Chapter Seven
The oppressive summer heat raged on as days turned into weeks and then months.
The last of Dani’s so-called friends stopped calling as they all headed off to college for bigger and better things.
She didn’t mind. Maybe they weren’t good friends after all, but none of them deserved to live in the kind of fear that she was experiencing.
It was for the best that people kept their distance from her.
Better to be lonely than be responsible for more innocent deaths.
The police search for Matt Vickers tapered off before ending completely without any leads to his whereabouts.
Despite everything, as the days rolled by, Dani felt a small semblance of her old self gradually returning.
Everything in her life that was once vibrant and alive still seemed a little more muted and dull.
Food didn’t taste as good. Movies and music weren’t as enjoyable.
College could be delayed for a semester, a year or more; however long it took for her to feel ready to join the world of the living again.
Despite her best efforts to put a good face forward and march ahead, a dark cloud overshadowed everything.
Dani spent hours wondering what she could have done differently.
She still wasn’t entirely sure why Matt Vickers had become so fixated on her.
His actions weren’t her fault, but still, she wanted to know what she had done to catch his eye.
Out of everyone he could have obsessed over, why her?
There was absolutely nothing special about her. Nothing at all.
Officer Owens provided a few clues during their follow up interviews.
Police had uncovered shocking evidence from the Vickers residence that showed Matt had been watching her for months.
He had filmed hours and hours of VHS surveillance footage outside her home, outside Tommy’s home, and at the video store.
Matt had also collected bits of trash she had thrown away, and filled up a whole shoebox full of photos and documents.
Dani shuddered to think of what his real intentions were for her if he had caught her that night. If he had his way, they would have been driving off into the sunset with her bound and gagged in the trunk of his Mustang.
“Come on, Dani. We can be just like Mickey and Mallory! Just us and the open road. We’ll take care of anyone that gets in our way.”
She shuddered, remembering Vickers’ fucked up cinematic fantasy. Would she have had the strength to play along as his Mallory while he played out a murderous crime spree fantasy? Or would she have met the same fate as Tommy and Kyle?
The days bled into one another, and Dani continued to feel restless and unsure about whether or not her life was still worth living.
It killed her to know that her college classes were starting without her; that life was going on despite the horrors that she and everyone else had endured.
The one thing she did have to look forward to was martial arts class.
It had only been three months since the attack, and by all accounts, Matt Vickers seemed to have disappeared into the ether.
He was gone, either sunk into the sea or hiding somewhere, but never far from her thoughts.
The authorities had pretty much given up looking for him.
The world had moved on, and she would have to get on with her life too.
Dani didn’t know if she would ever truly be able to recover with the possibility of her attacker still at large.
She knew she might never fully have her shit together, but she was still determined not to sit around and hide.
Once the police presence around her house faded away and the search for her attacker was called off, Dani knew it was up to her to take matters into her own hands.
No one would be waiting in the wings to save her if Matt Vickers came back.
She wasn’t prepared the first time he came after her, and if he was still alive, she wouldn’t make that same mistake again.
She signed up for classes at a nearby mixed martial arts studio, and, despite her fear, forced herself to go.
College could wait. Self-defense would be her focus of study now.
After her first lesson, it became obvious that taking out her anger on punching bags and learning basic self-defense was more therapeutic than anything else.
She came to appreciate the dank scent of sweaty boxing gloves, the hum of the industrial overhead lights and the feel of the padded vinyl mat on her bare feet.
Dani threw herself into training, quickly earning her yellow belt and gaining a new family of martial arts friends in the process.
No one at the studio knew anything about her attack or her history, a fact she was grateful for.
Training at the studio became a new safe place, where she didn’t have to worry about people looking at her with sympathy or fear.
Most of all, it was nice to have a new set of friends her own age again, especially Jake.
“Nice form out there on the mat today.”
Mat. Matt.
Dani shook off the word and gave her sparring partner a smile. “Thanks. You too.”
“That sounded creepy.” Jake winced, his forehead lined under a mop of sweaty dark hair. “I just mean, you’ve really improved.”
“It’s okay.” Dani gave him a half smile. Jake was cute, but her heart was too dead to care. Still, it was nice to have someone near her age to talk to again.
“So, you, uh, go to college around here?”
“No,” she said. “I’m taking a year or so off. Trying to focus on getting in shape, getting my head together.”
“Nice. College is great and all, but there’s no need to rush things,” he said. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re here.”
A flutter of warmth filled her chest. Maybe her heart wasn’t so dead after all.
“Thanks. I’m really enjoying it here.”
“Cool,” he said. “Coming back next week?”
“Yeah,” she smiled. “Definitely.”
