It took her a few days to gather the courage to confront him, but when one night, when she had come late from her work with James, only for her to find him in her house, glaring at her, she knew it was the time.
"Where have you been?" John asked coldly as she entered her house.
"James called me, he said he had a lead on the Ripper case." she answered.
"In the middle of the night. That's awfully convincing."
"Yes well there was a new murder and-"
"Don't lie to me!" He yelled at her, closing the distance between them. It was then when she lost her temper.
"Five murders, their throats cut, their bodies desecrated in a manner that few beings can achieve." She began, looking him straight in his face. She had to see his reaction, had to read it before he would have the chance of denying it. "Instant escape from the crime scene?"
"And so it must be me?" John asked. He seemed amused by her assumption.
"You seem flattered." She replied.
"Oh, I am." He said with a dark grin as he took a razor out of his pocket.
"Deft manner of proving your innocence, threatening my life." she spat at him.
"Call it self-preservation." He said as he closed the distance between them, holding the razor to her face. "Why on earth should I let you frame me for crimes I haven't committed?" He sneered at her.
"Well, if you're innocent, then you have nothing to fear" she replied, trying to maintain her composure.
"You sound just like James." He almost spat at her. "How much time have you been spending together?"
"And now jealousy. For whom?" She asked and he pushed the razor into her skin. She could feel the pain now and she knew that it was a matter of seconds until her skin would break and the blood would start flowing. She saw the anger reflected in his eyes and knew that she had hit home with that comment. It wasn't like she hadn't suspected it, especially lately. She was scared, but she was sure as hell not going to cry or beg for his mercy.
"How dare you question my motives?" John asked, his voice trembling. "My...Feelings? You... You hunt me like an animal. After all we've been through." He said, as he caressed her side with his free hand.
"My heart... is yours." He said, as if he was somehow angry with himself for that. "Look at my face." He whispered, pushing the razor harder into her skin. She closed her eyes, preparing to take his final blow. It was only when she heard the razor implanting itself into the wall next to her, when she felt the gush of air caused by him disappearing on her face that she left the room, trying to get some composure. But it didn't stop the sobs from overcoming her. How could he treat her like that? After everything they had gone through together, now, when she was beginning to fall in love with him? There must have been something wrong with her, something in her that attracted this type of men.
Nikola jumped off his bed like an electric current had ran trough him. Helen was in danger, he could feel that, feel her fear. Something was threatening her and the mere thought of someone touching her, making her feel like that, made his blood boil. He had got better at controlling his urges, but at that moment they all kicked back in, and he felt his talons getting out of their place. He was going to go to her place, find whoever was making her feel like that, and he was going to make them pay for it. His rational mind tried to stop him, to tell him that she wouldn't want that, that she was going to question how he even knew she was in danger in the first place, but he didn't want to listen. This time his future victim was not some innocent young woman, like it had been that night a few months before. This time it was someone who was hurting his beloved and he wasn't going to let them get away with it. He ran to her place as fast as he could, but he was too late. When he got there, she was already alone.
"Nikola, what are you doing here?" She asked when she opened the door.
"I had a feeling you might want someone to talk to." He shrugged and she couldn't help a little smile at that.
"One day you will have to tell me how the bloody hell you get these feelings, you know? But this time you were wrong. I am perfectly fine, thank you."
"Fine, I ran out of my medicine." Nikola sighed dramatically. "But I figured it would be more considerate to act like I had a feeling something was wrong." It was a lie, but it was better than telling her the truth. He felt bad for taking advantage of her like that, because the past months had taught him that she had felt guilty for what he had become and that she was willing to do anything to help him with handling it, from nights spent near his bed, holding his hand while he struggled to gain control of himself, of his urges, to paying him random visits when he had got better and she had decided to risk letting him on her own, visits that had no other purpose than to check on him, not that she ever admitted that.
"So you have an excuse to come to my place at this hour". Helen said, rolling her eyes. "You are impossible sometimes, you know that? Wait here, I'll bring it to you right away."
"Where is Druitt?" Nikola asked. He nearly missed how she tensed when she heard him saying his name, that little jolt of fear that went down her spine. Nearly, but not fully.
"He went out for a bit" she said. She didn't say the rest, the part with and he won't be happy to find you here when he comes back, but it was not like she needed to say it.
"Are you sure you are alright?" Nikola asked.
"Never better." she said with a smile as she handed him the syringe. "Be more careful next time, alright? And do try to visit me at more decent hours."
He took the syringe from her and bid her goodbye. After all, he had got what he had come for. She was fine now, and she would have never admitted that she needed help with that bastard. But she didn't need to, because he had a feeling he knew where that bastard was.
He was on his way when he felt something different. A storm of feelings took over his heart. He had never felt anything so powerful from her before. It was almost like the Helen he was feeling was a different one, one that was more cold and calculated. He felt her anger overcoming her, giving her strength, like she was doing something that she had wanted to do for years. She was hurting someone, and there was a very dark part of her that was enjoying every second of it. After a few minutes, there was nothing but silence and peace. He couldn't help wondering what made her feel like that, but he didn't allow to dwell on that thought for too long, because he had more important things to do. It wasn't until later, when he found a battered Druitt sitting in an alleyway, looking like he had just seen a ghost, that he realized he had been late for the second time that night.
