"So what are you going to do?" Val asked me, munching on a piece of ham and pineapple pizza.

Our original roommate plan involving The Lego Movie was scrapped the moment I walked through the door in tears, and - once I finally stopped sobbing - she ordered us a large pizza, cheese sticks, and two cheesecakes. Being smart, independent females, we ate the cheesecake first.

"I honestly don't know," I replied, polishing off my fourth piece of pizza.

Normally I paid more attention to what I was consuming, but let's be honest. There are exceptions to the healthy rule, and I firmly believed that having your bitchy blackmailer threaten you definitely constituted a damn good exception.

"Have you talked to your family?" Val asked quietly, unsure of how to broach the subject after I'd admitted that the relationship was still strained. What would they think about this?"

I frowned, "I haven't told them. I don't want to tell them. My sister would probably pack up the house and move back to Venezuela tomorrow to go into hiding if it meant helping me, but I don't want her to do that. I don't know, I just...I thought I could figure this out on my own, you know? I feel like I owe it to them after what I did."

Val sighed, taking another bite of pizza, and I took a drink of my Diet Coke. She made her thoughts on my guilt very clear, but I still couldn't help but feel guilty about my behavior. They're my family, and I abandoned them after my mother died. I was so angry that they'd lied to me that I couldn't see that they'd been trying to protect me the entire time.

Now it was my turn to protect them.

While I definitely believed in protecting my family no matter the cost, I definitely doubted whether my plan was the best option for us. Unfortunately, somewhere between breaking into Danielle's Chelsea apartment and standing in her living room probably wasn't the best place to be having second thoughts.

"What are we even looking for?" Val asked as we walked through Danielle's living room.

It was bigger than I expected, probably close to a thousand square feet, which was practically a mansion as far as New York City real estate. Everything screamed minimalist, with most of the furniture looking as if pulled straight from a West Elm catalogue, and - instead of looking trendy and chic, it made the space feel incredibly cold.

There weren't any pictures adorning the walls, which were a stark white, and the only source of warmth in the room was single orchid blooming in a vase on the coffee table. The kitchen sported all stainless steel appliances, we soon discovered, none of which appeared to be regularly used. Val even peeked into the refrigerator only to discover a chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio, some avocados, and a half empty bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling water.

"What the hell?" Val hissed, closing the refrigerator door carefully. "There weren't even condiments in the fridge. What kind of person doesn't even have condiments?"

I shrugged, opening the first door handle I found before closing it quietly after realizing it was a closet. So far, we weren't having any luck with finding something - anything - that could help.

To be honest, I wasn't really certain what I expected to find. Maybe a shrine to Andrew set up in the closet with half-burnt candles around it? A big black book filled with all of her secrets that I could use against her? A sticky note telling me how exactly she planned to get my family deported? All would be helpful, but I highly doubted any were likely.

We moved into the only hallway in the apartment, branching off from the kitchen, and started checking doors. The first was a bathroom, as immaculate and un-used as the kitchen, and the second appeared to be a guest bedroom of some sort. The closet was empty, as were the dresser drawers, so we quickly moved back to the hallway.

"Are you sure this is where she lives?" Val whispered to me. "This seems more like a model home than anything else. Plus, how the hell does she afford this place? You said this was the address she had listed on her employee file with Starbucks, right? Are you sure she didn't move?"

I nodded, even though Val couldn't see me in the darkness. After convincing Peter that I desperately needed Danielle's address since she was helping me through 'personal problems' and I wanted to send her flowers, I made sure to do my homework.

"I called the building manager this morning," I replied. "He said she's been living here for over a year now."

Val stopped abruptly, "Wait, what? How did you get him to tell you that?"

"I said I was with a credit collection agency," I replied as Val snickered. "He's probably worried that his tenant is a major risk now."

We both giggled in the darkness as we entered the bedroom, only to freeze at the sound of a lock turning in the front door.

"Shit!" Val cursed under her breath, pushing me into the bedroom and closing the door behind us. "What do we do?"

I ran to the window, checking for a fire escape, but came up empty. There wasn't a ledge either, meaning we were stuck in Danielle's bedroom, and - unluckily for us - she was home early.

"Hide," I hissed, ushering her toward the closet door.

