Chapter 9

"Get out!" Jenny snarled, desperately trying to keep her hand steady as she held the knife up.

Helen smirked and folded her arms, raising an eyebrow as though she found the situation amusing. the woman had changed a little since the last time Jenny had seen her. She was wearing tight black jeans with black boots, coupled with a black vest top and black jacket, and a long silver necklace dangling from her neck. It was a great contrast to the practical attire she usually donned. Her hair was different also; it was a little longer, flicking around her face casually. But she had the same cold brown eyes that reminded Jenny of dark passage ways; she had the same look of disdain on her face - as though she and she alone knew the truth about everything, and that conversing with 'mere mortals' was beneath her.

Her eyes flickered casually from the knife back up to Jenny's face. "There's no need to be dramatic Jenny, I'm not going to hurt you."

Jenny laughed coldly. "That's funny. Because the last time I saw you, you kidnapped me, and set a Saber-Tooth Cat on my friends and I. Forgive me if I don't believe you."

"That was a long time ago," Helen sighed, raising her arms and stretching. "By the way, your couch wasn't very comfortable. I'd suggest investing in a new one - "

"You spent the night here?" Jenny demanded, before realisation dawned on her, and for a second, she felt physically sick. "It was you in Ben's room? How - how dare you!"

"Oh relax, I just wanted to take a look at him," she simpered, glancing over at the photograph of him that was on the table. "He's the image of Nick, isn't he? That must kill you - "

"Shut your mouth!" Jenny spat, feeling the anger bubble over.

"Come come now Jenny, lets keep things civil," she smirked, taking a step closer to the breakfast bar that separated the two of them. "It's funny isn't it? I mean, who knew we'd have so much in common after all this time? Both ex wives of Nick Cutter. We should start some sort of club - we could sit and gossip about his next wife - "

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Jenny shouted, her hand shaking with fury.

"Sorry," she said in the most unapologetic voice imaginable. "It must still be too raw for you. I am rather curious though. About what split you two up? Was he diddling the nanny or something?"

Jenny laughed in incredulity, still holding the knife up to the vile woman in front of her.

"No, that's not it . . ." Helen continued with a wistful sigh. "Nick's way too moral for that sort of thing. Unless . . ." she trailed off, her dark eyes searching Jenny's face, a smile twitching on her lips. "Unless you found out about Claudia?" she added, her even tone not quite hiding her delight at the notion.

Jenny hesitated, caught off guard by her words, and in a second she knew that Helen had read everything in her expression.

"Oh dear," Helen sighed in a mock-pitying voice, rounding the counter ever so slightly.

"You stay where you are!" Jenny yelled.

"God, he loved her very much," Helen continued, a cruel smile on her thin lips. "He saved her life quite a few times you know. It brought them closer together."

Jenny wanted to tell her to shut up again, but something silenced her, and she stayed rooted to the spot, unable to move or barely breath, a part of her needing to hear what Helen had to say about Claudia.

" . . . he ran into a pterosaur infested room for her and pulled her out. And then, when they were trapped together in a hotel room, he kissed her - "

"Stop," Jenny said, disgusted in how weak and pathetic her voice sounded.

Helen's smile widened. "I don't know what his problem was anyway. I, for one, think you're an improvement on the original. You've got a bit more fight in you. I like that in a woman. You remind me a bit of myself - "

"I'm nothing like you!" Jenny spat acidly.

Helen tittered slightly. "Have it your way," she said in an amused voice. "You clearly don't take complements very well."

Jenny opened her mouth to reply, but closed it again immediately as she heard the sound she had been dreading. The gentle pitter-patter of tiny footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

She froze, fear flooding every vein in her body. Helen was a dangerous, unpredictable woman, and her baby was about to walk into a room with her.

Helen looked up at the ceiling, clearly picking up on the noise herself, before glancing back at Jenny, smiling slightly. "Imagine what that little boy's going to think when he walks in and sees his mother holding up a knife to some poor woman."

Dammit!

Helen, for all her self indulgent bullshit, was right - Jenny couldn't let her son see this! But she was very reluctant to put the knife down; it was her only weapon, as she doubted very much that Helen herself was unarmed. But the footsteps were drawing closer . . . she had no choice . . .

As Ben rounded the corner and stepped into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes, Jenny slammed the knife down onto the breakfast counter and hitched a fake smile on her face. He looked up, about to say something to Jenny, but hesitated as his eyes rested on Helen, who stood watching him with a pleasent smile on her face.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking surprised to find someone else in the house.

To Jenny's utter horror, Helen walked up to him, bending her knees so that her face was level with his.

"I'm Helen," she said in a sweet voice. "I'm a friend of your mum and dads from a long time ago. What's your name?"

