny's face. "We take these case's very seriously . . . and we've took fingerprints . . . we'll find them Miss, don't worry."

Jenny nodded, not feeling terribly reassured.

As soon as the police officers had left, Jenny turned to Cutter.

"Helen."

"What?"

"Helen," she repeated.

"What about her?" Cutter asked, looking nonplus.

"Well think about it!" Jenny exclaimed, flinging her hands in front of her in frustration. "It's her M.O!"

"Stalking women?" Cutter asked, looking as though he thought it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. "So not only did I cause my wife to leave me, but I also turned her lesbian?"

"It's not about that! It's about freaking me out, which we both know she loves!"

"I just don't think that Helen would waste her time doing all this - "

"Oh come on Nick!" Jenny said, getting very aspirated. "She wants you back; we both know it! She's jealous of me now that I'm with you, and she's trying to punish me!"

"By sending you creepy messages and roses?" Cutter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Why are you being so defensive of her?" Jenny demanded, feeling a twinge of insecurity that was very unlike her.

"ME?" Cutter spluttered. "You were the one defending Mark to the hilt! 'Oh no Mark is so sweet he would never do anything to hurt me'," he added, imitating her voice badly.

"I didn't say that!"

"Well you may as well have!" Cutter yelled.

"You know what Cutter, when we get back to your place, don't talk to me!" she spat, feeling unjustified fury pulsate through her as she stormed off to pack.

"Fine by me!" Cutter shouted after her.

They stayed in a stony silence on the drive home, and as soon as they got back to Cutter's, Jenny went straight up to the spare room, dumped her stuff on the floor, and flopped onto the bed. She was so angry that she considered phoning Sarah and asking if she could crash with her for a few days. She was half way through dialing her number before she snapped her mobile shut as she thought better of it; Sarah didn't know about any of this stalker business, and Jenny was far too embarrassed about it to tell anyone else. And anyway, despite how infuriating he was, Cutter was the only person she felt completely safe with.

Later that night, Jenny went to sleep early - well at least tried too. She tossed and turned for hours, her mind still whirling about who it could possibly be that was doing this to her. That line that the police officer had said to her had chilled her: 'it's usually someone you know and even trust' . . . could it possibly be someone that's she's friends with? Or colleagues with? Her thoughts were stopped when she heard the door open quietly. Cutter padded softly into the room and lay down next to her slowly. He put her arm around her and cuddled into her back, and instinctively, she stiffened; she was still too mad at him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, hugging her tighter. "I know you're going through a lot . . . I should have been more understanding."

She didn't reply, but she did relax a tiny bit.

"Jenny?" he said tentively.

"Why is this happening to me?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Cutter paused.

"I don't know," he replied gently.

She rolled over to face him.

"I just keep thinking . . . have I done something? . . . have I lead someone on and not known it - ?"

"Stop," Cutter interrupted sharply, placing his hand on the side of her face. "This is not your fault, do you hear me? Some delusional psychopath is to blame for all this, not you."

She sighed slightly and nodded, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth of him next to her. Soon she was lost to sleep; however, she was always aware of Cutter's presence next to her, making her feel safe and calm, despite knowing that somewhere out there, someone was planning something to do her harm.

Muhaha :) I'll update again as soon as it's written! X