Chapter Seventeen
Dani arrived home later that morning, grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and spied the mail she had left in her car the day before.
The letters and envelope had been knocked to the floor, forgotten in the wake of her call from Detective Owens.
At the time, she had dismissed the padded manilla envelope as something she forgot that she ordered.
But upon closer inspection, Dani realized that this wasn’t some drunken late-night order.
A hard, clunky rectangle.
The unmistakable sound of film wound through plastic spools.
The exact weight of a VHS tape.
Dani tore open the package and peeked inside.
Sure enough, the envelope contained only a single black VHS tape with no label, its presentation unremarkable and unsettling all at once.
Her chest constricted as though she had been punched in the ribs.
Her first instinct was to set the VHS tape and the envelope it came in on fire.
Someone was sending her a message, and she dreaded seeing whatever was on that tape.
It likely wasn’t good, but just in case, she had to know.
With the package and the tape at hand, Dani made her way inside, doing her usual rounds to ensure everything was clear.
Once she was satisfied that her home was secure, Dani turned on the television in her living room and opened the door to her media center console.
She had paid a pretty penny for the refurbished VHS cassette player on eBay a few years back for the explicit purpose of watching all of her favorite films that weren’t yet available on streaming or on DVD.
She had felt frivolous buying the piece of ancient technology at the time, but now as the TV screen blipped blue and the VHS player fizzed to life, she was grateful she had made the splurge.
The scene opened with footage obviously produced on a home video recorder.
The video was grainy, but Dani instantly recognized the star of the film just the same.
Her own eighteen-year-old face shined back at her, unlined, unbothered and full of unbridled joy.
The cameraman had shot the footage of her on the beach playing volleyball with friends, the angle framed by palm fronds as though whoever was filming her had been hiding in the shadows.
The screen fizzled to static, and the next clip showed her at a different location.
Her heart clenched as she watched her younger self eating pizza with Tommy at their favorite place on the boardwalk.
The tape went on for nearly an hour this way.
Footage of her getting dropped off at school.
Scenes of her working behind the counter at Cool Flix.
Surveillance of her walking into the front door of her childhood home.
The bittersweet images of the past shook Dani to her very core.
These were everyday moments that she should have cherished, and should have lovingly enjoyed looking back on.
Vickers had ensured that all of her teenage memories would be overshadowed by grief.
The fact that these vignettes were taken from her stalkers’ point of view chilled her to the bone.
But it was the last series of video clips on the tape that melted her fear into a ball of pure molten vengeance.
A blip of static filled the gap between the past and the present as the exterior of Dani’s house came into view on the screen.
She watched her middle-aged self in present day drive down the road, followed by a montage of her day at work on campus at the college.
The next segment showed her stretching at the park before one of her runs.
Her heart sank as she watched the final segment of the film; a clip of herself entering her Aunt Lisa’s house.
The video ended and black and white static filled her screen.
Dani sucked a sharp breath in through her nostrils as waves of anger rushed under her skin.
Her face was hot, but her voice was calm and steady as she picked up her phone and dialed her Aunt Lisa’s number.
“Hey, it’s me,” she said. “Still have your go bags packed?”
Lisa paused on the other line. “Always. What’s wrong, Dani?”
“He’s back. He’s already watching me. And he knows where we live.”
“How can you be sure?” Lisa asked.
“I got a call from Detective Owens the other day. There was an accident while he was being transported to another prison.”
“Oh Dani. Why didn’t you tell me right away?”
“I didn’t want to worry you, but then,” she paused. “I got some fan mail sent right to my house. A VHS tape with surveillance footage of me from the last few days.”
“Dammit,” Lisa said. “Okay, girl. I’ll be out of here in two seconds. You’ll be right behind me, right?”
“No. If he’s really coming for me, then I need to stay here and end this.”
“Danielle,” Lisa scolded. “You can’t take him out on your own.”
“Yes, I can,” Dani said. “Don’t worry about me, just get out of here and I’ll meet up with you as soon as it’s safe.”
“Stubborn.”
Dani sniffed. “I learned from the best.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Lisa said. “I love you, girl.”
“Love you too, Auntie.”
Dani ended the call and tossed her phone on the counter. The atmosphere pressed in on her, constricting her lungs. She breathed in deep, tore off her shirt, and coaxed her sweaty sports bra from her body.
Breathe. Just breathe.
The musk of her fear-laden perspiration stung at her nose.
Dani was used to the way that she smelled after a run or working out in the yard, but terror sweats had a different, off-putting aroma.
She remembered this smell all too well. Her laundry reeked of this particular brand of sweat after the first time Vickers had chased after her all those years ago.
The smell repulsed her and propelled her into action all at once.
She needed to make another phone call, and she could damn sure use a drink to steady her nerves. But first, she needed a shower.