"Ben," he answered her innocently.

"Ben . . . that's a lovely name," Helen crooned. "Tell me Ben, how old are you?"

"I'm three and a half years old," he answered immediately, his head high.

"Well aren't you a big boy then?" Helen smiled.

"My daddy said that if I keep growing like this, I'll be as big as him soon," Ben said proudly.

"Well, your dad is a very smart man, so I wouldn't be surprised," she laughed, reaching forward and ruffling his hair.

It was the sight of her touching him that pushed Jenny too far. Before that, she hadn't wanted to scare Ben by letting him see how panicked she was about Helen's presence, but watching her act like his friend made her stomach churn.

"Ben, sweetheart, come here a second," she said in the calmest voice she could muster.

Immediately, he trotted over to her, the bottom of his pajamas trailing on the floor slightly as he walked.

"Why don't you go and play in your room for a while, hmm? Helen and I have a lot of catching up to do," she said, shooting Helen a stern look.

"Okay mummy," he shrugged.

"Come here and let me fix your pajamas first, or you'll end up falling down the stairs," Jenny added, her heart hammering as she bent down.

Hidden behind the counter, out of Helen's view, she spoke to him in a low tone that was almost inaudible. She looked into his eyes meaningfully. "Do you remember what I told you to do if something ever happened to me?" she asked, barely moving her lips.

He looked up at her, confusion written all over his face, but he nodded.

"Good, go and do it then," she whispered, pulling him into a hug to bring his ear closer to her lips. "My mobile's on my bedside table. Don't tell that woman what you're doing."

She straightened up, hoping beyond hope that he followed her instructions. Since becoming a single parent, she had ensured he was prepared incase something ever happened to her, making sure he'd know what to do if she collapsed, or worse. It may have been morbid, but she needed to know that he'd be okay; that he'd know how to get help. A while ago, she had sat down with him and shown him what buttons to press on her mobile to make the call . . . she only hoped that he remembered what to do.

Without another word, he turned and shuffled past Helen, not looking up at her, or indeed, anywhere else except the floor. Jenny knew she had scared him, but she needed him to make the phone call, because if Helen attacked her, and she couldn't fight back hard enough, he would be alone with her. And Jenny couldn't let that happen.

"Bye Ben, see you soon!" Helen shouted after him, waving slightly before she turned back to Jenny. "He's very advanced for a three year old."

"I know," Jenny answered coldly, feeling numb with fury. "Now you listen to me; if you touch him, or so much as speak to him again, I'll kill you. Do you understand?"

"And there was me thinking I was being friendly," she sighed in mock-disappointment. "You know, I usually can't stand other people's brats, but yours is almost cute. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to him - "

"Don't you threaten him," Jenny retorted with as much venom as she could.

"I'm not," Helen replied, her voice laced with cold amusement. "Why do you think I'm here? I need to warn you about something."

"And you think I'm going to believe a word you say?" Jenny laughed humourlessly.

"Well if you don't, thousands - maybe millions - of people are going to die," she stated, placing her hands on her hips again.

Jenny paused, her eyes studying the woman's face for any sign that she was lying. "Is that supposed to scare me?" she said eventually, making sure her voice didn't betray her uneasiness.

"Yes," she answered coldly. "Unless you're very, very stupid."

Cutter jolted awake as the mobile on his bedside table vibrated against the wood, frightening the bloody life out of him. When his heart started back up again, he reached for it, answering it without bothering to see who was calling first.

"Hello?" he said groggily into the mouthpiece.

"Daddy?"

Immediately, Cutter sat bolt upright.

"Ben?" he gapped in confusion. "What is it?"

"I dunno, mummy told me to phone," his son's cute voice said. "She's down in the kitchen talking to Helen."

For the second time in as many seconds, Cutter's heart seemed to stop.

"Helen?" he demanded, unable to hide his sheer terror. "Are you sure son?"

"Yes - " he said casually.

In a shot, Cutter was out of bed, fumbling to pull his pants on with one hand whilst keeping the phone against his ear with the other.

"Right Ben, do you want to play a game? Does that sound fun?" he asked as he hopped into one of his pants legs, trying to inject a bit of fake excitement into his voice.

"Yes!" Ben said enthusiastically.

"Right, I want you to go and hide somewhere upstairs, okay?" he continued in a forced-calm voice. "And I'm going to come round now, and I'm going to try and find you."

"Okay!"

"But you've got to pick a really good place, and not make any noise okay?" Cutter pushed, desperate to make sure his son was safe from his sociopath of an ex-wife.

"Okay," Ben said, his smile evident in his voice. "Bye daddy."

"Bye," Cutter said, throwing the phone on the bed as he grabbed his shirt on, not even bothering to button it up in his haste to get to Jenny.