We pushed ourselves into the pitch black space, carefully closing the door silently behind us, while we listened through the apartment walls for some sort of indication that would tell us what might happen next. Danielle's heels clicked against the hardwood floors as she entered the living room, and both Val and I jumped at the sound of a heavy thud against the ground as she must've dropped something.

Breathing heavily, we backed up further into the closet - brushing past a thick layer of clothes - until the fabrics ceased. The closet was larger than I expected, at least six feet deep, meaning Val and I were able to move freely whilst inside. We stood in silence for a few more moments, listening to the sound of the shower turning on in the bathroom, before I exhaled a sigh of relief.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, pressing the home screen to provide a sliver of dim lighting in the inky blackness, and nearly gasped at what I saw. The closet - while packed with a thick layer of clothing at the front - had a curtain hanging halfway through it that we had inadvertently parted in our desperation - revealing a tiny desk topped with a closed laptop.

Val turned in the direction of my gaze, her eyes growing wide to match my own, as she realized what exactly it was that shocked me. It wasn't the false back to the closet or the desk. It wasn't the fact that we'd found Danielle's laptop.

I wish that were the case.

Instead, the walls of the back half of the closet were plastered with hundreds - if not thousands - of photographs of varying sizes of Andrew. Paparazzi shots, screen grabs from videos, promotional photos, magazine editorials...even candids that I recognized from his Instagram account. Every inch of the closet was coated with photos of him.

And of me.

An entire section of the wall was devoted to photographs of me, many of which I'd never seen before. They were printed on glossy paper, zoomed in to show the detail of my face, and they chronicled my life for the past six and a half months in New York.

Next to several of the photographs were notes scratched in permanent marker, pointing out certain elements of my appearance or personal style, and there was a list scribbled on a piece of paper tacked over one photo that listed all of my likes and dislikes.

It read like an online dating profile, only more invasive, and ranged from my preference for coconut water to my inexplicable hatred of Oreo's. There were bands written down, all of my favorites, along with places in New York that I frequently visited. That's when I started recognizing some of the photographs - they were taken around the city

Which meant she was following me.

My likes, my dislikes, my style and personal appearance - all of them were noted on the walls of the closet, including my college transcripts from back in Austin. Horror seeped into my bones as I realized the intensity of what I saw around me, the sheer shock of it causing my stomach to churn. My hand covered my mouth as I held my phone up to the walls, each new photograph driving another sliver of panic into my chest, while I realized just how desperate Danielle was.

She didn't just care about Andrew, she was obsessed with him. It grew clear that she had decided to do whatever it took to get him, even if that meant becoming me.

"Cait," Val whispered, touching me lightly on the arm to snap me out of my haze. "We need to get the fuck out of here. Now."

Tearing my eyes away from the photos peppering the walls, I nodded. The shower was running, which meant we had a small window of time in which we could make a break for the front door. If we were lucky, Danielle would never even know that we were here.

Once it had been a few minutes since the shower was first turned on, I motioned for Val to follow me back toward the closet door. We adjusted the curtain behind us, blocking the horrifying sight behind it from view, and I twisted the door handle slowly before peeking out into her bedroom.

Empty.

Relief coursed through me, and I motioned for Val to follow as I snuck into the bedroom. The bathroom was two doors down in the hallway, but - if we moved quickly and quietly - we should be able to pass it without a problem. We'd convinced the building manager that I was Danielle's sister, visiting from Texas, to let us into the apartment when we arrived earlier, so hopefully our sudden departure wouldn't ring any alarm bells. As long as the manager never mentioned our visit to Danielle, she would never know that we were here.

Opening the bedroom door next, I winced as it creaked - the sound echoing through the hallway - and my heartbeat slammed against my chest like a jackhammer. I waited a few moments before releasing the breath I didn't know I was holding, glancing into the hallway, and slipping into the shadows.

Less than ten steps rested between me and the opposite side of the bathroom door, which meant there were less than ten steps keeping us from freedom. Val nodded, squeezing my hand briefly for encouragement, and we tiptoed past the bathroom door. Light glowed from around the edges, the sound of water blissfully masking our steps, until finally we rounded the corner into the stark and empty living room.

Except it wasn't empty.

"Hi, Cait," Danielle smirked, her silhouette outlined from the faint light streaming in through the window behind where she was seated. "Leaving so soon?"

Not many chapters to go! 

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