“Hey.” Jake cleared his throat and propped his hands on his hips. She took a moment to really size up her martial arts classmate. He was around her age, a nice guy. Someone she might have considered dating once upon a time. Before she was tainted. Before she was unsafe to be around.
“So, um, I was wondering, I know you said you like scary movies, and there’s this horror movie about suburban stories or something out at the theater. I was wondering if, you know … if you weren’t busy …”
“You mean Urban Legends?” Dani surprised herself and let out a laugh. “The previews for that look good.”
“Yeah, I thought so too.” Jake’s expression relaxed, and he let out a long sigh. “So, whaddaya think?”
Dani slung her gym bag over her shoulder and glanced up at the ceiling.
She didn’t know what to think. There was still a gaping Tommy-shaped hole in her chest, and dating wasn’t something she was interested in at all.
But her friends had all gone off to college and stopped calling.
The truth was, being a survivor was lonely.
And at that moment, Dani could surely use a friend.
“I’d love to go to the movies with you,” she said, meeting his expectant gaze. “So long as we go as friends.”
“Oh, right.” Jake scratched the back of his neck and paused. “Yeah, of course.”
“I just wanted to be clear. I do want to hang out with you, but I’m not in a good place for dating right now.”
“Totally cool.” Jake nodded.
She pursed her lips and waited. This was the part where she was sure he would say “nevermind” and she would lose yet another friend.
“I was thinking of going to the 7:30 p.m. showing tomorrow at the Galaxy 8. Wanna meet me there?”
Dani let out a relieved sigh. “Yeah. That would be great.”
“Cool. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Hold on, let me give you my pager number.” Dani pulled an ink pen from her purse. “Got a piece of paper or anything?”
“No,” he scratched the back of his neck. “Here, you can just write it on my hand.”
Dani hesitated for a moment, then took his hand in hers. The flutters in her chest intensified as she wrote down her seven digit pager number. She remembered this feeling. It was nice. It was familiar. It made her feel awful and guilty.
“Thanks,” he said, examining the palm of his hand. “I’ll page you with my phone number tomorrow.”
“Okay,” she said, her cheeks warming.
“Bye, Dani.”
“Bye, Jake.”
Dani turned and walked toward the glass front doors of the martial arts studio, her head detached from her body.
She was exhausted but thrilled at the prospect of a night out with a friend.
With Jake. It was too soon, but life had to go on.
She needed to heal and learn how to be a person again, how to protect herself, how to live.
It was easy to beat herself up, and much harder to forgive.
She placed her hand on the entrance door of the gym and paused for a moment.
The headlights of her father’s car shone in the parking lot like a beacon.
He was waiting for her to get out of class.
Just like Tommy. Every time he picked her up, Dani forced the image of her boyfriend's lifeless, bloody body behind the wheel away from her thoughts.
Her heart skipped a beat as she surveyed the darkened space and a wall of deja vu sunk its claws into her gut.
Dani pushed the martial arts studio doors open and fast-walked to her father’s car.
She scanned the perimeter of the parking lot as she walked with one hand on a can of mace and the other on a switch blade at her side.
When she reached the car, Dani slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door hard.
“Hey, Dad.”
“How was class?” He asked, pulling out of the parking spot.
“Fine,” Dani said, her gaze never leaving the parking lot.
“Saw that boy in there talking to you. What’s his name?”
“Jake,” she said. “He asked me to go see a movie tomorrow.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t.” Dani groaned. “We’re going as friends.”
“I’m just glad that you feel like getting out there again,” he said. “This is a good step.”
“Thanks,” she said. “Can you drop me off tomorrow night at Galaxy 8?”
“Sure, sweetie.”
Dani slipped her switchblade and mace back into the side pocket of her gym bag.
She rolled down the window and inhaled a long, slow breath of night air.
The scent of dead, wet leaves filled her nostrils as a cool breeze kissed her cheeks.
Fall was in full swing. A new season. A new start. Could she ever be new again too?
As they drove in silence toward home, Dani’s pager buzzed in her gym bag.
Since Tommy died, her pager had gone nearly silent.
No more messages of 143. No more late night pages to signal that it was safe to make an illicit after-hours phone call.
Could Jake really be so eager to have paged her already?
She pulled out her little purple device, expecting to see a new set of seven digits to memorize; the phone number of a new friend.
Maybe someday, if she was ready, a new boyfriend.
Instead, a three digit number flashed on the digital screen.
A series of numbers she had never received before.
Three numbers that made her blood run cold.
“What is it sweetie?” her father asked, turning toward her illuminated pager screen. “Tiffany or Lisa?”
“No,” she said, her throat tight and dry. “Someone paged me 187.”
“187? What does that mean?”
Dani stared at the pager, her pulse pounding.
“Death,” she said. “It’s the code for murder.”